Nana's Very Secret and Most Delicious BBQ Sauce

As the story goes…
Many years ago this recipe was pirated by Papa Kanaga’s brother, Lavern. He was a cook in the Army and enjoyed putting a recipe together for people to enjoy. Lavern ate at a certain restaurant once and fell in love with their BBQ sauce. He asked the chef if he would consider giving him the recipe, to which the chef declined. No matter what Lavern said, the chef would not part with his recipe. Lavern was not to be denied. He would watch the back access to the kitchen where they took out their garbage. When the trash contained things that looked like BBQ sauce ingredients, he wrote down what he thought was in the sauce. I’m sure he had to work out the quantities, but eventually came up with a really good rendition of his favorite sauce.
When Nana tried it, she loved it. After telling her how he came by the recipe Lavern gave it to her after she promised she would never give it out to anyone. She did let me have it after I came back from Okinawa, but told me I couldn’t give it out. After many years of keeping it secret, I think it's time to share it, so use it in good health and think about Uncle Lavern skulking around the alley in search of his treasure. I wish we had video of that!

In a stock pot combine:
1/2 Gallon vegetable or canola oil
(reserve about 2 cups)
1-1/2 Gallon Ketchup
2 Qts. Mustard
4 Ozs. Tobasco sauce
8 Ozs. Liquid smoke
1/2 C. (or 1 sm. can) Paprika
1/2 C. Brown sugar
1/2 C. Apple cider vinegar

In a large skillet:
Pour in the 2 cups of reserved oil
3 Cloves Garlic minced fine
(or 1t. garlic powder)
6 Medium Onions minced fine
1 t. Salt
1 t. Pepper
If you have a food processor, it is the best for mincing. With the chopping blade, turn on and drop the garlic down the feeding tube, this minces quite well. Open and put the peeled, quartered onions in and pulse several time to get all the chunks. Process just a few seconds for a fine mince.
Cook the onions and garlic until done. Add to stock pot and simmer for about an hour.

This sauce is good on all meats and is a unique addition to chili beans, sloppy joes, etc. Serve warm or cold - I know people who like it by the spoonful.
(not me of course, no not ever…!)


If you want to bottle this sauce:
Just simmer long enough to heat through. Ladle into jars leaving 1/2-3/4 inch headspace. Close with prepared lids and place into pressure canner.
Follow manufacturer’s instructions for exhausting air in canner. When weight is in place bring up to 10 lbs. pressure and process for 15 minutes. If you are doing quarts, process at 10 lbs. for 25 minutes.


Sherry Kanaga Harmon
“Granny”

Beef Pot Pie!

Talk about comfort food! This was so yummy and it gave me a reason to try making pie crust again! Successfully, I might add!!! I will put the recipe for the crust and what I did for the filling, but you could fill it with whatever!
Nana's Pie Crust
(Recipe for 2 full crusts, top and bottom)
4 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of cold shortening
1 cup of cold butter
1 tsp of salt
3 TBS of sugar
1 cup of ice water
Mix all ingredients together, using dough hook, just until "balled up" or to where it will stay in a ball if you form one. Divide into 4 pieces, 2 larger for the bottom crusts and 2 slightly smaller for the top crusts. Roll out on floured surface. Place bottom crust into pie dish. Add filling. Add top crust and crimp the edges together to seal. Brush the top crust with evaporated milk and sprinkle with sugar (if making a sweet pie) if not just the evaporated milk. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes until golden brown. Cover the edges with foil if beginning to burn before done baking.
Filling:
1 lb of beef, cubed (roast, leftover steak, etc)
1 cup of baby peeled carrots
4 large red potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup of frozen peas
Salt, pepper, garlic, lipton onion soup mix
3-cups of water
1/2 cup of flour
Cook the beef in a skillet, seasoning with salt, pepper, garlic, lipton onion soup mix, or whatever you like. Reserve the drippings to make a quick brown gravy by mixing 3-4 cups of water and 1/2 of flour, then add the mixture into the drippings and stir often while bringing to a boil. Add beef along with the remaining ingredients into the gravy and stew on med-low heat until the veggies are almost tender. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Best Ever Spinach Dip

1 package (10 oz) of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 package (8 oz) of cream cheese
3/4 cup of mayonaise
1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
1 package (1/4 oz) of Knorr vegetable recipe mix
1 can (8 oz) of water chestnuts, drained and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except for 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Spoon into a 2 quart casserole dish and then top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve with Tortilla Chips, Crusty breads or whatever you like!

*This is seriously so good that whenever I make it I end up eating the left overs for breakfast, lunch and dinner until it is gone! So...make sure you have lots of people to share it with!

