Meatloaf.

Busy January. My son had surgery, 80 miles away from home, so I stayed at the hospital, for 2 days, and we've driven back twice for the doctor to check his progress, soooo - I missed a couple of family birthdays. Last Sunday the whole family came over for Sunday dinner and belated birthday gifting. My husband made his famous meatloaf to serve the crowd, and we are often asked how he makes it, so here is the recipe. Beware - it makes a huge amount of meatloaf, if your family is smaller try reducing the amounts or freezing the extra for another meal. The leftovers make great sandwiches too.



Christmas Treats

Woke up Christmas morning and popped these cinnamon rolls into the oven.

Delicious! Recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I halved everything (made the dough the day before) for 36 rolls, also made only 1/4 of the glaze and drizzled it on.

The Christmas Tree, waiting for the kids to wake up and the grandkids to arrive.

Healthy Hummus

We love Hummus. I found a healthier version to make at home. Easy and it tastes much fresher than store bought hummus.

Lemons

Our Lemon trees are working overtime!
Lemon Bars, Lemon Cake, Lemon Scones, Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, Lemon Drop Martinis,
Lemon Curd, Lemonade, Lemon Juice Ice Cubes...........hmmm what else?

The Great Crepes Recipe

Years ago, my husband worked at a local winery with a young woman who had moved here from France. Catherine shared her family recipe for Crepes with us. Ever since then it has become a special event meal for our family, birthdays, holidays, company brunch. Delicious and easy, fill with fruit, jam, chocolate, ham, eggs whatever you like. Our favorite way is with a squeeze of fresh lemon, powdered sugar and fresh whipped cream.

The Great Crepes Recipe from The Great Catherine

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 pinch of salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 stick butter softened
• 1 cup sugar

Beat butter and milk with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, sugar and salt, blend. Beat in flour a little at time and blend well so there are no lumps.

Put a small amount of oil in crepes pan over med-high heat. Add about 1/4 cup batter to pan and swirl aound until bottom of pan is coated. Cook until edges begin to brown, jiggle pan to loosen and flip over. Cook second side briefly until lightly golden. Enjoy.

Here it is! Fabulously easy Christmas Fudge recipe.

Twenty something years ago, when I was a young wife and mom with little funds for Christmas gifts, I found a cute card with a fudge recipe printed on it. I bought one box of cards and made fudge gifts for friends, neighbors and teachers. Every year I make this fudge. Sometimes for just family and friends, and sometimes for gifts. I have changed it up by using milk chocolate, white chocolate and even mint chocolate flavored chips. I have added nuts, peanut-butter chips, crushed candy canes and sprinkles to the top for decoration. It has been gifted in cute ways, stacked in a martini glass, a chinese take-out container, coffee mugs, and this year in these cute Santa bowls. I hope my co-workers enjoyed the fudge and love the little bowls as much as I did!

The last of the original cards. This year I color copied it, reduced size, and used it for a gift tag. Yummy treat and recipe in one.

Semi-sweet with walnuts and creamy milk chocolate fudge.

Sweet Potato Souffle

Thanksgiving is coming! My favorite holiday, family, friends and good food to share. This is my most requested holiday side dish, every year I have to make double so my kids can take some home as leftovers. It is light and fluffy, sweet with a crunchy topping. Very easy to make, everything goes in a big mixing bowl, into the souffle dish then bake. I usually make it the day before because it takes an hour or more to bake and my oven is full of turkey. When the turkey comes out on Thanksgiving, then just pop it in the hot oven to warm up.

Sweet Potato Souffle'





2 - 29oz cans of sweet potatoes


2 cups sugar


1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed


5 eggs


1 cup (2 sticks) butter


* * *


1/2 cup (1 stick) butter


3 cups corn flakes crushed


1 cup nuts




mix first 5 items with electric mixer in large mixing bowl


until well blended (will be slightly lumpy)




pour into round casserole dish with high sides, or souffle dish


bake at 350* for 60 - 90 minutes until center is set




combine last 3 items by hand and sprinkle over baked casserole


return to oven and bake until topping is bubbly (apx 15 min)

Lemon Cake

Only 4 days left of summer, so here is an easy, yummy summer dessert to try.

