Christmas Baking

No, I'm not wishing it was Christmas yet, even though this the 2nd blog this week about a Christmas recipe! haha! My mom (Grandma Snell to Liv) recently emailed me 2 of her recipes along with one of her favorite kitchen memories: our annual bake day.  So, even though it's not Christmas time, I thought I'd go ahead and share them. I'm sure they're just as tasty any other time of the year too! 


The first of Dec. each year mom and I would take one day and do nothing but bake. Mom remembers, "We baked dozen after dozen of cookies, peanut butter, chocolate chip, pineapple, and chocolate cherry.  We made batches of candy, peanut butter fudge and chocolate fudge."  We laughed, made a mess, and enjoyed each other's company.  One thing that sticks out in my mind is the HUGE coat boxes we filled with cookies and candy.  We would take the majority of what we made to the church who used baked goods from the church members to make baskets to take to the elderly and shut-ins. I wish I had a pic of one of those boxes.  Most people wouldn't believe how big they were and how much food you could put in them!  Still, even after we had filled at least 2 of those boxes, mom would make a smaller box for the mailman, my bus driver, maybe a teacher or two, for dad to take to his office, for her to take to her work, and yet there'd always be some left for us to eat on too...yeah, we made THAT many goodies! 


Anyway, mom says her favorite was always the pineapple cookies and I always thought the chocolate cherry cookies looked so festive. Don't take our word for it though...try 'em out! 

Pineapple Cookies

Old recipe from Granny Moore (Liv's great-great grandma)

2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup nut meats
1 tsp soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup strained crushed pineapple
½ tsp salt
3 ½ cups flour

Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla. Add pineapple and nut meats. Sift salt, baking powders and flour together and add to other ingredients. Blend and drop on greased baking sheet. Bake @ 350 degrees until brown. Drop with spoon on cookie sheet.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

(The recipe came out of a paper called Grit dated Nov. 30-Dec. 6th, 1986)

2/3 cup butter or margarine
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 ½ tsps vanilla
1 2/3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
6 tbsps unsweetened cocoa
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
18 maraschino cherries, well-drained and halved

Cream butter, sugar egg and vanilla until fluffy. Stir together dry ingredients: add to creamed mixture (dough will be still). Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on increased baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Press a cherry half into center of each cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on wire rack. Prepare Chocolate Glaze. Frost each cookie, leaving top of cherry showing. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Glaze

Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat: immediately add ½ cup chocolate chips, stirring just until melted. Cool until glaze is of spreading consistency.

Mom's Cheese Ball

One the most requested things my mom (Grandma Snell to Liv) makes is her cheese ball.  Everyone always raves about it & she kept telling us it was super easy to make.  After finally getting her recipe from her, she's right! It IS really easy.  To read the ingredients you just wouldn't imagine the great flavor this cheese ball has.  Don't take my word for it...try it for yourself! :) 

Mom's Cheese Ball

1 8 oz. pkg of cream cheese

1 pkg of sliced dried beef - chopped (I use Armour Dried Beef & put it in the food processor to get it evenly chopped up)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 bottle of chives
1/2 tsp. Accent (I don't use this.  Accent is MSG which we try to avoid in my household. It's found in a lot of things we eat, but I don't want to purposely put it in our food if I can avoid it. It is suppose to be a flavor enhancer, but there's loads of flavor in this cheese ball without the MSG's help.)


Mix all the ingredients together & form into a ball.  You can roll the ball in pecan chips or almond slivers if you want.  I usually roll mine in more chopped up dried beef.  Wrap in plastic wrap & refrigerate.  It's best if you make it the night before & they can be frozen if you want to make them way in advance or just keep them on hand in case company stops by.

Marinated Vegetable Salad

This salad is perfect for Christmas because it's red, green & white when it's made & it looks very festive!  But it's so good & so easy to make, you won't want to wait until Christmas time to eat it.  My MIL, Sharon (Grandma King to Liv), gave me this recipe a few years ago.  It's still one of Toby's faves!  

Marinated Vegetable Salad

4 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1 cup chopped onions


Combine the following ingredients in a jar or bowl & shake or whisk until combined. Then pour the mixture over the vegetables. 


3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tblsp poppy seeds
1 Tblsp salt


Cover & chill the salad for at least 3 hours.
Makes 6-8 servings. 

Did You Know?

I know some of my family has mentioned reading the blog, but not everyone has a blogger account.  Did you know that you can comment on my blogs (either of them) without having a blogger account?  You can use your Google account (if you have one - like for gmail) or you can comment with the anonymous option (but please sign your comment so I know who you are :)


Thought I'd pass this info along in case any of you would like to add your thoughts!   

Grandma King's Potato Soup

Today's recipe is from Toby's mom, Sharon (or Grandma King to Liv).  Her original potato soup has always been a family favorite.  In fact, it was one of the first recipes I asked her for when Toby & I got married because he was always wanting it. (Right after I asked her how to make iced tea...yeah, I didn't know how - pretty amazing, huh? She wrote it on a piece of paper &, although I no longer need a recipe for iced tea, I've always placed that recipe under my silverware drawer in every house we've lived.  It's kind of like a good luck charm that reminds me of when we first started out). 

Anyway, back to the potato soup...a few years ago she received a potato soup recipe from her best friend, Annette, and decided to modify her own recipe.  At first we were all like "don't mess with a good thing", but boy are we glad she did!  What was good before is now absolute heaven for the taste buds!

Pic by Grandma King :) 

Grandma King's Hearty Potato Soup

4 or 5 med to large red potatoes (red ones make the best soup, mashed and fried too,☺)
2 to 4 stalks of celery
1 med sized onion
Salt & pepper to taste
Parsley
1/2 cup cream or more
2 T of butter
1 to 2 cups of milk or more
I/2 # or 1/2 package of Eckrich skinless kielbasa or more

Chunk the potatoes (about an inch) chop onion and celery (large chop) and put into your large sauce pan, use just enough bottled water (our water from the tap is awful) to almost cover the veggies. Add salt, pepper and rub some parley in your hands and add that. Cook till tender and let the water cook down some.

Do not drain, but then add the butter, cream, milk and kielbasa then simmer for about 20 minutes.

Grandma also says:
"All of these are estimates because I do not follow a recipe. If you like a more thick soup, then use more veggies. Or if you want plain soup, leave out the kielbasa, as some prefer the soup plain, ☺"
(This last smiley is for Toby who is the only freak in the family who does not like the soup better with the keilbasa - haha!)

Yeah, I know I've used this pic before, but it's one of my faves! Liv has been interested in cooking since she was itsy-bitsy. I have to say that I (& she) have Grandma King to thank for cultivating this love of all things food. When I was too much of a "mommy" to let Liv help me (afraid she'd get hurt or in a hurry just to get supper on the table), Grandma was letting Liv pull up a chair & stir what didn't need stir, encouraging her to find new recipes they could try & allowing her to use her creative food instincts. Today, Miss Liv is quite the capable cook & it's due in great part to the hours she spent at Grandma King's side in the kitchen...Just another example of the impact Grandma's have on our lives :)

Grandma's Homemade Ice Cream

Let me start by saying that I LOVE ice cream.  Quite possibly more than any other human has ever loved ice cream...OK, maybe not quite that much - but close :)  This recipe is my Grandma Patton's (Liv's great-grandma) homemade ice cream recipe.  

Several years ago I asked her for it & ended up learning 3 things besides how to make her ice cream. 


#1 - Grandma Patton is known for forgetting to tell you important parts of the recipe that she's changed.  So when she gives you a written copy & says "Here you can copy it down"  always assume that she doesn't do it like the recipe says.  Lesson learned (2 batches of ice cream later - haha!)


#2 - This recipe uses raw eggs & is made without cooking the mixture.  Now all of today's "experts" will throw a fit & want us to believe that we can die if we eat this stuff.  However, my Grandma wants us to all know that she has been eating this recipe since she was a little girl & she is now 86 years young so she's fairly certain it is no more dangerous than most of the processed junk we stuff our faces with.  I tend to agree with her.


and #3 - No amount of recipe copying can actually duplicate the flavor of ice cream made by Grandma.  Apparently, her sticking her finger in it DOES affect the taste.  But this recipe will get you a close replica.  As with most replicas, it will never be as good as the original :) 

Grandma Patton's Homemade Ice Cream

6 eggs
3 + 1/8 + 1/4 cups of sugar (or 3-3/8 cups if that makes it easier :)
7.5 cups of milk (2%) - Use 32 oz. of half & half and add 2% milk to get a total of 7.5 cups 
6 cups of milnot
6 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. salt


Beat eggs, gradually add sugar to beaten eggs.  Continue to beat until mixture is very stiff.  Add remaining ingredients & mix thoroughly.  Pour into ice cream maker & freeze as directed.  


