We gave Debbie a knife...

Grandma's Buttermilk Pancakes with Peanut Butter Sauce

I found this recipe in mom's old green cookbook, The Encyclopedia of Cooking (copyright 1947).  Remember how, when we were kids, it was held together with that "green tape" dad used to get from Pressed Steel Tank Co.?  Well, several years ago, Greg had to put duct tape over the "green tape."  Sad to say, duct tape can't hold a candle to the green tape.....

But I digress.  Matthew LOVES these pancakes.  But my problem is I can't use up a full carton of buttermilk before it goes bad.  It just kills me to have to throw a half carton down the drain every few weeks.  So, now I'm using (gulp) buttermilk powder.  But it works.  And I'm OK with that.

I mix up about 8 packages of dry mix at a time.  Then, on Saturday or Sunday morning, its a breeze to put together. 

For each batch, you need:

1 cup flour (The old green book says to sift three times.  Right.  Like THAT'S gonna happen)
2 teaspoons baking powder (greenie says "double acting" but nowadays its all double acting)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (I use kosher)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 Tablespoons buttermilk powder, if you're not using regular buttermilk

Mix all that up.  Mix it well or the buttermilk powder gets cakey and hard to mix in later.  I mixed it up in baggies.  The one container of buttermilk powder gives you 8 batches. (Each batch will make 6-8 8-inch pancakes)

OK, now, if you're using the dreaded powder, simply mix up 1 cup water and 1 beaten egg.  Add that to your dry ingredients in a bowl, pour over a half stick of melted BUTTER (not that nasty margarine stuff), and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. 

If you're using real buttermilk, do the same, but omit water and substitute 1 cup buttermilk.

Sometimes, I find this a little on the "too thick" side, so I add a few tablespoons of regular milk.  Kinda depends on the humidity level that day. 

Now, just go away.  I mean it.  Don't touch it.  Don't stir it.  Don't even look at it for 20 minutes.  Go start the laundry.  Read the paper (does anyone get the newspaper anymore?).  Watch SpongeBob.  Keep changing channels 'til you find him.  SpongeBob is ALWAYS on.  Its an FCC regulation. 

This will let all those wonderful little bubbles form.  You need those bubbles.

Now, (and this is IMPORTANT), you must cook these on a preheated, well-seasoned, cast iron frying pan.  Preheat it during SpongeBob.  If you do not use cast iron, Grandma Koszuth will come back and haunt you, and you don't want that to happen.  Trust me.

I always use just a teeny weeny bit of butter for frying these up. 

This a 'lunch' sized plate,

lest you think I'm making pancakes that are larger than my head.

Sometimes, if I'm really creative, I make bears, aliens, etc. out of the batter.  Matthew loves them.  He ate them before I could take a picture of them.  Which is probably good.  I'm not that artistic.

Oh, and don't forget the peanut butter sauce! 

2 Tbls. creamy peanut butter
1 Tbl. real butter
1 Tbl. honey

These measurements are only estimates.  I never measure.  I just eyeball it to where I've used about twice as much PB to butter and honey.  Microwave on high in 20 to 30 second bursts, stirring between each one,  just to warm things up enough to combine them.  Don't boil!  This will keep in the 'fridge forever.  Just rewarm as you need it.

I like to use syrup AND peanut butter sauce together.  Killer. 

Try warmed PBS and chocolate syrup on ice cream sometime.  You can thank me later....

Bon Apetit!

Pumpkin Dump Cake

This is another really easy recipe that you can use for a holiday potluck or gathering.

Preheat oven to 350 (325 if using a glass dish).  Grease a 13 x 9.

In a large bowl, mix together:

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup evaporated (NOT sweetened condensed) milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
   (or 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice instead)
1 16 oz. can pumpkin puree (or 2 cups of Judy's home made pumpkin, well drained)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt

Pour all of this into your prepared pan.

Sprinkle a dry yellow cake mix evenly over the top of this.

Melt 2 sticks of REAL butter (don't be tempted to cheat and use that horrid margarine junk -- I won't know, but the cake will).  As evenly as you can, pour over the top of the cake mix.

Bake for 1 hour.

