Serves about 12.... unless it's just you and a fork.
It's that time of year for apples! This recipe uses up the bounty Mother Nature is squeezing out of the last warm months. It also is an opportunity to use up all those cherries you and the kids (in your enthusiasm to give them the experience you had as a kid) picked over at the local "you pick" orchard. I, as a child, never had to go to the orchard, as we were lucky enough to have fruit trees right in our backyard. My sister, Stacy and I were so excited one year when a tornado twisted our cherry tree right off it's trunk. No more hours of pitting for us girls! I wish now, that cherry tree was still there. Imagine the bounty, the experience and tasty rewards it would have given to my children.
In a deep 9x13 pan (I use the deep disposable foil pan. No clean up and it's recyclable!) add:
About 10 apples (any kind really), washed, cored and sliced OR a bag of frozen apple slices
1 large can of Thank you cherry pie filling
1 cup of fresh-pitted cherries (if you have them)
1 cup craisins
1 can of drained mandarin oranges
1/2 cup chopped walnut (more if you like them)
1 box yellow cake mix (any kind)
2 sticks of real butter
1 scoop of ice cream
1 bib
Mix gently until fruit is evenly distributed. Sprinkle one box of yellow cake mix evenly covering the fruit. Add two sticks of butter (yes, two), cut into pat-size chunks all over the top of the cake mix. Bake in a 350* degree oven for about 30 minutes or until butter melts and is slightly brown. Serve this baby warm and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It tastes pretty darn good cold at 2:00 am too!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
August Recipes
I'd like to know who gave August permission to arrive so soon? I mean, it's still part of our beloved summer months but, you know who (Fall) is always lurking just around the corner and that means the start of school. That's always a sad moment for me. I still get choked up when my baby gets on that big yellow bus and it turns the corner headed for school.
Meanwhile, my neighborhood girlfriends will all be jumping for joy and making arrangements to meet up for breakfast. Not me, I go home and mope. It doesn't take long though for me to surface from my funk. I'll bust a move on cleaning my house and when the afternoon arrives I'll stand back and think "Wow, this place looks great!" Everything that I put away STAYED put away. At least until they get off the bus. So this month I'm sharing one after school snack recipe. My way of celebrating that everyone made it through the first day of school :)
Our Daughter Ashley at eight years old, keeping cool on a hot summer day!
How I spent my summers... outside!
The bounty from my father's green thumb!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every once in a while I'd come home from school and this glorious, colorful concoction would be sitting on the counter stacked to what seemed like a mile high in the thoughts of "kid-dom". Big globs of frosting oozing out from being slightly squished between two crispy graham crackers. When you bit into one, the frosting all squirted out the back and you had to lick it up fast like a mad dog. Life was good :)
Graham Crackers and Frosting
1 can of white frosting (any brand)
1 can of chocolate frosting
1 box of your favorite graham crackers (I love the cinnamon for an extra sugar buzz)
Break whole graham crackers in two.
Spread a major glob of frosting on one side. Top with the other half of the graham cracker.
Smoosh slightly.
Make a bunch in assorted flavors.
You can even add food coloring to the white frosting to represent school colors, team colors, all pink for the Princess, alternate black and orange for Halloween, red and green for Christmas or use chocolate frosting and stick gummy worms out the sides for a boys birthday party.
Stack in a pyramid shape on a serving plate.
Watch your kids eyes when they see this sugar monstrosity.
Serve with a tall glass of cold milk.
Then, kiss your baby, tell them you missed them, even if they do roll their eyes.
(awe Mom!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elephant Ears
Ok, so I said just one after school snack but this does double duty because it's also my favorite fair food next to Italian sausages, corn dogs, cotton candy, pulled pork sandwiches.... Yes, I have many weaknesses. A few years ago, I took a road trip to visit the fair in Kokomo, IN, where I had the opportunity to experience a big plate of deep fried vegetables (with ranch...lotsa ranch) That's healthy, right? I say it is, so there.
I usually make these elephant ears every year around fair time. One year I decided to make them as a fun treat while my four year old nephew, who is vegetarian, was staying with me. I asked him how he would like to have an elephant ear for a treat. That boy all but gawked at me, turned his head like a puzzled puppy dog and just above a whisper said in the most pathetic voice, "Oh Aunt Heidi, I don't eat meat, remember?" I had to do a quick duck into the kitchen so he didn't know I was laughing! I quickly regained my composure and explained to him exactly what they were and yes... he ate every last bite :)
1 package frozen bread dough balls
1 shaker full of cinnamon sugar
1 stick (more if you like it soaked, like I do!) of melted butter (not margarine!)
