Be thankful!

A smell or taste of food can bring you back home. my moms cranberry pie recipe. she would make it this time of year. tastes more cakelike than pie great fall dish. girlz gotta eat. happy baking and being thankful! God bless xoxo

Rich Scones

This rich scones recipe is from a magazine that the editor found on an old apron. Made it with raisins and thought next time might add a bit more sugar but thats the reason I tried it not alot of sugar plus when you put some jam on the scones it doesnt need to be very sweet.  Self-rising flour is all-purpose flour that has had baking powder and salt added to it. I used all purpose and added a tsp of baking powder.  I mixed/kneaded it in a big bowl then on the counter pressed it out with my hands dont need a rolling pin. I also cut the pieces with a knife for a rustic look using all the dough. Perfect with tea. Cheerio!



Recipes to share

From my Star Market days I fondly remember Kay McCarthy. She was Star Market’s spokeswoman for local TV commercials. My first day at the office I met Kay and thought I met the biggest celebrity in these parts since Julia Child! (I did see Julia shop at Mt Auburn Star) Kay would create or demonstrate recipes and she wrote at least one cookbook for Star Market. She would bring me her hand written recipes each week to typeset a recipe card that went in the stores for customers.  I always enjoyed seeing what she came up with and her kind elegant way.

I have made Kay's “Spinach and Cheese Pie” for years and it comes out perfect every time. The mushroom crust is so simple you’ll be tempted to add more to it but don’t. After the crust is made, pour the ingredients in and bake. Perfect every time.

“Family Favorite Chicken” is another Kay McCarthy recipe that my mom liked and would make often. Its good with curry but you can substitute any seasoning you like or have on hand.

“310 Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry” got its name from an apartment in Watertown we would whip up this stir fry when we had a date to impress. LOL yummy every time. Not sure if it’s a Kay recipe or from a Chinese cookbook but worth sharing. Bon appetite!

SPINACH MUSHROOM PIE

½-lb. chopped fresh mushrooms
(small pkg. sliced mushrooms then chop)

3 Tbsp. butter            ½ cup dry bread crumbs

1 ½ cups grated Swiss cheese

1 10-oz. pkg. chopped frozen spinach defrosted sprinkled w/nutmeg

6 slices bacon fried and crumbled or 6 Tbsp Hormel real bacon pieces

3 Tbsp flour

3 eggs

2/3 cup mayonnaise or miracle whip

Saute mushrooms in butter. Add bread crumbs. Press mixture in a 9-inch pie pan to form a crust. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour into pie shell. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.

Family Favorite Chicken

2 Tablespoons butter                                       3 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp oil                                                        salt and pepper

3 or 4 celery sliced thin                                   dash of curry powder
1 onion chopped                                             (or any seasoning)
1 to 1 ½ cups chicken broth

Chicken breasts or tenders cut up bite size pieces

Heat butter and oil in skillet, add chicken, turning on all sides to brown. Remove from pan. Add onion, celery, sauté until a little crisp. Return chicken to pan, toss together. Sprinkle cornstarch over all and mix well. Add salt, pepper, curry (or 5 spice powder) and chicken broth, stirring until thickened. Serve with rice. 

“310” Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

1-lb. beef strips                                                3 Tbsp. oil

2 Tablespoons soy sauce                                 1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch                                            2 Tbsp sherry

1 Tbsp. oil                                                       2 Tbsp chicken broth

Broccoli

Combine soy sauce, cornstarch and 1 Tbsp. oil, pour over beef. Steam broccoli for about 2 to 3 min. Heat 3 Tbsp oil in wok or pan. Sprinkle sugar over hot oil; add beef, stir and cook. Add broccoli stir, then stir in sherry and broth. Sliced canned water chestnuts can also be added. Serve with rice.

Savory and James, product of Spain, Deluxe Dry Sherry – FINO

Keep in refrigerator, good for risotto, sauces, dips or deglazing pans.

got junk?

Blue and white with big bold letters 1 800 got junk? dump truck pulls up to the next door building claiming North America’s largest junk removal service. Full green trash bags, wood, pieces of metal clang and bang after being thrown into the wide open backside of the truck. A photo scrapbook of someone’s life falls out and scatters with all the debris. How sad I thought as my heart tugged seeing stuff thrown away. Did someone die or move and left their stuff behind. Could it be a hoarder and its time to let go of the obsession before it puts them in danger.

Made me wonder is this what happens to all our stuff eventually?

The saying one person’s junk is another’s treasure is so true. One of my favorite shows lately ‘American Pickers’ go in attics, basements, barns or storage units full of mostly old abandoned stuff looking for a gem. BANG. Another object gets thrown into the truck. Again I look out the window to see an old wooden round side table circa 1970’s being tossed in with the now full truck of junk. Haven’t they heard of trash to treasure? Shabby chic!

As a kid trash picking was an adventure! People would get rid of perfectly good items. Before recycling became all the rage if you didn’t want it leave it at the curb someone would take it. When I had outgrown my dolls and toys I gave them all away to the younger kids on the street. Yard sales have become a huge business on the weekends when the weather is nice. Yard sale-ing down Belmont Street you can make 2 or 3 stops on a good day. Just ask my friend Sharon she knows all the sales in advance heads out early to find stuff at a bahgain!

Some stuff is hard to part with for sentimental reason we cling to that old ticket stub, artwork or knick knack. You can’t take it with you when you go. Sooner or later all the stuff we own has to go to someone else or the dump. Each season of life we go through our stuff take inventory what stays what goes. Clothes in a closet no longer being worn get put in the red cross box for someone else that is in need. I don’t want to leave a lot of stuff behind. My hope is to give away a lot of stuff as the seasons change before that blue truck pulls up to my door.