What you end up with is this wonderful gooey pumpkin custard, topped with a crust that's not too over-the-top sweet. 

This MUST be served with whipped cream or cool whip, and its best slightly warm.

The first time I made this, it was too greasy.  I made it the exact same way the second time, and it wasn't greasy at all.  I can't account for the difference.

But its really easy and really good. 

Bon Apetit!

Chili!

I make a rather unusual chili.  But people who have tried it really like it.  So, I'll share my recipe here.  I make it in the crockpot, so its super simple.

The spice mix for 1 batch is:
2 teaspoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pepper

I usually mix up a large batch in a jar.  Then, when I need it, I add 2 to 3 Tablespoons to my recipe.

You also need 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 15 ounce can black beans, undrained
1/2 cup very strong black coffee
2 Tablespoons Masa Harina (corn flour) or corn meal

Brown your ground beef in a skillet with the onions and garlic (can be done ahead and refrigerated or frozen)

Throw the beef mixture in the crock pot.  Add the spices, the tomato sauce, and the black beans.  Stir in the coffee (This is optional.  I don't drink coffee, so I rarely have any.  But its a good addition if you do.)

Cook on low 8 hours or so.  About a half hour before serving, stir in the masa or corn meal.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and diced raw onion.  I also serve this with Tostitos Scoops, and no one even dirties a spoon!

Before:

After:

This was a double batch I made for Bunco, so I used my 6 quart slow cooker.  Its really an over achiever, and I almost burned this.  Usually I use my 3 quart for a regular-sized batch. 

 
Bon Apetit!

Easy (Bake) Does It

Santa brought us an Easy Bake Oven last year for Christmas.  Matthew loves to help out in the kitchen (he's a real Koszuth!).  My gripe with the EBO is that the mixes for it cost a fortune, and they taste really crappy.  As far as cakes go, I think I've solved that problem. 

I took an entire regular cake mix, put it in my food processor, and added 1/3 cup of solid shortening (Crisco).  I whirled that around until it was like coarse meal.  This acts as the oil in a regularly-baked box mix.  Then, I packaged them up in 1/4 cup portions, using those wonderful little "snack size" ziplocks.

As long as I was getting the food processor dirty, I did chocolate, strawberry, yellow and "funfetti."  These will keep as long as regular cake mix will.  For Matthew this is about a year's supply.

Remember, before you can do any "light bulb cooking" you must preheat the stupid thing for AT LEAST 15 minutes.

Do that now.  I'll wait.

When the youngun is ready to bake, take 1 egg, and beat it up with a scant 1/4 cup of water.

This is enough to do 3 of the mixes.

Next, make HIM grease the pans, because you had a mean older sister who, when you baked as kids, would ONLY let you grease the pans, and never let you do anything fun.  Like run the mixer.  Or add the chocolate chips.  Not that you harbor any resentment or anything, and you've really gotten over it.  I mean, for God's sake, your (almost) 49 already! 

Where was I?

Oh, yeah,

He's greasing the pans.  Then, lightly flour them, like you would a regular cake.  (In order to save your freshly washed floors, you may want to do this part.)  I found this is critical to getting the cake out of the pan later.

Add a scant 2 tablespoons of the egg/water mixture to the mix in a bowl, and let him use his "Whiskey" to stir it all up.

Let him pour it into the prepared pan.  Make sure the pan is no more than half full, our you'll be cursing later.  Trust me.  The worst thing for an EBO is an over-filled pan.  Help him put it in the oven, and set the cute timer Santa brought last year for 15 minutes.  

Then, every 30 seconds, answer his question with,  "Not yet!  A few more minutes!"

Make him wash his dishes.

Rewash his dishes because he only got about half the crud off.

Throw your kitchen towel into the laundry because he dried them after he "washed" them.

Help remove the cake from the oven to avoid a trip to the ER with 3rd degree burns.  You don't want to answer all those questions from DFS either. 

Let them cool 2 minutes, then invert, remove from the pan and let cool completely.   Then frost.  Yes, we used canned frosting.  I'm OK with that. 

Please don't report me to the frosting police.

I'm not sure what we were celebrating.  But it was fun.  I guess we were celebrating the first cold, rainy, fall day that we were stuck inside, so had time to bake!

