A to Z

Arlee Bird wrote a blog this week about the A to Z Challenge basically saying people who say they don’t have time to do the A to Z really do have it because it only takes a few minutes to write a simple blog post. He demonstrated by doing A for Apple. I do tend to agree with him. I write a blog every day except Sunday and it really doesn’t take that long to do it. Unless you have a very complicated blog like that of Alex J. Cavenaugh, but for the A to Z Challenge you really don’t have to be that complicated. You don’t even have to have a theme, I didn’t my first year, but merely to write a relatively short post which reflects the letter of the day. Some people go to heaps of trouble with their Challenge posts, but you don’t have to. The whole point is to have fun and to make new friends by visiting those others on the list. If you wonder who they are, click on the A to Z badge on the right and it will take you to the sign up list. (As a matter of interest, it took me half an hour to write this because I had to look up links for other blogs).

It all starts tomorrow, but you can jump in any time, I did, my first year, in fact I’m not sure anyone knew I was taking part. I discovered the challenge on Sia McKye’s blog Sia McKye Over Coffee decided I liked the sound of it and started posting for the Challenge. I write a lot of food oriented blogs and usually post a recipe so, surprise, surprise, this year I am writing about a food and then posting a recipe using that food. This stemmed from a comment made by Alex J. Cavenaugh (The Ninja Captain) last year.

This is a recipe I will be making this weekend. I need stuffing mushrooms, i.e. large ones. I was in the store today and didn’t see any in passing. If they don’t have them later in the week, I will use portobello mushrooms instead.

Vegetable Stuffed Mushrooms


12 large mushrooms
1 Tbs unsalted butter
5 green onions, chopped fine
1 med size stalk celery, chopped
1 small ripe tomato, cored and chopped
1/2 tsp dried marjoram, crumbled
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup soft white breadcrumbs

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the mushrooms and twist off the stems; set the caps aside and mince the stems.
2. In a heavy 10 inch skillet, melt the butter over moderate heat; add th green onions, celery and mushroom stems and cook, uncovered, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft - about 5 mins. Add the tomato, marjoram and pepper and cook covered, 5 mins longer. Stir in the breadcrumbs and remove the skillet from the heat.
3. Spoon the mixture into the caps, mounding it up slightly. Ina lightly greased 13"x9"x2" baking pan, arrange the mushrooms in one layer. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until lightly browned

Servings: 4

Have a great day, see you at the A to Z