Zucchini Apple Crisp 8/21/14

I should have been a little quicker to thank you all for keeping that intruder out of my home for so long. She was back in full force recently. My son-in-law frequently gets my mail for me when he is on his recommended daily walk. He stopped in to see if I had picked up my mail, asked for my post office box key and said he would be right back. We usually enjoy a fresh cup of coffee on his visits. I knew he would be back shortly, so I got the coffee filter ready and trusted her to finish making the coffee while I prepared some crackers and cheese to enjoy with our coffee. As he arrived back,  I started to pour our coffee and noticed that only a small amount of it had entered the coffee pot.  I didn’t mention anything but was able to pour us each a cupful. Later on I decided I should examine the situation.  Lo and behold, you just can’t trust anyone else to do anything and do it right. My friend had not even put the filter in the coffee maker and the system was plugged with coffee grounds!  Have you ever tried to capture that many coffee grounds in a complicated maker?  It took me forever to get rid of them all.

I really shouldn’t mention her latest caper. It cost me most of my beer money!!  I will make the story as sort as possible. I knew my bathroom facilities were not working properly, but was managing.  When things got serious, I notified my plumber and fortunately he was able to come very soon. After some diligent work, he knew that there was something fast but he could not remove it. The only thing to do next was to replace it!  After his mission was accomplished, he took the damaged one to my trash container. He had broken it into pieces and came back in the house carrying the perpetrator.  You would never guess what that intruder had done.  He was holding up a lid to a condensed soup can!  Her only excuse was that she was rinsing the soup can, with the sink full of dishwater and clean dishes in the other half. So she poured the water in a pan and flushed it!  A very expensive misdemeanor. As close as I can figure it will cost each one of my kids $35.

A bright spot in my week to help alleviate my dampened spirit was a surprise visit from a daughter, who had brought lunch for both of us.  I just sat at the kitchen table and acted as if I were a guest.  She also brought a quart of pickled beets that she had canned from her garden.  Guess I will now go make some pickled eggs that I usually eat like popcorn. As long as there are any there I want to eat them. Thanks, Judy.

Today’s recipe comes from my sister’s granddaughter who made it for a family gathering. It came from Taste of Home and has apple in the title, but there are no apples in the ingredients. Thanks go to Dawn Blue.

          

ZUCCHINI APPLE CRISP

8 cups zucchini, cut like apple slices

¼ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon nutmeg, (Dawn uses less)

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

TOPPING: 1½ cups packed brown sugar

                    1 cup flour

                    1 cup rolled oats

                    ½ cup butter, softened

Place sliced zucchini and lemon juice in a saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, about 15 minutes until tender. Add spices and sugar. Blend until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and place into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. For topping, combine brown sugar, flour, oats, and butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over zucchini. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping.

          

Due to the generosity of a long time friend and retired farmer, I received a generous supply of tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, etc.   I turned to a recipe from my nephew who loves to cook. It is in my cookbook, but that was years ago and I am certain that there are new readers now. It is very tasty and very simple to make.  My thanks go to Richard G. and Mike S.

    

CUCUMBERS AND TOMATOES

2 to 3 average sized cucumbers (I used one long one)

1 medium to large onion

1 ½  teaspoons salt

1 large tomato, diced

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon seasoning salt

4 tablespoons Miracle Whip

Thinly slice onions and cucumbers. Add salt and cover with water. Let stand for one hour. Drain. Add diced tomato. Combine other ingredients and add to tomato and cucumber mixture. Chill for at least one hour. (I ate the whole thing!)

Look for magic moments in each new day 7/24/14

I almost went on to August for the date on this, then realized that again we have 5 Thursdays in the same month. There are possibly some statistics for that happening, but it really doesn’t change much in the pattern of Life.   The sun comes up each morning and there are meals to cook, dishes to wash, floors to sweep, beds to make, dusk comes a bit earlier each evening and it is most important that I look for magic moments in each new day.