Individual Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

2-20 oz. cans of pineapple slices or chunks
1/3 cup of melted butter
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1 yellow cake mix

Drain pineapple slices, reserving juice. Grease well 24 muffin cups. Stir butter and brown sugar together and spoon the mixture evenly into the bottom of the muffin cups. Place the pinapple over the sugar mixture. Prepare cake mix according to the package directions, replacing water with reserved pineapple juice. Pour batter evenly into the cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and then invert onto cooling rack to cool further.

**These are really good! Great for parties because you don't have to have forks! Enjoy!

Classic Creme Brulee

2 Cups Of Heavy Cream
4 Egg Yolks
1/4 Cup Of Sugar
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
8 tsp Fine Raw Sugar or Granulated Sugar (for carmelizing)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and have a pot of hot water ready. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine cream and 1/4 cup of sugar. Cook, stirring, until steam rises, about 4-5 minutes.

In a bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until blended. Gradually pour hot cream into the yolk/sugar mixture, stirring constantly.

Divide mixture between 4-7 oz. ramekins or small oven safe dishes.

Line a 3'" deep baking dish with a clean kitchen towel. Fill the dish 1/2 way up with the hot water. Place the ramekins into the baking dish (water should be 1/2 way up on the outsides of the ramekins). Cover the baking dish loosely with foil.

Bake until set, 30-35 minutes, until the centers of the custards shake gently when the pan is moved or shifted.

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool slightly. Remove the ramekins from the pan and let cool to room temperature. Then move the ramekins to the refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours).

Just before serving, sprinkle the custards with 2 tsp of sugar each adn carmelize the tops with a kitchen torch or place the ramekins under the broiler, 2-3 inches away from the heat source, for 3-4 minutes. Watch carefully.

Top with berries, chocolate or whatever you like!

Quick Sweet and Sour Sauce

When we were living in Okinawa, Japan I met a wonderful lady (and cook), Hilda Toguchi. She hosted a cooking class in her home for all of us who were dying to learn her recipes and this sweet and sour sauce is hers. It is not the very best one out there, but it is fast and easy. We used it at the dinner party Tawna hosted for all her siblings and us. She did a marvelous job and I'm so glad she has decided to make it an annual tradition. We had a blast. I'm hoping she will post her other recipes as everything was so delicious. Meanwhile, for a fast sweet and sour…

In a saucepan combine:

1/13 C. water

2/3 C. Apple Cider Vinegar

1 C. Sugar

1/4 C. Cornstarch (or Ultra Gel)

Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. 

Add 2/3 C. Ketchup and stir well.

Remove from heat and serve warm or cool.

For a sweeter sauce, replace half the water with pineapple juice.

We did meat and vegetable (tempura) fondue and this sauce was so good on green or red peppers, the chicken (tempura'd or not) and shrimp. The list of great things to dip in it goes on and on. 

The above picture was taken the night of the party and you can see how much fun the food was. I know Nana is pleased that food and fun are still traditions we are building. She would have loved this party.

Creamy Cucumber-Dill Sauce

This recipe is very similar to the dipping sauce you get at Black Angus when you order fried zuchini. A favorite of ours to the dismay of our waiter's when we go there. We are always asking for more.

• 1 lg. cucumber, or 2 sm. ones
  
• 2 C. sour cream
  
• 1 C. mayonnaise
  
• 1 1/2 t. seasoned salt
  
• 4 t. finely chopped green onions
  
• 4 t. dried dill weed
  
• dash of granulated garlic
  

Peel cucumber, cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Coarsely grate and drain. Combine all other ingredients in a mixing bowl, stir with a wire whip.  Add cucumber. Cover and refrigerate a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. 

Yields about 3 C. of sauce.

This is also excellent with fried fish or any kind of seafood. 

Basic Dessert Crepes

Really thin, rich pancakes better known as crepes…

4 eggs (room temperature is best)
1 C. flour
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. water
1/2 t. salt
2 T. melted butter
2 t. sugar
1 t. vanilla
Measure all ingredients except flour into mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed and gradually add the flour. Beat until smooth. If there are any small lumps, pour batter through a strainer into a 9 inch pie pan.
I am not a french chef, so I cheat and use a crepe maker to actually make them up. It takes all the hard work out of crepes, so follow the directions for your crepe maker amd have fun. This much batter will make about 12-14 crepes.
For a Chocolate Crepe add 2 T. chocolate sauce to this recipe.

