2X Baked Potatoes

We usually have a salad with our steak but with the temperature dropping we decided to spark up the oven. I wasn’t really sure about a 2X baked sweet potato. To be honest with you, I like the candied sweet potato recipe that has been passed down from my great-grandmother much better. I’ll get that one posted one of these days. But this was different. It’s always good to try something different.

2 russet potatoes
2 yams or sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp Italian seasoning


Preheat oven to 350º. Scrub potatoes and prick with fork. Place in oven directly on rack (second level from the bottom). Bake for 45-60 minutes. Sweet potatoes cook faster than the russets. You can tell if they are done by jabbing them with a sharp knife … if it slides in easy, done, if not, cook longer.

After the potatoes are done, let them cool off for about 15 minutes or so. Cut tops lengthwise off or in an X. Gently scoop out potato in separate bowls … you don’t want to mix your sweet potato with your russet potato. YUCK.

For russet potato, combine potato with sour cream, parmesan cheese, pepper and 2 Tbsp butter. Mix and mash well. Scoop back into potato skin being careful not to rip the skin; sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

For sweet potato, combine potato with molasses, honey, brown sugar and 2 Tbsp butter. Mix and mash well. Scoop back into potato skin being careful not to rip the skin; sprinkle with nutmeg.

Return to 350º oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Add more butter or sour cream if you wish.

© Crackerberries 2009

Sausage Potato Soup

Sausage Potato Soup

4 large russet baking potatoes, peeled and diced

2 cups chicken broth

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ lb. bulk sausage

1 can cream of chicken soup

½ cup milk

1 cup frozen chopped spinach

1 tsp. thyme leaves

1 tsp. celery salt

1 tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. red hot pepper flakes

In Dutch oven or large kettle, cook potatoes in chicken broth until tender (15 minutes or so). While potatoes cook, brown the sausage in a medium skillet. (I made little meatballs with the sausage.) Remove from skillet and set aside. Sauté onion and garlic in sausage grease for about 5 minutes. Once potatoes are tender, using a slotted spoon, scoop out 1-1½ cups of potatoes and place in large bowl to mash.  Add cream of chicken soup, milk, spices, mashed potatoes, and sausage to Dutch oven and bring to a gentle boil, stirring often. Sprinkle spinach over top and cover. Simmer just long enough to heat up the spinach. Stir gently and serve.

© Crackerberries 2014

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Both Tall Cool One and I dislike white potatoes. I guess because we had mashed potatoes every day of our lives growing up. Yes, we sure got sick of hearing “Jeffrey likes them” or “Penny likes them”. Good, feed them to Jeffrey and Penny… ha ha ha.

We love candied sweet potatoes so when I found this recipe in a cookbook, I had to try it. It is ‘wicked’ good. A nice change for a summertime potato salad!

4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup honey
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Coat a cookie sheet or roasting pan with non-stick cooking spray. Toss potatoes and one tablespoon of olive oil together to coat well. Spread in pan and bake uncovered at 450º for 45 minutes, stirring once after the first 20 minutes.

Whisk together the remaining olive oil, honey, vinegar, rosemary, salt, pepper and garlic. Transfer potatoes to serving bowl and pour dressing over top; toss gently to combine. Garnish with fresh sprigs of rosemary if desired.

Now, the recipe says to serve it warm, however, we found that if you let it set in the fridge overnight, the flavors incorporate and it’s much tastier in the summertime as a cold salad.

© Crackerberries 2009

Meatball Veggie Bake

¾ lb burger
1 egg
¼ cup Italian bread crumbs
½ tsp marjoram
1 Tbsp BBQ sauce
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 can cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup milk
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp gravy master
2 large potatoes
2-4 cloves garlic
1 tsp Lawry’s seasoning salt
1 medium onion
4 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
6 oz sweet petites carrots
1 cup frozen peas

Combine burger, egg, bread crumbs, marjoram and BBQ sauce together in bowl and mix well. Shape into 20-two inch meatballs. In large skillet, brown meatballs in vegetable oil on all sides. Remove meatballs from skillet, reserving 1 tbsp of grease.

Wash, peel and cube potatoes; cook with garlic in water until done well enough to mash/whip. In mixing bowl, mash or whip the potatoes with ¼ cup of the chopped onion and Lawry’s seasoning salt and a little bit of milk. Set aside.

Cook carrots and peas; drain; set aside.

