Sunday - July 11

Yes, it's Sunday again and it's dinner with the family.

Calico Beans and Blueberry Pie

While I don't attend church on a regular basis, I hope you enjoyed the sermon at your place of worship this morning. Yes, I say my prayers everynight and often throughout day. I pray my prayers for you and yours are answered.

On to Dinner....

Calico Beans, OH MY!

1 15oz can of each;
Lima Beans
Kidney Beans
Pork-n-Beans
Ranch Style Beans
French Cut Green Beans
1 Medium Onion, diced
1 Large Bell Pepper, diced
1 Bottle, Heinz Chili Sauce
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Lb Fried, Crumbled Bacon

Dump it all in a Crock Pot and cook 2-3 hours on low. Serve.


Lazy Fruit Pie

1/2 C flour
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C milk
1 tsp baking powder
2 C sweetened fruit of choice

Mix flour, sugar, milk and baking powder, pour into a PAM sprayer baking dish (I used a 8"x8" glass baking dish). Pour fruit (cherries, peaches, apples or berries) on top of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until crust is browned.

(This recipe is from The Fruit of the Spirit cookbook by the Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia, VA).

Yum!

Enough for today. I am on my way to the shower and then packing up the viddles and heading to Mom & Dad's! Mom is making Jalapeno Cornbread to go with the Calico Beans!

Happiness is in the small things.

My small thing (Austin) is going to get a bath too!

See ya later!

Wednesday - July 7

Brownie Biscotti

Ingredients

1/2 C butter, melted

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2-1/2 C all-purpose flour

1-1/3 C sugar

3/4 C baking cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup unlanched almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

1/2 C miniature semicweet chocolate chips

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the butter, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture just until combined (dough will be crumbly).

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead in almonds and chocolate chips. Divide dough in half. On an ungreased baking sheet, shape each portion into a 12" x 3" log, leaving 3" between the logs.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until set and tops are cracked. Cool 15 minutes. Carefully transfer to a cutting board; cut diagonally with a serrated knife into 1/2" slices.

Place cut side down on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 20-25 minutes or until firm and dry. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Store in airtight container.

My picture is a little grey, sorry. They look just like brownies and are OH sooooo tastee!

I made these last night and the whole process took about an hour and 15 minutes. I ad to make a cup of decaf so I could try them out! YUM!

I pilfered this recipe from Taste of Homes. The original recipe also called for a vanilla icing drizzle. BUT. . . it didn't work out so well, me missing the icing gene and all, so I stopped while I was ahead!

My 4th weekend was full! Saturday was spent with laundry and grocery shopping. Sunday saw more laundry and a movie. We saw Avatar, The Last Airbender, and after we had Hot Dogs with my parents, brother and two nephews. Monday I had breakfast at Kelly's Restaurant with Mom, Dad and Sean and then we went to see Eclipse. Then lunch was on me, I prepared chicken wings and hamburgers using a new recipe from Southern Living Magazine, June 2010. OH SO GOOD! And Monday evening, I made a Chicken and Hashbrown casserole, recipe from Taste of Home. I divided the recipe into two pans and had Mom pickup a pan on Tuesday. And that was dinner for Tuesday at her house, and tonight I have popped the other pan in the oven. Guess what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

So, what did you do this past weekend? Whatever it was I hope you enjoyed yourselves.

July 2 - Friday - Butterscotch Oatmeal Lace Cookies

OMG! OMG! OMG!

I am the LUCKIEST girl on the planet! Not only did I find a copy of Big Mama's cookbook at a thrift store a few years ago, BUT APPARENTLY, I found a copy of my mother's favorite cookbook at an Estate Sale about a year ago. Yes, I just realized it's the same cookbook about 20 minutes ago. I called my Mom to confirm, and YES, it's the same book. What are the odds I would randomly select the same editions? Big Mama's cookbook was a 1943 edition of The Modern Family Cookbook and Mom's is a 1972 edition of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking.

I was feelin' a little down and a little cranky this morning. OK, I had my "knickers in twist" as my Nannie would say. Traffic was beastly, raining, wrecks everywhere, running late for work . . . you know what I'm talking about.

So, the weather here is the pits today. Flash floods, road closures, the usual for this time of year. Hurricane Season. But as Luck would have it, the Boss sent us home early. Well after an hour of more traffic from a nightmare I managed to return to la casa. Off the streets and out of the water. . .not sure if I'm grateful to not be a target or grateful not to be targeting! Ay ya ya!

Anyway . . .I'm home. Logged on to Facebook, just checking in to see if I'm missing out on anything. Of course . . . LaTosha is talking about baking cookies again, which leads from chocolate chip to macadamian nut to me wanting Butterscotch Oatmeal Lace cookies.

