Tomato Tarts from Paula’s Cookbook

Tomato Tarts

There is nothing better in the summer than a good sliced tomato sprinkled with salt and pepper.  But, that window of opportunity to have those mouth-watering slices is so short.  During the winter I crave those tomatoes as I’m sure you also do.  There are a couple of recipes that I pull out of my back pocket to satisfy the tomato craving and this is one of them.  I have gone through my cookbook collection marking recipes with post it notes that I want to try.  If I cooked something new everyday for the rest of my life I am pretty sure that I would not get to all of the ones on my list, but thank goodness I tried this one.  When I read Paula’s headline that a catering friend of hers used this recipe all the time  in Savannah, Georgia I knew it had to be a winner.    I was right!  It is easy, good, pretty on a platter and it makes a winter tomato taste as good as the summer!

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Cheesy Grits with Garlic

Garlic cheese Grits

I was raised on grits.  You know the kind that popped all over the range and stuck to the bottom of the pan.  I love them with butter and cheddar cheese.  Growing up my mother would make them with country ham and red eyed gravy.  I can remember on cold afternoons my Dad would come home with Butch our bird dog and he would have  Quail stashed in every pocket in his hunting vest. I knew then we would be having grits and gravy with  Quail fried to  a golden brown.  Gosh it was so good!

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Divinity

Divinity

Those of you that regularly read my blog know that I cannot make candy.  I fail at candy making !  I have tried my entire life to make fudge and divinity.  Well I made this fudge a couple of months ago and it worked.   Yesterday it turns out was the perfect day to make divinity.  There was not a drop of humidity anywhere near my house and I was not a failure at making divinity AGAIN!  I’m so happy with myself.  So you ask what does it take to have perfection at Divinity?  First of all follow the recipe to a T.  I have to laugh at this because I pulled out my mother-in-law’s recipe and the directions are so vague.  I had to fill in the gaps which was quite scary because none of the previous recipes that I used were a success.  Second, choose a day that is dry and clear.  Absolutely no humidity is best.  Third,  be patient.

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Ina’s Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

Ina's roasted buttrnut squash salad

A good salad make me happy… very happy!  This is a good one.  Butternut squash has not shown itself on our menus here at our house very often.  I do house  “somewhat” of a picky eater.  I do love this butternut squash soup. It’s good enough to drink with a straw.  And this Roasted butternut squash may not make it to your table.  You can’t help but nibble on it right out of the oven!  So when I was perusing my cookbooks looking for a salad for my upcoming book club I found this perfect salad to serve with this soup.

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Filed under Roasted Vegetables, Salad, salad dressing

Slice and Bake Oatmeal Cookies with Black Walnuts

 

oatmeal with black walnuts

As a child I loved spending days with my grandparents.  They lived on a huge farm and I pretty much got run of the place.  It was a child’s paradise!  I even got to take some of the animals home as pets.  I had a beautiful Bantam rooster that I brought home.  The rooster did not stay home long though.  He fell in love with a hen across the road from us.  When the weather was good I played under the China Berry tree in the front yard or walked to the creek to pick blackberries.  Out back was a big metal container where my grandfather crushed sugar cane for syrup.  Sometimes you could find me there or in the barn with all the hay.  It was the perfect place for kids and I have many fond memories.

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Stuffed Hamburger-Cabbage Buns

cabbage rolls

I just love this recipe!  It’s made with pizza dough.  Now who is not going to like it ?  Right?  It can be made ahead and frozen.    I use my made from scratch pizza dough recipe, but you can use frozen dough or buy dough from your local pizzeria.   Any way these are really special!

I googled the recipe to see if I would be lucky enough to find it because I cannot remember where I got the recipe.   I’ve been using it for years.  There are plenty of recipes that are similar to this one.  Most of them make a huge amount using 3 pounds of pizza dough.  I cannot imagine making that many rolls.  WOW!  In fact this recipe could make 16 rolls which is the perfect size.  I usually make 8 rolls because I’m just too lazy!  Continue reading

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Hearty Italian Soup

Hearty Italian SoupA couple of months ago Southern Living posted 10 or 12 soup recipes that we all should have in our freezer when we don’t have time to cook or  we just don’t feel like it.   Then like magic we can just pull it out and presto dinner is served.  I have started cooking them now that the temperature is cooler.  Ha!  It was 80 on Christmas , but  I am a soup lover no matter what season of the year and no matter what the temperature is outside. I have made this particular soup 4 times and it has not made it to my freezer yet!   We love it!  It is full of flavor and packed with some really good stuff.  I guess I’m going to be forced to go out and buy a larger pan so that I can double the recipe.  I think that will be the only way to have some of this good stuff land in my freezer.

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Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Tunnel of fudge

This cake has made it back around the block!  Back in the day it was one of the most popular cakes around.  I have made and eaten my share.  Just the other week it came across my inbox from The New York Times, but it’s a little different from the original.  In the 1960’s this cake won 2nd place in the Pillsbury Bake-Off.  How did it not win first????   Anyway, its most famous ingredient was a box of Pillsbury Chocolate frosting.  When Pillsbury stopped producing the frosting there was an outcry from all the Tunnel of Fudge lovers so Pillsbury enlisted the help of a chemist-baker to come up with a Tunnel of Fudge from scratch.  In my book it is a 1st prize winner.

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Southwestern Brisket in the Slow Cooker

 

Brisket

I’ll be dreaming about this recipe for months.  I have been searching for the recipe  for years.  I love the brisket. There are so many possibilities with this recipe.  In the next couple of months you are going to see several recipes that I am testing to find the perfect brisket.  This one could be THE ONE!  When you make it you’re going to think it is just too easy to be good, but it is THAT good!   I saw it on Smitten years ago and pulled it out when I was cleaning my freezer and lo and behold found a 6 lb brisket.  I know that’s a lot of brisket but the two of us ate every bite and slurped every drop of broth wanting more.  Now here is a recipe that you can put in the slow cooker a couple of days before Christmas and you can feed the hungry for many times.  In fact you have to make this at least a day before serving it since it takes about 10 -12 hours to cook .   A must do step is to store the meat separated from the broth.  It will make it easy to skim the fat from the broth and  you will be surprised at how little will be to skim.   So get your cooking on for the holiday season with this brisket. It is as good as my favorite restaurants or better because you have all the control!  Enjoy!

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Homemade Parmesan Croutons

Homemade Croutons

Here is a way to amp up your next salad or soup with these wonderful homemade Parmesan Croutons.  Oh my Gosh!  Crunchy bread seasoned with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper it’s the best ever.    I could not believe how easy they were and how good the result was.  Next time you are making  a salad try these and see what everyone says.  I can bet it is “wow these are great!”

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Filed under Salad, Soup