Smilin' Jack: Chapter 26 - What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

In the previous post I waxed philosophical saying that fun was where you find it and then wowing everyone with my really deep thinking by adding, wisely, it was also whatever you defined it as.

In other words, I was trying to say that you, essentially, make your own fun. And you do this by what you chose to do with yourself every minute of every day. Then, and this is the neat part, you get the privilege of defining exactly what is fun for you.

That's a powerful statement right there. You, define what fun is for yourself!!

Too many times in my life, I've allowed others to define what my fun was. Oh, I know, that sounds lame but, doggone it, it's true. I've let others influence me and direct me and enable me to do what I thought, at the time, was great fun but, in retrospect, wasn't.

Haha, I'm here to tell you now that one of the beauties of growing old and gnarly is that you finally begin to realize, recognize, and acknowledge certain truths and that you're now of an age and mind that you allow yourself to act on them.

And so, I've learned to find my own fun. It may not be cool with everyone else but, y'know, they don't have to join me. I'm OK.

I remember a Staff Sergeant I met in the Marines. It was when I was in the Devil Pup Program at Camp Pendleton back in '65. So I must have been 15. The Devil Pup Program was a mini-Boot Camp experience for boys who'd gotten in a little bit of trouble and needed a dose of discipline and personal challenge. Who better to give these lessons than the Marines, right?

We were, essentially, treated like Boots. I mean there were push-ups and yelling and marching and the whole nine yards for the Marine experience and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. But it wasn't all Boot Camp. One evening the Staff Sergeant fell us out and announced we'd be going down to the outdoor theater for a movie.

I remember being excited until he announced the movie...it was, Hey, There, it's Yogi Bear!! The groans and the disappointment were loud. We were there to be Bad-Ass Marines and you didn't get to be a Bad-Ass Marine watching Cartoons!!!

The Staff Sergeant looked a bit perplexed and told us to relax. I don't quite remember how he got to his point but I do remember what he said, the point he wanted to make. He told us, this veteran of the Korean War; this decorated combat veteran and, to us, a true, certified and verified Bad-Ass Marine, that he enjoyed cartoons. He said that he still read comic books (and I remember thinking something along the lines of 'WHAT!?!?!?! That can't be true!!!")

But it was and he emphasized that he did what he wanted to do and he didn't really give a hoot what others thought about it. Well, it was a bit more colorful the way he described it but the thought was still the same.

This man, this Marine, defined his 'fun' for himself and didn't let others do it for him.

Oh, here's the original movie poster for this stinker of a movie. Haha, it wasn't good but I, and a bunch of the others as well, enjoyed it. It was just good fun and a way to relax after a week of "Dress Right Dress" and "Hit the %!^!@$ deck, you (#^%@& Maggots!!"

I've always remembered his words although, I admit, I haven't always had the courage he had. But, now, it's there. Now I don't worry so much about what others think of me or what I'm doing. Hahaha, old age, it sucks but it is liberating.

And so now, after all those years, I define my own fun. I enjoy myself. And, besides photography, I'm having fun collecting recipes. And, occasionally, I even make one or two of them. And herein lies the story behind this amazing lead-in.

Haha, after years of microwaving food, I am finally having some fun cooking.

I found this recipe for a Pizza Bread Bowl a while back and the other day I got around to making it.

Here's the picture from the web...what it should look like.

It's interesting, and easy. You take a boule, hollow it out, stuff it with what you like (I followed the recipe this time - next time I'm gonna experiment with the ingredients more) and then put a heavy weight on it to squash it down and give it a more pizza like shape and look. The you pop it in the oven and, viola!! You got yourself some a Pizza Bread Bowl.

OK, here's what the pros did...now let's take a look at what I did.

Their version of the Pizza Bread Bowl.

I made two of them (I still can't figure out why I did that!!) and this is my first one.

It tasted fine but I felt it wasn't squashed enough so I resolved to 'lean' a bit more on the second one.

My version. It's not too far off the mark.

Cut up it looks a bit tastier.

And it was good. I enjoyed it. Next time, though, I'm gonna lighten up on the marinara. Plus I'm gonna use a couple other kinds of meat and skip the basil. I'll figure out some other herbs and spices for the next one.

Here's the second one. Haha, I leaned a bit too much on this one and burst the side in a couple places.

Ah, live and learn.

And eat and laugh.

Not content with just one culinary treat, I decided to try my luck on another recipe today.

These are Amanda's Ham & Cheese Sliders. The picture below was taken from the Internet.

Like the Pizza Bread Bowls, these were easy to make.

Here's what I expect my sliders to look like.

Here's one batch of them. I was letting the butter flavored sauce 'set' a bit before I popped them in the oven. I had two trays of these sliders ready to go.

The best part of them was the sauce. It was made from poppies, mustard, onions, worcestershire sauce and, as I mentioned, butter. That sauce really made these sliders tasty.