Category: Cooking

Photo courtesy of my cousin Janet!

I decided today to make my world famous Reuben Sandwiches when Janet and Dave came for lunch. I seem to have gotten the knack down for making this scrumptious sandwich. So I am going to share how to make the perfect Hot Pastrami Reuben! Makes 4 Sandwiches.

1. Rye bread with or without seeds. Personally I like the seeds as I think they give the sandwich more flavor.
2. 1 pound black Pastrami sliced very thin.
3. 1/2 a pound of Swiss Cheese. I get the Finlandia Lite Swiss.
4. Spicy German mustard.
5. Soft butter.
6. Thousand Island salad dressing.
7. German Sauer Kraut.

Take 8 slices of the rye bread. Pair them up two slices together and set in toaster oven one slice on top of the other.  Toast these lightly.

Meanwhile, squeeze all the moisture out of the Sauer Kraut. Place in the microwave and heat. Take three ounces of pastrami per person and place in a large bowl all together. Cover with a paper towl and slightly heat in microwave.

Follow for each sandwich:

1. Now that the toast is out of the toaster oven, divide the bread. The insides of the mated sliced should be un-toasted. Spread with soft butter on these soft sides.
2. Place one slice, butter side down onto a medium heated griddle.
3. Spoon on some of the thousand island salad dressing.
4. Place two sliced of the Swiss cheese on top of this.
5. Then three ounces of Pastrami.
6. Then place some of the Sauer Kraut.
7. Place two slices of Swiss cheese on top of this.
8. Spread the last slice of the rye bread, toasted side with spicy mustard.
9. Place that on top with buttered side facing up.

Now cook until first side is nicely browned. Cook the second side until it is brown and it is ready! If you have a nice stove top griddle you can do all four at once.

Serve with French Fries, and more mustard for spreading or dipping the sandwich into. It is so easy to make and your guests will love it!

Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pasta penne, elbows, etc.
  
• Sea Salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 8 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella
• 4 ounces grated Emmenthaler or Greyuer Cheese
  
• About 20 grinds black pepper

Cook:30 min
YIELD:about 4 servings

Snickerdoodles

1 cup butter
1- 1/2 cups sugar
Creme with mixer thoroughly
2 eggs, unbeaten
add and mix well.
Sift together and stir in:
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. creme of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Chill the dough for about 1 hour. Roll into balls about the size of walnuts and then roll in mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet, gently press each cookie to flatten. Bake at 375 degree for about 10 minutes or golden but still soft.
Makes about 5 dozen 2 inch cookies

SPLENDA® and Spice Cookies
6 tbsp. vegetable shortening
6 tbsp. margariner
1 cup SPLENDA® Granular
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Mix together shortening, margarine, SPLENDA®, egg and molasses.
Sift together and stir in dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.
Form into 16 balls. Place on cookie sheet and pat down gently with fork.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 350° F. Do not over bake. Cookies will look chewy when they come out but they become crisp.

Our apple trees are heavy with beautiful red fruit right now. Looking out the windows I am reminded of their goodness and I sit thinking of ways I can use a freshly picked apple or two. So, today I had Hubby bring me in 7 apples and I made Apple Crisp. Imagine walking outside, picking your own apples and then cooking them up right away!

Here is the recipe:

Apple Crisp

7-8 large baking apples (Macintosh or Cortland)

½ cup butter cut into tiny pieces

½ cup oats

½ cup flour

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground cloves

Peel and cut apples into large size slices. Place in a greased deep casserole dish. In a separate bowl mix butter, flour and oats into a crumble like mixture. Add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and mix well.

Mixture should be crumb like. Spread evenly over the top of the apples allowing some of the mixture to settle into the apples.
Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45-60 minutes or until you see bubbles coming up from the apples. (for the last 15 minutes I covered the dish which helped to cook the apples.) The butter will melt and the crumb mixture should be nice and brown on the top. Cool slightly, serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream….

Concord Grape Jelly

3-3 ½ Concord Grapes

Discard stems, and place grapes in large kettle. Crush and add ½ cup of water.

Bring this mixture to a boil and cook for ten minutes, until the grapes have softened.

Put juice through nylon jelly bag to remove seeds and skins and allow to rest overnight. Pour juice through clean jelly bag again to remove crystals.

Measure:

4 cups of Grape Juice (you can add water if necessary)
7 cups sugar

1 pouch Certo Liquid Pectin

Mix Grape juice and 1 teaspoon of butter and the sugar in a large heavy pot. On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, that cannot be stirred down.

Quickly add Pectin and bring to a full rolling boil again and cook exactly 1 minute.

Ladle into hot sterilized jelly jars, seal. Process jars for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

Makes 7 (½) pints

1 pound of Brussel sprouts
3-4 slices of bacon
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper
1 small onion chopped
In saucepan boil Brussel sprouts about 5-8 minutes or until sprouts are tender but still crisp. Drain and set aside.

In non stick skillet cook bacon until crisp. Remove and set on paper towel to cool. In the frying pan add onion and cook until the onion is cooked. Add garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. Stir well. Add Brussel sprouts and cook until the Brussel sprouts begin to brown. Place in serving bowl and crumble bacon over the top. Serve hot! Enjoy!

Vegetable & Beef Chili

1 tbs. oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic minced
1 lb. hamburger
2 and 1/2 lbs chopped up tomatoes
2 tbs. chili powder (or to taste)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup each cubed : carrots, celery, green pepper (add more if you like)
1-2 large cans kidney beans

In sauce pan heat oil, sauté garlic, onions and beef. Cook until beef is brown. Drain fat. Place in slow cooker, or large soup pot. Add remaining ingredients, except kidney beans. Simmer slowly several hours. 20 minutes before serving, add kidney beans. Serve with some grated cheddar cheese on top.

Note: You can add more or less depending on how thick you would like your sauce. If it gets too thin you can always add a bit of tomato paste to thicken it up. Have fun and play with the recipe.

The peaches have started to come in. Next week, after my surgery I will be making Heavenly Jam, but tonight, with just a few peach drops, I made the tastiest upside down peach cake. Not only does it look, oh so pretty, but it tastes delightfully of summer!

So, without further ado, here is the recipe. One thing I would do is go to a farm stand and ask for drops, or make sure you are getting very ripe peaches.

Upside Down Peach Cake

8 Servings Prep: 15 min. Bake: 45 min. + cooling

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened,
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches
3/4 cup sugar
****************
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup softened butter

Directions:

Melt 1/2 cup butter; pour into an ungreased 9-in. round baking pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange peach slices in single layer over sugar. In a large bowl, cream sugar and remaining butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Spoon over peaches. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve warm. Yield: 8 serving.

I used a glass pie plate and waited about 20 minutes before flipping the cake. This way I could watch as the cake/peaches separated from the pan. It was yummy!

Heavenly Peach Jam

4 lb. peaches skinned and mashed
7 c. sugar
2 oranges juiced, 1 orange skin chopped fine
1 small jar maraschino cherries, cherries halved
1 box Sure-Jell

Once again the photo is courtesy of my cousin, Janet Spering Laurencelle!

Peel peaches; remove pits. Mash peaches; place in large sauce pan. Add sugar; mix thoroughly. Peel orange; cut rind of 1 orange into very thin slices (or use food processor). Squeeze juice from both oranges; remove seeds. Add orange rind and orange juice to peach mixture. Add cherries. Let rest overnight.
Bring to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes. Add Sure-Jell; boil for 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly until jam begins to jell.. Ladle into sterilized jars, cover with sterilized lids and set to cool.

Yields about 9 (12 ounce) jelly jars.