Caramels

Makes a firm set but chewy caramel. Very good flavor! You will need:

2 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup (Karo or other)

3 cups heavy whipping cream USED IN SUCCESSION (I like Gold Meadow Old Fashioned Style)

Bring the sugar, the corn syrup, and 1 CUP CREAM to a boil, stirring constantly until the color deepens to a golden brown-beige color. Then add:

1 more cup of heavy whipping cream.

Cook again until the color deepens to a light golden brown. Add:

1 more cup of heavy whipping cream

Cook stirring constantly until candy thermometer reads 230. Remove from heat. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and stir well. Pour into buttered 13x9. Allow to set, cut into squares and wrap in squares of waxed paper.

Acini de Pepe Salad (Frog Eye Salad)

This makes a big salad for parties or pot lucks, serves 25. Saves well for leftovers too. Start this the night before you want to serve it, or at least 12 hours minimum beforehand.

You will need:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1-3/4 cup pineapple juice *

2 eggs

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 box acini de pepe pasta

3 cans mandarin oranges 11 oz each

2 cans pineapple chunks 20 oz each

1 can crushed pineapple 20 0z

1 carton cool whip 9 oz

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 cup flaked coconut (optional)

The night before you want to serve the salad, combine in a saucepan the sugar, flour, salt, pineapple juice and beaten eggs. Cook over medium heat until thick then stir in the lemon juice. Set aside to cool. Cook the acini de pepe pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Combine pasta with egg mixture in a large bowl and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, combine the pasta mixture with the oranges, all of the pineapple, cool whip, marshmallows and coconut. Fold all together and chill until ready to serve.

*Get the pineapple juice from the cans of pineapple, drain the pineapple saving the juice and then save the pineapple for the next day when you put the salad together.

Cranberry Salsa

This is a very tasty salsa, made with cranberries, my friend Christina brought it to our Christmas party. Serve over bricks of cream cheese with wheat thins crackers. Great pot luck or party dish. Buy a few extra bags of cranberries during the holidays and freeze them to make this recipe in the summer. Freezing cranberries is easy and works well, just place the bag of cranberries into a freezer bag.

12 oz. bag fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded
3 green onions
1/2 a bunch of fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp cumin

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until well chopped and combined. Chill for at least a few hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.

Potatoes Au Gratin (Homemade)

8.5 cups sliced potatoes
1-1/2 cubes butter (3/4 cup)
3/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups cream
2 cups chicken broth plus 3 chicken boullion cubes added
White pepper to taste
Cheddar cheese to top

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until partially done, 3-5 minutes, and drain. Place potatoes in a 13x9 dish. Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in flour to make a smooth paste. Add the milk, cream, and chicken broth and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add pepper and pour the mixture over the potatoes. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, add the cheese on top and bake for an addition 4-5 minutes.

French Chicken Veronique over Curried Rice

When I make this I always do the curried rice with it. Best to start by cutting up the chicken breasts, then switch to preparing rice first (recipe below under the chicken recipe), get it into the rice cooker then continue with the chicken, that way the rice can sit up to one hour in the cooker and stay warm. This recipe serves 4 with leftovers.

French Chicken Veronique over Curried Rice
2-4 large chicken breasts, depending on how much chicken you want
4 tbsp butter
Salt and Pepper
1-1/2 Tbsp finely minced green onion or shallots (regular onion may be substituted, but very very finely minced).
1 cup dry white wine, or substitute 1 cup water with 1 tsp vinegar added
3 cups heavy cream
1/2 to 1 cup fresh green grapes (I use a half cup, I LOVE them but Trent thinks the grapes are weird.)

Trim chicken and pound it with a mallet or rolling pin to about 1/2" flat. (Don't skip this step, it makes the chicken much more tender. You can lay a piece of plastic wrap over the chicken to pound it, reduces any mess). Cut the pounded chicken into 1/2" strips, then cut across into rectangular cubes, about 1 x 1.5 inches.

Melt butter in a skillet until very hot but not brown. Add chicken, season well with salt and pepper. Saute the chicken over high heat, turning to cook all sides, just until the raw look is gone and it's turned whitish (it will not be cooked through yet, about 5 minutes), then remove the chicken to a paper plate, leaving as much of the juices in the pan as possible.

Add shallots to the skillet, and saute in the chicken juices briefly, just until slightly soft. Add the chicken back into the skillet. Add the wine. Cook over high heat until the wine has reduced by half. Add the cream, add the grapes, and cook over medium high heat until it is a saucelike consistency, probably 10-20 minutes. Serve over curried rice.

