The Unemployment Cookbook: When Two Good Recipes Make a Third

by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68

Frankly, My Dear . . . : The Unemployment Cookbook

Frankly, My Dear . . . : The Unemployment Cookbook

Hey y’all! I’m so excited for this recipe post!

Last week I celebrated my new career by going to WinCo. Along with a new day gig at the local paper’s ad and digital marketing division, This Girl got paid to present on social media vs. marketing at WOK in Bakersfield, and I bought food with that thar income. So I guess social media really does put food on the table.

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Social Media does put food on the table.

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Social Media does put food on the table.

Now, the day job won’t start for another day or two, but I quit the old job last week so I could take a few days for things like editing and cleaning and cooking and writing. (Can I get a woot! woot! on that last one? All right! Raise the roof with that noise!)

Girlfriend, let me tell you. My house hasn’t smelled this good since the Christmas cider two years ago. But these smells are a different cooking aroma. Lemme tell ya.

I made two recipes in the last few days. The first is a take on my Cheese Fondue. Now, I’m not gonna tell you how I made it, ‘cuz it was a little strong. Okay, so I’ll tell ya. But the printable recipe will have the better version.

Frankly, My Dear . . . Beer Cheese Fondue

Frankly, My Dear . . . Beer Cheese Fondue

I took 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, 2 cups shredded Italian 6-Cheese blend, one bottle of pumpkin beer, one bottle of regular beer, one packet of onion soup mix, two tablespoons of cornstarch, and a few dashes of salt and pepper. Honey, it was a lot. And it was spicy. Like, onion-spicy. You know those cooking shows where they tell the contestant to not do that? Yeah. Don’t do that. Instead, follow this recipe:

The Unemployment Cookbook: Beer Cheese Fondue

The Unemployment Cookbook: Beer Cheese Fondue

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle beer
  • 2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • 1 TBS flour or cornstarch
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Carefully pour the beer into your fondue pot.
  2. Turn on medium high.
  3. While the beer heats up, toss cheese and flour in a small bowl.
  4. Once the beer is warmed but not boiling, add cheese.
  5. Stir occasionally, until melted thoroughly.
  6. Reduce heat to medium.
  7. Serve with dippers such as diced meats, crackers, fruits, and vegetables.
https://franklymydearmojo.com/2017/08/29/the-unemployment-cookbook-when-two-good-recipes-make-a-third/

As you can see from the photo, we enjoyed dipping pretzels, apples, diced meat, and a variety of vegetables.

That was Saturday.

Now lemme tell ya what was for dinner the next day.

This one’s just as easy-peasy. [And you can click on the photo to download the recipe for this month’s PDF.]

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork

But wait! There’s more!

What’s a girl to do with leftover cheese fondue and BBQ pork?

Aww, yeah. You know where this is going, don’t you, my hungry little Swarm.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Toasted MoJo Melt Sandwich:

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Toasted MoJo Melt Sandwich

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Toasted MoJo Melt Sandwich

Just look at those layers of BBQ pork and caramelized onion covered with tangy cheese fondue on crunchy toast. The perfect blend of smooth and savory in every bite. I just found a new meal to feed my people. Honey, I’m gonna open a restaurant with this sandwich, it’s that good! Served with a few chips, apple slices, and some refreshing citrus-infused water, there ain’t nothing better on the block.

But don’t take my word for it. Until my restaurant dream becomes a reality, you’ll have to make it on your own.

What are some of your favorite ways to combine leftovers?

TWEET THIS: What are your favorite food leftover combinations? @RealMojo68 @WinCoFoods #amcooking #ameating

TWEET THIS: When two good recipes make a third. @RealMojo68 @WinCoFoods #amcooking #ameating

And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!

[To order your copy of The Unemployment Cookbook, please visit New Inklings Press.]

Sweeten my tea and share:

Hot Enough to Fry an Egg!

See that? That’s a Photo Grab I took from Weather.com in the middle of the afternoon. Ridiculous, isn’t it? And that’s not the worst of it. It actually got hotter! It reached 107 at my house today. In fact, I started writing this at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday evening, and it was still 105.

Some of my friends who live about five miles away as the crow flies are reporting temperatures as high as 112! The weather report has said today should be the worst of it. Along with slightly cooling temperatures, we’re also now in the running for a few isolated thunderstorms. While thunderstorms are fantastic entertainment, out here they’re dangerous.

Lightning ignites too-dry brush and wild shrubbery. Rain sits atop drought-parched land and instead of soaking in, causes the all-too-familiar flash floods. Either situation is generally a cause for alarm out here, but to have both… no wonder we’re in the midst of a Special Weather Warning. It’s supposed to run for several days.

It’s sometimes hard to live in a place where humidity is so absent that even 5% can make you feeling like you’re swimming in a vat of Jell-O. But once the rain actually falls, there’s this great smell… it settles the dust, and there’s just this smell of dirt and sand and water and pollen and… it’s wonderful. The trees are greener. The shrubs and flowers are fresher. It’s the kind of smell that makes me sit out in my PJs in the early morning, and let the rain drop into my coffee as I take it all in.

Yeah. I’m hoping these are those kinds of clouds.

But before the clouds came in, we had sun. And heat. And a lot of it.

And since our Beach Trip was postponed, and we had nothing planned for the day, in the middle of the hottest moment of this heatwave, we decided to try something I haven’t done in about 20 years.

We tried to fry an egg on the driveway.

Because the driveway has a slight slope, once Dot cracked the egg, it ran a bit.

Five minutes later, it looked the same.
It wasn’t really hot enough to fry an egg. So Dot decided to take a stick and scramble it.

I did another little science experiment and put one ice cube directly on the pavement and a cup of cubes next to it to see if they’d melt at the same rate. They did!

The ice melted. The egg didn’t cook.

But the clouds are coming in, and we had a lovely sunset.

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

Sweeten my tea and share: