Strawberry Spinach Salad

Sunday is for Soups or Salads or Something Special.

I had eaten a similar salad in a restaurant and it was so good that I decided to make my own. I made a big bowl when I had company, so use portions according to how many you plan on feeding.

Put baby spinach leaves in bowl. Add sliced strawberries. I added sliced almonds and feta cheese. Since I had just bought some blueberries, I added some of those too.

I made some home-made poppy seed dressing from my old Betty Crocker cookbook, but it was really a French dressing with some poppy seeds added. Not realizing that until after I made it, I added some sugar to it so that it would be a little sweet.

It had just enough tang and the salad sang.

Yeah well, best that I stick with salads and not poetry.

Ingredients:
Baby spinach leaves
Strawberries
Blueberries
Almonds
Feta Cheese
Poppy Seed Dressing
Rating & Type: EE/V

Potato Salad

It's Saturday Side Dish featuring Potato Salad.

My mother-in-law was noted for two things that she could cook well—potato salad and macaroni and cheese. The potato salad came from her mother. And now that both have passed on, I carry on the tradition. This potato salad is a lot of work. What potato salad isn’t really? Maybe the kind you pick up at the grocery store, but yuck.

I told you about the story when my uncle made me try my aunt’s potato salad. It’s in the first post about Crock Pot Chicken if you’re interested.

My husband thinks this potato salad is the best ever and had me submit it in the local newspaper when they ran a contest. We didn’t win. But here’s the step-by-step directions I turned in. I’m thinking they thought it was too much trouble to make and just skipped it. Maybe they were looking for easy and good. The recipes that won didn’t impress me any, but then I could’ve been a tad on the jealous side. My hubby was disappointed. I clipped out the other recipes and plan to make them, maybe... some day.

Grandma Della Primeau’s Potato Salad
12-15 servings

5 pounds red potatoes
4 stalks celery, diced small
1 tablespoon celery seed
2 small onions, diced small
½ cup sugar
1 ½ - 2 cups Miracle Whip salad dressing
½ pound bacon, diced
3 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons sugar
¾ - 1 cup cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
paprika

Boil potatoes with skin in salted water until done. Let cool completely. (Easier if you boil potatoes the day before and cool in refrigerator. Potatoes are easier to peel and slice.)

Peel and slice (do not chunk) potatoes and place in large bowl.

Mix with celery, celery seed, onion, ½ cup sugar and Miracle Whip (start with 1 ½ cups of Miracle Whip) until coated nicely. After the other ingredients [the cooked sauce] are added, then determine if more Miracle Whip is needed. Set aside.

In medium/large skillet, sauté diced bacon until near crisp.

Do not drain grease.

Add 3 TBS mustard and 2 TBS sugar until blended and looks glazy.

Add ¾ c to 1 cup cider vinegar, stirring constantly until well blended.

Pour bacon mixture into the potatoes and fold until well blended.

Add more Miracle Whip if needed and salt and pepper according taste.

Garnish top of potato salad with slices of hard boiled egg and sprinkle with paprika.

****
The last time I made this, I added a few hard boiled eggs chopped up into the potato salad. I also used 1 pound of bacon. I think the original recipe called for ¼ pound bacon and we changed it to ½ pound, but one pound is yummier.

Ingredients:
see above

Rating & Type: NSE/P

Feature Friday—Kathy Matthews

I met Kathy Matthews through blogland. Her blog, Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy: The Online Diary of a Central Oregon Grandmother has just about everything in it from family to food to crafts to meme’s to pictures and slide shows.

Kathy was featured in The Newberry Eagle and interviewed by a reporter, Wendy Korn about The Art of Blogging. Kathy has some 40 blogs! Yes, 40! Read The Art of Blogging and find out more about Kathy and her blogs.

Kathy also likes to cook and so it was a likely fit that Kathy is my Feature Friday for my food blog. You can check out other foods too that Kathy has made. I have her Split Green Pea Soup in one of my previous posts.

I’m a bit of a card freak, so when I spotted some of Kathy’s home-made cards, I had to purchase a few. And let me tell you, they are much cuter in real life. You should check out the blog that features her cards.

If Kathy lived here in Missouri, I have no doubt that we’d meet to do crafts or cook or make cards or just to chat. She’s a super sweet gal with a gigantic heart and I’m so glad that I’ve gotten the pleasure to know her.

Now enjoy Kathy’s Easy Chicken Cacciatore for the step-by-step directions to make this splendid dish.

Fish Fillets Poached in Caramel Sauce

Now doesn’t that sound tasty? As I paged through this cookbook a friend had given me, this recipe caught my eye and I wanted to try it. It’s a Vietnamese dish and the one thing I didn’t have in my stocked cabinet was Nam Pla (Thai fish sauce). It’s also something I never remember to pick up at the grocery store. I happened to be at a spice shop, spotted it, and picked up a jar. I was so excited that I remembered and more excited that I’d get to try this yummy sounding and easy dish.

I followed the recipe. When I added the ½ cup of fish sauce, I wrinkled my nose and muttered, “Man, that stinks like dirty feet.” Confident this dish would be a favorite, I continued.

I don’t know why I’m not a taster when I cook (except when I make soups). I figure if I follow the recipe, there’s no need.

I placed the dish on the table, all bubbly about the new creation. I took one bite and the moment it hit my tongue, I spewed it back on the plate. “Oh God, that’s awful.”

