Hey - Its Snack Time - Macaroons

One of the great things about retirement – eating like a little kid again, at least once in a while. My favorite snacks, these days, seem to always involve chocolate or coconut and it they have both – WOW !

And if it can be made quickly and only has four ingredients, all the better. And two of those four ingredients are chocolate and coconut, I’m a kid again.

Here it is – My Chocolate Coconut Macaroons. Oh and it only takes ten minutes.

-What You Need-

• 16 ounces shredded coconut (I like the kind of chunky shredded)
• * 1 can (14-15 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (you can use the same teaspoon, just fill it twice)
• One big 0l’ vat of hot fudge type chocolate (see how to make it below, bonus # 1)

-Getting it Ready-

Mix coconut, sweet milk and vanilla together. (Big bowl, big spoon) Drop about a teaspoonful full, at a time, of the mixture, onto a very well-greased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 7- 8 minutes. Cool a bit before taking from sheet. After letting them cool some more dip half of each macaroon in your favorite chocolate. Makes a whole bunch of chocolate coconut macaroons. (50 or better)

My easy chocolate – (Bonus recipe) Mix equal amounts of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips, melt them in the microwave and use them as the dip. Works great, we also like almonds and pecans dipped in this chocolate, hey, try one on the top of each macaroon.

*So what the heck is Sweetened Condensed Milk?

Not to be confused with Evaporated or Powdered Milk. Condensed milk is cow milk from which water has been removed.  It is most often sold as sweetened condensed milk with sugar added. Sweetened condensed milk goes all the way back to Civil War time and is a staple in most home baker’s kitchens. But don't drink it, tastes terrible!

Three Miles From Town

 

Chuck Wagon Hash

By Neil Waring

Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen and honored citizen.

I have posted a couple of cowboy hash recipes in the past but this one is really good, give it a try. For this one get out your biggest cast iron skillet – the big black one in the back of the bottom shelf.

And here is what you will need and all the how to do it stuff!

3 large potatoes - I prefer nice red potatoes, but any type will work. Cut out the bad spots, if any, do not peel, cut into smallish, about 1/4 inch chunks. If you notice red speckles, check your fingers, that’s why I use dull knives (can’t be too careful)

1/3 green bell pepper, cut into tiny pieces, we are looking for flavor here not the big crunch

1/2 large onion, diced – You ever notice how bad/strong onions are this time of year? Cannot wait for my first garden onions, sometime in late June.

Random sunset photo I took last week to make the blog more lively.

1 lb. Hamburger, you could use sausage here but do not substitute some newfangled meat or fake meat, that is not hash, it is modern something, not hash

Fry up the potatoes, pepper, and onion in one big ol’ tablespoon of bacon grease, if you have it, olive oil if you do not.

As soon as the potatoes start to soften (only a minute or so) toss in the hamburger in small pieces and fry it up on medium heat. I turn it up on high myself, super high if I have it. Maybe that is why the smoke alarm chased the dog out of the kitchen.

When it looks about right pour in a ½ cup of frozen corn, keep stirring and cooking/frying

Now it is time for the spices, add pepper, sage, a dash of cumin and a bit of thyme. (A tad more sage than cumin or thyme)The bacon fat should take care of the salt – but being a well seniored citizen I try to avoid adding salt.

Sprinkle the top with your choice of shredded cheese (not mozzarella, hey, this is not a pizza)

Put the skillet into a warm oven, only about 200

Fry up a half dozen eggs, pull out the skillet and toss them on top (keep the eggs runny, over easy or over medium is great)

Serve with Catsup, sour cream and salsa

This goes great with a couple of glazed donuts and juice of your choice

Serves 3-6 depending on how hungry everyone is and whether or not Uncle Earl is visiting – - - AGAIN!

*Just noticed I used two exclamation marks, or is it exclamation points in this post, doesn’t matter, anyway, two in one post was my record, guess this post ties a record. Hey, a record setting post.  All Right! That’s three, new record! (4)