Curried Rice
1/2 cube butter
1 onion, peeled and finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/4" cubes (apple is delicious in this but optional)
2 cups white rice, uncooked
3 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves

In a small saucepan, heat the butter and add the onion, and garlic and saute about three to five minutes until soft. Add the curry powder and apple (if you are using apple) and stir to combine, cook this together for about one minute but don't allow it to burn, add rice to the frying pan and cook until well blended with the curry mixture, remove from heat.

Add the curry/rice mixture to the rice cooker along with the chicken broth. Toss in bay leaves and stir to combine. Set your rice cooker to the white rice setting and cook. Make the chicken while the rice is cooking, leaving the rice to stay warm in the rice cooker while you prepare the chicken. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Chex/Crispix Puppy Chow

1 Cube Margarine

6 oz. peanut butter chips

12 oz or larger Crispix cereal

3 cups wheat chex (I would say this is one small box)

2/3 cup peanut butter

6 oz chocolate chips

1-1/4 cups powdered sugar...

then 1/1/4 cups powdered sugar again

Place cereal in a large bowl. In another bowl, melt butter, peanut butter chips, and chocolate chips in the microwave at 50% power, one minute at a time, until smooth and melty. Pour over cereal. Stir until coated well. Mix 1-1/4 cup powdered sugar onto the coated cereal mixture. Place this mixture in a PAPER grocery bag. Add the other 1-1/4 cup powdered sugar gradually and shake to mix and coat the cereal to look like puppy chow.

Cody's Chocolate Dessert

This has been called a lot of things, like the Robert Redford, but I think that is a silly name so I named it after my son, who always requests it. Most people do this dessert differently than I do, they bake the crust. I prefer a dry crumb-ish crust, so I do the crust in the microwave.

There are four steps to this. Make the pudding layer, make the crumb layer, make the cream cheese layer, then assemble. Doing it in this order helps because the pudding sets up a little while you do the crumb crust, and the crumb crust cools as you do the cream cheese layer, then you put it together.

Also get your butter and cream cheese to room temp, I get them out the night before and have the cool whip in the fridge, not the freezer so I can work with it.

2 bigger boxes Jello Chocolate Pudding Instant (5.9 oz)

2 bigger boxes Jello Vanilla Pudding Instant (5.9 oz)

6 cups Milk

2 cubes butter, room temperature

2 cups flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 8 oz packages cream cheese

2 cups sugar

2 cartons Cool Whip12 oz. each

Mix chocolate layer:

the 2 bigger boxes Jello Chocolate Pudding Instant (5.9 oz)

the 2 bigger boxes Jello Vanilla Pudding Instant (5.9 oz)

the 6 cups cold milk (Note that this is exactly half of what the package calls for, don't do package directions!)

Mix well with beaters for two minutes. Set aside to thicken.

Make Crumb Crust Layer:

In food processor combine

2 cubes room temp butter

2 cups flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

Pulse together until crumbly, transfer to a microwave safe bowl. Cook mixture on high, setting the microwave for five minutes. Stop the microwave every minute and stir the mixture vigorously with a fork to crumb it.

Spray a jelly roll pan very lightly with Pam spray. Place the crumb crust in the bottom of the pan and spread to distribute evenly, reserving about a half cup of the crumb mixture to use on the top at the end. Allow it to cool while you make the cream cheese layer.

Make the Cream Cheese Layer:

Combine two 8 oz packages cream cheese with two cups sugar and 1 1/2 (one and a half cartons) Cool Whip.

Assemble. This is a little tricky. Using a big spatula, carefully plop the cream cheese mixture over the crumb crust all over it, getting it distributed as evenly as you can. Carefully spread it with a smaller spatula without disturbing the crumbs very much, this takes a light hand, but is not too tough to do...just be gentle moving it around. I get this cream cheese layer all the way to the edges of the pan so I can use the side of the pan to scrape my spatula off, it helps. Then use a paper towel when you are done with that and clean the sides of the pan off so it looks nice.

Then on top of the cream cheese layer, add the chocolate layer exactly the same way, only I leave a little border of the white layer peeking out, it looks pretty. Be careful not to disturb the cream cheese layer too much.

Use the other half carton of the cool whip that is left and spread it evenly over the top, leaving a little of the chocolate layer peeking out.

Sprinkle the reserved half cup of crumb crust on the top. Chill until ready to serve.

