Charlie's Potato Salad!

I guess I need to start with an apology. My girls have been back to school for one week and I don't know who is busier, them or me? I had grand plans to keep to a schedule for my blog once school started, but between homework, laundry, PTF, sports and just keeping up with the house....my life is crazy. Enough of the excuses - back to the good stuff.
As my mom and I were looking through my blog this summer, neither one of us could believe I hadn't posted our favorite potato salad- Charlie's Potato Salad! My parents discovered this delicious recipe when they lived in Minnesota and ate at Charlie's Restaurant in Minneapolis. The key ingredient, which is different from most, is the Pimientos. You will find these little guys living among the olives on your grocery store shelf.



Charlie's Potato Salad
5 Medium cooked potatoes- freshly cooked
1 teaspoon salt
dash of white pepper
1 (4oz) jar chopped Pimiento (somewhat drained)
2 Tablespoons chopped green onions (sometimes I just throw in some onion powder)
3 hard cooked eggs
1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup diced celery

Boil potatoes until tender. Cut into cubes.
In separate bowl combine Mayo, salt, white pepper, Pimientos, green onions, and celery.
Gently combine potatoes into mixture. Add hard boiled eggs.

Enjoy - and try to remember summer!!!!

Bobi's Bites: Chocolate Drop Cookies!

My dad has only been at the cabin for about ten days but he already feels the need for some comfort food. He asked my mom to bake some of his Grandmother's Chocolate Drop Cookies. Not a problem for all the ingredients were on hand except those "squares" of bitter chocolate. This happens to my mom more than you want to know but in the "Substitutions for Emergencies" section of her TRUSTY recipe book she located the substitute:
1 sq. (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate can be replaced with
3 tbsp. cocoa plus 1/2 tsp. shortening.

Onward with the recipe

Grandma Low's Drop Cookies
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 squares melted chocolate
or 6 tbsp baking cocoa and 1 tsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. vanilla.



Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 325-350 ten to twelve minutes until cookies spring back
when touched lightly.

Frost with confectionary sugar icing and decorate as desired.

Baked Beans Bobi's Way!

Why is it that I only think to make homemade baked beans on holidays? Fourth of July, Memorial day, Family reunions are just some of the times this lovely dish makes an appearance. Every time I make them I think, "Why don't I make these more often"? I love this recipe. It never lets me down. I remember a good friend of mine once offered to bring her baked beans to a huge neighborhood BBQ I was throwing. Of course I was thrilled that I could cross that dish off my "dishes to make". The day of the BBQ came and she showed up with the biggest pot of baked beans I had ever seen. They looked delicious and I couldn't wait to give them a try. Crunch, Crunch, Crunch went the first bites in my mouth. Needless to say - at the end of the night - she was taking home a full pot -o- beans! I love this recipe because it does not rely on me to soften the beans (at least on the front end ;-)!

Bobi's Baked Beans
1 (28 oz) can pintos beans, drained
1 (28 oz) can white kidney beans, drained
1 pound bacon, diced
1 sweet onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Red hot sauce (such as Frank's)
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Drain and rinse beans well. Combine the beans in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Cook the bacon in a skillet until crispy. Pull out the bacon and remove 1/2 the bacon grease. Drop in onions and cook until translucent, then add the peppers and the garlic. Cook just to wilt the vegetables, 5 or so minutes. Add the vegetables to the beans, along with remaining ingredients except the bacon. Mix, taste, and adjust to suit you. Pour into casserole dish, cover, and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Remove the cover and place cooked bacon on top. Bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy - and not just during a holiday!

Bobi's Bites: Banana Bread!

How could it be, we did not eat all the bananas? Time passes too quickly, or maybe bananas just ripen too fast!
Time to use my Mom's recipe before it is too late. I have a new appreciation of bananas after "watching" them grow at my parent's home in Florida. It can take a long time for these gems to mature but once they do they all ripen at the same time and you have a huge stalk of bananas to not only eat but share with the neighbors. Note, the picture is just the very beginning but you will not be disappointed when the bananas are breakfast ready.

