Sausage Pasta Bake

1 lb Italian sausage

16 giant pasta shells

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup stewed tomatoes

2 cups pasta sauce

1 cup fresh baby spinach

1 cups ricotta cheese

1 tbsp fresh chopped basil or parsley

¼ cup parmesan cheese

½ cup shredded mozzarella

Cook shells according to package instructions; drain, set aside.  Remove sausage from casing, crumble and cook in large skillet until browned; add garlic, onion and spinach and cook 5 minutes.  Add stewed tomatoes and half of the pasta sauce, heat just to warm.

Pour remaining sauce in bottom of lightly greased casserole dish. Combine ricotta, parmesan and basil and mix well.  Stuff shells with cheese mixture and place in casserole; spoon sausage mixture over top. 

Bake at 350º for 30 minutes; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese last five minutes.  Let stand ten minutes before serving.

© Crackerberries 2011

Hot Dogs On The Glass

Many years ago I had this friend, Debbie Tucker, from Maine, who used to make this meal for her family quite often.  She would always tell me about it, and how good and easy it was to put together.  I never made it until the other day and she is right.  It is easy and it is good.  Thank you, Debbie Tucker!

3 cups mashed potatoes

8 hot dogs

4 slices American cheese

½ cup prepared mustard 

Paprika

Salt & pepper

Ketchup

Place hot dogs in a lightly greased glass baking dish; split lengthwise, but do not cut all the way through.  Fill each dog with mustard.  (I also added a layer of “rooster sauce” (Sriracha hot chili sauce). 

Cover with cheese slices (I used extra sharp cheddar cheese) and top with potatoes.  Sprinkle with paprika and salt and pepper; dot with ketchup.  Bake at 425º 15-20 minutes until potatoes are lightly browned.  Serve with side of veggies.

© Crackerberries 2011

Memories From a Cast Iron Fry Pan

          I can’t be sure what woke me first, the puttering of the push mower or the smell of fresh brewed coffee and bacon grease.  I rolled over and looked out the window to see my grandfather cutting the grass.  It would take him all morning to get the grass cut.  There were four different areas of lawn around the house and he did it all with a push mower.  After he finished his chore of the lawn, he would settle himself on the swing and drink beer from a bottle.

          I spent most of my summers growing up at my grand parent’s house.  Every morning was the same… the smell of fresh brewed coffee and bacon grease.  The sounds from the window were always different; sometimes it was birds chirping or a chain saw humming or a dog barking, or the next door neighbor’s kids playing. 

I would pull on the shorts and t-shirt I had worn from the day before and go down stairs.  Grandmother would be at the stove flipping bacon in this great big cast iron fry pan.  She would inform me that I was wearing the same clothes that I had on the day before.  I didn’t know what the big deal was, they weren’t dirty…but I always had to go change into something different.

          By the time I made my way back down the stairs for the second time, my grandfather would be standing at the counter making toast.  He could make the best floppy toast ever.  When you held on to the toast it would flop right over in your hand and it was so good you could eat the crust.  He made stacks upon stacks of toast over the summers that I grew up there. 

          We would sit down at the table and I would reach over for a piece of that floppy toast and my grandmother would grab my hand and say, “Prayers first”.  We would bow our heads and sometimes she would ask me to pray.  “God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for this food, AMEN”.  That was about all I could muster.  Most of the time prayer would come from grandfather and he was a little more in depth with thanksgiving. 

          Grandmother was always in the kitchen.  Sometimes she would place that big cast iron fry pan on the wood stove.  They had that wood stove burning year round; it could be 80º outside and that stove would be smoldering away inside.  I loved when she let me “play” on the stove.  She would give me different ingredients to whip up.  Most times it was a chocolate mess of goo, but I always ate it and whatever I didn’t eat, the dog ate the rest.

          Not grabbing hold of the fry pan handle was a hard lesson learned.  In fact, I believe I learned that lesson three times over.  Every time I did it, Grandmother would butter my hand and remind me that it’s a pan not to be touched once it is placed on the stove.  Occasionally I am reminded of that lesson some 35 years later.

