Pudding Cookies 10/16/14

Yikes!!  Here we have used up half of a new month. That means winter is closer and I am not ready for any more snow! Hope the weather forecasters don’t know what they are talking about and it won’t be another one like last year. I should be like my brother told me once in his slow laid back manner, “Don’t get excited until you see you have a real reason to be!”  So I guess I will just enjoy the nice fall days that we have still coming.

Today was a real empty day after a weekly schedule that I could barely keep up with.  It started with a lovely lunch at the Senior Center for all of the October anniversaries and birthdays. Since I was an honored guest with a birthday, it was extra special.  I keep thinking that I should go more often but I do not know today that I want to go tomorrow, so I can’t make a reservation! Besides that program is for OLD folks!!  My thanks go to all involved with that program and Hillside Living for providing games and prizes.

When I got home I had a phone call from my daughter who wanted to come to my house on Friday during her lunch hour to pick up a photo that she needed. I quickly said I would be home. Then she hesitatingly asked if I could also have 4 dozen rolled and cut out heart cookies made for a retreat she was planning. Her lunch hour is late and I could easily have them baked, frosted and packaged for her to pick up. The big bump in the road came when I remembered that I had a 10:30 appointment the next day for a perm!  I suddenly shifted gears and baked the cookies late Thursday evening, got up earlier than planned on Friday morning to get them frosted. Guess what. I was at my appointment one minute early! Came home and had them in plastic containers for her to pick up. Now time for relaxing in my new lounge chair. Rest time was quite short because I had made plans with another daughter and her husband to go to Angola to see my cousin who is a resident of Lakeside Nursing Home. They were going to pick me up shortly after three! We had a very nice visit with my cousin and her daughter, even though we stayed longer than we had planned because it was nearly time for her evening meal. To finish the evening we did some shopping and had a nice meal at Ruby Tuesday. By the time we got home it was nearly bedtime so I could not start anything that I had already ignored doing. It was a good day, but Saturday morning I had to fix food for my family reunion that could make a whole column of magic moments, which I will have to leave for another day. Thanks to Steve and Barb for all of their work and expense.

I changed my mind four times about recipes, but think I have settled on a couple. First, you have heard that you should put your actions where  your mouth is. Last week I mentioned that you should teach your young kids to do simple recipes, so they will be proud of their accomplishment and develop a desire to learn more difficult projects. So first of all is a recipe that you can start them on. Maybe you will like to try it just because it is so simple.

                        

PUDDING COOKIES

1 package (3 oz.) instant chocolate pudding

1 cup biscuit mix (Bisquick)

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 egg

Hershey’s chocolate kisses

Extra sugar

Mix pudding, biscuit mix, oil and egg. Shape into I inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes at 350 degrees. As soon as they come from the oven, place a Hershey kiss in the center of each cookie. You could experiment with different flavored pudding, like vanilla.

Next is a simple meat loaf recipe.  I had an unusual one picked out but decided I should try it myself before suggesting it to you.

            

SIMPLE MEAT LOAF

1 ½  pounds ground beef

¾ cup oatmeal

2 eggs

½ cup chopped onion

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules

¼ cup barbecue sauce

¼ cup ketchup

¼ cup tomato juice

Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Pack firmly into a loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.

Tomorrow (after I sleep in) I will try to put the place back in a small degree of order.  After church today, I hid a few things, washed a few dishes and made my bed, so in case someone stopped in they would not report me to the health authorities. I can always plead that “it is just the way I like it!”

Western Style Beef and Beans 10/9/14

I am still a slow learner but I am starting this about two hours earlier than last week.  Maybe by spring I will have managed a better schedule.

Last week was a rather slow one compared to my usual hurry scurry days. It started out with a routine doctor’s appointment. I got an A-plus with a three months in advance appointment! My numbers were "excellent" with permission to do just like I have been doing. I guess that means cheating on my sugar allowance and resting a lot in my lounge chair!! Oh well, It has  served me well so far. Had to ignore my lounge chair a bit yesterday and this morning.  My kids were coming again to finish scheduling an important celebration for an amazing milestone in my life. There were too many pairs of shoes and newspapers in the living room, and the kitchen floor looked as if someone had been making mud pies. (Remember those that we made when we were lacking of toys and we played house and made mud pies in discarded zinc Mason jars lids baked in an imaginary oven! Those were special days that kids now can’t imagine.)  I “slop mopped” the kitchen so they would not report me to the health authorities. It was a great day filled with memories and laughter.

