Cheeseburger Soup (Tripled for a Quinn Meal)

3 T butter
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, shredded
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 t basil
1 t parsley

3 pounds ground beef

9 cups chicken broth
9 cups shredded potatoes, cooked
9 T butter
3/4 cup flour
24 oz shredded cheddar
4 1/2 cups whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup sour cream

Chop all veggies.
Cook shredded potatoes.
In a saucepan, saute onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley.  Add in ground beef and brown and drain.  In a large soup pot add meat mixture, broth, potatoes; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a small skillet, melt remaining butter.  Add flour and cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly.  Add to soup.  Cook and stir soup for 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to low.  Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper and stir til cheese melts.  Remove from hear and blend in sour cream.

Salmon Stew

2 packages of salmon - deboned and skinless 4 1/2 cups of water Boil 5 minutes. Add in 1 1/2 stick of butter Salt 6 cans of evaporated milk 6 cans of water 3 cups milk Boil and eat. Make sure we have plenty of Texas Pete, ketchup and crackers.

Taco Mix

So, I'm jumping in here from out of the blue. There are so many things to catch up, I might not ever.

Still unsteady from Bobbie's death but one thing I was sure of sitting in her funeral, I want to blog again. I want my children to have my words - good, bad, silly and wise. I want them to know what I was thinking when I did ... whatever, and how God always is faithful.

I want to give them what I wish I had from my mama....

So, I am gonna try my best to give it another go round. Posting little bits here and there, maybe... maybe not..., but I'm gonna try.




Here is a mix recipe for tacos that we have used for years. It came from the book Miserly Moms.

1/4 cup red pepper flakes or chili powder
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 cup oregano
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder

2T cayenne pepper
2T salt
1T cloves

Mix well and store in sealed container

For tacos: add 2T to 1 pound of hamburger. Cook together and then drain. Or in our house add 10T to five pounds of hamburger...

For Dips: add 2T to 1 cup sour cream or yogurt

For Mexican Beef: add 2-4 T over a roast and cook in crock pot for 6-8 hours. Shred and serve on soft taco shells with fixings

Banana Cream Pie by Woman's Day Magazine

Bobby made a great springtime dessert for us tonight. (too bad it turned cold and rainy today - but I sure can imagine eating it on a pretty summer day)

Banana Cream Pie

1 9 oz graham cracker pie crust 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/8 t salt 2 cups whole milk 1 cups heavy cream (1/2 pint) 4 large eggs yolks (Bobby learned how to seperate eggs) 1/2 t vanilla 2 large bananas + 1 for decoration 8 oz cool whip In a medium saucepay, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add the milk and 1 cup of the heavy cream and whisk until fully incorporated; whisk in the egg yolks. Bring the misture to a simmer. Gently simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour half the pudding mixture into the pie crut. Slice the bananas crosswise 1/4 in. thick and arrange in a single layer on top of the pudding. Top with the ramaining pudding and smoothe the top. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day. When ready to serve, spread cool whip over the top of the pie. Makes 8 servings (This isn't exactly the Woman's Day recipe but our rearranged version.)

Cream of Broccoli Soup (from the Foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients:

2 T butter

1/2 cup cream, heavy or light

1 onion, chopped

half n' half

1 russet potato, peeled and chopped

nutmeg to taste

6 cups canned chicken stock, warmed

salt

3 cups chopped broccoli florets and stems

pepper

Directions:

In a large pot, melt butter and cook onion until tender over medium high heat. Add potato and toss to coat with butter. Add hot stock and bring to a simmer. Stir in broccoli and return to a simmer. When potato and broccoli and tender, puree in batches in a blender or food processor. Return to pot and add cream. Season to taste and serve warm.

Watermelon & Fireflies

This week's ironing movie was inspired by Watermelon and Fireflies by Sugar Pie Farmhouse.