Using 1tbsp grease, cook the remaining chopped onion and mushrooms in the skillet, just until tender. Add cream of mushroom soup, milk and nutmeg and heat until thick and bubbly.

Place meatballs in well greased 3quart casserole dish around the outside. Place carrots and peas in the center and pour mushroom mixture over top. Scoop potatoes strategically around the casserole; bake 375º for 45 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


© Crackerberries 2011

Nacho Fiesta Scallop Potatoes

4 medium potatoes, washed and thinly sliced
1 cup milk
1 10¾ oz can Fiesta Nacho soup
1 onion diced

Mix milk and soup together.

Place half of the potatoes in a well greased 1½ quart casserole dish. Spread half of the onions over the potatoes and pour half of the soup mixture over the top. Repeat layers.

Bake at 350º covered for 45 minutes.

Remove cover and bake 50-60 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender and top is browned.

Let stand ten minutes before serving.

(Optional: sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese and a tablespoon of pimentos just before serving.)

© Crackerberries 2011

Candied Sweet Potatoes

My plan is to add a sweet potato recipe each week until Thanksgiving.  They are so yummy.  If you have a favortie recipe you would like to share, please, do email it to me and I’ll cook them up, take a picture and post them and all the credit will go to you.

4 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled

½ cup orange juice

¼ cup molasses

¼ cup real maple syrup

2 tbsp brown sugar

½ cup butter

Nutmeg (optional)

Slice cooked sweet potatoes and arrange in greased baking dish.  Melt butter and combine with remaining ingredients.  Pour over sweet potatoes and sprinkle with nutmeg.  Bake at 350º for 35-45 minutes until brown and glazed over; spoon sauce over potatoes before serving. 

© Crackerberries 2011

Egg Slut

 

Perfected... ditched the red onions, added bacon bits, microwaved mashed potatoes for 30 seconds, sprayed cover with a little cooking spray so it wouldn't stick, and then submersed in boiling water for 10 minutes.  

I came across this recipe from a fellow blogger through my April #atozchallenge.  Who'd have thought there was a slutty egg recipe?  I absolutely had to try it and it's a definite keeper for me.  Wicked good! Thank you Anne M. Bray!  

EggSlut and "The Slut" Recipe

Ingredients

·                     1/2 c mashed potatoes

·                     1 egg

·                     butter (I used 1/2 tbsp. I like butter)

·                     chopped chives (I used green onions and some red)

Method

→Get a jar with tight-fitting lid (at least 8 oz. size) the wide mouth half pint mason jars are perfect.

→Before adding ingredients, measure for water level in saucepan. 

You want the jar completely covered. I made the mistake and it was not fully covered so I had to cook longer so that the top of the eggs was not all runny.

→Heat water to boiling.

→In jar, add ingredients in order listed (potatoes on bottom) Next time I will microwave the potatoes for about 30 seconds...I like my food really hot.

→Cover with lid, place in boiling water

→Cook for about 6-8 minutes, depending on size of jar and the consistency of how you like your egg.  

 

  

Find the original recipe →  EggSlut and "The Slut" Recipe

I let mine cook for about 9 minutes.  Next time I will microwave the mashed potato a little so that it’s not cold going in. 

 © Crackerberries 2021

Potato Soup

It doesn’t look as good as it tastes, but trust me when I tell you it is some good on a cold wet day.  It just warms up your insides.

2 slices bacon coated with fresh cracked peppercorns

1 large onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cups shredded green cabbage

3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 cup cooked mashed potatoes

2 cups beef broth

1 cup German Riesling wine

1 tsp nutmeg

1 cup dry non fat milk (fill to 1¾ line with water)

Cook bacon in Dutch oven; remove and place bacon on paper towel to drain.  Add onion and celery to bacon grease and cook until opaque.  Add cabbage, potatoes, beef broth, wine and nutmeg; bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for one hour or until potatoes are tender.  Combine dry milk and water and mix well, pour into soup and cook just until well mixed and heated thoroughly.

© Crackerberries 2011

Potato and Sausage Casserole - Feeding the Flock 23

 

I just want to thank my daughter for sharing this recipe with me, she is helping me out again in the challenge.  If you click on the picture you can visit her website.  Here's her recipe. 

10 unpeeled brown potatoes

Jimmy Dean regular sausage roll

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 red pepper, diced 

½ block cream cheese

½ container sour cream

1 stick butter

Generous amount of cheddar cheese

Preheat oven 375º

Slice potatoes and boil until almost soft.

