Chicken Salad Supreme

Another recipe from Grandma Blossom in the old cookbook, 1950 Clifton Hill Presbyterian Church Favorite Recipes.

Chicken Salad Supreme

2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped, toasted almonds
2 Tablespoons chopped green olives
2 Tablespoons chopped black olives
2 Tablespoons chopped, mixed pickles
2 hard cooked eggs, sliced
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Combine ingredients, tossing together lightly. Serve on lettuce leaves. Serves 6.

Options: 
Substitute Turkey for chicken.
Leave out green olives, pickles, eggs.
Add cranberries and finely chopped green onions.
Increase mayonnaise.

Eat in a croissant or on delicious bread.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Barbecue Sauce

I recently found an old cookbook that belonged to my Grandmother (Elpha Hoagland Blossom). I am going to include her recipes from the cookbook in this blog and, maybe, a few others that strike my fancy. They are all old recipes, probably from the 1950s, maybe older. I just love looking through old cookbooks! You find such fantastic recipes in them.

This is a recipe handwritten onto a page in the cookbook.

Barbecue Sauce

2 T. flour
2 T. mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 c. juice from canned peaches, pickles or apples
1/2 c. catsup

Mix flour and mustard together well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

That is all of the recipe but I would cook the sauce to soften the onions and blend the flavors together. But, it's up to you...cook or leave raw.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Watermelon Rind Pickles

This is my Grandmother's (Elpha Hougland Blossom) recipe. I remember having it on the table for holidays and family gatherings. And, it always was in a beautiful glass dish!

Watermelon Rind Pickles

7 lbs. watermelon rinds
7 cups sugar
2 cups vinegar
1/2 tsp. oil of cloves
1/2 tsp. oil of cinnamon

Trim off the dark green and pink parts of the watermelon rinds. Cut into 1" cubes or cut with a small cutter. Soak in brine water (1/4 cup salt to 1 quart water). Drain, rinse and cover with cold water. Cook until tender but not soft; drain. Combine sugar, vinegar, oil of cloves, oil of cinnamon and bring to a boil. Pour over rind. Let stand overnight. In the morning, drain off the syrup, reheat it and pour back over the rind. Repeat. The third morning, heat, bringing the syrup to a boil. Seal in hot, sterilized jars. The oils keep the rind clear and transparent. Makes 8 pints.

Recipe shared by Grandma Blossom, of course!

Yum Yum Brownie Muffins

This is a recipe from Hungry Girl and is a Weight Watchers favorite.

Yum Yum Brownie Muffins

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 can (15 oz.) solid pack Pumpkin

Mix the two ingredients together. DON'T add anything else that may be mentioned on the box. The mix will be very thick. You may be tempted to add other things to make the batter smoother. DON'T DO IT! Place the batter into 12 prepared muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

1 muffin= 180 calories, 37 carbs, 2.5g fiber, 2.5g protein= 3 WWPoints.

Recipe shared by Robin.

T-Bone Tom's Choice Steak Marinade

This is a recipe from a restaurant, T-Bone Tom's in Kemah, Texas. We ate there when we lived in the Houston area. Doesn't it look delicious?

T-Bone Tom's Choice Steak Marinade

2 cups oil
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup pineapple juice
2 Tablespoons chopped garlic
2 Tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons dry mustard

4 steaks

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Marinate the steaks overnight, or for 10 hours, in the refrigerator. Grill steaks.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

This is one of my favorite Christmas cookies- Peanut Butter Blossoms! It's not very Christmasy, until we have one of these cookies. Yummy!

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Unwrapped Hershey Kisses

Mix together shortening, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Shape into walnut-size balls. Roll in sugar. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently push a candy kiss into cookie. Bake 2 minutes longer. Cool. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Famous Senate Restaurant Bean Soup

This is another recipe that has been part of the recipe box for such a long time that I have no idea where it came from...but it's delicious! (When I searched for a picture I found the recipe on food.com.)

