My First Crack at Guest Blogging

I would like to start off by thanking Phyliss and Terry for opening up their home to me. They’ve been a tremendous influence in my life since God brought me to Philly in 2001. I’m good friends with both of their chil’rens, Brittany (B-Dub), and Benjamin (Benji), so I’ve spent many moments over at their house.

Terry and Phyliss invited me over to eat some of Mike Henderson’s Red Beans & Rice, which I’ve heard is a legendary dish. Needless to say, I was not about to turn down a chance at trying some legendary food. I’ve put plenty of weird food in my mouth (drank a happy meal, raisin bagel w/ green bean baby food, etc.), so I figured that this would be no problem.

I showed up totally unprepared. I was unaware of anything related to the contents of Mr. Mike’s recipe, minus the main ingredients. Apparently, there is some heat to this meal. Fortunately, I scored some generic Tums—thanks P & T—and the feast was on! Two helpings later, the Tums were a blessing.

Tasty and delicious were two words I used to describe the meal. Mr. Mike would be proud. I even got to get a slice of that cheesecake deluxe Phyliss made. Yummmmm!!!!

And that’s all I have to say about that…

Mike's Red Beans and Rice

2 med. yellow onions, finely chopped 1/2 t oregano

1/2 c celery leaves, finely chopped 1 T salt

1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped 1 T sugar

1 t olive oil 1/2 c ketchup

1lbs smoked sausage 1 T Worcestershire

1 T chili powder 3 dashes or so Tabasco sauce

4 cans light red kidney beans

Saute onion, celery tops and garlic in olive oil. Cut sausage into 1/4 inch pieces and add to onion mixture. Add all the chili powder, oregano, salt, sugar and Tabasco (include a little red pepper or Cajun seasoning when your wife is out of the room). Stir in ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Wash and drain beans; add to the mix. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer all day. To thicken, if necessary, remove 1 cup of beans smash them and put back in pan. Serve over rice with Tabasco or favorite hot sauce. Feeds an army!

Oh, That's Why You Add the Baking Soda Last or Mom, How Did You Mess Up a Microwave Recipe

We got over two inches of snow at our house last Friday, a rare and welcome occasion in the South. I thought I had remembered seeing a recipe for Snow Ice Cream in the cookbook and knew this would be my only chance to make it. There were only recipes for regular homemade ice cream so I was off the hook for that one.

Brittany was already making brownies and I wanted to be in the kitchen with her. We have had some pretty funny things happen to us when we try to bake together and I like to look for more opportunities to make that happen. I found a pretty simple microwave recipe for pralines and figured I would not really get in Brittany's way since she was using the oven and I would be using the microwave. Talking, laughing, and dumping the ingredients of a new recipe into a microwaveable bowl all at the same time should really be avoided.

The candy was to microwave for 12 minutes, stirring every four. Simple enough. I can do some math and I knew I would be stirring the candy three times. I had not noticed that the baking soda is to be added after the third stir and microwaved for just one more minute.

I am not sure what chemical reaction took place, probably something similar to the volcanoes we used to make for science projects. Those explosions are on purpose, the one that took place in my microwave was not. Words to describe the aftermath-sticky, icky, gooey, runny, foamy.

There was not a whole lot of substance left to spoon out onto the wax paper, but what little there was had a very good flavor. Overall, I think this is a good recipe. Easy and tasty.

The contributor? My dad, Tom. Famous for his Christmas fudge, now infamous for his Tout De Suite Pralines.

Tout De Suite Pralines

3/4 c buttermilk 1/8 t salt

2 c sugar 2 T butter

2 c pecan halves 1 t baking soda

Stir together buttermilk, sugar, pecans, salt and butter in a 4 0r 5 quart dish. Cook on hight 12 minutes in microwave stirring at 4 minute intervals. STIR IN BAKING SODA UNTIL FOAMY. COOK ON HIGH FOR 1 MINUTE. Beat unit tacky (about 1 minute). Drop by teaspoonful on a sheet of foil.