Sauté sausage and peppers together until cooked.

Mix cream cheese and sour cream together with drained potatoes and place in casserole dish. 

Cut slices of butter over top of potatoes. 

Top with sausage and peppers mixture.

Sprinkle with generous amount of cheddar cheese and bake about 30 minutes.

Enough for leftovers.

Enjoy,

Don't forget to check out Paper Cuts.

 

Liver + Onions

So liver and onions was a meal my mother served once a week when I was a kid. Liver is cheap now, imagine how cheap it was back then. I loved liver and onions night. However, I did not care for what she served it with: mashed potatoes and stewed tomatoes. That was what my sister loved. I remember sitting at the dinner table saying “I don’t like mashed potatoes.” My father would say, “Shut up and eat it”. “But that’s not fair,” I’d retaliate, “Penny gets a hot dog because she doesn’t like liver”. Then my father would give me that look and say, “If you keep running your mouth, you can have more mashed potatoes.” That meant I better shut up. My mother always liked my sister better than me. (I’m just kidding) When we’re kids and things like that happened, that’s what your brain told you, isn’t it? Parents just know what is best for their kids … whether it’s eating stewed tomatoes and mashed potatoes or liver and onions; or in my sister’s case, a hot dog. Guess my mother really like me better. I’ll take liver and onions over a hot dog every day.



1 lb beef or pork liver
1 cup whole milk
3 medium onions
8 slices bacon (optional)
½ cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp pepper
2 Tbsp butter




Soak liver in milk for 20 minutes. While liver is soaking cook bacon in skillet over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and add sliced onions and salt and cook until golden brown. Remove onions and add to bacon. Cover with a piece of aluminum foil to keep warm.

Drain milk from liver (if you have a dog, he will love this mixed with his dog food.) Combine flour, paprika and pepper in saucer. Dredge liver through flour and shake off excess.

In wiped out skillet add butter and let it melt over moderately high heat. Add liver; cook 2-3 minutes per side until no longer pink inside. Serve with bacon and onions.


© Crackerberries 2009

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — T

T is for thankful

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

The holiday season is here.  Everything is so festive decorated with pumpkins and turkeys.  I remember in grade school we used to pencil or crayon around our hand and fingers and then create a turkey out of it.  How fun!  This is the time of year when most people get into the giving mode and they are more generous than usual.  It is also the time of year that the non-profit organizations need help and donations as well. 

I love this time of year. It is perfect for cooking pies and cookies and cakes and filling the kitchen with the scents of cinnamon and cloves.  It is the time when Egg Nog is on the store shelves and candy cane coffee creamer and all of that other festive yummy stuff that is only available during this time of year.  It is the time of year to dig out the wool sweaters, polar fleece, flannel P-jammies and big fluffy warm slippers. 

T is for thankful, time to count our blessings and stop and think about some of the things that we complain about.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I find myself grumbling and then when I stop and think about what I’m peevish about I want to kick myself for being so absolutely self absorbed and ridiculous. 

For example, I will sometimes go to the mailbox and if there is nothing but junk mail I am upset that no one answers my letters in a timely fashion.  I have a wonderful pen-pal that I receive a letter from every week.  Bertha is truly a wonderful friend and God bless her.  I should never take her weekly letter for granted and I am thankful for having her as such a good friend and pen pal.

Another example is when I don’t hear from our kids as often as I think we should, I groan that they should call or visit more often.  They are not into drugs, they do not gamble, they are not in trouble with the law… good kids by worldly standards.  They are grown and they have their own adult lives to lead.  Some people don’t have that luxury of their kids still being around.  I am thankful that we do.

Still yet another example is when we go to the grocery store to do our bi-weekly shopping, I am sickened by the prices that we have to pay.  Everything is so wicked expensive and I find us cutting back in so many areas.  Then I realize that we have the means to go do groceries and when I find areas where we can cut back I realize we were more spending money on pleasure items than we don’t need (egg nog and candy cane coffee creamer).  I am thankful that we are able to buy groceries to prepare nutritious and delicious meals.

I remember growing up I hated, absolutely hated mashed potatoes.  My mother would always tell me to quit complaining and eat them and then she would make some comment about how children in Ethiopia were starving.  I had no problem if she wanted to box up the mashed potatoes on my plate and send them to Ethiopia.  I never realized what she meant until I had to purchase the food with my own earned money.  And then to see that food not be eaten and thrown away, finally made me understand what it meant about starving children in Ethiopia.  I think about the waste that gets thrown away everyday and I want to send potatoes to Ethiopia.

