I'm trying--Heritage Supper

Heritage Supper
The Complete Cheese Cookbook Copyright 1971

2 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk I used low-fat milk
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
½ pound of Velveeta, cubed I used 2% Velveeta
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1 3-ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained
¼ cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped pimiento
1 8-ounce package thin spaghetti, cooked, drained I used Smart Taste
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 ½ cups cooked ham strips I used turkey ham

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Make white sauce with margarine, flour, milk and seasonings. Add Velveeta, green pepper, mushrooms, onion and pimiento; stir until Velveeta melts. Combine spaghetti and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese; layer half of spaghetti, ham and Velveeta sauce in 12x8-inch baking dish; repeat layers. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 degrees, 25 minutes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.
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I’m not sure what drew me to this recipe. Desperation? LOL. Nothing appeals to me these days so something homey must have sounded good. It was pleasant but honestly I shouldn’t be giving my opinion these days because very little thrills me. Pizza Bread was the only thing I ate this week that I did flips over but I’m not sure if you can trust me when I like something either.

This is a Kraft book so ‘Complete Cheese’ is a bit misleading. It does discuss a lot of fancier cheeses but the recipes stick to cheeses that Kraft was producing in 1971.

I went grocery shopping last night and it was depressing. Prices are so high and I had no idea what I would be in the mood for all week so I was throwing things in the cart willy-nilly. I had one of those bad-turning carts and I almost pulled an abdominal muscle pushing it around after it was full. They discontinued my favorite pizza cheese (Freschetta) which was just the right blend and not greasy when baked.

I'm glad this week is over!

Blast From The Past: Old-Time Beef Stew from February 2006. I can't believe I haven't made that again this year yet.

Question of the Day: What's the last meal you ordered at a restaurant? (Maybe that will inspire me! The last meal I had in a restaurant, besides McDs, was a pulled pork sandwich and fries.)

Very simple--Fiesta Chicken

Fiesta Chicken
Home Cooking 2005 Recipe Annual Copyright 2005

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix I make my own so I can control the sodium
Cracker crumbs
1 cup cheddar cheese I used 2% cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking dish. Pound chicken breasts slightly to flatten them to a uniform size. Coat chicken breasts with sour cream. Combine cracker crumbs and taco seasoning mix. Dredge chicken in mixture. Place in prepared dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes.

Serves 4.
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I've been completely exhausted the past couple of weeks so something this simple was just what I needed. It was nothing incredibly special (I seem to say that a lot these days) but it used ingredients I had lying around and it was super quick. I didn't need to cook mine nearly as long as the recipe suggested. It seemed to go over well too - my son even asked for seconds.

I'm in that weird place again where nothing I eat is all that satisfying. Maybe that is why I'm really struggling with next week's menu. Hundreds of cookbooks and I was coming up blank last night. I came up with a few ideas but I may scrap everything and start over.

Blast From The Past: Deep-Dish Chili Pie from February 2006. Maybe I'll make that next week since pizza crust and cheese are on sale.

Question of the Day: Anyone else burned out?

More from Mamma--Sausage, Peppers, and Potatoes

Sausage, Peppers, and Potatoes
Cooking and Canning with Mamma D’Amato Copyright 1997

6 potatoes
1 onion, sliced
3 green or red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1 ½ pounds Italian sausage

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes and cut into wedges. (I didn't peel my potatoes.)Layer potatoes, onion slices, and peppers in a baking dish and sprinkle with garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Lay sausages on top of mixture and prick each sausage with fork several times. Bake until mixture browns, 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6.
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Mamma D'Amato knows her way around the kitchen and I have faith in her recipes except for one thing which I almost forgot - don't trust her cooking times and temperatures! I've noticed with other recipes that the cooking time and temps are just too long, too high. After about 30 minutes at 400 degrees, I checked on these and my sausages were already too brown but the potatoes were far from done. I turned down the oven at that point but I would go lower from the start if I do it again.

I made this the night before we ate it and some of my onions and peppers that were on the ends burned and the sausages were a bit overdone so I wasn't sure it would be a success but it was. It was flavorful and really not too heavy considering this dish contained sausage and potatoes. I would usually toss everything in a bit of oil first but this used only the fat from the sausages. Italian sausage is fatty enough without adding more fat so that was a nice plus. It was a bit dry in the sense that there wasn't any real juice but I had a bit of ketchup along side mine.

