Rex and Ty's Food Blog

    I have grown up eating radishes. I have eaten them plain mostly but like to slice them and put on buttered bread for a sandwich. (Something I learned from my Dad).  I have added them to green leafy and potato salads as well. I really thought that I had them every way possible. Now our twin granddaughters like them sliced by the hand full.     We have included them in most of the gardens that we have planted over the years. Usually we plant early and then once harvested we plant tomatoes or some other later crop. We no longer have a large garden. Mostly we are planting in containers. This year we decided to grow a few vegetables so the twins can learn to appreciate where their food comes from.     Like every year we seem to plant so all of the radishes are ready at the same time. So I decided to find a different way to use them and found a recipe for Sweet and Spicy Pickled Radishes . The addition of Cilantro and Jalapeno peppers added the spic...

       Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread . We of course recognize this line from the Lord's Prayer but who knew that it would have so much meaning in our time. The Pandemic News and Self Isolation started panic buying and hoarding on many items at our stores. Sadly this means some folks do not have their "daily bread". The pandemic has caused many to go hungry by the loss of jobs, shortage of foods or any myriad of problems it has caused. This story is not about the pandemic. I'll let the news media and politicians argue about that. This story is just about bread.      I believe that "daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer is a metaphor for any food needed to sustain us. Be it rice, wheat, corn or the fatted calf. But I do like to bake bread and I am quite thankful that I have the ability to make it for our family. This last week or so I have made a variety of breads and some are new to my kitchen. I also set up my "new" baking center. The cabinet ...

    There was a platter in some of my grandmothers things that my father had brought home years ago. There is a picture of a turkey on the face of the platter. It is still in fair condition considering that I am sure grandma used it a lot. We celebrated every holiday and lots of Sundays eating at her house. And since she didn't have a lot of "stuff" stored around in her small house, I'm sure I have seen it setting on the table with hams, turkeys or meat loafs to be served.      It wasn't until I turned it over that the true value of this platter was revealed to me! No it wasn't a makers mark from a fine china company in Japan or Germany. Nothing to convince me that this was valuable fine china. It was a piece of adhesive tape right in the middle of the back. Written in grandma's hand writing was a note. It read, From Mary Kathryn and Robert Lee, 1953. It was a gift to her from my parents in the year that I was born. Priceless!     The first thing I d...

     The first time I had Osso Bucco was at a restaurant in Traverse City, Michigan. My son Ty and his wife Samantha suggested we go there. The restaurant was right on and above the Bay and we sat on the patio watching the boats going by. I ordered Rainbow Trout, Ty ordered Osso Bucco. I had never heard of the dish, so he let me try his and I have been hooked since.     I have learned that traditionally Osso Bucco is made with cross cut veal shanks braised with vegetables in Wine and broth and usually served over rice or polenta. It was a way to use up a cut of meat that otherwise may have been discarded or ground up. I understand it used to be a very low cost item. I haven't found this to be true now. When I am able to find the shanks, because it is so good, I will make it.      This time I purchased some Venison shanks and thought I would try them. I also served over mashed potatoes instead of rice or polenta. I definitely prefer it over rice....

     Dang it! Every restaurant is closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and I really wanted some Mexican style chips and salsa. I told papa about this conundrum and his solution was to go online and find a recipe to make our own.      We found a recipe on YouTube from Laura Vitale, called Restaurant Style Salsa . We added Jalapeno and Serrano peppers instead of just Jalapeno peppers. I was worried that the extra peppers would be too spicy, especially for my mom. We also used lemon instead of lime. I was nervous that the lemon would change the flavor for the worse but that changed quickly after I tried the salsa.      After I served the salsa to the whole family, my papa, Rex, told me that I was going to write a guest blog! I was thrilled as I had asked before if I could do one but never actually made anything. Me being a seventh grader I was worried that nobody would want to read it or it wouldn't be good enough for the blog.   ...

     While visiting my son in Laramie Wyoming I met an interesting young man,Marc. He is a friend of Ty's and really interested in shooting sports. Both archery and guns. Marc furnished the meat for tonight's meal. Now I'm not sure if it was harvested with a bow or rifle but I understand he is capable of some pretty good shooting with both.     Four of us went to a private shooting club one day. It has ranges up to 1200 yards. I know he is really good up to 800 yards, as that was the furthest we shot that day. He asked me if I wanted to try my hand at long range shooting. Being the competitive guy I am, I said sure. I took my place at the shooting bench. He help me load a shell into the gun. I believe the shell itself was longer than most of the shots I was used to taking.  The target he said was by the scrub tree out there. I looked through the sights, slowly squeezed the trigger. A near miss. The spotter yelled "only 50 yards high!".  I couldn't e...

