Classic Deviled Eggs 

Picture compliments of the thousands already on the www. Who doesn't like to pop in a devilled egg or two during dinner or just because you opened the refrigerator door and didn't know what you wanted. I like the recipe listed on the Jamie cooks it up family freindly recipes. Please visit them at http://jamiecooksitup.net/2012/03/classic-deviled-eggs/

Ingredients for 14:

·         7 hard-boiled eggs

·         3 T mayonnaise (I use Best Foods Light)

·         2 T salad dressing (I use Miracle Whip Light)

·         2 t honey mustard

·         1 T sweet pickle relish (optional)

·         Salt and Pepper to taste

·         Paprika or Smoked Paprika, either one is fine

Preparation:

1. Hard boil, and then peel yourself 7 eggs.

2. Slice your eggs in half with a knife.

3. Carefully pull out the cooked yolks and toss them into a medium sized mixing bowl.

4. Add 3 tablespoon of mayonnaise (that's the Best Foods) and 2 tablespoons of salad dressing (yes, you guessed it. The Miracle Whip). Now, you may be wondering why I have used both of these instead of just one. They have very different tastes. The Best Foods has a really smooth, creamy taste, and the Miracle Whip has a slightly sweet, zippy taste. The combination of the two gives you the best of both creamy and zippy.

 

5. To your bowl add 2 teaspoons honey mustard, a little bit of salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon pickle relish, if you have opted to use it.

6. Mix all ingredients together with a fork, smashing the egg yolks as you go.

7. Scoop the filling into the eggs and sprinkle them with paprika. I have confessed several times recently about how much I love Smoked Paprika. Ah, the sweet smokey sent of it is fabulous. If you don't have any, no worries. Just use regular paprika, or don't use paprika at all. What ever suits your fancy. :)

 

8. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake 
Picture by Pat Farrell

This recipe is one of my ultimate favorites for an easy-going desert. Most of my family learned to make this easy-going cake because they love it and never fails to draw the ooohs & awwws from the kids and grandkids.

 

Ingredients:

 

• 1cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 20 oz. can sliced pineapple, drained
• 1 small jar maraschino cherries
• 1 box Duncan Hines pineapple supreme cake mix or regular yellow cake mix
• Eggs, water and oil for cake mix

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Very lightly spray 13x9x2-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Put butter in pan and put pan in oven just until butter is melted (maybe 5 minutes).

Remove pan from oven and evenly sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter and arrange pineapple slices and maraschino cherries on top of brown sugar.

Prepare cake mix (adding eggs, water and oil) as directed on package and pour batter evenly over fruit.

Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean.

Let stand 5 minutes (if you wait too much longer than that the cake will stick in the pan), then carefully invert onto large serving plate.

Southern Smothered Pork Chops

This recipe & picture are downloaded from Mamas-Southern-Cooking.com. They were the greatest. Visit the site at http://www.mamas-southern-cooking.com/smothered-pork-chop-recipe.html

 

Ingredients: 

• 4 to 6 thick cut pork chops, 3/4 to 1 inch thick (rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel), you can use either bone-in or boneless
• 2/3 cup of flour
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 large sweet onions, sliced
• 1 or 2 (14 1/2-ounce) can beef broth
• 1 teaspoon of beef base (optional)
• 1/2 cup of shortening or vegetable oil

Preparation:

 

On a plate, mix together flour, salt pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Coat your pork chops with the flour mixture. Melt the shortening in a large, heavy bottom skillet. Add the pork chops. Cook in skillet until golden brown. Remove the pork chops from the pan and set aside. Save the rest of the flour mixture for the gravy.

 

Turn heat down to medium to medium low and add onions to the pan and slowly cook and stir the onions until they are soft. Add enough of the leftover flour to the pan to soak up all of the grease and cook until golden brown, stirring constantly.

 

Slowly add 1 can of the beef broth while continuing to stir. Bring to a boil and stir for one minute. (If the gravy is too thick, add enough beef broth to thin it down...it should just coat the back of a spoon).

 

Add the beef base, if desired. Stir to dissolve. Return the pork chops to the pan with the gravy. Turn the heat down to low. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour or until the pork chops are tender. 

Baked Ham with Pineapple & Brown Sugar Glaze

This is the most festive presentation for a baked ham ever. I make this once or twice a year. This will be our Christmas ham again this year alongside a standing rib roast for the real meat eaters in the family. The recipe and picture above are compliments of the "Little Shamrocks" website. Please visit them at  http://www.littleshamrocks.com/recipes/entrees/baked-ham-with-pineapple-and-brown-sugar-glaze.html

Ingredients:

·         1/2 Ham (your choice of your favorite cut) shank-end hams contain less gristle and fat and are easier to carve than butt-end hams.

·         1    Can pineapple slices, drained (reserve liquid)

·         1    Small jar maraschino cherries (reserve liquid)

·         1/3 Cup packed brown sugar

·         Whole cloves

 

Preparation:

Preheat Oven 325

Place ham, cut side down, in baking pan. Score the rind about 1/8 inch deep into 1 1/2 inch diamonds. Insert a clove into the center of each diamond. Arrange pineapple slices over the exposed area by inserting a cherry in the center of each one with a toothpick.

Mix the pineapple liquid with the brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of cherry liquid. Pour over the ham and bake according to your recipe (about 2 1/2 hours for an 8-pound ham; about 31/2 hours for a 16-pound ham). Baste ham and pineapple about every 30 minutes to coat pineapple and keep it moist.

Remove from oven and let rest for about 30 minutes before slicing. Remove toothpicks, pineapple, cherries and cloves. Pineapple and cherries go well served on the side.

Banana Nut Bread

I always loved when Mom was cooling off the freshly made loaf of Banana bread, I knew I was going to get all I wanted smothered with creamy butter. I am older (quite a bit) and have cut down a little on the butter but I will never give up home baked breads like this one. This is my favorite recipe; it's from the "What's Cooking America web site. The bread picture above is also courtesy from their web site. Please visit them using this link:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/BananaPecanBread.htm 

I wonder how this will taste using a gluten free flour. I will post it when I know it. Stay tuned Land Lubbers.

Ingredients:

 

·         1/2 cup butter or margarine

·         1 cup sugar

·         2 eggs

·         2 cups sifted flour

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1 cup bananas (approx. 3)

·         1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preparation:

Cream butter and sugar thoroughly. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Sift flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with bananas. Fold in nuts. Pour into greased bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool thoroughly before slicing.

Porcupine Meatballs

Picture by Kiara Hobson (my daughter)
 I got this recipe from the Divine Bite web site. Please visit the site at  http://divinebite.com/1/post/2011/02/porcupine-meatballs.html

I have been making these Porcupine meatballs for along time and my kids love them.

 Ingredients:

• 1lb ground beef
• ½ cup uncooked white rice (not instant)
• 1½ cups water
• 1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp celery salt
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 (15oz)can tomato soup
• ½ tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:

Mix ground beef, rice, ½ cup water, onion, celery salt, garlic powder and mix well. Shape into approximately 18 balls. Cook meatballs in a large skillet with a lid on medium high heat until lightly browned on all sides. Drain fat from skillet.

Mix tomato soup, 1 cup water and Worcestershire. Pour tomato mixture over meatballs and heat to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

**Be sure you do not use instant rice or brown rice…..trust me**
**You can substitute 15oz can tomato sauce for soup, but the soup gives it something special**
**Add additional water or soup during cooking if needed** 

 

Diane Sawyer's Meatloaf and Sandwiches

Picture by Kiara Hobson (my daughter)

I got a hold of this meatloaf recipe on ABC's Good Morning America. Visit site at:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/story?id=2542151&page=1

The sandwich pictured below, was taken by chef Gillian Spence at food.com. Visit site at:

http://www.food.com/recipe/diane-sawyers-famous-meatloaf-sandwiches-342950 

The Meatloaf recipe I followed to the letter only I used 1 pound of beef and 1 pound of ground pork. It was superior to any meatloaves I had before and my family demands I do one weekly. The left overs were enough so that I was able to try the sandwich the next day. It was awesome as well. Thank you Diane Sawyer.

Ingredients for 8:

For the Meatloaf:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 4-5 slices of white bread toasted and loosely crumbled then soaked in milk, to make 1 cup
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 egg
• 4-5 canned plum tomatoes, drained and diced (or 3/4 cup diced canned tomatoes, drained)
• 6 tablespoons sweet onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons green pepper, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons celery, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup ketchup, in the meatloaf
• 1 cup ketchup, for meatloaf topping
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 11/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

For the Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon. mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon. ketchup
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Heinz 57 sauce
• 1 tablespoon. A-1 sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper

For the Sandwich:

• 16 slices of white (or rye or whole wheat bread)
• 8 tablespoons sweet butter, softened
• 1 sweet onion, sliced thin
• 3 ripe tomatoes sliced
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

Preparation:

For Meatloaf:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

In a large mixing bowl combine the toasted bread crumbs, the milk and the egg. Mix together with a fork. Let stand 10 minutes.  

Add the meat, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, celery, 3/4 cup ketchup, and the salt and pepper. Mix together with your hands.  

Put in center of an iron skillet. Shape into a loaf.  

Pour the cup of ketchup over the entire top, thickly.  

Place the skillet into the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees (check with an instant read thermometer).  

Let stand in juices until cool and firmer.  

For Sauce:

In a medium bowl mix the sauce ingredients together with a spoon. Set aside.  

For Sandwich:

Cut the meatloaf into 8 thick slices.  

Spread softened butter on both sides of each slice of bread.  

In a large frying pan "grill" each slice of bread on both sides until golden brown.  

Then "grill" each meatloaf slice on both sides, in the same frying pan until browned nicely. (You may have to do this a few slices at a time.)  

Top one side of grilled slice of bread with some of the sauce. Place one slice of meatloaf on top of the sauce. Place sliced tomato, onion and lettuce on top. Top with more sauce, then another slice of grilled bread and serve.