Grammy Cheese

This cheese spread is great on celery, pretzels, crackers and even bread! I don't know how long ago my mom began to make this cheese, but my kids LOVE it. It's just an olive & pimento cheese spread, but they always called it Grammy Cheese because my mom would make it for us every time she visited us or we visited her. That's not to say it's pimento cheese...not at all. There isn't even any cheddar cheese in it.

Ingredients:

2-8 oz pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 jar salad olives with pimento
1/2 cup chopped pecans

A note about the ingredients--I've made this with full fat cream cheese and 1/3 fat cream cheese. Usually I use one brick of each. Ditto for the mayo. You definitely can use the light mayo in this recipe with very little change in taste. Be sure to get SALAD OLIVES. They are already mashed a little and are a little cheaper to purchase. Go ahead and get the store brand. It works fine. And finally, the pecans. How fine you chop the pecans definitely changes the taste of this spread so try it different ways. We like it chopped pretty small, but it's just as good if you use the pecans in the package that are pre-chopped.

1. Leave the cream cheese on the counter to soften. Go ahead and open the packages and put them into the bowl you're going to mix everything in. This should take about an hour or so.

2. Drain the olives, reserving the olive liquid. Chop the olives with a food processor or chopper. Add to cream cheese.

3. Chop the pecans.

4. Mix everything together...cream cheese, olives, pecans, and mayo. Add about 1 or 2 tablespoons of the reserved olive liquid.

5. Put the spread into jars and refrigerate to blend the flavors...enjoy!

Rib-a-licious!

Ribs are deliciousness any way you eat them, but I was getting tired of all the bottled barbecue sauces on the market. They all have hickory or some smoke flavor added to them. I like my ribs without that smokiness added to them so Patrick came up with this fantastic sauce. It's just pure sweetness, no smoke and it is fabulous!

Ingredients

1 cup ketchup
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup sugar
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp onion powder
1 T garlic powder
1 T. olive oil

A note about the ingredients--we prefer Heinz ketchup and nothing else is ever used in our house.

1. Add olive oil to a pan and heat to smoking.

2. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent.

3. Add ketchup and stir. Watch it so it doesn't burn.

4. Reduce heat. Add all the rest of the ingredients and keep stirring.

5. Heat on low for 5-6 minutes so flavors blend.

6. Allow to cool completely.

7. Blend in a blender or food processor to make sauce smooth....Enjoy!

Lace Cookies

This is one of Patrick and Katie's favorite recipes. It's really easy to make and they are very pretty and delicate. The hardest part is not letting them burn. The recipe comes from a 1972 edition of The Cookies and Candies Cookbook published by Southern Living. For those of you who don't know, Southern Living is published by Oxmoor House which is located in Birmingham, Alabama. So are the offices of Southern Living for that matter. Oxmoor Road is the name of the boulevard where the offices are located. Or, at least, they were when I was growing up there.

It's funny, really, but two of my best friends were (and maybe still are) working there at the same time. I've lost track of them a bit. They've both re-married and I don't know their new last names. One of them was my very best childhood friend. We played with Barbies and pretended we WERE Barbie. My friend was a ballerina and I was a singer so, of course, our Barbies were entertainers. It was just fate. We grew apart when I moved to another area of the city, but our moms were best friends forever.

The other friend was my best friend in college. She was a lot smarter than me and actually finished college. She was also a better actress than I was and got a lot of roles in the theatrical productions. She couldn't sing that well, though, so I at least had that going for me. We had some great times, though. Ahh, those were the days.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 c. sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup quick-cooking oats

2 T. milk

A note about the ingredients--As I have said before, it's best to use real butter in baking, but if you'd rather use margarine, you must use one with a higher fat content so the cookies will hold their shape. The flour too. We don't sift much any more and it's really not necessary to sift. Just run a fork through the flour before measuring. When you measure it, though, try spooning the flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping. It helps keep the flour airy. And, any kind of milk will do in this recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour your cookie sheets. (You can use Baker's Joy, but it's a lot cheaper to use a little Pam, wipe it down and then flour)

2. Melt butter in a saucepan.

3. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well.

4. Drop by half teaspoonfuls about 3 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Spread them even

thinner with a spoon or spatula. (The cookies are going to spread so it's important to keep them far apart)

5. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until edges are brown. Remove from oven and let stand for a minute. Carefully remove the cookies from the cookie sheet with a wide spatula and put on wax paper. They will fall through a regular wire cookie rack.

6. Cool thoroughly...Enjoy!

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

I think I'm going to go the sweet route for awhile. I have several cookie recipes that have been our favorites for, well, forever!