My husband had more confidence in my cooking. “Oh it can’t be that bad.”

“Trust me, it is. You do not want to put that in your mouth.” I watched in horror as the fish entered his mouth and I wanted to laugh when I saw him spitting it out. That man will never learn that I’m always right.

We tossed our food outside hoping that the raccoons would take one bite and find another feeding ground.

“I thought the fish sauce smelled bad, but never having cooked with it maybe it really was bad.” Disappointed that the dish I had been craving ended up in the yard outside, it was more disappointing that I had to make something else for dinner.

“Ugh, that was disgusting. I didn’t think I’d ever say that about your cooking.”

“Well, it was disgusting.” My original smell of dirty socks didn’t fit the taste. It was more like 100 year old dirty socks that had been worn by the same dirty man who never bathed and who wore the same dirty shoe. Seriously.

Whenever I make a new dish I say to my husband, “This is new, I hope it tastes okay.”

He replies, “I’ve never had anything I didn’t like made by you… oh wait… except that nasty fish dish.”

We both scrunch up our faces and simultaneously say, “Ewwwwwwww!” Then we reminisce about how that dish was so disgusting.

No recipe for this dish, but… if you find one that you know is good, let me know. Or if you think I’ve had bad fish sauce, let me know and maybe I’ll give it another shot.

Ingredients:
Nothing

Rating & Type: Gross/F

Broccoli, Chicken & Rice Casserole

Wednesday’s casserole—Broccoli,Chicken & Rice—is something I served my children a lot when they were younger. I combined parts of several different versions because I usually didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand.

Cook up some rice. Probably a couple of cups. I like brown rice, but kids usually like white. Saute chicken pieces until cooked. Mix a can of cream of mushroom with the rice, add a bag of frozen broccoli or half of a bag if you think it’s too much. Stir in the chicken. Add a little milk. You can also add some shredded cheese if those you are serving like that. You could also top with some bread crumbs and a little melted butter drizzled over the top. Then bake about 30-45 minutes at 350. If someone is not a mushroom fan, you could always substitute with cream of chicken or some other creamed soup.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Rice
Broccoli
Cream of Mushroom soup (or other)
milk
cheese

Rating & Type: E/C

Ahi Tuna

It’s Tempting Tuesday—where I thought my recipes were going to be more on the high calorie and high fat side, but “don’t believe everything you read, and only half of what you see,” is what my husband likes to spout off now and then.

My husband and I had the good fortune to take a trip to Maui and visited Momma’s Fish House. We had Ahi Tuna for lunch and it cost over $100 for the two of us, and I don’t drink! If tuna can melt in your mouth, this does. Exquisite. We’ve been hard pressed to find anything better, and at that price, I hope we don’t.

We’ve grilled our own, trial and error, and have come as close as one can with our last attempt. I’m sure Momma’s tuna was caught that morning, so we have a big disadvantage. We settled for a bag of six pieces for around $12—that would make our Ahi Tuna dinner $2 each, add some veggies and maybe we’ve spent a total of $4 tops. Yes, restaurants have overhead, chefs to pay, waiters and waitresses to employ—and then there’s the ambiance. The ocean breeze that gently crosses your face, the Hawaiian sun, the swish sounds of waves hitting the shore. Maybe the $100 wasn’t that stiff after all.

So our Ahi Tuna: Grill on high (hot) heat 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side. You’re basically searing and cooking the outside a fraction of an inch. You want the tuna rare on the inside, otherwise you may as well open a can of Sunkist. No comparison. I had sprinkled the Ahi with some Lemon Pepper.

My husband and I can pretend the waterfall sound in our backyard is the ocean, and that he is a renowned chef (cough, cough) and I’m the friendly waitress (so true). You get what you pay for—usually. I’d say we are running a close second to Momma’s, but so much cheaper!

Ingredients:
Ahi Tuna
Lemon Pepper

Rating & Type: E/F

Pepper Steak

I had used extra meat from a Beef Tenderloin to prepare this Pepper Steak. I buy a whole tenderloin and cut it into filet mignons as it’s much cheaper that way. You have to do a little bit of extra work, but… hey why not? I save the scraps—I say scraps because they aren’t filets, just hunks of meat. I use them for stew or soups. A few of the bigger nicer hunks I use for other dishes, like Pepper Steak.

This recipe came from my brother-in-law Russ who passed away from cancer. He’s the same Russ who thought my meatloaf was the best he’s ever tasted. His pepper steak is pretty darn good too only I switched the kinds of peppers as I’m not a huge fan of green peppers. I prefer red, orange or yellow. And it's what I had on hand.

Russ’s Pepper Steak
round steak, green pepper, 1 can mushrooms, bouillon cubes, soy sauce, sugar, garlic salt, salt & pepper.
Cut meat in strips,

brown, drain (I didn’t drain and also cooked mine in a little butter). Add cup of water and 2 Tablespoons soy sauce and simmer til tender. Add 1 Tablespoon sugar, mushrooms, green pepper (I used orange and yellow), bouillon cubes, garlic, salt and pepper.

Simmer until cubes dissolve. Add flour and water to make gravy.

Serve over rice or noodles. (I didn’t have cubes, I used a jar of this bouillon paste and I cooked the dish until I felt the peppers would be the way I’d like them.)

Ingredients:
see above

Rating & Type: E/B