Pork Green Chili

When The Dish Washer and I went to Fort Worth, we had the best Pork and Hatch Green Chili at The Lonesome Dove. I've been looking and looking for a recipe that I thought was similar and found one. I made a few changes, and even though it isn't exactly what we had (not even close because his was incredibly good!), it is YYYYUUUUUMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY! I made the first batch Monday night and The Dish Washer just went on and on about it. It was such a big hit that when I was at the grocery store last night, I bought the ingredients again. I went home and made another pot of it and put it in the freezer.

It does have a kick to it, so you pregnant gals may want to watch out for that. You can add as much of the ingredients to it as you would like. This is a fun food reminder of that trip as well as our honeymoon in Santa Fe. Out there in New Mexico, they simply ask "red or green?" (Meaning color of pepper.) I always go green! Green seems milder to me than red. In fact, one day I will have to tell you about the best Huevos Rancheros we had on our honeymoon.

Pork Green Chili

1-1/2 pound ground pork
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 (4.5 oz.) cans of green chiles, drained
2 Tbsp. chopped jalapeno peppers (more or less depending on your heat level)
1/4 c. tomato sauce
2 c. water
garlic powder to taste

In a large pot, heat olive oil and add chopped onion. Cook until tender. Add in ground pork and brown. Once pork is completely cooked, add in the flour and stir well. Add chiles, jalapeno peppers and tomato sauce and combine. Once combined, gradually stir in water. Season to taste with garlic powder. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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This would be fun to make in a dutch oven...maybe I will go get one with Christmas money.

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You won't hear from me for a while. We have two little ones coming to stay the weekend with us while their mama and daddy enjoy some time away cheering on our favorite team. Wish us luck (with the kids - not the game)! I am already planning to make homemade chocolate chip cookies with them one day for "entertainment." My friend also shared her best dish...Tater Tot Casserole. I will post it later!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Brown Rice

Food always has a story. Saturday, my friend (and The Chicken Farmer's sister) had her first baby. A beautiful baby girl! It made me think a lot about My Buddy's Mimi, their mother who passed away from breast cancer almost three years ago. I know she would have been so proud! So, in honor of Mimi, who always seemed to have roast and brown rice on a Sunday, I proudly made this for a family get together that day. I thought I had her original recipe but I couldn't find it. This recipe was a "go with what you got" recipe and it turned out really good. Not her's, but good! The Chicken Farmer said he would tell me exactly how to make it, so maybe Sister can post that for us!  (She did.  Check out the comment section for original recipe.)

Brown Rice

1/2 stick butter
1 c. rice, uncooked
1 can beef consomme
1 can cream of onion soup
1 can filled with water

In casserole dish, melt butter in microwave. Stir in the next 4 ingredients. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking for 30-45 minutes longer.

Dijon Gravy Pork Chops

A while back we had some yummy pork chops. I don't really know what to call them which is why I will call them Dijon Gravy Pork Chops. It is a variation of anothere recipe I was reading. It made such a good gravy and The Dish Washer carried on about how good it all was. They were very easy, and then we went all country cooking on ourselves and had boiled cabbage and fried squash to go with it.


Dijon Gravy Pork Chops

4 pork chops
lemon pepper
1 Tbsp. butter
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. milk
2 Tbsp. dijon mustard

Season chops with lemon pepper according to your taste. In a skillet, melt butter and brown chops on both sides. While browning, mix together the soup, milk and mustard. Remove chops from skillet and pour in soup mixture. Be sure to stir really well and get all the good bits off of the bottom of the pan. Place chops in oven safe dish and pour soup mixture over chops. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Well Christmas has come and gone and we'll do it all over again in 12 months. We had a great Christmas with our families, and in fact will do a little more celebrating today and tomorrow. This is a recap of all of the food we ate:

The Dish Washer's Family (2 gatherings)

Ham
Dressing
Three Bean Salad (I found the recipe and will post later.)
Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potato Casserole (more like a souffle)
Peas
Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese
Grape Salad
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Bread
French Silk Pie
Lemonade Pie
Pound Cake
Peppermint Cake
Fudge
Yummy Cheese dip and chips for after we opened presents