          I grew up and the summers spent at my grandparents came to an end.  Not because they didn’t want me to come but because I had different priorities.  I tried to visit but it just didn’t fit into the things I wanted to do.  Eventually my grandmother died and my grandfather was left to fend for himself.  I continued to try to visit, but again, my priorities were different.  Unfortunately, he became sick and had to be placed in a nursing home.  It was a sad time but it had to happen.  Ultimately he died and the house was put up for auction as well as all of the items in it.  Some of the family took the heirlooms that were important to them, but most items sold in the auction.

          Many years later, I was out with a friend doing some yard sale shopping when I came upon this old weather-beaten pan.  It was rust-covered and probably still sitting there because who would pay $1 for a beat up old pan?  But underneath all that rust and dirt was a cast iron fry pan.  I picked it up and almost dropped it remembering how hot the handle could be.  All those memories of the times I had with my grandmother came flooding back to me.  I could almost smell the bacon sizzling from that pan.  I had to have it.  I brought it home, cleaned up and now it has become a weekend tradition in our family… the smell of fresh brewed coffee and bacon grease from an old cast iron fry pan… how can you beat that?

© Crackerberries 2011

Chicken Sliders

The Chris-Topper

Very easy and very yummy… it was so good I entered it in the BHG contest.  But they didn't find it worthy to be a winner or an honorable mention, so I'll share here. 

2 lbs chicken pieces, skinned              

½ cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp paprika

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp chili powder

½ tsp allspice

½ red onion, chopped

¼ cup water

8 soft garlic buns

Red pepper, sliced

Combine all ingredients except garlic buns and red peppers in lightly greased crock pot.  Cook on low for 6 hours.  Remove chicken from pot and pull meat off bones.  Return meat to crock pot and cook for an additional 30-45 minutes.  Spoon chicken into buns, add sliced red pepper or jalapeno peppers and cover with top buns.

© Crackerberries 2011

Plum Wine

Today we are going on a wine making journey.  Are you ready?  Here we go ….

·         Day #1

1)    Pick plums

2)    Wash feet

3)    Wash plums

4)    Get a big drink of something as you will be busy stomping for awhile

5)    Place plums in large vat (canning pot works well)

6)    Start stomping … at first the seeds hurt your feet, but they toughen up after awhile

7)    Continue stomping until all are mush

8)    Yield: 8 quarts of mashed plums

9)    Get large cooler or other container and clean well

10)         Add 4 gallons fresh cold water

11)         Add 12 lbs sugar; stir to dissolve

12)         Pour in plum mush

13)         Sprinkle with 3-4 tsp. yeast

14)        Cover

·         Day #2 Stir yeast caked plums (looks really gross)

·         Day #3 Stir yeast plums (smells very vinegary and is bubbly)

·         Day #4 Stir yeast plums (smells yeasty, plums are breaking down)

·         Day #5 Stir yeast plums (smells very yeasty, still breaking down, Bear & and tasted it – the dog liked it and I thought it tasted like cider)

·         Day #6 Stir, stir, stir (not so yeasty smelling and plums have broke down a lot)

·         Day #7 Stir, stir, stir

·         Day #8 Drain/strain off liquid and pour into glass jars (wide mouth gallon size work best); cover and let sit in cool dark place, undisturbed for 6 weeks.  Yield: 5¾ gallons

·         Day #9 Heard what sounded like a huge gunshot, a jug broke and plum wine went everywhere (we had contained the jugs in large coolers so the mess was restricted to one cooler) — do not lay jugs on their sides.  Yield: 4¾ gallons

·         Day #10 — 6 weeks later: Loosen caps (be very careful when doing this as it is like opening a bottle of warm tonic water…extremely fizzy) Let stand with covers loosened for 4 days so that fermentation stops.

