President Reagan's Macaroni and Cheese

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A few weeks ago, just before the mid-term elections, a girlfriend gave me a cookbook that was published by Mike DeWine's campaign office. DeWine is a former U.S. senator and was running recently (and won the election) for  attorney general for the state of Ohio. The cookbook is just a small one, but is filled with family favorites, and I found more than a few I'd like to try. They are just, for the most part, good homey recipes.

This one caught my eye because it was my favorite president's recipe. I tried it a few weeks ago for a Friday night supper and my family looooved it. I have tried about a million and one recipes for macaroni and cheese and have never found one that was just perfect. I think I can stop trying now. And the best part -- it could hardly be easier. No white sauce necessary, just mix the ingredients and pour over cooked macaroni. I used the sharp cheddar called for in the recipe for a really tangy flavor, but I imagine this recipe could be made with almost any combination of cheeses (but I think you need to stick to sharp cheddar in order to call it President Reagan's Macaroni and Cheese!).

This is good, old-fashioned comfort food at its best. It was great as a main dish, and super for meatless Fridays.

President Reagan's Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz. macaroni, boiled to al dente and drained

1 t. butter

1 egg, beaten

3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 t. dry mustard

1 t. salt

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a buttered casserole dish, pour macaroni.

Toss with butter, egg and 2 1/2 cups cheddar.

In a small bowl, whisk milk with salt and powdered mustard.

Pour milk over macaroni and cheese. Sprinkle with remaining half cup cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes until custard is set.

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Source: Fran DeWine's Family Favorites

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Be back soon

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After the biggest food prep week of my life(!), I promise to be back soon. I have a backlog of recipes to get posted. In the meantime, my family absolutely insisted that I take and post a picture of the Thanksgiving table after the candles were lit. They truly did appreciate the work.

Happy first Sunday of Advent!

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Thanksgiving Postmortem

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I've been up a few hours this morning stressing the next big food event -- our 25/50 party tomorrow, but for a moment I want to talk about Thanksgiving.

I hope that you had an enjoyable one.

I hope that you were able to truly appreciate your family, or friends, whomever you decided to spend your holiday.

I hope you gave thanks to Our Father who makes all things possible.

About the food: I hope your turkey was moist and tasty. Mine most definitely was. It was also done early, God bless him. And because I roasted it breast side down again, it was perfectly cooked, soooo moist and very tasty. I will never roast a bird right side up again. Ever.

Alright then, good gravy. My mom is in charge of gravy, usually because gravy needs attention, and when you're trying to get eight other dishes on the table, you can't babysit gravy. The gravy was yummy (it always is) due to yummy drippings. I place 14 oz of turkey broth and 14 oz of vegetable broth in the bottom of the pan when the turkey goes in the oven, along with a quartered onion. I stuff the cavity with celery and a quartered onion. I baste the turkey with the broth that the giblets and neck cook in (which starts as salted water but after cooking for several hours it's very rich broth). That all adds up to tasty drippings, and that's gravy! We also use whatever broth is left in the giblets pan. This year I purchased one of these

and I must say it made gravy-making infinitely simpler. The only thing bad about this model (Norpro) is it is glass and feels fairly fragile (thin glass). I would probably get a plastic one if (when) this one breaks. It was simple to get the right ratio of broth to melted fat -- you only need a little of the latter for good gravy. And in case you're wondering, it only takes a minute for the fat to separate. We also add the minced giblets and minced neck meat to the gravy, in case you're wondering. Giblets...mmmm.

Stuffing: Grandma Ruth's stuffing made with chorizo was a huge hit. Huge.  I can see that there maybe a circumstance in the future when I would make it the traditional way, but I don't know that my brother will come to Thanksgiving dinner again if I don't make the Thanksgiving stuffing with chorizo. I also made some homemade bread for the stuffing instead of sandwich bread and that probably contributed to the overall yumminess of the dish. I am reposting the recipe below. It went very well with the Jalapeno Bacon Corn, which was zippy but not overly so. Recipe also below. Sorry, no pics.


Everything else I made was the same as in other years, but it was all good and all went very well together. Yum!

Grandma Ruth's Sausage Stuffing (Kicked-up version)

1 med. onion, finely chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped finely
6 T. butter
1/3 pound fresh chorizo (that was two links for me)
10 twigs fresh parsley, chopped fine
dried bread cubes (see note)
¾ T. poultry seasoning
2 t. salt
¼ t. pepper
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups water (or more to make moist stuffing)

Saute onion and celery in butter until slightly cooked but crispy.
Toss parsley, sausage, bread cubes,
poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.
Combine eggs and water.
Lightly toss with bread mixture.
Stuffs a 13 pound turkey.
Or place in a greased casserole dish
and bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 to 60 minutes until completely done
(see thermometer note above).