About a month ago I invited my son and his woman over for lunch, that meant I had to clear of the dining table and clear out the dining room. That lead to cleaning out the pantry and then the china cabinet. Cleaning the china cabinet included thining out my massive cookbook collection. It was painful, but maybe I could do without 6ft of cookbooks. . . maybe. My friend Regi came by for a visit and I sent her home with a box full and believe it or not, my son was interested in some simple cookbooks. We went through some and he went home with leftover lasagna and some cookbooks that he was happy with.

I know, you're wondering where this is going. Yes, this IS what it's like in my head. You may need a ibuprofen or a tums, jus' sayin'.

The cookbooks, yep, that's where I was headed. Looking for the recipe for the Butterscotch Oatmeal Lace cookies. Third book I pull out the American Cooking cookbook and there it is the recipe I need, then I notice. . .hey, this looks like Mom's cookbook. One ringy dingy, two ringy dingy. . . Hello? Hey, Mom. What' the name of your cookbook? Is it American Cooking? REALLY? No way! I have that book! So we checkout the picture on the cover, it's the same. Page 324, it's our favorite Jalapeno Cornbread ! OMG!

Really? Not exciting? Hey, I take it where I can find it. And now, my sister and I don't have to fight over the cookbooks. Another problem solved.

I am blessed. I may not see it or feel it everyday. . .but I know. My one and only son at 22 still kisses me when he sees me and when he leaves. He always says I love you, before he hangs up the phone. It doesn't matter if it's at the office, or if he's on a rig, and anywhere inbetween. I just LOVE that boy! My baby boy, love 'im. And then there's my little furry baby Austin. And four - count 'em, Four very handsome nephews. Oh and so much more.

But, I guess you didn't stop by for my ramblings. . .you want the recipe right?

Here it is . . .

Butterscotch Oatmeal Lace Cookies

1/2 C butter . . . . . . . . .1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C sugar . . . . . . . . . 1 C quick-cooking oats
1/3 C sifted all- . . . . . . 2 tsp milk
purpose flour . . . . . . . .1/4 C butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in remaining ingredients, mixing well. Drop by teaspoonfuls about 3 inches apart onto greased and floured cookie sheet. Spread thin with spatula. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until edges are brown. Remove from oven; let stand a minute. Remove cookies carefully with wide spatula. Cookies should be thin and lacy. Cool thoroughly. Yield about 3 1/2 dozen.

While you MAY be tempted to eat them ALL by yourself, maybe now would be a good time to practice what you preach. Sharing, it's easier on the hips!

Well, I'm going to get MY milk and cookies before I have to share!

Happy snackin'!

July 1 - Thursday

This, my friends is one of our favorites!

Italian Sausage Soup

1 package (5 to 6 links) of Sweet Italian Sausage

remove the casing and discard.

Break the links up and brown in your pot.

Add 1/2 cup diced sweet onion. Cook until transparent. Remove from heat and drain sausage grease, discard.

Add 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Then 1 Tblsp Worchestershire sauce

And 1/4 tsp sugar.

1 Tblsp Basil

Pour 1 15oz can Italian Seasoned Diced Tomatoes

And 2 cans Chicken Broth

Bring to a boil and add 1 cup small shell pasta (or wathever shape floats your boat).

Top with 1/2 a Red Bell Pepper, julienne cut.

Remove from heat when pasta is done........and serve.

Serve with garlic toast and Ceasar Salad. Yum!

This is a great meal. Takes about 35 minutes start to finish.

The picture you see above, was dinner tonight. If DJ doesn't make any midnight refrigerator runs, then I'll have some for lunch tomorrow. IF!

My family is supposed to be gathering favorite recipes so we can produce a "Yours, Mine and Ours Cookbook" and so far I have collected 2, yes count them, 2 recipes. One is for the BEST Spanish Rice I have ever tasted and one is a recipe I misplaced. So actually, we only collected one, because the second was already my recipe. Confused? Try riding around in my head for a day.

So, anyway...the plan is to try each recipe as we receive them. Take a photo and setup the pages for printing. Hopefully this won't take an extraordinary amount of time. Or cause unnecessary weight gain. Wish us LUCK!

Oh, if you are expecting me to post pictures of beautifully decorated cakes...don't. Apparently I did not inherit the gene necessary for preparing iced caked. I am hoping I can talk my mother into testing those particular recipes. Me? I do pound cakes, pies, cookies, cobblers and crumb cakes. I have attempted the icing, and it tastes great, just doesn't look so pretty. Yes, I know my limitations, put I do keep trying.

My hope is that we (family, family-in-law, family friends) can come together and gather all the recipes and share with one another all the stories, fond memories, love that are associated with each flavor.

If not, at least we'll have something new to argue about. Never a dull moment!

Enjoy the soup and may your leftovers not stay long in the frig!