April's Goodbye BBQ

As I've mentioned before in the past two blogs, April is off for her MIT (Manager in Training) program in Arizona. She's loving it there! She's climbed a mountain, went to the Grand Canyon, went to a BBQ and is going to Mexico next weekend. She's also eaten at Joe's Crab Shack and she had Afghanie and Thai food! She said she's having the best time of her life and I'm so happy for her.

But I'm going to post these pictures from her goodbye BBQ so she remembers those she left behind and remembers to come back (there's nothing like a mother's guilt trip is there?).

Mmmm, remember Nina's famous potato salad April?

And here's Nina!Oh yeah, thumbs up for this stuff!

Is this all for me???And don't forget your Mommy's pasta salad, you know you wanna come home for more of that!

And your Uncle/Nino Fred's magic touch with steak and chicken?

And c'mon...who wouldn't want to come back home to kiss this little face?

And of course, there's the rest of the girls, who's going to keep them in line?And remember your crazy Nana eating blood oranges? You know no one can make you laugh like she can!See Tia Norma? She's still laughing! And when you come back, bring some floss for your Uncle Fred. I really think he shouldn't be flossing with a steak knife, right?

“Home, the spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest”~

Robert Montgomery

Last Day of my Christmas Vacation

Today is the last day of my Christmas Vacation. Our company graciously gave us the 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th off. It was so wonderful having that much time off at Christmas! We have to work on New Years Eve, but we have the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th off! So next week is going to be very, very busy, but also a very, very short week!!!

So what did I spend my last day of freedom doing? Well I spent it cooking! What?? I know right? Me, cooking on a day off? What was I thinking? But cook I did and I went all out making Meatloaf Pie, click this link to see the recipe. I made two meatloaf pies, a big one for us since my son is having his friend William, who is home from Basic Training in the Army, come over for dinner and a little one to send over to my mom and dad.

I also made Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, which is my daughter's favorite and she had begged me to make it at Christmas and I didn't have time. I haven't made this dish since I was married and that was over 15 years ago. So I hope it comes out. I’m sure it will cause I’m just that good!

Here’s the cast of characters: Butter, Salt, Milk, Onion Powder, Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Flour, Pepper, Cooked Ham and Sliced Potatoes (complete recipe below).

Dice your ham up, however big you want, I like little pieces so you get a little in every bite. You need about three cups.And yep, your eyes do not deceive you, that is one WHOLE stick of butter! Yummy! Hey come on, I make this once every 15 years or so! Surely one whole stick of butter isn't going to kill me!

Once your butter is melted, then you toss in the flour, salt and pepper and stir, stir, stir because before you know it, this stuff can burn. Be sure to turn the heat down. You want to cook this until it's a nice golden color.

Then you take it off the heat and stir in the milk slowly, stirring the whole time. Once the milk is mixed in, then place it back on a low heat, stirring constantly. I prefer using a whisk.At this point in the process I got a little help from William who is home from Army Basic Training. He's been friends with my son since high school. These are his lovely hands helping out so I can take action shots. This is a good one don't you think?And you also add in the ham once the roux is thickened and bubbly! Hey William! Look over here! Give us a smile!There you go, that's the William I know and love, always smiling!

Ok, once you run the boys out of the kitchen, you turn the heat off of the ham/cheese/roux sauce pan and turn your attention to the potatoes. As you can see here, you just slice them into rounds, not to thinly, but thin enough so they cook thoroughly.You then place the potatoes in a bowl such as the one below that was given to me as part of a set by my daughter for Christmas which I totally LOVE! and you pour the ham/cheese/roux over the potatoes. Stir gently with a spoon and you're ready to pour them into your baking dish or bowl. For some odd reason I placed them in a big Pyrex bowl instead of in a baking dish. I think it's because my baking dish is black metal and I prefer glass so I put them in a Pyrex because it's glass...that's just the way my mind works.Here they are in the Pyrex bowl, cover with foil and place in the oven.Set your timer to 30 minutes! After the 30 minutes are up, then you uncover and bake another hour. And here's the finished product. Mmmm, gooey and cheesy and delicious! I love the way they smell. I had forgotten how easy and how good this dish is.Here's a spoonful on the little plates my daughter also gave me for Christmas. See the next post to see the whole set of bowls and dishes she got me!