Oil for frying
Line cookie sheet with parchment or waxed paper that has been spritzed with cooking spray. Lay out dough balls about 2 inches apart. Spray tops of dough balls with cooking spray and cover with a second sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Let double in size.
Heat oil. When dough is double in size, stretch each dough ball until slightly thin. Lower carefully into oil and let fry until golden brown, turning once while frying. Remove from oil, lay flat on paper towels and brush liberally with melted butter. Shake cinnamon sugar over the top. Serve warm.
A quick tip to keep your house from smelling like fried food and keeping it clean, set your fryer up outside. It keeps my house from smelling like a donut factory (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) and it keeps the cinnamon sugar from landing all over your floors (THAT'S a bad thing). Also, set up the sprinkler so the kids can run through it afterwards to wash away any sticky fingers!
Just in case you didn't know, I reign Queen/Princess over elephant ears. Actually, since I wear the tiara, I reign over everything. my Mother says so. The picture proves it. Me, age eight, performing royal duties with my baton.
My parents were obviously big Republicans :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summer Picnic Menu
Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
If you haven't gone a picnic yet, now's the time. Here's a friend chicken recipe that's easy and quick.
your favorite parts of chicken (drumsticks at my house)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup cornflake crumbs (smash it with your rolling pin, or put it in a ziplock bag and let your children have some fun)
2 teaspoons salt
1-2 Tablespoon melted butter
Combine flour, cornflake crumbs, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper in a bag; shake chicken, a few pieces at a time. Arrange chicken on a greased baking sheet; drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 1 hour in a 350*F oven. Can be chilled to take on your picnic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Mother's Potato Salad
7 large Idaho potatoes
7 hard boiled eggs
2 cups mayonnaise
1 3/4 cups sweet pickle relish
3-4 celery stalks, diced
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
lots of freshly ground black pepper
Peel potatoes, halve them and drop into a big pot of boiling water. Cook until fork tender. meanwhile, hard boil the eggs. Peel, add them to a big bowl and smash or cut them to your desired "chuckiness". Drain potatoes, cut into bit size pieces and add to eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir gently to mix. Chill.
TRY not to eat half of it (like I usually end up doing) before the picnic.
My Mother, peeling potatoes....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Easy Coconut Layer Cake with Lemon Filling
1 box of your favorite name brand white cake mix
1 jar of lemon curd
I tub of Cool Whip or
Marshmallow like frosting (see below)
1 bag of shredded coconut
Bake cake according to directions on the back of the box in two round pans; cool
Slice each cake in half horizontally, I use plain unwaxed dental floss (not minty fresh!) for this job.
Stack layers back together filling with lemon curd in between each layer.
Frost with cool whip or Marshmallow (my favorite!) frosting. Press coconut into frosting, be generous! Add a few raspberries on top for decor. Pop a few extra raspberries into your mouth, now lick your fingers :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sticky like Marshmallow Frosting
This is pure white, shiny, fluffy frosting. It's a little extra work but totally worth it! Besides, the whole thing will look homemade and only you (and well, me) will know how easy it was. Don't worry, I'll keep your secret ;)
Grab your candy thermometer and let's go.
1/3 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Stir the water, cream of tartar, sugar and salt together in a small heavy bottomed pan. Add your candy thermometer to the side and boil without stirring until mixture reaches 240*F.
Meanwhile, beat egg whites until stiff. Pour the 240*F syrup over the whites in a thin stream, beating constantly until thick and glossy. Stir in vanilla. Frost the cake and press coconut onto top and sides. Add decorative raspberries.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Additional Picnic Menu Items:
Cut up watermelon, black olives, salted radishes, strawberries, assorted veggies with ranch dressing. Add a big container of lemonade and you're good to go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skip & Go Naked
For those of you who picnic while at the symphony, here's an "adult" beverage that not only sounds like fun but it yum-my AND it's one of my favorite colors....Pink!
Just have a few though. Skipping is grande but naked, not so good, especially in a public place. It can detract attention from the music :)
2/3 cup cold beer
2/3 pink lemonade concentrate
1/4 cup vodka
straws or stirrers
Fill blender container 1/2 way with ice.
Pour in beer, lemonade and vodka, blend well.
Do the happy dance and serve!