Banana Bread - Bobi's way
1/2 cup margarine (I use butter)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
(Mix above ingredients well)
Add 2 to 3 ripe bananas (mix well)
Add following ingredients to above mixture and mix well
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cups nuts
This makes enough for one large loaf pan or 4 to 6 small loaves.
Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (For a large loaf pan bake 45 minutes or more testing with a skewer for doneness.)

Perfect Beef Stroganoff: College Style!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day. When I called to give my mom some love she reminded me of this special Mother's Day from years gone by:

When my brother was in Journalism School at the University of Georgia my mother received a notice from the University Food Service that they would be soliciting favorite recipes, which if accepted, would be served on campus in remembrance of Mother's Day. My mother accepted the challenge and sent the school her Beef Stroganoff Recipe.

The letter came - CONGRATULATIONS!! It is with pleasure that University Food Services announces that your recipe for Perfect Beef Stroganoff has been chosen to be featured during our "Tribute to Mother's Day". That was no surprise because the recipe is great, but it did come as a complete shock.

The University sent her a souvenir copy of the recipe that would be served in Oglethorpe, Bolton and Snelling Dining Halls where my brother ate. Her recipe is #103271 - Perfect Beef Stroganoff which they scaled up to serve 4000 students. They used 800 lbs. meat, 200 lbs. butter, 200 lbs chopped onions, 200 lbs. sliced mushrooms, 40 lbs. flour - you get the gist. The outcome: Did my brother eat there that day? Nope, sometimes Moms just can't win. However in her heart she knew she had a WINNER thanks to one of her friends in Kansas City, Missouri who always shared her recipes and served the best dinners.

Perfect Beef Stroganoff

2 lbs. Sirloin
6 T. Butter
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms sliced 1/4 in.
3 T. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. catsup
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 can beef bouillion
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Method: Cut beef in strips and saute in 1/2 the butter.
Another pan: Saute mushrooms, onions and remainder of the butter for five minutes.
Remove from heat . Add catsup, salt, pepper, flour and stir until smooth. Gradually add bouillion. Bring to a boil - reduce heat and simmer five minutes. Add: wine, dry dill weed, sour cream - Stir over low heat . Add beef and serve over rice.

Cheese Blini's - Robin Sue Style!

Years ago Robin Sue, from Big Red Kitchen, brought these unbelievably tasty morsels to my home. I ate a respectable amount during our get together, but as soon as we were cleaning up I crammed entire fist fulls into my mouth while I walked the plate to the kitchen sink. I HAD to have this recipe. She graciously gave me the recipe - which I quickly passed to my mother Bobi. She in turn makes these pieces of heaven on a regular basis - and always gets requests for the recipe. I told Robin to blog about them - and she didn't remember what I was talking about. How could she forget these perfect little treats? How could anyone forget these cinnamon sugar coated lumps of love?

Adapted from: Kraft Kitchens - 2005

GOOD & EASY
You can't miss with Cinnamon Twist "Blinis"

These Blinis are a great addition to breakfast or lunch and if you need a dessert you can take the Kraft Kitchen Tip and dip half of the Blinis in chocolate. Whenever you need a treat to go, these fit the bill, and so I am off and running with a platter of these to a meeting tonight. These might even work for book clubs or Bible studies. You can have these with bacon and eggs in the morning, or tea and coffee as a snack, they are winners anytime.


1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese softened
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
12 slices white bread, crusts removed
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, vanilla and egg. In separate bowl, mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon and set aside.

Flatten each bread slice with rolling pin. Spread 1 side of each slice
evenly with 1 Tbsp. cream cheese mixture. Starting at short end, tightly roll up. Brush each roll with butter; roll in reserved cinnamon-sugar. Slice each roll into 3 pieces.

Place each piece, seam side down, on baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Kraft Tip: Finished, baked rolls can be dipped halfway into melted Bakers Dipping Chocolate.