A picture really is worth a thousand words.

Enjoy!

P.S.  The really nice thing about this?  There's not a whole entire cake sitting around  calling your name, making you eat it!

Mexican Corn Dip

Someone at my office made this for a potluck we recently had.  Its different, but I really liked it.  Super simple:

2 Cans "Mexicorn", drained
3 chopped scallions
1 1/2 cups grated pepperjack cheese
1 cup mayo
dash hot sauce

Mix it all up. Chill.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Roasted Veggie Dip

Another great, easy appetizer that allows you to use up all the junk in your produce drawer that you bought last week, when you decided you were going to starting eating healthier, but then forgot, and ate a cheeseburger instead.

Start by going through that produce drawer.  Keep going.  Deeper.  Deeper.  There's lots in there.  You would just have to throw them out next Saturday anyway.  This is a MUCH better use for them.

In my 'fridge I found zucchini, red peppers, carrots, a few stalks of leftover asperagus, some broccoli, onions and garlic.  You can use whatever you have, but I've found that onions and garlic are essential for this recipe to work.

You will also need a block (or two -- see below) of cream cheese and a dried herb spice mix (I use the Penzey's Green Goddess Dressing Base).

Preheat your oven to 425.

Chop up those veggies into about 2" pieces.  Just make sure they're uniform, so they all roast at the same rate.  Then sprinkle with olive or canola oil (I like neutral oils), and salt and pepper.  Mix it all up on a cookie sheet:

Roast 25 to35 minutes stirring once about halfway.  You want them to have some good caramelization.  I took a pic halfway through:

and then forgot to take another when they were done.  But, you get the idea.

Let them cool, then transfer to your food processor.  Pulverize until its a very ugly paste.

I don't think I need to describe what this looks like.  But we're all thinking the same thing.  Trust me, it gets better.

Add your cream cheese and 2 to 3 Tablespoons (yes, tablespoons) of the herbs.  Give it all another ride.  (I was making this for an office potluck, and had so many veggies that I ended up using 2 blocks of cream cheese.)

Transfer to a bowl and chill at least 4 hours.  But I think its better if it chills out overnight.  Serve with tortilla chips or your favorite crackers.

Bon Apetit!

Gonna try this on Turkey Day

Okay, I read the review and some said to decrease the butter by 1/2 cup and add more sour cream, that's what I'm gonna do...

Baked Corn
Rated:

Submitted By: Rhonda Mellott
Photo By: Truffles
Servings: 11



"This old southern recipe goes well with all kinds of meals. Especially at the holidays. It is always requested at all the holiday meals, and there is never any left! This is a very easy recipe to prepare. Originally submitted to ThanksgivingRecipe.com."
Ingredients:
1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn
1 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn
1/2 cup sour cream 1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs
1 (12 ounce) package corn muffin mix

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Combine the whole-kernel corn, cream-style corn, sour cream, melted butter or margarine, beaten eggs and corn muffin mix. Mix well and pour into one 9x13 inch baking pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 11/14/2010

Spicy Bacon Ranch Pinwheels

These are a really quick, easy appetizer.  You need

1 package crescent rolls

Grated Cheddar Cheese (or any kind you like)

Spicy Ranch dressing

Crispy crumbled bacon

Finely chopped Green onions (which I forgot to buy but I bet they'd be great in this recipe!)

By the way, where would society be if Crescent roll dough had not been invented???  If the Nazis would have had it, they'd have won the war & we'd all be speaking German today!

Lay out your crescent roll dough into two rectangles, and pinch the seams together.

Next, brush on about 2 - 3 Tbls. of the dressing onto each one

Sprinkle on about a 1/4 cup each of cheese and bacon, and about 2 chopped green onions, assuming you remembered to buy them.

Do NOT roll up from the long side:

(This is wrong!)

Roll up this way (from the short side):

With a serrated knife, use a sawing motion to cut each one into 8 pieces.  Lay out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 13 to 17 minutes, until golden brown. 

Serve warm or at room temp.  Cold bacon is just nasty.

