There were two major flaws in my product. First of all, I was not impressed with the dry vanilla wafer crumbs. I had not thought about trying to spread a thick layer over the crumbs. It stuck to my crumb mixture. I was not going to let anything that simple get the best of me. I had made two 8 x 8 dishes instead of a large 9 x 13. I intended to be gracious and give one away! I melted the butter which made it easier to spread, but I put all of it on one. So I just mixed up another one for the other dish. I got it spread on, but when it chilled, it was too much butter and was too sweet. This might have been because I am quite conservative with my sugar intake. The fruit mixture on top was quite as I had anticipated. If you are still reading, I would put butter in the wafer crumbs and bake it, use the recipe for the next layer that a lot of desserts call for with cream cheese, powdered sugar and whipped topping. The fruit topping is quite acceptable. How could anything that sounded so simple and delicious have turned out like my endeavor? After such results, I think I felt like Notre Dame’s football team after Alabama got through with them!!
I have been on cloud nine with several compliments about Magic Moments. One was from a male cousin who follows me very closely and said” Max, don’t ever stop!” The other major one was from a lady whom I have never met who lives in Norway! When I was in junior high school her grandfather was engaged to my aunt, who never married. The two were classmates and he came back from the east coast to the reunions. One year his granddaughter came with several family members from Norway but I did not meet them. One day our editor saw me and said that she had an email for me from someone she did not know but she would forward it to me. When my brother Kenny died in 2007 my aunt had mailed her the column that I had written about him. The email address for the paper was in the article. She had lost contact with my aunt because the phone numbers that she had were not in service because she had gone to a nursing home. Her ingenuity prompted her to send a note to that address looking for information about my aunt. She was amazed when she got my reply. My aunt died in December and Siri Anne and I have become email friends, with me sending her my column. It is amazing how I send it in the evening and early the next morning I have a reply back. The technology behind it is indeed a big box of magic! She told me how much she enjoyed just quitting what she should be doing and sitting down and reading my ramblings. She couldn’t believe my promise to stay out of the grocery store and use up what I already had, because she was doing the same thing. She had been eating a lot of Salmon Lasagna. English is not her first language but she does a remarkable job of writing her thoughts and I am so impressed with our connection. Does that make me an international columnist? I can hear my sister saying ,”Oh, don’t you bet on that”!!
I had a few other thoughts but this is taking up too much space so I will save them for next week. That is if I write them down and write a note as to where I put the paper! I have picked out very simple recipes for this week that even I could not spoil. They are both very ordinary combinations that my mother would have cooked for us and like I prepared for my large family. Since for so many years I have just worried about myself, I still am amazed about the years that I prepared three meals a day for eleven people.
GROUND BEEF MACARONI CASSEROLE
1 package (8oz.) elbow macaroni
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (15 oz.) Italian tomato sauce
1 egg
1 can (10 ¾ oz.) cream of chicken soup
1 ½ cups milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Cook macaroni according to package directions. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until no longer ink. Drain fat, stir in tomato sauce. Heat through. Drain macaroni, transfer to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Combine egg, soup, milk, butter and parsley. Pour over macaroni. Spoon beef mixture over top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
SKILLET LASAGNA
¾ pound ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14 ½ oz.) diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, garlic
2 jars (14 oz. each) spaghetti sauce
2/3 cup cream of onion soup, undiluted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ¼ cups cottage cheese
¾ teaspoon Italian seasoning
9 no-cook lasagna noodles
½ cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Cook beef and garlic over medium heat. Drain. Stir in tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Heat through. Transfer to bowl. Combine cottage cheese, soup, eggs and Italian seasoning. Return 1 cup of meat sauce to the skillet, spread evenly. Layer with 1 cup cottage cheese mixture, 1 ½ cups of meat sauce and half of the noodles. Top with the remaining meat sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and let stand 2 minutes until cheese is melted.
Good luck with today’s recipes. Please forget that you ever saw the raspberry dessert recipe or at least forget where you heard about it.
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