It only gets better.

This is a good casserole meal. I thought the flavors came through even more the second night.
BEEF AND NOODLE CASSEROLE


2 cups (4 oz) dry Munchen egg noodles
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp flour
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (10 oz) Campbell's Beef Broth
1/4 cup Burgundy (or dry sherry) wine
1/8 tsp pepper
1 can (4 oz) mushroom pieces, drained
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Cook noodles, drain and set aside. In a 12 inch skillet brown ground beef, onions and garlic and drain fat.Stir in remaining ingredients except noodles, mushrooms, sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, noodles, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and fold in the sour cream. Pour into a 11 x 7 x 2 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes. Serves 6.

Bran Name Only

Well, it's great to be back home. Our cruise was lots of fun. I finally got new batteries for the camera, so I can start taking pictures again. I was going to make this recipe a couple of weeks ago but, I ran out of time. A quiet Sunday afternoon and a couple of football games made this a good time to make these muffins. This is from my Aunt Marian. She lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming and was the wife of my Mom's brother, Uncle Francis McCormick. She knew more about Cheyenne history than any tour guide I ever met.
I'm still not a fan of baking. I had to get some guidance from Carol. The original recipe below is a little confusing. I added some notes in red to clarify.
BRAN MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup Crisco
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups unsifted flour
2 1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
1 cup "100% Bran" cereal(This is the cereal that looks like gerbil food)
2 cups "All-Bran" cereal(These are the bran flakes)
Thoroughly cream together sugar and shortening. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add flour, soda, salt and buttermilk, mixing until smooth. Meanwhile, pour boiling water over "100% Bran"; let stand until cereal has absorbed water and has cooled slightly. Blend this mixture into batter. Add "All-Bran", mixing thoroughly. Use immediately, or refrigerate batter covered up to five weeks. When ready to use, dip batter (without stirring) into 2 1/2 inch paper cups in a muffin tin. Bake in oven preheated to 400 degrees about 20 minutes or until done.(More like 25 minutes) Makes 3 dozen muffins. Recipe may be doubled.

It's Not Just A Chick Flick!

It's fall and the tomatoes on the vine are all green now. Dad used to have a tomato garden in the backyard but, I don't remember him or Mom ever making this.
I looked at other recipes on the web and this one is pretty easy. The corn meal doesn't stick as well as expected, so I really had to press it on and get some juice from the tomato to mix with it.

My camera batteries were low so still no pictures. We served this with cold grilled chicken sandwiches. That was my wife's idea. She used one of the ripe tomatoes we had and some of the left over spinach from the spinach salad recipe. It was a delicious lunch.

We're off on our cruise up to New England and Canada tomorrow.

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES - SOUTHERN STYLE

6 slices of green tomatoes, 3/8 inch
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp coriander
Salt and pepper

Season flour with salt, pepper and coriander and coat tomato slices. Then coat with cornmeal so they are heavily coated and set aside on waxed paper. Heat the oil and butter in a heavy non-stick skillet. Place a layer of tomatoes in the skillet and sprinkle each slice with about 1 tsp of brown sugar. Press the sugar onto the slices with your fingers. Fry over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes. (I used medium high) Turn and again sprinkle 1 tsp sugar on each slice pressing with your fingers and continue to cook until the sugar caramelizes. Turn once more until the sugar on the second side caramelizes. The entire cooking process should take about 8 minutes. Watch carefully that the sugar does not burn. Remove to a warm platter and serve.

Happy New Year!

How did you spend your New Year's Eve last week?

Uncle Sam just ended his fiscal year on September 30th.

Our office held a "New Years Eve" picnic today.

There was so much food. I'm new in the office so it was fun way to meet new people.

Rather than simmering carrots, I microwaved them for about two minutes.

I'd use at least 3/4 cup of green peppers next time if for nothing else to add some color to the mix.

MARINATED CARROTS

3 cups carrots, sliced 1/8 inch

3/4 cup sweet onion, sliced 1/4 inch and quartered

1/2 cup green (or red) pepper, chopped 1/4 inch

1/2 can (10 3/4 oz) tomato soup (or 2/3 cup)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup salad oil

3/8 cup vinegar

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp prepared mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Simmer carrots about 5 to 7 minutes to fork tender (not soft) and drain. Mix remaining ingredients and add carrots. Marinate in the refrigerator. Will keep 1 month under refrigeration.

That 'Slaw' Folks

I hadn't grilled chicken for a while. Mainly because I've been so focused on working through these recipes. But, this week we've had some beautiful fall days and I thought grilled chicken would taste darn good. I marinated three boneless, skinless breasts in 1/2 cup of Kraft Zesty Italian dressing.

I saw this coleslaw recipe in "The Book" and decided it would make a good side.
I didn't take a picture of the ingredients this time. I used the pre-shredded cabbage.


COLESLAW

2 cups shredded cabbage (1/2 small head)
1/2 cup Miracle Whip(I used Lite Mayo)
2 tsp milk
2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper
2 tbsp sour cream (if available)

Mix Miracle Whip, milk, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper until smooth. Pour over and mix in the shredded cabbage. Serves 4.


I doubled the vinegar and it still lacked tang. I'll probably stick with buying the bottled coleslaw dressing.

Maybe Alice Should Have Tried This Instead

My mother in law brought this to an Easter dinner one year. My Mom and Dad liked it so much that they included the recipe in "The Book".





MARINATED MUSHROOMS

2 lbs mushrooms
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup salad oil
1 clove garlic, halved
1 1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
1/2 tsp chervil leaves
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cup water
1 red onion, diced
Chopped parsley

Clean and trim mushrooms. Blanch whole mushrooms for 1 minute then slice. Combine all of above and marinate 12 hours in refrigerator.

We used sliced mushrooms instead of whole.

Is A Zebra Black with White Stripes or White With Black Sripes?

My dad was born on Washington's birthday. Maybe that's why mom would put maraschino cherries on top of his birthday cake. This was Dad's mom's recipe.

When I was young, I'd call this zebra cake. Eventually, it just came to be known as Dad's birthday cake. For the longest time, I couldn't figure out how Dad got those stripes to show up when he cut cake. They best piece is an end because you get all the extra heavy whipping cream. If you don't want to take the time to whip the cream you can just use a can of whipped cream.

My wife put this one together.

CHOCOLATE REFRIGERATOR ROLL

1/2 pt whipping cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
20 Nabisco chocolate wafers
Maraschino cherries

Whip cream with sugar and vanilla until stiff. Spread wafers with part of cream and put together in stacks of 4 or 5.

Chill 15 minutes. Stand stacks on edge on plate to make one long roll. Frost outside with remaining cream and garnish with cherries.




Refrigerate at least 3 hours.



To serve slice diagonally. Roll may also be frozen and served.
I recommend freezing this before you cut it. It will hold together better when you slice it.