Famous Senate Restaurant Bean Soup

4 qts. water (16 cups or 1 gallon)
2 lbs. navy beans, washed (4 cups)
1 1/2 lbs. ham hock (2-4 cups cut up ham pieces, depending on how much meat you want in it.)
1/2 cube of butter (This is an estimate. Use more or less as your tastes dictate.)
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced (I added this to the recipe.)
salt and pepper

Cook beans and meat in the water. Simmer 3 hours. Remove the meat and clean and chop it. Return it to the beans and water. (You may drain the beans, rinse and add clean water, if you are concerned about the bean "issues".) Brown the onions and carrots in the butter. Add to soup. Cook it another hour or so. I think that it just gets better the longer that it cooks. Season with salt and pepper before serving. Serves 8.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I have no idea where this recipe came from. I've had it for forever! It's the recipe that I use whenever we have chicken leftover.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 qts. water
Boney Chicken Parts
3 carrots, sliced
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 lb. noodles (homemade or store bought)
salt and pepper

Cook the meat and bones in the water until tender and falling off the bones. Remove the meat and bones from the broth and clean the meat off and cut to bite-size pieces. Strain the broth.  Add the vegetables and the noodles and cook until tender. Return the meat to the broth. Season to taste.  Serves 6.

I do like to substitute rice for the noodles on occassion. Maybe 1/2 cup of uncooked rice...no more than 1 cup. Remember, 1 cup of uncooked rice turns into 3 cups of cooked rice. Of course, if you love lots of rice....

Recipe shared by Robin.

Oven Baked Stew

Our family LOVES this stew. It from our friend, Karen Noel, who is a fantastic cook. It is a family recipe from either her Mother or her Mother-in-law. Either way...Yum!

Oven Baked Stew

2 1/2 lbs. stew meat
8 large carrots
8 medium potatoes
2 stalks of celery
1 package of dry onion soup mix
2 bay leaves
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1- 8oz. can of tomato sauce

In an oven safe pot, brown meat. Add the vegetables. Sprinkle with soup mix and add the bay leaves. Top with the soups and tomato sauce. Cover and bake at 250 degrees for 6-8 hours. Or at 350 degrees for 3-4 hours. It works well a crock pot, too.  Serves 8-10.

It's great served with fresh, warm from the oven rolls.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Oatmeal Cheesecake Cranberry Bars

This recipe is from our friend, Laura Moore. I found her email and this recipe in my box of recipes that I was cleaning out last week. I need to share her recipe. I've had it since 2008 and haven't made it yet!

Picture from afamilyfeast.com.

Oatmeal Cheesecake Cranberry Bars

2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups quick cooking oatmeal
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1- 16oz. can whole cranberry sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, oatmeal and brown sugar. Cut in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumbs. Press remaing crumbs into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, lemon juice and vanilla. Spread over baked crust in pan. Stir together the cranberry sauce and cornstarch. Spoon carefully over the cream cheese layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 3 hours. Cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Miso-Glazed Salmon

From allrecipes.com.
Miso is packed with lactobacillus probiotic strains. 

Miso-Glazed Salmon

A sweet-salty miso, brown sugar, and soy sauce glaze caramelizes in about 10 minutes as it cooks atop rich, meaty salmon.

Ingredients

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons hot water

2 tablespoons miso (soybean paste)

4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Combine first 4 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Arrange fish in a shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon miso mixture evenly over fish.

Broil 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, basting twice with miso mixture. Sprinkle with chives.

Serves 4.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Sticky Monkey Brains Pull Apart Bread

I found this recipe when I cleaned out my old recipe papers last week. What a treasure of recipes! This recipe is from allrecipes.com.

Sticky Monkey Brains

3 (7.5oz.) packages refrigerated biscuits
1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Use scissors to cut each rerigerated biscuit in 2-5 pieces. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Grease a bundt pan or 6 small minature bundt pans. Sprinkle half of the pecans into pan(s).  Roll each biscuit piece in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and place into the pan(s). Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over. Mix the butter and brown sugar together and pecans and pour evenly over the dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes for bundt pan (20 minutes for minature bundt pans) until browned and cooked through. Remove from the oven, turn upside down and cool.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Grandma Irvine's Fruitcake

This is a another recipe from Grandma Irvine. She shared her Famous Fruitcake recipe with us. We have made it for many years. It isn't like the traditional nasty fruitcake. This is more like a spice cake with candied fruit in it. We like to make them in the mini muffin pans. Bitesize fruitcake!