Red Chile Colorado

Chile Colorado

I adapted this recipe from Sauteur website, trying to make Adobada, but it tasted more like my friend Zelma Savage’s red chile, so I decided to make it into that instead. I still have to find a rival to my taco wagon’s spicy pork…it eludes me. I may have to kidnap the owner and hold him ransom. But, anyway, this here is a really good, really HOT Chile Colorado that is a New Mexico style chile, it is like a soup/stew form but you can take the meat from the liquid and make tacos…but I really like the stew liquid and eat it like a bowl of stew or chili.

5 oz. dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed

1 large onion, finely minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

Butter or oil to sauté onion and garlic

2 tbsp. New Mexico chile powder

2 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1 tbsp. ground cumin

1-1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Juice of 1 lime

Vegetable or Olive oil for frying pork

3 lb. boneless pork shoulder or loin, cut into 1″ chunk

1 can chicken broth (14 oz)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Warm corn tortillas and garnishments, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat chiles in a large stew pot over medium-high heat (no oil or butter, just dry), and cook, turning once, until toasted, about 5 minutes; transfer to a large bowl, cover with 8 cups boiling water, and let sit for 20 minutes.

While waiting for chiles, sauté onion and garlic in oil or butter in a separate skillet until soft and slightly browned, set aside.

Drain chiles, reserving all the soaking liquid.

Transfer chiles to a food processor along with 2 cups of the reserved soaking liquid, chile powder, honey, vinegar, cumin, cloves, cayenne, and lime juice. Add the sautéed onion/garlic to the food processor. Process all and continue incorporating the rest of the soaking liquid, you may have to empty your food processor once or twice during this process into a larger bowl. The goal is to have all the pepper seeds pureed with the sauce mixture Set this aside.

Return the large pot to medium-high heat and add oil and heat until just hot; season pork with salt and pepper, and working in batches, add pork to pot and cook until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes for each batch.

When all the pork is fried and set aside in a bowl, deglaze the pot with about a half cup of chicken broth. The goal is to boil the chicken broth and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan that is left over from frying the pork. Boil, scrape, boil, scrape, add more chicken broth if you need to, and get the stuff off the bottom of the pan. Then add the pork pieces and coat with the scraping juice from the pan. Add the rest of the can of chicken broth.

Add all sauce and soaking liquid and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is thickened and pork is tender, at least one and a half hours, until it is the consistency you want. Serve with warm corn tortillas, garnish with cilantro, sour cream, diced onion and tomatoes, and lime wedges to kill the heat. SO DELICIOUS! You can’t stop eating it even though it’s hot.

Tortillas: I fry mine on my pancake griddle or skillet until just barely crisped, so they still fold but they are warm and a touch flaky. Mmmm!

Chicken Stew

My soup adventures continue...this was SO good.

Chicken Stew

Total prep/cooking time is about 1-1/2 to 2 hours, so this is a good weekend meal.

5 lbs bone in chicken thighs, skin on or off
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (can add more if needed)
6 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, finely minced
6 Tbsp flour
¼ cup cooking sherry (or substitute ¼ cup water with ½ tsp vinegar added)
6 cans chicken broth (the 14 oz size cans)
2 cups whole milk
½ tsp powdered thyme or 1 tsp minced fresh thyme
2 tsp dried tarragon
3 bay leaves
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup frozen peas
1 small box frozen spinach

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large stew pot. Fry the chicken in batches for approximately 10 minutes (five minutes per side). Transfer chicken to a plate and remove the skin. Pour off the chicken fat from the pot and scrape any leftover skin from the bottom of the pan. Leave some brown bits, but try and get most of the chicken skin out.

Add the butter to the pan and melt, add the onion and cook about 7 minutes until the onion is soft. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the sherry and stir, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan into the onions. Add one can of broth slowly while stirring. Add the rest of the chicken broth, milk, thyme, tarragon, bay leaves, and carrots. Nestle the chicken pieces into the stew. Cook until chicken is fully cooked and tender, about one hour. *Add the peas about a half hour into this cooking time. Taste after an hour, season with salt and pepper if needed.

Remove chicken from the pot, take the meat off the bones and discard the bones. Remove the bay leaves, return the chicken meat to the pot. Add the spinach. Heat through, cooking the spinach. If you want the stew thicker (I did) mix three tablespoons corn starch with ½ cup COLD water. Add that mixture to the boiling stew, cook to thicken. Repeat if it’s still not thick enough for you.