·         Day #11 Strain, bottle and cap… taste samples while doing so.  Yield: 18 bottles of wine on the wall.

© Crackerberries 2011

Green Bean Chicken Cacciatore

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1½ lb chicken skinned chicken pieces

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 cups chopped stewed tomatoes, drained

½ cup dry red wine

1 Tbsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

6 oz tomato paste

Salt & pepper

1 lb fresh green beans, steamed

Cooked white rice

Salt and pepper all sides of chicken pieces.  Heat olive oil in cast iron fry pan on medium high heat; reduce to medium heat and add chicken to sear.  Cook 4-5 minutes per side until all pieces are golden brown. 

Remove chicken and drain any grease leaving about 1 tbsp in pan.  Add garlic, onions and green peppers and cook for 8-10 minutes then add mushrooms and cook 5 minutes longer.  Add tomatoes, wine, oregano and thyme, blend in well and bring to a boil. 

Return chicken to pan, reduce heat, cover and cook 30 minutes; stirring occasionally. Add tomato paste to thicken and cook uncovered 15 minutes longer.  Depending on how you like your food mixed together, serve over rice and/or with fresh green beans.

                       

© Crackerberries 2011

Swedish Meatballs and Sour Cream Gravy

So the infamous "they" say the way to a mans heart is through his belly.  I stole my husbands heart a long time ago with a valentine placed in his locker.  Last night I served this meal for din-din and stole it all over again.  He l♥ved my recipe for Swedish meatballs.  Now the easy way to do it is to buy the meatballs already made in the frozen food section at your supermarket and add a can or two of cream of mushroom soup with a teaspoon of nutmeg; combine it all together in the crockpot and there you go.  This is a little more time consuming, but well worth the effort.

½ lb ground beef

½ lb bulk sausage

½ cup fresh bread crumbs (1 slice)

¼ cup half & half, warm

1 egg, beaten

½ tbsp onion powder

½ tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp cardamom

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1¾ cup beef broth

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup flour

3 mushrooms, sliced

Crumble beef and sausage in medium bowl and mix together; sprinkle with spices.  Add beaten egg, bread crumbs and half & half; mix well (mixture will be very moist).  Using small ice cream scoop form 1½ inch meatballs and roll gently.  Heat oil in cast iron skillet and cook meatballs on medium heat, turning often until browned on all sides (about 15 minutes). 

Remove meatballs from pan.  Add mushrooms and 1½ cup beef broth and stir, scrapping pieces from bottom with wooden spoon or spatula; bring to boil.  In measuring cup combine ¾ cup beef broth and flour and mix until smooth and add to pan.  Once mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat; add meatballs and cook 15 minutes.  Stir in sour cream just before serving.  We had ours with salad and mashed potatoes.

© Crackerberries 2011

Logging Chains & Chicken Wire

A couple of very close friends told me “practice makes perfect”.  I know I will never be perfect on this side of eternity, but I do enjoy practicing the things I l♥ve and hope to be perfect at: cooking and writing.  Lately I’ve done more cooking than writing so this is an attempt to change that.  This is the “tales (some true and some not so true) and experiences from my existence” part.

We had recently terminated the last batch of chickens that we raised.  They stopped laying eggs back in January and we could not justify the expense of keeping them any longer as pets.  The feed was too expensive.  So we had this big fenced in area and a huge chicken coop (well, more a lean too than a chicken coop) but it was all empty space.  What better place for the dogs (the two meatheads in the photo at the bottom of this blog) to be able to be off the logging chains they lived on that hooked around an old Cedar tree?  They could get their exercise and play with each other without getting tangled up.

The first three or four days were great.  I would hook them up to their chains at night and let them free in the penned in area during the day.  I was judicious about checking on them to make sure they were not digging holes under or trying to jump over.  They were the perfect little deceitful angels.

Tuesday was a hot and humid afternoon here in South Carolina and I had recently given Charlie & Foxtrot fresh water and I got myself comfortable with a book on my couch in the luxury of air conditioning.  Well, I must have dozed off because the phone startled me when it rang.  It was my husband.  He was on his way home.  I had chores to do, supper to cook, dogs to check on.