Blast From The Past: Balsamic Chicken from January 2006, also from Mamma D'Amato.

Question of the Day: Was your mother a good cook?

Baking bread--Pizza Bread

Pizza Bread
Great Bread Machine Recipes Copyright 1992

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup chopped pepperoni
½ teaspoon dried onion
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoon dry milk
1 ½ teaspoon pizza spice I used Italian seasoning
4 teaspoons Parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup warm water
¼ cup tomato sauce I used pizza sauce

Prepare following the instructions in your bread machine booklet.

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I don't use my bread machine to bake bread very often. I use it to make pizza dough once each week and I occasionally make the dough for rolls or Italian bread but actually baking a loaf of bread in it is a rarity. I've collected a few nice bread machine cookbooks so I have plenty of recipes.

I had some leftover turkey pepperoni and pizza sauce from making pizza last week so I made this pizza bread which was successful enough that you may see me making bread a lot more often. The nice thing is that my bread machine makes small 1-pound loaves, one or two at a time, and since I'm the only one who really eats the bread, that's good or the rest of me would be expanding along with my waistline.

This was really great toasted with some butter and a scrambled egg and cheese for breakfast. Although, if I'm going to make a habit out of making bread, I'm going to need to make something healthier since this is basically white bread.

Blast From The Past: St. Paddy’s Day Rye from March of last year. I made the dough in my bread machine and finished it off in the oven. It made great Reubens.

Question of the Day: Do you have a bread machine? Do you use it? I might have asked that question before but refresh my memory.

Pretty in Pink--Big, Soft Sugar Cookies with Strawberry Icing

Big, Soft Sugar Cookies with Strawberry Icing
The All-American Dessert Book Copyright 2005

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
2/3 cup solid white shortening at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
¼ teaspoon lemon extract
¼ cup sour cream

Strawberry Icing
1 cup strawberries, at room temperature
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
About 4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft but not melted
1 ½ tablespoons light corn syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Water, if needed

In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, salt and baking powder; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter and shortening. With an electric mixture on medium speed, beat until well-blended and fluffy, about 1 ½ minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs, corn syrup, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon extract until smoothly incorporated. Beat in half the dry ingredients, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. On low speed, beat in the sour cream. Then beat or stir in the remaining dry ingredients just until the mixture is well-blended and smooth. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Generously grease several large baking sheets or generously coat with nonstick spray.

On a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper, shape the chilled dough into a 6-inch disk. Cut the disk into quarters. Wrap 3 of the quarters in plastic wrap or wax paper and return to the refrigerator. Cut the remaining quarter into 6 equal pieces. With greased hands, shape each piece into a ball. Arrange the balls on baking sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart; don’t crowd as the cookies will spread. Lightly dust your palm with flour then press down each ball until it is a scant ½-inch thick and about 2 ½ inches in diameter. Continue shaping the cookies, leaving each dough portion refrigerated until needed.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned and the tops just spring back when lightly pressed in the center. Transfer the sheets to wire racks. Let the cookies stand for 1 to 2 minutes to firm up. Using a wide spatula, transfer to the racks. Let cool completely. Set the racks with the cookies over baking parchment or wax paper.

To make the icing: Coarsely chop the strawberries. In a food processor, combine the berries, lemon zest and ¼ cup of the powdered sugar. Process until the strawberries are completely pureed, about 1 ½ minutes. Using a wooden spoon, press as much of the strawberry juice and pulp as possible through a fine sieve into a large bowl; discard the seeds. Stir the butter, corn syrup and vanilla into the strawberries. Stir in 3 ¾ cups more powdered sugar until well blended and smooth. If the icing is too stiff, stir in a little water to think it to a slightly runny consistency. If it’s too runny, stir in more powdered sugar until slightly thickened.

Using a small wide-bladed spatula, spreader or table knife, immediately ice the cookies. For best appearance, swirl the icing in the center of each cookie, leaving ¼ inch all around un-iced; the icing will then flow out towards the edges. Let the cookies stand until the icing sets, at least 2 hours.
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This will be quick today as I have a busy day ahead of me. Yesterday I made these cute pink cookies. They weren't anything unique but they were a very good version of a big, soft frosted sugar cookie and if you were looking for a way to make pink cookies for Valentine's Day without using any food dye, this is it.

Sorry this is so short but this blog doesn't pay the bills!