Scalawag (our 29-year old son) and his wife, Mia called a couple hours ago.  They were on their way home from having Thanksgiving Dinner with Mia’s side of the family.  They knew that RT had been sick all day, and so they had prepared two plates for us from their own Thanksgiving feast.  Actually there were FOUR plates - two containing all the side dishes, one of appetizers and one of turkey and SWEET POTATO SOUFFLE’.  Yes, I said sweet potato souffle’ - the one thing I’d been yearning for all day.  I had written earlier today about how RT and I had celebrated Thanksgving in our own minimized way because he woke up sick this morning.  There was only one thing that was missing - and that was our wonderful Sweet Potato Souffle’ - the very best dish we always have for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And Mia had made this sweet potato souffle’ herself following our family’s recipe.  It is wonderful.

As soon as Scalawag and Mia left, RT and I enjoyed a few bites of turkey - so tender and juicy - and an accompanying few bites of Sweet Potato Souffle’.  There is simply nothing that compares to it.  Our Thanksgiving is now complete.  AHHH! 

This is the chili that I grew up on.  My mother (Ruthlace) made it often.  It was a great meal for a large (or small) family.  The potatoes make it more like soup than chili.  I like the fact that it’s lighter and milder than typical chili.  Here’s the recipe.

Chili Soup

2 lbs lean ground beef

1 large can diced tomatoes (if you like tomatoes, you can add more)

4 medium potatoes, diced fine

2 large onions, diced fine

4 tablespoons chili powder

2 or 3 cans beans (great Northern, navy, pinto, pork & beans - whichever you prefer)

salt/pepper to taste

Brown ground beef in large stock pot.  Add the onions, tomatoes and potatoes. Simmer for about an hour.  Add the beans.  Simmer a few minutes longer.  Serve with crackers or corn bread.

I’ve been raiding my mother’s (Ruthlace) recipe book.  There are several reasons for this: I love to cook,  she has so many wonderful recipes, and people are always looking for good, tried-and-true recipes.  I’m not sure where she got this recipe, but I’ve made it and it’s wonderful and delicious.  It’s a great recipe to make with children because there’s no cooking involved (except for melting the chocolate/paraffin coating mixture),  and it makes such a great presentation. It looks MUCH harder than it is.  Here’s the easy (and delicious) recipe for candy.  Easy Christmas Candy

Christmas (or anytime) Candy

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 box confectioners sugar

1 stick margarine or butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Mix together well.  Roll into balls (marble-size).  Place in the refrigerator to harden for an hour.  Stick a toothpick in each ball.  In a double boiler melt the following:

1 cup chocolate (baking chocolate - semi-sweet is good but you could also use dark chocolate or white chocolate)

1 cup paraffin (equal parts). 

Dip each candy ball in the chocolate mixture, hold in the air for a moment to dry and place on wax paper and remove the toothpick.  Once you’ve dipped all the candy balls, you can use a small spoon to add a drop of the chocolate mixture to cover the hole made by the toothpick.  They’re ready to eat immediately.

This is another of my mother’s (Ruthlace) recipes.  She got it from her mother.  And maybe her mother got it from her mother.  My earliest memories include making these cookies at Christmas.  We’d cut out wreaths, Christmas trees and stars, and then we’d decorate them with frosting and sprinkles.  However, they taste best, in my opinion, warm from the oven - with no frosting- and with a glass of cold milk.  What I like most about them is that they’re not overly sweet.  Here’s the recipe:

Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups self-rising flour

Mix all ingredients together well.  Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.  Roll out thin and cut with cookie cutters.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees until lightly browned - about 5-6 minutes.

Not long after RT and I first got married in 1969, someone gave me a recipe for Angel Biscuits.  I used to make them all the time because once you make the dough, you can keep it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks - using some of the dough to make fresh biscuits whenever you’d like.  They’re really closer to rolls than biscuits, and they’re delicious.  They’re so good that my mother, Ruthlace, included the recipe in her book titled Recipes, Rhymes and Reflections.  Here it is:

ANGEL BISCUITS

5 cups self-rising flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup shortening

3 pkgs. yeast (dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water)

2 cups buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients.  Cut in shortening. Stir in yeast and buttermilk.  Roll out and cut, as desired.  Bake in a hot oven (400 degrees)  Dough may be covered tightly and kept in the refrigerator for two weeks.

My mother, Ruthlace, makes the best dressing I’ve ever eaten.  I’ve always loved my mother’s cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. There just isn’t any other dressing that can compare to it.   Here’s her recipe.

 Cornbread Dressing

2 1/2 cups crumbled cornbread

1 cup dry bread crumbs (use stale rolls or loaf bread)

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup drippings (from cooking the turkey) or margarine

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 stalks celery, chopped fine

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground sage

1/4 tsp. pepper

4 eggs, slightly beaten

Combine ingredients.  Add a little more broth or water to make a thin mixture.  Bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees or until it is set.