I made these crepes for my ward mid-week activity since we were doing Valentine things. I love crepes and have made them for large groups as they can be made ahead of time, served them off the tailgate for breakfast on lake trips and for small elegant dinner parties. Of course the crepe maker I use makes all that feasible since the process is so simple. I have given crepe makers to several of my children and so am fairly sure they can be found for around 30.00 at places like Bed, Bath and Beyond and Shar's Kitchen to name a couple. Have fun with them. 

The filling is 2 parts creme cheese to 1 part cottege cheese. Sweeten with powdered sugar to taste and put in a little vanilla too. I mixed mine in a food processor so it would be really smooth and I colored it pink.

The toppings are fresh cut strawberries on one crepe, roasted raspberry chipotle from costco on the other crepe and whipped cream in the middle of them finished off with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. We enjoyed them and some of us enjoyed seconds because we have no will power. Oh well, we can walk another mile to compensate, right? You can top them with anything that sounds good. Fruit is always good - ice cream even.

You can make many variations of crepes including Entree crepes for chicken dishes, etc., Cornmeal crepes for mexican dishes, and even Whole Wheat crepes for a healthier dish.

Enjoy them on Valentine's Day as a special dessert or make them for breakfast. Kids love them.

Butter

Yes. Butter. I was thrilled to learn I could bottle butter. My kids all think I have a butter fetish because I buy lots of butter. I don’t like to be out, so I usually prepare very well in the butter department. Now I can really prepare. This is actually kind of fun. The information below was taken from the following website: www.endtimesreport.com/canning_butter . There is other information both pro and con about this subject, so if you are curious google “canning butter” and you can research all you wish. I made the choice to can butter as there are people who have had good success. I am just happy there is a choice and a way to store butter other than powdered or frozen. All good methods, so variety couldn't hurt.



One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you are doing 12 jars, melt 11 pounds of butter. If you are doing 1/2 pints, you will need 5-1/2 pounds of butter. The better quality the butter, the less shaking will be required during the process. The lesser quality brands will still work for the same results. I buy my butter at Costco, and I get the salted kind.
Preparing Jars and Lids
Turn your oven to 350º. Place 1/2 pint, or pint jars on 12”x18” baking sheet, or in a large flat roaster pan. Put them in the oven for at least 20 minutes without lids or bands.


Prepare lids by putting them into a pan of hot, simmering water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.



Preparing butter
In at least a 6 quart stock pot, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil (butter will “grow” as it heats through so pot should be large enough to allow this), stirring constantly along the bottom of the pot to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 5 minutes.* A good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required later.
Remove the jars from the oven. Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle, fill heated jars carefully leaving 3/4” headspace. You need this room for the shaking process.



Thoroughly wipe clean jar rims, attach lids and bands. Lids will seal as the jars cool. Once a few of the lids “ping”, and when jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle, gently shake the jars to keep the butter from separating. You may need to do this several times until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar. Sometimes the lids will pop back up, but they should “ping” again and will stay sealed as jar cools. If you have lids that don’t seal, re-heat the jars after washing and repeat process.



While butter jars are still slightly warm, put the jars on a tray and put into refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important. Check every five minutes and give the jars a shake until they are hardened in the jar. Leave in refrigerator for an hour.
Storing Your Jars
After removing from the refrigerator, place on a cool, dark shelf. Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer.

* If butter separates during cooking, you can still can it. It just won’t have the creamy texture of butter, but can be used on everything except maybe spreading on bread. If you only use the darker yellow clear liquid that floats to the top, and not get any of the lighter yellow milk fat into your jars, you would have “clarified” butter. It is better for you as there is less fat, and better that it is a natural product in your body. Margarine and other diet spreads are just chemicals and don’t assimilate into your body the same.

Apple Pie a la Nana

I remember Nana making her famous apple pie and knowing how much Richard loved it and had a non-pie-making wife, she would think of ways to send it to us when we lived in California. Papa flew for a corporation that came to Cali often, so when she baked a couple of pies, she would send one with Papa for us. I would drive to little executive airports many times to pick up a delicious pie. What a wonderful memory to cherish now.

–Sherry Kanaga Harmon

Deep Dish Double Crust
Ingredients
2 1/2 C. Flour
2 T. Sugar
1 t. Salt
1/2 C. Cold Shortening
1/2 C. Cold Butter (diced)
3 T. Apple Juice
3 T. Cold water (more if needed)
 
Directions
In a food processor with the chopping blade on, combine flour, sugar and salt.
Cut in the shortening with 7-8 pluses and add the butter. About 4- 5 more pulses should produce a pea like texture. Add the water and juice mixture and do a few short pulses, just until it starts to come together. Turn onto a bread board and push it into a ball.Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes. It can stay in the fridge longer if you don’t get to it right away.

