Every family has traditions. In our family, we have quite a few. Whenever we have Thanksgiving dinner, my brother always has to tell the story of my first Thanksgiving turkey. When he is done, then I do the explaining.
You see, my first Thanksgiving turkey was cooked by me - all by myself - at the ripe old age of 18. I was scared to death that the turkey would not be done - so I overcooked it a bit. It came out beautiful, deep golden brown - but it was very dry. However, no one got food poisoning from underdone turkey!
To hear him tell the story, as soon as we punctured the skin with a knife, the whole turkey deflated and turned to dust. And every slice of turkey soaked up a cup of gravy. How we had slices when the turkey had already turned to dust, I have no idea!
I have cooked many turkeys since then and have it perfected now!
Another tradition is going around the table, one-by-one and telling what we are thankful for.
One of my favorite traditional foods for Thanksgiving is sweet potatoes. My mom usually fixes some savory and I fix them sweet. This year she did them with leeks and bacon - ummy yummy! As soon as I get the recipe from her, I will pass it on to you! Today, though, I am going to give you my "recipe" for sweet potatoes. Sorry, no picture as they got left at Mom's!
Sweet Potatoes Raquel
3-4 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed and the ends cut off
Bake them in a 350F oven on a cookie sheet lined with foil (for easy cleanup) for about an hour, until good and done.
Take out of oven and let them cool. Slit them open and scrape out the flesh into a bowl. Mash it up good.
To the potatoes add:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or more to taste)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup orange juice
Grated rind of one smallish orange
1/3 cup butter, diced
Mix that all up good. Place in a greased 11x7 pan. Cover with mini marshmallows and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so, until marshmallows are good and brown.
This makes a goodly amount (we ended up with 13 at dinner yesterday) so decrease amounts to suit your taste. Also amounts are approximate as I do not measure - so to your taste! This can be made ahead to the point of adding the marshmallows and refrigerated. Just remember to take it out of the fridge at least an hour before you bake it.
The orange juice and orange rind were new this year and I quite like it!
So what are some of your traditions?
Showing posts with label side dishes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label side dishes. Show all posts
Friday, November 28, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Zucchini Supreme
I am one of those strange people who actually like zucchini. When it is of an edible size. It is so versatile, you can make so many different things with it. I like it raw in a vinagrette pasta salad. I like it in cake or bread. I like it in a stir-fry.
But probably my favorite way to eat it is as described below.
Zucchini Supreme
1 small zucchini, sliced
1/4 of an onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of a green pepper, diced small
knob of butter
1 cup crushed tomatoes
Italian seasoning, salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Melt butter in sauce pan. I use about 1-2 Tablespoons for 1 zucchini. You can also use a bit of olive oil. Toss in zucchini, onion, pepper and garlic. Saute until zucchini begins to brown a bit. Add tomatoes and seasoning - We have pizza seasoning with salt and that is what I used. Let cook until the tomatoes thicken up a bit. Top with cheese.
This is a quick, easy side dish that can be made year 'round. It goes great with a steak or chicken.
Some folks asked about locusts earlier when I posted a picture of the shell - here is a real one! I think this one had just come out of a shell and was drying his wings off. They are kind of a pretty color, but such a nuisance.
But probably my favorite way to eat it is as described below.
Zucchini Supreme
1 small zucchini, sliced
1/4 of an onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of a green pepper, diced small
knob of butter
1 cup crushed tomatoes
Italian seasoning, salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Melt butter in sauce pan. I use about 1-2 Tablespoons for 1 zucchini. You can also use a bit of olive oil. Toss in zucchini, onion, pepper and garlic. Saute until zucchini begins to brown a bit. Add tomatoes and seasoning - We have pizza seasoning with salt and that is what I used. Let cook until the tomatoes thicken up a bit. Top with cheese.
This is a quick, easy side dish that can be made year 'round. It goes great with a steak or chicken.
Some folks asked about locusts earlier when I posted a picture of the shell - here is a real one! I think this one had just come out of a shell and was drying his wings off. They are kind of a pretty color, but such a nuisance.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Happy Monday!
Well, it is definitely Summer here! We had 108F on Saturday and are expecting 110 today. With about 90% humidity. Ugh!
As for myself, I would prefer to live up north, where it gets 85-90 for a high and then cools down at night. I like cooler temperatures. Heat just makes me cranky!
We have been doing some crockpot cooking, which is nice, but every once in a while . . . I like to make something on top of the stove. We had ham the other night and I was looking for a different side dish . . .