I told you last week that my oldest son had a birthday this week. Since I did not see nor talk to him, I decided to bake him a cake to celebrate today. He really likes apple pie so I had a small miniature one (with a small piece missing) that I gave him when he came in. He smiled and acted as if he appreciated the joke. There was a whole one resting in the oven for a surprise later on.  Wouldn’t you know, he brought Kentucky Fried Chicken to eat later and wanted to keep it warm so  he walked over to my stove and opened the oven door!  There sat my apple pie gazing back at him.  We all laughed and he shared it with anyone who wanted a sample.  An experience that has not improved one iota over the years is our vocal talent, but we all sang Happy Birthday with lots of love and best wishes drowning out the poor musical ability. If you have never heard a rendition of that song by the Sanders family you are one lucky person!

Better save some room for a couple of recipes. I had two yummy desserts picked out and the adage of my youth rang in my ears, “Practice what you preach”! So I put one way back in my mind to use  for the fall holidays and picked on an entrée for the dessert to rest on. This is a large amount to serve 10, so you can cut it in half easily.

            

WESTERN STYLE BEEF and BEANS

3 pounds lean ground beef

2 medium onions. Chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules

2/3 cup boiling water

2 cans (28 ounces each) baked beans with molasses

1 ½ cups ketchup

¼ cup prepared mustard

3 garlic cloves, minced (I would use garlic powder)

Salt and pepper to taste

½ pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook beef, onions and celery until the meat is no longer pink and the vegetables are tender. Drain. Dissolve bouillon on water and add to the meat mixture. Add the beans, ketchup, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and bake at 350 for 60 minutes.  Top with crumbled bacon.

I should have been quicker with this one when bananas were 25 cents a pound at our local grocery! I think this recipe will be good enough that you can splurge on 3 bananas!! Maybe you should buy 6 because the recipe says it freezes well and you can bake two at the same time.

           

BANANA SQUARES

2 eggs, separated

2/3 cup shortening

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup sour milk

½ 0teaspoon vanilla flavoring

12 cup chopped walnuts

Whipped topping, sliced bananas, optional

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Set aside. Cream shortening and sugar, Beat in egg yolks and mix well. Add mashed bananas. Combine flour and soda. Add to creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Add vanilla. Fold in egg whites. Fold in nuts. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. If desired, garnish with whipped topping and sliced bananas.  (To make sour milk, place 1 teaspoon of white vinegar in a measuring cup. Add enough milk to make ¼ cup.)

Encourage your young kids to experiment with simple recipes. Their success will build confidence to try more difficult things and thereby form a love of cooking.  We need to teach them something besides having their noses in a cell phone!

Happy Birthday and Adoption! 10/2/14

Typing the date for this week really made me sit up and take notice. I hadn’t even thought about the month changing this soon and I have a son with a birthday on the first.  Now I won’t be embarrassed by forgetting.  His main weakness is Dutch Apple Pie - just maybe I can find enough energy somewhere to come up with one. He is supposed to be losing weight, so I will make him promise, in ink,  to be very generous in sharing.  In case I do not get it done, I will say right here, “Happy Birthday, Jim”.  That will save postage money, too.

I hope this coming week is not a duplication of last week, I attended three funerals!  A maternal cousin, a lifelong friend and the dad of longtime co-worker all answered the supreme call.  May they all rest in peace. 