Apple Filling
Ingredients
8-9 mixed variety apples
For a mix of naturally sweet and tart varieties, try these: Bramley, Cox, Pippin, Fuji, McIntosh, Stayman Winesap, Jonagold, Rome, Cameo, Jonathon, Honeycrisp and Pink Lady. If unavailable, try Red Delicious or Gala. Granny Smith were Nana’s favorite to mix in as she liked a tart apple pie. You want flavorful, aromatic and firm apples. Always use a mixture - never just one type. The Fuji's and Gala's give it an aromatic flavor!

1/4 C. Apple juice (or balsamic vinegar)
3 T. Butter
2 t. Vanilla
1-2 C. Sugar (1 part can be brown)
2 T. Cinnamon

Optional additional spices to add are:
1/4 t. Nutmeg
1/4 t. Ground cloves
1/4 t. Ginger
1/4 t. Allspice

Nana was not a fan of ginger or allspice for sure, only sometimes would add a little nutmeg and maybe a dash of cloves if she were in the mood. Experiment and decide what combinations you like.

3-4 T. Ultra Gel (can use flour or cornstarch for substitution)
2 T. Butter (to dot top of apple filling in the pie)

Directions
Peel, core and wedge the apples. Place into a large frying pan with butter and juice on medium heat. Cover for about 8 minutes, or until just barely tender. Remove from heat, add vanilla and allow to cool. Mix Ultra Gel, sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over cooled apples and toss. Place apples into bottom crust in a deep pie dish. Dot with butter and cover with top crust. Cut a few slashes in top crust to allow steam to escape while cooking. Trim edges to 1/2” bigger than the pie dish, fold excess under itself and crimp edge down to seal in the filling. Paint top crust with cream and sprinkle sugar over top. Egg wash can be used, but doesn’t brown as well.

Bake at 375º for 20 minutes in lower half of oven. Then reduce heat to 350º and move to center of the oven. Bake another 30-40 minutes. This will insure the bottom crust gets nice and done for a flaky melt in your mouth crust and should keep the crust edges from getting too brown.

When pie is nice and golden brown, remove and cool on wire rack.

Tip: Sometimes I use foil to make little shields for the crimped edge of pie. Keep in place for first
30 minutes of bake time and then remove. This will keep the crimped edge from getting too brown.
 
Tip: Sprinkle 1 T. of lemon gelati over apples before adding the top crust. Flavor is delicious and gelatin helps to prevent spillovers.

A apple a day, or 10 boxes in a month!

It seems like Jade, Tawna, Tracy and I have been doing apples for a month. Wait, we have been doing apples for a month! Not every day. We did 10 boxes of apples this year in our family and I lost count how many Tracy ended up doing. The squeezo was a great investment and I highly recommend it. The pie apples are much better this year and are prettier too. We opted for wedged sliced instead of the easier spiral slices we did last year. Jade and I made our rebellious non-sealing 7 quarts (out of 55 quarts) into apple pie. I think I may have made an apple pie like 20 years ago, so I'm going to say this was my first attempt at doing apple pie. Jade remembered lots of Nana's little tips, so she was a better student than me by a long shot. I found a good recipe online for pie apples, so used it to can our pie apples. I'm posting it here for anyone who wants to try it. It's been fun.

Choosing your apples
Select apples depending on how tart you like your apple pie. The more tart varieties like Granny Smith result in a tart pie unless you add more sugar.

For a mix of naturally sweet and tart varieties, use from these groups: Bramley, Cox Pippin, Fuji, McIntosh, Stayman Winesap, Jonagold, Rome, Cameo, Jonathon. If you can't get any of these, then try Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, etc. You want a flavorful, aromatic and firm apple (Golden Delicious and Galas are too soft, for example). Always use a mixture - never just one type. The Fuji's and Gala's give it an aromatic flavor! Honeycrisp and Pink Lady are also excellent, sweet, flavorful apples.

Preparing Jars and Lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars or you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, keep the jars hot until they are used. Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot apple pie filling.

Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.

Preparing the apples

Fill your sink or a large container with water to wash the apples. The fastest way to peel the apples is an “apple, peeler, corer, slicer” (but with the corer/slicer function off). With firm apples, it takes about 20 seconds per apple. These apple peelers don't work well on soft, mushy apples or apples with soft spots on them. In that case your stuck with a hand peeler!

Once they're peeled, remove any remaining brown spots. These apple peelers work absolutely great on firm apples, pears and potatoes. They don't work so well on apples that are mush or have soft spots. There are 2 types of peelers: those that have a suction base and those that clamp on to the edge of a table. I prefer the suction type as you can use it more places.
Slicing and coring the apples is next.