"My oh my! Sugar Pies, are you ready for a sun-drenched, farm fresh, sweet-as-corn-on-the-cob adventure to the good ol’ summertime? Well, this E-Book will take you there! This is more than a E-Book with words, each page is decorated in full color with vintage images, photos, charming quotes and of course 51 farm fresh ideas including family fun tips, recipes, decorating ideas, encouragement for homemakers and so much more!Darlins’, ”Watermelon and Fireflies” is just drippin’ with sweet southern nostalgia like honey from a honeycomb!" says Aunt Ruthie from Sugar Pie Farmhouse.

The e-book is just wonderful!!! The third idea in the book is about breakfast in a bucket and ends with a quote from the movie...

Oklahoma~~~~ the first musical written by Rogers and Hammerstein.

I had to watch it again as I worked today. Shirley Jones had such a tiny waist!!!! Oh for those days of gingham dresses~~~~ :-)

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow

The corn is as high as an elephant's eye,

An' it looks like it's climbin' clear up to the sky.

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',

Oh, what a beautiful day.

I got a beautiful feelin'

Ev'rything's goin' my way.

Also from Sugar Pie Farmhouse we had a Ice Box Lemonade Pie last week. Emily made it and Artie loved it. He's not very big into desserts so when I find one he wants to eat for a snack- it's a good day.... plus it's cool - no baking....

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 can sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, regular or pink, thawed

1 container Cool Whip

q graham cracker crust

Beat cream cheese until smooth.

Gradually beat in condensed milk, then lemonade.

Fold in whipped topping and pour into pie shell.

Cover and refrigerate until set.

Salsa

Getting ready to can the first salsa of the summer. I had to dig out my Linda Ferrari book, way way down in a stack of cookbooks - someone needs to come and clean my house while i play in the garden!!

Here's the recipe I use:

5 1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled and diced (about 16 to 17 medium size)

2 onions, diced (I puree mine because Artie can't find an onion in something I cook) :-)

1 can (7 ounces) chilies, diced (I use fresh banana peppers from the garden)

3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/2 cup vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (I use cayenne peppers from our garden)

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Heat salsa just until hot. Ladle into jot jars. Clean rims, seal, and process in a water bath canner for 45 minutes.

Makes 6 pints

Food Week

Beginning last summer we began eating around the produce on sale each week. Our first big week was Blueberry. Here, here and here are more blueberry posts.

Next we had Peach week.

Here is Strawberry week from this year.

We have now added to also eating around the sales at Aldi's - who have great produce. Last week Aldi's had a gallon of milk on sale for .50. I guess they had a big overstock. By the end of the week they were .10 each. I bought 6 at a time, almost every day. I froze some, we cooked

muffins, pancakes, we drank chocolate milk and made milkshakes. It was yummy and cool!!!

Along with the milk, Aldi's had big bags of oranges on sale for .99 each. I started with 6 bags. The children had oranges for snack. Emily and I made Honey Orange muffins for Sunday morning breakfast on Saturday afternoon. We also made a Orange Salad for dinner Saturday night. Tonight we are having an orange pie for dessert. I have already forgotten where I got the recipe but here it is...

Orange Pie, Grape Pie, Key Lime Pie - Same Recipe with different Kool-Aid

Mix together:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tub of Cool Whip

packet of Kool-Aid (optional 1 tsp of fruit juice - we used fresh squeezed orange juice)

Pour into pre-made graham cracker crust pie shell

Chill 1 hour before serving

I hope it turns out good...

This one looks prettier, I think I might copy the oranges on the top...

Strawberries

So, it's been strawberry week here. The new Aldi's opened this week and a pint of strawberries were only $.99. I have bought at least 3 flats so far. We've had strawberry shortcake, strawberry lemonade, and strawberries and kool whip. I've made my first batch of strawberry freezer jam. Next I want to make a strawberry cake and pie. Looking for good recipes...