This cooler was frequently set up on the picnic table at the lake to help lower the trips inside to get a drink of water. I know there must have been cups provided (probably the aluminum deep gem colored ones) but leave it to my sister to be efficient... straight from the nozzle. Atta girl ;)
Meanwhile, my neighborhood girlfriends will all be jumping for joy and making arrangements to meet up for breakfast. Not me, I go home and mope. It doesn't take long though for me to surface from my funk. I'll bust a move on cleaning my house and when the afternoon arrives I'll stand back and think "Wow, this place looks great!" Everything that I put away STAYED put away. At least until they get off the bus. So this month I'm sharing one after school snack recipe. My way of celebrating that everyone made it through the first day of school :)
Our Daughter Ashley at eight years old, keeping cool on a hot summer day!
The bounty from my father's green thumb!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every once in a while I'd come home from school and this glorious, colorful concoction would be sitting on the counter stacked to what seemed like a mile high in the thoughts of "kid-dom". Big globs of frosting oozing out from being slightly squished between two crispy graham crackers. When you bit into one, the frosting all squirted out the back and you had to lick it up fast like a mad dog. Life was good :)
Graham Crackers and Frosting
1 can of white frosting (any brand)
1 can of chocolate frosting
1 box of your favorite graham crackers (I love the cinnamon for an extra sugar buzz)
Break whole graham crackers in two.
Spread a major glob of frosting on one side. Top with the other half of the graham cracker.
Smoosh slightly.
Make a bunch in assorted flavors.
You can even add food coloring to the white frosting to represent school colors, team colors, all pink for the Princess, alternate black and orange for Halloween, red and green for Christmas or use chocolate frosting and stick gummy worms out the sides for a boys birthday party.
Stack in a pyramid shape on a serving plate.
Watch your kids eyes when they see this sugar monstrosity.
Serve with a tall glass of cold milk.
Then, kiss your baby, tell them you missed them, even if they do roll their eyes.
(awe Mom!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elephant Ears
Ok, so I said just one after school snack but this does double duty because it's also my favorite fair food next to Italian sausages, corn dogs, cotton candy, pulled pork sandwiches.... Yes, I have many weaknesses. A few years ago, I took a road trip to visit the fair in Kokomo, IN, where I had the opportunity to experience a big plate of deep fried vegetables (with ranch...lotsa ranch) That's healthy, right? I say it is, so there.
I usually make these elephant ears every year around fair time. One year I decided to make them as a fun treat while my four year old nephew, who is vegetarian, was staying with me. I asked him how he would like to have an elephant ear for a treat. That boy all but gawked at me, turned his head like a puzzled puppy dog and just above a whisper said in the most pathetic voice, "Oh Aunt Heidi, I don't eat meat, remember?" I had to do a quick duck into the kitchen so he didn't know I was laughing! I quickly regained my composure and explained to him exactly what they were and yes... he ate every last bite :)
1 package frozen bread dough balls
1 shaker full of cinnamon sugar
1 stick (more if you like it soaked, like I do!) of melted butter (not margarine!)
Oil for frying
Line cookie sheet with parchment or waxed paper that has been spritzed with cooking spray. Lay out dough balls about 2 inches apart. Spray tops of dough balls with cooking spray and cover with a second sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Let double in size.
Heat oil. When dough is double in size, stretch each dough ball until slightly thin. Lower carefully into oil and let fry until golden brown, turning once while frying. Remove from oil, lay flat on paper towels and brush liberally with melted butter. Shake cinnamon sugar over the top. Serve warm.
A quick tip to keep your house from smelling like fried food and keeping it clean, set your fryer up outside. It keeps my house from smelling like a donut factory (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) and it keeps the cinnamon sugar from landing all over your floors (THAT'S a bad thing). Also, set up the sprinkler so the kids can run through it afterwards to wash away any sticky fingers!
Just in case you didn't know, I reign Queen/Princess over elephant ears. Actually, since I wear the tiara, I reign over everything. my Mother says so. The picture proves it. Me, age eight, performing royal duties with my baton.
My parents were obviously big Republicans :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summer Picnic Menu
Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
If you haven't gone a picnic yet, now's the time. Here's a friend chicken recipe that's easy and quick.
your favorite parts of chicken (drumsticks at my house)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup cornflake crumbs (smash it with your rolling pin, or put it in a ziplock bag and let your children have some fun)
2 teaspoons salt
1-2 Tablespoon melted butter
Combine flour, cornflake crumbs, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper in a bag; shake chicken, a few pieces at a time. Arrange chicken on a greased baking sheet; drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 1 hour in a 350*F oven. Can be chilled to take on your picnic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Mother's Potato Salad
7 large Idaho potatoes
7 hard boiled eggs
2 cups mayonnaise
1 3/4 cups sweet pickle relish
3-4 celery stalks, diced
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
lots of freshly ground black pepper
Peel potatoes, halve them and drop into a big pot of boiling water. Cook until fork tender. meanwhile, hard boil the eggs. Peel, add them to a big bowl and smash or cut them to your desired "chuckiness". Drain potatoes, cut into bit size pieces and add to eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir gently to mix. Chill.
