Oatmeal Cookies

We spent the afternoon at the lake visiting new friends in their new town and new home!  The only housewarming thing I could come up with was to make something from the kitchen.  I decided on the universal oatmeal cookie.  Most people like them, so I didn't think I could go wrong.  These were some of the best oatmeal cookies I have made.  Some cookie flavors I prefer chewy and less crispy, but oatmeal cookies are good crunchy...to me, anyway!  These have a good crispness to them.

Oatmeal Cookies

1 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 c. oats

In a bowl, cream together shortening and sugars.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well incorporated.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl.  Stir in to cream mixture.  Then add oats until well mixed.  Drop by spoonful on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 14 minutes.  (You could bake for less time if you don't want them too crispy.) 

Cinnamon Baked French Toast

After our supper club, I was left with a loaf of French bread.  I knew it couldn't stay or I would single-handedly eat the whole thing.  I had marked this recipe as a must try, so I decided now was the time.  I made it that night after supper club and took it to Sunday school the next morning.  That French bread was the gift to keep on giving! 

Pioneer Woman's Baked French Toast

I didn't have whole milk or heavy cream on hand, so I just made it with skim milk (for whole milk) and evaporated milk (for heavy cream).  I'm sure it is much better with the other two ingredients, but it was still pretty good with my skim milk.  PW's got it going on!!

Low-Country Boil

I am resolved to get in the kitchen and start trying new recipes again.  My brain is in recipe overload and I have several that are already on my to do list.  The ingredients are purchased...I'm ready!  I can't guarantee that I will always take a picture which really stinks, because I love looking at pictures with food!  But my pictures are never that appetizing anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter!  Obviously, my idea of printer friendly recipes is also a disaster and so that shouldn't be expected either.  I'm just going to stick with sharing the recipes!! 

We went the whole summer without having our Sunday school supper club and The Dish Washer and I were really missing it, so we decided to host August.  We love having people over to the house and The Dish Washer decided he wanted to do a low country boil as a good way to end the summer.  First of all, we have never made it before.  Second of all, I HATE shrimp!!!  But I took one for the team and Low-Country we were!  I think it is a pretty basic thing and other than our potatoes getting a little overcooked (meaning they didn't hold their shape and wanted to mash whenever you went to scoop) it was a pretty good success for our first time.  The Dish Washer even built a special cooking station.  He actually built it for frying fish.  We've only done one fish fry since we have been married, but now that we have this maybe we will do more!  It's empty right now, but here is the picture.

Random side note is that you can see one little sprout of basil.  Normally I have basil coming out the wazoo, but this year my basil has disappointed me.  I blame it on a pesky chipmunk living in the vinca you see behind the table.  I tried to scare him off with some dashes of cayenne pepper!  I bet that really woke him up the first morning he got a sniff!  :)  Anyway, from all of my "chatting" you can tell I have missed this.  Let's get to the recipe:

Low-Country Boil

1/4 pound fully cooked, smoked sausage per person, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/4 c. Old Bay seasoning, or more to taste (we used MUCH more but we had a LARGE pot!)

2 small new potatoes per person

1 ear fresh corn, per person, shucked, silked and broken in half (The Dish Washer prefers white corn)

1/2 pound large fresh shrimp per person, shell on

Fill a large pot with enough water to cover all of the ingredients.  Add the sausage and Old Bay seasoning and allow to boil for about 20 minutes so that the sausage can flavor the water.  Taste, and add more seasoning if you think you need more.  Add the potatoes and boil for about 15 minutes.  Add the corn and boil about 10 minutes more.  Finally, add the shrimp and allow to cook for 3 minutes.  Taste shrimp and it is cooked through, drain immediately and serve.  We dropped ours down in a cooler to keep it cooler while everyone fixed a plate and went back for seconds, but I think it more fun to dump it out on newspaper.  And EVEN better if you drop the tailgate and dump it out on newspaper! 

Serve with cocktail sauce and tartar sauce.

Glazed Pork Chops

This is so quick and easy.  And YUMMY!

Glazed Pork Chops

2/3 c. apricot preserves
1/2 c. Italian salad dressing
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
Pork Chops

Mix the first three ingredients and marinate pork chops in Ziploc bag overnight  Save the marinade for basting during the cooking process.  Grill until chops are ready.

Chile Verde Pork Balls

I saw a recipe for beef meatballs using salsa verde and decided to try my own spin on it.  I opted for ground pork instead of beef.  The Dish Washer loved this, but it was WAY TOO HOT for me!!!  Next time, I will look for MILD salsa.  Here's what I did...(already forgot about pictures again)

Chile Verde Pork Balls

2 lbs. ground pork
1 egg
1 onion, chopped fine
1/2 c. oats
cumin powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar of salsa verde (watch out for heat!!)
Sour cream

In a bowl, combine first 6 ingredients and form into meatballs.  In a large skillet, cook balls until done.  Once they are done, pour salsa over the top, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  If you would like to have a thicker sauce, uncover and turn up the heat stirring constantly until it reaches the consistency you would like it to be.  Serve with sour cream to cut the heat.

These also went in the freezer once they were completely cooked (with the sauce) and The Dish Washer can eat them later for lunch!

Chicken Florentine

I certainly don't claim to be a good photographer!!  In fact this is more delicious than it looks in this picture!!  Anyway, wanted to have a picture since I haven't been too good about pictures lately!  I wanted to try this recipe and now it is a family favorite!  Such great taste!!!  It would be great for company because it makes so much!! 

Chicken Florentine

5 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 (10 oz.) packages frozen spinach, thawed and drained completely

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 c. mayo

1 c. sour cream

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. curry powder

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. dry white wine (can substitute with chicken broth)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 c. bread crumbs

2 Tbsp. butter

In a bowl, combine soup, mayo, sour cream, cheese, lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper, and wine.  Stir together until combined.  Add shredded chicken and drained spinach.  Mix well.  Place mixture in greased 11x7 casserole dish.  Combine Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.  Sprinkle over the top.  Dot with butter.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly. 

It made such a large amount for the two of us, so I put some of the meat mixture in a freezer bag with directions about the topping and baking.  When I am ready to cook it again, I will thaw completely before baking.

It would be great served with rice, but since The Dish Washer doesn't eat rice, we just ate it as is.  BORING!!