No More Polishing Silver! (Silver Cleaning Solution)

The last time my daughter was visiting she pointed out how tarnished my daily silverware looked. I told her it was supposed to be that way. I call it tarnish ware........All joking aside, it was pretty bad, but I hate polishing silver. In fact, I've gotten rid of most of my silver for that very reason. Also, we aren't really the silver entertaining type. I do love my everyday silver though, so I decided to try this solution that my mom told me about. Guess what? It works!!! Really. The most time consuming part was measuring the ingredients. I had it all done in less than 15 minutes. Now I'm not going to ever have an excuse for having tarnishware again. Here's what you'll need:

  • 20 C (5 quarts) hot water
  • 1 1/4 C (10 oz) white vinegar
  • 1 1/4 C (10 oz) salt
  • aluminum foil

I decidedly kitchen sink was going to be the easiest place to do this. I doubled the ingredients so that the solution was deep enough to cover all the utensils. 

First, fill your container (sink) with the hot water. Add the salt and vinegar and stir to combine. 

Now add foil to the container, submerging it to the bottom.

Add whatever needs to be polished to the solution, making sure it's touching the foil and totally submerged. If it's not touching the foil, it doesn't work. My tarnish was instantly removed. In fact, I didn't get a very good picture showing how bad it was because it happened so quickly. 

Shiny & bright!

I was so excited, I decided to do my jewelry too. I used a smaller container and changed the measurements for the solution. For a small batch use 1 C water, 1 TBL salt, and 1 TBL vinegar and a small piece of foil. 

Now let's see if my daughter notices...

Warning---If you have a pattern that is intricate and you like the tarnish in the cracks, don't use this solution because it will remove all the tarnish.

I'll keep you posted...

Lynn

Fried Oyster Salad and/or PoBoys

I know I lost a lot of you with "oyster", but for those of us who like them, this salad is a winner. Whenever oysters are available, I buy several pints and throw them in the freezer to use whenever I get a craving. That is exactly what happened today. The only thing I had to decide was how I wanted to serve them. I had lots of lettuce, so a salad was the obvious choice. I don't usually use bottled salad dressing because it's so easy to make, but this was in my refrigerator after we let our house be used for a weekend retreat, so I didn't want to waste it. It was actually quite good! I added and avocado and some crunchy bacon bits and dinner was ready. I served Hubby's on a Hawaiian bun as a sandwich and he loved it. I ate mine just as it was and enjoyed avery bite. Here's what you'll need:

  • 1 pint oysters, drained
  • cornmeal for dredging the oysters
  • bacon bits
  • avocado
  • romaine
  • parmesan cheese
  • salad dressing of your choice
  • peanut oil for frying 

Start by frying the bacon. I like to have bacon bits in the freezer, so I cut up the whole pound and fry it until crisp. Then I used what I needed and put the rest in the freezer in a zip top bag and keep it in the freezer until I need some.

Heat the oil in a pan to fry the oysters. You want the oil to be about 350 degrees.

While the oil is heating, put the corn meal in a bowl and season it to taste. I used roasted garlic salt and Old Bay. Stir to combine. After you have drained the oysters well. pat dry with a paper towel. Hot oil and water do not mix. Dredge an oyster in the seasoned corn meal, shake off the excess and gently place in the hot oil. Repeat with the remaining oysters, but don't add them all to the oil at once. I fry about 3 at a time. Any more than that and the oil dolls too quickly and the crust doesn't get a golden, crunchy brown. When they are done, drain on a paper towel and season with a little salt. Cook all the oysters.

In a big bowl, toss the lettuce with dressing until it is evenly distributed.

Dice the avocado and add it to the bowl.

Now sprinkle on the bacon bits.

Add the fried oysters.

Now it's ready. Beautiful, right? I love all the different textures and flavors.

And here it is made into a sandwich.

Lynn's Chili Con Queso

I needed to make some chili con queso to take to a party, but I'm not a huge fan of plain old Velveeta and Ro-Tel, so I decided to spice it up a bit. Fresh peppers, chorizo, and a few extra spices were all it took to make it taste great. This takes a little more prep, but it's totally worth it. It was quickly devoured and requests for the recipe followed. Here's what you'll need:

  • 2 TBL cumin 
  • 1 TBL ancho chili powder
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 C cooked chorizo
  • 2 poblano peppers (char and peel)
  • jalapenos (to taste)
  • 1-15 oz can stewed tomatoes (drained)
  • chili powder (to taste)
  • 4 oz chopped green chilies
  • 2 lb Velveeta Queso Blanco
  • ½ c sour cream
  • 2 C water

Start by charring the peppers and setting them aside to cool. Once their cooled, peel them, remove the seeds and chop.

In a large sauce pan, melt 1 TBL butter and sauté the garlic, onion, and peppers until softened. 

Add the Ro-tel tomatoes, green chilies, chorizo, and spices and stir to combine.

Cube the Velveeta Queso Blanco and add to the pan and stir until melted. Stir in the sour cream.

Once everything is well combined, add the water to the desired consistency. I used the full 2 cups. Serve with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Lynn

 

Lynn's Chili Con Queso

  • 2 TBL cumin 
  • 1 TBL ancho chili powder
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 C cooked chorizo
  • 2 poblano peppers (char and peel)
  • jalapenos (to taste)
  • 1-15 oz can stewed tomatoes (drained)
  • chili powder (to taste)
  • 4 oz chopped green chilies
  • 2 lb Velveeta Queso Blanco
  • ½ c sour cream
  • 2 C water

Start by charring the peppers and setting them aside to cool. Once their cooled, peel them, remove the seeds and chop. In a large sauce pan, melt 1 TBL butter and sauté the garlic, onion, and peppers until softened. Add the Ro-tel tomatoes, green chilies, chorizo, and spices and stir to combine. Cube the Velveeta and add to the pan and stir until melted. Stir in the sour cream. Once everything is well combined, add the water to the desired consistency. I used the full 2 cups. Serve with tortilla chips.