Mary's Green Beans, Bacon and Leeks

My husband and I meet up with my husband's sister Mary and her husband Ed every September for a camping trip to Pennsylvania. We have our breakfast and dinners pre-planned and we eat at our campsites, one day Mary cooks, and the next I cook. 

And usually, we throw in a night of eating out. 

Mary served us these amazing green beans with dinner one year, yum-yum! So of course I just had to have her recipe. 

Honey - Cilantro Chicken Kabobs

This is one of my most requested recipes.  Not only is it flavorful and delicious, it's also easy to make and very versatile. You can add any additional veggies or fruits you like, but the kabobs are perfect just following this recipe.

I sometimes add quartered peaches and red bell pepper or whatever is in season from my garden.

Sweet Smoky Barbecue Sauce

Summer is here and it's barbecuing season! 

My husband purchased a smoker a couple summers ago so we love to smoke on the weekends.  We even have what we call "Smokin Sundays."              

Years ago my sister Debra and her husband Phil came over on a hot summer Saturday to show us how to make our own homemade barbecue sauce. 

They supplied all the ingredients and we spent the day on our patio mixing, stirring, simmering, and tossing back a few cold adult beverages. 

 

Michigan's U.P. Pasty

My hubby and I love to travel and one of our fav states to spend a 3 day weekend is the neighboring state of Michigan.  There are tons of lighthouses, wineries, bodies of water and beaches, ATV and snowmobile trails, historic sites, beautiful scenery, and tree-lined winding roads.

Other trips we have taken to Michigan were to the Holland, Michigan Tulip Festival and on another, we tent camped around the big lake while doing the Lake Superior Circle Tour. 

Best Ever Monster Cookies

I make these cookies for many different holidays so this week they're for Valentine's Day!

Monster Cookies are not new and the recipes for making them are endless. Probably 95% of my cookies are homemade, but sometimes you just need a quick and easy recipe. 

I decided to come up with my own version of Monster Cookies which are easy and great to throw together when we have unexpected visitors or to serve at club meetings or any other last-minute function.

The Mercantile

A few years back I received The Pioneer Woman's first cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, as a gift for Christmas. 

I love it and have since bought for myself or received as gifts all her other cookbooks!

The Pioneer Woman or Ree Drummond also has her own blog and recently opened a shop called The Mercantile in her hometown of Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

Ree and her husband Ladd purchased an old red brick building in downtown Pawhuska and had it completely remodeled.  

And the results are stunning. 

I just love old red brick buildings and am always so happy to see them rescued from demolition.

Fran's Holiday Cheese Ball

We've purchased or made from scratch and tried many different types of cheese balls.  A cheese ball is nothing more than a mixture of cheeses, maybe with chopped veggies and a few spices rolled into a ball and served as a dip with crackers.

It's an appetizer that's been in and out of popularity many times but still seems to hang in there.  

Even though a cheese ball may be considered sort of retro by some, it's one appetizer you can be sure of.  And there's an entire book devoted to it.  The book, Great Balls of Cheese by Michelle Buffardi has more than 50 savory and sweet cheese ball recipes!

Elizabeth's Breakfast Casserole

I created this Breakfast Casserole by changing a recipe I found in an old Betty Crocker  Bisquick Cookbook years ago. 

The original recipe was for an Impossible Taco Pie or Impossible Seafood Pie, something like that.

And we seem to go back and forth on the name, either calling it a Breakfast Casserole or a Breakfast Quiche.

Grandma Coy's Caramel Chocolate Bars

This recipe came from my mother-in-law Coy. 

She cut it out of a magazine years ago and has been making them for holidays and her grandkids ever since. 

My son Daniel especially loved these delicious cookies and Coy always made sure to bring him a special container all his own.

Sadly, Coy recently passed away, so I wanted to share her cookie legacy and recipe.

Salted Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake

 

I had a request to do a blog post about this cheesecake because the kids think it just delicious!

I found the original recipe for this decadent cheesecake in a Paula Dean Cookbook, but for time and convenience sake, I made a few small changes to make it lots easier.

For one of the changes, I use a pre-made graham cracker crust and I use a bottled caramel sauce instead of melting caramels. 

