Banana Pudding - Emma Stephenson

1/2 c sugar

2 Tbsp flour 

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk *

1 cup half and half *

3 eggs, separated 

1 tsp vanilla 

1 med size box vanilla wafers

4-6 bananas   

Combine the sugar flour and salt. Add milk to slightly beaten egg yolks. Combine flour mixture and milk mixture. Cook in the top of a double boiler until the consistency of custard. Add the vanilla. 

Line a baking dish with vanilla wafers. Slice bananas over the wafers. Pour half of the custard mixture over the bananas then repeat with a second layer as before.  

Beat the egg whites with 6 tablespoons of sugar to make a meringue topping. Pour the meringue over the pudding. 

Bake at 425° for five minutes or until delicately brown.  May be served hot or cold. 

Yield 6 to 8 servings.

Recipe courtesy of my Aunt Barbara's mother, Emma Stevenson. 

* Original recipe called for 2 cups whole milk. I modified it to make it slightly richer. 

The milk, half and half, and egg yolks mixture.

The sugar, flour, and salt

Cooking the custard.

The finished product with meringue before cooking. 

After cooking. 

*Stuffed Peppers - Autumn

3 large bell peppers

1 lb ground chuck

2 c. cooked white rice

2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp lemon pepper

¼ tsp celery seed

¼ tsp salt

⅛ tsp cayenne pepper

Fresh ground black pepper [to taste]

Cook ground chuck and drain off the grease. Parboil the bell peppers.  Make sure not to boil them tool long because they will become flimsy and difficult to stuff later.  

While the peppers are boiling, mix the beef, rice, seasoning and one can of tomato sauce in a medium bowl. Use mixture to stuff peppers. Pour remaining can of sauce over peppers.  

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes.

Green Bean Casserole

When I was a little child I never would eat green bean casserole because the cream of mushroom soup mixed with the green beans seemed disgusting. However, this recipe is unlike any I have ever had before and is delicious!

Green Bean Casserole

2 (15 oz) cans of green beans (French cut works nice)

2 slices of bacon

½ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp garlic powder

 ⅛ tsp salt

1 tbsp butter (cut into 4 pieces)

Drain the green beans well.  Place them in a clear 9X9 baking dish.  Sprinkle the garlic, brown sugar, and salt on the beans.  Cut the bacon into small pieces and sprinkle over the beans.  Place the pieces of butter on the beans.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Stir about every 15 minutes to make sure it’s not sticking.  For an extra kick, add some French’s French Fried Onions during the last 15 minutes of cooking time.

Recipe courtesy of Dot Land

The Best Ever Cole Slaw / Cabbage Slaw

This is the best recipe for cole slaw (or cabbage slaw as some call it) that I have ever had!

½ lrg head cabbage (shredded)

1 med carrot (shredded)

½ med onion (quartered)

½ c. sugar

½ c. vegetable oil

¼ c. vinegar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp celery seed

½ tsp ground mustard

Directions:  Toss the shredded cabbage, carrots, and celery seed together in a large bowl.  Put the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and the sugar has dissolved.  Pour the sauce over the cabbage mixture and stir through well.  Refrigerate before serving.  Serve with a slotted spoon.

**If you don't have time to cut up cabbage, you can buy the bag mix with the carrots already in it and use it instead. 

**This stuff is so delicious that you won't be able to back away from it! My only warning is don't feed it to a diabetic because it's sweet!

Beef Tips with Gravy

Beef Tips with Gravy

1 lb of beef tips

1 can (10 oz) cream mushroom soup

Zesty Italian dressing dry mix

Brown Gravy dry mix

1/2 tsp garlic powder, or 2 cloves, finely minced 

1/2 small onion, minced

1/2 c cold water for brown gravy

1/4 cup hot water for Italian dressing

Lawry's Season Salt for meat. 

Sprinkle the meat (somewhat liberally) with Lawry's season salt to taste. Chop up 1/2 of a small onion and 2 cloves of garlic and place in a nonstick pan with the meat. Lightly brown the meat, garlic and onions. Dissolve the gravy mix in 1/2 c cold water. Dissolve the Italian Dressing mix in 1/4 cup warm water. Place the meat, onions, and garlic in a slow cooker and add the gravy, the dressing, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Cook on high for about three hours. 

I personally have a shortcut that I like to use. I place the meat garlic and onion mixture in an electric pressure cooker and add the gravy mix and dressing mix with the water. I cook it under pressure for about 15 minutes. Then I depressurize it and stir in the cream of mushroom soup and let it simmer for a few minutes before serving.

*Best served over white rice or egg noodles. 

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Mexican Cornbread - Autumn

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Mexican Cornbread

3 c. yellow self-rising cornmeal

1½ c. cultured whole buttermilk

2 c. grated medium cheddar cheese

3 lrg eggs

¼ c. canola oil

¾ c. sugar

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel sweet corn (drained)

5 whole medium jalapenos (fresh) or substitute ½ c. pickled jalapeños with some of the juice  

Directions:  If using the fresh jalapenos, cut the tops off and you might want to rake the seeds out. Then place the jalapenos in a food processor along with the corn.  Chop until the mixture is completely pureed and soupy.  Place the mixture in a large bowl.  Add the oil, eggs, sugar, cheese, buttermilk, and cornmeal.  Blend the mixture well.  