Beautiful? no? And the crocheted table covering you see under the little plate...I crocheted that! Yep, uh huh, lil ol me! I'm very talented aren't I?
So bake this up, or the meatloaf pie and let me know how you like it, better yet, make it, invite me over and I'll tell you how I like it!

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham (serves 6)
½ cup butter
2 tsp. salt
3 cups milk
1 large onion chopped (or 4 tsp. onion powder)
½ cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
½ cup flour
¼ tsp. pepper
3 cups cooked cubed ham
5 cups sliced potatoes

Heat butter in large sauce pan over low heat. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly (I like using a whisk), for one minute. Remove from Heat and gradually stir in milk. Return to heat, cook til thickened and bubbly.

Fold in ham, onion and cheese. Pour over potatoes in a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Pour into buttered 12 x 9 x 2” baking dish and cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, uncover and continue baking for 1 hour or til browned & bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Turkey and Rice Soup

Earlier today I was talking to one of my favorite underwriters about how our holiday went and so on and she mentioned she was going to go home and make some soup out of her leftover turkey. And I decided to play along and said, "Hey, that's just what I was planning to do!" Then I told her I might just make a turkey potpie instead as I had some pie crusts left from the pumpkin pies and she said, "Oh yum, that sounds good too! I might do that instead."

Then on the drive home I thought, well why not? Why not make some soup?

Well, for started, because I don't have a single vegetable in my house! No wait, I lie, I do have a couple of jalapenos and a bag o'salad, those can be considered veggies right?

So I thought, ok, I'll just go to the store and pickup some carrots and celery and maybe a zucchini squash, but first I called my mom to see if she had some celery because I didn't want to buy the whole big stalk of it. I was in luck! She said she had a whole bunch of celery and bell pepper and onions already diced left over from the stuffing!

So I went and picked it up and figured, I don't need carrots, I'll just use potatoes. And this is what I created!

And I gotta tell ya, it was soooooooo good! Just what I was craving. I added some rice as well and some chili pepper flakes so it was a bit spicy, but not too much. Some carrots would have added some lovely color, but other than that it was perfect!

Turkey Rice Soup *estimated ingredients since I really didn't measure

1/2 onion diced small (I used a yellow onion)

1 cup chopped bell pepper

1 cup celery

1 cup white uncooked rice

1 small can chicken broth

2 cups diced up cooked turkey

1 cup chopped potato

salt and pepper to taste and about 1/4 tsp of chili pepper flakes

2 tsp oil

Pour the 2tsp oil into your pot and add the onion and celery and stir for about 2 minutes then add the bell pepper and the uncooked rice and stir again for another 3 minutes, then add the chicken broth, the chopped potato, salt and pepper and the chili pepper flakes, stir and let come to a boil and toss in the turkey, then just simmer until the veggies and the rice are softened to your personal taste, about 20 minutes or so.

Meatloaf Pie - A dish they serve in Heaven!

Well I did me some cooking again today, but...I didn't take any pictures. At least not during the cooking part, but I did of the finished product.

What I made today is a favorite with both my kids. It's Meatloaf Pie and I've been making this for them since they were grade schoolers. Meatloaf Pie is a meatloaf that you bake in a round pan and has the mashed potatoes on top so when you slice it, it looks like a slice of pie. The mashed potatoes look like frosting or meringue and the meatloaf is the pie part.

Through the magic of the Internet, here's photos of all the ingredients. The recipe is posted below.

You'll need some ground beef. I made two meatloaf pies. One to keep here for me and Jim (my son) and I sent one to my mom and dad's house that they will share with my daughter April (although truth be told, they may have to fight April just to get some for themselves!) So I had quite a bit of ground beef, but the recipe below will make on nice size pie.

Then you'll need breadcrumbs and eggs. These are the exact brand and style of breadcrumbs I used today.

Then you need catsup or ketchup, however you most prefer to spell it, I'm not judging! and some garlic and onion powder and salt and peppa!

You mix all those goodies up together. You can use real onions instead of the powder, but I live in a family of finicky eaters who won't eat anything with onion, or anything with green in it either! If I had my way, I would also add bell peppers, fresh tomatoes and maybe some canned corn to this recipe, you could try it that way.

Anyway, you also need to make some mashed potatoes. Just make them anyway you like your mashed potatoes. In our family we make them with butter, salt and pepper and mayonnaise and milk.