Potato Soup with Ham

This was my favorite mistake! Made soup for my dad who's having some problems eating, so I wanted to chop up the ham really small with my food processor, along with the celery and onion. Well, I completely pulverized it and was really mad, it was like baby food. It was two ham steaks so I couldn't waste it! So I just made the soup with the pureed ham. It was so good that way! I will do it again like that, or just cut the ham up into small bite size pieces.

The chicken soup base is from Winco bulk food, it's a powder type base. I use it a lot, very good soup base. While you're at Winco, might as well get the french bread "bombs" to use as bread bowls for this soup, just cut the middle out and fill with soup.

6-8 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced to 1/2" cubes
3 stalks celery
1 onion
Two ham steaks or equivalent leftover ham (probably 3-4 cups)
7 cups water
1/4 cup chicken soup base or 6 boullion cubes
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour
4 cups whole milk

Prepare the celery, onion, and ham how you prefer...you can dice it very fine or puree in a food processor. I process the onion and celery very fine, and cut the ham into small pieces. Combine the diced potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a soup pot. Boil until potatoes are tender, at least 10-15 minutes and check them. Longer if you like the potatoes very soft. Stir in the chicken base or boullion and the pepper.

In a separate skillet, make a roux (relax, it's easy). Melt the butter over medium low heat and add the flour. Stir constantly with a whisk or fork. Cook about one minute until thick, keep stirring and don't let it burn. Slowly add about a cup of the milk and stir as not to allow lumps to form. keep adding the milk and stir any lumps out. Continue stirring and cooking until the mixture is thick, about 4-5 minutes.

Add the milk mixture (your Roux!) to the soup pot, mix to combine and heat through. Serve soup with bread or crackers. Delicious, easy soup that can be done after work for dinner, it took about an hour including all the vegetable prep time.

Zucchini Bread

This recipe base is from Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook but I added a few things.

NOTE to self, triple this and it makes two big loaves and two small loaf pans (the matching set of small loaf pans, round the allspice, nutmeg and clove up to 1 tsp total if tripling)

Recipe as is makes one loaf, 8x4x2. Or two smaller loaves, or four mini loaves. May be doubled easily for more loaves.

2017 Note to self:  USE CAST IRON LOAF PANS!
Also, after shredding the zucchini in the salad shooter, drape a dishcloth or three layers of paper towel in a large bowl.  Place shredded zucchini in it, sprinkle with a bit of sale, let sit for 30 minutes and squeeze out excess water.  Results in a more uniform bread.

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp clove

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 beaten egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

1 cup unpeeled zucchini, finely shredded or ground

1/4 cup cooking oil

1/2 cup chopped walnuts if desired (we don't add the nuts)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom of the pan (s) and up the sides. I use shortening, not cooking spray. In your mixer combine flour, cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Make a well in the flour mixture. In a separate mixing bowl stir together egg, vanilla, sugar, zucchini, and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to the flour and mix just until moistened, batter will be slightly lumpy. Fold in nuts if desired.

Spoon into loaf pan(s). Bake 50-55 minutes (less for the small mini loaves, watch them carefully! I think they were done in 30 mins). Loaf(s) are done when toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on racks for 10 minutes. Loosen sides with straight spatula and turn loaves out. Cool before slicing. Unliced bread freezes well in freezer bags (remove as much air as possible from the bags).

***Note: Zucchini can be ground or grated and then frozen, but it the ice crystals in the freezing process damage the pulp a little so it releases more water when it's thawed. This is ok, but the water must be drained off when it's thawed and the zucchini measured after it's thawed and drained. ***

Pull Apart Sticky Buns (Aunt Shirley Asper's)

My kids die for these! Make the night before you want to bake them for breakfast.

18 frozen rhodes rolls (don't try and do more, this is experience talking here...)

One 3 oz. butterscotch pudding mix (the COOKED kind, NOT INSTANT)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Any kind of nuts if desired (we aren't fans of nuts, so we don't)

Before you go to bed, spray a bundt pan with Pam. Layer the rolls and nuts in the bundt pan. Sprinkle them with the butterscotch pudding mix packet, set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the margarine and brown sugar together, add the cinnamon and combine. Drizzle this mixture on the rolls. Cover very loosely with plastic wrap. Let set overnight. Rolls will raise and will fill the pan. Bake in the morning 350 degrees for 30 mins. Cover the top with foil if they start to brown too much or you can turn it down to 325 after 15 mins and keep watching them.

