I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful fall weather! I came home from work today, and all I wanted to do was sit in the swing, feel that cool breeze, and stare at the clouds!
So my mom noticed I left out someone’s name in the title, and I had to add my girl Rachael Ray! I got a set of her cookware for Christmas last year from Kyle, and I absolutely love it! You might be asking why I didn’t wait until the wedding and register for new cookware, so everybody else could buy it for me, right? It’s because I was in dire need of a new set. You see, my old set was brand new when I moved to Starkville for college in 2002. So what, you say? Well, let me put it to you like this. I made potato soup one night in the stockpot, and as I was stirring I could see all these black specs appearing in the soup. But I had not added any pepper! About a week later, I had a new set. I sold the old set in a yard sale earlier this year, but oddly enough I kept that stockpot. It makes for a great spaghetti noodle pot, and I have a large pyrex bowl that fits nicely in it and can be used for a double boiler if need be.
Speaking of Mom, I had to ask if she was serious about her creamed corn comment from last week. Now I’ve been cooking for a while now, I’d say probably 10 years. But by no means am I an expert or do I ever claim to know it all. I love to learn, so new or better ideas or suggestions about anything I write are very welcome. And I don’t have any problem (usually) admitting when I don’t know something… I did not know Mammaw really did cream her own corn! I can remember as a child seeing my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles sitting outside under the oak trees with tubs of corn at their feet. I can remember all the shuckin’ and silkin’, but I must have been too young to remember them cutting and scraping the corn off the cob. Mom says it’s sweet corn that makes its own cream when cooked. You don’t add anything to it (I thought for sure milk or whipping cream had to go in it), but you do have to be careful that it doesn’t scorch. How about that! Makes me wish I had a corn field!
Ok so on to this week’s recipes. Honestly I had no plans to cook something new this week. This is an extremely busy week with softball last night, Bible study tomorrow, softball Thursday night, and my bachelorette party Friday night (woo hoo!). Tonight is the only night I’ll be home for any length of time, and that means leftovers! And my go-to meal when I need plenty of leftovers to last a few days, or at the end of the month when I need cheap meals, is spaghetti! Now my step-dad is the king of spaghetti, and he gave me the ingredients I use for my recipe. I can’t say he gave me the recipe, because I don’t know that David has a recipe for spaghetti. I don’t know that David has a recipe for anything! He just throws things together, and they always come out great! He makes the best cheesecakes ever, but Mom would always get aggravated because they tasted different each time! He’s also the king of shrimp, and happens to have some for sale right now if anyone is interested. (You like the plug, Dave?!) Anyway, I add basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and garlic salt to the hamburger meat and brown/drain it. Then add a jar of whatever spaghetti sauce you like, and a can of diced tomatoes, and simmer for an hour. Sometimes depending on what spaghetti sauce I buy, I have to add a little salt and pepper while it simmers. Easy and always good! Oh, and David always puts a couple bay leaves in his too. Great recipe, but by no means a new one.
Well, I just couldn’t help myself! With all these new books and recipes, I’m like a kid with a new toy. I just had to try something! Enter my Bible study teacher, Mrs. Cindy. I had a wedding shower this past weekend at my cousin Pat’s, and Mrs. Cindy gave me a great gift! She wrapped up a cookie sheet, a German chocolate cookie recipe, and all the dry ingredients needed as my gift! Really cute idea for anyone heading to a wedding shower soon! And oh my gosh are those cookies wonderful! And super easy too. Mix together a boxed german chocolate cake mix, a 5.1 oz box of vanilla pudding, an 11.5 oz bag of chocolate chips, 3 eggs, ½ cup oil, and 1 cup chopped nuts. That’s it! Bake on a cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes or until done. I’m all about these easy recipes!
I do want to give ya’ll a little tip though. If you want to make cookies, and you want them to look pretty, spend the money and buy a Calphalon cookie sheet. The recipe made more dough than would fit on the Calphalon cookie sheet she gave me, so I used a couple of my old Wal-Mart sheets. I never dreamed my cookie sheet was the reason none of my cookies ever looked good! The ones on the Calphalon sheet were perfectly round and plumped up really nicely, but the ones on the old sheets flattened out and split. Not pretty at all!