TRY not to eat half of it (like I usually end up doing) before the picnic.
My Mother, peeling potatoes....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Easy Coconut Layer Cake with Lemon Filling
1 box of your favorite name brand white cake mix
1 jar of lemon curd
I tub of Cool Whip or
Marshmallow like frosting (see below)
1 bag of shredded coconut
Bake cake according to directions on the back of the box in two round pans; cool
Slice each cake in half horizontally, I use plain unwaxed dental floss (not minty fresh!) for this job.
Stack layers back together filling with lemon curd in between each layer.
Frost with cool whip or Marshmallow (my favorite!) frosting. Press coconut into frosting, be generous! Add a few raspberries on top for decor. Pop a few extra raspberries into your mouth, now lick your fingers :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sticky like Marshmallow Frosting
This is pure white, shiny, fluffy frosting. It's a little extra work but totally worth it! Besides, the whole thing will look homemade and only you (and well, me) will know how easy it was. Don't worry, I'll keep your secret ;)
Grab your candy thermometer and let's go.
1/3 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Stir the water, cream of tartar, sugar and salt together in a small heavy bottomed pan. Add your candy thermometer to the side and boil without stirring until mixture reaches 240*F.
Meanwhile, beat egg whites until stiff. Pour the 240*F syrup over the whites in a thin stream, beating constantly until thick and glossy. Stir in vanilla. Frost the cake and press coconut onto top and sides. Add decorative raspberries.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Additional Picnic Menu Items:
Cut up watermelon, black olives, salted radishes, strawberries, assorted veggies with ranch dressing. Add a big container of lemonade and you're good to go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skip & Go Naked
For those of you who picnic while at the symphony, here's an "adult" beverage that not only sounds like fun but it yum-my AND it's one of my favorite colors....Pink!
Just have a few though. Skipping is grande but naked, not so good, especially in a public place. It can detract attention from the music :)
2/3 cup cold beer
2/3 pink lemonade concentrate
1/4 cup vodka
straws or stirrers
Fill blender container 1/2 way with ice.
Pour in beer, lemonade and vodka, blend well.
Do the happy dance and serve!
This cooler was frequently set up on the picnic table at the lake to help lower the trips inside to get a drink of water. I know there must have been cups provided (probably the aluminum deep gem colored ones) but leave it to my sister to be efficient... straight from the nozzle. Atta girl ;)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
July Recipes
July
I love, love, LOVE the month of July. Summer is here, the pools are open and the barbeque parties are in full swing. Whether you're throwing one yourself, or bringing a side dish to someone elses', here are some easy recipes for you to throw together, so's you have more time for visitin' a spell. As William Shakespeare wrote: "Summer's lease hath all too short a date"
~~~~~~~~~~
When I was younger we didn't have a pool to swim in. Nope, every summer was spent with the cousins up at my Grandparents place on Stone Lake in Middlebury, IN. Our days were spent playing...hard. Us kids, all thirteen of us, slept out on the screened in porch lined up sleeping bag to sleeping bag, like sardines going third class. Breakfast was a bowl of cereal outside on the picnic table.
Really, it could've been a bowl of dirt for all you tasted as it was eaten with haste because that grand and glorious lake was beckoning you. A quick change into your swimming suit and you were water bound until lunch. This consisted of a quick sandwich and a glass of milk in which I was forever looking for ways to pour mine out instead of drinking it. It's still a major "YUCK" in my book. This was followed by an agonizing hour of ritualistic waiting (pacing) so you didn't cramp up after eating. I actually have never heard of someone cramping up for not waiting a full hour to swim and I believe it was even tested on "Myth Busters" (Added fact: as a Mother of four, I've never made any of my kiddies wait even five minutes and I haven't had to scrape anyone off the bottom of the pool yet. Just sayin' ;) However, all the adults watched us like hawks anyway. Believe me, that hour was torture, pure torture. We were only allowed to sit on the pier and swing our feet. We would have opted to pass the time away with watching a little television but we only received three stations. One came in clear, one looked like a continual blizzard and the other was evangelistic "say babeeeee" preaching. Besides, if you were caught sitting inside viewing the TV, some adult always took notice. This raised eyebrows and 9/10's of the time there was a hand slapped to the front of your forehead and a resounding, "Do you think she feels warm?". Well hell yes, I'm warm. It's 90* outside, I'm a kid and I've been playing hard but inevitably this triggered a chain of events that got you "the glare' from your 24 cousins because that smack to the forehead was never gentle and now you're seeing "two" of everything (heh, double the cousins double the fun!) and just like that everyone was under surveillance.