This is a fun link!

http://oldrecipebook.com/

Sweet Indian Pudding

3 cups milk
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1 beaten egg (I put in 2)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons buter
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

In saucepan, combine the milk and molasses: stir in cornmeal. Cook and stir till thick, about 1 minutes. Remove from heat. Combine egg, sugar, butter, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Gradually stir in hot cornmeal mixture. Bake, uncovered in a 1-quart casserole at 300 degrees about 1 1/2 hours. Serves 6

Another version:

Indian Pudding

Make as above EXCEPT omit egg and sugar. Bake 1 hour at 300 degrees.

Cranberry Apple Salad

Easy, refreshing, and crunchy but yet has all those Turkey Day Flavors!

(easy to double/triple/quadruple)

1- 16 oz. can whole berry cranberry sauce
2 med apples, unpeeled but cored and diced
1 rib celery, thinly sliced
1/2 cup, toasted, chopped walnuts

In a bowl, combine the first three ingredients. Cover and refrigerate. Stir in walnuts just before serving.

Judy's Carrot Cake

I think we're all in agreement that this is THE BEST CARROT CAKE EVER!  I've copied and pasted Judy's recipe from the other blog, mainly for my own convenience.  We're having a potluck lunch at work next week, and I've been making many grand promises.  I even got 10 inch pans specifically for this cake.  Here's a question:  Will Grandma Koszuth come back and haunt me if I used store-bought cream cheese icing? 

Here's Judy's original post:

2 - 10 inch round layers


6 cups grated carrots
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup raisins
4 eggs
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a medium bowl, combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes, then stir in raisins.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 10-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until light. Gradually beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the pineapple. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Finally stir in the carrot mixture and the walnuts. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.

Bake for 45-55 minutes in the preheated oven or until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter softened
7 cups powdered sugar
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
splash of orange extract~optional

Cream the softened butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla and optional orange extract. Add the sugar a little at a time blending well. Frost the cake when smooth, then CAREFULLY put it in a box and send it to me as I’m hungry just typing this.......

--------------------------

Update 11/13/2010
I made this cake (pics below), and it was really good, but some the carrots turned GREEN in the cake!  Why?  Beats me.  Was it because I purchased pre-grated carrots and they're probably chemically infused?  Was is a reaction between that and the pineapple (acidity?).  The world may never know.  Here's my pics:

I was doing about 37 things at once, so I forgot to take a lot of pictures.  But, its a really good cake, green carrots and all......

Let's Talk Turkey

OK kids, believe it or not, Turkey Day is just around the corner.  I think the reason I love Thanksgiving is because its all about the food, and you don't have the added pressure of gifts and decorations.  I've been making dinner for the Skibinski clan for about the past 15 years, and I really love doing it.  They're coming again this year, and I'm looking forward to cooking again.

So, what are you making this year?  I need some new ideas for sides.  I seem to make the same old thing year after year.  They're good, but getting a bit monotonous.  Last year I tried mixing it up a bit, but had a few disastrous results (Don't, I repeat DON'T serve brussels sprouts to houseguests who have also been drinking beer non stop for the past 36 hours unless you also have the little green pills in serving dishes right on the table!).

I have been making the same turkey recipe for the past 6 years or so, and I don't plan to mess with that.  Its foolproof.  The best, juciest white meat you will ever eat.  I'm not going to print the whole recipe, as its Alton Brown's Good Eats Roast Turkey from Food Network.  You can get it here.  Try it.  You won't be sorry.  I brine it in my large stock pot  and begin brining before I go to bed.  I usually get a 12 to 14 pounder, and it cooks up in about 2 1/2 hours.  (Don't forget to make your own candied ginger!)

However, this does not solve my side dish problem.  The saffron butternut squash risotto was also a disaster last year, mainly due to timing issues.  Its a really good recipe, but risotto is a dish you probably need to save to be the centerpiece of a meal.  Too labor intensive when you're trying to get the rest of the meal on the table. 

Anyways, HELP!  I need some new ideas!  Lets get cooking!

Bon Apetit!

Ann

IT WORKS!!!