I didn't have to take anything! My mother in law had all of the food, but she did allow me to help her the Saturday night before our Sunday gathering. I also got to go to their church's Christmas dinner theater that night and we had French onion soup, salad, prime rib, baked potatoes, dinner rolls and cheesecake! Writing all of this food really makes me feel guilty for eating so much! :)

We also got to participate in Family Communion this year because they changed it from Christmas eve to the Sunday before Christmas. Their church does it where each family goes in as a group one by one and participates in The Lord's Supper together. There were 17 of us from This Dish Washer family there. It was very special.
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Crockpot Chicken Spaghetti (YUMMY!)
Green Bean Casserole (made by The Dish Washer and not your mama's)
Salad
Bread
Leftover desserts from above gathering

This was our gathering on Christmas day. We were able to bring the green bean casserole. When I make it, I usually use the traditional recipe. When The Dish Washer makes it, he adds this and that to it and it is so good, but unfortunately there is no recipe that goes with it. He is good at that kind of thing. I am a pretty strict recipe follower. There isn't even a picture of the casserole because my battery died. Hopefully Kim will share her recipe for chicken spaghetti for later.

My Family (Christmas Eve)

Turkey
Ham
Dressing
Giblet Gravy (that turned out very good this year!)
Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potato Casserole
Squash Casserole
Macaroni and Cheese
Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Lady's Green Beans
Pea Salad
Devilled Eggs
Dinner Rolls
Four Layer Delight
Sausage Cheese Dip (for munching)

WHOA NELLY! That is a lot of food! There were certainly a lot of mouths to feed, so honestly I don't feel like I overate like I could have. (Maybe I am just trying to justify it in my mind.) :)

I made this salad, the Four Layer Delight and the Sausage Cheese Dip. I have added several pictures to the recipes if they didn't already have a picture. I forgot to take pictures until we had already fixed our plates, which is why you have "after" shots.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

2 c. crushed pretzels
1-1/2 sticks butter, melted
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
3/4 c. sugar
1 (8 0z.) carton Cool whip
2 (3 oz.) pkgs. strawberry Jello
2 c. boiling water
1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries, sliced
1 small can crushed pineapple

Preheat the oven to 400. For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter and 3 Tbsp. sugar. Press into 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 7 minutes and set aside to cool. Beat together cream cheese and 3/4 c. sugar. Fold in cool whip. Spread over completely cooled crust. Refrigerate until well chilled. Dissolve the Jello in the boiling water; cool slightly. Add the strawberries and pineapple, and pour over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until serving time.

Sausage Cheese Dip

This is such an easy dip and everyone LOVES it! It doesn't stay around long at my house. It will be great for any New Years' bowl parties you may be going to.

Sausage Cheese Dip

1 roll of sausage (like Jimmy Dean)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1 can Rotel, undrained

Brown and drain sausage in saucepan. Add cream cheese and can of Rotel and mix until melted and creamy. Serve warm with tortilla chips.

Cheez-It Chicken

The Dish Washer and I had this several weekends ago, but I am just now getting around to posting it. I had lots of Cheez-Its left from the Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix that I made. This recipe from his aunt is in my handwritten cookbook, so I decided to give it a try. The Dish Washer really liked it. It wasn't bad to me, but think I actually liked it better the next day. Who knows why? Maybe it is because I had too much coating on it. I'm going to give the recipe as it is written. It isn't exactly user-friendly for just two people, so you can decide (like I had to) how much of each thing to use.

Cheez-It Chicken

10 pieces fillet of chicken breasts

4 c. crushed Cheez-Its

1 stick butter, melted

Wash chicken. Drain. Dip in melted butter, then in cracker crumbs. Place on foil-lined bake pan. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 350 for 40-60 minutes, lowering heat to 300 after the first 30 minutes.

Chicken Wing Soup

Yesterday, mom treated us girls (plus My Buddy) to an afternoon with these ladies! This was the most incredible show that I have ever seen. If you ever get a chance to see it...YOU MUST! The Smiler for Movies *inside joke* in our group referred to them as The Rockers. So funny! And if the most popular Christmas show in New York City is the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, where they remind us of the TRUE meaning of Christmas, then we should all be shouting "Merry Christmas" instead of this "Happy Holidays" politically correct mumbo jumbo!

