Dressing, Filling or Stuffing

Is kind of like soda to pop, pizza to pie or sub to hoagie.

All describe the same thing, it just depends what part of the country you live in that determines what you call this Thanksgiving Day staple.

This is the recipe I grew up with- straight from Pennsylvania Dutch country!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Recipe:

This makes (2) 9x13" pans

1 stick butter
1 TBSP Crisco
1 Onion, chopped
2 Ribs celery, chopped
Fresh Parsley, handful, chopped
3 eggs to 1 loaf of bread/ 6 eggs to 2 loaves bread
salt & pepper
1 ladle stock
1 tsp. Chicken base

Grease pans with Crisco. Preheat oven to 375'.

Cut or tear bread into bite-sized pieces. Put in large bowl. Meanwhile, saute`onion, celery, salt & pepper in butter and crisco until onion is translucent. Add parsley, stir and turn off heat. Pour into bread pieces. Add eggs, chicken base and stock. (if not enough stuffing mixture, add another loaf bread and 3 more eggs)

Place into greased prepared pans and cover with foil. Cook in heated oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil for last 10 minutes of baking to form crust on top.

Broccoli & Spaghetti

This past Sunday, I revived the "Sunday Coffee" with Dad. I started this weekly ritual when my husband and I first moved back to the area. One: to catch up on family goings-on and two: to take a small break from the craziness of two young toddlers. An hour, cup of coffee and a story or two was just what I needed to get me through the day.

As the kids got older and our family got busier, "Sunday Coffee" started to drift until it stopped all together. I think my dad and I both missed our weekly visits.

One common subject that my father and I can talk endlessly about is food. Where to find the best supermarket deal, what secret ingredient to add to this or that, etc. That is why this blog was started; to share what we enjoy.

So, first recipe up from my childhood is Broccoli & Spaghetti. I ate this ALL the time as a kid and I'm surprised that I haven't made it for my kids because they love broccoli.

I don't have pictures yet, but when I make this dish, I will take some and add to the post.

Recipe for Broccoli & Spaghetti:

2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli
1 box spaghetti
Olive oil
Locatelli Pecorino Romano Cheese

Boil water in stock pot with a touch of olive oil (my father only uses Bertolli). Add spaghetti and broccoli and cook together until pasta is finished. Drain pot making sure to leave about 5% of water in pasta. Add generous amount of olive oil (about 1/4 C.) salt & pepper. Heavy on salt, very light on pepper.

Place in bowl and add generous sprinkle of cheese.

My father likes Bertolli oil and I tend to use Fillipo Berrio, but we both agree that there is NO other cheese to use in ANY dish other than Locatelli. The flavor is salty and a little nutty and is divine on any dish calling for grated cheese.

Pumpkin Roll

I have finally done it. I have made a pumpkin roll. Now, some of you may say "Yeah, so what?", but this is the FIRST time in all my baking years that I have made a "roll" cake. I have always been afraid that I would mess one up, so I never bothered to make one, although, I love to eat them! So, today I decided to put caution to the wind. I needed to post a baked good recipe anyway. I can't wait to try it in an hour or so to see how it came out!

Why a pumpkin roll and not a jelly roll cake? Well, the reason is of pure function. I have an old recipe for pumpkin cookies (that I will share very soon) that I make every fall. I started making them when the kids were little to hide the fact that they were getting something nutritious in their treats. The only down side is that the recipe uses only a portion of the canned pumpkin, which has left exactly 2/3 Cup of pumpkin left over. I just made these cookies a few days ago (and are now gone by the way) and I thought not again! I can't waste another small amount of this; so I started reading the recipes on the label and what do you know! A pumpkin roll cake requires exactly 2/3 Cup!

This recipe is directly from the Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin 15oz. can. I did modify the filling a little bit, because I didn't have enough butter softened.  I'll note my change with an ** .

Recipe:

Libby's Pumpkin Roll (Makes 10 servings)

Cake:
Powdered Sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Filling:
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine softened ** I used 4Tbsp. butter & 2 Tbsp. margarine**
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Powdered sugar

Now, I think my fear of making this is routed in I needed pictures to see how it was supposed to look! Now I have them and you do too!

For Cake:

Preheat oven to 375' F. Grease 15x10" jelly roll pan. ( I used a small cookie sheet); line pan with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. (sprinkle with nuts).** I did not put in nuts, because I think this cake should be smooth; it is a preference thing.**

Bake for 13-15 minutes ( found this was done after 12 minutes) or until top of cake springs back when touched.  Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together starting with the narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

For Filling: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth.  Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Pumpkin roll, you ain't so bad......

Chicken Chili

The days of fall are slowly turning into winter. The leaves are almost off the trees and soon, November will become gray and dreary and cold.

One recipe that is very versitle and freezes like a dream is a staple in our house (and big fall party).  This recipe only takes 30 minutes to make and tastes better the next day. Add a simple green salad and bread of your choice and you have a nice hearty meal that will warm you up on those cold days!

