Burgundy Wine Jelly

Simple to make, and oh so good!
Serve with your favorite hot bread; biscuits, crescents, rolls, toast. Yummy!!!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups sugar
2 cups Burgundy wine
3 ounces Certo

DIRECTIONS:

Combine sugar and wine. Bring to a rolling boil. Add Certo and reboil. Remove from heat and pour into sterilized jelly glasses. Yields 5

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

This recipe can be made ahead of time. Remember to fix twice as many as you think you’ll need. These are guaranteed to be gobbled up quickly!!!!

INGREDIENTS

36 medium mushrooms
½ lb. sausage
4 ounces herb stuffing mix, crumb type
mayonnaise to moisten
1 large onion or 3 green onions (including tops) chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Wash mushrooms. Remove stems and chop. Brown sausage, stems and onions. Drain well. Mix sausage mixture and stuffing with enough mayonnaise to hold together. Place caps in baking dish, fill with sausage mixture. Cover and chill. These can be made a day ahead. At serving time, preheat oven to 450. Bake 10 minutes.

Note: To accompany steak, use 8 very large mushrooms. Bake 15 minutes.

Old-Fashioned Irish Potato Pie (Ice Potato Pie)

 

My Grandfather used to make these, and they were delicious! I asked him for the recipe once and what I was told was “Make it like a sweet potato pie, only use ice potatoes”. I tried once or twice to make it that way, but could never quite make it taste like his.

 

 

I searched through old cookbooks and could not find a recipe. The reason? I was looking for "Ice Potato Pie" and not "Irish Potato Pie". My family's Southern Dialect!!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (9”) unbaked pie shell
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup hot milk, or ¾ cup half and half
1 cup rice cooked potatoes
1 tbs. Vanilla extract
Ground nutmeg to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Bake pie shell at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Set aside. Combine eggs, sugar, milk and beat well. Stir in potatoes and vanilla. Pour mixture into pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg if desired. Bak in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until set. Yield: 1 (9”) pie.

Homemade Gingersnap Cookies

The one thing that I really dislike about Gingersnap cookies, is that once you start eating them, it is hard to stop!!  Eat one fresh out of the oven with a hot cup of coffee or a glass of milk. Yum Yum!!

¾ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
¼ cup Brer Rabbit molasses (or your favorite brand)
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsps. Baking soda
1 tsp. cloves
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. salt

Cream shortening and cup of sugar, add molasses and egg; beat well. Add dry ingredients to first mixture. Mix well. Cover and chill. Form into 1” balls; roll in granulated sugar and place on greased cookie sheets.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let set one minute, then remove to rack.

Makes 48 cookies

Short'nin' Bread (Cake-Bread)

Remember the old song? Mama's little baby loves short'nin, short'nin'. Mama's little baby love short'nin' bread!

Here is the recipe. Short'nin Bread is gingerbread made without the ginger and flavored by cinnamon, nutmeg and molasses. It is best baked in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or pan.  This is an old one folks, so enjoy!

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup molasses
1 egg, slightly beaten

Combine flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix well and set aside. Dissolve soda in buttermilk; stir well and set aside.

 

Combine butter and molasses in a heavy saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add to flour mixture. Stir in buttermilk mixture and egg

Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted n center comes out clean. Cool in skillet 10 minutes; invert cake onto plate, Yield: one 10-inch cake.

North Carolina Shrimp Bake

Taste buds are excited and happy with this recipe. Found this in an old cookbook. This is a great one-dish meal. Count on there being no leftovers on this. Once again, this has the “secret sauce”, so you know it is going to be Delish!!!

 

 

 

 

 

1 cup chopped celery
1 medium onion, sliced
½ cup green pepper, chopped
¼ cup margarine (I like butter)
¼ cup flour
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 (1 pound) can tomatoes
7 ounces shrimp, uncooked, shelled
¼ cup cooking sherry (I like the real stuff) (for cooking only)
1 ½ cups shredded cheese
4 hard cooked eggs, sliced
3 cups cooked rice

Sauté celery, green pepper and onions in butter about five minutes. Add flour and salt; cook until bubbling. Stir in tomatoes, shrimp and sherry. Bring to a boil ans simmer 10 minutes in a covered pan. Add eggs and ½ cup of the cheese. Pour into a 2-qt casserole and top with cooked rice and remaining cup of cheese. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 to 35 minutes. Serve hot

Old Fashion Sweet Bread (Cake)

My great-grandmother used to make a special treat for us, that was a cross between a cake and bread. It was soooo good! This recipes is the closest to hers that I have been able to find. Seems like she put vanilla in hers, but that flavor may have come from the syrup used. She also cooked only on a wood stove!