It was so much fun to get to spend the afternoon with family. I knew they would be joining me for lunch, and I had already planned to make soup. I also made up a batch of Symphony Brownies for our sweet treat. I knew the little kids wouldn't care for soup, so they snacked on Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix and M&Ms. I offered them grilled cheese sandwiches, but they were much more interested in Christmas tree ornaments and my new gingerbread house. We then ate popcorn and pink cotton candy at the show, so I don't guess they went hungry.

This is such a simple soup. Tossie is pregnant so she is who I worried about with the hot sauce, but she said I should have added more. I added the minimum, but add as much as your taste likes. Here are the details (sorry the picture isn't that appetizing...it's the only one I have):

Chicken Wing Soup

3 c. shredded cooked chicken (I just boiled in some water)
3 cans cream of chicken soup
6 c. milk
1 c. sour cream
1/4 - 1/2 c. hot sauce (I use Frank's Red Hot)

Mix all ingredients very well in a crockpot. Cook on low 3-4 hours until heated through.

I served with some tortilla chips because I happened to have them. They got a little too soggy for me, so next time I might use Frito's because they are thicker.

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Hey SuperSW, like the name of the soup?? (Another inside joke...I can't stop myself tonight!)

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Last night, we had some friends over for dinner. Four of us went to high school together and it is always fun to catch up. Next time we see each other, it will likely be to celebrate the birth of a baby girl and we are so excited for this new little family. Of course, I had to try another recipe that I have never tried before but it was simple and seemed tasty. The Dish Washer and I enjoyed it! I cut the recipe for Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin out of the Southern Living April '08 issue. There are three ingredients: pork, steak seasoning and bacon! I had to use more bacon than the recipe called for because I think I cut my bacon in half the wrong way. Next time, I will cut in half longways and wrap.

I also made twice baked sweet potatoes, corn salad, Lady's green beans (do you think I like these, or what?) and ranch bread.

Our guests brought chips and salsa for an appetizer and key lime pie for dessert.

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

I first had these for Thanksgiving with The Dish Washer's family. We loved them, so I decided to make them for a dinner at our house. I always get a little nervous when cooking what could be considered "out of the ordinary" things for friends. You never know who will like what, but I went with it anyway. Maybe I should stick with something like Championship Potatoes?!?!

The recipe for Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes came from Kraft. You can use from the recipe whatever you would like. I chose to omit the nuts. After I added the cinnamon, I believe I remember my mother in law saying she didn't use that when she made them at Thanksgiving. It wasn't bad, but it tasted more cinnamony than I remembered. Is that even a word?

And don't be concerned with Neufchatel cheese...it's just the 1/3 less fat version of regular cream cheese. Who knew? Since company was coming, I just used the real deal because that is what I had in the fridge!

Ranch Bread

Last weekend, I was supposed to help with a couples baby shower. At the last minute, The Dish Washer and I got a great opportunity to go to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. It was an offer too good to pass up and the soon to be parents are both Alabama fans, so we knew they would understand me bailing out at the last minute. Unfortunately, I had already bought all the necessary items that I was asked to bring. I was asked to make corn salad and bring BBQ bread. Since I didn't go, I had tons of stuff to make corn salad and tons of BBQ bread. This will explain to you why I have been making the corn salad so much this week. Don't worry! My mom came to the rescue and made the corn salad and bought bread to take in my place. Thanks again for doing that!

I was able to give some of the bread away yesterday to one of the families that my company worked with and still had plenty to be able to make bread for our dinner. I didn't want to give just a plain piece of bread, so I made Ranch Bread. The picture above is before it baked and the picture below is after.

Ranch Bread

1 loaf of bread (French or, in this case, BBQ bread)
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix (the dry stuff)

Mix butter and dressing mix well. Spread over bread and broil until browned.

Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix

I had so much leftover chex mix from when I made the White Trash, so I decided to try another easy snack that I could turn into a gift. This one is right off of the back of the box. Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix really can be made however you want. I did half rice chex and half corn chex. The recipe also calls for pretzel twists but I prefer pretzel sticks. As you can see from the picture below, I packaged it up in airtight containers. I don't know how airtight they really are, but these cute things came from the Dollar Tree so this is another economical gift!