NOTE: slowly bake 25 bread slices at 300 degrees F.
until dry and lightly browned, turning once. Slice into 1" cubes.

Jalapeno Bacon Corn
6 slices bacon

3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced finely
3 (1#) bags frozen corn
3 T. butter
salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until crisp.
Remove the bacon from the pan. Add jalapeno peppers and saute until tender.
Add butter to the pan and melt. Add the corn and cook until corn is hot.
Crumble bacon into corn.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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Did You Know...

...that toothpaste makes a perfectly efficient silver polish? Just wipe it on and wash it off. If your silver is more tarnished than my fork (left), you might want to let it dry for a little while before washing.

 un"polished" (left), "polished" (right)

And it leaves you with minty fresh hands!


PS Tooth"gel" does not work -- must be paste.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

During college football season, every Saturday presents an opportunity for a yummy appetizer-style meal. I don't do this "tailgate party" every weekend, but a couple weekends a year -- usually when the Ohio State Buckeyes play a night game -- I have fun with dinner. The kids, of course, love it when we have munchies for supper, even though it makes more work for the cook.

A few weeks ago the dinner menu was appetizers and this new-to-us appetizer was on the menu. It was a huge hit, especially with the "boys" -- my husband included. It was very easy to throw together and it really only calls for small handful of ingredients. The recipe came from allrecipes and I altered the recipe to bake it in the oven -- I like a browned top on a dip like this.

We enjoyed it with tortilla chips and Asiago bread slices toasted in the oven (I used the Demi loaf which is small in diameter and made perfect little toasts).

Jalapeno Popper Dip

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
4 oz. can chopped green chilies, drained
2 oz. canned diced jalapeno peppers, drained
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Stir together cream cheese and mayonnaise in a large bowl until smooth (I used the Kitchen Aid). Stir in green chilies and jalapeno peppers. Pour mixture into an oven-proof serving dish, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips, crackers or toasted bread.

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Source: adapted from allrecipes

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Lemon Buttermilk Cake

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Back to that list of yummy things I have made, yet not yet spoken about here. A few weeks ago I needed (yes, needed) to bake a cake. Having limited ingredients (no chocolate?) I decided on a lemon cake. And having a full two quarts of buttermilk in the refrigerator, I decided it needed to have buttermilk. Fortunately I found a recipe that fit the need and it was both lovely and delicious.

I altered the ingredients just the tiniest bit to make it a little easier to make.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

grated rind of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 t. lemon extract
1 t. vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Lemon glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. or more half & half

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, combine rind and 3 tablespoons juice in a small bowl. Set aside.

Coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray or shortening; dust with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Gradually add remaining 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, rind mixture, and extracts, beating until well blended.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and 1 cup buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beating at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons juice, and 1 tablespoon half & half in a small bowl, stirring until smooth. Add more half & half to achieve a thick, but "drizzle-able" glaze. Drizzle glaze over warm cake.

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Source: modified from myrecipes.com

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Buttermilk Pie

I baked this pie several weeks ago (it was in my backlog of recipes to post) and I realized I had better get it up because you might just need to bake it for Thanksgiving. I understand, from reading other blog posts about this pie, that it is a traditional Thanksgiving dish in many places.

I admit I wasn't sure when I looked at the ingredients if my family would like this pie (or even me for that matter). Buttermilk? In a pie? Isn't buttermilk kind of tangy and oddly textured -- sort of thick, sort of runny? Well, yes it is. But, I told myself, it works well in all sorts of sweet treats, like pancakes and waffles. Why not pie? Besides it has loads of sugar to sweeten it up. And my Southern mama's heart really wanted to bake a Buttermilk Pie. It just sounds Southern doesn't it? Especially if you say "pie" like Paula does.

I thought the texture of this pie would be like Custard Pie, which my family does indeed love. But it is not. It is more firm than Custard -- more like a Chess Pie. The recipe I used came from Katy's Kitchen -- isn't her pie pretty? I felt badly that I forgot to take a picture of my pie before I cut into it, but that's real life, isn't it? And I only felt badly until I bit into my piece of pie. Mmm, sweet, but not too sweet. Good texture, good flavor. Yum. It would indeed make a great addition to the Thanksgiving dessert buffet -- just a little sliver of Buttermilk Pie next to a little sliver of Pumpkin Pie -- perfect! This pie could hardly be easier -- I guess if you used a frozen or refrigerator crust it would be incredible simple -- as easy as pie!

I think I may have to add this one to my Thanksgiving menu -- just one more pie won't hurt!

Southern Buttermilk Pie

1 10-inch pie shell, unbaked (I used a 9 1/2 inch deep dish Pyrex pie pan)
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and eggs and beat well. Add buttermilk and vanilla. Blend. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake for 50 minutes to one hour.

