Twice-Baked Potatoes

I bought five bakers - those are the larger Idaho potatoes used for baked potatoes.  I washed each potato off and put them in the oven in a large pyrex baking pan that I covered with aluminum foil.  Make sure to stab each potato first with a knife a couple of times, so they won't explode in the oven.

Bake for about two hours or until done like a baked potato - soft - at 350 degrees F.  When they're done baking take them out and let them cool a little while, so you can handle them without burning yourself.

When cooled, carefully slice each potato in have with cooking knife and scoop out the insides trying to get as much of it off the skins as you can.  You'll have to leave a bit of 'tater on the skin, so the skin won't rip.  Melt about 1/2 stick of butter in microwave, and ladle about two tbs. of melted butter into each potato skin.  Put all the potato insides in a large, mixing bowl and break it up with a large spoon, so that it's in very small pieces.  Then cook a package of bacon.  I like to use maple flavored smoked bacon.

When the bacon is cooked crispy, take it out of the pan and place it on a paper towel-covered plate to drain off grease.  Let cool, so you can handle it.  Meanwhile, I picked fresh chives from my garden - a handful - and washed them.  Then I chopped them into small pieces and stirred them into the potato insides that were in the bowl.

When the bacon was cool enough to handle, I minced it into small pieces and stirred it into the potato-chive mixture.  Stire all this together well, as I did.

Then, I spooned the mixture into the potato skins, which I had carefully lined up in the large baking pan. I placed the potatoes uncovered in the oven after I sprinkled them with plenty of grated cheese.  Just bake them at 350 degrees F until the cheese melts - 10-20 minutes.  Take them out, serve with sour cream on top, and yum!  Or, if you have a dairy intolerance, like myself, use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter melted in the skins and ranch dressing on top and leave off the cheese. :o)

My husband told me these are on the top 10 things I've ever made! :oD

Barbecued Smoked Pulled-Pork

I was in the longest, largest "dinner rut" of my life!  I just didn't know what to make anymore.  My family was tired of the same dinners I'd made for the past 25 years.  Then, my husband treated me to some "scrumpdiliicious" dinners this past weekend, and it totally inspired me with some knew ideas.

First of all, I have been using recipes from allrecipes.com for about a decade, and they have GREAT recipes.  It's still a free website.  Here is a delicious recipe for barbecue sauce that I found tonight:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bourbon-whiskey-bbq-sauce/detail.aspx

Next, I needed the smoked pulled-pork.  I've never smoked meat in my life, although I have used the liquid smoke.  I happen to have in my cupboard Cabela's Jamaican Island Rum seasoning.  You can find it here:  http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home-Cabin/Food-Processing/Seasonings-Cures-Brine%7C/pc/104798880/c/104723280/sc/104557680/Cabelas-Open-Season-Spice-Blends/734151.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FN%3D1101298%26WTz_l%3DSBC%253BBRprd734151&WTz_l=SBC%3BBRprd734151%3Bcat104557680

It's $7.99 for a 10 oz. bottle and worth every penny, plus a little bit of rub goes a long way!

I rubbed the small, pork roasts all over with a bit of the Cabela's seasoning.  My local grocery store was out of larger pork roasts, so I got four small ones that equaled five pounds.

I put, probably, a good four cups of mesquite wood chips in a bowl the night before with water to soak them.  Then, I drained the water off and put the soaked chips in aluminum foal and folded them up in it.  I then poked about eight holes in the top of the foil package and put it on the far left side of my barbecue. I turned the far left burner on between low and medium and put the seasoned, pork roasts on the far right side of the barbecue.  I had to put two of them on the grill and two on the grill above.  I wish I could have had them all up high.  The ones up high - on the swinging grill - smoked better and more thoroughly than the ones on the stationary grill under it.  I left the meat in there smoking for about six hours.  I did get a meat thermometer to check and make sure that the inner temperature of the roasts was high enough before I took them out.  Safely cooking pork:  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/Pork_From_Farm_to_Table/index.asp#20

I pulled the pork apart after it cooled, when I had the above barbecue sauce simmering on the stove.  When the barbecue sauce was finished, I poured it over the pulled pork and stirred it all together.

When I served it to my husband, he exclaimed, "MAKE MORE!"  He then told me it was in the top 10 things I've cooked for dinner! :o)  Bon Apetite!

In the beginning.....BANG!

     I am so excited!!!  I haven't sat down and watched a show on the science channel in a long time, but because I've injured my foot, I'm watching one this morning.  I've always loved science!  To me, it is the study and discovery of God's creation, but so many times I've been watching a science program and just got sick and tired of hearing about Evolution and The Big Bang Theory and an earth that's millions of years old (old earth).  I'm a Christian, and I believe with my whole being that the Holy Bible is the Word of God and is legitimate, dependable, authentic and true.  I believe that God, through The Holy Spirit told men of old what to write in the books Genesis - Revelation.  So, since Genesis 1:1 states that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," I do not believe all the secular, scientific theories out there.  This morning, God opened my ears and eyes to the truth in what the scientists are learning.
      I finally realized that The Big Bang Theory is true!  From what I understand, The Big Bang Theory states that the universe came into being all at once all of a sudden.*  It came from pure energy smaller than an atom and expanded faster than the speed of light!*  "The raw energy of the explosion transforms into tiny subatomic particles.  It's the first matter in the universe."*  All of this happened faster than the speed of light!*  This excites me so much, because the Bible states that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,"**  and that He spoke all of creation into being (Genesis 1:1-27)!
      Secular scientists are so close to the truth - the truth of Who spoke the universe into creation all at once!  It's so exciting!!!  I pray that God opens their eyes to the truth.  I listened to one of them say "the laws of physics themselves, we think, were born at the instant of creation."  That would be true, according to the Bible:  "And the earth was without form, and void....." -Genesis 1:2, King James Translation.  There was nothing, and then there was everything!

      According to How the Universe Works, they also believe that the universe is still expanding at an even more rapid rate than it was at the beginning of creation.*  Some scientists believe the universe will end in ice, and some believe it will end in fire.*  Apparently, when a star collapses, and a black hole is formed, large bursts of gamma rays are released.  They burn everything in their path.***  If this happens close enough to our solar system, gamma rays could vaporize Earth.***  In the Bible, 2 Peter 3:10 (English Standard Version) says, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed."  2 Peter 3:12 states, ".....the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!"  "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other," -Matthew 24:29-31, ESV.  How exciting!

      You may be wondering if I'm crazy!  How can the earth being vaporized by gamma rays possibly excite me?!  Because then, Jesus Christ, Who is part of God Himself is coming back to establish His Kingdom, complete with eternal peace!  In Revelation 21:1-5, it says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
      "Yes, but why would that excite you, Ang?"  -to be continued.....

*How the Universe Works, The Science Channel
**Genesis 1:1, Taken from http://www.biblegateway.com.
***How the Universe Works, Black Holes, The Science Channel