Super Happy!

Last night when Jamey & I were in Winston, we went to Edward McKay's. Oh, how I love that store!!! Anyways, I was looking at the cookbooks and what did I find.....The Joy of Cooking from 1975!!! I got it for $6.80! Yay!!!!!!!!

Now, just to find Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol.1 & Vol.2!

Father's Day Dinner

One of Jamey's favorite foods is French Beef Salad. This is a cold meat salad with a red wine vinaigrette dressing. Mom got this recipe from a Girl Scout thingy many, many, many, moons ago and we have loved it sense. My family eats it a little different only in

I add green peppers and red onions and don't do the tomatoes & lettuce - just cause those things get eaten before we have FBS. We enjoyed Yorkshire Pudding along the side.

To finish the dinner off tonight, we had Sandra J Brownies and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. The brownies are more cake like and the recipe came to our family via a lady named Sandra that Mom worked with years ago. The ice cream honestly came more close to tasting like Snow Cream than ice cream, but it was supper yummy as well.

Lasagna

So last week sometime I was watching Food Network. Surprised aren't you???? Anyways,Secrets of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell with the episode of The Secret to Lasagna. I was really interested in watching it because when I make my lasagna, even though it is really good, when you scoop it out of the pan it does the landslide thing and you know when you get lasagna in a restaurant it's nice & stacked up all pretty & such. Julie, Jonathan & Gracie joined us for dinner last night for my attempt on Anne's Lasagna, which I just use it for technique. Mine was Veggie Lasagna, with Ricotta, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

The reviews/suggestions were:

Michael "It wasn't as good as regular because all the vegetables, it needed more meat."

Emma "It was awesome."

Gracie "It was good."

Jonathan "It needed more green peppers."

Joey "It was good.."

Which is really funny because there was none left when Julie, Emma, Gracie & I came back in from our trip to town.

Next time - and there will be a next time! I will

add Italian sausage and maybe some pepperoni's. But as for the technique in shocking the noodles, layering the lasagna as she suggested and letting it cool some before serving it worked really well!

Packing Up the Freezer

School's out & the kids are hungry!!!! ALWAYS hungry! This morning I began prepping the freezer with breakfast items for the HOPEFULLY next 2 weeks. I made an entire box of pancakes, one recipe of awesome Deluxe Waffles, 2 recipes of Blueberry Muffins and 1 recipe of Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I have been making these waffles for about 7 1/2 years. They are so good! The photo linked is from the ones I made on this past Mother's Day and posted to all my friends who are Mom's. The only thing I do to pancake mix from a box is add vanilla flavoring. The muffin recipe, is actually from the book Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke. This photo is when I made them the first time and where I have shared it with the Group on FB "I love Joanne Fluke!". I removed the fruit, added milk & the chips to make the other version.

Playing Catch Up!

I have been having computer problems, so I am quite behind on postings. Sometime last week, I made Easy Potato Casserole.

It was eh. We all ended up eating ketchup on it. The leftovers got trashed instead of eating them. Oh, well. Last Saturday was Mom's Birthday. Jules and I made Grilled Pizzas for dinner and a Hummingbird Cake.I used the same dough for the grilled pizzas as I did for the first time I made them. We did learn that even though they were good, they are much easier and faster to make with a gas grill instead of a charcoal grill. The Hummingbird Cake was from a Betty Crocker's Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook. It turned out quite well and it was yummy!Sunday, was Dad’s Birthday. He asked me to make him his favorite cake, Lemon Pound Cake. So, I did. I have been adding more lemon flavoring to the recipe since I began making the cake, but last night was the first time I added the zest and fresh lemon juice. The cake was very moist, but took forever to make only because once it went in the oven, the oven door had been opened & closed about a gillizon times since dinner was being cooked also.
Monday's dinner was something quick since we had to take Michael for his uniform sizing, so I decided to make Grandma Strick’s Pimento Cheese for sandwiches. Tuesday's dinner was a favorite, French Dip Sandwiches from Our Best Bites! Made awesome leftovers for lunch today at work.

Tonight's dinner showcased a new side Cheesy Penne. I couldn't find English White Cheddar, so I used Vermont White Cheddar (Cabot). It was pretty good, but basically, it's just a fancy mac n' cheese. Not something that will get made all the time, but it will be enjoyed again at our table.

I have decided on new goals for me to work on food wise –
#1- make sure to not only write out the weekly menu & post it, but make sure the menu runs along with the items in Food Lion’s weekly sales paper. I do buy items on sale as well as meat that has been marked down, so my freezer can hold random meat that I have picked up. I do try to keep extra meat in the freezer as a back up for those weeks that end up being weird and the meal for that particular night.
#2- Start thinking & working on food items for the kids to eat for lunch & breakfast since school will be letting out for the summer on Friday. One idea I am thinking about is trying to make more at dinner time, so not only will I have leftovers for lunch the next day, but they will have lunch.