Hey!  I tried the "recipe search" feature over on the right side & it really worked!  I typed in "pumpkin" and got Judy's recipes for pumpkin and pumkin cookies and my post with the 100 pumpkin recipes!  I'm so excited!  (OK, I don't get out much!)

Great Pumpkin Cookies

Taken of course from the Peanuts Cookbook~which we had as kids and I was lucky enough to find again at a rummage a few years ago!

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butte (or shortening)
2 eggs
16 oz. canned pumkin (or fresh prepared!)
2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 TABLESPOON baking powder
1 1/2 teas. cinnamon
3/4 teas. nutmeg
1/2 teas. salt
1/2 teas. ginger
1 cup raisins (or more if you like!)
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 400. Mix sugar, butter, eggs and pumpkin thoroughly in a large bowl. Sift dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Blend well. Add raisins and pecans. Drop batter by teaspoonsful on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and liff off with a pancake turner. Makes about 6 dozen. It's a great snack while you're waiting for the 'Great Pumpkin'.

Fry Bread

Now know that Ann doesn't like it but my family does and tonight Leah helped make it! My favorite mix is: Wooden Knife (www.woodenknife.com) but here are 2 other recipes. I've made them both and like them.

Basically you make the dough:



Then you pull it flat (or you can roll it, but it's fry bread and suppsed to look funky) and drop it into hot oil:







Then get it to the table and try to get yourself there quick so you actually get some!


The easy recipe:

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups warm water

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add warm water and knead until dough is soft but not sticky (depending on the say, you might have to add a little more flour). Let rest for 10 minutes. Stretch and pat dough until thin. Tear off one pice at time, you can poke a hole in the middle and drop into a pan of hot oil or lard. Brown on both sides. Serve hot or warm. You can top it with butter, honey, jam, syrup or use as a base for a sandwich. Or lightly salt it and eat plain!


Navajo Fry Bread (this has dry milk powder so it's a little richer)

(makes roughly 3- 8" rounds or as many blobs as you want)

2 cups flour
1/2 cup dry milk solids (powder)
2 teasppons double acting baking powder
1/2 teas. salt
2 tablespoons lard or vegetable shortening
1/2 cup water

Combine the dry ingredeints in a deep bowl. Add the 2 tablespoons lard/shortening and, with your fingers, rub the flour and fat together until the mixture resembles flakes of course meal. Pour in the water and toss the ingredients together until the dough can be gathered into a ball. Drape the bowl with a towel and let the dough rest for about 2 hours.
After the resting period, cut the dough into three equal pieces. The, on a lightly floured board, roll each piece into a rough circle about 8" in diameter and 1/4" thick. With a small knife, cut two 4-5" long parallel slits completely through the dough down the center, spacing the slits about 1" apart.
Heat the oil or lard until very hot but not smoking (about 1"deep) Fry the breads one at a time about 2 minutes on each side until puffed, crispy and browned. Drain on paper towels and serve warm.

Its Pumpkin Time

OK, now that we've all gone and cooked our own pumpkin, like Judy says to, its time to figure out what to do with it all.

I don't know about you, but I'm really not all that crazy about pumkin pie.  However, I like pumpkin flavor in a lot of other stuff.  This weekend, I made "pumpkin cake."  I took a yellow cake mix, prepared according to the directions.  While mixing, I added a can of pumpkin (about 2 cups) and about 2 tsps. of pumpkin pie spice.  Super simple, super easy.  Great with cream cheese icing.

To get you started on your way, here's 100 ways to cook with pumpkin, courtesy of EndlessSimmer.com

Since there's so many, if you make some, come back here & let us know how it turned out!

Bon Apetit!

Chicken Normandy

This recipe came from Simply Recipes, which I tweaked a little, where indicated.  It was wonderful.  Make this now.  It will make you very happy.  I promise.

It was so good I forgot to take pictures.  Then it was gone.  All gone. 

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp butter (always a good way to start)

2 cooking apples (I used Granny Smith), cored and sliced into wedges (I left the peel on, but you don't have to.)
8 chicken thighs (These are really cheap, so that's why I used them, but you could use any type of chicken you want.  This is America, after all)

6 slices of bacon, diced (This was Matthew's suggestion, not in the original recipe.  Brought a tear to my eye.  That's my boy!)