Buttercream Frosting

Buttercream Frosting

I think I got this from Wilton back in the days when I did wedding cakes...excellent basic icing. I always use butter, not margarine, because the flavor is better and it's more consistent. Can be colored easily with paste or liquid color. This covers a jelly roll pan of banana bars, double the recipe for larger cakes.

1 stick butter, very soft
1/2 bag powdered sugar
1 tsp good vanilla
1 tbsp milk

Add butter to mixer and blend with the vanilla and milk. Add the powdered sugar and mix, add more milk if needed to thin it up a little.

Banana Bars

This is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas! Very moist and everyone loves them.

1/2 cup butter (one stick, softened)
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 medium or 2 large bananas, mashed

Cream butter and sugar in your mixer. Add eggs,sour cream and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients, then add bananas and mix together. Pour into a jelly roll pan that is sprayed with Pam or baking spray.

Bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes. cool completely and frost with buttercream (recipe on this blog) or cream cheese frosting.

Brown Sugar Frosting

My husband's favorite icing for a chocolate cake! He loves this. Makes enough to cover one 13x9 cake in the pan. This should not be made ahead, so make sure the cake is cooled enough to frost before starting this recipe...

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Place powdered sugar in mixing bowl.
In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar and butter. Heat, stirring to mix together. bring to a simmer and cook for two minutes to combine and dissolve sugar. Add the milk, stir to combine, remove from heat.

Pour brown sugar mixture into the powdered sugar in the mixer. Beat until smooth and creamy, ice cake while frosting is warm, as it will harden slightly upon cooling.

Chocolate Cake

Shhh...don't tell your kids there's mayonnaise in this cake. Best chocolate cake!

2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1-1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder

3 eggs
1-2/3 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mayonnaise
1-1/3 cup water

Measure dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, soda and baking powder) in a separate smaller bowl and stir together, set aside.
In mixer, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla, mix together at medium speed then add mayonnaise and mix on low until combined.
Add flour mixture alternately with water, beginning and ending with dry mixture. Pour into a prepared 13x9 cake pan (sprayed with Pam is ok).
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until firm in center.

Salsa (Blended)

I've come frighteningly close to cloning Plum Loco's salsa in the squeeze bottle. Danger! Mine is hotter...fills two squeeze bottles nearly full.

Tomatoes, either three quarts of home canned or 6 cans italian style stewed tomatoes,

(drained well)

2 large cloves garlic, peeled

1 large onion, peeled

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp cayenne powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp chipotle powder

1 tsp jalapeno powder

1 tbsp chili powder (texas style)

1 tsp salt, more to taste

1/2 tsp accent (optional)

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp oregano IF you are using home canned or unseasoned tomatoes.

Blend the garlic and onion in the food processor. Add everything else and blend until well pureed. Fill squeeze bottles and squeeze onto chips. Bliss!

Fresh Pesto

2 cups packed fresh basil (or substitute some spinach), rough chopped
1/2 cup (4 ounces) walnuts or pine nuts, rough chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
Olive oil

In a food processor, pulse nuts, basil/spinach, and garlic until well blended.
While processing, drizzle a thin stream of olive oil into the processor. Continue adding olive oil until desired thickness is achieved, usually between 1/8 and 1/4 cup.

Store in a covered jar or bowl, lasts a few days. Use as a spread for bread, or mix with heavy cream for pesto sauce.

Rod's Famous Baked Beans

Beans and Frank! Rod Frank that is!...Good. Feeds a crowd...is also a great main dish because it has a lot of meat in it. Takes 3-4 hours in the crock pot.

8 regular size small cans pork and beans

1 lb of bacon, fried and chopped

1 lb jimmy dean sausage, fried and crumbled (we used elk sausage from my friend Matt Leatham)

1 large onion chopped very fine

4 tablespoons garlic minced well (I use the bottled kind)

4 generous splashes worcestershire sauce

2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoon dry mustard

Jalapeno powder or habenero powder to taste.

Mix all together and crock pot for 3-4 hours...longer the better. Thanks Rod!

Fry Sauce

My sister Dani moved to Texas when she got married in 1990...asked for fry sauce at fast food restaurants and they looked at her like she had two heads or something. Same thing back east, Trent and I found out. So HEY, United States! This is fry sauce! This is based on my mom's recipe from when we were kids, and I enhanced it. I'm trying to clone Red Robin's...this is getting verrrrry close.

