BEEF STROGANOFF

This is a great recipe from a surprising source.  It came from Senator Robert C Byrd of West Virginia many years ago.  Enjoy!

BEEF STROGANOFF

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs round steak

¼ cup butter or margarine

1 cup or 3 oz can of sliced mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup chopped onion

1 can tomato soup

1 cup sour cream

Salt & pepper to taste

Cut beef into long thin strips.  Brown well in the butter in a heavy skillet.  Add mushrooms, chopped onion and garlic.  Cook until lightly browned.  Blend in tomato soup, sour cream and salt & pepper.  Cover and simmer about one hour or until beef is tender.  Stir occasionally.  Serve over hot cooked rice.

14 DAY PICKLES

Fair warning!  These are incredible pickles and worth the effort it will take.  If you like sweet pickles or bread and butter pickles, these will taste like a little bit of heaven!

14 DAY PICKLES

Ingredients

2 gallons cleaned sliced cucumbers

2 cups salt

1 gallon boiling water

1 gallon boiling water

1 tablespoon alum

1 gallon cold water

Use a glass, ceramic or plastic container for this.

Day 1 - Place cucumbers in 2 gallon container.  Spread salt on top. Pour 1 gallon boiling water over the cucumbers and salt.

Day 2 - Let stand

Day 3 - Let stand

Day 4 - Let stand

Day 5 - Let stand

Day 6 - Let stand

Day 7 - Let stand

Day 8 - Let stand

Day 9 – Drain, pour 1 gallon boiling water over the cucumbers, let stand 24 hours

Day 10 - Drain water, mix together alum and 1 gallon cold water and pour over cucumbers and let stand 24 hours.

Ingredients-Syrup

6 cups sugar

5 cups apple cider vinegar

8 teaspoons mixed pickling spices in cheesecloth

Day 11 – Drain, mix syrup ingredients and boil, then pour over cucumbers

Day 12 – Drain and re-heat syrup and pour over pickles

Day 13 – Drain and re-heat syrup and pour over pickles

Day 14 – Drain syrup, add 1 cup sugar and re-heat syrup, removing the spices in cheesecloth.  Place pickles in canning jars and pour syrup over pickles.  Add some of the spices from the cheese cloth to each jar and seal.  

Jars should seal tightly as they cool.  If any jars don’t seal, place in hot water bath and then cool again.  Any pickles that don’t seal should be used as soon as possible.

VEGETABLE DIP

I've been using this recipe at every party we have had and it always gets rave reviews.   It’s such a hit, I usually double the recipe.

VEGETABLE DIP

Ingredients

1 pint mayonnaise                      1 package (3 oz) cream cheese

½ cup buttermilk                       ½ teaspoobn garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder               1 teaspoon Accent

2 ½ tablespoons parsley flakes

Salt & pepper to taste (I don’t use either because that’s my taste)

In a blender, mix all ingredients.  Refrigerate overnight. 

CORN FINGERS

This recipe came from DHB’s Aunt Jean.  It’s a regular for Sunday dinner at their house. 

CORN FINGERS

Ingredients

1 ½ sticks margarine

2 cups flour

1 can cream style corn

¼ cup milk

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Pre-heat oven to 425 ⁰ f.

First, melt margarine in a 9 X 13 pan.

Combine remaining ingredients; knead; roll out into a rectangle and cut into 1 X 3 inch strips.  Roll strips into margarine and bake in the same pan for 20 -25 minutes.

Serve hot.

APPLE BLOSSOM CAKE

This is one of my Mom’s favorite cakes.  She used to make several and freeze them.  If she had unexpected guests, she would just take one out of the freezer and cut slices while it was still frozen.  By the time she offered them refreshments, the cake was thawed, coffee was made and her reputation as a great hostess was still intact!  She usually baked it in either a Bundt or loaf pan.  Of course, if you use a Bundt pan you need to line it with the topping after greasing and before pouring in the cake mix.

APPLE BLOSSOM CAKE

Ingredients - Cake

2 eggs, beaten                          2 cups sugar

1 ¼ cup oil                               1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla                       1 teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups flour                             3 cups chopped apples

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda              1 cup chopped nuts

½ teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 ⁰ f.

Blend eggs, oil and vanilla.  Sift flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add apples and nuts to egg mixture.  Add dry ingredients and mix everything together.  Pour into a greased pan.

Ingredients – Topping

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup chopped nuts

Mix sugar, vanilla and nuts together.  Sprinkle on top of the cake.  Bake for 35 – 45 minutes.  Cool and serve.

EASY CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Here is an easy chicken casserole that normally I would say is fool-proof.  Unless my husband is replacing old oven dials and gets them marked wrong!  He was at his Mom's and wanted to fix her this recipe. He followed all my instructions and 2 ½ hours after he put it in the oven, it was still half raw.  He called me and we finally figured out that the new oven dial had been marked wrong for the oven.  He was pre-heating instead of baking!  At least he hadn't been broiling!!!  He would have burned the house down.

EASY CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

1½ cups raw rice                                             

1 can cream of celery soup                         

1 can cream of chicken soup                        

1 can cream of mushroom soup           

1 cup milk

7 or 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

½ cup butter or margarine (1 stick)

1 ½ oz. Grated parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon paprika

One note:  7 or 8 chicken breasts are around 2 lbs of chicken.  I usually use 3 lbs and layer them because my family really, really loves this recipe.  The grated parmesan cheese and paprika are more to taste rather than exact measurements.  I love both, so I am generous when I use them.

Mix together soup and milk.  Sprinkle rice over the bottom of a 3 quart (or larger if you use more chicken) greased casserole.  Pour ¾ of the soup mix over the rice and stir, making sure you get to all the rice.  Place chicken breasts evenly on rice.  Cut butter into small pats and place on chicken.  Cover with remaining soup mix.  Sprinkle cheese and paprika on top.  Bake at 275 ⁰ f. for 2 ½ hours or at 350 ⁰ f.  for 1 ½ hours.

This can be made the night before and refrigerated.  Don’t sprinkle cheese and paprika until just before baking.   

GRANDMA'S TOMATO DUMPLINGS

This recipe was given to me by my DHB’s grandmother before she passed away 2 months before her 107^th birthday.  She was a wonderful lady and she cooked with lard, real butter, whole milk, salt, sugar and plenty of pepper and outlived 4 of her 7 children.  I fixed this recipe for my Mom’s oldest niece and it has become the most requested dish at her family’s Thanksgiving dinners.  If you like tomatoes, I know you will love this.

GRANDMA’S TOMATO DUMPLINGS

Ingredients: Tomato Sauce

1 quart cooked or home canned tomatoes

½ cup water

¾ teaspoon salt

½ stick butter or margarine (4 tablespoons)

½ cup sugar (do NOT add extra.  All you want to do is cut the acid from the tomatoes. Extra sugar makes it super sweet and you DON'T want that!  I know.  I tried it once.)

In a 3 or 4 quart sauce pan, bring tomatoes, water, salt, butter and sugar to a fast rolling boil.

Ingredients: Dumplings

1 quart cooked or home canned tomatoes

 cup milk

Mix Bisquick and milk until a soft dough forms.  Using a teaspoon, dip out small spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture and drop into the tomatoes until all the dumplings are floating on the tomatoes.  Turn heat to low, cover and cook for 13 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve immediately or this is a great dish to make ahead and reheat in a slow oven (200^{0 -} 300⁰ f. ) until hot.