Valentine's Day Menu

Today is Valentine's Day. I planned a quiet dinner at home with just me and my Valentine. Everything we ate tonight came from the church cookbook. I started cooking at 1:30 and we finally sat down to dinner at 7:30. Nothing I cooked was hard, it all just took awhile and I enjoyed every bit of the time I spent in the kitchen. Everything was well worth the wait. Thank you ladies who contributed these delicious recipes. You helped make Valentine's Day very special.

Our main course was Laurie H.'s Chicken Cordon Bleu and I also prepared her Creamy Stuffed Potatoes as a side. Laurie no longer attends our church, but the one thing I remember about her is her beautiful voice.

I prepared Jill H.'s Fresh Spinach Salad to go along with the chicken and potatoes. Terry is not much of a "fru-fru" salad guy, but he asked for seconds on this one. Jill, I was blown away. Jill has worked with me ministering to the children of our church and community for more years than I can count. Her dedication to children's choir is very appreciated. We have had many good times at Kidz Kamp. She used her giftedness as a teacher in children's Sunday School for several years. I know I can always count on her to work in Vacation Bible School. Her four kids have also made a significant and colorful impact on our children's ministry. There are several more recipes in the cookbook from Jill, I will save other comments for later posts.

For dessert I made one of my own contributions-Old Fashioned Cheesecake Deluxe. Cheesecake is one of Terry's favorites. I used to make it for him every Valentine's Day and Birthday. We try to stay away from too many rich sweets these days being our age and weight and all. I have not made the cheesecake in several years, so it was a real treat tonight. Tomorrow I will have to take it to work to keep Terry and I from eating the whole cake.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 chicken breast filets 6 slices bacon

1 c. sour cream 1 can cream of mushroom soup

6 slices American cheese

6 slices cooked ham

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Brush one side of filet with sour cream. Layer cheese and ham on filet. Roll to enclose filling and wrap with bacon. Secure with wooden toothpick. Place in baking dish and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Pour soup over chicken and bake for 15 minutes or until tender.

Creamy Stuffed Potatoes

4 lg. baking potatoes 1 c. sour cream

Vegetable oil 1 t. salt

8 slices bacon 1/2 t. pepper

1/2 c. chopped green onion 1/2 t. paprika

1/4 c. grated Parmesan

Scrub potatoes thoroughly and rub skins with oil; bake at 400 for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until done. Cool to touch. Slice skin away from top of potatoes. Scoop out pulp. Leaving shells intact; mash pulp. Cook bacon until crisp; drain and crumble, reserving 3 T drippings in skillet. Saute onion in bacon drippings until tender. Combine potato pulp, bacon, onion, Parmesan, sour cream, salt adn pepper. Stuff shells with mixture and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.

Fresh Spinach Salad

1 to 2 bunches spinach 1 c. Canola oil

Strawberries 1/3 c raspberry wine vinegar

Mandarin Oranges 2 to 4 T honey

Mushrooms, opt. 2 T poppy seed

2 T dijon mustard

Combine spinach, strawberries, oranges, and mushrooms. Mix together mustard, oil, vinegar, honey and poppy seed. Serve as dressing over the salad.

Old Fashioned Cheesecake Deluxe

Crust:

1 1/2 pkgs. graham crackers 4 T butter

2 T sugar

Filling:

1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese 8 eggs

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 c sugar (this ingredient is left out in the church cookbook) 2 T lemon juice

2 t vanilla 16 oz sour cream

Crush graham crackers and add sugar; mix in 10-inch springform pan. Pat down and from crust on bottom and partially up sides of pan. Beat softened cream cheese until smooth; add sugar, sour cream, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; add eggs, one at a time until thoroughly mixed. Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Shut oven off and leave in oven for 1 hour. Remove and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.

A Teaspoon and A-Half Baking Powder and A-Half Teaspoon of Salt

Did you know that if you don't have any self-rising flour in the house you can make your own? Just add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a cup of all purpose flour. Who knew? Google knew.