Now the secret...are you ready? Are you listening, cuz this is the secret ingredient that makes this recipe and your potatoes special. It's shredded cheese! Yep, I kid you not, shredded cheese. Mmmmmmmmm it makes those mashed taters just ooey and gooey and yummy. I usually use medium sharp cheddar cheese, but I guess you could use any kind. I didn't put a picture of shredded cheese on here because I'm trying to finish this so I can go have a piece of meatloaf pie, just don't forget to add the shredded cheese. Then put those taters aside and try to keep from eating them all until the meatloaf is cooked.

Ok...so here is the end result. I wanted to take a picture of the whole pie, but my son Jim couldn't wait and he tore into it while I was napping. You're probably saying, "OMG look at all that grease!" Well I admit it's a little bit of grease from the meat as I didn't use the super lean ground beef cause it doesn't have as much flavor, but mostly that's ketchup blood there and that's not bad for you ! And I only make this like 3 or 4 times a year, so it's not gonna kill ya!

I took a bunch of pictures of it because it just seemed like the heaven's opened up and shined brightly upon my meatloaf pie. I could almost hear choirs of angel's singing in joy! Oh, and as a sidenote, my mom gave me the pan I make this pie in a long, long time ago and I've always used it and think of her everytime I do.

And here's pictures of it sliced and again the sun is shining down in joy on my meatloaf pie and all is right and good in the world! Also, this stuff is awesome the next day as a sandwich. I just slice it real thin and heat it up and then put it on bread...mmmmm.

And so here's the recipe. I posted this on my family's website a couple of years ago and a couple of cousins in Arizona did actually try it and they said it was really good. Next weekend I want to try to make Biscocho's and this time I will take pics.

MEATLOAF PIE

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup crushed bread crumbs

1 egg beaten

1/2 c. onions chopped finely, but again if you have a finicky eater, you can use 2 tsp. onion powder instead

1/2 cup catsup

1/8 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Salt to taste

**** Pie topping****

Prepare 3 cups mashed potatoes your usual way.

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients, pat into round pie or cake pan or even a square cake pan will work. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes, remove from oven and drain any fat.

Combine 3 cups hot mashed potatoes with 3/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese. Spread over top of the meatloaf, top with another 1/4 c. shredded cheese and bake another 20 minutes then serve.

Oh...........and the reason I said they serve this in heaven is because when Jim finished he said, "Mom, I bet they serve this in heaven." I swear, it's that good and all kids will like it!

Good Eats Tonight!

OMG, OMG, OMG! I made the best meal ever tonight for dinner. Now I know that by the standards of all those wonderful cooks on the blogs I love to read; my dinner tonight would be like a frozen tv dinner, but for me...wow, it was exquisite!

The sad thing is I didn't take any pictures. It's really hard to take pictures because the only time I have time to cook is around 6pm and there isn't good light in my kitchen. But anyway, I made my normal baked chicken, that wasn't a big deal because I knew how good that was already, mmmmm. I just bake boneless, skinless breast of chicken that has been seasoned with Lawry's seasoning salt, onion powder and garlic powder on both sides, for one hour at 350 degrees. After baking I let it sit in their little foil house, oh yeah, I wrap them all in foil so they are covered and just bake them and let simmer in their own little juices! Once they cool off enough to handle I cut them and shred them up a bit into bite size pieces.

The great part was the potatoes I made. They're from a recipe from Rachael Ray that I watched while I was home recuperating. I actually wrote a post on it already on August 28th. A video is also posted. So you take baby red potatoes, cut them in half, drizzle them with EVOO, salt and pepper them and then lovely caress and massage them and bake them in an oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. OMG, they are heavenly, I could eat a whole bag of them, but actually I got full after 3 of them.

I also tried the green beans roasted this way but found I didn't like them much. I may have to search for another recipe for the ones I have left. I want them to taste like the ones Panda Express serves. Those are crunchy and nutty tasting.

And I also tried making the apple sauce, but I didn't have McIntosh apples, I only had some Red Delicious and they were kind of old and soft so that's why I don't think they got mushy, but they were still really good. Had a nice bite to them and since I didn't have any brown sugar, I just used regular sugar and cinnamon and plain old apple juice, about a cup to the 3 apples I used. I just simmered them for as long as it took to bake the chicken and it was really good. I would love to put them on vanilla ice cream.

So now I'm a happy duckie and since my kitchen is all clean and my fav show HOUSE is over. I'm gonna go wash my face and brush my teethies and read a bit before bed.