This morning when I took my shower I stood under the hot water a little longer than usual because I didn’t want to get out into the cold air. I was convicted while writing this because there are so many countries that have no water and I wasted gallons by letting it run down the drain so I could prolong the inevitable cold air.

I have a feeling the Twelve Days of Thanksgiving will be difficult and convicting.  Fridays I will save for Sweet Potatoes, but tune in the following eleven weekdays for the Twelve Days of Thanksgiving.

T is for thankful and I am very thankful for the time God has given me here on this earth to make a difference and bring glory to Him.

© Crackerberries 2011

Homemade Tater Tots

Homemade Tater Tots

If you want to feel like a kid in an adult way, make this recipe.  These were so yummy and they don’t leave that greasy after-taste in your mouth like the store bought tater tots.

1 egg

¼ cup margarine

3 cups mashed potatoes

½ tsp Lawry’s seasoning salt

¼ tsp celery salt

½ tsp onion powder

¼ cup self-rising buttermilk corn meal

Beat egg and margarine together in mixing bowl.  (I used the tub margarine as it’s already soft).  This is great for leftover mashed potatoes.  I used leftover garlic potatoes and carrots.  Add potatoes and spices and mix just until combined.  Fold in corn meal (do not beat).  Using small ice cream scoop, drop on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Slightly flatten with fork.  Bake at 400° for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and flip all tots, reduce oven to 375° and bake 15 minutes longer.

© Crackerberries 2012

Sweet Potatoes - Roasted Veggie Medley

Roasted Veggie Medley

Week #6 of the sweet potato challenge.  Can you believe Thanksgiving is just under three weeks away...that means there are only two more Fridays to see your favorite sweet potato recipe right here!  EMAIL me and we will surely cook it up, photograph it and eat it. 

3 potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 carrots, peeled and quartered

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp crushed rosemary leaves

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375º

Combine all ingredients in lightly greased glass baking dish and cover with aluminum foil, bake 20 minutes at 375º.  Remove aluminum foil from vegetables, toss gently; increase temperature to 400º and bake an additional 20-25 minutes.  Serve with chicken, roast beef, pork… also the leftovers are great for a hash or pot pie.

© Crackerberries 2011

Sausage Potato Soup

Robyn’s  Sausage Soup

I was talking with my daughter and we reminisced about the “all you could eat” soup from the Olive Garden.  It was some sort of potato and sausage soup.  She sent me a link for Zuppa Tuscana.  I changed it to my own version and gave the name to her.  Thanks, Robyn, it was really good!

2 smoked sausages, sliced (10 oz)

4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

1½ cups sliced baby carrots

1 cup mashed potatoes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 bay leaves

1-2 medium onions, chopped

24 oz chicken broth

8 oz extra pale ale

2 cups torn mustard greens

1 cup whole milk

Salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven or soup pot and sauté onions and garlic for 5-10 minutes, until onions start to caramelize. Add sausage and beer and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.  Add potatoes, carrots, bay leaves and chicken broth, cover and simmer for 45 minutes until vegetables are tender. 

Remove bay leaves, add mustard greens and cook 10-15 minutes until greens are wilted.  Add milk, salt and pepper and cook just to heat through.  Serve immediately.

© Crackerberries 2012

Chicken A La King

Chicken A’la Potato Dumplings

DUMPLINGs

4 cups mashed potatoes (about 6 medium potatoes or 2 lbs.)

¾ cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs, slightly beaten

¼ cup bread crumbs

1 tsp. garlic salt

Salt and pepper

A’La CHICKEN SAUCE

6 oz. rotisserie chicken, chopped

½ cup chopped onion

2 stalks celery, diced

¾ cup frozen peas

½ chopped green/red bell pepper

1 hard-boiled egg

5 small mushrooms, diced

1 14¾ oz. can cream of mushroom soup

1½ cups chicken broth

Combine mashed potatoes, flour, egg, bread crumbs, garlic salt, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Mix well. Shape into 16 balls. Heat large pot of water to boiling. Gently drop balls into water. Once they float to the top, simmer gently for 3-4 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

In Dutch oven or other large kettle sauté onions, green and red peppers, celery until tender. Add mushrooms, mushroom soup, peas and chicken broth. Heat until bubbly. Add chicken and egg. Heat thoroughly and serve over dumplings.