You can make the mixture the night before & put it in the refrigerator until the next day when you want to make the ice cream. 


I usually use the ice cream maker to make the ice cream & then remove the "bucket" & put it in the freezer to freeze solid.  I've just never had Grandma's knack for getting it to freeze using the rock salt & ice method after the churning is done.  I'm going to lay the blame on not having one of those old rag rugs & a bunch of newspapers to throw over the maker because I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with my incompetence with the science involved in using rock salt & ice...


This recipes makes enough ice cream for the 6 qt. ice cream makers. 


Don't forget...You're gonna need rock salt & probably 2-3 bags of ice too.

(I didn't take this pic, but this recipe makes ice cream that looks just like this :) 

If you're like my MIL & husband you can ruin this ice cream with toppings or even try creating other flavors.  I always shudder when one of them hollers "Got any Hershey's", but you can eat it that way if you must.  I'm just not sure WHY you'd want to :) 

As close as it gets to El Compadre's salsa

Our family LOVES the salsa served at El Compadre's in Mitchell.  A year or so ago, Toby asked for the recipe.  Miguel, our waiter, told Toby they'd kill him if told - haha!  Apparently, as I suspected, the recipe is a closely guarded secret.  At this point Toby decided "we" should figure out how to make it simple by taste. 

(Photo is not of actual salsa made with this recipe, but it looks similar :) 

I need to stop here & provide you with 2 important facts about Toby and I.  First of all, Toby DOES NOT cook.  He never has, he most likely never will & it's best for everyone (and all my kitchen appliances, cookware, & utensils) if does not attempt any form of cooking.  One of Liv's favorite "tattletale" stories about Toby is the time he asked her (she was maybe 5 or 6 yrs. old) how long he should put his Pop-Tart in the microwave.  Their conversation went something like this:


Papa:  Liv, how long should I put this Pop-Tart in the microwave for?  Like 2 minutes?
Liv:  Uh, NOOOOO!!!  Not if you want anything left of it.  Maybe 15 sec, Papa.


Yeah, see what I mean, it's best if he stays out of the kitchen.  Which means the "we" in his suggestion actually just means I should figure it out.  This brings me to important fact #2.


I am not a from scratch, create-my-own-recipe kind of gal.  I like working from a recipe & I'm happy to tweek a recipe according to our tastes, but I unfortunately was not blessed with a palate that can differentiate what ingredients are in a dish I'm eating.  So for the salsa, about all I knew was it had tomatoes & cilantro in it.  


Anyway, back to my recipe for today, Toby badgered me until I finally starting trying to figure out their secret.  My first salsa came out looking brownish green.  It's OK if you feel the need to wrinkle your nose & gag a little  - we all did.  Tossed that one.  My next one came out the right color, but the taste was completely off. 


4 or 5 nasty batches later, I came across a website for authentic Mexican restaurant style salsa.  I had been telling Toby all along that I thought he was making it too complicated (he kept suggesting it needed this ingredient or that ingredient).  I knew it had to be something simple that they could make large amounts of quickly & cheaply.  This recipe sounded like just the thing.


Three things about this recipe stood out to me:  

1.  It uses canned tomatoes - not fresh ones.

2.  It uses canned, pickled jalapenos - not fresh. 

3.  When using cilantro - you apparently don't use the stalk part - just the leaves.  I didn't know that. 






This recipe is the closest we've ever had to El Compadres'.  It's still not a perfect match, but it's close enough Toby quit hollering for me to figure it out. I usually make a double batch in my food processor as it keeps well in the fridge. 

As Close As It Gets To El Compadres' Salsa

Ingredients:


1 28 oz. can of crushed or diced tomatoes (I use Kroger Brand canned, diced tomatoes.  You can use your favorite brand, but beware not all brands are created equally & some generic brands can change the flavor A LOT). 
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
10+ pickled jalapeno rings (you can add more or less to get the heat your family likes - I use approx. 2 TBSP of the diced, pickled jalapenos instead of the rings)
10+ leafs of cilantro


Directions:


Food process everything
Check hotness & saltiness - add more of what ever you need to make it to your family's taste




Your done! ENJOY!!! 