These cookies were my all-time faves when I was growing up. They originally came out of a magazine and were called "To My Valentine" Oatmeal cookies. My mom made them for me and used heart cookie cutters with pink icing. They were definitely yummy. I made them when I was a teenager and I've made them for my kids. Now, you can make them too.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup oats

A note about the ingredients---the original recipe calls for sifted flour. Remember this was from an old, probably the 5os, magazine. We didn't have finely sifted pre-packaged flour like we do today. Regular, all-purpose flour is fine without sifting but if you want to make the recipe extra smooth, go ahead and sift before measuring. If you use margarine, be sure to pick the one with the highest fat content because the lower the fat content, the softer it is. Soft margarine (especially tub butter) doesn't work well in baking because it keeps your cookies or cakes from keeping their shape. Don't use skim milk, but 1% or 2% are fine. Of course, whole is best in cooking. And finally, any kind of oats will do, but quick oats mix in better.

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease cookie sheets (I use Pam spray and then wipe off a bit with a paper towel. If you use aluminum foil, you won't have to wash the cookie sheet afterwards. If you use a silicone liner, you won't use any grease.)

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer.

3. In a smaller bowl, mix together lightly with a fork or whisk, the flour, baking powder and salt. It's more like fluffing, really.

4. Begin to add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar a little at a time. It might take 3 to 4 additions.

5. Add milk, egg and vanilla.

6. Stir in the oats. It is a very stiff batter and you'll have to use a little muscle, but don't over mix.

7. Roll the dough into a ball and put in a zipper plastic bag and put into the fridge for about 20 minutes. This will help the dough keep its shape when you roll it out.

8. Take this time to clean up, get out your cookie cutters. Throw some flour out on the surface where you'll be rolling out your dough.

9. After the dough has stiffened a bit, roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness. This is pretty thin, actually. Cut out your shapes with the cookie cutter and put cookies on prepared cookie sheets. You can put them pretty close together because they shouldn't spread a lot.

10. Bake for about 12-15 minutes. They should be a delicate brown color around the edges, but if they aren't, don't cook them anymore. They are very tasty however they are cooked.

11. Decorate them with iced confectioner's sugar frosting. Use 1/3 cup softened butter, 1 box powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla and 2-3 T. milk for good consistency. Tint the icing with whatever color you want...Enjoy!

Very Fattening, Best Ever Hash Brown Casserole

So, this casserole has been with me for about 30 years. One day a friend of mine made a potato casserole for a covered dish we had at church. She was a meticulous person and went to a whooooole lot of trouble to make this FABULOUSLY, SINFULLY DELICIOUS dish. She even riced the potatoes, for pete's sake. I didn't even know what that WAS at the time, but I was very impressed, I can tell you. The original recipe had heavy cream and 2 sticks of real butter...well, I guess you get the picture. It was yummy, yummy, yummy.

Not long after I had that dish, I discovered a recipe that sort of sounded like the same thing, BUT it was waaaaay easier to make. It uses frozen hash browns and cream soups to make it just as yummy AND it still uses lots of butter. BEWARE..this dish is habit-forming and definitely NOT conducive to dieting.

Ingredients

1-2 lb bag cubed frozen hash brown potatoes
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1-10 oz package cheddar cheese, grated
1-8 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
2 sticks butter or margarine, melted separately
1 cup bread crumbs

A note about the ingredients...just like my other fattening dishes (Worsetta for example), this casserole can be made with reduced fat soup, sour cream and 2% cheddar cheese, BUT don't skimp on the butter. If you do use the reduced stuff, add a little extra salt to the mixture. The hash browns that have worked the best in this recipe for me come from Kroger and are the Kroger brand. They have to be the cubed kind of hash browns to work properly.

1. Turn oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix hash browns, onions, cheese, sour cream, soup, salt, pepper and one stick of melted butter in a very large mixing bowl.

3. Spray the bottom and sides of a 13x10x2 baking dish (I use a glass one). Spread the hash brown mixture into the baking dish, making sure it's even all around.

4. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top and spoon the second stick of butter over the bread crumbs, making sure each area gets buttered.

5. Bake for 1 hour...Enjoy!

Worsetta

This recipe was derived from a Johnny Marzetti recipe by a member of McCoy Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. It's difficult to remember exactly when, but I think it was probably the early 60s. I believe it was Missions Week or something like that and we were studying Africa. They came up with special names for everything and this became the "African" name Worsetta. I have no idea whether or not it really is an African word or not. It's just the name of the recipe.