Recipe:

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Large Onion, chopped
1-2 Garlic cloves, minced
2 Boneless Chicken breast halves, cut in bite-size pieces
1 15oz. can White Kidney Beans (Cannelini)
1 15oz. can Chick Peas (Garbanzo Beans)
1 15oz. can Great Northern Beans
1 4oz. can Chopped Green Chilles
1 Chicken bullion cube
2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 Small can Shoepeg Corn
1 lime
Salt & Pepper

Ok...to make the chili:

In a medium size sauce pot, put in olive oil ( lately I use Fillipo Berrio Extra Virgin Olive Oil), chopped onion, minced garlic, cut chicken and 2tsp. ground cumin. Cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked, stirring occassionally so not to stick to the bottom.

Once chicken is cooked, add all the canned beans (do not rinse the beans! Add the whole can contents). I use whatever beans are on sale at the store; even the generic store brands. I find that these taste the same no matter what you use (unlike Black Beans where you can tell the difference between brands). Add can of chopped Chilles, bullion cube, salt & pepper.

Now for the corn: I prefer to use Green Giant Shoepeg corn in the small can. It is sweet and crisp and adds a very nice flavor to the chili. It can be pricey but it is the best one. I have used regular corn in a pinch and it works fine too.

Last but not least, roll your lime on the counter or cutting board. Place under your palm and put slight pressure as you roll it back and forth. This will loosen up the pulp in the fruit and make it easier to squeeze the juice out. (hint: this works with all the citrus fruits!) Slice lime in half and squeeze each into the chili. Stir all ingredients together.

Bring Pot to a gentle boil and then turn heat down to simmer.  Cook for 30 minutes. You can serve this with shredded Monterey Jack Cheese and red hot sauce if you want.

Sausage and Peppers

I know I wrote that my dad is "the cook"....but I have learned that I enjoy cooking as well. I still enjoy baking more than cooking, however, I can make a mean main course if I do say so.

I thought about waiting until later to post this first recipe, but...I was inspired by the daily Google picture for today (honoring Sesame St. 40th anniversary) to bake cookies. Yesterday they had Big Bird's legs as the "L", which did not inspire me to make chicken...Cookie Monster on the other hand is one of my favorite characters and I LOVE this picture; Kudos Google Creative team!

OK- so sausage and peppers. This recipe is so incredibly easy to make. It's one of those that screams "If I can do it...you can do it!"

In my trial and errors, I have found what tastes best is to use both hot and sweet sausage and every color pepper with only a few green ones mixed in. The pictures that will follow were taken as I prepared to make this for a party of 100. It's A LOT of sausage, but the ratio to peppers and onions will be the same even if you are making a smaller batch.

To make this recipe, I used (8) 1lb. packages each of hot links and sweet links. That's 16lbs of sausage.  In a large roasting pan, brown sausage in a 350' oven, stirring every 15 min. or so. While that is cooking, you want to wash and cut in strips (about 1" thick) your peppers. I used (6) peppers of each color- red, orange and yellow and only (3) green. Then cut up onions (2lb. bag) in the same size strip. Throw all together into a big bowl.

You should have slightly more onion than peppers. If not, add 2-3 more onions.

Once the sausage is browned, there is a very easy way to show guests which is hot and which is sweet. At this point, I cut all the links in half (across, not lengthwise). I then split the sweet in half, lengthwise, careful not to cut all the way through. Once this is done, add all the peppers and onions.

The ratio of sausage to peppers should look like this.

Then I add (1) large can (28oz.) of tomato sauce. (I use Hunts brand). Just pour over the top, no need to stir just yet. Then shake on salt and pepper. I would say I add about 2 tsp. of each to this size recipe.

You can see in this picture how much pepper and salt and sauce is on top. This is before it is put in the oven.

Cook this in the 350' oven for about 45-60 minutes, stirring every 15minutes or so. The water from the peppers and onions will mix with the juice from the sausage and sauce and will give you enough "sauce". This will be done when the peppers are soft- if you picked them up with a fork they would droop over the sides.

That's it. So easy. If you need a smaller batch- I would probably break it down like this:

For every package of sausage links I would use (1) green pepper, (2) of red, yellow and orange; If the peppers are huge, then I would half the quantity. Use 5-6 onions. The sauce is the tricky one...if one package of sausage, I would use the tiny can, 2 packages, the medium size can, 3 pkgs use 1 medium & 1 small can, 4 pkgs 2 medium cans and 5 or more 1 big can of sauce.

I just made this the other night and did not add the sauce and it was still really good. I think the secret is the multi-color peppers.

Now time to make cookies!!

Slacking

Boy, I created this site and I have been a true slacker when it has come to posting recipes!

I have quite a few posts lined up and I even have photos archived for such posts- I don't know about you, but I like to see what I will be cooking and what the finished product SHOULD look like!

If I get through my "To Do" list of today, I will get one up here.

But maybe a quick snippet...I think today's recipe will be for sausage and peppers.