I nearly forgot to do that last week with a very mundane schedule for the week which included a doctor and dentist appointment. On Saturday morning I received a phone call to see if I would be at home to receive an unexpected visitor.  My Home Economics Club gained several new, much younger members. Two of them, (how lucky can one old lady be?) have been very kind and attentive to me.  This one has called me “Grandma Max” for years. Her employment had transferred her out of our community for several years. We have a Facebook and email friendship but I have not seen her for a long time. I was so elated about her prospective visit, I forgot to use the short time before her arrival to hide a few things and wipe the dust from the most visible  furniture.  It was indeed a magic hour, or two, while we brought our friendship to a new level. Thanks so much for your time and kindness, Kathy. I should also include a visit from a son-in- law and a daughter in-law, one just before her arrival and the other just as she was leaving, which made my day very special.

I intended to do this early today, but I got interested in a two hour movie, so here it is almost my bedtime and I still have not accomplished much. So let’s just go to food.  I was frustrated that there was nothing in my refrigerator to warm up for lunch today, so I tried a recipe that I gave you a few weeks ago. It sounded too bland, but I made it just like the recipe except I did only a half batch to see if I liked it and it sounded like too much for one little old lady to eat.  It was the cabbage and noodle recipe. I had just purchased a head of cabbage and noodles were on sale at the local grocery this week. So what could be more ideal for a time to try it.  I was surprised how tasty it was, but my imagination ran wild with it and I added a package of summer sausage, to spice it up a bit. I am sure it originated with the dilemma of cabbage and noodles being all there was in the house to eat and a successful answer came to a creative cook’s mind. It would also make a filling meatless dish to fill a family. As for me, I will probably always add the sausage in the future.

I enjoy Rueben sandwiches but have never eaten nor heard of any one making a Rueben dip.  So you are on your own if you try this one.

                        

RUEBEN DIP

8 to 10 ounces deli corned beef, finely chopped

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, cubed

1 can (8 oz.) sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese

Rye bread or crackers (I like Keebler Club Multi-Grain) In a mini slow cooker, combine beef, cream cheese, sauerkraut, sour cream and Swiss cheese. Cover and cook on  low heat for 2 hours or until cheese is melted. Stir until blended, Serve warm with crackers or rye bread.

Do not tell my son-in-law that I gave you a recipe for green beans. He turns green at the mention of them.  I like to try new ways to prepare vegetables, but I won’t mention this to him.

                        

GREEN BEANS WITH CARROTS

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 medium carrot, cut into julienne strips

1 ½ cups frozen cut green beans

Salt and pepper to taste

2 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

In a skillet, heat oil. Stir in vinegar and sugar. Add carrot strips, cook and stir for two minutes. Add beans and cook five minutes longer. Add salt,  pepper and bacon.

Don’t forget to look for magic moments daily. You never know where one might be lurking.

Easter Family Magic 4/24/14

Can we believe that Spring is really here? The temperature for this week seems to be shouting for attention, the month of April is almost gone and Easter is past. Seems as if the weather forecasters should be on the same page. That last snow storm really put me in a bind. I went away for the evening. When my special friend who picks me up and brings me home for our monthly meeting in Indiana, noticed a difference in the raindrops that had begun to appear on the windshield. When I opened my door to get out of the car, I noticed several snowflakes on my coat sleeve. It really couldn’t be, besides it was well into April. We both noticed that even though I had put my nosey little friend in charge of putting my car away it was still setting majestically in the driveway.

We had a brief exchange of opinions and decided that it couldn’t amount to much and I should just leave it there. Wrong! I had a nine o’clock appointment on Tuesday morning. When I got up and looked out to see several  inches of snow everywhere including every window, the top of my car, and the trunk I was both amazed and a bit angry with myself. Worse yet, it was undercoated with ice which I could not penetrate with the small utensils I had at my disposal. My mother did not raise stupid kids, maybe one that is not too bright, but I decided to start the car and let it run for 20 minutes. Ah ha, it worked and I could clear all of the windows. I looked in the garage and it was 40 degrees on the thermometer in there,  so I drove the car into the garage. When I went back out the snow and ice had agreed to be swept off. Now here my intelligence faltered a bit because I just swept it off on to the garage floor and merrily went on my way to keep my appointment. About an hour later when I came home, my son-in-law was here diligently sweeping out the water the melted snow had amassed in my garage!  Oh, well, that is what family is for isn’t it, to rescue us little old ladies from the results of our poor judgment? Thanks, Steve.