1 c. sorghum syrup
1 c. sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 c. butter
3 c. plain flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Melt butter; add sugar and syrup. Heat until lukewarm. Mix soda and salt with flour. Add to first mixture. Add well-beaten eggs. Pour into well greased oblong pan and bake at 275 degrees until done.

No Icing Needed.  Good just like this!!!

Tomato Sandwich

Can't beat a good ol' southern tomato sandwich. Fresh garden tomato, mayo, light bread and garnished with salt and pepper. Yummeeee

Some folks say this is a southern thing. We grew up with a garden, and the tomatoes were plentiful. In the country this was (is) a quick, cheap and delightfully filling meal. Of course there are variations, but the simple tomato sandwich is the best.

The bread is also important in this recipe. We grew up on “homemade” breads (biscuits, hoe bread, cornbread), so the lightbread was not an everyday food item. My great-grandmother was a believer in Bunny Bread only, when choosing lightbread. Of course the bread back when was of a different texture (finer) than now (porous, holey, and won't die due to preservatives)

Fresh home grown tomato
Mayonnaise
Bread
Salt and Pepper

Slice tomatoes on a plate or in a bowl. Put mayonnaise on each slice of bread (only on one slice if you are watching calories). Salt and pepper to taste. Best if you make them as you go because the juiciness of the tomato will cause the sandwich to become soggy.

Variations:

Use biscuits instead of lightbread (friend from Georgia like this)
Add a slice of fresh cheese (on toasted or untoasted bread)
Add fresh lettuce
Add a couple slices of bacon
Use a crusty french bread

Dry Onion Soup Mix

 I love this stuff for seasoning my meats.  Great in hamburger, on roast, stewed meats, broiled meat, baked meat.........

Sometimes I will take this an mix in some olive oil, pour it over my chicken legs or breast and cover with tinfoil and bake for about an hour.  Yummy Yum!!

 

 

 

 

4 tsps. Instant beef bouillon granules
8 tsps. Dried minced onion
1 tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. bon appetit seasoning

Mix all ingredients and store in airtight container, in cool, dry place. Use within six months. This equals 1 envelope of soup mix.

Cornish Hens With Wine Sauce

Another recipe that has the "secret sauce".  This one calls for white table wine.  Dare you try regular white wine?!!!!

¼ cup salad oil
½ cup white table wine
1 clove garlic
1 small onion, grated
12 tsp. coarse pepper
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tbs. Cornstarch
2 Rock Cornish hens (can be split in half)
butter or margarine

Mix first 7 ingredients in order listed. Cook until slightly thickened. Set aside. Place hens in shallow pan. Brush with butter or margarine. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour, turning and basting frequently with butter. Pour sauce over top. Bake 20 minutes longer. Serves 6-8.

Carrots with Wine (Slow Cooker)

Never have plain carrots again. These will really make a great impression on the un-impressionable (is that a word?). This recipe has the “secret sauce” so you know its gotta be goooood!!! Enjoy

1 lb bag of carrots
½ cup white wine
1 tsp butter
¼ tsp thyme
3 green onions, chopped
¼ tsp salt
freshly ground pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 4 to 5 hours.

Greasy Beans

 Greasy beans as opposed to steamed beans, is just an old southern method of cooking seasoned greens. Believe it or not, the old cooks did a lot of frying, boiling and stewing. Steaming just wasn't a common stove cooking method. So to fry, boil or stew there had to be some incorporation of flavor. In comes the fat for seasoning. There doesn't have to be a whole lot, just a little can go a long way.

3 lbs fresh green beans (I use whole fresh frozen)
6 slices bacon (or ½ cup bacon drippings, or a ham bone)
2 med. Onions, quartered
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup brown sugar

Wash, string and snap beans into pieces. Place in a large pot with water to cover. Add rest of ingredients, dicing the bacon. Cook at least 3 to 4 hours. The longer they cook, the better they taste.

Serves about 8 folks. Double recipe for folks with large appetites.

This can also be made in a slow cooker.

If you don't want the pork, try using smoked turkey instead.