I still have a good bit left, so I plan to bag it up for two of the cutest three year olds that I know who will be coming to visit me this weekend. I know My Buddy and May-May like to have these kinds of snacks. Instead of the store bought, they'll have to settle for the homemade variety at Diney's house!

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Isn't that Gingerbread house the cutest?! I won it last night at our office's dirty Santa. When you "ring" the doorbell, the gumdrops light up and "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" plays. I love it!

Cookies in a Jar

Here's another easy gift idea:

Several years ago, I cut this idea out of The Montgomery Advertiser. I made this about 3 years ago, and it turned out to be a success. One of the people I gave it to was The Dish Washer's Granny. She never made them, but always saved the jar. Last year before she died, my mother in law decided to bake them. By three years later, the sugars at the bottom were rock solid so she had to replace them with fresh. You may want to give this as a gift to folks you know will bake them right away.

Country Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. rolled oats
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips*
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)
3 dashes cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
In a 1 quart or 1 liter jar; layer the ingredients in the order given. Pack down the jar after each addition. Attach a tag to the ribbon with the following instructions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream together 3/4 c. softened butter with 2 eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla. Add the entire contents of the jar and mix by hand until combined. Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

*I always use milk chocolate instead of semisweet chips in all of my recipes.


This is the jar before I added the topper. As you can see, it is very packed. I wouldn't have been able to get nuts in this jar if I tried, so I ended with the chocolate chips in the above recipe. I thought I had some burlap that I was going to use as a topper with some red raffia ribbon, but I couldn't find it when I went looking. I must have used it already to wrap another gift. Luckily, I save all of my scrap fabrics and this was some from when I re-covered my kitchen table chairs. I thought it would pass for this Christmas season.

White Trash

Tomorrow is our Christmas supper club with Sunday school. We will be playing Dirty Santa and I decided to make one of our gifts. This would allow me to also have something to give our hostess and her family. This recipe made so much that I would be able to have those two gifts plus two more that I plan to give to our neighbors. I stuffed a lot in each container, but I could have made even more smaller packages. Y'all try this if you are looking for a yummy gift to give for Christmas this year.

White Trash

2 c. rice chex cereal

2 c. corn chex cereal

2 c. cheerios

2 c. salted peanuts

2 c. plain M&Ms

1-1/2 pkgs. white almond bark

In a large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients. Melt almond bark according to package directions. (I used the double boiler directions this time.) After melting, quickly mix all ingredients with almond bark. Once thoroughly mixed, lay out on wax paper to cool. Break apart to package.

**Note: Not made by white trash! (I think!)

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This is a picture of it bagged...for picture of it in a bowl, click on recipe link below.

I don't know what my problem is! I always seem to try new recipes whenever I am taking food to folks. You would think that I would have learned by now not to do this, but I just can't help myself. I try to think away from the typical casseroles and such. It was our turn to make dinner for our friends who just recently added a sweet baby girl to their almost two year old twin boys. I had come across this Chicken Enchilada Soup recipe and it sounded really good, so I made that for them. Once it was made, I scooped The Dish Washer and I some out to try, because obviously if it had been bad I wouldn't have given it to them. It had a great taste though, so it is sent...I hope they like those flavors! My only complaint about it was that something crazy was going on with the cheese when I added it. I don't know if I added it while it was still too hot or what, but it wanted to stick to my spoon or the bottom of the bowl instead of being really creamy. Maybe when they reheat it, it will all even out. Ashley is a reader, so she will have to let us know how it worked out. Hey, it's not my recipe so you can be honest!

I didn't think the boys would be too crazy about soup, and I know they like quiche so I made them some mini Christmas tree broccoli quiches using the mold that my mom gave me recently. I was tempted to add some food coloring to make them green and fun but I thought I would just let the broccoli be the only thing green. I made The Dish Washer try one of those too before we sent them off. He gave it the thumbs up, so off they went too.

I wrapped it up with Chocolate Chip Pound Cake for dessert. That recipe I wasn't concerned about! I've made it a dozen times or more and could even eat the whole thing myself!