It's difficult to remember exactly when because those church days don't compare at all to anything I've experienced since. In those days, there wasn't so much going on external to the church so this was our entertainment. I can still remember the whole church being FILLED with Bible classes and music. The adults as well as the kids were there and the ladies of the church prepared the meals. Boy, were they the best.

I've got to say that this recipe is great to take to a potluck dinner because it makes a lot. On the other hand, if it is just your family, you can cut it in half and put it into two baking dishes and freeze one for another time. Beware, it's very fattening and habit-forming and family members have been known to fight over who gets the last spoonful!

Ingredients

2 lbs. lean ground beef or chuck
1 large onion, chopped small
1 T. oil
1 can tomato soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 lb Velveeta, grated
1 stick of butter, melted
1 sleeve of saltines, crushed
8 oz medium noodles (flat noodles)

A note about the ingredients--the soups are used undiluted. You can use the reduced fat ones, and the recipe is almost as good. You can also use the 2% Velveeta, and feel free to use margarine with less fat content. You can just cut the Velveeta into small chunks rather than grating it, but it melts a whole lot easier if it is grated. If you can buy it already grated...even better. I've often thought you could use Ritz crackers instead of the saltines PLUS butter, but I've never tried it. The 8 oz. of noodles looks like it's not enough...but it is JUST enough. Beware, most packages have 12 oz so you won't use a whole package. I made this mistake the first time I made this recipe.
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1. Start the water for the noodles and when it boils, add them to the pot. Cook them according to the package. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. While the noodles are cooking, add the oil to a pot or skillet (something big enough to hold the meat) and cook the onions until translucent.
3. Add the ground beef into the onions and cook until no longer pink. Drain the ground beef and rinse it off with very hot tap water. Put beef and onions into a very large bowl.
4. Add soups and Velveeta and mix it all together until the cheese is melted.
5. Pour it all into a 9 x 13 baking dish (I use a glass dish) that has been sprayed with Pam. (Be sure to spray the sides too.) Spread the crushed crackers over the top of the whole casserole.
6. Spoon melted butter over the crackers. Make sure each cracker gets some! (You can melt the butter in the microwave. Be sure to use a microwavable meausuring cup or bowl, because the hot butter will melt anything else. Also make sure you put something over the top of cup or bowl as it is melting because it will spit all over your microwave otherwise.)
7. Place into oven and cook uncovered for 30 minutes or until sides are bubbly. Enjoy!

Mom's Beef Stroganoff

To some people, comfort food is meatloaf and mashed potatoes. As a matter of fact, that WAS a staple in my home in the 50s and 60s. Then, my mom started watching cooking shows. This was pre-Food Network and it was only people like the spy Julia Child (just kidding, Julia) and Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourment. Now, Julia made French food and that was just a little much, but Graham Kerr was deliciously witty, cute and he drank wine while he cooked. A very efficient combination. It served to get all of America soused by dinner time as we watched him cook his tasty tidbits.

I don't really know if Graham introduced my mom to Beef Stroganoff or not. I only remember that it was about that time that she began to prepare it rather regularly and it became one of my all time faves. Since it is a fairly simple recipe, I included it in my weekly or semi-weekly menus for my family and now...it's a Reagan Family Recipe!

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb. round steak
1 clove garlic, sliced in half
1 can fat-free chicken broth (yes, chicken broth)
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
1-8 oz. pkg mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup flour
2 T. oil (may need more, but start with this)
1 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
8 oz. reduced fat sour cream
Cooked noodles

A little bit about the ingredients--round steak is an inexpensive cut and so ideal for this recipe, but if you want to fancy it up, you can use top sirloin. You can even use hamburger. I've never tried it with ground chicken or turkey, but what the hey! It's worth a try. Most beef stroganoff recipes use beef broth, not chicken. I like the mildness of the chicken broth, though. You can use either one. By using a fat-free broth and reduced fat sour cream, you really lower the calorie count for this recipe and it doesn't make a difference at all in taste.

1. Rub cut sides of garlic over the the bottom and sides of a skillet with tall sides and then over the steak. Discard the garlic. Slice steak very thin, against the grain of the meat.

2. Heat oil in skillet on medium-high until just hot and add onions.

3. Add flour, salt and pepper to a large zipper locked bag and then put the steak in it and close it up. Shake the steak to coat it and pour it all into the skillet. Watch out! If the oil is too hot, the flour will burn. Cook steak until it is no longer pink.

4. Add chicken broth and stir with metal spatula, scraping up the pieces on the bottom of the skillet. Once all has been scraped up, add mushrooms and stir together. Turn, the skillet down to low, put the lid on the skillet and cook about 20 minutes.