1 part ketchup (like a half cup to a cup, depending on how much you want)

1 part mayonnaise (same)

At least 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (less if you're "sensitive" lol)

Worcestershire Sauce, one teaspoon to start

Two generous splashes Liquid Smoke to start

Black pepper to taste (couple shakes!)

Mix together and taste, taste, taste again and add more of what you want...We always end up adding more Worc, liquid smoke, and cayenne (a lot more cayenne, maybe another few generous shakes of the Worc and smoke.)

Don't be afraid to make a lot, this will keep in the fridge for a few months, just like ketchup. Go to Rush's restaurant supply and get a squeeze bottle with a little cap and keep it in the fridge.

Cheesy Grits Souffle by Christina's Mom-In-Law

I don't even know Christina's mom-in-law! But I love her for this recipe! I don't like grits but I LOVE it in this recipe. It's light, delicious, and a perfect breakfast or brunch dish. I made it for Easter dinner, and it was absolutely wonderful.

Don't be afraid of a souffle, this is the first one I have ever made and it came out perfect.

2 cups milk

1/2 cup instant grits

1/2 tsp salt (if you use cheese) if no cheese, use 1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup sharp cheddar or parmesan cheese

3 large eggs separated

Preheat oven to 375.

Grease a souffle dish, mine is 1.5 quart size and worked perfectly for this.

Scald milk (bring to just before a boil while stirring), add grits. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Make sure the grits are well cooked.

Add salt, baking powder, sugar and butter, and mix well. Remove from heat. Beat yolks and add to that mix and add cheese (cheese optional).

In another bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks. (when beaters are removed, soft peaks form and curl over like waves.) Fold egg whites into grits mixture in the saucepan.

Pour all into the greased souffle pan, bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

French Dips

I make a large roast sometimes on a Sunday, and I usually do at least a five pounder because I can squeak out two meals from it. Pot Roast on Sunday, and on Tuesday or Wednesday I do French Dips.

Leftover pot roast

2 packages au jus mix

Sandwich Buns

Margarine or butter

Garlic salt

Make the au jus according to package directions. Place the leftover roast (sliced) in the prepared au jus. Simmer until the roast is heated through.

Prepare the buns, butter each and sprinkle with garlic salt. Fry the buns buttered side down until golden brown.

Make the sandwiches on the fried buns and serve with the au jus for dipping. This is good with just a green salad or vegetable on the side.

Pot Roast

I used to do pot roasts mainly in the crock pot for convenience. I also did them in the bags for a while, but Trent remembers these great pot roasts that his family used to make on his grandpa's farm, so I tried it old school. They knew it best...

5 lb pot roast, pick a nicely marbled one

1/2 cup flour (or a little more)

3 tbsp powdered beef base, boullion powder, or au jus powder mix

2 tsp garlic powder

Mix flour, beef powder, and garlic on a paper plate. Dredge the roast in the mixture, coating well on all sides. Heat cooking oil either in a skillet or in the roasting pan you're using to roast in. Get the oil very hot, so when a bit of flour sizzles when it's dropped in the pan. Sear all sides of the roast until very well browned. Put 1-1/2 cups water in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place the seared roast in the pan and pour all the drippings from the skillet onto the roast. Add a quartered onion. Cover and roast at low temperature (275 to 300) for several hours. Check after 4, may take 5 hours. You can add potatoes and carrots for the last hour of roasting.

Potatoes Au Gratin (Mix)

This recipe probably only applies to me, because I got lucky and a friend who works at a potato packing plant scored a box of food service size au gratin potato mixes. I have had to figure out myself how to use them because they have no instructions. Finally figured it out last night. Dani, take some of these packets home, these are good when you have to feed a crowd. Would be good with pork chops, pulled pork, or fish.

5 cups dried scalloped potatoes from Winco bulk food

8 cups boiling water

1 cube margarine, melted

1 package au gratin sauce mix

Mix all together well in large, deep casserole dish or a foil disposable pan. Cook at least an hour at 350-400, depending on whatever else you are roasting or baking. Just bake the potatoes side by side with bread, meat, or whatever.

Will thicken upon standing, stir occasionally to release some of the moisture. This makes a lot. Enough for at least three meals, or a pot luck, or enough for us and to take some to the folks.

Southwest Pork Chops

Mix 4-5 tablespoons southwest seasoning mix (previous recipe) with three tablespoons olive oil, two teaspoons vinegar, about three to four tablespoons water in a ziploc bag. Place one to two pounds pork chops in the marinade and seal the bag. Marinate at least an hour, the longer the better.