**Coming soon: fall recipes - my favorite!**

Fluff!

I was watching a new show the other night, a crime show set in Boston. The main character Rizzoli , was eating a Fluffernutter for lunch. I love Fluffernutter sandwiches, they were a lunch box staple growing up on the east coast. So here you go, try it!

2 slices of bread, spread with 2 Tbs of peanut butter and 2 Tbs of Fluff (marshmallow creme), cutting off the crusts is optional. Delicious! Enjoy.

Applesauce

My friend Peggy gave me a bag of apples from her backyard tree. So the other day I made some homemade applesauce. It was delicious.

Patriotic Cake

My husband brought home a whole bunch of fresh strawberries, so my daughter made a holiday themed cake and used them on the top. She baked a standard white cake and added royal blue food coloring, white frosting, red sugar and strawberries - easy and delicious!

Granola Yum

It's been years since I've made homemade granola. When my family was young and I was home with a half-dozen little kids, I used to make most of their snacks from scratch. It was just easier than piling them all in the car to go to the grocery store. So here is an easy granola recipe made with items you have on hand.

Preheat oven to 350*

In a large bowl stir together:
  6 cups rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)
  1 cup bran (I use bran cereal)
  2 cups total of nuts and/or seeds - walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, peanuts,  sunflower seeds, sesame seeds,etc. (you get the idea)
  1 cup dried coconut (optional)

Add in:
  1 cup honey or pure maple syrup, more or less to taste
  1/4 tsp salt
  1 teaspoon cinnamon
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix well, then pour onto 10x15" sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray. Spread out evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from oven when browned, being careful not to let it burn.

Cool, then stir in 1 cup total of any mix-ins you would like:  raisins, banana chips, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, M&M's, peanut butter chips, etc.

Put in sealed container and store in refrigerator.

The weather last Sunday was beautiful, 85 degrees here in sunny SoCal. We had some friends over for an asado (Argentine style BBQ). I made my lemon cake for dessert, so easy and refreshing. It never fails to be a big hit! Try it.

Ingredients

1 box of lemon cake mix

juice of one lemon

1/2 - 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Prepare and bake cake according to package directions using a 13"x9" pan.

While cake is baking, squeeze lemon juice into a small bowl. Add powdered sugar to juice, stirring to dissolve sugar. Keep adding sugar until mixture reaches the consistency of pancake batter. The amount of sugar will vary depending on how much juice your lemon produced.

When cake is done, remove from oven and poke holes all over the top using a toothpick or slender fork. Pour glaze over top of cake. Spread gently, allowing glaze to soak into cake. Cool.

Finished cake will be glazed, moist and deliciously lemony.

Cookies

We make these cookies all the time! Fast, easy, and good. You can use any cake mix flavor, the chocolate and spice cake mix is good with nuts mixed in. Or try white cake mix with chocolate chips or sprinkles on top.

CHOCOLATE CAKE COOKIES

1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil (I prefer canola oil)
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips


Mix all ingredients together. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking pan. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. Yield: About 3 dozen cookies.

Thanksgiving is long past, but I recently wrote down my stuffing recipe, so I'm posting it now. I use Mrs. Cubbison's dressing mix, and I chop the apple leaving the skin on for added color.


Apple Stuffing Recipe

· 5 Servings

· Prep/Total Time: 15 min.


Ingredients:

· 1 medium tart apple, chopped
· 1/2 cup chopped onion
· 1/4 cup chopped celery
· 1 tablespoon butter
  1 lb sausage, crumbled and browned
  1/2 cup chopped walnuts
· 1 package (6 ounces) stuffing mix


Directions
· In a large skillet, saute the apple, onion and celery in butter until tender. Prepare stuffing mix according to package directions. Stir in apple mixture, sausage and walnuts. Yield: 5 servings.


Nutrition Facts: 3/4 cup equals 256 calories, 13 g fat (7 g saturated fat), 30 mg cholesterol, 706 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein