I mentioned that we had a get-together last Saturday night, right? We had exactly 54 people at our house. It was definitely a record for us. We didn't have too much left-over, which is good. But we had lots of hamburger and hot dog rolls that hadn't been eaten. In my experience, when you put hot dog and hamburger rolls in the freezer, they shrivel up and don't taste quite the same after they thaw. I had the idea to make home made breadcrumbs with the left over rolls. I did a little research after talking with my mom. She mentioned that "stale" bread isn't what you should make breadcrumbs from. The bread needs to be "dried". Naturally, I didn't believe her at first. After I googled "home made breadcrumbs" and found a website with directions on how to make them, I believe her. They specifically said that you shouldn't use stale bread. If you do, the breadcrumbs you make will taste stale too. The directions are simple. The breadcrumbs can be made with any type of bread that you have left over. Here is what they said to do:
1. Place bread on a cookie sheet and put into a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Flip the bread over, halfway through the drying process.
2. Take the bread out of the oven and let cool (so you can handle it).
3. Tear the bread into smaller pieces and put into your food processor. Turn the food processor on and grind the bread until it gets to the consistency you like for your breadcrumbs.
4. Put into a plastic bag or container and freeze.
I tried this process on Sunday. It worked like a charm. Home made breadcrumbs are much tastier than their store-bought counterparts but you also save money by making them yourself. If you think about it, it is also better for the environment because you won't have the empty container from the breadcrumbs to throw away. You can reuse the plastic bag for your next batch of home made breadcrumbs. The only negative was that it was fairly messy. Crumbs got all over my counters and the floor. I am sure that I am going to love cooking with my home made breadcrumbs, though!
The Creative Cook
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Get-Together
Yesterday we had 54 people at our house for a get-together. I am really happy that it went well. We had lots of kids. It was very hot down here yesterday. It rained before everyone got here and after everyone left. I couldn't ask for better weather, except maybe having it a bit cooler! I tried to keep it as simple as possible. It seemed to work.
Here is what we did: B kindly grilled the hot dogs and hamburgers with the help of one of our neighbors. The guys were very hot but they were good sports and did a great job! The hot dogs were Oscar Meyer Naturals without nitrates or nitrites.
The day before I made pork and beef BBQ. I simply bought a large piece of beef brisket (6 lbs) and cooked it in my large slow cooker for 8 to 10 hours with a bottle of Jack Daniels original recipe barbecue sauce. The pork was an 8 lb. pork loin. I put some barbecue marinade over it and added some home made barbecue sauce along with a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey barbecue sauce. B said it was a bit too vinegary so when I heated it up for the party I added half a cup of brown sugar over the top. All 6 pounds of the beef were gone and about 6 or 7 pounds of the pork were eaten. Our guests all seemed to enjoy them. Some people even asked if I had the pork and beef catered!
As for side dishes, all I did was open a bag of potato chips but my mom made corn on the cob (super good). The other guests brought broccoli casserole, pasta salad, Chick Fil-A chicken nuggets, onion dip, fruit, veggies and so many other wonderful things that I NEVER would have thought of making.
For dessert I made some frozen funnel cakes from Market Day which I heard were wonderful. I never got to taste any which is a good sign. I also provided the kids with snow cones. I had one of those inexpensive electric machines along with my manual ice shaver from Pampered Chef. We ran out of ice but the kids were happy! I had about 8 different flavors of syrup for the snow cones. My wonderful guests brought yummy desserts. We had tandy cakes, fruit pies, jello desserts, cookies, Amish cinnamon bread and many other awesome treats.
For kid entertainment we had 4 water guns -- I mean the big Super Soakers, the ketchup and mustard game which is just a bunch of ketchup and mustard bottles (empty) from the dollar store filled with water that the kids use to get each other soaked. I also brought out D's swing ball which is an inexpensive version of tether ball. They had fun playing all the water games and swing ball, too.
Most of the adults found cool shady spots to sit in the back yard. I was in and out of the house most of the time enjoying some AC along with the shade outside. I would say that after all was said and done, it was a successful event!
Here is what we did: B kindly grilled the hot dogs and hamburgers with the help of one of our neighbors. The guys were very hot but they were good sports and did a great job! The hot dogs were Oscar Meyer Naturals without nitrates or nitrites.
The day before I made pork and beef BBQ. I simply bought a large piece of beef brisket (6 lbs) and cooked it in my large slow cooker for 8 to 10 hours with a bottle of Jack Daniels original recipe barbecue sauce. The pork was an 8 lb. pork loin. I put some barbecue marinade over it and added some home made barbecue sauce along with a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey barbecue sauce. B said it was a bit too vinegary so when I heated it up for the party I added half a cup of brown sugar over the top. All 6 pounds of the beef were gone and about 6 or 7 pounds of the pork were eaten. Our guests all seemed to enjoy them. Some people even asked if I had the pork and beef catered!
As for side dishes, all I did was open a bag of potato chips but my mom made corn on the cob (super good). The other guests brought broccoli casserole, pasta salad, Chick Fil-A chicken nuggets, onion dip, fruit, veggies and so many other wonderful things that I NEVER would have thought of making.
For dessert I made some frozen funnel cakes from Market Day which I heard were wonderful. I never got to taste any which is a good sign. I also provided the kids with snow cones. I had one of those inexpensive electric machines along with my manual ice shaver from Pampered Chef. We ran out of ice but the kids were happy! I had about 8 different flavors of syrup for the snow cones. My wonderful guests brought yummy desserts. We had tandy cakes, fruit pies, jello desserts, cookies, Amish cinnamon bread and many other awesome treats.
For kid entertainment we had 4 water guns -- I mean the big Super Soakers, the ketchup and mustard game which is just a bunch of ketchup and mustard bottles (empty) from the dollar store filled with water that the kids use to get each other soaked. I also brought out D's swing ball which is an inexpensive version of tether ball. They had fun playing all the water games and swing ball, too.
Most of the adults found cool shady spots to sit in the back yard. I was in and out of the house most of the time enjoying some AC along with the shade outside. I would say that after all was said and done, it was a successful event!
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