Grill on the barbeque or fry.

To fry, heat cooking oil in a stainless steel pan (nonstick is ok too but you won't get the nice browning). Heat until pan is very hot and oil is slightly shimmering. Place chops in, they should sizzle. Cook 4-5 minutes on each side, checking to make sure they are browning and not burning, adjust heat down if necessary. There will be a lot of marinade sticking to the bottom of the pan, this is ok. Meat is done when the thickest part of the chop is not pink at all. Remove chops and keep warm by wrapping with foil. Use 3/4 cup of chicken stock to deglaze the pan and make a sauce to serve with the chops. With pan still hot and heat on, pour chicken stock into the pan all at once and scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Continue scraping and stirring until a reduction is made that is a thin sauce consistency. Place chops back in the pan with the sauce and mix them around in it.

Serve with a potato side dish, vegetable, or salad!

Southwest Marinade Seasoning

Trent's favorite marinade is McCormick Southwest Seasoning packets. Whenever we could find them, we would buy a whole box because sometimes they were there at the store and sometimes not. But now, we can't find it at all. So, I made one using Emeril's recipe on the Food Network site, but I added onion powder Used it on pork chops last night. Delicious!

Make seasoning mix and use 4-5 tablespoons of the seasoning, mixed with a few tablespoons of olive oil, two teaspoons of vinegar, and a little water for two to three pounds of meat. We like it on pork, beef, and chicken.

Southwest Seasoning for Marinade:

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Breaded Salmon

I'm just saying this worked for me tonight. Fish is elusive. I will not take responsibility. I seldom make it and more seldomly eat it. Just sayin'. But my co-workers give me frozen steelhead fillets so I got home from work, looked to see what there was in the freezer, and what the heCK, I made them. They were good.

4 small or two big steelhead fillets, thawed

2 eggs

1 cup breadcrumbs (seasoned)

2 Tbsp ranch dressing mix

2 tsp dill weed

Mix crumbs, ranch mix, and dill weed on a paper plate. Beat eggs well in another plate or bowl. Wash fillets and pat dry. Dredge in egg, crumbs (don't go crazy, just a thin layer), then egg again, then crumbs again (now you should get a pretty nice coating). Set aside for at least 15 mins for crumbs to set.

Heat fat in a skillet. You should use oil or margarine, as butter may scorch. Get it pretty hot over med/hi heat, so that when a few crumbs of the breading is tossed in, it sizzles. Add breaded fillets. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side....then, if you're married to Trent or any of his kids, make damn sure those fish are COOKED by flipping to brown well but not burn. Food Network 'done' does not cut it for these people...they want that fish-i-ness GONE johnson.

This is great served with au gratin potatoes and broccoli or cauliflower. I served with a little tartar sauce and lemon juice, (of which Trent did not partake) But Trent loved the fish! So did I! Mmmm.

Chicken Wings

I love homemade hot wings! This is the best I've done...

The actual recipe is in a book called Top Secret Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur. Of course any commentary is my own. I am a big fan of his clones. Don't confuse Frank's cayenne pepper sauce with Frank's wing sauce. The wing sauce is ready to use on wings. Frank's cayenne pepper sauce is the base for this hot wing sauce...I prefer this, even though it takes a little time.

Buffalo Wild Wings Medium Spice Wings

This coats 20 wings well. Make the sauce first:

1 cup Franks's cayenne pepper sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 egg yolk

2 tsp cold water

2 tsp cornstarch

Combine the first 7 ingredients (everything but the egg yolk, water, and cornstarch) in a saucepan. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool 10 minutes. Marvel in the smell of your house! mmmm.

While the sauce cools, vigorously whisk egg yolk and the 2 tsp water in a medium bowl for a full two minutes. It will be pale yellow and frothy. Then add the cornstarch and whisk to combine well.

Drizzle the hot sauce mixture into the egg yolk mixture in a slow thin steady stream while rapidly whisking. This creates an emulsion that prevents the oil from separating. Cover and chill until sauce is needed.

Wings:

Fry. That's it. Really. Heat a couple inches of oil in a frying pan or an electric fryer until very hot. Carefully drop in thawed, rinsed and patted-dry wings sections...I can do 15 at a time in my huge frypan. Fry at least 10 minutes, I do mine 12 minutes but no longer. Drain on racks or paper towels and then toss in the delicious sauce.