My judgment was a bit out of touch last week since I forgot to wish you all a Happy and Holy Easter. So, the best I can do now is to hope that your holiday was a joy filled one with family. Easter Sunday liturgy is one of my favorite ones, the music is so joyful and the church is so beautiful in contrast to the solemnity of Holy Week and especially Good Friday. The church was filled to capacity and overflowing. If you were visiting we enjoyed having you. If you felt moved to be there just because it was Easter, welcome back and we will look for you next week, too. If you should have been there and weren’t, wouldn’t now be an excellent time to make some changes?

My holiday created some magic moments.  My daughter asked me if I could and would host this year’s celebration. I answered that they were welcome to come here, but I could not do as much as I usually have done in the past. This brought the response that if I would host the gathering, I did not need to cook anything!  Now who can turn down and offer like that? We had a smaller crowd than usual, only a total of 38, but you could not tell it by the amount of food that appeared.  It was a great day, even though we missed those who had other commitments, and appreciated those who covered two parties. 

Some magic moments were appreciated on late Saturday afternoon when a daughter and great granddaughter stopped in to see if I needed any help. Three sets of hands can accomplish much more than one, especially mine, and several things got polished that I would have not had the time nor energy to get done. I need too many time outs to rest to accomplish a great deal. Another specialty of the day was my newest great grandchild made her first visit to Grandma Max’s. I am sure she enjoyed it but put in a few complaints when things were not exactly to her liking. Glad that you could make it, Madalynn.

Right now I am not hungry enough to be really interested in food, but I will try to come up with a few ideas because I know that feeling will be gone by tomorrow afternoon. I should have asked for some recipes of some great tasting food we had today.

                        

MANDARIN CHICKEN SALAD

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil

½ teaspoon salt

4 cups shredded lettuce

2cups cubed, cooked chicken

1 can (15 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained

1 rib celery, thinly sliced

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 cups chow mein noodles

½ cup  salted peanuts, toasted

In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the sugar vinegar, oil and salt. Shake well. In a serving bowl, combine lettuce, chicken, oranges, celery and onions. Stir in chow mein noodles and peanuts. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately. 3 servings.

NO FUSS HAM PATTTIES

1 egg, slightly beaten

¼ cup milk

3 tablespoons pickle relish

8 tablespoons dry bread crumbs, divided

1 ½ teaspoons ground mustard

10 ounces ground fully cooked ham

3 tablespoons butter

Combine, egg, milk, pickle relish, 6 tablespoons dry bread crumbs and mustard. Crumble ham over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties. Sprinkle each side with remaining crumbs. Cook patties in butter over medium heat for 4 minutes on each side until lightly browned.

Be back in May, where oh where did April go?

Magic Moments 3/20/14

My how fast the weeks go by!  Much faster than when I was a kid waiting for summer vacation and Christmas to come each year.  That should be some indication that I do not yet know what I am going to say to you this week. Let’s start by offering congratulations to the cast, directors and people back stage for the pleasant evening at the dinner theater presentation by our high school students.  Even though my age shows when I have to admit that many of the performers I did not know, I do appreciate the talent and the willingness to share that talent of our young people. For them to do this we also have to have the patience, willingness and unselfishness of directors, parents, stage hands, costume managers and all behind the scenes personnel.   A big “Thank You” to all, and a “Good Job” to all of the cast.

Congratulations to all members of the confirmation class at St. Mary’s Church on Sunday afternoon.  May you all keep your commitment throughout your life with God and His commandments as the center of all that you do.