Salt & pepper

1 large onion, peeled, sliced

1/2 cup brandy (apple brandy or Calvados if you have it -- I didn't)  (And, you could totally skip this and just use a little more cider).

1 cup apple cider (the cloudy type) (The recipe called for 2 cups, but I thought that was too much)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 cup heavy cream cream

Directions:

1. Sprinkle salt over the chicken pieces and let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Heat 2 Tbsp of the butter in a large, oven-proof sauté pan over medium heat. Add the apple slices and sauté until they turn a little brown around the edges, turning occasionally. Sprinkle the apple slices with a little salt. Set aside on paper towels to drain.

3. Place the chicken pieces in the sauté pan, skin side down. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter. Fry until golden, about 3-5 minutes on medium to medium-high heat on each side. Remove from pan and set aside.  (Here's where I cheated.  I actually grilled my chicken the day before, and warmed it in the over while I made the sauce).

4. Increase the heat to medium-high.  Saute the diced bacon until a little crispy.  (I used the pre-cooked, so there wasn't a lot of grease.  If you're using raw bacon, you may need to take out some of the grease). Add the onions in an even layer to cover the pan.  Sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, until they just begin to brown, about 5-8 minutes.

5. Add the brandy to the pan, if using. Using a wooden spoon, scrape any remaining browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Let the brandy boil until it has reduced by about half. Add the cider and bring it to a boil.

6. Sprinkle in the thyme. Add just a pinch of salt to the cider. Arrange the chicken in the pan so the skin faces up and is not submerged by the cider-brandy mixture. Place in the oven and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.  (Unless you used my method.  Then just place the warmed pieces into the sauce and let simmer for a few minutes.)

7. Remove the pan from the oven. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and set aside. Place the pan back on a stovetop burner on high heat. Add the apples and boil down the sauce by half.

8. When the sauce reduces to the point where it's a little syrupy, add the cream and turn down the heat. Taste for salt and add some if needed.

To serve, spoon some apples and onions on the plate, top with sauce and a piece of chicken.
Serves 4.

Did I mention how good this was?  I think I liked the last of the sauce off the plate.
 
Bon Apetit!

Anyone else having problems?

This @#!$@ thing won't let me sign in for purposes of leaving comments.  Anyone else having this problem?

The BEST Apple Crisp

Mom used to make this and it's the only one I would kill for~others are okay but this one is YUMOLA!

Thank You Betty Crocker!

4-5 cups sliced, pared, and cored baking apples of your choice (about 6 medium)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 nutmeg
1/3 cup soft butter

Heat oven to 375 (quick mod. according to Betty, whatever THAT is!). Place sliced appls in greased square pan, 8x8x2" or a baking dish, 10x6x1 1/2" or 1 1/2 qt. baking dish. Blend remaining ingredients until mixture is crumbly. Spread over apples. Bake 30-35 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown. Serve warm with cream, ice cream or whipped cream.

Okay, that's the recipe but what I do is fill the bottom of a 9x13" pan with apples about 2" deep. Then I double the toppping recipe and bake as above. I usually eat it right out of the pan too. Why get a plate dirty! And sometimes I even tell the kids that I made it too!

Bon Apetite!

Don't Try This At Home

Originally scheduled for this spot was a beautiful photo array of how to make creamy cauliflower and leek soup.

I cut up a whole cauliflower, 3 leeks (white part only) and put it in my crock pot with home made chicken stock, & lots of salt & pepper.  I cooked it on low overnight, planning to puree it this morning, add heavy cream and spices (hot sauce, nutmeg & cumin) and take it for my lunch today.

About 5 a.m., I awoke to the most horrible smell.  Upon entering my kitchen, I saw what looked to be a crock pot full of toxic waste.  Smelled worse.  The leeks were burnt.  The cauliflower was the color of old leather.  Matthew came upstairs and promptly gagged.

Where did I go wrong?  It seemed like such a good idea at the time.......

On a side note, this is an actual quote from Matthew Tuesday night in the produce aisle of the grocery store:  "MOM!  Look! They have bags of broccoli and cauliflower already cut up & mixed together!  Can we get some?"  I thought the old lady at the apple bin was going to have a stroke.  BTW,  he won't eat Twinkies..........