We didn't have video games either, or handheld games or IPod's. We actually used our imaginations and created our own play. Unless, of course, you were still feeling "warm". Then this bought you time inside watching the blizzard.
This type of fun in the sun went on until supper when my Grandfather would fire up the grill. There was always meat for dinner, but when he put this chicken on, people all around the lake would simultaneously lift their heads in our direction and take a deep breathe. We knew. They knew. It was wicked good stuff. This barbeque sauce made the man famous.
Grampa Mast's Bar-B-Que Sauce for One Chicken
1 cup water
1 cup vinegar
1 stick butter
1/8 cup salt
Set it on the top rack or over low coals to keep warm while basting your chicken.
Set extra plates and be prepared for "unexpected' guest to "drop" by :)
~~~~~~~~~~
Oh my, you can't just have one helping of theses. It's my Grama Mast's recipe and why, they're almost like candy! The house smells just heavenly in the morning from my slow cooking all night. My Grama passed away two years ago but she was on the go right p until the end. At 93, she even shot a commercial (her first!) for my brother's Biker Outlet. She was all decked out in full leather gear and sitting on a Harley. The commercial is hysterical and she was a character!
Georgia's Baked Beans
1 lb navy beans
1/2 lb bacon ends
1 medium onion (quartered)
1/4 c brown sugar
1/3 c molasses
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbs vinegar
2 c hot water
Soak beans over night in 6 cups of water; add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda if water is hard. Parboil beans for 20 minutes. Drain beans after parboiling: rinse with cold water. Dice bacons ends to 1 square inch, placing half in bottom of a 2 quart bean pot or casserole along with the quartered onion. Add beans. Mix remaining ingredients with hot water. Pour over top of beans. Top with remaining bacon ends. Cover and bake in a slow (250-300 degree) oven for about 6 hours, adding hot water as needed to keep beans moist. Serves 8-10 (I'd double the recipe, it goes fast).
~~~~~~~~~~
A cool dish for hot summer days. I left the title the way my Mother has it written on the recipe card. It's special to me because it's her handwriting and has a loving reference. My parents were very active in the Young Republicans and someone brought this dish to a political party they were attending. Dad really enjoyed the dish and Mother sought out the recipe to make it for him. So I thought I'd just leave it, you can omit the personalization if you decided to add it to your recipe collection :)
Cucumbers in Sour Cream (your Dad's favorite)
2 medium cucumbers, peeled
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 c sour cream
2 tbs vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp paprika
1 tbs parsley flakes
Draw tines of fork lengthwise down cucumbers, then cut in thin slices. Add onion and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Let stand 10 minutes, then press out excess liquid. Mix sour cream, remaining salt and other ingredients. Add to cucumbers mixing lightly with fork. Chill thoroughly. Makes about 2 cups.
~~~~~~~~~~
This dish has been on more tables during get together and holidays than I care to remember. I don't care for the beets so I'd just pick out the eggs to eat, which still gets me into trouble with my Mother for not taking some of both. Everyone loves this dish but me. I wouldn't want to be selfish now and not share the wealth just because I don't like them. Besides my Mother reads this and I'd probably never ever hear the end of it!
Pickled Eggs and Red Beets
1 1/2 c vinegar
1/2 c water (I used the red beet juice instead of water)
1/2 c white sugar
Heat until boiling then pour over hard boiled eggs and red beets.
~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, this is a keeper. It doesn't matter if you have an in ground, above ground, wading pool or your just sitting in the kids sprinkler, this stuff is awesome! I made it one afternoon when my sister and i got together with our combined eight kids. The wasn't any left by the time the afternoon was over. It's very addictive and I'm asked for this recipe all the time. If you have children, my sister Stacy invented a grand wizard of an idea.... she drained and chopped up a can of mixed vegetables and added it. The kids chowed down with gusto and never knew the difference. That was a beautiful thing ;)
Heidi's Pool Dip
2 pkg 16 oz cream cheese softened
1 pkg 1 oz Ranch style salad dressing mix
2 cans 4 1/2 oz ripe olives, chopped and drained
1 4 oz jar sliced green olives
1 cup 11 oz kernel corn, drained
1 can 4 oz green chilies, chopped, drained
1 med red bell pepper, chopped about 1 cup
tortilla chips or crackers
Beat cream cheese and the dressing mix, in a large bowl, until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except chips...duh)
Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours until well chilled.
