Choice Morsels

Today's Good Eating Recipe is my creation:  Peanut Butter Cookie Bars! I'm not so good with baking cookies---I either get busy or forget and miss the timer going off, so my cookies end up being a little on the dark side. That's why I prefer "bar cookies" in a 10 x 13 pan. So I decided to figure out how to turn two packets of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie Mix into a 10 x 13 pan of bar cookies. Peanut Butter Cookies are, in themselves, a fairly dry dough, since you roll them into balls in your hands to make them.  To make them work in a 10 x 13 pan as bars meant increasing the liquids called for on the cookie mix packs just enough to make the mix spreadable in a pan, yet not so much to make them cakey. They need to retain that peanut butter cookie texture to be just right as a bar. So, it took me 3 tries to get the right ratio. The first try was too thick, but tasted perfect; the second try was too cakey and the final try was just right. You'...

I recently purchased some "Black Rice" and came to wonder about varieties of rice. What's the difference between Basmati and Jasmine? Or long, medium or short grain rices? So, today's Good Eating is all about rice: an explanation of various kinds. I've gleaned this information from various references on the web and I really appreciated coming to a better understanding of things like basmati rice or sweet rice and even Uncle Ben's rice! First of all, rice is divided into 3 general categories: all purpose, aromatic & specialty of which I'm only listing a few of the most common. There are many more breeds of rice, some only grown in local areas for local use. All Purpose Rices: White Long Grain Rice : This is a long, slim polished rice that is doesn't stick together on cooking and fluffs-up nicely making it preferred for Chinese cooking or any thing that calls for a fluffy, non-sticky rice.  White Medium & Short Grain Rices:  These ...

   Greetings! I'm pleased to say I got to see and take photos of the newly emerged Black Swallowtail butterflies! Those will be Wednesday's Pics!   Today, however, is Good Eating Monday and I have two items to share: #1) An Iced Tea-Making Tip from Pinterest for Better Tea:    Add 1/4 tsp baking soda to your steeping tea, let steep normal time, then put in gallon container and fill with cold water. Sweeten it if you like. (1/4 tsp per gallon.) I tried this and it made excellent iced tea! What the baking soda does is remove bitterness common to tea.   #2)  A basic seasoning recipe for Taco meat, so you can skip the pre-packaged pack. The advantage is a tastier meat with less salt. Measurements are approximate and you can adjust to taste.   For 3 lbs of ground chicken I used: 1 med to large green bell pepper, finely chopped 1/2 cup red onion, minced 2 tsp salt 4-5 Tbsp Chili Powder 4 tsp cumin 4 tsp t...