When all else fails, we can talk about the weather. I was so excited the day it was above fifty degrees and I just knew winter was over.  After last week’s snow storm and the freezing weather this morning when I went out to church, I changed my mind.  The only encouraging sight that I can see (no it was not a robin) is the patch of ugly brown grass that is not covered with snow between my home and my next door neighbor!  I tremendously dislike the dead looking earth, suffering from the aspects of winter until God performs His magic and the world comes alive with all of the beauty of Spring (which is my favorite time of year). I will be patient and appreciate it fully when it does get here.

As I had no recipes stashed away to use, I was searching my array of cookbooks and I found some very unusual ones that I would have never put together.  Since it is Lent and we must do penance, perhaps you might try them with this thought in mind, secretly hoping that next week I go back to desserts. They are both something different to do with vegetables and they may interest you enough to try them.  I use lemon pepper on a majority of my vegetables and I thought I had next to invented something new!  Wrong.  The book I found them in is dated 1990!

                        

ASPARAGUS and BABY CARROTS

1 pound asparagus, steamed until crisp tender

½ pound small carrots, steamed until crisp tender

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Lemon pepper

Drain asparagus and carrots. Cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, sprinkle with lemon pepper and lemon juice.  Serve cold.  This is what I am going do with mine! While they are still hot, with the pepper and lemon juice I am going to add a large chunk of butter and eat it hot! Make your own decision.

The next one has possibilities, but I would have never on my own thought of combining them, but I do have all of them on hand. Tomorrow I will be brave and try it.  If I do not like it I am planning on taking my sister something that I know she wants. I may just change my plans and turn up at her back door with a smile on my face and a new vegetable in my hand. She wouldn’t dare say she didn’t like it, or would she?  Don’t bet any lunch money.

                                    

SAUTEED BROCCOLI

            

1 package (10 oz.)  frozen broccoli            

1 package (10 oz.)  frozen whole kernel corn

1 can (4 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained

½ cup butter

             

Melt butter. Saute broccoli, corn and mushrooms in butter until crisp tender. Season to taste. I would use lemon pepper!  Serve warm.

            

Remember Spring is really just around the corner. I sincerely hope so. Especially after I saw my last month’s heating bill. A few more months like that  and I won’t have to worry about the nursing home getting my money.  There won’t be any!   

3/13/14

The best news I have heard lately is that Spring will be here in two weeks! Never in my life have I seen so much snow at one time and been so tired of it.  I do appreciate the beauty of a new snowfall, but a constant cover gets old very rapidly.  Now will someone please inform the weather man that spring is that near and cancel any snow showers he has planned for us? An unusual event in my life took me to the elementary school one day last week.  I still can’t believe there is as much snow piled there as I think I remember!  I thought there was a lot in my yard!

A real magic moment occurred the same week.  I drove my car across town to visit my sister. It was my first time driving since before Christmas.  I think it was a successful trip.  At least no one honked at me!  Since most off the week is supposed  to be above freezing and some of the snow should disappear, I plan to make a few more trips across town.

From baking a warm apple pie to serve to my daughter who brought a co-worker with her on one of my Tuesday lunch hour visits and sending a piece of apple pie back to the coworker who covers for her when she doesn’t manage to get back on the job in her allotted hour, I baked three pies for a workshop at her company with delegates from North Carolina and Nashville , Tennessee.  From this I managed to make a special new friend who has been introduced to Magic Moments!  You brightened my day and provided many magic moments for me, Anisha.

Maybe that is a sneaky way to bring our minds to food but it worked. I finally got to Bryan and picked up some whole wheat flour.  Would you believe that when I got home with it, I did not remember where I put the recipe?  Old age does have its problems.  Now I have them together and I am going to give you the recipe before my friend hides it from me again, even though I have not made any muffins.