(Optional: Sprinkle with bacon bits.)

© Crackerberries 2014

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — H

H is for Healthy Lifestyle

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

I am far from what you would call the poster child for “healthy”.  I’ve never been a size 6 (it just seems like everyone wants to be a size 6) — maybe in the sixth grade I was but quite frankly I think that if I was a size 6 I would look sickly.  I don’t consider myself fat, but I’m sure the powers that be in Hollywood or the rest of the world would call me just that.  Personally I like to refer to my curves as voluptuous.  When I dug out my winter wardrobe my voluptuous butt cheeks had a hard time squeezing into my voluminous jeans.  It has been a challenge to make a lifestyle change at our eating habits as well as adding exercise into our daily routine.

I can honestly say putting the extra pounds on was a lot easier and enjoyable than it has been trying to take them off.  God’s word tells us that we reap what we sow in due season.  I was a Big Mac, large fry, diet coke, super-size, please, once a week kind of girl.  I remember hitting the salad bar thinking this was a good healthy choice as I loaded up my plate with cheese and ham and macaroni salad and all those other good treats you find on salad bars that are not actually salad items.  While I was hogging it into me I had no idea that the little butt cheeks were growing into bigger butt cheeks, or I should say I refused to acknowledge that they would.

We know when we have that extra helping of mashed potatoes that we need to do a little extra work to burn the calories.  Look at the average kid today.  They are HUGE!  Yeah, you have some parents that will argue and say it’s a thyroid problem.  Most generally it has everything to do with laziness.  We live in a fast food and super sized kind of nation.  If your kid works on a farm and takes care of the animals a Happy Meal once in awhile isn’t going to make him fat — it might clog up his arteries in the long run, but how many kids are working the farm and taking care of animals?  Most kids have their butts plunked on a couch somewhere with a bag of Doritos playing a video game. 

Thanksgiving is definitely not a healthy holiday for me.  Too many temptations to deal with: egg nog, turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, squash soufflé, candied sweet potatoes, oyster casserole, stuffed mushrooms, bacon wrapped scallops, apple pie, pumpkin roll, pecan pie, oh YUM!  Even one bite of each of those goodies is way over a normal 2000 calorie plan.  It will be a struggle for sure and thank God for it only coming once a year.

Our health is important to all of us.  Some people take their health for granted.  I know I did for a long time and I still struggle with certain unhealthy temptations.  Some people do not have their health… they have diseases that cannot be controlled by man.  But then there are the ones that we do have control over and we should do everything in our power to prevent them (overeating, over drinking, sex out of wedlock, smoking, drugs).  When we take advantage of our health and give in to temptation of the bad choices that can harm our health, we are giving in to sin.  Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us.  When we over-indulge in anything (eating, drinking, even exercise) we sin against the ONE who created us.

We reap what we sow later than when we sow and more than what we have sown.  Eating at fast food restaurants might not seem like a bad idea right now, but eventually all of that grease (yes, all of it) is going to catch up with your butt cheeks.  Smoking will eventually kill you, drugs not taken under the supervision of a doctor is illegal so not only are you sinning against God, but you are also breaking the law.  Fornication is the perfect opportunity for you to come in contact with AIDS and not only that, even though AIDS is treatable in the end, fornication is a one way ticket to hell. 

I don’t write these things because I think I am better than anyone.  I am making a conscience effort to live a healthier lifestyle.  I write these things because I have experienced them all and I am full aware how difficult it is to make changes.  By the grace of God for now I still have my health and my sanity.  Hopefully I have struck a chord within some of my readers and you too, can make a healthy lifestyle change.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods.

© Crackerberries 2011

Yam Casserole

Festive Sweet Potato Casserole

This is a most versatile casserole dish.  It is an excellent side dish, dessert or brunch dish.  It is tasty warm, at room temperature and cold.  Serve it plain or with a dollop of sour cream or whip cream, depending on what or how you are serving it.

9 inch pie crust

3 medium sweet potatoes

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

½ cup maple syrup

½ tsp nutmeg

Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water for about 45 minutes, until fork tender.  Drain and cool slightly.  Peelings will slip right off. 

Prick pie crust with fork and cook in 350° for 15 minutes.  Let cool slightly. 

Mash one sweet potato in bowl and add brown sugar, egg and maple syrup.  Whisk or beat until well blended and smooth.