Tonight I made Pattie M.'s mayonnaise rolls to go with pork roast and veggies. Normally we don't have bread with our meals around here. I'm not really a big fan of bread, but if I am going to cook through the entire cookbook I will be eating some homemade breads.

Pattie's homemade rolls were simple and quick to make. I imagine if you eat bread with every meal you would find these rolls just about as easy as prepackaged. Ask Brent sometime the difference between Brown & Serve and Grab & Go rolls.

I have a great deal of admiration for Pattie. She has home schooled three boys. I can't imagine the patience, organization, discipline and determination it takes to accomplish what she has

.

She may not remember this, but years ago she was a life saver for me. As a young mother, I had taken on one of those projects that half way into it I wondered if I could complete. I decided to hold a Neighborhood Bible Club in my home for Brittany's classmates. Each Wednesday afternoon close to 20 first graders showed up at my house. Pattie was there to help maintain some sense of control. She helped transport the children to my home and helped provide snacks each week. When I thought I had gotten in over my head, Pattie was there to keep me from drowning. Thanks to Pattie I was able to complete the school year. I did not host a Bible club again in my home, but Pattie's encouragement that year gave me the courage to help with or teach several more Bible clubs throughout the years my children were in grade school. We will never know how God worked in the lives of most of those children. We are to be obedient and trust Him with the outcome. Thank you Pattie for being one of our Sovereign Lord's instruments in the lives of those children.

Mayonnaise Rolls

1 cup self-rising flour 3 heaping T. mayonnaise

1/2 cup milk

Mix all ingredients well; drop by spoonfuls into greased muffin pan. Bake for 15 minutes in 400 degree oven. If desired, biscuits may be rolled and cut; just decrease milk. Makes 6 rolls.

What Do You Do with a Loaf of Smooshed Bread?

While perusing the cookbook last night looking for tonight's recipe I remembered the loaf of smooshed bread tucked away in my fridge. When I was putting away groceries over a week ago I discovered the bread had been sacked under a couple of cans of soup. Too lazy to go back to the grocery and not willing to throw the loaf away just yet, I put it in the refrigerator. What do you do with a loaf a smooshed bread? You make Wanda S.'s Cheese Pie. The recipe said to refrigerator the pie overnight so at 10PM I found myself grating a half-pound of cheese. Cheese Pie apparently requires a lot of cheese. I couldn't decide what to serve with the pie and pondered that all day. After eating it this evening I have decided it would go well with vegetable soup. I called Wanda to see what she normally served with the pie, but she was not at home. Wanda, if you read this blog, please comment and let us know how you serve your recipe.

Wanda has been a member of our church for more years than I can remember. She has served others by caring for our babies in the nursery for two generations. Wanda cared for my babies when I was a young mother and now I am a young grandmother. She also served working mothers in our community by keeping their young children in her home. Not everyone can spend that much time with other's children and keep their sanity. Wanda has a very special God-given gift that she uses to edify the Body and minister to those around her.

Cheese Pie

10 slices white bread, cubed w/ crust removed 2 cups milk

1/2 lb. grated cheese 3 eggs, beaten

1 t. salt

Layer bread cubes and cheese in casserole dish. Mix milk, eggs and salt and pour over bread and cheese. Let stand at least 2 hours or overnight. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

The Local Barbecue Place Was Calling My Name

While driving home from work this evening I was really considering stopping off at the local award winning barbecue place to pick up a "family pack" for dinner. I did not leave work until 5:30. When I was a little over a block from my house I noticed a man about 75 yards in front of me limping toward my van. I got just a bit closer and realized the somewhat crippled man was my husband. You need to understand that he had surgery last Wednesday to remove a football sized tumor from his right hamstring. The surgery resulted in a two-foot incision and 61 staples. Although I was not happy to see him walking so far from home, I was thankful the temptation to get take-out had been thwarted. However, Terry wanted me to take him to the UPS store so he could get his mail. I had to drive right by the barbecue place to get the UPS store and the smell was almost too much to pass up. Then I remembered you, my faithful blog follower, and determined to overcome. Thankfully the recipe I had chosen to prepare tonight was quick, easy, and yes, delicious. I did not begin supper until a little before six and we were sitting down to dinner at 6:30. Nothing short of wonderful.

