You Look Good {a giveaway}

You look good.

Really.

You look good.

This is my protest to all of those bikini body/detox/deprivation/desperation/beat-yourself-up things that float around the internet when spring rolls around.

You look good.

Seriously.

We could all stand to add a few more vegetables to our diet. We could all use a brisk walk around the block. But, that doesn't matter.

You look good.

Cellulite dimpled thighs. Puffy tummies. Lines. Wrinkles. Gray hairs. Whatever.

You look good.

You do.

Believe it.

Repeat it.

Seriously.

Comment on this post with "I look good." and be entered to win this fun bath mat from Urban Outfitters.

That's it.

Just confirm that you look good.

Protest all that beat-yourself-up hype.

You look good.

And, you probably should eat a salad. (You know, that get more vegetables thing.)

But, a Cheese Burger Salad.

Of course. 

Cheese Burger Salad 
(adapted from Cooking Light)

1 pound lean ground beef
2 teaspoons minced dried onions
1 teaspoon parsley flakes

3/4 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 large red onion, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices 

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 (10-ounce) package chopped romaine hearts

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced

dill pickle chips

3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons water

optional: potato chips and/or bacon

Heat cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Mix together the beef, dried onion, parsley and salt.
Divide into 16 portions.
Shape each portion into a ball and flatten to a 1/2 inch thick patty about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
Place patties in hot skillet; cook 2-3 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in the middle.

Remove burgers from pan and keep warm.

Add sliced onion to the pan and season with salt and pepper; cook 5-6 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile, divide lettuce, tomato, pickle chips, burgers, and cheese between 4 plates.

Combine mayonnaise, ketchup and water and drizzle over salads. 

If desired, top with crushed potato chips or crumbled bacon. (Serves 4)

***GIVEAWAY NOTE***

I plan to keep the giveaway open for comments for a week or so, depending on response. I have a lot on my plate right now (pun intended), and will get back to all of you lovelies as soon as I can. 

Also, this giveaway is entirely my own promotion and in no way connected to Urban Outfitters. I just want you to know that YOU LOOK GOOD.

South Dakota Magazine

So...in case you didn't know, I have been contributing semimonthly at South Dakota Magazine for almost a year. However, in poor blogger form, I have neglected the updates here On My Plate.

Let's do a quick catch-up with a rundown of my columns from last summer and so far this fall...

In June, we had The War for the Strawberries with Ace and I trying in vain to protect my precious berries from the squirrels. We did manage to save enough for Strawberry Mousse.

I also waxed poetically about the beautiful corn crops that later were destroyed by the drought. Thankfully, there was still some sweet corn for Fresh Corn and Radish Salad.

July brought my dilemma regarding what to take to the Antiques Roadshow and a Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake.

Later, I cried for cucumbers to be made into Refrigerator Pickles...which led to a friend gifting me with more cucumbers than I knew what to do with in August. I now have refrigerator pickles as well as several other versions canned on my food storage shelves.

Zucchini was loud and proud in August with a rich and creamy Zucchini Alfredo

...AND sweet and delicious Zucchini Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies making the pages of the South Dakota Magazine website.

I whined about the difficulty of finding some ingredients here on the prairie and shared the recipe for the ever spicy Andouille Sausage and Shrimp Skewers in September.

Maintaining that level of heat with the kick of my Basic Salsa for Canning was easy.

I admitted to not really loving crock pot cooking, but making a concession for Chipotle Pork earlier this month. 

And, just this past week, I started looking ahead to the holidays and meal planning with Green Beans in Mushroom Sauce.




There you have it...a round-up of what I have been sharing through South Dakota Magazine. Hopefully, I can be a bit more faithful with updates in the future.

In Hot Water

A couple of weeks ago, I shared Poached Salmon with Homemade Tarter Sauce over at South Dakota Magazine. Along with the recipe, I talked a little about how contributing to their website requires me to keep more of a schedule than what I do for this blog. Obviously. It has been three weeks since I had time to post anything here.

I am not going to commit the cardinal sin of bloggers and apologize for my absence. I am just going to tell you that along with a lot of wild craziness, I have been cooking, taking pics, and trying to think of things to say. When the words start screaming so loudly that I have to get them out of my head, I am sure I will be back here, On My Plate. In the meantime, South Dakota Magazine will be keeping me in hot water with deadlines that I will try to meet with more delicious recipes.

Poached Salmon with Homemade Tartar Sauce - In Hot Water

A Dropped Ball Rolls - NYC, volume 2

The Broadway portion of our New York City trip was well planned. In fact, the trip was, in part, brought about by one friend's infatuation with Darren Criss and need (No, not want, desire, or wish. NEED.) to see him perform in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She put together a schedule for us to see three very different and extremely entertaining Broadway shows. In addition to How to Succeed, we also attended Wicked and Godspell during our brief visit. While I can't claim that I am as bitten by the Broadway bug as my friend, I do find myself (even weeks later) humming the tunes and know that if when I return to NYC, another show is a must. Witnessing that talent first hand is incredible. I recommend it to everyone. Really...even if you think you won't like it...the.shows.are.AWESOME.

As for the food portion of that New York City trip, I think I dropped the ball. No, I don't think, I KNOW I dropped the ball. I started out requesting info about various dining spots from others. They all promised to get back to me, and none did (and I didn't follow up as I should have). I started researching on my own. I became overwhelmed with the options, the desire to find perfect (for us) places, and the need to fit our nightly dining around the Broadway schedule. I became intimidated and dropped the ball. We went to New York without any definite food plans. Big fail on my part.