Today was more of a fun day, although it was a busy one for an OLD lady. Following regular Sunday Worship, with a number of family members I enjoyed our annual chicken and ham dinner at the church.  A real treat was that I got to see one of my newer great grandsons whom I have seen only a couple of times. He was not particularly impressed with my presence.  Immediately following that my daughter took me to Ft. Wayne to the home of a young friend who with her husband and their family have received finalization of the adoption of a special needs two-year-old son, Ezekiel.  They were having an open house to celebrate the occasion.  I was very pleased with the offer of my daughter to take me without me even having to ask for the favor. There were two other magic moments of the day.  First of all the OLD Testament reading at church was about Ezekiel.  I thought it was very fitting for my plans for the day. Secondly, I had never met their new son. His new mother was holding him and he reached out for me to take him. A real thrill of the day for me, even though it was only a short time until he realized his mother was much nicer. I think so, too. Mostly because she is the granddaughter of a special friend of mine who has also answered the supreme call and she continues to be very kind to me even though I am much older than she is.

We hurried home to attend an almost over “half birthday” party for my great granddaughter who is six months old already. Enough relatives were still there that it took us over an hour to decide that we should hurry home. Now this brings us to the issue of recipes.  I am still full of ham and chicken so there will have to be a short, or maybe long intermission while I find something that inspires me. In moments like this I usually turn to my out of date annual Taste of Home books that I am using for shower gifts for my grandkids when they get married.

Maybe I wasn’t as full of chicken and ham as I thought. At least it didn’t take me long to find a brunch recipe that surprised me because it calls for yogurt.  I have tried and I just can’t appreciate the stuff. If you served it to me in your home, I would eat it, but I will not buy it.  In this recipe there are enough ingredients that I do appreciate that it will overcome my dislike for the yogurt.

            

HAM and CHEESE SQUARES

1 ½ cups cubed fully cooked ham

1 carton (6 ounces) plain yogurt

¼ cup crushed saltines (about 6)

¼ cup shredded Swiss cheese

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

6 eggs

Combine ham, yogurt, crushed crackers, cheese, melted butter and caraway seeds.  Beat eggs until lemon colored. Fold into ham mixture. Transfer to a greased 8 inch baking dish.  Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into serving squares.

Here us a new switch for pumpkin pie that will be in time for the seasonal treat of pumpkin pie.

            

CARAMEL-CRUNCH PUMPKIN PIE

¾ cup packed brown sugar, divided

½  cup finely chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 unbaked 9 inch pastry shell

3 3ggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon rum extract

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1 ½ cups whipping cream

Additional chopped walnuts, optional

Combine ¼ cup brown sugar, walnuts and butter. Press into bottom of pastry shell. Whisk eggs, pumpkin, rum extract, cinnamon, salt, ginger and remaining brown sugar. Stir in whipping cream. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes longer. Cool on wire rack. Garnish with whipped topping and additional walnuts.

Cut-out Cookies and Copper Bottom Pans 9/25/14

Here I am, only 2 hours earlier than last week.  Guess I am a slow learner. I am in the midst of a major project that demands my full attention. So even if it is Sunday, I found myself creating a big mess in my house that is necessary to combat a bigger problem.  It is too late to go into it in detail but I promise to fill you in on how well I accomplish my goal.

Friday was a very special day. One of my daughter's friend’s daughter is getting married in a week or so. She wanted homemade, frosted, cut-out sugar cookies for her reception.  Now how do you suppose anyone would have thought of me to help with that project?  The bride was not able to get excused from her job to help. Her mother brought the batter already mixed. The three of us rolled out, cut, baked and frosted over 12 dozen of the little critters.  No that is not right - they were mostly fall leaves, a few acorns and the rest just cookies. I pleaded old age and mostly just sat at the kitchen table and frosted, but I was mighty proud of the finished product. Hope the bride-to-be was, too.  Could you believe we ordered in lunch? They shoved a few things back on the dining room table to make room for us to eat, but there was no cooking room.

I am looking for a good excuse, but I am saying that I was so pleased that they thought I could be of some help that I forgot my hair dresser had changed my appointment from Saturday morning to Friday! When she realized that I was late after 24 years of being a tad early, she called and I thought one of those words that my mother would not let me say. She will probably tell you that I at least whispered it. It was so near the time my guests would be arriving and I still had to “slop mop”  the kitchen because there were several place that I feared they might fall off.  So I am struggling for a whole week on my own.  Zandra made me promise I would wear a sign that read, “Zandra did not do this”!  I cried a bit and my niece helped me a little with her curling iron, but I can sure spoil a hairdo by sleeping.