Slice remaining sweet potatoes and place in pie crust, overlapping each other if necessary.  Pour mashed sweet potato/syrup mixture over top.  Bake in 350° oven for 55 minutes. 

Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

© Crackerberries 2012

Dumplings, Dumplings, and more Dumplings

DUMPLINGS 

14 oz. ground beef or pork

3 cups frozen spinach, slightly thawed

1 tbsp. kosher salt

1 carrot, shredded

1 tbsp. fresh minced ginger

1½ tbsp. fresh minced garlic

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tbsp. dried chopped onion flakes

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 pkg. Wonton wrappers

Place spinach in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let stand 15 minutes.  Meanwhile in a separate bowl, combine ground beef, carrot, ginger, garlic, egg, onion flakes, and soy sauce. Mix with hands to combine well.  Pick up clumps of spinach and squeeze to expel liquid. Stir into meat mixture.

Lightly brush a Wonton wrapper with water and place a small amount of meat mixture in the center.  Fold over to create a triangle and pinch to seal.  Create a ripple pattern by pinching and pushing together small segments of the wrapper. Continue with each wrapper until all meat mixture is used.

Fill tea kettle with water and bring to a boil. Heat oil in large WOK or skillet with a tight fitting cover.  Place dumplings in hot oil and cook just until brown on the bottoms (2-3 minutes). Carefully pour in boiling water just to cover dumplings.  Reduce heat and cover. Cook five minutes. Remove dumplings from water quickly and serve hot with garlic-gingered soy sauce and hot mustard paste.

To make garlic-gingered soy sauce, add 1 tsp. each of fresh minced ginger and fresh minced garlic to ½ cup soy sauce. Let stand for 1 hour.  To make hot mustard paste, use equal amounts of dry mustard and water and mix to create a paste.

This recipe is time consuming, but the dumplings are worth the effort.  It took me about an hour to wrap 53 dumplings. Plan ahead. 

 POTATO DUMPLINGS

DUMPLING

4 cups mashed potatoes (about 6 medium potatoes or 2 lbs.)

¾ cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, slightly beaten

½ cup bread crumbs

½ tsp. nutmeg

Salt and pepper

TOPPING

¼ cup butter

1/8 cup bread crumbs

1/8 cup chopped onions

2½ slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Combine mashed potatoes, flour, egg, bread crumbs, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Mix well. Shape into 15 balls. Heat large pot of water to boiling. Gently drop balls into water. Once they float to the top, simmer gently for 3-4 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

In small sauce pan combine butter and onions and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes or until the butter slightly browns. Remove from heat and stir in bread crumbs and bacon bits. Pour sauce over dumplings before 

COTTAGE DUMPLINGS

3 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

2/3 cup frozen corn

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup Italian style bread crumbs

¼ cup corn meal

1 egg

½ cup cottage cheese

2 tbsp. chicken broth

3 Chile peppers, thinly sliced

Mix all ingredients and use small ice cream scoop to make mini dumpling balls.  Place in single layer on large plate and set in fridge until ready to cook. Carefully slide dumpling balls onto beans in simmering stew.  Do not drop directly into liquid.  Cook uncovered for 10 minutes.  Gently shake pot to prevent sticking.  Cover and cook an additional 15 minutes until dumplings are firm.  Let stand 5-10 minutes 

SAGE DUMPLINGS

1½ cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

2/3 cup milk

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp. fresh rubbed sage

Mix all ingredients together just until moistened.  Once stew is boiling add dumplings by spoonful, cover, reduce heat and cook 13-15 minutes.  Do not remove cover while dumplings are cooking.  Cool 10-15 minutes with cover off. 

PLAIN DUMPLINGS

In medium bowl combine 1 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder and ½ tsp. salt. Cut in 2 tbsp. shortening until mixture resembles crumbs. Add ½ cup buttermilk, stirring just until moistened. Spoon batter into six mounds on top of soup or stew (do not drop in liquid). Return to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer 12-15 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted into dumpling comes out clean.

BREAD DUMPLINGS

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. garlic powder

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup lukewarm water

3 slices bread, cubed

Mix flour, baking soda, garlic powder, and salt in large bowl. Add beaten egg. Add the lukewarm water and mix well with wooden spoon. Add bread.  Mix well and roll into oblong dumplings. Place into boiling water, cover and cook about 20 minutes, stirring once.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

I never knew there were so many styles of dumplings.  I have not tried Apple Dumplings.  Do you have a favorite dumpling recipe?  What is it?

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,