Hot Browns at The Veranda

Last week when we were in Florida for Spring Break I knew to expect one thing. A "Ladies" lunch! My sweet mom always tries to take me and my girls out for a special luncheon. We all pretend we are important ladies out for our high tea with watercress sandwiches and petit fours. It works for about 10 minutes - until my oldest bursts out with one of her contagious laughs. It's fun while it lasts!



This Spring break she chose "The Veranda" for a Hot Brown sandwich. My mother's neighbor Tweedy grew up in Kentucky and introduced my mom to this delicacy - and instantly my mom knew this would be where her "Ladies" would lunch!



We dressed in our Spring Break best and headed up the road about 45 minutes to this lovely establishment in the Fort Myers downtown area. They sat us by the fireplace where we had beautiful views of the veranda! It was a little cool on this spring day to actually sit on the veranda - We wouldn't want our lovely little ladies to freeze - now would we!



This was the Hot Brown - it was as gorgeous to see as it was to eat! Tweedy had previously given my mom her recipes for the amazing sandwich.



Original Hot Brown
Cheese Sauce:
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter in a sauce pan; blend in flour. Add milk, cheese and seasoning, stirring constantly until smooth and thick. Set aside.
Sandwich:
8 slices trimmed toast
1 pound sliced turkey breast or ham
8 slices tomatoes
8 slices bacon; cooked
4 oz Parmesan Cheese
Sprigs of parsley

Cut toast into triangles and put into baking dish. Arrange turkey slices on toast and cover with hot cheese sauce. Top with tomatoes and bacon or ham. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 until bubbly. Garnish with parsley.



The picture above is Tweedy and her man Gene- Isn't she as cute as her name!!!

Another Variation of the Hot Brown
Sauce:
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
Salt to taste
1 (3 1/2 oz) can sliced mushrooms; drained (or 1/4 pound sliced fresh mushrooms sauted)
Dash of Cayenne pepper
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 Tablespoon Sherry
1 cup milk
Melt butter in a small skillet; blend flour and salt. Remove from heat; stir in milk slowly until smooth. Return to heat; stir in mushrooms and bouillon cube. Cook until bouillon cube is dissolved and mixture thickens. Add Sherry.

Sandwiches:
4 slices of toast
4 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced
4 slices bacon, cooked and sliced in half
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Place toast on 4 oven safe dishes. Cover with sliced chicken or turkey breasts. Pour sauce over sandwiches. Sprinkle with cheese and place pieces of bacon criss cross on top. Place under broiler and broil until bubbly!




If you're ever in Fort Myers, Florida don't forget to check out "The Veranda"! Go on a Tuesday because that is the only day you can get a Hot Brown - and it is completely worth it!

Bobi's Bites: Horseradish Gravy!

I'll be the first to admit that Horseradish gravy does not photograph well - but just looking at this photo my mouth is salivating!
When I was a child, no corned beef dinner would be complete without this sauce smothering our plates. Try this sauce with your St. Patty's day celebration this year!

Horseradish Gravy:

2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Flour

Make Roux with butter and flour; When thick add 1 to 2 cups corned beef broth. Once it is to a consistency you like - add 1 tsp. Dijon mustard and 1 to 2 teaspoons horseradish. The more horseradish the more heat! I triple this recipe because once your guests taste it - they want all their veggies to take a bath in it!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Have I got another "Upscale" cookie for you? You bet! It may look
like just another chocolate chip but this has peanut butter. (I understand the peanut butter you buy at your grocery store is still safe.) For these I might even test fate.

World's Greatest Peanut Butter Cookie

1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 6 oz. package choc. chips (I always use 12 oz. - can you really ever have too much chocolate?)

Cream the butter and peanut butter together. Gradually add the white and brown sugars and cream until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until smooth. Sift flour, measure, then sift again with the baking soda. Add flour and soda to the creamed mixture. Beat until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop from a teaspoon onto a greased baking sheet. Bake in a 325 degree preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 6 dozen two inch cookies.