"What in the world is 'oleo', Granny?"'

Years ago, while nosing...er, I mean, looking through my Granny's (this would be Liv's great, great grandma on my Dad's maternal side) things I came across a recipe calling for "oleo".  Being the nosey...er, inquisitive, child that I was, I quickly went looking for the answer to what this silly word meant.  I still remember my Granny chuckling at me & saying, "Oh, it's like butter. You can't find it much anymore, but butter will do basically the same thing."  So, if your recipe calls for oleo, use butter.  That's just one of MANY things I learned from my Granny. 


While looking through some old recipes today I found a recipe for Persimmon Pudding that was my great, great Grandma Boyd's (Granny's mom, Liv's great, great, great grandma).  I never knew Grandma Boyd, but have blessed enough to have been given her very first set of housekeepin' dishes.  Talk about a real treasure!!  Anyway, I don't care for persimmon pudding, but it is one of Liv's favorites.  I'll have to admit, I have never made this recipe myself, but for the sake of preserving the use & meaning of "oleo" I'm going to include it here. 

Mamaw Boyd's Persimmon Pudding

1 ½ cup persimmon

2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 stick oleo ( ½ cup)

1 1/1 cups sweet milk

2 tsp. baking powder

½ cup flour

cinnamon and allspice

Bake 1 hour at 300°

As was customary with old recipes, I guess you have to just figure out how to put it together & how much cinnamon & allspice you want to use.  Gotta love those old ladies & their pinches & smidgens! 

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham & Cheese

Tonight we tried a new recipe that I found through www.tasteofhome.com.  I figured with potatoes, ham & cheese how could we go wrong...and I was right.  It was DELICIOUS! 

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham & Cheese

Ingredients


1 can (10 -3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup milk
2/3 cup condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted (I just used the whole can which was a little more than 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (I didn't have any minced garlic, so I used 1/4 tsp. garlic powder)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt (I didn't have this either - I know I should have read the recipe closer before grocery shopping, eh? - anyway I used about 1/2 teaspoon of coarse Kosher salt)
8 medium red potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced (I used some regular ol' russets I found on sale)
3 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1-1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (I used 2 cups)


Directions


In a large bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients.  Add the potatoes, ham & cheese; toss to coat.  Transfer to a greased 9-in x 13-in baking dish. 


Bake uncovered, at 350 for 65-70 minutes or until bubbly and potatoes are tender.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  (I baked mine for about 75 min. & then let it sit for about 15 min.  The potatoes were tender, but not mushy and the whole casserole was completely heated through.)


Makes 10 servings.


I served this casserole with steamed cauliflower, broccoli & carrots made in the microwave while the casserole was standing after cooking.  

Cousin Shawn's Deer Stew

In 2006, we went to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with the Lovelace's which include Toby's Aunt Vicki, Uncle Donnie, Aunt Sue, Uncle Fred, Cousins, Molly, Jennifer, Shawn (and their spouses & children) and Julie & Stephen (and spouse & children).   Now apparently when you get up into Michigan, deer meat is the new beef, because those folks eat deer meat like we eat beef here.  Which is all fine & dandy, except I don't like deer meat.  

We went to Thanksgiving dinner which had all the usual trimmings, turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, etc, but (I guess because it was Michigan) there had to be some venison (which is what they all refer to deer meat as) on the table.  So Cousin Shawn packed in his deer stew & Cousin Stephen packed in his deer roast.  I was skeptical, but being someone who LOVES food, I had to at least try some.  


Oh man, both dishes were some of the most fantastic tasting stuff to ever touch my lips!  The deer...erh, I mean venison was so tender & flavorful I couldn't believe it was actually deer!  It took me a couple years to get around to asking Shawn for his recipe, but I finally got it.  He sent it to me with a note that said he seldom worked from a recipe so this was his best guess at what he did that day.  I've yet to find out how Stephen fixed his roast so that's on the "to do" list for now. 