I love, love, LOVE the month of July. Summer is here, the pools are open and the barbeque parties are in full swing. Whether you're throwing one yourself, or bringing a side dish to someone elses', here are some easy recipes for you to throw together, so's you have more time for visitin' a spell. As William Shakespeare wrote: "Summer's lease hath all too short a date"
~~~~~~~~~~
When I was younger we didn't have a pool to swim in. Nope, every summer was spent with the cousins up at my Grandparents place on Stone Lake in Middlebury, IN. Our days were spent playing...hard. Us kids, all thirteen of us, slept out on the screened in porch lined up sleeping bag to sleeping bag, like sardines going third class. Breakfast was a bowl of cereal outside on the picnic table.
We didn't have video games either, or handheld games or IPod's. We actually used our imaginations and created our own play. Unless, of course, you were still feeling "warm". Then this bought you time inside watching the blizzard.
Grampa Mast's Bar-B-Que Sauce for One Chicken
1 cup water
1 cup vinegar
1 stick butter
1/8 cup salt
Set it on the top rack or over low coals to keep warm while basting your chicken.
Set extra plates and be prepared for "unexpected' guest to "drop" by :)
~~~~~~~~~~
Oh my, you can't just have one helping of theses. It's my Grama Mast's recipe and why, they're almost like candy! The house smells just heavenly in the morning from my slow cooking all night. My Grama passed away two years ago but she was on the go right p until the end. At 93, she even shot a commercial (her first!) for my brother's Biker Outlet. She was all decked out in full leather gear and sitting on a Harley. The commercial is hysterical and she was a character!
Georgia's Baked Beans
1 lb navy beans
1/2 lb bacon ends
1 medium onion (quartered)
1/4 c brown sugar
1/3 c molasses
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbs vinegar
2 c hot water
Soak beans over night in 6 cups of water; add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda if water is hard. Parboil beans for 20 minutes. Drain beans after parboiling: rinse with cold water. Dice bacons ends to 1 square inch, placing half in bottom of a 2 quart bean pot or casserole along with the quartered onion. Add beans. Mix remaining ingredients with hot water. Pour over top of beans. Top with remaining bacon ends. Cover and bake in a slow (250-300 degree) oven for about 6 hours, adding hot water as needed to keep beans moist. Serves 8-10 (I'd double the recipe, it goes fast).
~~~~~~~~~~
A cool dish for hot summer days. I left the title the way my Mother has it written on the recipe card. It's special to me because it's her handwriting and has a loving reference. My parents were very active in the Young Republicans and someone brought this dish to a political party they were attending. Dad really enjoyed the dish and Mother sought out the recipe to make it for him. So I thought I'd just leave it, you can omit the personalization if you decided to add it to your recipe collection :)
Cucumbers in Sour Cream (your Dad's favorite)
2 medium cucumbers, peeled
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 c sour cream
2 tbs vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp paprika
1 tbs parsley flakes
Draw tines of fork lengthwise down cucumbers, then cut in thin slices. Add onion and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Let stand 10 minutes, then press out excess liquid. Mix sour cream, remaining salt and other ingredients. Add to cucumbers mixing lightly with fork. Chill thoroughly. Makes about 2 cups.
~~~~~~~~~~
This dish has been on more tables during get together and holidays than I care to remember. I don't care for the beets so I'd just pick out the eggs to eat, which still gets me into trouble with my Mother for not taking some of both. Everyone loves this dish but me. I wouldn't want to be selfish now and not share the wealth just because I don't like them. Besides my Mother reads this and I'd probably never ever hear the end of it!
Pickled Eggs and Red Beets
1 1/2 c vinegar
1/2 c water (I used the red beet juice instead of water)
1/2 c white sugar
Heat until boiling then pour over hard boiled eggs and red beets.
~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, this is a keeper. It doesn't matter if you have an in ground, above ground, wading pool or your just sitting in the kids sprinkler, this stuff is awesome! I made it one afternoon when my sister and i got together with our combined eight kids. The wasn't any left by the time the afternoon was over. It's very addictive and I'm asked for this recipe all the time. If you have children, my sister Stacy invented a grand wizard of an idea.... she drained and chopped up a can of mixed vegetables and added it. The kids chowed down with gusto and never knew the difference. That was a beautiful thing ;)
Heidi's Pool Dip
2 pkg 16 oz cream cheese softened
1 pkg 1 oz Ranch style salad dressing mix
2 cans 4 1/2 oz ripe olives, chopped and drained
1 4 oz jar sliced green olives
1 cup 11 oz kernel corn, drained
1 can 4 oz green chilies, chopped, drained
1 med red bell pepper, chopped about 1 cup
tortilla chips or crackers
Beat cream cheese and the dressing mix, in a large bowl, until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except chips...duh)
Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours until well chilled.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
For those of you who really know me, you know that I’ve had a long time love affair (ok, obsession) with human behavior, the brain, influences, patterns, etc. So this will come as no surprise that I HAD to share (and document) what just occurred yesterday.