Spread a tarp over all exposed areas, wear clothing that is practically disposable, and be sure no one is present that has not already formed a first impression of you. Get plenty of blue cheese dressing, celery sticks, and napkins handy... and suck those wings off the bone like a screen door in a hurricane. ooooh yeah.

Old Fashioned Egg Salad

The white bread I made started a chain reaction. Trent remembered his mom made egg salad all the time to feed a crowd for cheap, and he loved it. So, I found a recipe, tweaked it a bit, and it is really good.

We only have this once in a while because even if you use fat-free or light mayo, the salad is mostly egg so it's pretty heavy on the cholesterol.

A note about boiling eggs: Use your oldest eggs. As eggs age, they become better candidates for boiling because fresh eggs are harder to peel. I boil eggs using a shut-off method. Place eggs in pan. Cover with hot water at least an inch over the tops of the eggs. Turn burner on high. Bring to full rolling boil. Leave the pan where it is on the burner but shut the burner off. Leave there for 13 minutes. Place pan in sink and run cold water over the eggs until the water is cool enough for you to easily drain. Then cover the eggs completely with cold water. To peel, crack eggs on all sides and gently roll to loosen shells. Dip in and out of the water while peeling to make it easier.

Egg Salad

12 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

3/4 - 1 cup cup mayonnaise, depending on the creaminess you like (light is ok)

1/4 cup fresh onion very very finely chopped (or substitute 1/2 tsp onion powder, I prefer fresh)

1 tsp lemon juice

2 -3 Tbsp regular mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper or to taste (I add a bit more)

Mix, chill and serve. I make the "sauce" (everything but the eggs) first and let it sit while I prepare the eggs, that gives the flavors time to blend.

You could add optional diced dill or sweet pickles, or very finely chopped celery, which I add to my portions but Trent does not like that.

Enjoy! Next assignment...chicken salad. Stay tuned.

Soft White Bread

Oh! I hear it in the background...the music...Survivor singing "The search is overrrr." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have found it. After years of baking brick bread, poof bread, weird bread, and some downright wrong bread, I found the best bread recipe ever. I made this after work last night and we had some for dinner. Trent said it's so good that I should CSI the recipe, cost it out, and decide if we should start making it for everyday use instead of buying wonder bread.

This was born out of necessity, grocery shopping money is all spent this week and we are adhering to a strict budget, as many are right now. Trent's kids coming for the weekend, so basically, I need bread. I know my kitchen is stocked well enough to solve the problem. I googled something like "Best soft white bread recipe" and found this. Tip: buy yeast in bulk at winco and keep it in the freezer to keep it fresher.

The best part of this recipe...if you have a bread machine, you do almost nothing. If you have a kitchenaid mixer instead, you do a little more than nothing, but still very little work in comparison to most bread recipes.

The directions called out in the recipe (and what I did) were for the bread machine on the dough setting, keep in mind my dough setting takes about one hour because it proofs (raises) the dough the first time in a two-raise loaf, then the 40 minutes of additional raise time in the loaf pan, then bake.

If you use a kitchenaid, one of the comments on this recipe said to mix the ingredients with the paddle attachment (the regular one) then switch to the dough hook and work the dough for 7 minutes with that, then go on to the raising process (raise once in the bowl in a warm place for about an hour, shape into a loaf pan, raise again in warm place about 40 minutes until it's loaf-sized, bake.)

Raising: I always raise any dough I make in my oven, turn the oven on for about two minutes to 350, shut it off, put your hand in there to make sure it's not too hot but nice and toasty warm and raise the dough in there.

Last thing! (I know, I know, get to the recipe already!) A note about yeast...packet yeast contains 2 and 1/4 tsp yeast, so you would not use a whole packet, you have to measure it. Ok! Here's the recipe, geez.

Soft White Bread (makes one loaf)

Add ingredients to your machine in the order called for by your machine (nearly all I have seen are liquid first, then dry over that, then yeast on top, that's how mine is.)

1 cup milk, warmed in microwave for one minute
1 tsp salt
3 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
1 tablespoon honey
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar (necessary for browning)
1-1/2 tsp yeast (a teaspoon and a half)

Select dough cycle on bread machine. Oil a loaf pan. When cycle is done (which is mixing and raising the dough once), lift dough out with slightly floured hands, DON'T knead it...just shape into a loaf shape. Place dough in oiled loaf pan and flip it over so oil is on all sides of the dough. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and raise in a warm place for about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Bake 30 minutes until golden brown.