Toffee

Had a cookie exchange at work.  While I was waiting for the dough for my actual cookie to cool in the fridge, I thought I would whip up some toffee.  I made this once before and it was so good.  This is where it came from. 

What you'll need.  Not pictured is the water or vanilla.

 

Put all but vanilla in saucepan.  OP uses a cast iron skillet.

Look to the OP for the explanation of what to look for to know when the candy is done.  This recipe doesn't use a thermometer.

 

I got distracted and let this batch go a few minutes too long. 



See the butter separating?  I think that's the result of cooking too long.  Don't worry though, if this happens just take some paper towels and soak up the oil

Spread the chips over the warm toffee.  If for whatever reason the candy cools too much to melt the chocolate, just stick in a 300 degree oven for a minute or so.

Spread out chocolate.

Sprinkle whatever nuts you want into melted chocolate or use no nuts at all.  Mix nuts into candy before cooling then do chocolate.  You can do whatever you want.  I think whatever nuts I use next time I'm going to toast first.

I stuck it all into the fridge for about 10 minutes then took it out and broke into pieces.  This recipe is SO easy to do and you probably already have most if not all of the ingredients on hand.  Note that the OP says to make sure you use AA grade butter or better.  I never knew there were grades of butter!

Enjoy!



Pork Lo Mein

Hi!

Been a while.  A few months I believe.  Don't know what to say except I've had a lot going on. Personal issues, work issues, family issues and in between that sick with various stomach and sinus problems.  I've been in a bad place for a while and as a result, I've gained almost all 20 pounds I lost over the past year.

I haven't been cooking because frankly, I've been doing nothing but stuffing my face with fast food and beer. 

I'm slowly getting back in the swing of things because I hope to be going on my first cruise this spring.  I haven't told my mom I gained all the weight back and I don't plan too.

So here we go with a recipe for pork lo mein full of veggies!


Tried something new here.  When I have take-out chinese I always noticed the noodles are brown.  This is a pot of water with soy sauce and sesame oil.

This is what I used for noodles.  Use whatever you like.

This is what the noodles looked like after boiling to al dente.  I tasted them and they did have a slight taste of soy sauce but not over powering.

The rest of the ingredients.  The meat is pork, use whatever you like. 

I don't like to bite into even the smallest bit of ginger so what I do is put my sesame oil in and slowly "fry" the ginger.  I let this go at low heat for 10 -15 minutes to get the flavor of the ginger.

When you're done with the ginger, stir fry your pork until no longer pink in the same oil.

When meat is done, add veggies according to how done/crisp you want then to be.

When veggies are done, add meat and pasta and mix everything together to combine and cook for another few minutes.

After combined and everything is heated through, take everything out with a slotted spoon.  The juice that is left will be your sauce.  At this point I added a few more squirts of soy sauce, a good handfull of brown sugar, a few squirts of Siracha and thes some cornstarch to thicken it up.

Pour in sauce and mix to combine.

Enjoy.