When we got there, we used Yelp, OpenTable, and the brochures/guides in our hotel room to locate options near to the theaters we would be visiting. We tried to search out places that were slightly different, but mostly we chose our destinations based on convenience to the theater.

Of course, sushi had to be one night's dinner. Of.course. I was really looking forward to experiencing sushi somewhere other than the Midwest. We are very fortunate to have several good sushi options available in our larger South Dakota cities. I enjoy them very much every time I visit, but something told me I had to find the "real deal" in the Big Apple. I shouldn't have listened, or I should have looked harder. I am afraid our sushi choice was sadly disappointing for me.

On first entering, the atmosphere was promising. The twinkling white lights of the birch branches outlining the restaurant seemed enchanting. Energy was high and while our reservation was early, the place filled up quickly. Our sashimi orders were good...but other than having bad fish, how do you mess up sashimi? The rolls were where the meal became lackluster for me. The rice was dry and (to my palate) underseasoned. Rolling also left something to be desired, as even my more practiced chopsticked hands had trouble holding the loose and sloppy pieces together. Overall, it was a meal. It was OK, but not great. If it were my first sushi experience, I wouldn't go back (and with all the other sushi eateries in NYC, when I do go back, it won't be back to that one). I honestly left that restaurant hoping that when we flew back to South Dakota, we would have time to stop for sushi in our big city before heading back to the prairie.

Now, I know that many of my local readers are cringing. "Sushi?" they say. "Yuck." That's OK. I am a firm believer that we don't all have to like the same things, and if you don't like sushi, there is more (of the good stuff) for me. *grin* I also have a very tame treat for you, Cowboy Sushi. (And for those of you that DO love sushi, this snack or appetizer is just a fun little departure from the usual.)

I have made these cream cheese and beef wrapped pickles for almost 20 years. The friend who originally shared the recipe called them Monkey Pods. Some call them Pickle Wraps, or just Those Pickle Things. I saw a blog calling them Cowboy Sushi and since I do dearly love all things sushi, decided that should be the name for me.

There are variations of these made with deli ham and with dried beef, but there is something about the seasoning of the processed slices of Buddig Beef that (I think) really complements that pickle and cream cheese. (Don't send me hate mail about that deli meat choice, please.) These couldn't be further from real sushi, but I don't care. I like both a good Dragon Roll and Cowboy Sushi On My Plate.

Cowboy Sushi

(with naming rights going out to The Good Wife)

1 jar of dill pickles (whole)

cream cheese, softened

2-3 packages Buddig Beef (or dried/chipped beef or deli ham)

Remove several pickles from the jar and pat dry with paper toweling.
Arrange a slice of deli meat on a cutting board (also pat dry, if damp).
Carefully (really...it tears pretty easily), spread softened cream cheese over the slice of deli meat.
Place a whole pickle on one side of the cream cheese topped deli meat and carefully roll the meat around the pickle.
Refrigerate until firm (about an hour).
Slice in 1/2 to 1-inch thick portions.
Serve as an appetizer or snack.

In a Pickle

It seems that I left you high and dry for the month of September. Even though I attempted to revive my posting momentum with a supposedly weekly feature (Fridge Fridays), I still found myself in the pickle of life taking precedence over blogging. Maybe it is time that I quit apologizing for my absences and just take them in stride. I blog when I can and not necessarily when I want. Isn't that true of so much of life? Why would this online journal of what is On My Plate be any different?

The month of September was filled with out-of-state visitors, delivery of my new fridge, my first cycling event in 2 or 3 years, a milestone birthday, a wonderful birthday gift, canning and preserving, and daily sighing and repentance because I was neglecting the blog. September has been a pretty good month, but I am going to give up the sighing and repentance. This blog is what it is. I don't need to feel that I am in a pickle if I don't have time to post something. That's life.

It is the same life that brought me a bounty of pickling cucumbers from a friendly neighbor lady. Last year, I had made a ton of refrigerator pickles that we liked, but found impossible to use in the proper time frame. This year, I decided to hot water bath with another recipe and make shelf-stable pickles with most of the cukes. I haven't yet tried them, but they look very pretty. I will have to report back if they are fabulous, as my last attempt at canning pickles didn't produce the flavor or crispness that I wanted. *Fingers crossed for this one.*

Of course, one pickle recipe wasn't enough.  I had to try another small batch of refrigerator pickles. I only stuffed 2 pint jars full of sliced cucumbers, onions, and a few red peppers from my garden to play with Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pickle recipe. They are slightly sweet...like a bread and butter pickle would be...but dill, garlic, and hot peppers kick them up a lot. We have been enjoying them on burgers, sandwiches, and straight from the jar. Nobody is in a pickle with My Version of Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pickles On My Plate.

 My Version of Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pickles

1 onion, thinly sliced

4-5 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced

2-4 cloves garlic, peeled

2-4 small hot peppers

2-4 sprigs of dill

2 cups water

2 cups cider vinegar

3 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1/2 teaspoon pickling spice

Drop a clove or 2 of garlic into each of 2 pint canning jars. (I use wide-mouth for ease of packing.)
Layer onion and cucumber slices in jars, adding a couple small hot peppers and sprigs of dill between the layers.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil. 
Simmer for 4 full minutes to meld the flavor.
Slowly pour the hot pickling liquid over the onion and cucumber slices, completely filling the jar. 
Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.
Use within 2-3 months. (Yield: 2 pints)