     I recently I drove to Laramie Wyoming to visit my son and daughter in law. As usual, when we get together we cook. We try new techniques  and recipes that we think will compete or beat restaurant meals. I believe that we were successful with our attempts this time. Although it took me awhile to adjust to cooking at a high altitude. It takes a longer time or hotter temp to complete your dish. First up, Ty.     Ty was anxious to show me a new technique. He used a Sous Vide to cook a Prime Rib Roast. A Sous Vide device brings your dish to a perfect temperature in a vacuum sealed bag in water and holds it there until you are ready. In this case it was a rib roast. After reaching the assigned temp he then seasoned the roast and seared all sides to finish. For a beef eater this was outstanding. I can see a Sous Vide device in my kitchen soon.     I had a Cooks Country magazine from Feb/Mar 2020 with me to try some new recipes. I made their It...

     Lately there has been a post on "Face Book" showing a recipe for roast beef with pepperoncini peppers. Now I often have made roast pork in this manner so I decided to try a beef roast recipe in this style.      Most of my friends know that I collect cookbooks and one in my collection had the recipe I wanted to try. The cookbook was " The Red Hat Society Cookbook " from 2006. The recipe was " Slow Cooker Italian Sandwich Beef ". Slow cooker recipes are some of my favorites. This one was super easy.     It was a dump everything in and cook low and slow. Near the end of the cooking time I roasted some potatoes, caramelized onions and toasted the rolls. The liquid left in the cooker was spooned into bowls for dipping the sandwich.     It made a very tasty sandwich! Give it a try.

    I have been away from this blog for a few weeks. In fact I have been away from home for a few weeks. I decided to go out West and visit some parts of our country that I have never seen before. We visited the Black Hills and saw Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument. We visited Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Teton National Park. But the highlight of our trip was a week spent at Red Horse Mountain Ranch.     Red Horse Mountain Ranch is a Dude Ranch in Northern Idaho. If you ever had an inclination to go to a dude ranch I highly recommend this ranch. We spent from Sunday to Saturday there with two grandchildren. Lily who rides a lot and Brayden who hadn't ridden at all. They matched Brayden with a wrangler (Joe) and a horse (Cowboy) that took very good care of him. Lily was matched with a horse called Ranger. Lily got along so well with Ranger that she asked to bring him home. Although they said all horses are for sale we left him in Idaho. The stay ...

A good friend of mine bought some yearbooks from an on line auction recently. The yearbooks were from Scioto Valley Schools. Inside one of the books was a picture of some of my relatives. On the back of the picture was written, The Lee Herriott Family Dinner 1966 . I know I was probably at the swimming pool when this picture was taken. We held our reunions at the fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio and at that time the public swimming pool was there. We always had the gathering under the Grandstand and after dinner, while the adults talked the kids would go swimming.     In this picture are five of Lee Herriott's 13 children. Eugene, Wilbur (my grandfather), Paul, Cora and Dortha. The Lee Herriott Family still holds a gathering every year. I sure would like it if we had descendants from all his children attend. It would be nice to hear from relatives I haven't seen for a long time and to meet their children and grandchildren. I know this is hard. It takes real commitment. ...

      What is it about fellows and their grills? I had friends come over for dinner and they showed up with their own food. Not a side dish, not a dessert but their own food that they wanted to grill on my grill. Most family men don't have much to call their own. There is little that they can say this is mine do not touch. But their grill is one of those things. No you are not going to use my grills to make your supper. My grill is my Domain, my Kingdom, my Realm. The few times I have allowed others to grill I sit close and watch every move they make. Don't turn that more than once. Finish it on the cool side. Close the lid, open the lid. Now is the time to Baste. Don't over cook. All these things going unsaid in my mind. Now their food turns out just fine! It's the idea of being stripped of the Kingdom. Losing my coveted space next to my grill that is bothersome.      We are now full in to the grilling season and yes I am again at the head of the Rea...

    Are you ready for an Apocalyptic event? Or a natural disaster. Two things happened recently that had me asking that very question of myself. One, I went through a small blizzard while traveling in Colorado where we weren't completely without food but really short. And two, my granddaughter Lily had to do a report on a disaster, natural or man made. Although she chose the Palm Sunday tornados of 1965 all of the disasters we looked at were unnerving.      Now any one of these events could leave you without electric and searching for food.  In the case of the Colorado blizzard we were able to boil water and warm food on a stove top. Tornados are a little different. At best you may be left without electric and have to figure out a way to heat water. You may need to host other families or neighbors if you are spared and they weren't as lucky.     Now I have a fairly sizable pantry and have plenty of food so  that if at home we would survi...