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Source: Katy's Kitchen

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Ham and Egg Casserole

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Last week was one of those weeks when I was glad just to have food in the house, much less yummy homemade dinners. I had to kick the menu to the curb a few times just to get dinner on the table. Fortunately I had bought the ingredients for this yummy egg casserole, but realized when I went to make it on Sunday that it was a recipe that would not work for popping in the oven and setting delayed bake -- it required more than just throwing it together and forgetting about. But, it did not require so much work that I couldn't throw it together while I sipped a glass of wine and chatted with my husband when he arrived home from work. The whole gang loved it too, which means it's a good go-to on nights when things are a little crazy (remember, breakfast is not just for mornings!)

A few things about the recipe -- first, I followed the recipe pretty closely and put it in a 13 x 9 dish as directed, but the potatoes did not get very crisp even though I cooked them twice as long as recommended (Abby's look more crisp than mine). I thought that would bother me, but they were very tasty just the same and I think the kids might have liked them better that way. I think I would still cook them twice as long and I've adjusted the recipe below. I added 1/4 cup of finely diced onion and 1/4 cup finely diced green pepper to my potatoes, for more of a Denver style egg dish, and I loved the flavor (maybe that affected the browning?). If your people don't like either or both of those ingredients, I'm sure the recipe would be just as awesome without.

Second, this recipe is a little high on the fat. If it's an occasional thing for you, don't worry about it. I might fiddle with the cream/milk thing next time and see what happens. I used half & half this time. I think this recipe has great potential in terms of subbing out one ingredient for another, but I really liked the ham/green pepper/onion/potato combo and so did my people.

Ham and Egg Casserole

2 12-ounce bags frozen, shredded hash browns, thawed overnight in fridge
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c. finely diced green pepper (optional)
1/4 c. finely diced onion (optional)
1 boneless ham steak, diced
1.5 to 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
A few dashes of hot sauce


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Squeeze moisture out of thawed potatoes, then put them in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over potatoes and stir until well-combined. Line ungreased casserole dish with buttered potatoes, and press to make a crust. Bake 20 minutes or until potatoes are just crisped and brown on the edges.

Remove dish from oven and set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk eggs, cream and hot sauce.

Sprinkle ham over potato crust. Then add cheese. Pour cream and egg mixture over ingredients.

Bake 30 minutes or until set and gold and bubbling at edges.

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Source: modified from Confabulation in the Kitchen

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Thanksgiving Menu

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I can't believe we are more than a week into November already. I have been thinking about this party we are having, and have pushed Thanksgiving dinner to the back burner. If you've been around here for a year or more you know I have a pretty big crowd on Thanksgiving -- my immediate family, my brothers' families, my mother and her brother's family from Cincinnati. We're all pretty easygoing about Thanksgiving -- nothing formal or fussy, but for the most part everybody likes the dishes to be pretty close to the same. My mom brings one stuffing and pies, and I make all the rest.

I've decided this year to modify a few of my recipes, so that they are pretty close to the same, with slight variations. My family likes spicy food, as do my brothers and uncle, so I am going to integrate a few spicy ingredients into my traditional recipes. I think they will all meld well, which is good because on Thanksgiving everything on our plates is kind of melded together!

I usually go way overboard and have several breads, a relish in addition to the sauce, a salad, and appetizers, but this year I'm saving a little of myself for the party we are having two days later. Appetizers on Thanksgiving will likely be some sliced cheese and fresh fruit, just to tide us over to dinner.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Roast Turkey
(roasted breast down, with butter rubbed all over, but no rosemary)

Sausage Stuffing
(Grandma Ruth's stuffing, made with fresh chorizo sausage)

Mother's Traditional Stuffing

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole

Green Beans with Shallots and Red Peppers

Bacon Corn
(I'm going to add some sauteed jalapeno peppers to this dish for a kick)

Cranberry Sauce
(I substitute some 100% orange juice for part of the water)

Poppy Seed rolls

Vouvray for the dinner table, or whatever someone else brings!

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Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Buttermilk Pie

Coffee (with a glug of Bailey's and a dollop of whipped cream)and hot tea

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting

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Wow, is this a food blog? I have been a little preoccupied with life the last two weeks and neglected this place. Not that I haven't been cooking, just don't have time to talk about cooking. One of the kids had my photo files open yesterday and I saw this backlog of photos that have never been posted here. Gotta get on that.

These yummy cinnamon rolls are where I left off last, I think. I made them a few weekends ago for Sunday breakfast and they were a huge hit. Huge. They are yummy like regular cinnamon rolls, but with the added flavor and moistness of pumpkin in the dough.