I am extremely affected by color. I have trouble eating in red rooms, dark colors on walls make me feel lethargic, irritable and uneasy, I tend to like my bedroom walls plain white and with very little, if anything, on them. When I wake up in the morning I like to have the palette before me clean so that my thoughts and dream residual can color my world.
A few years ago, I bought a rather thick and heavy book on the psychology of color. I was curious if my thoughts had any validity. Interesting enough, the book gave a whole explanation of each color and all the ways it influenced our brains. Of course, I devoured the book and when I stumbled upon blue and read its effects, well, you just KNOW I had to conduct my own experiment. Just a brief synopsis of the explanation, blue is one of the most popular colors, and favored among men but it is one of the least appetizing. Blue rarely occurs naturally in food aside from blueberries, egg plant, grapes and some plums. Humans are geared to avoid foods that are poisonous and blue coloring in food is often a sign of spoilage or poison. Some weight loss plans even recommend eating your food off of a blue plate and even going so far as painting your kitchen blue. I’m pretty sure you know what my brain was thinking…
“Let’s do an experiment, I wanna see if this has any truth to it!”
This was in October and I had bunko coming up (a dice game for women who are usually do imbibed with vino and chatting it up to learn how to place Bridge or anything else that requires actually thought while playing) so I planned a “fall hoe-down” kind of theme. The main dish being mini BBQ sandwiches. I cut open Hawaiian rolls and stuffed them with pork bbq and then stacked it in a croque-en-bouche style on two separate plates. One being white and the other… yeap, blue.
I set them both side by side, front and center on the buffet table. Half way through the night, I checked on refilling the dishes and found that the entire content of sandwiches from the white plate were gone, while the blue plate had a few sandwiches skimmed off the top. I quickly took sandwiches from the blue plate and moved them to the white plate but also switch the positions so that the blue plate was “closer” to the front of the line. I checked back about 30 minutes later and again, the white plate had far more taken from it than the blue plate. Ok, I’m at bunko, all excited with my findings and can’t really blurt out what I’ve just proven because I'm not sure how well, "Hey, ya'll were a part of this here experiment,not that I secretly made you eat anything gross but, well, you all did EXACTLY what it said you'd do, Hot Damn!" would really go over.
Fast forward five years.
Rathe and I are at the market picking up a few odds and ends. We run across a dozen frosted Easter cookies, six in yellow frosting, six in blueish purple. We bring them home and a week later I notice all six yellow cookies are gone….and all six blueish purple ones are left. So I ask, “Rathe, what’s wrong with these blue cookies, did the yellow ones taste better?’ and his answer was, “No Mom, they just didn’t look… well, very appetizing”
I am beaming :)
Maybe America doesn’t new healthcare entirely, maybe we just need to paint our kitchens blue. Of course, I’ll probably get sued for putting Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and the rest of them out of business but a gallon of blue paint is far less expensive :)
I am extremely affected by color. I have trouble eating in red rooms, dark colors on walls make me feel lethargic, irritable and uneasy, I tend to like my bedroom walls plain white and with very little, if anything, on them. When I wake up in the morning I like to have the palette before me clean so that my thoughts and dream residual can color my world.
A few years ago, I bought a rather thick and heavy book on the psychology of color. I was curious if my thoughts had any validity. Interesting enough, the book gave a whole explanation of each color and all the ways it influenced our brains. Of course, I devoured the book and when I stumbled upon blue and read its effects, well, you just KNOW I had to conduct my own experiment. Just a brief synopsis of the explanation, blue is one of the most popular colors, and favored among men but it is one of the least appetizing. Blue rarely occurs naturally in food aside from blueberries, egg plant, grapes and some plums. Humans are geared to avoid foods that are poisonous and blue coloring in food is often a sign of spoilage or poison. Some weight loss plans even recommend eating your food off of a blue plate and even going so far as painting your kitchen blue. I’m pretty sure you know what my brain was thinking…
“Let’s do an experiment, I wanna see if this has any truth to it!”