Fruitcake

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon allspice or nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoon vanilla
4.8oz. diced, glaced cherries
4.8oz. diced, glazed pineapple
1 cup diced dates
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup pecans

Beat butter, sugar and molasses together in a mixer. Add eggs. Mix in dry ingredients. Add vanilla, then fruit and nuts. Line muffin cups with colored baking papers. Spoon batter into cup, 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Cover with foil, if needed, to keep them from burning. Cool and store in a plastic storage container. These freeze well.

Our Option:
Bake in mini muffin pans at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.

Pretzel Kisses

A fun Holiday treat! You can make them for any holiday by using the Holiday Kisses and M&M's.

Pretzel Kisses

Pretzels (You can use small round or square pretzels.)
Hershey Kisses (You may choose the special Holiday Kisses!)
M&M's (Use the special Holiday colors and flavors!)

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread pretzels out in a single layer. Place one unwrapped Hershey Kiss inside (or on top of) each pretzel. Bake at 350 degrees for 3 minutes. Take out of the oven and press one M&M into the center of each Kiss to spread the candy into the pretzel. Cool.

Options: Be creative! Have fun!
Use Rollos and pecans.
Use Brach Stars and M&M's.
Use Candy Melts and M&M's.

Strawberry Cake

This is Grandma Irvine's Strawberry Cake recipe. We love this cake! It is especially a favorite this the little girls for their birthday cake.

Picture from bakememore.com.

Strawberry Cake

1 package white cake mix
6 Tablespoons flour
1- 3 ounce package strawberry jello
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs
2/3 cup frozen strawberries and juice, thawed

Mix all ingredients together and mix for 4 minutes. Pour into prepared pan(s). We have used a 9x13 pan or 2 round cake pans. I'm sure that it would be fantastic as cupcakes, too. The cake will come out of the pans better, if you line the bottom of the pans with waxed paper. The waxed paper will peel easily from the cake when cooked. Or spray the pan with vegatable spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Strawberry Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup thawed strawberries

Mix ingredients well. Spread on cooled cake.

Dutch Oven Baked Beans

We love baked beans when we are camping or at a BBQ. This recipe is pretty basic. Add whatever additions your family likes, like bacon!

Dutch Oven Baked Beans

1 large can of baked beans

2T. chopped onions

Large squirt of mustard

large squirt of ketchup

2T. brown sugar (or molasses)

Mix all ingredients in a dutch oven, cover and cook dutch oven style until done, about 1 hour. If you keep the fire/coals low, you may cook it longer. Serves 6.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Dutch Oven Potatoes

This is a recipe shared by our sister-in-law, Mary Ann Irvine. We had it one summer at their house and it has stuck in our taste buds memory. Yum!

Dutch Oven Potatoes

1/4lb. bacon
2 onions, chopped
8 potatoes, sliced
1-2 cups cheddar cheese, according to taste

Cook the bacon, then the onions in a dutch oven. Add the potatoes and stir. Cover and cook dutch oven style until the potatoes are soft, about 1 hour. Sprinkle on the cheese and cover a few more minutes to let the cheese melt. Serves 8-10 people.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Dutch Oven Cobbler

Jay has been making this recipe when camping with the Boy Scouts for many years. It is a favorite when our family used to go camping, too.

Dutch Oven Cobbler

1 large can of sliced peaches
1 box of white cake mix (optional: yellow or spice cake mix)
1/2 of cube of butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Layer the ingredients in a dutch oven and cook about 30 minutes, according to dutch oven cooking.
Serves 8.

Double the recipe for large outings. Leftovers are always desired!

Recipe shared by Robin.

Brisket Rub

This recipe is from a family friend, Evelyn Anderson. She is an amazing cook and we loved her brisket!