Bon Apetit!

How to 'make pumpkin' for pie

Okay, here's what we did:

1) Went to get pumpkins~both for pie and for carving, after all, Halloween is coming very soon!




Then we took them home, washed the pie pumpkins, cut them in half and seeded them.









We then baked them at 350 for between 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes depending on the size. We could tell when they were done whn a knife poked in them went in easily. We then let them cool, and with spoons, scooped out the guts and put them in a bowl. Then we mashed them with the hand mixer till they were smooth.






The last step was to put them through a sieve or in our case this strainer to drain the excess moisture out.

As most recipes call for 2 cup measures of pumpkin, we put them, in 2 cup increments, in freezer bags and froze. Haven't had time to actually make a pie but we'll add it to the comments when we do and let you know how it worked out!

Grandma's Picture

I was just looking at Grandma's Picture and it struck me as to why I think it's so cool... Dad got low to take it so it's the same perspective we had as children...

BTW. The pic. was taken in Arizona at Nick Vishnicks lair. Circa 1956... I wonder if they......?

I don't want to know...

Invitations

I've sent two invitations to be a contributor to Lynn, Trudy Drews, Counsin Steven K, Jeanette, Mary (Anthony's widow), and anyone else Andy & Judy sent me addys to invite.  None of them have responded.  If any of you want another invite in order to contribute to the blog, just let me know & I'll re-send. 

a recipe

I am seriously trying to post a recipe for pudgie pies, complete with pics but an having a hack of time trying to get the pics in order with what I"m typing. It may or may not happen. I'm finding this very frustrating~any suggestions? When I upload the pic, all I get is a bunch of writing so I can't tell which pic is which.

I'm such a dork

Eating Bear

So like we ate Bear Meat tonight. I'm very pleased to report that it is not "Gamy" at all. It was like eating "Sweet Beef". It has to be cooked "well Done" because Bear are Omnivores. I grillled marinated loin chops and Ground Bear (Italian sausage) Patties. Everything was delicious...

I spent the last 2 evenings butchering my Bear. I have 4 Roasts, Probably 10 bags of "Steak Medalions", 14 1.25 lb. bags of lean ground Bear for burgers and Spaghetti/ chili etc. 4 bags of Ribs, 1 Neck Roast.

There is probably 20 lbs. of Bear fat that We will render into Lard. I'm told that bear Lard is the "Best". One of the guys I was hunting with is a Chef and he collected 3 5 gal. pails of Bear fat to use to make Pie Crusts... Each pail weighed 35 lbs.

If I am successful making "Bear Lard" I will use it in place of Crisco and cooking oil til it's gone. According to the inter web, Bear Lard is very high in Vitamin D... I wonder what Grandma K. used to use?

It pleases me greatly to be able to use all aspects of this resource, as living in the 21st. century has so many restrictions on the use of all of the resources we have been given by Our Lord...

sincerely,

andy

My Eazy Pleazy Pizza!

First: you need to call you local pizza place! It may be difficult if you don't have the number stored in your phone, then you have to use this big yellow book, and look up the number before you can call. Your friend, child or significant other will have to take a cheesy photo of you so you can post it on the blog!
Second: To save money you have to put your keys in the ignition of your vehicle and drive to the local pizza restaurant you just ordered from (it saves you money by not having to tip the greasy delivery guy), but if your lazy, they can always bring it to you, usually it's smooshed and luke-warm... picking up is always your best bet for this recipe.

Third: When you get to your local pizza restaurant, you need to ask one of the employees to take a photo so you can post it on your family blog. She will smile and laugh at you but it's all worth it in the end, so your family knows you are trying to make an effort at the family recipe blog.

Last: Take a picture of the last few pieces of pizza to post on the family blog, because you were sooooo hungry that you forgot that you were supposed to take a pic of your family eating the dang thing. :)

Hope everyone enjoys my pizza recipe. I will try to post another recipe in the near future!

Glad I finally was able to figure out how to more than one photo for the post... because this recipe truly needed all the photos, otherwise you may not get the recipe right, LOL!