I also add a little vanilla. We just love our Homemade Vanilla. 

Sausage Corn Chowder

I make this soup 3 or 4 times a year, but mostly around fall when the days are cooler and also during cold winter months.  

And it's usually always a requested food for our Annual Fall Party.

The original recipe came from a 1992 cookbook called Campbell's Simply Delicious Recipes I found at a second-hand store. 

Parmesan Chicken, A Old Favorite

I have about a gazillion chicken recipes, but this recipe for Parmesan Chicken seems to be requested again and again. 

I love collecting and trying old retro or vintage recipes like Chicken A La King, or this WWII Chocolate Mayo Cake, and the Johnny Marzetti recipe is a favorite. 

But this Parmesan Chicken is one of the best. 

It's quick and easy to make, the coating is light and very flavorful and the ingredients are items I usually already have on hand.

     

                 

Apple Pie Moonshine

Recently I read a popular book called "The Wettest County in the World," a 2008 historical novel by Matt Bondurant. He's an American writer who features his grandfather and two great-uncles as the main characters. The movie is titled “Lawless”. The book tells the story of the trio during the Depression and Prohibition in rural Virginia, who made a living bootlegging moonshine.

The book again renewed my interest in the “moonshine culture” and historical events and places surrounding moonshining and stills.

                                           

7-Up Biscuits

Someone sent me this recipe for 7-Up Biscuits and it was probably one of my kids. They're always asking me to try new recipes they found on-line or from some magazine.

It's hard to believe that these biscuits only have 4 ingredients, especially after tasting them! They come out light and fluffy and mix up easily so are great if you're in a hurry or short on time.

                          

Retro Recipe: Chicken A La King

I love old kitchen utensils, vintage aprons, and old recipes from family and friends. I fondly remember this dish from my young adult years but haven’t had it in ages.

I decided to track down a Chicken A La King recipe that would bring back the deliciousness of the dish and this one nailed it.

Many really good recipes have been ruined over the years by all sorts of shortcuts and substitutions and this dish is no exception.

Cherry Pie Filling

Growing up we had a large really old cherry tree.  I remember that every year my sisters and I would climb the tree to pick as many cherries as we could. We would rush the cherries into my mother who made the best Cherry Pie ever.

My mother's pie crust was and still is hands down my favorite crust and I really have never been able to duplicate it nor tasted one as good.  

That old cherry tree we had growing up finally split down the middle and died and that was a sad day indeed.                                                                  

WWII Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

My daughter Alexis always wants a homemade chocolate cake for her birthday nearly every year. 

In the last couple of years, she has bugged me to try a recipe she got from the mother of a friend she met while in college. 

The Chocolate-Mayonnaise Cake became really popular during War World II when some food staples such as eggs and butter were in supply and housewives had to make do with what they had on hand. 

 

Savory Meat Pie

I think I found this recipe in an old Food Network Magazine and it has gotten rave reviews from my family every time I make it. 

In fact, my husband asked me to never ever share this recipe. He doesn't know that thousands of people have already seen it in that magazine, haha. 

This is an absolutely delicious savory beef, veggie, and cheddar cheese pie. I use store-bought puff pastry or pie crust but you can use your favorite pie crust recipe.

Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin

I asked for this wonderful recipe from our friends, David and Beth in 2010 after attending a dinner party they hosted. We just love this recipe and it's a hit each time I serve it. 

Jamaican Pork Tenderloin was the main course I served at our Women's Only Dinner Party and it's also great for a romantic dinner or holidays like Valentine's Day or other occasions.

The recipe was created by Lori Welander and won the first place prize in McCormick's 2002 Cook-Off Contest.

Red Peppers and Sausage Pasta

I found this recipe in an old magazine and still have the partial torn-out page glued on a recipe index card! 

I have since made a Scrapbook Cookbook and added this recipe.

The recipe is relatively easy to make, is pretty much foolproof, looks great, and tastes wonderful. I can almost guarantee that if you try it once you'll want to make it again.

The official name is really Penne D'Alessandria.  Penne is cylinder-shaped pasta and Alessandria is a city in Piedmont, Italy which was founded in 1168.