You can use a knife, but the $5 corer/slicer you see in the photo is the easiest way to do it. The apple corer/slicer, available at almost any large grocery store, kitchen store, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. With this or an ordinary knife, any slices that are between ¼-inch and 1/2 inch thick will do.

Remove seeds, stems, any hard parts near the seeds and brown or soft spots. Now you are ready to blanch the apples. Place sliced apples a batch at a time in a large pot with at least 1 gallon of boiling water - the larger the pot and the greater the volume of water, the better! Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. You're not really "cooking" the apples - just blanching them. Blanching means heating them at high temperature for a brief time to stop the enzymes that can cause the flavor to degrade during storage.

Drain and keep the hot fruit in a covered bowl or pot.

Pie Filling

In a large pot combine:
7 1/2 C. cold water (or 2 1/2 C. water and 5 C. apple juice for more flavor)
3 C. granulated sugar (Yes, you can vary the amount of sugar. You could use organic sugar or honey (about 3/4 cup of honey to replace each cup of sugar)
1 T. Cinnamon
1 t. Nutmeg
1 t. Cloves ( I use half this amount because I'm not a big cloves fan.)
Optional additional spices you could add are 1 t. each of Ginger and Allspice.

Stir almost constantly while cooking on medium high heat until the mixture begins to bubble.

Mix 1 1/2 C. Ultra Gel
with 3/4 C. Bottled Lemon Juice and add this to the juice in the pot. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken. Then remove from the heat./ It ought to be pretty thick, but still able to drip.

(I buy Ultra Gel at Shar's Kitchen) or you can use a product called ClearJel. You can also use cornstarch but know the following: According to the USDA's National Home Food Preservation Center at the University of Georgia, ClearJel® is a corn starch that has been modified to give it special and unique characteristics when used in food products. It is recommended by the USDA for making pie fillings because it does not break down in the acid food mixtures and does not thicken enough during heat processing to interfere with the intended effect of the heat on killing bacteria during canning. In other words it reduces spoilage and is safer than corn starch. It is preferred for thickening canned pie fillings as well as other foods over other corn starches because it has less or no aftertaste, the thickened juices are smooth and clear, and foods thickened with ClearJel® may be frozen.

Filling Your Jars
The best way to fill the jars is pictured here. Because the filling is on the thick side, layering is preferred so the filling is present through the jar. Fill to 1/2" minimum headspace. I like about 1" better. A thin spatula down the sides of the filled jar will release any air pockets present. Prepare lids and bands and close the jars.


Water Bath Method
Put them in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. For our altitude here in Arizona, boil pint and/or quart jars for 30 minutes. After processing time is achieved, remove jars to a draft-free counter and allow to cool, usually overnight without disturbing. If all goes will you will hear the lids ping, or pop down to form the desired seal. If they don't seal, refrigerate and use, or apply a new prepared lid and reprocess.

Steam Canner Method
Follow manufacturer's directions to prepare the canner and water level. Place jars on rack and close canner. Once the steam is a steady 8" or so plume from both sides of canner start timing for 30 minutes. At the end of 30 minutes, turn off burner and allow to sit 3 minutes. Remove jars to a draft-free counter and allow to cool, usually overnight without disturbing. If all goes will you will hear the lids ping, or pop down to form the desired seal. If they don't seal, refrigerate and use, or apply a new prepared lid and reprocess.

Pressure Canner Method
Follow manufacturer's directions to prepare canner and water level. After jars are placed in canner and the lid secured, again follow the direction's for exhausting the air from the canner. After the weight is placed, allow the pressure to build to 6 pounds. Reduce heat to maintain pressure at 6 pounds for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow pressure to fall on it's own. At that point, remove weight and lid and allow the jars to stay in the canner 5-10 minutes. Remove from canner to a draft-free counter and allow to cool, usually overnight without disturbing. If all goes will you will hear the lids ping, or pop down to form the desired seal. If they don't seal, refrigerate and use, or apply a new prepared lid and reprocess.
You can use your pressure canner as a water bath also. Follow manufacturer's directions for this process.

Finishing
Now your jars are all done, cooled and hopefully all sealed. Remove the bands and put them in hot soapy water. Take each jars and gently wash the band threads to remove and sticky residue from the canning process. Set them on a towel to dry or wipe dry and date the lids and label if you need to. I reapply the clean, dry bands for storage, but you don't have to.
Apple pie, apple crisp, over ice cream, there are many ways to use this wonderful filling.

Corn & Potato Chowder...