                        

RAISIN OAT MUFFINS

¾ cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup all purpose flour

1 cup uncooked oatmeal, quick or old fashioned

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

¾ cup orange juice

¾ cup golden raisins

            

TOPPING: ¼ cup uncooked oatmeal

                                 3 tablespoons brown sugar

                                 1 tablespoon grated orange rind

                                 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Combine flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and orange rind.

Combine egg, sour cream, oil and orange juice. Add all at once

to the dry ingredients. Mix only until blended. Gently add raisins.

Line muffin tins with paper liners and spoon batter in cups until

almost full. For topping, combine oats, brown sugar, orange rind

and butter. Mix well. Sprinkle over muffin batter and pat gently.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Makes 18 muffins.

Sometimes our eyes influence our food tastes more than we think.

I noticed this salad recipe in a magazine that I rarely read, but the

picture caught my eye and I saved it. Hope it tastes as good as the

picture looks.

                        

CARROT SALAD

I pound or 4 to5 cups coarsely shredded carrots

¾ cup raisins

2/3 cup dates, chopped

2/3 cup fresh pineapple, diced (I would use canned chunks, also)

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup pecan pieces

Lightly toss shredded carrots, raisins, dates and pineapple.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemons juice,

zest, sugar and salt. Pour over carrot mixture and toss to

blend well. Chill at least one hour. Right before serving stir

in pecan pieces. Makes 6 servings.

Thanks for all prayers offered for physical needs in my family. Had some remarkable results, but still have a few rough spots that need some work. Like one of my sons stated. Don’t leave out God because He is still in the miracle business.

Family Time is Always Magic 9/5/13

As we say goodbye to the summer months, I am wondering what makes the time fly by so quickly.   Each season seems so much shorter than when I was a  kid and we waited forever for Christmas to come by again. Summer vacation seemed to be forever and now here the school bells are ringing clear already.  

Since it is a short week, I think this will be a short visit with you since I am already behind schedule.

A few surprise activities filled my long holiday weekend with many pleasure filled hours.  After church on Sunday, since there was nothing planned on my schedule, I came home from church and was casually reading the Sunday paper (with a short nap between sections) when the phone rang. A son and his wife told me that if I were going to be home they were coming to visit me in about an hour and a half.  This brought me to life and I quickly changed clothes from Church attire to more casual fare. Since I was not expecting anyone, I hurriedly filled a box of extra unnecessary things on my kitchen table and quickly put it out of sight and was casually and patiently awaiting company. To my surprise they presented me with a bouquet of beautiful cut flowers.  It was a very pleasant Sunday afternoon.  At nearly supper time, my son said , ”Are you hungry Mom?”  My answer was “What does that have to do with anything? Let’s go eat.”  So we went to the local restaurant for a quick meal, which was easy for me and no dishes to do.

Monday afternoon 7 family members and a friend went to the movie “The Butler”, which was much different that I imagined it would be but I enjoyed it. The day ended with a birthday party for my son-in-law who was entering the Senior citizen zone. The weekend was very low key family oriented, but the kind of magic that I enjoy most.

Now let’s go quickly to the end of summer recipes for which you will find plenty of fresh garden supplies to try out for your menus. Someone was mentioning scalloped cabbage recently.  Hope this recipe is what they were looking for. I have some left over cabbage in my refrigerator so I will be making some this week.

          

SCALLOPED CABBAGE

5 cups crisp-cooked cabbage, well drained

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

Pepper and salt to taste

1 cup milk

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup buttered crumbs

Put well drained cabbage in a buttered 2 quart casserole. Make a white sauce with the butter, flour seasonings and milk. Add cheese and stir until melted. Pour over cabbage and cover with buttered crumbs. Bake in 325 degree oven for 30 minutes.

    

SOUTHERN YELLOW SQUASH CASSEROLE

4 cups yellow squash , slice into 1/4 inch slices, not peeled.

