Shining Silver, a photo by improvisationalgourmet on Flickr.

If you have tarnished silver, forget the polish. Just put them in your sink with some water and cream of tarter. Then, crumple some foil loosely and put that in the water, too. It will come out shining!

Baked Egg Cups, a photo by improvisationalgourmet on Flickr.

I had heard about these at the laundromat last summer when a camper was talking about doing this over a campfire. It’s too cold outside to be having a cooking fire, so I just popped them in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease muffin/cupcake pan.

Place a slice of pre-cooked bacon around the outside of each muffin cup. Break an egg into the center. Place a dollop of butter on top. Cover loosely with foil. Bake for 15 minutes and check for doneness.  This is a great way to cook eggs for a crowd!

Last night as I was making meatballs, I thought, “I have arrived! Mom would be proud!” I always admired how mom could just throw stuff together without a recipe, and it would taste great – every time. Well, it is now that way with my meatloaf and meatballs. Hamburger (93 percent fat free), oatmeal, egg, catsup (or left over organic spaghetti sauce like last night), and dried onions are the simple ingredients. I use my small cookie drop to form the meatballs, and then drop them in a glass pan to microwave for 8 minutes. Leftovers freeze well, and are then ready in an instant for Spaghetti and Meatballs, Polynesian Meatballs, or meatball sandwiches. Make up a double batch- one to eat now, and one to freeze for later. Enjoy Improvisational!

We had salmon the night before, and I cooked enough for leftovers.  Now, what to do with leftover salmon…

I made some hard-boiled eggs by bringing cold water to a boil with 2T of baking soda mixed in, place room temperature eggs into the boiling water for 8 minutes then take out and rinse in cool water.  Use tongs for placing the eggs in the boiling water and taking them out.  Crack the top and bottom ends and peel.*  I then cut them in fourths and put them in a prepared white sauce (2T Wondra Flour/2T butter or margarine/1c milk).  Cut up the salmon and mix with the creamed eggs.  Now serve over toast.  It was a big hit!

* This is the source for the best way to cook hard-boiled eggs that are easy to peel:

My neighbors laughed at me when I planted my Square Foot Garden last August 15th…in Iowa. However, today (Jan 11) I harvested lots of cilantro to make a very tasty salsa. I call it pseudo-fresh because I used canned tomatoes that I had on hand.

Pseudo -Fresh Salsa

1 can Delmonte Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic, and Oregano
1/2 onion
1/4 yellow bell pepper
2 sprigs of fresh cilantro

Chop onion, pepper, and cilantro (I use my Ninja).  Add to drained tomatoes. Could add “heat” by putting a few chilliest in.

I served this on a warmed sun-dried tomato tortilla with freshly grated mozzerella cheese.