Ingredients:

2-3 cans sweet cream corn
1 yellow onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
1 large carrot
2 cups potato flakes
4-6 cups milk
2-3 cups chicken broth
3-4 TBLS parsley flakes
1 jar Hormel "REAL" bacon bits (or crumbled)
Salt & pepper to taste















Melt your butter in a non-stick frying pan and add in your chopped onions and minced garlic. Then take a potato peeler and with short strokes peel the carrot into the mixture and saute all of it together. Add your parsley to the mixture.

Transfer this mixture to a stock pot and turn the heat to high. Add your chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil. When boiling turn down to low heat and add in your potato flakes and stir well. Bring the soup to the consistency that you wish by using milk to thin out or a few more potato flakes to thicken. When the consistency is of your liking then add your corn and then the jar of bacon bits or crumbled bacon last.


Stir well and serve.

I served with garnish of cheese croutons and it was yummy!!!
















Side note: You can choose to use real potatoes in the soup rather than the flakes. If this is your choice then use 4-6 medium potatoes cubed, and saute in with the onions, garlic, carrots and parsley. Saute until the potatoes are tender.
Once tender transfer to stock pot and add the chicken broth the recipe calls for. Then you'll need to make a white sauce to use for the soup base. To do this, in a medium mixing bowl whisk together 4 cups of milk and 3/4 cup flour and blend well. Add to stock pot and continue on with the above directions from there. Either way it is yummy!

Granny's Homemade Whole Wheat Bread...

Ingredients:
2 TBLS salt
10 -15 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup honey
3 TBLS dough enhancer
1 cup high gluten flour
6 cups warm water (110º - 115º F)
3TBLS saf-instant yeast

Preheat your oven to 150º. The lowest settings on some ovens is 170º. If that is the case on your oven, set at 170º and when you place your loaves in to rise, leave the oven door cracked open a bit. Sometimes if you turn off the oven as you begin to put your loaves in to proof, by the time they are all in the oven has cooled just a bit. It is probably closer to 150º now, so just shut the door and leave it off.

Place all of the ingredients in the order listed above, and 10C. of the flour in the bosch. Make sure the yeast goes in last on top of the flour. Also, make sure that your water is the proper temperature. If it is not warm enough it will not properly activate your yeast and if it's too hot it will kill your yeast!

Turn on the “moment” speed of your bosch two or three times. Now turn to “1” and add more flour to "clean" the sides and bottom of the bowl as it is mixing. You will probably have somewhere between 13-15C. of flour (total) in the dough. If you get too much flour in, just add a smidgen of water until it loosens up to the consistency you prefer. Let the bosch do it's thing (mixing away!) for 10 minutes on a timer.

While the dough is mixing, grease your bread pans generously on the bottoms and sides. For added nutrition you can use liquid lethicin (sp?) in place of shortening.


Remove the dough from the bosch and shape into loaves. Place the loaves into the pans and slit the tops about 3-4 times on the diagonal with a single edged razor. This helps the bread to rise UP instead of OUT.
Place your bread pans in your oven to let them raise to double in size. This process is called "proofing". Set the timer for 30 minutes and check often. When dough has doubled in size, (sometimes it takes longer than 30 minutes, sometimes it is faster than that) set the oven temperature to 350º. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the interior bread temperature reaches 200 degrees.Temperature may be checked by inserting a thermometer into the center of the bread.



Turn loaves out of pans immediately and butter (or shortening) the tops. I use a stick of butter or I rub margarine over the tops. After about 10 minutes place in the bread bags, but leave the end open. This way the crust stays soft. When mostly cooled, slice and re-bag securing the end to keep your loaves fresh and soft. If there is a lot of moisture left in the bags I dry them out with a paper towel before re-bagging the loaves.

I usually wait about 30-40 minutes before I slice the bread. But, that's up to you!

This recipe will make 4-6 loaves, depending on the size. I always get 5 loaves.

Individual Meatloaf Balls...

A different way to make meatloaf... Originally Granny's or Nana's Cheesy Meatloaf Recipe only seperated into individual servings!

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs lean hamburger meat
2 cups italian bread crumbs (more if needed)
2-3 eggs (to make everything stick together)
1-2 green peppers chopped
1 large yellow onion chopped
1 can tomato sauce (or alternate sauce for top of meatloaf)
1 large brick of mild cheddar cheese
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste


In a large mixing bowl add together meat, garlic powder, salt & pepper, green peppers, onions, eggs, and bread crumbs.

