Grandma's Buttermilk Donut Doughnut Recipe

Grandma used to make paper bags full of these donuts every fall for the deer hunters and she made them on her cast iron wood stove. I can't image how hot her kitchen became to get the oil hot enough for frying.

Mix together the following ingredients

5 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups buttermilk
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour


















Fill a doughnut maker with batter and drop small rings into hot oil. The doughnut maker does not touch the oil. I use antique donut makers and they can be found on ebay; I don't know if they are still sold in stores. You can make fritters with dropped dough but it's hard to ensure there is not uncooked dough in the center.














Let them cook until the top has bubbles and looks partially cooked. It's similar to how a pancake looks before you flip it. Flip the donuts with a fork or tongs to cook the other side.
















Remove the doughnuts from the oil when both sides are brown.











These are draining on a wire rack over a cookie sheet but you can drain them on paper towels as well.

The recipe makes quite a few so I like cutting it in half and I use 3 eggs. I think baked goods taste best fresh and a half batch makes a more comfortable quantity.

4 Ingredient Buttermilk Ranch Salad Dressing Recipe

I make this creamy salad dressing fresh as needed and it makes a nice veggie dip

Put the following ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
1 green onion/scallion
1 clove garlic

You can add salt and pepper if you like. The green portion of the onion gives the dressing a pretty green tint.

Vegetable Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Vegetable Stuffed Baked Potatoes

I had some leftover baked potatoes in the frig so I scooped them out (leave some potato in the potato skin) and put the following in a bowl.

Potato (the part you removed)
Frozen Broccoli, Carrot, Cauliflower Mix

Heat the preceding in the microwave until hot

Add the following and mash with a potato masher

1 Tablespoon Butter
Milk (this amount needs to be gauged by the mixture's moisture level)
Salt and Pepper

Stuff the potato skins with the mashed mixture and sprinkle with fresh Parmesan Cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is brown.

Baked Bean Pizza

My husband went to Costco and bought a case of beans. We may eat 2 cans in a year so I made an attempt to come up with something to do with them. My family was leery but the consensus was that it worked and was a surprisingly tasty side dish.

Flour tortillas
Can of Baked Beans — I mashed them with a measuring cup
Chopped sweet onion

Spread the beans on the tortillas. Sprinkle the onion on top and bake at 450 degrees until the tortilla is brown and crispy.

Microwave Brownies in a Coffee Mug

This is a nice treat to make when you want something chocolate.

The recipe serves 4 and is best eaten warm; microwaved baked goods tend to dry out if you let them sit. You combine the following ingredients and microwave them for 3.5 minutes in 4 mugs. There should be a gooey sauce on the bottom. You don't need to spray the cups with Pam.

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
handful of chocolate chips
handful of nuts

Hasselback potatoes

I should know better than to leave food at the table while I get my camera. Zelda, my LhasaPoo, is too smart. She effortlessly jumps on the table and with proper motivation can reach the counter.

These Swedish potatoes are good with thin sliced garlic inserted in the cuts. You can also top them with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. I particularly like them cooked in a pan on the grill since they get such nice color.

Ingredients:

Potatoes
Garlic, fresh or powder
Sea Salt
Butter
Olive Oil














Wash baking potatoes and slice the bottom so they lay flat. Lay wood spoons on each side and slice the potato using the spoons as a cutting guide. The slices should not go all the way through and the spoon keeps them even.

Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil and top with butter, garlic and sea salt. Bake flat side down at 400 degrees in a dish until cooked through.

Mock Jack Daniels Sauce

I had the Jack Daniels Burger yesterday at TGIF with sweet potato fries and my DH went crazy over the sauce. This is my version that I created with recipes that I found on the Internet. It's mock Jack Daniels since we don't drink whiskey and didn't want to buy a bottle for sauce.

combine the following ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.

1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Tabasco Sauce
1 cup crushed pineapple
2 cups brown sugar
2 beef bullion cubes
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons bold mustard

The rib photo was done by Kakisky

Chili Cheese Hot Dog Hot Dish Casserole with Cheese Biscuits Recipe

Cut Old Fashioned Ambassador Hot Dogs into bite size pieces and saute with chopped onion.

Add and heat until cheese melts
1 teaspoon chili powder
ground pepper
1 can of chili with no beans
2 cans of Mexican corn
6 slices of Velveeta cheese

Make biscuit dough according to the directions on a box of Bisquick. Form biscuits around chunks of cheese; I used Pepper Jack.

Place biscuits on top of chili mixture and bake at 350 degrees until the biscuits are browned.

Freezer Roulette Shepherds Pie Recipe

Every once in a while I like to use up the food in the freezer since it gets pretty scary in there.I don't know why I didn't mark what the meat was in this freezer paper. It turned out to be roast pork.
Chop the cooked pork and sprinkled it with pepper. Pour Trader Joes Sweet Potato Bisque over the top. Trader Joes makes great products but this soup was orphaned in the refrigerator for good reason; it's as bland as baby food but it does make a nice sauce.
Cover the roast pork and sweet potato soup with frozen corn.
Cover the corn with mashed potatoes and the orange colored bit are Trader Joes Sweet Potato Fries
Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and brown

Garlic Mashed Potatoes Pizza with Feta Cheese Recipe

I had a beautifully browned version of this pizza and a marauding teenager grabbed mine when I went for my camera. Next time I make it I'll replace the photograph.