Fresh Strawberry-ade

16 ounces fresh strawberries

1 tub crystal light pink lemonade

Wash and remove tops from strawberries. Place in blender and puree until fully liquefied. Fill two quart pitcher halfway with water. Stir in drink mix. Add strawberry puree and fill the rest of the way with cold water. Stir well. If strawberries aren't sweet enough, you can add 1/4 a cup of Splenda or to taste. Serve cold, over ice.

Big Pasta Salad

1 box tri-color rotini cooked
pepperoni - cut in 4ths
tomatoes - diced
cubed cheese - cheddar & Monterrey jack
Italian dressing

Combine all, let set in frig. Great on a warm day, no oven!!

MaMa

Mama's Chocolate Pound Cake

2 sticks butter
1 cup Crisco
3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 t baking powder
5 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 t salt
1 cup milk
1 t vanilla




Cream Crisco and sugar. Sift all dry ingredients together in separate bowl. Add eggs, one at a time to shortening mixture beating well. Add alternately flour and milk, then the vanilla. Mix all well. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Added: I've been talking to my cousin Jill and she has sent me MaMa's icing recipe that goes with the chocolate pound cake. It's so good alone I never even knew it had icing to go with it. I will have to be trying this very soon!!!

Here's the icing recipe:

1/4 c. milk

1 box 10X sugar

1 stick butter

1/2 c cocoa.

Mix and beat well.

MaMa used to use a knife and kinda make pleats all around the cake in the icing. It was so pretty and she taught me how but for the life of me mine doesn't turn out the same. Actually, she used margarine so that may have made a difference in the consistency. Will take a picture of it and send it to you.

This recipe is from my great grandmother - MaMa. I can remember going over to her house on Sunday afternoons after church for a big family dinner and she would have cakes all around her counters. My granddaddy said she used to sell them from her front porch for extra money. She would line them up on her porch railing and people from all over town would come and buy one or two. Wish I was so industrious!!! :-)

Here's one more for her plain pound cake

Mama's Pound Cake

2 sticks butter

3 cups sugar

1 cup milk

3 cups plain flour

1 t baking powder

1/2 cup Crisco

5 eggs

3 t vanilla

1/2 t salt

Cream shortening and butter together. Add sugar, mix well. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add vanilla. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add a little flour then a little milk. Beat well. Bake 325 for 1 & 1/2 hours.

Okay, while I'm here...

MaMa's 7-Up Cake

2 sticks butter

3 cups sugar

1 cup 7-Up

3 cups plain flour

1/2 cup Crisco

5 eggs

2 t vanilla & 1 t lemon (or 3t vanilla)

Cream shortening and butter. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well and add vanilla. Sift flour. Add a little flour then a little 7-Up until all combined. Baked in a tube pan 1 & 1/2 hours - 325.

Frosting

1 box powdered sugar

1 stick butter

juice of 2 lemons

Mix well

I have a new favorite summer food... PEACH COBBLER!!! Yummo!! I used this recipe from Southern Plate. I actually don't know if I've ever eaten peach cobbler before. How can I grow up in SC and never have eaten peach cobbler - oh, I remember, it's not chocolate!! Anyway, I loved it. Can't wait to make it again...

Peach Cobbler

4 cups peeled and sliced peaches (measure, don't go by Daria's estimate)
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 cup milk
1 cup s/r flour
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt stick of butter in oven proof casserole dish in oven while making pie ingredients. ( make sure your dish is big enough to hold the casserole - mine wasn't!!) :-)

Pour the two T. lemon juice over the peaches. Stir to coat. Pour 1/2 cup sugar over peaches. Stir. Heat in microwave for 1 minute so that sugar begins to melt.

Mix together 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and cinnamon until blended. Pour in 1 cup milk and mix until blended.

After butter is melted, take casserole out of oven and pour batter on top of melted butter. Pour peaches on top of batter. DO NOT STIR! Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over pie. (I also sprinkled some more cinnamon to look pretty)

Place in 350 oven and cook for 55 minutes or until golden.