So let’s go to food where I have a bit more talent. Since the clock is zooming past my bedtime and several of you have mentioned that you like the few ingredient and few instructions recipes.  So I went to that department for help.  I found two that are as simple as can be, but I have never tried them, so you are on our own.

      

HOT DOG STEW

1 package beef hot dogs, cut in ½ inch pieces

3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons flour

½ cup water

Brown hot dogs in ungreased skillet. (I might use a tad of butter). Add sliced potatoes. Mix flour and water until smooth. Pour over hot dog and potato mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer until potatoes are done. ( I am so addicted to Velveeta cheese, I would probably cautiously add a bit after it is cooked.)

            

POTATO CHIP CHICKEN

2 to 3 pounds chicken pieces, skin removed

1 cup butter, melted

2 cups potato chips, crushed

¼ teaspoon garlic salt

Mix crushed chips with garlic salt. (Flavored chips, such as sour cream and onion can be used.) Dip chicken in melted butter and roll in potato chips. Place on baking sheet. Pour remaining butter and chips over the chicken. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Don’t forget about using Bar Keeper’s Friend for cleaning copper bottom pans and coffee and tea stains from Corelle cups. I also use it for plain stainless steel pans and the bottoms of Club Aluminum pans. It works best if you do this at each washing.  But sometimes lack of energy and time prohibits this and it takes a little more effort when you do. Just dip the pan in your dish water and sprinkle cleanser on the pan. Then rub it with your finger tips. As long as the paste turns black, you are getting dirt off.  I may have crossed the line, but today I was doing dishes and I was not happy with a couple of plated silver soup spoons that I bought years ago at a garage sale. I decided to use them for every day.  I was surprised how nice it cleaned them.  It might shock the silver ware company that I was spoiling the value of the spoons but I only paid a dollar for 4 spoons and I do not plan on selling them.

Happy 24th Magic Moments 9/18/14

Guess what happened between last week’s Magic Moments and this week. We passed the 24^th anniversary of me trying my ability to write a newspaper column!  Shall we try for 25? If God grants me that many days and keeps my mind at least fairly in good working order we will see what happens. A great big thank you to you readers who have expressed enjoyment from it and appreciation for some good recipes.

The clock on the wall is registering a very late hour. So I have the dilemma of just going to bed and getting up early, or struggling to keep awake and then retiring with a clear agenda and sleeping later in the morning. Unless I go to sleep and fall off my computer chair, I think I will do this in the wee hours of the morning.  I have a stupid reason for all of this.  This week one of my daughters was here when I was on a social call and left me a box of books.  She recommended a particular novel that was easy reading. I seem to have this peculiar characteristic of not being able to put down a book once I start reading it.  It was a short novel (I thought) but it took me several hours longer than  intended, so now I will have to suffer the consequences of my poor decision.

I really am not ready for chilly weather.  It brings back too many memories of last winter’s snow. I did weaken and turn on my heat the other morning. I have this other odd conception of life, “ If I have a nickel, I am going to be warm."  I looked in my purse and there were 2 quarters in it so I turned up the thermostat and enjoyed every degree.

Even with the price of food rising so dramatically, I do hate to quit eating. I will assume that you are on the same page and will send you some more recipes. We will start with a simple to make one, followed by  a nice rich, ooey, gooey, dessert.

                    

POOR MAN’S STEAK

2 pounds hamburger

2/3 cup of cracker crumbs

2/3 cup of water

1 can mushroom or chicken soup

½ cup water

Salt, pepper,  garlic or onion powder to taste

Mix hamburger, cracker crumbs, water and seasonings. Pat into a square pan. Put in refrigerator for several hours. Cut into squares. Roll in flour and brown in skillet. Cover with soup mixed with ½ cup water. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

            

FAVORITE LAYERED SQUARES

½ cup melted butter

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

1 ½ cups flaked coconut

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup butterscotch chips

10 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chopped pecans

Pour melted butter into a 9 x 13 pan. Press crumbs into butter. Layer the coconut, baking chips, milk and pecans over the crumbs. Do not mix the layers. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. As squares cool, loosen the edges, so the milk does not stick to the pan. Refrigerate until needed. Cut into squares.