Crustless Quiche

I came across this recipe and had saved it because The Dish Washer loves a quiche. It was very easy and traditionally bakes in a 9x9 pan, but I scooped it into my Wilton mini Christmas tree mold to bake these.

Crustless Quiche

5 eggs
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1-1/2 c. cottage cheese
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
2 c. chopped vegetables or meat
(I used 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen broccoli florets, thawed and chopped)
1/2 c. cheese

In a bowl, whisk eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir in cottage cheese, butter, ground mustard. Add the vegetables/meat and cheese, stirring gently.

Place in well greased 9x9 baking dish. Bake in 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until browned on top. Cut into squares to serve.

**Baking time will vary depending on what you bake in.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This is my all time favorite cake ever!  It is so simple to make that I make it as gifts, whether Christmas or hostess gifts all the time!  I love to eat it warmed in the microwave for about 15 seconds to get the chocolate chips melty again.  YUM!!!!!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

1 butter cake mix
1 small pkg. instant chocolate pudding
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 c. oil
4 eggs
1-1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

Mix first 5 ingredients. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Bake in greased/floured bundt pan at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Candy Cane Bark

We are back from Disney World and exhausted! As soon as we got back into town, we had to leave again to cheer our team on to victory! So glad we didn't miss out on that. Today we had our supper club, and all we took were the drinks. I would have loved to make something, but I just couldn't find the time. Now, we are trying to get back into our regular routine, in addition to trying to decorate for Christmas. It has been raining here this afternoon and we didn't want to bring home a wet tree, so we have put that off for one more day. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow because I am really ready to put our tree up! The Dish Washer is Clark Griswold when it comes to lights on a Christmas tree. I love it! We usually have to plug the lights into a surge protector.

We ate a lot at Disney, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as junk food is concerned. (Well, I guess the deep fried snickers I had counts as extraordinary!) I did get to see the cheerleaders come down the street for the parade. The group was much smaller than I remembered it being twelve years ago. The crazy thing is a little girl that I used to babysit was in it this year, so reliving the glory days didn't work...I felt really old!

Now that Christmas is right upon us, 'tis the season for goodies!! I first had this when I was working in a retirement community. We made it for the residents one day and it was so incredibly easy and good. I've even thought it would make a good tea/after dinner mint.

Candy Cane Bark

1 package almond bark (Cand-i-Quick)
1 box candy canes, unwrapped and finely crushed

Melt almond bark according to package directions. Mix in crushed candy canes and pour onto wax paper in a thin layer to cool. Break into small pieces and package.

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One year at church we had a Christmas program called "Candy Cane Lane." I was Candy Cane Jane! Anyway, our director gave us a framed copy of the story of the candy cane. Here it is:

"The Candymaker's Witness"

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas candy cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy: white to symbolize the virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church and firmness of the promises of God.


The candy maker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the Good Shepherd with which He reached down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs, who like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as the "candy cane" - a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the real meaning is still there for all who "have eyes to see and ears to hear." We pray this symbol will again be used to witness to the wonder of Jesus and His great love that came down at Christmas.

Zucchini with Parmesan

Here's this recipe, as promised.

Zucchini with Parmesan

8 medium zucchini
olive oil
1 large onion, cut in half and sliced
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese


Remove the ends of zucchini and, if large, cut in half. Slice at a diagonal. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in sauce pan and add onions. Cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat, until they start to brown. Add zucchini, salt and pepper to the pan to cook, tossing occasionally for 10-15 minutes, until just cooked through. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cook 30 seconds more. Remove to serving platter. Serve immediately.

I'm working on putting some recipes up for Christmas. They will be good food treats to give as gifts. I won't have pictures to go with them until I make them myself, but I'll go ahead and add them in case you want to fun ideas. I don't know about you, but I love giving food as presents!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Happy Veteran's Day! This is a time to remember and thank all of the veterans, who have fought to make and keep this country what it is. Thanks for what you do! (If there are any veterans that read this.) The reason this day is so special to me is because when we were very little, my Grandaddy would take Tossie, Sister and I on a fun adventure.