Here is what I came up with:
Corn Fritters
Serves 4
Note: These are a savory corn fritter, you can make sweeter ones, I will post about that in the winter! Those will be out of my Nero Wolfe Cookbook - that man knew all about eating!
11 ounce can of corn, drained
1 small onion, minced
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt (I used hickory smoked)
1 egg
Fresh ground black pepper
4 Tablespoons cooking oil
Buzz corn in the blender a few seconds. Stir everything together except oil. Heat oil and drop mixture by a heaping spoonfull. Spread it out a bit. Fry about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
You could add some jalapeno to these . . . or maybe some cheese . . .some ground coriander or cumin . . . Maybe use some zucchini . . . there are a lot of possibilities here.
I served these with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce - Wow, what a taste-a-pooloza!
As for myself, I would prefer to live up north, where it gets 85-90 for a high and then cools down at night. I like cooler temperatures. Heat just makes me cranky!
We have been doing some crockpot cooking, which is nice, but every once in a while . . . I like to make something on top of the stove. We had ham the other night and I was looking for a different side dish . . .
Here is what I came up with:
Corn Fritters
Serves 4
Note: These are a savory corn fritter, you can make sweeter ones, I will post about that in the winter! Those will be out of my Nero Wolfe Cookbook - that man knew all about eating!
11 ounce can of corn, drained
1 small onion, minced
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt (I used hickory smoked)
1 egg
Fresh ground black pepper
4 Tablespoons cooking oil
Buzz corn in the blender a few seconds. Stir everything together except oil. Heat oil and drop mixture by a heaping spoonfull. Spread it out a bit. Fry about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
You could add some jalapeno to these . . . or maybe some cheese . . .some ground coriander or cumin . . . Maybe use some zucchini . . . there are a lot of possibilities here.
I served these with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce - Wow, what a taste-a-pooloza!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Country Cookin'
I am a country girl at heart! They say that you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl! (Not that I am anywheres near out of the country.)
I like to eat fancy now and then. But when it comes to certain dishes, plain ol' country cooked is how I like them.
Like green beans. Now I have eaten them several different ways. But my favorite will probably always be like this.
Country-Style Green Beans
Makes a "big ole' mess"
6 slices bacon
1 onion, diced fine
2-3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Chicken broth
Garlic powder to taste
Fresh green beans, a big colander full (probably about 1/2 gallon)
Saute your bacon until almost crisp. Set bacon aside. In bacon grease, saute onion until limp. In a large pot, put your snapped beans. Now for this many beans, you might want to use 2 cans of chicken broth (apx 1 quart). Pour the broth over your beans. Season well. Add the onion and bacon, stir. Cook over low-medium heat for at least 30 minutes. Check beans for tenderness. If they are not fork tender, cook them some more. Throw your potatoes in and let them get tender. Add mushrooms last. Now get you a bowl, sit down and eat.
This reheats well.
I like to eat fancy now and then. But when it comes to certain dishes, plain ol' country cooked is how I like them.
Like green beans. Now I have eaten them several different ways. But my favorite will probably always be like this.
Country-Style Green Beans
Makes a "big ole' mess"
6 slices bacon
1 onion, diced fine
2-3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Chicken broth
Garlic powder to taste
Fresh green beans, a big colander full (probably about 1/2 gallon)
Saute your bacon until almost crisp. Set bacon aside. In bacon grease, saute onion until limp. In a large pot, put your snapped beans. Now for this many beans, you might want to use 2 cans of chicken broth (apx 1 quart). Pour the broth over your beans. Season well. Add the onion and bacon, stir. Cook over low-medium heat for at least 30 minutes. Check beans for tenderness. If they are not fork tender, cook them some more. Throw your potatoes in and let them get tender. Add mushrooms last. Now get you a bowl, sit down and eat.
This reheats well.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Sneaky
I love fresh tomatoes.
Big, thick, juicy slices of red, ripe tomato, sprinkled with salt and freshly ground pepper. Not much better!
Or thinner slices in a BLT: Crisp, salty, smokey bacon with lush tomato and crisp lettuce on toast and slathered with mayo or miracle whip.
Thickly sliced on a plate with ranch dressing on top. Or with olive oil and red wine vinegar - MMMMMM!
One of the biggest (in many senses of the word) garden pests is the tomato hornworm. They can decimate a tomato plant overnight! And if you get more than one on a plant, watch out! Big nasty green buggers! I went out for a small break from work this morning and thought hmmmmmm . . . one of our tomato plants looks rather strange. I went and looked and found . . .