Cut the block of cheddar cheese into large cubes. Pull off a chunk of meat mixture and place on the cutting board. Put the cheese right in the middle. Take another chunk of mixture and cover the cheese, like a big meatball. Place the meatloaf balls in whatever pan you are cooking them in side by side on top of 1 cube of melted butter.

Once all of your meatloaf balls are in the pan, pour whatever sauce you choose or the tomato sauce over the top. If you have a pan that sits on top of your counter like this (electromade??? not sure what it's called) then put the lid on and it will cook for about 45 minutes to an hour on about 350 degrees. Just check the centers to make sure cooked through. If using your oven, then I would say to set at about 350 degrees for the same 45 min to an hour.

The cheese melts inside and everyone gets their own cute little meatloaf. This was Kevins spin on Granny's cheesy meatloaf!

We all love the burned bottom side of the meatloaf and the cheese burns a bit too! Growing up we all fought over that part...

The gravy that you make from the drippings is a little bit of a cheese flavor also, but I add in some beef boullion and it's awesome beef gravy because it's diferent than the same old thing.

YUMMMMMMM!

Mom's Broccoli Cheese Soup...

This is my all time favorite soup!

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 medium head broccoli crown chopped
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
4 cups chicken stock
5 cups milk
3/4 cup flour
1 t dry mustard
8 oz brick of cream cheese
4 cups mild shredded cheddar cheese (more or less as you choose)

Saute chopped onion, clove of garlic and broccoli in the cube of melted butter. When tender, transfer to an 8qt stock pot and add 4 cups chicken stock. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together 4 cups of milk, 3/4 cup flour and the dry mustard and blend well. Add to stock pot. In another mixing bowl whisk together 8oz cream cheese and 1 cup of milk. Set aside.

Bring to a boil to thicken the mixture to the desired consistency, to make thicker add milk or cream, and to thin out add water or chicken broth. Once it starts to boil reduce the heat. When mixture is thickened to desired consistency add in the shredded cheddar cheese and the cream cheese mixture. Keep at medium heat until all of the cheeses are melted in. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Garnish ideas: Sprinkle some shredded cheese and green onion on top... this soup goes great with Mom's homemade bread too!!! Or crackers or rolls...

Ali's Pumpkin Spice Cookies...

These cookies are great and I got the recipe from my cousin Ali. Thanks Ali! I doubled the recipe, because I always do when I make any kind of cookies. I figure if you're gonna go to all of the effort to bake you might as well bake extra and spread the wealth!!! It made about 3 1/2 dozen cookies. I also ran short of time so I didn't make the drizzle for the top. I cheated and opened up a Betty Crocker vanilla frosting, opened it and put it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds then spread a little on the top of each. Cream cheese frosting would be yummy on top also!



2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 Tbls milk
1 Tbls melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt; set aside

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by Tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly

3. Bake for 15-20 mins in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork

4. To make glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 Tablespoon melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

Applesauce made easy!

Jonagold apples, a cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious



Rome apples. I wish I had a picture of the cut ones. They had bright red swirls inside. Really pretty. They made the deepest pink applesauce I've ever seen.





The Squeezo Strainer is high on my list of most loved kitchen tools. Jade, Tracy, Papa and I made applesauce on Monday from 6 -48 pound boxes of apples. Five boxes were JonaGolds and one box were Rome apples. The apples are so beautiful this year and I love that the whole house smells like an orchard. The garage too since there are still apples out there waiting to be delicious pie apples and applesauce. We followed the instructions that came with the Squeezo and in about 4 hours we processed all 6 boxes into applesauce. After the fiasco we had last year trying to get apples into jars, this was a breeze. No peeling, coring, slicing. Just steam the apples tender and push them through the Squeezo for beautiful applesauce. The sauce comes out and goes down the funnel thing and the garbage goes out the other way for dumping. We used the regular size screen that came on it for the first 2 boxes. Then we put on the pumpkin screen for a coarser pulp and we liked that better. The Rome apples came out very very pink. I ended up mixing my 2 JonaGold boxes with my 1 Rome box for a pink blushed applesauce. I only added about 1 cup of sugar and a dash of cinnamon to a 12 qt. bucket of applesauce. The apples were really sweet enough on their own unless you have a sweet tooth. Tracy took her 3 boxes of JonaGolds home to can and I did my 3 boxes here into the canners. Three boxes of apples yielded 50 pints and 14 quarts. Maybe I will be crazy enough to try tomato sauce someday. Not any time soon though. I love this stuff.

Chicken La Paloma

This recipe is from my wonderful mother-in-law. She first made it for me when I had just given birth to Faith and she was in town for a few days helping out. It was so yummy that It has been one of my favorites ever since. Nathan and I don't always have cheesy-casserolish type dishes, but this is a favorite comfort food or for when guests are coming over. Missionaries really love it!