He and Tos would pick us up and we would make our way to the Air Force Base where he worked. We would have our picture made in front of all the airplanes and act silly. Then, and I may get some of this out of order, we would have lunch at Burger King. We would go and meet his friend that had a radio program AND be on his show. You can imagine how exciting that was for us! Mom said she always listened and was so worried what we might say. I was too young to remember if anything too controversial was said. HA! We would also play at this really great park down by the river. On our way home we would stop and pick cotton. I remember picking up pecans at the church and playing on that playground with Grandaddy too, but I am not sure if that was the same day. It was so much fun! Then we all changed to a different school and didn't get the day off, so those days ended.

He started it up again when My Cousins Whose Names Start With "A" were old enough to enjoy it.

So, in honor of my Veteran Grandaddy, here's a recipe for him. If you know him, you know he loves, and I mean LOVES, homemade ice cream. I prefer the store bought myself, but every time we get together for cook-outs or he has a special occasion, my mom always makes him ice cream.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

1 can Eagle Brand condensed milk
1 large can evaporated milk
1 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
milk

Mix first 4 ingredients in freezer container (this is using the old school freezers that require salt and ice). Add milk to fill to the top of the line. Freeze.

Maybe mom can tell us how much milk she adds to the rest of the ingredients when she makes it in the new ice cream freezer. Do the containers make the same amount? It seems a little smaller to me, but it might not be.

Mashed Cauliflower

I've been seeing recipes for mashed cauliflower popping up everywhere and I really wanted to try it. Everything I read says they are a great alternative to mashed potatoes. Last night for dinner was my chance. We loved it! The Dish Washer grilled our favorite garlic Dijon pork chops on the grill. I've added a picture, but it really isn't good because of how dark my kitchen is at night. You can even tell from the picture above. Certainly, I am not a photographer. I did put pretty chives from my herb garden on top hoping that would help, at least make it pretty!

Mashed Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower

milk, according to preference

butter, according to preference

salt and pepper to taste

cheese, optional

Cut the cauliflower stalks off so that all that remains are the florets. Place in pot and cover in water. I added bouillon cubes to add flavor. Once tender, mash and add other ingredients like you do to mashed potatoes. Don't feel limited in what you can add. I saw some recipes that called for white cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, or cream cheese. I even saw this recipe that calls for mayonnaise. I didn't try it tonight, but it sure was tempting!

We also had zucchini with parmesan. I'll add that recipe on Wednesday, because I have something special tomorrow.

(I'm typing all of this in on Sunday evening and scheduling it to post on certain days. That is very easy for me.)

Creamy Dill Slaw

Yesterday we cheered our team on from the house and it was so nice to not have anywhere to be. The Dish Washer insists on eating good gameday food whenever we aren't at the game, so we had Bubba Burgers on the grill. These burgers are our favorite frozen burgers, if you don't feel like making your own. To go with it, we had baked beans and this yummy slaw. If you are a dill pickle lover like we are, you will love this. Sister started making it for us some time back when we had the family cook-out. I don't really know the exact measurements, so I am just going to tell you what I do. Maybe, if she has the exact measurements written down somewhere, she will add them to the comment section.

Creamy Dill Slaw

1 bag of angel hair slaw (or, in my case yesterday, I chopped 1/2 head of cabbage)
mayonnaise
dill pickle cubes and juice
freshly ground black pepper

I place slaw in large mixing bowl. I take 2 heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise and put on top of slaw. Then I add 2 heaping tablespoons of dill pickle cubes and pour in some juice to mix with mayo. I stir well with the slaw and then add more mayo or dill pickles cubes, depending on the taste. Then I ground black pepper on top of slaw and stir. I happen to use A LOT of black pepper, but that will depend on how much you like. Refrigerate and serve.

Sorry to not be exact with this one!

Christmas Ornament Dough

Before

Drying

Ready to Deck the Halls!

Have you ever seen an orange Christmas tree? When we went home last month for the family cookout, we did an early project for Christmas. I can't wait until December, as I originally planned, to share them with you in case you wanted to make them. Mom made Christmas ornament dough and we all decorated ornaments. It was so much fun, and especially for three of us, brought back LOTS of memories of when we were crafty, little girls.