Today I have to wish my mom, Bobi, a big happy birthday. She is 70 today and doesn't act a day over 25! She has more energy than I do and I can only hope that someday I look as lovely as she does! I love you mom for sharing with me your love of hostessing, your self deprecating humor, and most of all your love that you give so freely to everyone you meet. I am so lucky I get to call you mine! Now go make dad take you out to dinner!

Bobi's Bites: Manicotti

Isn't it funny what we remember from our childhoods? Things our parents feel will scar us for life barely make an imprint and then simple things that pass us by in a moment stick with us forever. I find it funny I can barely recollect the faces of my teachers from K - 6th grade but I can tell you what meals were served in what dishes and the frequency at which they were served. I remember the 9x13 dish that my mother always made this manicotti in also served my family an eggplant parmesan that tasted like the dead snake we found in our basement one summer. Poor Ms. Entz - I can't remember 3rd grade - but I'll never forget the smell of that Eggplant Parmesan or the way I felt about that brown Pyrex dish afterwards. I hope this simple and fast recipe leaves lasting memories with your family!

Step 1: Boil Manicotti noodles according to box; Drain.



Stuffing for Manicotti

3/4 cup ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
3/4 lb. mozzarella, shredded
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 T. butter
2 T. grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp. salt
Pinch of black pepper.

Drain ricotta or cottage cheese. Combine ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, butter, Parmesan, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well.

Stuff 8 noodles or however many are in half a box of mozzarella pasta.
Spread thin layer of marinara sauce in bottom of pan or 9 x 13 glass dish. Arrange manicotti in pan. Add rest of sauce and sprinkle each manicotti noodle with a teaspoon of Parmesan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes.

Midwest Chowder - A Real Man's Soup!

The big red cups are out again. Yup, another soup night but when it is cold you can't have too much soup. The recipe is Midwest Chowder.
Did I tell you that much of my life I spent in the Midwest? I was born in
Minnesota where my father worked and because we followed his paycheck we spent time in Omaha and Kansas City as well as Minnesota. When the wind comes whipping across the plains you do need a good soup recipe and this one was published years ago in "Country Woman Magazine".

MIDWEST CHOWDER - Serves 8

2 cups diced potatoes
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup diced onions
1 tsp. salt
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
Black pepper to taste
2 cups milk
10 ounces cheddar cheese
2 cups corn

Cook potatoes, carrots, celery and onions in boiling water for 10 minutes. While vegetables cook, melt butter, stir in flour and pepper and cook for one minute. Gradually stir in milk; cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Add cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in corn. Heat through but do not boil. Add vegetables and liquid.

Although my dad likes this soup he loves this soup after he splashes in some Louisiana Hot Sauce. He loves everything just a wee bit hot. Good you're a wee bit "hot" mom!

Bobi's Bites: Sausage and Sauerkraut Soup

I finished my chemo treatments this past June and feel great but am suffering from "Chemo Brain". This "Fog" has turned me into one of those people I really don't like. You know the type - you ask them a question and they say they'll have to check and get back to you - and they never do. I am now THAT friend. I hate it! I can't remember dates, times and many faces...but funny thing - when my mom sent me this blog I instantly remembered a poem I learned in 1st grade!
It was found in Father Fox's Pennyrhymes and it went....

The sky is dark, there blows a storm
Our cider is hot, the fire is warm
The snow is deep and the night is long:
Old Father Fox, will you sing us a song?

Mister Lister sassed his sister
Married his wife 'cause he couldn't resist her,
Three plus four times two he kissed her;
How many times is that , dear sister?

Knickerbocker Knockabout
Sausages and Sauerkraut
Run! Run! Run! The hogs are out!
Knickerbocker Knockabout.

I can't remember one of my best friends birthdays - but I can recite a poem I learned in 1st grade about Sausages and Sauerkraut.....that's just the kind of friend I am now!



Although I did not have this soup when I was a child it brings back childhood memories of that book I loved.

The recipe is one my mother received from our mutual friend Sally Issac who now resides in cold Minnesota. We have been loving it for years.

