Drivin' 55

Lady finger cake… It’s a no bake recipe with a dramatic presentation for family and guests. It happens to be my SIL’s favorite dessert. For his birthday dinner, I was happy to make it for him. We start with the ingredients.  Three packages of Lady fingers, large instant vanilla pudding, whipping cream, cream cheese and 2.5 cups cold milk. Line a spring pan with approximately 1.5 packages of lady fingers.   I forgot the sugar….3/4 cups of it. …and the vanilla…1 teaspoon Prepare your pudding according to directions for pie. You will cut the milk by one half cup.   Fill the spring pan with the pudding mixture. Line the top with the remaining lady fingers. You will have some lady fingers remaining… if you have a little one running around he will be happy to eat a few for you.   Now it’s time to join the room temperature cream cheese and the 3/4 cup of sugar. Introduce them slowing. Noticed I changed blades. My momma taught me to do

I need ideas on how to cook this big, beautiful purple eggplant.

Nothing says tacos to me than a really good fish taco.  Nothing says good food more than a Tyler Florence recipe! After viewing Tyler’s fish taco menu on his very famous Tyler’s Ultimate, we immediately recorded the show and ran to the computer to print the recipes.     For the very first time, we (my husband) made our own tortilla chips.   Surprisingly, it was very simple and definitely tasty.       The first photo is Tomatillo Salsa made with tomatillos, an onion, garlic, lime juice, jalapeño and cilantro.  The second photo is Mango Radish Salsa.  Yum!  It is fabulous.  My favorite is the third photo, Chili Mayonnaise, a fine accompaniment with the fish.   Be sure to click here on this link to get the recipe.  Best Fish Tacos and Great Salsas   and   Chips and Tomatillo Salsa   This is a five star menu!!!  For some reason, I really struggled with the arrangement of the photos in this post and almost tos

Sometimes, you just want to get together with new friends…   And nosh  a bit with some necessities in life….good cheeses, a bit of vino…   And then comes the decadence….chocolate covered strawberries…made by me What says friendship more than hand dipped chocolate strawberries? Served on one of my favorite platters… Add a fresh pear and the appetite is over whelmed….  Umm, this wall is screaming to be painted!  

There are worse addictions.  Lord knows I have had many. Peanut butter Fountain drinks To name a few I have to say that this addiction is at least healthy. For the last 10 days, I’ve had a salad every night for dinner. I guess the obsession began when shopping at BJ’s a few weeks ago. I picked up a very large bag of garden salad for around $3. And the obsession began… I had to build the perfect salad. Red peppers Some fresh peas Red onions Cukes….gotta have cukes! Chunks of cheese…but not a lot And then there are the anchovies… Anchovies and me go back a long way I craved them when I was pregnant with my first child   Sometimes I add a little meat Chicken breast perhaps Here, I’ve added left over pork loin roast from earlier in the week   and one cannot forget lady spinach I spinach! There’s that pork again and you cannot forget the beets these are the home made kind second batch of the week! those little nibble

Can you guess what I am doing? No, I am not bleeding profusely. No, I am not attempting dying something naturally… Today, I attempted to make fresh beets. All members of my family happen to love beets of any kind. Pickled. Sweet and sour. In the glass jar… Or out of the can… Last summer when we visited family outside Nashville, Mary served us fresh beets. I was so impressed with this simple dish. So here’s how she does it…I’ll be happy to share. I picked up a fresh bunch of beets for under $2.50 for 4 beets. Fill up a pot with water and just a pinch of salt. Clean the beets. Cut off the stems. Add to the pot and soft boil until you can insert a sharp knife and it comes out clean. Like boiling a potato. My beets boiled for about an hour. Drain the beets. When cooled, you will take your beets and cut them into slices or cubes. However way you prefer to eat them. I guarantee, your hands will look like this. Place them in a pretty bowl, I’m using my Polish stoneware. Isn’t

After rising a bit late this morning, my husband brought me a delicious cup of coffee and sat it on my night stand.  “Stay in bed and watch TV”  he said.  He grabbed the remote and turned on the Saturday morning news.  As I rubbed my eyes, I looked outside and saw a brightly glowing shiny ball in the distance.  The sun was out!  I just knew it was going to be a glorious day.  Surprisingly, I was motivated to clean.  Vacuum.  Dust.  Polish.  Shine.  Beds.  Disinfect.  Presto!  Clean. After a quick trip to the store, I made the perfect sandwich for lunch.  Two slices of Boar’s Head Black Forest Ham One slice of Boar’s Head Imported Swiss Amazingly fresh rye bread Low fat mayonnaise smothered on one slice of bread A little horseradish for a kick Sheer delight! My dinner is already in the crock pot, a lovely pork loin roast sautéed in balsamic vinaigrette with roasted garlic and fresh rosemary.  My side will be from Pioneer Woman’s repertoire C

Every Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, I prepare my famous Holiday Meatballs for my family. Sometimes, and this is very rare, I will make them outside this holiday window, but it better be a very special occasion. I found this recipe in a cookbook, Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook, that my mother gave me for my wedding shower many moons ago. The book is tattered, torn and well worn. Of course, I have loved this book from the moment I received it. Over the years, I have modified the recipe to perfection as my family will all attest! 1 pound ground sirloin (you can substitute ground turkey) 1/2 cup bread crumbs (if using turkey, increase bread crumbs to 2/3 cup) 1/3 cup minced onions 1/4 cup milk 1 egg 2 tablespoons parsley 1 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 bottle (12 ounces) chili sauce 10 ounces grape jelly Preheat oven 350 degrees. Mix all but the last two ingredients in a bowl. Make 1" meatballs. Place on a cookie sheet. If usin

As I was cleaning out my purse the other day, disposing of all the little scraps of papers, throat lozenge wrappers, a backup diaper for my grandson, I discovered this list of ingredients for a recipe. The only problem is, I cannot for the life of me remember what the finished dish was or who's blog I read and thought, "Wow, this looks good. I have to make this!". As I read the list, I noticed that I took the time to write legibly, a far cry from some of my other lists I prepare. Based on the check marks, I even inventoried the items in my cupboard and placed the list in my purse when I made my next grocery store run. Here is the list of ingredients ... 2 baking potatoes 6 celery stalks 6 medium carrots 1 TB vegetable oil coarse salt and pepper 1 large onion 1/2 tsp thyme 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup tomato paste 2 pounds ground chuck 1 cup whole milk 1 1/5 cups shredded sharp white cheddar 13 x 9 pan So that's it. A list of 12 ingredients that when combined in some fashion,