Christmas Ornament Dough

4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. salt
1-1/2 c. water

Mix together all ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters. Use a drinking straw to create a hole in top of each ornament for hanging and carefully place cut dough onto cookie streets. Bake at 250 for 1 hour or until ornament is completely dried and hard. Cool completely on baking pan. When ornaments are cool, let kids (or in our case, big kids) paint them. Use lengths of ribbon for hanging.

Paint with acrylic paint and once completely dried, seal with Modge Podge.

**Note: This recipe is only for making decorations, not eating.

Ham and Cheese Fingers

Another recipe from the handwritten cookbook. These really are very good. I've never made them myself, but I have eaten my fair share...and then some.

Ham and Cheese Fingers

1 pkg. ham (long slices)
1 pkg. Swiss cheese (long slices)
3 pkgs. (24 to a pack) ready to serve rolls (finger size)

Sauce:
1 stick butter
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. grated onion
2 Tbsp. poppy seed
2 Tbsp. mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and add remaining sauce ingredients.

Break pan of rolls into 3 rows. Slice each row open and spread sauce with brush on open sides. Add cheese and ham. Fold rolls back together and return foil pans. Brush tops with remaining sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 250 for 20 minutes. When ready to serve, can be cut into individual rolls.

Party Pinwheels

Polls are closing and I will be glued to the TV all night, but I wanted to help my Mama out. She is helping with a baby shower soon and was asking about any sandwich type foods that I would have posted. Sadly, not too many options. I thought I would fix that. I'm going to post TWO!

First, is my sister in law's recipe for party pinwheels. I have never had them, but they sound just wonderful. She shared the recipe with my mother in law who then wrote it in my cookbook she gave me last Christmas.

Party Pinwheels

10 small tortilla shells
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, room temperature
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix
green onions, chopped to taste
1 (4 oz.) jar chopped pimento
1 small can green chilies
1 small can chopped black olives

Drain, pimento, chilies and olives. Mix cream cheese, dressing mix and onions. Add other drained ingredients and mix well.

Spread mixture over each tortilla shell. Roll up and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Slice and enjoy!

Check out Ham and Cheese Fingers for another idea.

CKD's Oriental Slaw

Two years ago today, here is what we were eating! Yum!!




Remember when we had Oriental Slaw at our cookout and I wasn't sure what the exact recipe was. Well, Tossie sent it to me and it was a recipe of CKD. Not only can she cook, but she can create incredible flower arrangements. Sister, CKD and their numerous "crew" members were responsible for my gorgeous flowers at our wedding. Here is a sampling of their work:

Here is her recipe sent in an email from Tossie:

You were close but with a few changes:

1 lb. package shredded cabbage

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 pkgs. Ramen noodles, uncooked and discard the seasoning

1/4 c. sesame seeds

2 1/2 ounces sliced almonds (mine were slivered)

1/2 stick butter

Sauce:

3/4 c. oil

1/2 c. white vinegar

3/4 to 1 c. sugar (to taste)

2 T. soy sauce

Mix cabbage and onions and refrigerate. Mix Ramen noodles, sesame seeds and almonds, saute in butter stirring constantly. Drain on paper towels, cool and refrigerate. When ready to serve, mix cabbage, sauteed mixture and sauce.

Sauce - mix together and refrigerate.

This can be prepared ahead of time by storing cabbage, noodles and sauce in separate containers. Just mix and serve.

Ft. Worth, Texas

The Dish Washer and I are having a great time in Cowtown! We are here for the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering. It is taking place at the Historic Stockyards. We really wanted to stay at the hotel that The Dish Washer comes to every time he comes here on business, but Red rents the whole thing out to his folks, so we are staying a short drive away in Downtown Ft. Worth. I was pretty disappointed to not get to stay there, and the potty breaks we have taken there have made it that much worse. This place is a step back in time. The Dish Washer even says that they use the old turn keys to get into the door...none of this electronic key junk.

When we first got to town, our driver took us straight to eat at Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant. The food was very good, but nothing over the top special about it. The main thing, though, is that you CANNOT beat the atmosphere at this restaurant. We sat outside and it was a perfect night. We even got to hear a little Sweet Home Alabama playing at a private party.

Yesterday, we got started just in time to see the cattle drive down main street immediately followed up by the parade of chuck wagons that are competing in this year's competition.