Cousin Shawn's Deer Stew

"If you're in a hurry use a pressure cooker, otherwise I like to use a crock pot. Brown your meat with about a teaspoon of crushed or minced garlic (I use the stuff from a jar) and some Lawrey's seasoning salt. Place it in the crock pot with a can of beef broth and fill the rest (up to about 2/3) with water. Slow cook the meat for a few hours and then add your potatoes, onion, celery, carrots, peas, or whatever you like to use. If you like some of your veggies firmer( like carrots) don't add them right away. About an hour or so before eating, I add one large can of cream of mushroom soup and salt and pepper to taste. Make it as thick as you like by adding flour mixed with warm water. Most people like this stew even if they say they don't like cream of mushroom soup." 

Aunt Kimmy's Lasagna

Today's recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law (Grandma King to Liv), but is actually Aunt Kimmy's recipe for lasagna.  This recipe is really easy to assemble - especially if you pre-cooked your beef :) and is really good.  Because it doesn't use ricotta cheese, there is no bitter hint in it & most kids like it too!

Aunt Kimmy's Lasagna

1 lb. of hamburger
1 med-to-large onion (add onion to your family's taste - I always use frozen chopped onion here)
1 jar or can of your favorite spaghetti sauce (the regular size - not the smaller or larger options some brands have)
1 reg. size container of cottage cheese
2 - 8 oz. packages of shredded mozzarella cheese
9 lasagna noodles - already cooked


Brown hamburger & onion & drain well (or use a package of your pre-cooked!).
Add spaghetti sauce and heat through.
Layer in a 9 x 13 pan as follows:


1/2 of the cooked noodles
all of the cottage cheese
1/2 of the hamburger mixture
1 pkg of mozzarella cheese
then rest of the noodles
rest of the hamburger mixture
and the other pkg of mozzarella cheese


Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 min (or until cheese is melted & dish is heated through)




I don't have a picture of this one yet, but this is a family favorite at our house.  It's easily made for less than $10 & makes enough for 2 meals for the 3 of us.  

Time & Money Saving Tip

Before I get too far along in this blog, I want to share a way that I save both time & money in the kitchen.  Some of you will already have heard me talk about this, but (since this is for Liv) I'm going to repeat myself here.  My grandma told me how to do this & it is one of the greatest kitchen tips ever!


I buy large packages of ground hamburger (whatever is on sale & is the cheapest).  Then I cook ALL of it at one time.  Drain it and rinse it in hot water.  I allow it to cool for a little while & then place it in qt. size zip lock baggies or plastic containers that I can freeze it in. (I've recently discovered that I like ziplock baggies better because all my plastic containers aren't tied up in the freezer & clean up is a breeze!).  Then I freeze it for later use.

After the first few times you will be able to judge how much cooked ground beef is an approx. pound of hamburger.  I often just look at the pounds labeled on the beef, then get out that many baggies & divide my cooked beef among the baggies.  So if the labels add up to 7.3 lbs.  I would get out 7 baggies & divide equally.  I'm not a stickler for exactness so if the labels added up to 7.8 lbs., I'd still just go with the 7 baggies.  I've yet to find a recipe that being off by a little bit really affects the taste.


When I'm ready to use the hamburger, I take it from the freezer, pop it in the microwave on defrost for a couple of minutes (just until it's not one hard frozen lump - it's still frozen some, but can be crumbled), & use it in my recipe.  It finishes warming up during the cooking process of the recipe. 


Preparing your ground beef like this accomplishes several things.  


1.  It saves an enormous amount of time.  I use to HATE recipes that started with "brown the ground beef and drain".  Not only does it make a mess in the kitchen, but I never seemed to have fresh ground beef on hand when I needed it. It had always already went bad (because I didn't get to make the recipe when I had planned) or it was frozen (uncooked) in the freezer which meant I had to not only cook it, but defrost it too!


2. It saves money.  This method eliminates the "oops, I didn't get that used up in time" waste that was happening in my house a lot.  It also allows me to buy the cheaper ground beef because, from what I've read, after you drain it & rinse it in hot water the fat content is no more than that of the leaner ground beef.  And it allows me to stock up on ground beef when it's on sale and to buy the large (cheaper) family packs.


3. It eliminates the "browning the ground beef" mess from your daily routine.  You make the mess one time (usually once a month for me) & that's it.  No more making a mess just so you can start the supper mess. 