Yup - tomato hornworms. I hate these things. They are just plain nasty. And hard to see! They say the best time is to check your plants at night with a flashlight. They don't like sun, so they hide during the day and do most of their eating at night. I immediately checked all of the other tomato plants and found another one onthe next plant over. I found evidence on 2 of the other plants, but could not find the worms. Then I happened to check the pepper plants. Yup, found 2 on there. One poor pepper plant only had 1 leaf left!! Greedy so-and-so's! We took and threw them onto the parsley plants, as we have an overabundance of that and don't care if they eat it all!
Well, if you can harvest some ripe tomatoes without the worms eating them all, here is a super quick recipe for ya! No pics of this one, sorry!
Crunch-Top Tomatoes
Tip: DO NOT make this in a cast-iron skillet. It will turn nasty.
2 Large, ripe tomatoes
1 sleeve Ritz crackers,crushed (can use club crackers)
4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick), melted
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (can use any cheese here)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 small onion, chopped fine
Italian seasoning to taste
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in skillet. Slice tomatoes into thin wedges. Saute garlic and onion just until limp. Lay tomatoes on top in single layer. Saute lightly, turning once. In a bowl, mix salt, pepper, cracker crumbs, cheese and seasoning. Melt remaining butter in a bowl. Sprinkle cracker crumb mixture over tomatoes and drizzle with remaining butter. Let cook about another 3-5 minutes, just until your cheese gets melty. Do not turn or stir. Serve forth! This makes a great side for roasted chicken!
Big, thick, juicy slices of red, ripe tomato, sprinkled with salt and freshly ground pepper. Not much better!
Or thinner slices in a BLT: Crisp, salty, smokey bacon with lush tomato and crisp lettuce on toast and slathered with mayo or miracle whip.
Thickly sliced on a plate with ranch dressing on top. Or with olive oil and red wine vinegar - MMMMMM!
One of the biggest (in many senses of the word) garden pests is the tomato hornworm. They can decimate a tomato plant overnight! And if you get more than one on a plant, watch out! Big nasty green buggers! I went out for a small break from work this morning and thought hmmmmmm . . . one of our tomato plants looks rather strange. I went and looked and found . . .
Yup - tomato hornworms. I hate these things. They are just plain nasty. And hard to see! They say the best time is to check your plants at night with a flashlight. They don't like sun, so they hide during the day and do most of their eating at night. I immediately checked all of the other tomato plants and found another one onthe next plant over. I found evidence on 2 of the other plants, but could not find the worms. Then I happened to check the pepper plants. Yup, found 2 on there. One poor pepper plant only had 1 leaf left!! Greedy so-and-so's! We took and threw them onto the parsley plants, as we have an overabundance of that and don't care if they eat it all!
Well, if you can harvest some ripe tomatoes without the worms eating them all, here is a super quick recipe for ya! No pics of this one, sorry!
Crunch-Top Tomatoes
Tip: DO NOT make this in a cast-iron skillet. It will turn nasty.
2 Large, ripe tomatoes
1 sleeve Ritz crackers,crushed (can use club crackers)
4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick), melted
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (can use any cheese here)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 small onion, chopped fine
Italian seasoning to taste
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in skillet. Slice tomatoes into thin wedges. Saute garlic and onion just until limp. Lay tomatoes on top in single layer. Saute lightly, turning once. In a bowl, mix salt, pepper, cracker crumbs, cheese and seasoning. Melt remaining butter in a bowl. Sprinkle cracker crumb mixture over tomatoes and drizzle with remaining butter. Let cook about another 3-5 minutes, just until your cheese gets melty. Do not turn or stir. Serve forth! This makes a great side for roasted chicken!
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Giants are Coming, The Giants are Coming . . .
Ok, today I am going to tell you a rather kooky story from when I was a child with an overactive imagination. I have always loved to imagine things. That is one of the reasons that most of the time I would rather read a book than watch TV. Thataway, I can imagine on my own what the people look like, etc.
Well, when going back to my childhood home this time, I just had to take some pictures so I could tell you all this story.
I am going to start with this picture.
These are haystacks. My Grandpa used to make haystacks like this. They kind of look like big loaves of bread, right? (humor me here, ok?) Anyway . . . here in Missouri, you don't see many haystacks like this. But in Nebraska, at least around the area where I grew up, they are quite common. And I have always thought that they looked like big loaves of homemade bread.