I’m not feeling well today, and so I took the day off work.  Maybe it’s the time of year or maybe it’s because I was looking out the window and seeing all the autumn colors in the leaves, but I wanted some chili.  It took less than fifteen minutes to get it put together.  Now it’s simmering on the stove - just waiting for me to enjoy it at lunch.  So here is how I made it:

Home-made Chili

1 lb. ground beef

2 medium onion, diced

bell peppers (green, red, yellow), diced - about 1 cup altogether

3 stalks celery - including leaves, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil (needed only if the ground beef is very lean)

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce (or 1 small can tomato paste)

2 cans navy beans (or whatever kind of beans you like in chili.  I just prefer the mildness of the navy beans)

chili powder (to taste - probably a couple tablespoons)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot.  Add the ground beef, onions, peppers and celery.  Saute until the ground beef is browned and the veggies are tender.  Add the diced tomatoes (juice and all), tomato sauce/paste, the navy beans, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Add enough water to cover everything - make it a good consistency for chili.  Stir well and simmer for a couple hours.  It’ll be ready after about thirty minutes, but it tastes much better if the flavors simmer together for a long time.  And it’ll be even better the second day.

Serve with crackers or corn bread.  RT likes to sprinkle diced onions, a dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheese on top before serving.

Later note:  The chili smelled so good simmering on the stove that I didn’t wait for lunch.  I went ahead and had a bowl of it around ten o’clock this morning.  It is absolutely wonderful!  It’s exactly what I needed today.  The navy beans (instead of kidney beans) make it easy on the digestive system.  What a great recipe - even if I do say so myself! 

Thanksgiving is almost here, and most people will have mashed potatoes as part of their Thanksgiving meal.  Here is my recipe for ”Heavenly Mashed Potatoes.”  They really are divine! 

Heavenly Mashed Potatoes

5-6 medium white potatoes

4 Tablespoons butter

1 can evaporated milk

salt and pepper to taste

Wash and peel the potatoes.  Quarter the potatoes and place in a saucepan.  Cover with water.  Boil gently until a fork inserted in the potatoes goes in easily.  Drain the potatoes and place in a mixing bowl.  Add the butter and salt and papper.  Add approximately 1/4 cup evaporate milk and mix using a potato masher.  I previously used an electric hand mixer, but that sometimes made them gluey.   So use a little arm strength to mash them.  Mash vigorously with the potato masher to make them as fluffy as possible.  You can add more or less evaporated milk - depending on the consistency you like best.  Enjoy!

My daughter took a class on making pastries.  When she left the class, her first words to me were, “I’m buying a stand mixer!”   In the class they demonstrated how useful and practical stand mixers are.  I can see why.  A stand mixer does a more thorough job than a portable mixer.  They also allow you to work more easily and efficiently since both hands are free.  We looked at a Hamilton Beach® Mixer and found that Hamilton Beach® Mixers come in a variety of designs and colors.    My favorite was the “pineapple” colored Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer.  I think yellow appliances give a kitchen a bright, homey appearance.  However, since my other appliances are either black or stainless steel, I will most likely buy either the ”sterling” or “licorice” Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer because those are such classic colors.   All these cool colors are part of their Eclectrics® Mixers and other fine appliances.
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Here is a recipe that definitely would benefit from using a stand mixer.  This is a recipe I’ve had for almost forty years.  It is the quintessential, absolutely perfect combination of chocolately deliciousness.  I first got this recipe back in 1969 shortly after RT and I were married.  The recipe came from his mother, Lillian, and I asked her for the recipe after tasting the pie for the first time after that Thanksgiving dinner many many years ago.

Chocolate Meringue Pie

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons flour

4 Tablespoons cocoa

2 egg yolks (save whites for meringue)

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cooked pie shell

Place dry ingredients in the mixer.  Add milk and eggs and mix until frothy.  Pour into a small saucepan and cook on medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.  Pour into a cooked pie shell.  Cool.

Meringue:  Place the two egg whites into the mixer and whip until stiff.  Fold in 1/4 cup sugar and mix until dissolved.  Spread the meringue on top of the cooled pie.  Pop into a 350 oven for about ten minutes to brown the meringue.

My mother (Ruthlace) has had this play dough recipe for as long as I can remember.  When my kids were little, we’d make it together.  It really produces some good play dough, and it’s something you can make when your kids have a last minute project to do for school or when they are just in the mood to play with play dough - and you don’t want to drive to the store to buy it.

Home Made Play Dough

1 cup salt

1/2 cup corn starch

1/2 cup boiling water

Mix ingredients well and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until dough is too stiff to stir.  Let cool and knead until pliable.  As you knead the dought, add food coloring to make the desired color.