Ingredients
potatoes
garlic
olive oil
butter
sea salt
pepper
cream or milk
Parmesan cheese
onion
green pepper
pizza dough
tomatoes
feta cheese

Garlic mashed potatoes

Potatoes—put the potatoes in a pot with a steamer insert (I use a pasta pot) and cook until fork tender—I like steaming them since sometimes they become too moist when boiled

While the potatoes are cooking, roast the garlic. To roast garlic slice the top portion off a head of garlic and remove some of the outer papery skin (leave the inner segments alone). Drizzle olive oil on top and season with sea salt. Wrap the garlic head in foil and bake at 375F for about 30 minutes. Be careful opening the foil since there is trapped steam. The individual cloves of garlic can be easily removed from the skin for use or eating; I usually just squeeze them out if they don't need to be pretty.

While everything else is cooking saute chopped onion and green pepper (these will be used in the pizza, they don't go in the mashed potatoes).

Put the potatoes and garlic in a large bowl and add the following ingredients to taste. I use a hand masher, not an electric mixer since the mixer tends to make mashed potatoes gummy. It's difficult to say how much liquid to add since some potatoes are drier than others. If you're making the potatoes to eat immediately with a meal; warm your butter and cream so they don't cool the potatoes.

cooked potatoes
roasted garlic - fork mash before adding to prevent having large chunks of garlic
butter
sea salt
pepper
cream or milk
Parmesan cheese

To assemble the pizza

Use your favorite pizza dough or flour tortillas work.
Spread the mashed potatoes like you would sauce.
Add the sauteed onions and green pepper
Tomatoes chopped or sliced, I used sun dried since it was what I had on hand

Sprinkle the pizza with Parmesan cheese and crumbled feta cheese.

Bake at 400 until nicely browned.

Apricot Chicken With Carrots and Walnuts Recipe

I'm a firm believer in easy meals otherwise I end up serving Chinese takeout or pizza. I made this with frozen chicken breasts and simple ingredients.

Start cooking the brown rice

Put a bag of frozen, skinless chicken breasts in a heavy skillet and cover. Cook slowly, you have plenty of time since the brown rice takes awhile. I don't add fat or liquid since the chicken has so much additional moisture; if it's cooked slowly it doesn't need additional fat or liquid.

Peel and slice the carrots on the diagonal. I used about 20 carrots. Add them to the chicken when it's about half done. Cook with the cover on.

When the carrots and chicken is cooked through, add:
1/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 cups apricot preserves (dried apricots would be terrific but I'm allergic to the preservatives.)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
pepper to taste

There should be excess liquid. Put a tablespoon of corn starch in a small cup and add a 1 1/2 tablespoons of water. Stir them together to and add in to the pot. I like adding the corn starch in increments since it can become thicker than desired. Keep cooking and the corn starch will thicken the sauce. If it seems runny make more of the corn starch mixture.

Stir in 1 cup of walnuts and serve with the rice.

Chili Cheese Wrap with Fritos Recipe

Take a flour tortilla and add a large dollop of canned chili and cheese. Microwave until the cheese is melted. I like fine shredded Mexican Cheese but Pepper Jack or any spicy cheese is very good.














Put on chopped tomatoes, onions, and Frito's for a nice crunch.

Some other tasty additions would be jalapeno slices, shredded lettuce and avocado. You could also replace the chili with refried beans.

Fold over tortilla or fold into a burrito shape. I like putting the tortilla on a griddle to crisp up but then it's very difficult to fold over and it becomes more like a Quesadilla.

Sausage and Asparagus Quiche Recipe

I make these quite often; changing the meat, cheese and vegetables. My favorite uses a frozen combination of broccoli, cauliflower and sliced carrots. The mix doesn't sound like it would work in a quiche but it's excellent.

I'm a pie crust snob but this is the best prepared pie crust that I've ever found. Homemade is better but this is very good and convenient.


Chop your meat and place it on top of the crust. I'm using precooked sausage patties.







Frozen asparagus but if you have fresh all the better.





Chop the vegetables and place them on the meat.







10 eggs beaten. I have a large quiche dish so you might want to put in a smaller number of eggs and add more if needed.





I use whatever cheese I have on hand. This is a very nice Swiss but Cheddar, Jalapeno Jack, or any favorite works well.






Decorate the top with more asparagus. Sliced tomatoes are very pretty.

Bake at 375 until the mixture is cooked through; about 30 minutes.

Emergency Fudge Recipe

OK, It's not a huge emergency but sometimes you want something chocolate but don't have all the wonderful ingredients to make typical fudge.