Sauerkraut & Sausage Soup

4 strips bacon, diced
1 medium onion diced
1 large clove garlic chopped
2 pounds polish kiebasa cut into chunks or circles
8 oz. package of sliced mushrooms
6 cups chicken stock or broth
1 bay leaf
3 medium carrots cut into penny shapes
2 ribs of celery sliced diagonally
4 new potatoes, quartered
1 pound sauerkraut, rinsed, and well drained
pepper to taste

Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until half done, about five minutes. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until onions are softened, about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to high. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned, about ten minutes stirring often.

Drain off fat from skillet. Add the contents of the skillet to broth along with the vegetables and sauerkraut. Cook partially covered in a large pot until vegetables are just tender. Add pepper to taste.

To thicken this soup I use one can of Campbell's potato soup and one can of Reed's German potato salad.

One wonderful piece of your favorite bread or crackers of your choice and your meal is complete.

Now go knock yourself out with some Sauerkraut Mr. Lister!

Bobi's Bites: Esther's Orange Marmalade Cake!

This is the cake you bake if you want to hear oohs and ahhs. It is worth the time and the nine eggs. Two years ago my Mom read “Esther’s Gift" by Jan Karon, which had the recipe for Orange Marmalade cake. Since that time she has wanted to bake this cake. Esther made these for all her friends in Mitford at Christmas time. However, last year she purchased Jan Karon’s “Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader” which also had Esther’s recipe for Orange Marmalade cake but the ingredients were not the same.



This was the year she was determined to bake it and had to make the choice of which recipe she would use. The recipe calling for three large eggs was definitely tempting, compared to the one with nine eggs. There was another discrepancy – baking soda or baking powder.
She did decide on the one with nine eggs thinking that might be “showier” an expression used by Esther when describing her three layer cake as compared to her two layer cake.



The fresh squeezed orange juice didn’t even sway her opinion as she and my Dad have an orange tree with access to oranges (note picture above of Jensen in Florida on Thanksgiving break).



Because of copyright laws stated in each book she feels she can only direct you
to purchase:
"Esther's Gift, A Mitford Christmas Story" by Jan Karon or
"Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader".

You will love both books and they are a fun read.

Bobi's Bites: Stuffed Baked Apples!

My mother, bless her heart, has been pumping out more blogs then I have lately. It usually starts with a call that goes something like this... Rindy, I'm going to such-and-such house and I am going to try a new recipe. Do you want me to take pictures of it for your blog? To which I ALWAYS reply "YES"! I have been benefitting greatly from my mom's active social life. These apples did sound great when she was describing them to me and by the pictures I know they were a huge hit at the party she was attending. Thanks mom for blogging for me and sharing this recipe for yummy Stuffed Baked Apples. I'm sure it will be an additional THANKSGIVING Dessert everyone will love! Keep up the good work (and active social life)!

Preheat oven to 350
Bobi's Bites: Stuffed Baked Apples!
You will need:
10 X 15 baking dish
About 20 medium gala or delicious apples
32 oz. container of cider or Cranapple juice
1 stick butter (8 tblspns)
10 firmly packed tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sliced almonds

Granola Topping
Two cups
(You may make your own or buy a good quality granola cereal.)

Caramel Sauce
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
` 4 1/12 Tablespoons water
1 stick butter
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
(makes about 1 1/2 cups)



Cut off tops of apples. Using a melon baller remove core, cutting to
but not through bottom of apple.
Hollow out apples leaving 1/4 inch thick shell (reserve apple flesh
for filling.)
Place apples in 10 x 14 baking dish and fill apple shells with cider.
Bake at least 20 minutes or until apples are slightly tender. Drain, discarding juice.



In a saucepan combine apple flesh, butter, brown sugar, vanilla and
cinnamon. Cook over medium-high heat until apples are tender.
Stir into above mixture graham cracker crumbs, sliced almonds, and about two cups of apple cider left over from filling apples before baking.
Spoon above filling into prepared apples.
Sprinkle with granola topping.
Serve with a dollop of whipped cream, just plain heavy cream or
ice cream to which you may or may not want to add carmel sauce
which you can make or buy