Category: About Me

Posted in Cookbooks

ManBQue: Meat. Beer. Rock and Roll.

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

ManBQue is the next griller’s Bible for those in their 20s and 30s. Dedicated to meat, beer, and rock n’ roll, it starts with the basics: how to grind, assemble, and grill a perfect burger and how to season, sear, and rest a perfect strip steak. Then it moves on to other staples — perfectly cooked wings, slow-roasted BBQ, and handmade sausages. There are also suggestions for monster sandwiches and mouthwatering tacos. Once you’ve got that under control, it takes on all the weird stuff: the pig tongue and beef hearts, snails and, yes, even salad.

Along the way there are beer pairings, explaining the different styles and the basic principles of putting a bottle with whatever comes off the grill. Not content with simple descriptions, ManBQue worked with craft brew experts to tell you why that IPA goes so well with your lamb burger and which bock you should be dousing your brisket in.

But ManBQue is more than a cookbook, it’s a community; it’s a grilling and lifestyle organization that grew into a global society with thousands of followers. Once a month the members cast aside their daily responsibilities for good food and company. In this spirit, the margins are filled with stories of what you’re eating, which ManBQue member invented it, and how that insanely delicious process occurred. By the end, you too will be shouting “MANBQUE!”

Posted in From My Kitchen

Air Fryer Hot Pockets

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Here’s the deal: Hot pockets are a delicious convenience. Take the handheld cheese-filled bundle, heat it up, and you have a complete meal in under 10 minutes. The bread-like wrap somehow works with every ham and cheddar, bacon, egg, cheese, or copycat pizza combination. I discovered that “pop and fresh” crescent dough sheets minimize efforts; all you have to do is roll. Read on for some tips for how to make hot pockets at home.

Fillings
We’ve chosen a few that are super-easy to make. The separate recipes below create enough filling for 12 hot pockets, but if you want to mix and match, you can adjust the ratios to whatever you’d like. Your call.
– The Buffalo chicken filling is mixed with your favorite Buffalo sauce, broccoli, and cheddar cheese.
– The spinach-artichoke filling is garlicky and cheesy thanks to using both mozzarella and Pecorino. You can use Parmesan too.
– Finally, the pepperoni cheese filling features mozzarella, pepperoni slices, and tomato sauce. A sprinkle of dried oregano gives it that pizza touch. I used a high-quality jar of marinara sauce, but if you want to make your own, we recommend making our easiest tomato sauce.

Types of air fryers
There are a few types of air fryers on the market, so depending on which one you have, the cook time may differ. I tested the hot pockets in a dual air fryer-toaster oven, then in a single basket air fryer. The cook time was longer in the air fryer-toaster oven, but I was able to cook four at a time as opposed to two.

Storage
Hot pockets are best for up to 3 days in the refrigerator after being air fried. You can also reheat them using the air fryer or oven. You can also stuff them and store them uncooked in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

delish!

Find more recipes like this on my companion blog, “Good Food, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!”

Posted in Cookbooks

Quick & Easy Korean Cooking: More Than 70 Everyday Recipes

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

A Gourmet Cookbook of the Month. Learn how to make simple Korean dishes without sacrificing flavor from the James Beard Award–nominated author.

Imagine sitting down to a sumptuous and fragrant dinner of Dumpling Soup with Rice Cakes after a long day of work. And a hot summer afternoon just begs for a picnic basket stocked with Chilled Cucumber Soup, delicate Chicken Skewers with Green Onions, and Seaweed Rice Rolls. Using ingredients that are readily available and techniques already familiar to home cooks, these Korean specialties can easily be dinner any night of the week. With appetizers and snacks, soups and hot pots, side dishes, entrees, rice, noodles, and a whole chapter devoted to kimchi, Quick & Easy Korean Cooking will bring new flavors to the dinner table.

DeeDiDee
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction to Korean Cooking
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
I bought Quick and Easy Korean Cooking on a whim. My mother-in-law is from a town close to Seoul. Her cooking is so delicious and her house is always brimful of tantalizing smells. I wanted an introductory book on Korean cooking just to give me some experience and give me confidence as I cook more and more of the foods my husband grew up with.

Quick and Easy Korean Cooking has been a wise investment for me. The author gives a beginning introduction to ingredients commonly used in Korean cooking and categorizes them as a, b, or c list, depending on how frequently they are used. She also provides a list of equipment frequently used. The chapters then follow as:appetizers and snacks; soups and hot pots; small side dishes; chicken, beef, and pork; fish and shellfish; kimchi and other pickled things; ice; noodles; sweets and drinks; and sauces and other basics. She concludes with lists of menus, mail orders sources for ingredients, and finally books and resources on the foods and culture of Korea. I

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Posted in Daily Thought

Verse of the Day July 10, 2025

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Posted in From My Kitchen

50 Amazing Ways To Make Homemade Ice Cream

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

I scream, you scream, we ALL scream for ice cream, and it’s easy to see why: It’s the perfect dessert whether you’re turning it into a sundae, eating it alongside a fruity cobbler or pie, or enjoying it all on its own (with sprinkles ofc, we’re not monsters). The one issue? Making it at home can be intimidating. We get it, but we’re here to tell you—not only is it completely doable, it’s also SO worth it. From no-churn to completely from scratch, with a few showstopping ice cream cakes thrown in for good measure, we’ve got something here for everyone. Check out our 50 homemade ice cream recipes, then get to scooping!

There are two camps when it comes to homemade ice cream—completely homemade, using milk, eggs, and an ice cream maker; and no-churn, where you combine a little heavy cream with sweetened condensed milk, and freeze. We’ve got a number of recipes here in both categories, each with their own merits. For the former, try our homemade red velvet ice cream, our chocolate ice cream, our peppermint ice cream, or our pumpkin ice cream. For the latter, some of our faves include our mudslide no-churn ice cream, our cookies & cream ice cream, or our cannoli ice cream, but peruse the list and you’ll see—the sky’s really the limit for flavors here. Looking for a fun ice cream project with kids? Our ice cream in a bag or our mason jar ice cream are fun to make and to eat (and are a little educational, to boot).

We’ve also included a few frozen dessert recipes here—while they aren’t ice cream, per se, they’re ice cream-adjacent, so we’re counting them. Our gelato (check out our explainer on it vs. ice cream), sorbet, and granita follow some of the same tenets of ice cream, but with an extra-refreshing twist. Want to turn some of your homemade (or store-bought, we won’t tell) ice cream into something even more spectacular? Check out our copycat Dairy Queen ice cream cake, our baked Alaska, our cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream pie, or our strawberry shortcake ice cream cake for ideas. The best part about these? You can change them up with your favorite flavors and toppings every time you make them!

delish!