This is my husband's favorite fudge recipe since it's tasty and easy enough to get me to to make it whenever he asks.

The recipe is actually the chocolate topping I use when I make eclairs. It makes a very small batch which can be a good thing but you can increase the ingredients if you want to share. I don't bother putting this in a lined glass container; I put the mixture on a piece of foil on the counter and spread it smooth to the desired height. It's sets up quickly and is gone almost as fast.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a sauce pan over a low heat.

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate or 3 tablespoons cocoa + 1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon butter

*****

add the following and stir until the powdered sugar is incorporated.

1 1/2 c powdered sugar
2 teaspoons hot water

*****

add

1 cup chopped walnuts

Swiss Spaghetti Harvest 1957

In 1957 the BBC broke a story about the Swiss Spaghetti harvest. According to the Museum of Hoaxes, "Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this, the BBC diplomatically replied, "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.'"

Barbecue Sauce Recipe

This is the sauce that my Grandpa Vern used to make for my parent's restaurant. The thing that cracks me up is one of the ingredients is BBQ sauce. The original recipe called for canned mushrooms but I use fresh.

Combine the following in a sauce pan and cook until the onions start to become translucent, don't brown the vegetables.

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 package of fresh mushrooms chopped

******

Add the following to the vegetables and heat thoroughly.

1 can of tomato soup
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder

The lovely photo came from Manuere at MorgueFile.com

Saffron Rice with Brazillain Style Egg

I recently went to the Loring Pasta Bar and they had a dish I really liked; it was beef tips with saffron rice and covered with a "Brazilian" style crispy fried egg. The beef tips tasted like my sausage and peppers but they added cilantro (I don't care for cilantro so I left it out). It would never have occurred to me to place a fried egg on rice. My saffron may have been getting old since it didn't color the rice much but I minced some carrot in the rice (I try to hide vegetables in foods).

Sausage and Peppers with Beef Tips

Combine and cook together in a skillet. I taste test the the vegetables and prefer the green pepper slightly crispy. You don't need both meats but I happened to have both in the refrigerator.

Beef - cut bite sized
Polish Sausage - cut on the diagonal bite sized
Onion - cut into large chunks
Green Pepper - bite sized chunks

When almost done add the tomatoes and cook until hot; there will be extra liquid. If you happen to get a very moist can of tomatoes reduce the liquid by cooking it down.

1 can of stewed tomatoes
pepper to taste

*****

Saffron Rice

Prepare the rice as would normally but add some saffron or a little turmeric to the water. Turmeric is similar to saffron and has an attractive yellow color but is more readily available and less expensive than saffron.

*****

Fried Egg

To get a nice crisp edge on a fried egg you need to cook it in butter or oil.

French Salad Dressing Recipe

This salad dressing was the house dressing at my parent's restaurant. Don't let the ingredients deter you, this is an excellent, sweet French dressing. The original had a lot more oil but I saw no reason to eat all that oil and I don't miss it in the recipe.

Combine the following and refrigerate

3 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon of celery seed
1 cup of oil
1 1/2 cups ketchup
3 chopped medium onions (don't chop too fine)
1 cup vinegar

Orange Zucchini Marmalade Recipe

I got this recipe from my Grandfather's girlfriend, Adleine.

combine the following and cook 3 minutes in a saucepan

3 cups peeled and shredded zucchini
1 cup drained crushed pineapple
1 package unsweetened orange Kool-Aid
1 orange sliced thin

***

add and boil one minute

1 package Sure Gel

***

add and boil 3-4 minutes

4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon butter (the butter is to keep the jam from foaming)

***

Put hot jelly in sterilized jars and seal or simply put it a container in your refrigerator and make popovers. I prefer the later method.

I added this to the category of odd but tasty since it seems odd to make marmalade with zucchini and kool-aid.

Fresh Cranberry Orange Tart Recipe

This blog will be for simple recipes that I come up with that are slightly outside the norm. My daughter had friends over one night and she asked what was for dinner. I told her it was "odd but tasty" and it became the joke of the evening. Next time her friends were over for dinner they asked if I was serving "odd but tasty" and the name stuck.

I wanted pie tonight but something tart, not sweet so I came up with this recipe.

Take a prepared unbaked pie crust or make one if you are feeling ambitious and place it in a pie pan. I used a quiche pan.

Put in the unbaked pie crust

1 cup chopped pecans
1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 orange that you candied.

To candy an orange
Wash the orange and cut the ends off. Quarter the remainder and slice it thin. Put the orange in a sauce pan (peel and fruit are used) with 1 1/2 cups of sugar and a 1 1/2 cups of water. Simmer until the orange becomes somewhat translucent. Pour the candied oranges slices and the sugar water you cooked them in over the cranberries in the pie crust. You want to candy the orange because the pith will be bitter if it's not cooked in the syrup.

Bake at 350 until the crust is brown and the cranberries have popped.

The pie will be tart; if you like a sweeter variety increase the amount of the sugar water syrup mixture.