5. Use this time to cook your pasta. Any flat kind will do, but I usually use the fat, curly ones.

6. About 2 minutes before the steak, onion and mushroom mixture is done, add the sour cream. Do not let this boil. This is just to heat the sour cream. so don't put the lid back on and watch it carefully.

Serve over noodles. Enjoy!

The Famous Spaghetti Sauce recipe

My daughter has moved away from home. Sadly, I never taught her to cook. It seems that there really wasn't a time when she wanted to learn. BUT, the few times that she set out to cook something, usually cookies or some kind of baked good, the results were perfect. So, I've come to the conclusion that she follows a recipe quite well.

Since she has not only moved OUT, but to another state, I'm feeling bad that I won't be be able to cook any of her favorite foods for her. Man, when she comes home for a visit, though...the brother and the husband can hardly wait, I can tell you. Because not only are they HER favorites, they are THEIR favorites as well. Home cooking is comfort food. That's all there is to it.

In an effort to help my daughter not feel so discombobulated (that IS a word, I know it is) I've decided to post the recipes of the Reagan family's favorite foods. They will be available for EVERYONE because....they are delicious!

This first blog will be the REAGAN FAMILY FAVORITE SPAGHETTI! This is one that the little brother (who actually stayed in the kitchen and learned to cook) can make from scratch. He really makes it better than I do.

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef or chuck
1 medium onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 T. Extra Virgin olive oil
1 medium jar Prego Traditional spaghetti sauce
1-15 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 small can of tomato paste
Dried herbs--oregano, basil and thyme
Garlic powder (I like a lot of garlic flavor)
2 T. sugar
1-16 oz pkg of spaghetti noodles

First a little bit about the ingredients. Remember this is for people who don't cook all the time. Ground beef or chuck are fine for this recipe. There is no use going to ground sirloin or anything too expensive. You do want to stay away from ground beef that is too fatty, though. You can use jarred garlic if you don't want to mince or chop. It works perfectly fine. If you do use it, though, I would add a bit more as the taste seems a bit weeny to me. The Prego spaghetti sauce works for me, but you can use whatever you want. Buy store brand tomato sauce and paste. They work perfectly fine. Now for the how-to.

1. Fill a huge pot with water. This is one of those big pasta pots or even a Dutch oven. Set an eye of the stove to high and put the pot on it. Heat to boiling. Add 3 T. salt and then add your dried pasta. Make sure all the pasta gets separated or you'll just have a pasta plank....hahaha. Turn the pot down to medium or so and let the noodles boil. Just watch it to make sure it doesn't boil over.

2. While the water is trying to boil, chop your onion in small pieces. There are many methods for this and if you didn't learn how...watch your fingers. Go ahead and mince your garlic as well, assuming you are not using the jarred variety. Keep the garlic for later.

3. Pour the olive oil into a large pan with a lid and turn the heat up to medium-high to begin heating it. Be sure to watch it because the oil will burn. If it begins to smoke, TAKE IT OFF THE EYE! Once the oil begins to ripple a little, add the onion and cook it until its translucent.

4. Now, add the ground beef to the onion, breaking it up so it will cook faster. Keep stirring the onion/beef up until there isn't any pink left in the meat. Chances are you'll end up with some grease in the pan. This happens no matter what kind of beef you use.

5. Take the pan off the eye so it doesn't cook any more. (You might want to turn the eye off so you don't forget and put something on it.) Start getting the tap water hot. Once it gets really hot, put a colander into the sink and pour the ground beef into it. Rinse the pot out with the hot tap water and rinse the beef off as well. Be sure to keep the hot water running so as to rinse the grease down the drain. (After you put the meat back into the pot, put some sink detergent down the drain and keep the hot water running after it. This will help keep the drain from clogging.)

6. Put the drained beef back into the pot and turn the eye back up to medium-high. Clear a small space on the bottom of the pot and add your minced garlic. As soon as you smell the delicious aroma of garlic, begin to add the liquids...Prego, tomato sauce and tomato paste...to the ground beef mixture. Add 1 tsp. each dried oregano, thyme and basil. Be sure to crush it in the palm of your hand before adding to the meat. This brings out the flavor of the dried herbs. (You can also just use a dried herb called Italian seasoning. It has a few other things in it, but it works fine.)

7. Add the sugar to the mixture and stir everything up together. Put the lid on the pot and turn it down to low or medium low. Just watch it to make sure it's 1) bubbling a little and 2) not burning. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

8. Drain your pasta and serve by pouring the meat sauce over the noodles. Add a little parmesan cheese and Enjoy!

Feeds 4 with sauce left over.....much better the next day.