You will need 2 iron skillets:  a 10¼ inch and an 8½ inch.  Make sure both are sprayed well with Pam cooking spray.  Bake at 450 for 25-35 minutes.  The small pan will cook more quickly (about 25 minutes) and the large pan will take about 35 minutes.

As an alternative you can also cook the entire batch in a 13X9 inch glass baking dish at 350 for 45 minutes.  Using the baking dish will also make the crust softer and the bread will be a little more moist.

This is my own personal recipe. 

~Autumn~

Elegant Venison Stew

2 lb venison steak

1/2 lb bacon or salt pork

2 tbsp. flour

6 cups beef stock (not broth)

1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes

8 med. carrots

3 stalks celery diced

2 tbsp. sugar

2 1/2 med. yellow onions

garlic to taste (I used 5 cloves)

1 cup peas (optional)

salt (2-3 tsp) and pepper(1/4 tsp); to taste

1/2 tsp dried Rosemary leaves

Cut bacon into 1″ cubes and saute in large saucepan until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. Cut venison into 1 1/2 or 2″ pieces and brown over high heat in bacon fat. Stir in flour and make a roux. Lower heat and let brown 2-3 minutes.

Add stock and stir till smooth. Simmer 1 hour or more until venison begins to get tender, add more liquid as necessary.

Add all the other ingredients, except peas, and continue to simmer to make a thick stew. Simmer peas in a separate pan until done. Strain and spoon over or around stew when served. Serve with corn muffins, potatoes or parsnips and a salad.

**I served this with Melt-In-Your-Mouth Mexican Cornbread**

Apple Lasagna

My mother-in-law is very skeptical about trying new foods, but she was even impressed with this one and insisted we make it again! I got this recipe from one of my customers at work who brought me some to try. She also mentioned she has had great success freezing this dish after it is cooked. It re-warms beautifully. 

Apple Lasagna

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

12 lasagna noodles

2 (21 ounce) cans apple pie filling

2 c. (8 ounce block) grated sharp cheddar

1 c. ricotta cheese

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 c. granulated sugar 

6 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tbsp unsalted butter

6 tbsp light or dark brown sugar

1/4 c. quick cook oats

dash of ground nutmeg, optional

---------------------------------------

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the noodles to the desired doneness.  Drain and set aside. 

Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Layer for noodles on the bottom of the prepared dish.  Spread one can of apple pie filling on top and slice any extra thick apples in two.  Layer 4 more noodles over the apples. 

In a large bowl, mix together the cheddar cheese, ricotta cheese, egg and granulated sugar.  Spread the mixture evenly over the noodles.  Place the last 4 noodles over the mixture.  Spread the remaining can of apple pie filling over the noodles. 

In a small bowl, crumble together the flour, cinnamon, butter, brown sugar and quick oats.  Sprinkle the mixture over the apple pie filling. 

Bake for 45 minutes in 350° oven. Let stand for 15 minutes after removing from hot oven.  Then slice into serving size pieces and serve either warm or cold. 

Cinnamon Toast

Cinnamon toast... now that's something to make you happy.

**the brands I used are in parenthesis following the items**

Just take some bread (Bunny), squeezable butter (Parkay), sugar, and cinnamon and you'll have a delicious breakfast or even snack ;-)

I used about equal parts butter and sugar in a small bowl to form a paste-like spread. Add as much cinnamon as you like. My mixture tends to be quite brown when I'm done. Then just spread the yummy goodness onto your bread.

Place it in the oven under your broiler. Wait until the sugar and butter melt together and bubble on the surface of the bread. The edges of the bread should be lightly browning too. Then take it out quickly! It is easy to burn at this stage.

Allow to cool and enjoy!

*Meatloaf

Please excuse the burnt tomato sauce on the sides of the pan. The meat is fine I assure you! I just forgot to wipe the sauce down that I got on there before I put it in the oven. It's very good! Enjoy. :-) The pan is by Temp-tations. Best cookware ever! Here is the link for the pan. The cleanup on this stuff is super easy... even with the mess I made! LOL!

http://www.qvc.com/Temp-tations-Old-World-Loaf-Pan-with-CeramicDrip-Tray-Spice,.product.K37829.html?upsh=1&sc=K37829-CSWB

Meatloaf

1.3 lbs ground chuck
1/2 c. minced yellow onion
1/4 c. minced green bell pepper
1/2 c. Progresso Italian Style Bread Crumbs
1 large egg
2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
3 tbsp Ketchup
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Cavendar's Greek Seasoning

Combine meat, onion, pepper, bread crumbs, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, ketchup, garlic powder, and Cavendar's Seasoning in a mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl, beat your egg with a fork until it's a little fluffy. Add egg to meat mixture. Blend all ingredients together well. You may need to use your hands for this.

Place meat into a 1.7 quart loaf pan. Pour about half of the tomato sauce from the second can on it to cover the top evenly. Bake at 350 in the top third of your oven for about an hour and 20 minutes.