"Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain."

Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can of Coco Lopez
1 can of Pineapple Juice
1 quart of half and half

In a half gallon container (I use a plastic milk container) add the can of Coco Lopez, pineapple juice to the half way point and then add the half and half the rest of the way up to the top. Note: Before you open the can of Coco Lopez let it set in some hot water for a few so the coconut cream gets soft and easy to pour, it's very thick and you want to melt it so that it blends with the other ingredients. Shake well. I make a half gallon and refrigerate it overnight in order to let the flavors blend together and thicken up.

To make the Virgin Pina Colada, just add crushed ice to your blender, add enough pina colada mixture to cover the ice. Turn on the blender and blend, baby blend!!!!!!!If you want to add rum or vodka, go right ahead, but then you'll be drinking a real Pina Colada!!!!!!!!

I love this song.


Escape (The Pina Colada Song) Song Lyrics
by Holmes Rupert

I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape."

I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean.
But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine.
So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad.
And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half-bad.

"Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne.
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape.
At a bar called O'Malley's, where we'll plan our escape."

So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place.
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face.
It was my own lovely lady, and she said, "Oh, it's you."
And we laughed for a moment, and I said, "I never knew".

"That you liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape."

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape."

I Wish You Love and Happiness And A Good Pina Colada,
Joyce

My Favorite Cast Iron Skillet

Speaking of my favorite cast iron skillet. I found it in Johnny & Nancy's house. They were our next door neighbors most of my life. After they passed on their daughter Ann, who babysat me when I was little, asked me to watch the house until she could sell it. She was living in Colorado. It was empty for a while and we looked after it for some time, because I was still living next door. By this time she and I both were married and had children of our own.

So when Ann came back to Miami to sign the closing papers, we took our last stroll through the house, just looking around, reminiscing. Mainly she just wanted to take her last look a the house she'd spent most of her life in. We went and looked at all the bedrooms, living room, and we finally went into the kitchen. She opened and closed some of the cabinet doors, while we talked. When she opened the cabinet door under the sink I saw a cast iron skillet. It was old and rusty and needed a good cleaning. I said, Ann, there's your mom's old cast iron skillet." We picked it up and looked at it. It was a nice size. I told her that if she wanted to take it home with her, I would clean and wrap it up so she could carry with her on the airplane. She said, "Would you like to have it?" I said, "I sure would!"

I took that cast iron skillet home and cleaned the living daylights out of it, rubbed it with oil over and over again until it was ready to use, and it's been my favorite frying pan ever since. We are talking a lot of years. I use it just about every day. If you look at the recipes I have posted here you most likely will see this skillet. And, the other wonderful thing about it is that it reminds me of long ago when Johnny, Nancy & Ann lived next door, and how much I loved them. They were like family to me most of my young life. To me, it's just a beautiful thing.

I Wish You Love and I Hope That You Have Old Pots & Pans That Bring Back Some Good Memories of The Loved Ones Who Used Them Before You,
Joyce

George's Easy Cheese Cheddar 'n Bacon Hotdogs for Saturday Lunch

Ingredients:

1 package of Kosher Beef hot dogs

1 package of hot dog buns

1 can Easy Cheese Cheddar 'n Bacon Cheese Snack

Mustard

Boil or grill the hot dogs the way you like them. When they are done, place in a bun top with mustard and then with easy cheese. This is my my husband's recipe. Notice that the title is longer the the recipe. You know men, they like it simple. He eats three at the time. He loves these dogs for lunch on Saturdays, and I love making them cause they are quick and easy,.........and soooooo gooood:).

Go for it girls,

I Wish You Love and Husbands Who'll Eat Just About Anything That You Cook!!!!!!!

Joyce Nell

Black Beans From Scratch For Tina

Ingredients:

1 12-14 oz. bag of dried black beans

2 medium size green peppers

2 medium size yellow onions

1 small ham hock

4-6 cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons of oregano

2 teaspoons of cumin

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

2 teaspoons Apple Cider vinegar

2 teaspoons of granulated sugar

The night before you cook the black beans, put them in your pot, rinse them with water once, and then cover them with water to soak overnight. As you can see I forgot to take the picture of the black beans in the bag the night before, oh well, sorry........anyway. The next morning place one seeded and cut in half green pepper, along with 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, and the ham hock in your pot. Bring to boil and cook for 1 hour until the beans soften. If you have to add more water, go ahead. You want the beans covered plus a little more.

I cover my pot like this, turn down the heat to medium and cook for 1 hour.



After the hour is up, test the beans to see if they have softened, not too too soft, there's still more cooking time and the will be just soft enough when you finish.



While the beans are cooking you can dice up your 2 onions, 1 green pepper, and 6 cloves of garlic.

Put enough olive oil in a skillet to cover the bottom.