When I went to look out on the dogs, they were gone.  Yup, gone!  I know it was Charlie's idea ... he is the instigator. He appears innocent, but he is not. I was frantic.  I ran to the edge of the road and looked up and down.  The highway is unforgiving and big trucks with chickens and pigs and other things go by here non-stop all day long.  I called for them and called for them and no sign of them anywhere.  A quick arrow prayer went up to God.  Then I called my husband and told him, “The dogs are gone”.  He said, “Excuse me?”  I repeated myself. 

Once he arrived, we took the leashes and walked the road up and down and all the places that we take our walks looking, calling, looking and calling.  No signs of them anywhere.  It was time to give up and call it a night.  I hated myself for not paying more attention.  I felt horrible.  I was concerned about deer hunters seeing these two dogs chasing deer (their instinct is to hunt) and shoot them.  That wouldn’t be the worst of it…it would be worse if they were only wounded and left to die an excruciating painful death in the woods.  I was sad to say the least.  Where could my two boys be?

I went to bed and my prayers to God were for His will ultimately to be done.  I don’t know what His plan is, but He has a plan for everything.  Maybe it was our time to let go of those two meatheads.  Maybe our season was over.  As I lay in bed listening to the whap-whap-whap of the overhead fan, the thoughts that went through my head were awful and comforting and uncertain.  (I begged God forgiveness for the uncertainty and for not taking better care of His creation).  When we are troubled is when we pray the most.  I fell asleep knowing that God’s will would be done and I hoped that the lesson I needed to learn would be clear to me in the morning.

The morning came sooner than we expected.  Our cat climbed on the headboard of the bed and stepped on the weather radio causing it to go off.  Both my husband and I sat right up in bed.  2:00 AM was a good time to pee and get a drink of water.  I got the flash light and scanned the back yard; the tree line where the woods meet the garden, the chicken coop, the dog’s area, the tree line again.  I was about to give up when suddenly I saw what I was looking for.  Four glowing green eyes!  “Yeah, the dogs are back!” I yelled and went running for the back door.  “Make sure it’s our dogs,” my husband called after me, but I was already out the door.

Both Charlie and Foxtrot knew they were bad but were happy to be home.  Foxtrot was soaking wet and smelled like fish.  I quickly got them back to the pen and hooked to their logging chains.  No supper that night, they would have to wait until morning.

As I climbed back into bed, smiling from cheek to cheek, I thanked God for answering my prayers.  This time He answered in a favorable manner.  His ways are not our ways and although my prayer turned out well this time, I know sometimes it may not always be that way.  God uses all things to teach us lessons; good and bad.  We have to be willing to see the lesson He is teaching.

Lessons learned: 1} chicken wire is not a secure barricade for dogs, 2} no matter how innocent and loyal they appear to be, a dog will follow his instincts — that is their nature, 3} Prayer works, God is good and always faithful.

Crackerberries © 2011

Pecan Zucchini Bread

2 cups shredded zucchini

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

3 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven 350º.  Grease two 8x4x2 inch loaf pans.  In medium bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder.  Make a well in center of mixture and set aside.

In another bowl beat eggs and add sugar, vanilla, oil and zucchini.  Add to flour mixture and stir just until moistened.  Fold in pecans.  Pour into greased loaf pans and bake 350º for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pans.  Slice and serve with soft butter or whipped cream cheese.

© Crackerberries 2011

Butter Pecan Cookies

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese

1 cup butter flavored Crisco

2 cups sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1½ cup chopped pecans

Cream together cream cheese, Crisco and shortening until fluffy; add vanilla.  Combine flour, salt and baking powder together and add to creamed mixture.  Fold in nuts.  Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet and cook 350º for 15 minutes or until edges start to brown.  Let cool on cookie sheet one minute then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

© Crackerberries 2011