We skipped breakfast since we were so full from Thursday night. We had lunch at Riscky's at the Stockyards. In Texas, the thing to eat is BBQ brisket, so The DishWasher and I both had a chopped BBQ brisket sandwich. I am such a PORK barbecue girl! It wasn't bad, but there is just something about that pork! Oink, oink! Right? Then we walked around all the chuck wagons, walked through the trade show, and went to listen to some old Texas swing music. It was great, and I am completely fascinated with chuck wagons. The Dish Washer's boss told us that a completely renovated and functioning chuck wagon costs $25,000. I'll just keep walking around them instead of buying one! I even met one of the teams that was featured on the Food Network when they had the chuck wagon cook off. They said I could come back and help them clean the dishes after all the cooking was over. I ran into them again today and offered, but they said they were done. Too bad, because as much as I hate to clean dishes by hand, I would have loved to clean chuck wagon dishes!

Friday evening we had dinner reservations at Lonesome Dove. I was very disappointed to be so full from lunch, so I wasn't ready to eat. I've heard great things from The Dish Washer about this place. They eat there just about every time he comes out here and it was even featured in my BFF Paula's magazine. Even though, I wasn't that hungry, I did order from the second course the Pork and Hatch Green Chili. Remember when I said The Dish Washer said my chili was the best? We have a new winner!! This was the best chili I have ever had and such a different version. It was made with ground pork and had chunks of green chilies throughout. The Dish Washer also got the hand cut beef tenderloin and I tried a bite of that. So tender...like butter, or "buttah". I'm never too full for dessert, so you know I had to have chocolate bread pudding. Mmm, Mmm!

We had such an early dinner reservation because we wanted to go the ranch rodeo. I've never been to a ranch rodeo before and these are very different than the rodeos that are so popular on TV. The events are very different and are things like calf branding, team doctoring, wild cow milking and my favorite, mutton bustin'. This is the cutest thing: tiny little cowboys and cowgirls get on helmets and protective chest gear and get on sheep and hold on tight for a wild ride. There was one particular fella that didn't want to go at all and it was the funniest thing! His daddy, I guess wanting his son to be "tough," picked him up and put him on that sheep anyway. You could hear that poor boy SCREAMING! Needless to say, he didn't go, but his disappointed daddy sure didn't comfort him! The Dish Washer and I agree that My Buddy would be good at mutton bustin'. He has such determination that he wouldn't let go if we told him not to. It was a full day, but really so much fun. This is a picture of the mutton bustin'.

We got started earlier today, because we wanted to see all the chuck wagons cooking. But before they got too far into their cooking, we had brunch at H3 Ranch. We had another early dinner reservation tonight because we couldn't miss a certain ballgame, so we planned to eat brunch to hold us over. It was very good and The Dish Washer's huevos rancheros were a favorite. After that, we headed back to the chuck wagons. I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

Then, we watched the Cutting Horse finals and listened to the youth fiddle competition. We also took a stroll down the streets to find Cowtown Fudge & Creamery. We both enjoyed some ice cream cones. We ran into some more folks that The Dish Washer works with, which was so much fun.

This evening we had dinner with some other work folks at Del Frisco's Steakhouse. They have a place for you to hang your cowboy hats. His boss is such a regular that he has his own hook. The group started with calamari. I tried it, and I could actually eat it! I was proud, but it was fried and had yummy marinara sauce, so that probably helped. I had the filet and The Dish Washer had a ribeye. They have very good bread and sides. Their special tonight that we got to try was Jalapeno Macaroni and Cheese. I had an average cheesecake for dessert and The Dish Washer had bread pudding. (Diets go out the window when you are on vacation!! YIPEE!)

We'll wrap up our trip tomorrow. We plan to see as much of the ranch rodeo finals we can before having to go to the airport. There is also a junior chuck wagon cooking competition tomorrow, so you know I want to see that. I'll let you know if we eat at anymore fun places. I think we are planning to return to H3 Ranch. If you ever come to Fort Worth, you really should check out the places that we have eaten.

I've worn my Tony Lama's everyday and I even got to ride a Texas Longhorn! We have had a great time living the Old West lifestyle the past few days.

Happy trails to you...