Another nice thing about doing this is that it is versatile.  If your family uses a lot of ground beef with onions in it or onions and peppers, you can fix your meat with these & freeze it with these extras already in it.  Saving even more time (& money - if you find the extras on sale).


I've also found this works well with beef stew meat.  I buy the stew meat on sale, boil it in some water until it is cooked the way we like it, allow it to cool & freeze meat & broth in a plastic container (this one won't work in the baggies very well because of the broth).  Then I can make vegetable soup or beef & noodles in a flash with my broth frozen right with the beef.  We've found the beef is much more tender & tasty when made ahead like this. 

Santa Fe Enchiladas

Contrary to how it may appear, I actually DO cook on a stove most of the time & not just in the microwave.  However, tonight when I ask Miss Liv what recipe I should post next, she said "Santa Fe Enchiladas" which just happens to be another microwave meal.  These microwave meals are great for the summer months when we all dread heating up our kitchen to cook supper or we're short on time because we've been playing outside :) 

Photo from tasteofhome.com

Santa Fe Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I use 1 c. chopped frozen onions)
• 1 can (12 ounces) tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 8-10 flour tortillas (6 inches), warmed
• 1 jar (8 ounces) process cheese sauce
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies

Directions

• Crumble beef into a large microwave-safe bowl; stir in onion. Cover and microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until meat is no longer pink, stirring every 1 minute; drain. Stir in the tomato paste, water and taco seasoning. Cover and cook on high for 1-2 minutes or until heated through, stirring once.
• Spoon about 1/3 cup meat mixture down the center of each tortilla; roll up tightly. Place seam side down in a greased shallow 2-1/2-qt. microwave-safe dish. Set remaining meat mixture aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine cheese sauce and chilies. Cover and microwave on high for 40 seconds; stir. Pour over tortillas.
• Spoon remaining meat mixture down the center of tortillas. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 3-1/2 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 5 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 2 enchiladas equals 609 calories, 25 g fat (11 g saturated fat), 94 mg cholesterol, 2,081 mg sodium, 54 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 40 g protein.

Broccoli Ham Stroganoff

Since this blog is for Liv, I thought I'd start off with one of her very favorite recipes:  Broccoli Ham Stroganoff.  This super simple recipe is made in the microwave.  I found it in a cooking magazine years ago & it is definitely Liv's most requested meal.  Enjoy!

(Photo taken from magazine)

2 cups frozen chopped broccoli

1 Tblsp. water

1 Tblsp. butter or margarine

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 Tblsp. all-purpose flour

1 can (10-1/2 oz) chicken broth

2 cups cubed, fully cooked ham

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

1 jar (4-1/2 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained

Hot cooked egg noodles

Place broccoli and water in a 1-qt microwave-safe bowl. Cover & microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until the broccoli is tender, stirring once. Drain; set aside and keep warm. In another microwave safe bowl, heat butter, uncovered, on high for 20 seconds or until melted. Add onion; cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually stir in broth (using a whisk works best for this); mix well. Microwave, uncovered on high for 4-6 minutes or until thickened & bubbly; stirring once. (You may have to stir more than once in order to keep the flour & broth mixed). Add the ham, sour cream, mushrooms, and reserved broccoli; mix well. Cook, uncovered, on high for 3-5 minutes or until heated through, stirring once.


Serve over egg noodles.

Servings: 4

Welcome to My Kitchen...

Welcome!  I'm starting this blog for my daughter, Livi, who is always asking me if I'll give her my recipes when she leaves home or if I can will her "the book".  Really, she's right to want these recipes.  How many of us can think of great food cooked by our mothers or grandmothers that we don't know how to duplicate because the recipe went with them when they passed on?  I know I can. Many great family recipes have been lost over the years. 

So this blog is for Livi & for preserving the foods that take us back to our Mom's or Grandma's kitchen.  Its also a place to trade tips & secrets for budget grocery shopping & saving time in the kitchen.  Its a place to remember all the good things that happens in the kitchens of the important women in our lives, because sometimes the kitchen is much more than just a place food is prepared.  It becomes a gateway to each other's thoughts, a place to solve problems, wipe tears & pass on ageless advice.

Come on in to my kitchen!