So my mom noticed I left out someone’s name in the title, and I had to add my girl Rachael Ray! I got a set of her cookware for Christmas last year from Kyle, and I absolutely love it! You might be asking why I didn’t wait until the wedding and register for new cookware, so everybody else could buy it for me, right? It’s because I was in dire need of a new set. You see, my old set was brand new when I moved to Starkville for college in 2002. So what, you say? Well, let me put it to you like this. I made potato soup one night in the stockpot, and as I was stirring I could see all these black specs appearing in the soup. But I had not added any pepper! About a week later, I had a new set. I sold the old set in a yard sale earlier this year, but oddly enough I kept that stockpot. It makes for a great spaghetti noodle pot, and I have a large pyrex bowl that fits nicely in it and can be used for a double boiler if need be.
Speaking of Mom, I had to ask if she was serious about her creamed corn comment from last week. Now I’ve been cooking for a while now, I’d say probably 10 years. But by no means am I an expert or do I ever claim to know it all. I love to learn, so new or better ideas or suggestions about anything I write are very welcome. And I don’t have any problem (usually) admitting when I don’t know something… I did not know Mammaw really did cream her own corn! I can remember as a child seeing my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles sitting outside under the oak trees with tubs of corn at their feet. I can remember all the shuckin’ and silkin’, but I must have been too young to remember them cutting and scraping the corn off the cob. Mom says it’s sweet corn that makes its own cream when cooked. You don’t add anything to it (I thought for sure milk or whipping cream had to go in it), but you do have to be careful that it doesn’t scorch. How about that! Makes me wish I had a corn field!
Ok so on to this week’s recipes. Honestly I had no plans to cook something new this week. This is an extremely busy week with softball last night, Bible study tomorrow, softball Thursday night, and my bachelorette party Friday night (woo hoo!). Tonight is the only night I’ll be home for any length of time, and that means leftovers! And my go-to meal when I need plenty of leftovers to last a few days, or at the end of the month when I need cheap meals, is spaghetti! Now my step-dad is the king of spaghetti, and he gave me the ingredients I use for my recipe. I can’t say he gave me the recipe, because I don’t know that David has a recipe for spaghetti. I don’t know that David has a recipe for anything! He just throws things together, and they always come out great! He makes the best cheesecakes ever, but Mom would always get aggravated because they tasted different each time! He’s also the king of shrimp, and happens to have some for sale right now if anyone is interested. (You like the plug, Dave?!) Anyway, I add basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and garlic salt to the hamburger meat and brown/drain it. Then add a jar of whatever spaghetti sauce you like, and a can of diced tomatoes, and simmer for an hour. Sometimes depending on what spaghetti sauce I buy, I have to add a little salt and pepper while it simmers. Easy and always good! Oh, and David always puts a couple bay leaves in his too. Great recipe, but by no means a new one.
Well, I just couldn’t help myself! With all these new books and recipes, I’m like a kid with a new toy. I just had to try something! Enter my Bible study teacher, Mrs. Cindy. I had a wedding shower this past weekend at my cousin Pat’s, and Mrs. Cindy gave me a great gift! She wrapped up a cookie sheet, a German chocolate cookie recipe, and all the dry ingredients needed as my gift! Really cute idea for anyone heading to a wedding shower soon! And oh my gosh are those cookies wonderful! And super easy too. Mix together a boxed german chocolate cake mix, a 5.1 oz box of vanilla pudding, an 11.5 oz bag of chocolate chips, 3 eggs, ½ cup oil, and 1 cup chopped nuts. That’s it! Bake on a cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes or until done. I’m all about these easy recipes!
I do want to give ya’ll a little tip though. If you want to make cookies, and you want them to look pretty, spend the money and buy a Calphalon cookie sheet. The recipe made more dough than would fit on the Calphalon cookie sheet she gave me, so I used a couple of my old Wal-Mart sheets. I never dreamed my cookie sheet was the reason none of my cookies ever looked good! The ones on the Calphalon sheet were perfectly round and plumped up really nicely, but the ones on the old sheets flattened out and split. Not pretty at all!
I don’t know if the picture does it justice or not, but the cookies on the right came off the Calphalon sheet. One other tip: use a scoop to measure out the cookie dough. I always used two teaspoons to get the dough on the sheet, but bought a scoop a while back for some other recipe. The only one I have is a small one, so of course the cookies are small; but they’re generally the same size and shape, and look so much better! Hopefully there will be some left for those of you coming to the party Friday night!
Since I’ve rambled on and taken up plenty of your precious time, I’ll leave you with these parting words, courtesy of Hailey: “If it’s un-ladylike, fattening, or fun… I’m in!”
I had spaghetti sauce out of a jar tonight. Then I saw your blog. Next time I'll check here first!
ReplyDeleteCan we please see the potato soup in lieu of the fall weather??
Most definitely! I'll cook it next week and post it for you!
ReplyDelete