This was in October and I had bunko coming up (a dice game for women who are usually do imbibed with vino and chatting it up to learn how to place Bridge or anything else that requires actually thought while playing) so I planned a “fall hoe-down” kind of theme. The main dish being mini BBQ sandwiches. I cut open Hawaiian rolls and stuffed them with pork bbq and then stacked it in a croque-en-bouche style on two separate plates. One being white and the other… yeap, blue.
I set them both side by side, front and center on the buffet table. Half way through the night, I checked on refilling the dishes and found that the entire content of sandwiches from the white plate were gone, while the blue plate had a few sandwiches skimmed off the top. I quickly took sandwiches from the blue plate and moved them to the white plate but also switch the positions so that the blue plate was “closer” to the front of the line. I checked back about 30 minutes later and again, the white plate had far more taken from it than the blue plate. Ok, I’m at bunko, all excited with my findings and can’t really blurt out what I’ve just proven because I'm not sure how well, "Hey, ya'll were a part of this here experiment,not that I secretly made you eat anything gross but, well, you all did EXACTLY what it said you'd do, Hot Damn!" would really go over.
Fast forward five years.
Rathe and I are at the market picking up a few odds and ends. We run across a dozen frosted Easter cookies, six in yellow frosting, six in blueish purple. We bring them home and a week later I notice all six yellow cookies are gone….and all six blueish purple ones are left. So I ask, “Rathe, what’s wrong with these blue cookies, did the yellow ones taste better?’ and his answer was, “No Mom, they just didn’t look… well, very appetizing”
I am beaming :)
Maybe America doesn’t new healthcare entirely, maybe we just need to paint our kitchens blue. Of course, I’ll probably get sued for putting Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and the rest of them out of business but a gallon of blue paint is far less expensive :)
Every year Trusted Mentors www.trustedmentors.org holds a call for handbag designers entitled “Bags2Riches”. This unique handmade handbag competition is dedicated to stabilizing lives, preventing homelessness and near homelessness in the Indianapolis community. Trusted Mentors Inc is an adult mentoring program which helps adults rebuild their lives and break the cycle of poverty. It is sponsored by IndySwank and Aesthetic Design Style with the grand prize award of $500.
I decided to create a one of a kind handbag with really no intention of entering the contest to win but to help play a part in this valuable mentoring program by generating bids as a donation. I gave a great deal of thought to my creation but nothing would come to mind, at least nothing that pleased me. People were inquiring daily regarding what I was creating. I would just smile and tell them it was a surprise. No one had a clue how much of a surprise it would be, especially to me, as my imagination felt like a empty box filled with fog. I decided to be proactive and meditate on it. Nothing.
I listened to music and…. Nothing. Sigh. I browsed websites, looked through books, magazines (help!) and I was quickly coming to the conclusion that perhaps, just maybe, this one time it wasn’t going to be my calling. Late one evening I went for a barefoot run. I love the way the ground dances underneath my feet, the energy that vibrates upward making my steps light and my heart and imagination soar. With the wind brushing my face and the last of summer’s warm ribbons of light caressing my skin I all but drifted home. I took my bath without washing away the earth’s energy and fell into bed.
Only to be torn from my sleep at 4:00am with my handbag idea so vividly imprinted in my imagination that I leapt from my bed, darted down to my studio, flipped on the lights, powered up the sewing machine and began the mad madness of an artist possessed. I cut off a pair of my old jeans to represent recycling. On the bottom I added black pom-pom trim to represent dirt, added a layer of moss green lace to represent grass, lined the inside with a white bandana to act as the clouds, attached to an old skirt waistband with bold flowers to represent flora and fauna. But the pièce de résistance was in finding little nickel size glass beaded bees to represent renewed birth. I hand stitched five bees in random places on the flowered waistband.
I then added bamboo handles as a renewable resource. After three months of eluding me, in less than two hours I had created my entry handbag.
I know this was inspired by my earlier run. I decided to entitle it “From the Ground Up”.
I hauled it off to Trusted Mentors, paid my $10 submission fee and came home to wait. After three weeks I was informed out of several hundred, my handbag made the top ten finalist list. The judging would begin a few weeks later.
I attended the event and watched my purse being carried around by volunteer models. Guests were invited to bid in a silent auction on the finalist handbag. My wonderful friend bid on my creation and in the end won! My handbag placed but did not win. I was not disheartened, as the satisfaction came in knowing that all of our efforts went towards helping others help themselves. Perhaps in some small way I inspired one of the (near) homeless to believe in their dreams and create, if not a handbag, something from their heart for others to appreciate.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
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