SPUNKOS

Spunkos at work

When I was in fifth grade my best friend (also my neighbor down the street) started a business we called Spunko's F&H (or H&F i don't remember which). The F&H were from our last names. We started by selling random odds and ends in front of her house. Most of our customers were our own family members. One random guy bough a 25 cent sprite from us and gave us a whole dollar. Well as summer progressed my friends mom started giving us produce from their garden to sell. That sold a little better. But when her mom gave us some fresh Cinnamon rolls to sell we found our niche in the business world. Selling fresh bakes goods. Well we moved our business from a by the mailbox business to a delivery business. Every Monday afternoon we would call up some of the people from church as say: "Hi Sister/Brother _____ this is Margaret from Spunko's we were wondering if you'd be interested in buying some freshbaked goods which we will deliver on Friday. We would offer a couple different cookies, fresh bakes bread and dinner rolls. Looking back we offered them at pretty good prices too! In one summer we made over $100!!! Of course our parents "donated" all ingredients and gas to make the deliveries.
My favorite thing to do every Friday afternoon was to pretend we were on a cooking show. I don't know where i got this idea from. It was before we had food network on our TV. We would even premeasure ingredients into little bowls like they do on cooking shows. I think the reason I'm recounting this story is because I really enjoy posting recipes but I feel silly. So this is my explanation of why i post recipes, especially the recipes with pictures (which you'll see shortly in my next post): It is fulfilling my childhood dream of having my own cooking show.
So... if you like reading through the recipes I post, especially if you ever try one of them and like it (or don't like it), let me know. Here or some random picture of me and food growing up

Tapioca Pudding
Cream Cheese

Frosting Fresh Bread

A cake for my dad

Cookies (I really liked putting rollers in my hair as a kid)

Picking raspberries. YUM!

Mexican Mac-n-Cheese

I saw Rachael Ray cook this on her talk show. I didn't have the exact measurements for all the ingredients when I made it but it turned out really good. You can read Rachael Ray's exact recipe and even watch the clip from her show at
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/que-pasta-mexican-mac-n-cheese/

4 poblano peppers
Salt
1 pound bow-tie pasta
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups milk
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used jack cheese)

Heat broiler on high. Roast the poblanos on all sides,12-15 minutes (I seeded them first but the recipe says to seed them after roasting). Let the peppers cool wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or place in a paper sack (I think i just let them cool on the counter). Once cooled peel (there is a clear film that you can peel off, you probably knew this film became evident after roatsting but it surprised me the first time i made it recipe), seed and chop.

Cook pasta till al dente in a large pot of boiling, salted water.

In a saucepan over medium heat cook onions and garlin on olive oil until tender (6-7 minutes). Add butter and melt (let bubble a minute (careful not to burn the butter though) so that the water evaporates out of the butter, this will prevent the flour from going lumpy). Stir in the flour and cook one minute. Slowly add stock and milk, wisking in. Simmer. Add seasoning: salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander. Cook sauce for about five minutes until thick. Stir in cheese to melt.

Drain pasta and combine with cheese sauce. Add chopped peppers. (This is all i had the ingredients for so I stopped here and it was still really good I'm going to make it again tonight and try using avacado and mild, chunky salsa.) Top with avacado (tossed with lime to prevent browning), tomatoes and scallions.