In case you are lucky to have a one pound Tupperware Cheese Keeper (I found one at a garage sale) it will keep two opened  chunk cheese packages in perfect condition until you have used all of it.  I have, in the past, had to throw away too much of it because It was not rewrapped securely enough.  That will help save nickels so you can turn your heat on earlier.

Texas Hash and Dessert 9/11/14

Did you notice any magic moments in the ordinary activities of your week?  If not, I bet there were some there.  Three popped into my mind without really thinking. Have you ever been nearly paralyzed with anxiety when one of your kids is undergoing lengthy surgery at a major hospital?  To calm my whole being, I decided to clean my refrigerator!   It was a major task that I had been trying to ignore for too long. Who would ever have so many small containers with small helping of leftovers that former training to not waste food prompted them to save it in the refrigerator until it had knit its own little green sweater?  This also made me extra dishes to wash, but did hold the nervousness down to a low level. (Not completely gone.) Where was the magic in this? The phone rang and I was hesitant as I said in a weak voice, “Hello.” The magic moment came when my granddaughter said in a pleasant voice, “Surgery is over, we have not seen her yet but the doctor was pleased and that everything went well !”  What magic to a mother’s ears!!  She, and her mother, want to thank any of you who sent up even a short prayer in her behalf. Recovery is not complete, but we are still asking for additional improvement.

Do you remember me mentioning recipes from a 4 volume set of books.   It turned out to be 5 of them. My daughter, don’t tell her that I said my “oldest one”, reminded me that at the same time I gave her the same set. She still has hers, but they are very well worn. She also said I paid around $5.00 for them.  My how times have changed. The magic here appeared when my friend who manages a Magic Moments Blog, sent me an e-mail to look at the blog and see if she had the right picture on it.  Imagine my surprise and pleasure when I recognized the set of books, especially the picture on the front of the Dessert volume. How could anyone find something that goes back that far.  She is much more computer literate than I am and it surprises me as if it were magic what pops upon the  screen if you know the proper buttons to push.

Late Sunday afternoon, I was standing in my back door appreciating the nice temperature of an almost magic weather day when a car drove up and stopped.  It was a son and one of my “bonus” daughters. They wanted to borrow my extension ladder. While they were observing the landscaping project in my back yard, guess what.  They pulled the weeds that I have been forbidden to pull! I love to do it but my balance and age keep me from walking on the stones. One lucky fall is all they will allow.  I told her that I would have to put her on my list, because several daughter’s husbands keep trying to get points to move up in my will!!

I am going back to my volume of books for this week’s recipes. Let’s start with a casserole so you have something in your stomach for the following dessert to rest on. I chose this one because I have every ingredient that it calls for in my kitchen.  Hope you are that lucky.

                        

TEXAS HASH

3 onions, thinly sliced, (be your own judge on size)

1 large green pepper, minced

3 tablespoons fat

1 pound ground beef

2 cups, cooked tomatoes

½ cup uncooked rice

1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and green pepper in fat until tender. Add meat and brown until crumbly. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into 2 quart baking dish. Cover and bake 34 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove cover and bake 15 minutes longer. May be simmered slowly on top of stove instead of baking.

And now for the dessert. Hope it challenges all of you cherry coke fans.

               

CHERRY COKE DESSERT

1package cherry gelatin

I small can crushed pineapple

1 small jar maraschino cherries

3 ounces cream cheese

6 ounces cola beverage

½ cup chopped pecans

Dissolve gelatin in heated  pineapple and cherry juice. Stir in cream cheese until smooth. Chill until very thick. Add remaining ingredients and pour into a 1 quart mold. Chill until firm. Lime gelatin and 7-Up may be substituted if you want a green dessert.

Keep looking for magic moments in your life. They may be slipping by unnoticed.