Add the diced onion and green pepper and for about 5 minutes, and then add the garlic and continue cooking about another 5 minutes.


Pour your trinity into the pot of beans, add 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, and 2 teaspoons of cumin. Add salt and pepper to taste. I add approximately 5 teaspoons of salt, and about 15 turns of my pepper mill.


Cook for another 30 minutes or so. You want the beans to finish cooking and the flavors to blend together. You also want the liquid to thicken a bit, so cook it on medium with the top off. Stir and stir.

Note: Remember the two secret ingredients. Just add 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider vinegar, and 2 teaspoons of sugar, and stir. Add them the last 15 minutes.



Serve on top of white rice or yellow rice, with steak, chicken, pork or fish.



Please keep in mind that I do most of my cooking without measuring cups or spoons, unless it absolutely necessary. So, you can tweak this recipe to your own taste. I know cooks who sautee pork loin chunks in olive oil and then add them to the beans, and it is just delicious. You can double the recipe in order to have enough beans to freeze. One more thing, the beans are always better the second day. So please don't judge me until you are eating them the second time.

I hope you like this recipe and please email me (after the second day, lol) if you have any questions.

I Wish You Love and Good Frijoles Negro,

Mimi J

I Spoke Too Soon, It Did Get Better.........

Another beautiful day!!!! Left me speechless......

Love, Joyce

It Can't Get Any Better Than This....

It is the most gorgeous, beautiful, cool, breezy, blue skied, sunshiny, birds are singin, 73 degrees, might get a little shower later, wonderful day. And, as my Grandma Daisy would say:

"Goodness, Gracious, Alive"!!!!!!!

Just a FANTABULOUS DAY!!!!

I Wish You Love and Beautiful Days,

Joyce

Sunday Morning Cafe Con Leche

This morning I'm doing two of my favorite things. Drinking Cafe Con Leche(coffee with milk) and watching "The Godfather" for the infinite number of times I have watched it and will continue to watch forever and ever.

This is how I make the cafe con leche.


I make expresso in my old reliable Krups expresso machine.

It is old. I've had it probably about ten years, but it makes wonderful expresso. Notice the handle on the little pot is gone.
So when the first drops of expresso start coming out of the expresso machine, I grab a few so I can make the "espumita", (foam) which is about six teaspoons of sugar and maybe a teaspoon of coffee, that I put in this little stainless steel pitcher.



I then whip it with a spoon until is makes a thick paste like this.


When the express is done I pour it into the paste and the foam rises to the top like this.



Then I heat up a cup of milk until it just starts to boil.


I pour the heated milk in a cup.



Add the expresso to the milk.



I add another teaspoon or two of sugar to the cup, depends upon how sweet you like it.


And there you have it. It's sooooo good:).


"Mimi's Cafe Con Leche"



Hope you try it and like it.

I Wish You Love & A Good Cup of Coffee On A Sunday Morning,

Mimi

One More For Ole St. Patty's Day

This was my own little bar.

This is the very LOUD refrigerated semi-truck that was right behind me FULL of Irish beer.

And, here are some of the very happy party goers!!!!!!

This will be my last Irish joke of the year, I promise!!!

One day an Irishman, who had been stranded on a deserted island for over 10 years, saw a speck on the horizon. He thought to himself, "It's certainly not a ship." As the speck got closer and closer, he began to rule out even the possibilities of a small boat or a raft. Suddenly, there strode from the surf a figure clad in a black wet suit. Putting aside the scuba tanks and mask and zipping down the top of the wetsuit stood a drop-dead gorgeous blonde! She walked up to the stunned Irishman and said to him, "Tell me, how long has it been since you've had a good cigar?""Ten years," replied the amazed Irishman. With that, she reached over and unzipped a waterproof pocket on the left sleeve of her wet suit and pulled out a fresh package of cigars and a lighter. He took a cigar, slowly lit it, and took a long drag. "Faith and begorrah," said the castaway, "That is so good! I'd almost forgotten how great a smoke can be!

And how long has it been since you've had a drop of good Jameson's Irish Whiskey?" asked the blonde. Trembling, the castaway replied, "Ten years." Hearing that, the blonde reached over to her right sleeve, unzipped a pocket there and removed a flask and handed it to him. He opened the flask and took a long drink. "Tis nectar of the gods!"shouted the Irishman. "'Tis truly fantastic!!!"

At this point, the gorgeous blonde started to slowly unzip the long front of her wet suit, right down the middle. She looked at the trembling man and asked, "And how long has it been since you played around?" With tears in his eyes, the Irishman fell to his knees and sobbed, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Don't tell me that you've got golf clubs in there too!"

So, from one 1/4 Irish woman to many others,

CHEERS!

&

I Wish You Love and A Lot Of Luck,

Joyce Nell

Special thanks to Lilly at fastbartending.com for making it all possible.