Now on to this picture.
Now if you are looking at that thing thru a child's eyes, doesn't it look like a giant? He is marching across the land, up over the hills, carrying those wires.
Here is a better picture, to get the whole effect.
Now, they have these thingies all over up there. Well, when I was a child I used to dream a lot and one night I had a dream. I had to run and tell everyone!! Quickly! The giants were coming, they were marching across the land and they were going to eat all of the bread/haystacks. They would slice them with the wires like a knife and eat it all and there would be no more hay for the cows. Of course, I never told anyone about this silly dream until this time when we went to Nebraska. Yup, they thought I was pretty silly. I can remember riding in a car and keeping an eye on the evil giants, silently warning them to stay away from our haystacks!
Ok, now you all know that I am full of silliness! Or as some folks would say, full of beans. So without further ado . . .
Baked Beans by Raquel
Serves a bunch of hungry folks
4 (1 lb) cans of pork-n-beans
Molasses
Ketchup
Mustard
1 onion, diced fine
Bacon
Worchestershire sauce
Chili powder
Liquid Smoke
Garlic powder
Coarse ground black pepper
Barbecue sauce
Get a fairly large baking pan. Probably at least a 2 quart-3 quart one. I used a 9 x 13 cake pan. Open the beans and pour them in the pan. (One of the nice things about this recipe is it only dirties up one pan!) Now over top of that put your diced onion, squirt in some ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauce. Amounts are to your preference, I probably use 1/2 cup ketchup, 1 tablespoon of mustard and at least 1/2 cup BBQ sauce. Sprinkle in some worchestershire sauce, probably about 1-1/2 teaspoons. A sprinkle of chili powder, about 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke, about 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Stir it all up real good. Now lay some pieces of bacon on top. I usually partially cook my bacon first in the microwave, that way they are not so greasy. I cut it into large squares. Just lay them on top and pop them in the oven and let 'er cook! Lowish heat, around 300 degrees F for at least an hour, maybe longer.
Sorry, no pics of this one either, it was gone in about 10 minutes!
Well, when going back to my childhood home this time, I just had to take some pictures so I could tell you all this story.
I am going to start with this picture.
These are haystacks. My Grandpa used to make haystacks like this. They kind of look like big loaves of bread, right? (humor me here, ok?) Anyway . . . here in Missouri, you don't see many haystacks like this. But in Nebraska, at least around the area where I grew up, they are quite common. And I have always thought that they looked like big loaves of homemade bread.
Now on to this picture.
Now if you are looking at that thing thru a child's eyes, doesn't it look like a giant? He is marching across the land, up over the hills, carrying those wires.
Here is a better picture, to get the whole effect.
Now, they have these thingies all over up there. Well, when I was a child I used to dream a lot and one night I had a dream. I had to run and tell everyone!! Quickly! The giants were coming, they were marching across the land and they were going to eat all of the bread/haystacks. They would slice them with the wires like a knife and eat it all and there would be no more hay for the cows. Of course, I never told anyone about this silly dream until this time when we went to Nebraska. Yup, they thought I was pretty silly. I can remember riding in a car and keeping an eye on the evil giants, silently warning them to stay away from our haystacks!
Ok, now you all know that I am full of silliness! Or as some folks would say, full of beans. So without further ado . . .
Baked Beans by Raquel
Serves a bunch of hungry folks
4 (1 lb) cans of pork-n-beans
Molasses
Ketchup
Mustard
1 onion, diced fine
Bacon
Worchestershire sauce
Chili powder
Liquid Smoke
Garlic powder
Coarse ground black pepper
Barbecue sauce
Get a fairly large baking pan. Probably at least a 2 quart-3 quart one. I used a 9 x 13 cake pan. Open the beans and pour them in the pan. (One of the nice things about this recipe is it only dirties up one pan!) Now over top of that put your diced onion, squirt in some ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauce. Amounts are to your preference, I probably use 1/2 cup ketchup, 1 tablespoon of mustard and at least 1/2 cup BBQ sauce. Sprinkle in some worchestershire sauce, probably about 1-1/2 teaspoons. A sprinkle of chili powder, about 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke, about 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Stir it all up real good. Now lay some pieces of bacon on top. I usually partially cook my bacon first in the microwave, that way they are not so greasy. I cut it into large squares. Just lay them on top and pop them in the oven and let 'er cook! Lowish heat, around 300 degrees F for at least an hour, maybe longer.
Sorry, no pics of this one either, it was gone in about 10 minutes!
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