Ingredients:

2 cans of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 tsp of lemon juice

1 tsp curry powder (or more or less depending on how much you like)

6-7 chicken breasts, cut into cubes and cooked with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (or can be barbecued on the grill and then cut up and added)

2 pkgs of (8 oz ea.) of California Blend frozen veggies (cauliflower, broccoli and carrots)

1 8 oz package of shredded cheese

1/4 to 1/2 cup of butter or margarine - melted

corn flakes

Blend the soup, mayo, lemon juice and curry. Add the cooked chicken and vegetables and mix until well coated. Spread evenly into a casserole dish (sprayed with cooking spray). Top with the shredded cheese. Crush corn flakes and add to the melted butter until coated, stirring with a fork. Spread corn flake mixture on top of the cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. YUM!

Bottled Ground Beef Mix

Tracy got me going on the goal to do some ground beef this year. I found a good recipe last year and tried it out. We have enjoyed being able to just get it off the shelf this year when we were in a hurry to make a meal. Tracy tracked down the sales and we bought lots of beef. It's easy, but takes time to pressure can it as it has to maintain pressure for 75 to 90 minutes. Tracy plays solitare on her computer while she's watching her canners. I make lists, pace the kitchen, talk on the phone, and check my email. I think I'll try solitare next time - it sounds like more fun.

This recipe is probably permanently engraved upon my brain. I have made it so many times in the last week, I don't see how I would ever forget it. Try it out before you bottle it to see if you like it. I use it in spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, lasagne, rocket soup, and chili. You could use it for tacos too, but I like a drier meat and a little more spice for taco meat. I'm sure there are many recipes it would go well in. As the jars cool, the small amount of fat that stays in the hamburger solidifies at the top. If it bothers you, you can skim it off when you open your jar to use it. It should be very minimal if you have gotten a good lean hamburger.

Wash 9 pint jars or 4 quart jars and keep hot

6 pounds of very lean ground beef
2 cloves minced garlic
3 cups (1 1/2 medium) diced onion

6 cups (1-48 oz. can) tomato juice
1 1/4 cups beef stock
1 T. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Combine last four ingredients in 6-8 qt. pot. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low to keep hot. In large fry pan brown meat (half at a time if necessary) until pink is gone. Add to tomato juice broth. Saute onions and garlic in meat drippings until tender. Add to meat mixture. Cover and let simmer about 5 minutes. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions. Pack meat mixture into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headroom. Wipe rims clean and attach lids and bands.

Process in a pressure canner at 11 pounds pressure.
Pints 75 minutes / Quarts 90 minutes - Remember processing time doesn't start until pounds of pressure has been achieved. Follow pressure canner manufacturer's directions to exhaust steam from canner and place weight to bring pressure up. Be sure to allow pressure to fall on it's own after removing from heat before opening the canner.

I usually double this recipe to get 7 quarts and 9 pints. I took this pic before I cleaned my jars up after canning. They are much prettier when they have been washed, wiped, labeled and boxed. I am still really enjoying all this canning. Kind of sick, I know.

The Green Chile in Jars!

I did get some green chile into jars for canning. Everything except the tomatoes and a little bit of flour for thickening. Those two items will be added when it's time to open the jars and enjoy.Tracy and I went to Orange Patch Too and got some of their wonderful New Mexico Chiles. They are already roasted and in zip locks. Yummm. They are so good. I put some in the freezer for future batches. I had 1 extra quart and a little pint of green chile just hanging out on the pantry shelf, but they didn't last long. Robert came home and opened it up one night. I guess I need to put instructions on what needs to happen to it once it is opened to avoid any confusion about how to prepare it for eating. He did pretty well, just forgot the flour for thickening it a little and maybe a few more tomatoes. I did try to explain we really didn't need to open the jars quite that soon after canning. I should get to savor the look of the pantry shelves for at least a month. I am on to ground beef now and getting some of the “on Sale” bounty into jars for later consumption. Crazy days of canning are still going strong. I will post the ground beef pics later with the recipe.

Apples arrive tomorrow. I hope my new gizmo that makes applesauce is not far behind. I just love a learning curve. We had such a hard time with apples last year, I hope this year goes better. Hence the gizmo to try. It's called a Squeezo Strainer and everyone I know that has one, loves it. I hope it will take some of the grunt work out of the applesauce process. The kid in the picture looks like he can manage it. Maybe there's hope for me. I guess it was originally designed to do tomato sauce. I don't think I'm that crazy yet, but you never know.