I have a confession of sorts to make. I don't make cinnamon rolls for my family. My mother-in-law makes cinnamon rolls and my husband goes so gaga over her rolls that I gave up a long time ago trying to make rolls that beat, or even match, hers. I make this Cinnamon Bun bread, which is really good but not quite close enough to real cinnamon rolls to make a comparison. But these, these rolls are good enough to keep them wanting, and it's not grandma's rolls they're wanting.

The dough is soft, but not gooey on the inside, and the frosting...much better than plain old butter frosting. I used the bread flour, as the recipe instructs, and I do think it makes them a little different than all-purpose flour. But if you don't purchase bread flour, go ahead and try them with all-purpose. I have a feeling the pumpkin contributes a lot to that texture, and certainly flavor. I doubled the recipe to get a big plan of thick rolls, because I knew my gang would devour them as written and there wouldn't even be enough. I also modified a few of the ingredients, including the spices because I don't buy pumpkin pie spice -- if you keep the basics in your spice cabinet, you don't need mixes. I also omitted the spice from the frosting because I didn't think it needed it, at all, but add it back if you like.

The recipe comes from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting
makes 12 rolls

2/3 c. milk

1/4 c. butter

1 c. canned pumpkin

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. nutmeg, preferably freshly ground

2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1/4 t. cloves

1 t. salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 T. dry yeast

4 c. bread flour (you can use regular all purpose flour but bread flour makes them lighter)

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1 T. cinnamon

1/3 c. softened butter

Caramel Frosting

1/2 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1/4 c. milk

1/2 t. vanilla

1 dash salt

1 -1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

In small saucepan, or in the microwave, heat milk and 1/4 c. butter just until warm and butter is almost melted, stirring constantly. In large mixer bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, spices, and salt. Add milk mixture and beat with electric mixer until well mixed. Beat in egg and yeast.

Add half of the flour to pumpkin mixture. Beat mixture on low speed 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Add remaining flour and mix thoroughly (dough will be very soft). A dough hook can be used for easier mixing. Turn into lightly greased bowl, then grease surface of dough lightly.

Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead a few turns to form a smooth dough, sprinkling with enough additional flour to make dough easy enough to handle. Roll dough into 24 x 10 inch rectangle.

In a bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread softened butter over surface of dough surface of dough. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Beginning with long side of dough, roll up jellyroll style. Pinch seam to seal. With sharp knife, cut roll in half. Cut each half in quarters, and then cut each quarter into thirds for 12 2-inch rolls. Place rolls, cut side up, in greased 13x9 inch square baking pan.



Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.

Bake rolls at 350 degrees about 30-35 minutes or until golden.



Remove from pan to waxed paper-lined wire rack.



Cool 10 to 15 minutes. Drizzle with Caramel frosting. Makes 12 rolls.

Caramel Frosting:

In small saucepan, heat butter until melted. Stir in brown sugar and milk.

Stir in brown sugar and milk. Cook over medium low heat 1 minute.

Transfer to small mixer bowl and cool mixture. Stir in vanilla, salt, and confectioners' sugar. Beat with electric mixer until well blended. If necessary, add more confectioners' sugar for desired consistency.

Spread over rolls and serve.

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The Apps Win the Vote!

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I can't decide if you (collective "you") voted for apps because you love a party with a wide variety of munchy food and a dessert bar -- skip the main dishes -- or you just think it will be fun for me to scramble around getting a party of appetizers ready. ;-) I admit, I almost didn't put appetizers on the poll, because making a party out of all apps is difficult to manage, and time-consuming. But people like them, don't they? A full half of the people who voted, chose appetizers and dessert bar over the other four choices.

The pro to an appetizer party is most people can manage a plate of appetizers while standing, or sitting without a spot at the table, and since we'll probably have a houseful, that's a nice pro. The con is an appetizer party is a lot of work. The major downside to all the work, is that my party has been moved to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That's two big food events in three days. Yikes!

I've been thinking about my menu over the last few days, and want to get as much done in advance, as well as try to plan dishes that don't need constant attention. I decided to add mini pulled pork sandwiches to the appetizer buffet because I know people enjoy them. What do you think?

Red Sangria

Assorted beer

Assorted soda pop and bottle water

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Caprese Salad Skewers

Antipasta platter

Hot Ham and Cheese Sliders

Pulled Pork and Cole Slaw mini sandwiches

Hot Crab Dip and crackers

Shrimp Cocktail

White Bean Dip and Veggies

Spinach Dip and Rye Bread

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Fresh Fruit and Fruity Yogurt Dip

Pumpkin Roll

Coconut Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cake

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Snickerdoodle Bars

assorted candy in bowls

my favorite coffee and maybe some Bailey's and whipped cream to top it off


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