Brisket Rub

Rub Ingredients:
2T. liquid smoke
1/2t. celery salt
1/2t. onion salt
1/2t. garlic salt
1/4c. worcestershire sauce

4-5 lbs. Beef Brisket, trimmed of most of the fat

Combine the rub ingredients and rub into the brisket. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Put in a large roasting pan, cover and bake at 275 degrees for 5 hours. Pour 1c. BBQ Sauce over and bake 1 hour. To serve, cut across the grain.

Evelyn likes to use a large roasting bag when marinating and cooking the brisket.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Corn Dish

I know that this is a dumb recipe title, but that is what it is called, what my friend, Amme Jenkins called it. I'm sorry. You'll just have to deal with it!

Picture from food.com.

Apparently it is a Paula Deen recipe!

Corn Dish

1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped purple onion
1 12-15 oz. can corn
1 can mexi-corn
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 bag of chili cheese fritos, crunched a little

Mix ingredients together, except fritos. Refrigerate. Add the fritos just before serving to keep them crunchy.

Recipe shared by Robin.

Gasser Family Christmas Jello Salad

This is a recipe from Carolyn and Curtis Gasser. It is one of his family's Christmas traditions. It is delicious and often requested!

Picture from Six Sister's Stuff.

This is the salad made the opposite from this recipe.

The pretzels are on the bottom, instead of the top.

You have options!

Raspberry Pretzel Salad

Jello ingredients:
2 large packages of raspberry jello (May substitute strawberry.)
4 cups boiling water
12 oz. bag of frozen raspberries (May substitute strawberries.)

Dissolve the jello in the boiling water. Add raspberries. Pour into a 9x13 pan. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours until firm.

Topping ingredients:
1 cup sugar
8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
8 oz. container of Cool Whip

Beat sugar and cream cheese together. Stir in the cream cheese. Mix well. Spread over the jello layer.

Pretzel ingredients:
1 1/2 cups broken pretzels
3 Tbsp. sugar
3/4 cup melted butter

Mix ingredients together. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle on cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate.

Shared by Robin. Actually, shared by Carolyn and Curtis!

No Bake Pastry Crust Quiche

This is a recipe that I found amoung my recipes. I have not idea where it came from but it is a very interesting way to make quiche, so I am including it.

Quiche

A No Bake Pastry forms as the base while cooking

1 cup chopped onions
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup chopped bacon or ham
1/2 cup self raising flour
chopped parsley
4 eggs
 1 1/2 cups milk

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 9" pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour until golden and firm.

This is a basic recipe. Add whatever you'd like. Sundried tomatoes are really nice!

Recipe shared by Robin.

Country Quiche

This is a recipe from allrecipes.com. "This is a classic quiche lorraine with bacon, onions, eggs and cheese."

We are wanting to make a quiche for Christmas morning. 

Country Quiche

9" unbaked pie crust
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 small onion, chopped
4 eggs
2T. milk
2T. flour
1tsp. dried parsley
1/4tsp. thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1/4c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2c. shredded cheddar cheese

Cook and crumble bacon. Reserve 1T. bacon grease and saute onions. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, flour, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Add bacon, onions, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Mix well. Pour mixture into the unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degreese for 45 minutes or until light brown on top and firm in the middle. Serve warm. Serves 8.

Recipe shared by Robin.

The Top Ten Happy Foods

This is from an article, Top Ten Happy Foods, by Joy Bauer in April 2007. I found it while cleaning out my box of recipes and papers.

Eating for a Better Mood comes down to this- keep your blood sugar level by eating every 4-5 hours, eat foods rich in soluble fiber, include foods rich in omega 3 fats, folic acid, B12 and Vitamin D- all foods that have been found to be mood lifting.

The Top 10 Happy Foods are:

1. Wild Salmon
2. Spinach
3. Skim Milk
4. Ground Flaxseeds

5. Blackberries

6. Omega 3 Fortified Eggs
7. Sardines
8. Soybeans
9. Beans
10. Brussel Sprouts

A Bonus one:

11. Sunflower Seeds

(I don't agree with several of these on another level, but I'm including them because a Doctor shared them.)

In my opinion, no one should eat sardines. Those little bones are just gross. No one should eat soybeans because of the problems they create with your hormones. And, brussel sprouts! Yuck! I have heard that they are good if you roast them.

Shared by Robin