Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Devilish Ham

Hey, who out there has leftover ham? You ate it?! No! Well, here I make a huge New Years ham with the southern Black-eyed Peas, etc. and we have a ton left. I freeze the bone and big chunks for later, but there’s a big ‘box’ of it for sandwiches, ham n’ eggs, and my hubby’s favorite PVCC Special sandwiches (Paradise Valley Country Club)-which will NEVER make it to the ‘Healthy Eating’ Blog because they are cheese and ham swimming in butter, all held together with an egg and mounded on buttered toast! O M G!!

 

But there comes a day that whatever’s left is either cooked for dinner or frozen. So, I made my version of Hoppin’John and I had enough left for something else small. Hmmm, Devilish Haaaaam! I love that stuff like Alabaman’s love pimento n’ cheese!

 

I thought I should check out some other recipes on the Net to see what other folks do. I was surprised that almost none of them were what I make. I like mine better, so they can have their ‘deviled ham’. Most rely on hot sauce, horseradish, vinegar and a very few would add a dab of pickle relish. Although, they all have mayo and some way too much of it, which wouldn’t make the Healthy Eating blog any sooner than Jonny’s PVCC gut buster! . So, I think I need to jump in with my 2 cents (or a buck n’ a half) to share MY version. So very baaaaaaad – and so very gooood.

 

Step 1: Gather your goodies and dust off that food processor.
Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Devilish Ham
Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Delish Ham
Step 2: Toss in the food processor and pulse it to the ‘Alpo’ stage – yeah, it ain’t pretty. Awwww, but you can’t smell it though…sorry, there’s no app for that. It’ll be on the iPhone 9.
Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Devilish Ham
Step 3: Pick your platform. They’re all good. Feeling fancy, try the Water Crackers. Feeling Festive then fill the tortilla cups. I was out of whole wheat saltines, so they didn’t make the photo. They’re my healthy go-to snack platform. Then there’s Pita – nothing is bad on a pita chip! Not that I’ve found, and I keep looking!
This makes about 2 1/2 cups, which is 6 – 1/4 cup servings. No, that 2 Tablespoon serving will never work here! Still, it’s 117 cal., 6.9g fat and that analyzer has no idea how much white stuff I picked off that ham.
Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Devilish Ham
Finale: There’s a close-up… spicy, hammy goodness. Remember, this is Devilish Ham so this ain’t no girly snack – the men will eat it. But probably only on a Frito, so much for healthy.
Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Devilish Ham
Michelle

Travel Dog Blog, Fort Desoto Beach

We were surprised recently to see an article in the local newspaper from the Associated Press titled “Florida a dog-lover’s vacation paradise”.  That has not been our experience traveling through Florida with our pooch. But we’re always open to a road trip and the weather has been perfect, so we headed south to check out the first place mentioned in the article–Dog Beach and Paw Playground at Fort De Soto Park.

One hundred miles south of us, Fort Desoto is part of the Pinellas County park system.  According to their website, it consists of 1,136 acres made up of five interconnected islands.  To avoid deep budget cuts to the park, the county started charging a $5 fee in 2012. 

As typical of dog parks, Paw Playground has two fenced grassy areas—one for small dogs and the other for large.  Water fountains, waste bags and dog showers are available.  But we weren’t looking for the dog parks, we wanted to walk on the beach with Maggie so headed to Dog Beach. 

Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

All we expected is a place where we could enjoy the beach with Maggie on her leash.  We were quite surprised to find an unfenced leash free zone for all dog sizes. Terry and I were a little anxious about how the larger dogs would react to Maggie but most of the dogs completely ignored her.  They were too busy chasing, running, and swimming—this was a happy place. 

Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

Maggie eventually started enjoying the experience and chasing the waves.

Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

2012_01_12maggie2Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

It wasn’t long before she was hot and exhausted so we headed out to explore the rest of Ft. Desoto.  After Maggie cooled down we stopped at the North Beach snack bar, found a shaded picnic table, and shared some lunch with Maggie–hot dogs!  (Thought that was appropriate.) Next we stopped at a spot where we could view the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. 

Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

Travel Dog Blog, Fort DeSoto

So all parks in Florida are not dog haters!  Some places recognize that dogs and their people just want to have fun in the sun!