1 medium onion

1 can creamed chicken soup

1 can creamed celery soup

Cracker crumbs of bread crumbs, buttered

Slice squash into ¼ inch slices. Slice onions into rings and cook gently until onion is transparent and squash is tender. Place in casserole dish and mix with soup.  Sprinkle top with buttered cracker or bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

My nosey friend was busy a week or so ago when I gave you the recipe for bread pudding. I received two phone calls (at least that many people read the recipe) and informed me that I mentioned the milk in the directions, but had none in listed in the ingredients. Now I am certain that I did it right, so she must have messed with my computer and deleted it before I sent it to the paper.  We will have to have a serious talk again!

Camping Magic 7/25/13

Just like this month, another great experience that I have been looking forward to for many weeks is now past history.  When August arrives, to me that means that summer is in its final stages and I should start trying to remember which box and which room I stored my sweaters and light weight jackets.  This past weekend was another one of my family’s annual camping weekends.  Just like always it was much warmer than we had ordered. We also had our nearly annual thunderstorm, which failed to dampen our spirits as it did our camp sites during the night.

This year, after a long series of Harrison Lake adventures we ventured into a new county.  My daughter who had planned the activities and fine details of the weekend for years, decided she was “burned out”  and wanted to be relieved of her duties.  A granddaughter and her husband graciously stepped up to the plate and invited us to their favorite campground in Paulding County,  also accepting the heavy duty of being responsible for the meals. (Jeremy is a fabulous cook!)  As grandkids are establishing their own families and scattering country wide, our attendance was drastically diminished, but not the forever present family connection.  All of my kids were present except one, and the young attendees consisted of great grandkids, attending with their grandparents.

Other than the nocturnal thunderstorm and heavy rainfall, a few skinned knees and fingers caught in camper doors,  some thoroughly worn out wee ones, it was a great weekend.  The campground was celebrating Christmas in July and many campsites were decorated for Christmas, some quite elaborately. On Saturday afternoon it was announced that Santa would be arriving at a definite hour.  Would you believe he arrived on water skis, passing under a bridge over a waterway? After he did several sashays under the bridge and got out of his wet suit he appeared in the campground center and passed treats and gifts out to the kids who had assembled on the floor. The final surprise of the weekend was a hayride, tractor , wagon and driver supplied by the campground, for nearly thirty of us.  I was graciously supplied with a chair and did not have to balance myself on a bale of hay. Thanks to Amy, Jeremy, Bob and Deb for another great family celebration.

After more food than anyone needed for several days, I find it difficult to be too exuberant in finding new recipes for you to try. So let’s try to get back on a more healthy agenda than just what satisfies our taste buds.  I picked out recipes last evening, but succumbed to the nagging desire to get some sleep. So here I am in the wee hours of the morning, trying to meet my deadline. After yummy desserts my mind usually turns to something new to do with vegetables.

MUSHROOOM CORN CASSEROLE

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

1/3 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons butter

¼ cup flour

1 can (14 ¾  oz.) cream style corn

Salt and pepper to taste

3 ounces cream cheese, cubed

1 can (15 ¼ oz.) whole kernel corn, drained

1 can (4 oz.) mushroom pieces. drained

½ cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 ½ cups buttered crumbs, bread or cracker

Saute green pepper and onion in a tablespoon of butter. Stir in  flour, cream corn, salt and pepper. Add cream cheese, stir until blended. Stir in whole kernel corn, mushrooms and Swiss cheese. Transfer to a greased 1 ½ quart baking dish. Melt remaining butter, add crumbs. Sprinkle over the corn mixture. Bake, uncovered for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

            

CABBAGE WITH HERB BUTTER

1 medium head of cabbage, (about two pounds)

½ cup butter, melted

½ cup minced chives

¼ cup thinly sliced green onions

¼ cup minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut cabbage into wedges, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Combine butter, cheese, onions. Parsley, lemon juice and thyme. Drain cabbage, transfer to serving platter. Drizzle with herb butter. Sprinkle with cheese.

I just noticed a suggestion for any vegetable. Cook to your degree of tenderness, drain, add butter. Then sprinkle with dry Italian salad dressing mix. Stir and serve for a tasty side dish.   A new idea found in an old book.