Strawberries and Cream

My husband loves strawberries and cream and he asks for it all the time. The only problem is we always seem to have strawberries and no cream. Well one night for dessert I decided to invent my own cream. I modified a pudding recipe and came up with this:

Strawberries

I like to slice my strawberries and then sweeten the in a bowl. I'll do a handful of strawberry slices and sprinkle some sweetener on top. Then another handful of strawberry slices and another sprinkling of sweetener until all the strawberry slices have been sweetened.

Cream

Scramble two eggs in a bowl. Do not cook them. Just set them aside

In a sauce pan mix together:

3/4 cup of sugar
2 Tablespoons of corn starch
3 cups of milk
1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 tablespoon of butter

Bring mixture to a low boil. Then pour some of the mixture into the bowl with the eggs. Stir the eggs vigorously as you do so. This will cook the eggs, but keep them from becoming clumps in the cream. Combine all of the mixture together and serve over cut and sweetened strawberries.

The Story of My First Lasagna

I loved Lasagna when I was little. It was my favorite food. My mom would make it from scratch then, but, me being so young, I didn't ever take part in the making of the lasagna. Then one Sunday I took on the task of making lasagna all on my own. I had a couple recipes to choose from, plus an idea of what to simply do in my head. I combined all these together to create this: My First Lasagna!

Sauce:

16 oz package of sausage cooked with half an onion diced

14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon of Garlic Powder

1 cup of spaghetti sauce-- I use Tone's Spaghetti seasoning and make the recipe that makes 4 cups

1 small can of tomato paste

Add to taste:

Basil

Oregano

Italian seasoning

Cheese Mixture

15 oz container of Ricotta

1/4 cup of Parmesan

1 egg

Add to Taste:

Parsley

Cook 1 box of lasagna noodles.

Layer 1: Sauce
Layer 2: noodles
Layer 3: cheese mixture
Layer 4: noodles

Repeat until all ingredients are gone. Try to top off with the sauce. When completed pour remaining Spaghetti sauce on top. Cover with Mozarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Eggs All-a-Golden Rod

We used to celebrate Easter up in Colorado at my Great Aunt's ranch. We would do all the traditional Easter stuff including an Egg Hunt. Well, my Great Aunt insisted that my mom and my aunt not leave her with all those eggs to deal with so they started cooking Eggs All-a-Golden Rod. A recipe my mom got from a home ec. class. Thus began our traditional Easter meal.

First boil a dozen or so eggs. Peel and separate yolks and whites.

Next make a white sauce. I use the "Better Home's and Gardens" recipe and double it. This is the recipe not doubled.

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

A Dash of Pepper

1 1/2 cups milk

Melt butter over medium heat. Sir in flour, salt and pepper. Stir in Milk. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir for one minute more.

Once sauce is complete cut up the whites of the eggs and put them in the white sauce.

Lightly crumble the yolks with a fork.

Toast and butter some bread. Serve the white sauce on the toast with the egg yolks sprinkled on top.

"Better Than THAT" Cake

Bake a white or yellow cake. Take a wooden spoon and use the handle to poke a bunch of holes in the cake-- after it has cooled. Then pour a medium sized jar of caramel evenly over the top. Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk over the top. Spread a tub of whipped topping on like frosting. Than sprinkle coconut flakes and toffee trips on top. Best if it sits four a couple hours before serving so everything can soak in.

Yummy Peanut Buttery

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

This one came from a neighbor. She gave it to me at my bridal shower. You'll need a bag of Reeses Mini Peanut Butter Cups for the final step.

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of butter softened

Cream together and then blend in:

1/2 cup of peanut butter

2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 egg

Stir in:

1 3/4 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Bake in a mini muffin pan or a regular muffin pan. Line the pan with muffin liners or spray well with cooking spray. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes. Immediately after removing from oven press an unwrapped mini peanut butter cup in the middle of each cookie.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Beat in a large mixing bowl until creamy:

1 1/4 cup of peanut butter

3/4 cup of butter

Gradually beat in:

1 cup of powdered sugar

Then with hands or a wooden spoon mix in:

1 more cup of powdered sugar

3 cups of graham cracker crumbs

Press evenly into a prepared pan. It helps if you use wax paper to press it in.

Melt:

3/4 cup of peanut butter

12 oz package of Chocolate chips

You can take 1/2 a cup of the chocolate chips-- before you melt them-- and add it to the crust. The recipe says to do it, and you would do it before you press it into the pan, but I personally prefer the crust without the chocolate chips.

Pour the melted mixture on top of the crust and then place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

I got this recipe from my Grandma Andreason. It's great when you want a sugar cookie, but you don't want to pull out the cookie cutters and the frosting.

2/3 cup of shortening

3/4 cup of sugar

Cream together then add:

1 egg

Then sift together in a seperate bowl:

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Add above mixture alternately with:

4 teaspoons of milk

Then add:

1 teaspoon of vanilla

roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Taco Soup

A family favorite from my mom's friend.

1-2 lbs of hamburger

1 onion chopped

Brown hamburger with onion and some salt and pepper. Set aside.

1 can of pinto beans

1 can of white or northern beans

Drain and combine in a big pot with the hamburger and onion.

Then add:

3 small cans of diced green chilis (the smallest cans you can find)

1 can of black beans

1 can of red kidney beans

1 can of hominy (usually found by the canned corn)

2 quarts of stewed tomatoes

Don't drain. Combine with above ingredients

Then add:

1 package of ranch dressing mix

1 1/2 packages of taco seasoning

Cook for 20 minutes, or so, then serve over sliced jack cheese and some sour cream on top. We like to have tortilla chips to dip in it as well.