Pancakes, BlueBerry, Peanut Butter

Last night Emily cooked blueberry pancakes for our dinner (except for Artie, who had chicken and rice - he doesn't like sweet things for dinner - while me, I can live off them forever!!)

Here is our pancake recipe

2 cups of flour

5 t baking powder

1 t salt

3 T sugar

2 eggs

2 C milk

1/3 C melted margarine or oil

Combine and pour on warm skillet. Cook until it bubbles and then turn and cook a moment more.

These are so simple and easy to make. There is really no need as far as ease for having to buy pancake mix. (now if you can get it for free with coupons that's a different story!!)

We added in 1 cup of blueberries for last night's meal. They were so good, they just popped in your mouth.

You can also change the recipe to make peanut butter pancakes by added 1/3 cup peanut butter.

I think we are going to make some more blueberry pancakes today and put them up in the freezer. Hey, our frozen blueberries turned out great too.

Next year I hope to buy more than I did this year. I only bought 5 pints this year while they were such a good price. I definitely need 10 or 15.

So what to cook with them now?

Our Summer Blueberry Week

Our blueberries are soooo good!!!!

We looking for more and more to cook with them.

The Kuchen turned out good. I finally had to google Kuchen and found out it was a German name for cake.

Here's the recipe we used for the Kuchen from Woman's Day

INGREDIENTS

1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1⁄4 tsp each ground cinnamon and salt
1 1⁄2 sticks (3⁄4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3⁄4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
1⁄3 cup milk
1 1⁄2 cups blueberries
1 ripe peach, pitted and cut into 1⁄2-in. wedges
1 ripe plum, pitted and cut into 1⁄2-in. wedges

Crumb Topping

3 Tbsp each all-purpose flour and light brown sugar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut in bits
1⁄4 tsp ground cinnamon
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

PREPARATION
1. Heat oven to 350°F.

Line a 9-in. square baking pan with nonstick foil; let foil extend over ends of pan. (we didn't do this)

2. Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with mixer on high speed for 2 minutes until smooth. On medium speed, beat in eggs and vanilla just until combined. On low speed, beat in flour mixture and milk until blended. Gently fold 1⁄2 cup blueberries into batter.

3. Spread batter into prepared pan and spread in an even layer. Top with peach and plum slices, evenly spaced in batter. Scatter with remaining 1 cup blueberries.

4. Topping:

In a medium bowl, rub ingredients together with fingertips until moistened and clumpy, then scatter over fruit. Bake 55 to 60 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and kuchen starts to pull away slightly from sides of pan. Cool in pan on wire rack.

5. Lift foil by ends onto work surface. Using 2 large spatulas, lift cake from foil onto a serving plate. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Cut into squares.

The peaches were the best thing in the recipe. Now I'm ready to get a bushel of peaches next time I'm out!!

Blueberries

I got a great deal on blueberries this week at Ingles and bought several pints. I think I will be back to get some more. I have several recipes I am wanting to try and hoping to freeze some as well while the prices are low. I looked up online to check on freezing them and here is what I found.

Q. What is the best way to freeze blueberries. Also, once they have been frozen, if you cook with them, do you defrost them first? Do you wash blueberries, before you freeze them?

A. If you grew them, know they have not been doused with pesticides, and are unconcerned about what has been climbing around on them, you don't need to wash them. Otherwise, do wash them, gently, and do it before you freeze them. Thawed berries tend to weep and are very fragile, and you wouldn't want to wash away their flavor when you scour the pesticides off them.

The best way to freeze blueberries is in a single layer on a baking sheet. Dry them as well as you can first without bruising them by laying them on a layer of paper towels and covering them with more paper towels. Place them lovingly, and without crowding them, on the baking sheet, pop it in the freezer, and wait. Once frozen, pack the berries into appropriate storage containers and return them to the freezer.

There are certainly some applications where you don't need to thaw the berries before use — blueberry muffins, for example, where they will thaw and cook in the muffins. Where they will be used as a topping or garnish, however, it is nice to thaw them first so that you don't wind up biting a crystallized berry.

Doesn't seem to hard at all, if there is any left to freeze. I think I'm starting with a Summer Fruit Kuchen recipe that I found in Woman's Day.

Southern Plate

I found a wonderful cooking site today that has me ready to get in my kitchen. It's Southern Plate -Recipes from Below the Mason-Dixon Line. :-)



















Here are some of the recipes that caught my eye...

Peach Cobbler

Mud Pie (or Chocolate Cobbler)

Pizza Rolls - there are many recipes with great ideas for hamburger meat

I get tired of cooking the same things too much. I love trying new food and this all looks like our kind of food...

Pimento Cheese

This recipe originally came from my sister-in-law, Glenda. It's Artie's favorite. I'm not sure if it's still exactly like she gave it to me?? :-)

16 oz sharp cheddar cheese - grated on medium grate

mayo

bigger jar of pimentos - don't drain, mash them all up

a little salt

combine all above, of course we double or triple this...

tonight we will be eating with celery, crackers and grapes. I couldn't resist after seeing how good they looked in the above picture.

Here's a great post talking about pimento cheese. Notice the mention of the Beacon!!! :-)

Mama's Spaghetti

This is my all time favorite recipe ~ my mama's spaghetti.

It was one of the original 4 meals I could cook when we first got married and has remained a staple to this day.

My new favorite past time is Facebook. I have loved getting in touch with some long lost people in my life ~ one being my Jessica ~ the beautiful little girl who lived with us high school ~ my daddy and his wife had custody of her then. One of Jessica's memories of that time was my mama's spaghetti (along with me listening to Tina Turner!!) :-)

So here is the recipe...

10 oz tomato paste
20 oz tomato puree
3/4 t oregano
1/2 t red pepper
2 bay leaves (remove before serving)
3/4 t garlic
1/4 t pepper
3/4 t salt

1 pound browned and drained hamburger

vermicelli

French bread

Combine first nine ingredients. Add in a can or two of water it get it to your desired consistency. Cook on low for several hours.

The longer it sits the better it is, great leftovers!!!

Serve over vermicelli topped with Parmesan cheese with a side of French bread.

As our family has grown we began doubling the recipe - today we triple it. Sometimes it is enough for Artie to take a bowl to work the next day, but sometimes they will it every bite of it!!

Jessica, hope you enjoy it. Let me know when you try it!!

French Dip

This is such a quick and yummy dish. I make it in the crock pot - all of 5 minutes and then let it cook all day. It's one of Troy's favorite meals.

1 beef roast - I usually use what ever is on sale - the biggest I can find - today it's a London broil

2 cups water

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 t dried rosemary

1 t dried thyme

1 t garlic powder

1 bay leaf

3 or 4 whole peppercorns

(We usually double or triple the broth mix for our family)

French rolls - split for sandwiches

After it's cooked all day, shred meat with fork and serve on French rolls (top with cheese if you like). Pour broth in individual cups for dipping. We usually serve with chips to end out the easy meal part!! :-)

Skillet Noodle Pizza

This is one of our family's favorite quick and cheap recipes. We have been making it since Brian and Troy were little.

Skillet Noodle Pizza

Ours is just a little from the recipe. We have moved from a skillet - it's just not big enough for our family - to a 9x13 baking pan. We use 10 packs of noodles, 3 jars of spaghetti sauce and 2 pounds of mozzarella. We dice the pepperoni so there almost a piece in each bite. We mix the sauce with the noodles and then pour some over the top of each layer. We also do a first layer and broil it, then add the top layer and broil again. That puts two layers of the yummy browned cheese!!

It's great with a loaf of french bread.