Tonight I prepared Dale E.'s Hamburger Casserole found on page 40. The recipe calls for canned biscuits but it also states that you could make biscuits from scratch. Who knew biscuits came from anything but a can? I remembered I had a box of Bisquick and noticed a recipe for biscuits on the side of the box-two and quarter cups of Bisquick and two-thirds cup of milk. I had no idea biscuits could be so easy. Yes, biscuits from a box of Bisquick are consider scratch at my house just as are break and bake cookies.

Not only do Dale and I attend church together, we are also friends on Facebook. I discovered something quite interesting about Dale through her Facebook pictures. She is very creative and talented. I knew she loved to scrapbook, but her talent reaches much further. She creates these amazing pieces she calls "altered art." Dale is so unassuming and humble I don't think she realizes how beautiful her pieces are. She creates them for herself for the pure joy of it. Occasionally a family member or friend may be the blessed recipient of one of her creations. In my humble opinion Dale's "altered art" pieces are some of the most creative and interesting I have seen. Her Hamburger Casserole is not bad either. The ease, quick preparation and tastiness will place this recipe on the repeat list.

Hamburger Casserole

1 lb. ground beef 1 pkg. brown gravy mix

1/2 onion chopped 5 or 10- canned biscuits, or from scratch

1 T cooking oil

1 beef bouillon cube

Brown onion and beef in 1 tablespoon oil. Drain. Cook gravy by directions on package only add beef cube in with the water and mix. Put cooked beef and onion in a casserole dish. Pour gravy on top and mix. Top with raw biscuits or biscuit dough. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until biscuits are done.

I Have Already Cheated

This is my second day of blogging and my first day of actual cooking and I have already cheated. In preparation for Terry's surgery I cooked several meals in advance. One of those meals can be found in my church cookbook, so I am going to count that one as my first recipe-broccoli/cheese soup. We did have it for lunch today, so in my book that is okay. If you have been around me very long you already know me by this soup. I have prepared it for many of my friends. If you come home from the hospital in the winter I will bring you this soup or one of two others. Whenever I have groups of people over for fellowship this soup or one of the other two will probably make an appearance. It is requested time and again by young and old alike. One of our youth called it "food network good." It is not a crockpot recipe as one of you requested, but it can be prepared in under an hour and the ingredients can become staples in your pantry.

It is appropriate that my first recipe be from one of my relatives, my sister-in-law, Sandra. She made it for me the first time after a long fun day of shopping at Christmas Village. Sandra is selfless, generous, funny, kind, and unlike me finishes projects she begins. She is currently in graduate school and I have no doubt she will finish with flying colors, while taking excellent care of her family. Although we live in the same city, we might as well live across the country. I do not get to see her nearly as often as I would like. It is too easy to get caught up in our busy lives and forget about the people who are the most important. When we do get together I find it is always worth every bit of the effort. When we get together good food is always involved.

The recipe can be found on page 9 of the church cookbook. For those of you who do not own the cookbook I will also post the recipes at the end of each blog entry.

Broccoli/Cheese Soup

1 med-lg onion chopped 1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 stalks celery, finely chopped 1 can cream of celery soup

1 stick butter 2 lbs. Velveeta cheese

1 can Ro-Tel 16 to 20 oz. chopped broccoli

2 cans chicken broth

Saute onions and celery in butter. Add broccoli, chicken broth and Ro-Tel. Simmer in large saucepan until soft. Add soups. Add Velveeta cheese and melt. Use low heat and stir often. For a creamier soup, put onions, celery, Ro-Tel and broccoli through the food processor. (I do not use the food processor, but I do follow rest of the recipe exactly as is.)

2 cans chicken broth