No Thermometer Fudge

3 cups sugar

1 ½ sticks butter or margarine

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 oz. pkg. of chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 jar marshmallow cream

Spray 8 x 8 inch glass pan with non-stick spray.

1. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk. Heat on medium high heat until mixture comes to a rolling boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

2. Continue to stir constantly for 5 more minutes after the mixture barely comes to a rolling boil.  If you decide to use a thermometer, cook until 234 degrees.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Stir in vanilla, chocolate chips, and marshmallow cream. Stir thoroughly until all is blended well. But don’t over stir or the fudge will become “sugary.”

5. Pour into a 8 x 8” dish and smooth so the height of the fudge is even.

6. Score when the fudge cools. Enjoy

Note:  This recipe may be doubled.  Cook in a Dutch oven and pour into a 13 X 9" pan.  

Pineapple Boats

(Serves 4)

2 fresh pineapples

1 cup cubed or shredded cooked turkey

1 cup grapes, halved

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup red seedless grapes, halved

1/3 honey roasted peanuts

¾ cup Hellman’s Lite mayonnaise

1/3 cup Splenda or sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

paprika for color

1. Wash fresh pineapples and cut in half lengthwise.

2. Scoop a little bit of the pineapple out on each half. On a clean chopping board, chop the pineapple that you scooped out and set aside. Save what juice was left on the chopping board.

3. Mix in a bowl the turkey, grapes, celery, pineapple chunks, and nuts.

4. In a large cup mix into mayonnaise, the Splenda or sugar, the juice that was left over from chopping the inner sections of the pineapple, salt, and pepper.

5. Pour dressing over the mixed meat mixture and lightly stir until evenly coated.

6. Place ¼ of each of the mixture in each of the pineapple boats.

7. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika and serve. Enjoy.

Just Peachy Beef Sandwiches

(Serves 2)

1 cup leftover roast beef, pulled

2 tablespoons peach jam

1 tablespoons Heinz 57 Steak Sauce

¼ teaspoon prepared mustard

1/8 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

2 croissants, split

non-stick cooking spray

½ teaspoon minced garlic

1. Spray cut sides of the croissants.

2. Rub croissants with minced garlic.

3. In saucepan, combine shredded roast beef, peach jam, steak sauce, mustard, salt, and pepper.

4. Heat on low temperature, so the sauce does not burn. Stir constantly.

5. Toast croissants on aluminum foil at 400 degrees on the top oven rack until golden.

6. Spread bottoms of croissants with meat mixture.

7. Add the tops of the croissants and serve. Enjoy.

Nancy's Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon and Red Wine Vinegar Dressing

12 slices bacon fried, remove from bacon fat and crumble when cooled

1 small onion, chopped

1 Tablespoon cornstarch, mixed with 1 Tablespoon water

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Croutons

1 bag baby spinach

1. Fry bacon until crisp.

2. Remove bacon and set aside. Crumble when cool enough to touch.

3. Add chopped onion to bacon fat and cook 5 minutes or until onion is soft.

4. Remove onion and set aside.

6. Add cornstarch mixture to bacon fat. Mix.

7. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper in saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly.

8. Add cornstarch mixture, stir and cook for 2 minutes.

9. Remove from heat. Add crumbled bacon and onion.

10. Pour over salad and toss.

11. Add croutons and serve.

Makes 4 meal sized salads.

Sort of Cobb Salad

There are differing definitions of Cobb Salad. Some say that is has specific ingredients including poultry and bleu cheese and they are placed in rows on a bed of chopped greens. Some say no, that it is only whatever leftovers that you have when you are needing to clean out your refrigerator. Since, I am needing to clean out the fridge and since I have some turkey use up, I am claiming it as Sort of Cobb Salad, even though I am not using the bleu cheese. Also, some say it has a lemon vinaigrette, but I used Marzetti’s Asiago Peppercorn dressing on mine and Woody used Thousand Island dressing on his.

Originally, Cobb Salad was served at the Brown Derby restaurant, which was owned by Robert H. Cobb and is probably responsible for the restaurant’s fame. It is unclear whether Cobb salad was designed by Cobb himself or his chef. Today, people use the term loosely, for any salad that uses leftovers and the ingredients are presented in rows. I don’t know for sure the truth; so therefore, I am referring to mine as Sort of Cobb Salad.

Ingredients:

Romaine for the salad bed

Shredded turkey

Fried and crumbled bacon

Croutons

Sliced black olives

Sliced boiled eggs

Grated Mexican cheese

Diced Avocados

Sliced grape tomatoes

Dressing of your choice (not pictured)

That lunch prep was pretty much painless and it did use up most of the leftovers in the fridge. J

Using Up the Turkey Sandwiches

On Thanksgiving, we probably had a menu similar to what most Americans had on their table: a turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and blueberry pie.

The next day sort of reminded me of a re-run of Thanksgiving, except this time it was no longer served on china. Instead it was heated up a plate at a time in the microwave and we ate it while watching a game on TV.

By then, I’d had about all the turkey that I could stand for a while, so I put the turkey in freezer bags, one for white meat, and one for dark meet and off to the freezer it went.

Now, over a week later, it is time to think about having turkey again. I am determined to not throw out the rest of this turkey, like I’ve done in previous years. So, I came up with this sandwich which I hope that my family likes better than just spreading a piece of sandwich bread with some mayo and putting on a few pieces of turkey, slapping another piece of bread on top and calling it a sandwich.

So this is how it starts. Get some croissants. I used the kind that would make small sandwiches.

I’d stored them in the refrigerator, which made them easier to slice. And a saw-toothed bread knife made the task of slicing them horizontally much easier. I sprayed the cut sides with non-stick spray, then I smeared some minced garlic on them. It doesn’t take much, only garlic bits on each one sparsely. I sprinkled some paprika on each one. Then I toasted them on foil in the oven at 325 degrees.

Spread each with mayonnaise. Then layer with:

Turkey

A tablespoon of cranberry sauce

Add some co-jack cheese.

Add some lettuce, and the top of the croissant. Hold sandwich together with a pick and a black olive garnish.

Add some chips and a few veggies. Enjoy!

Girl Scout Spaghetti

Submitted by Nancy Woods, Normal, IL

Girl Scout Spaghetti

I learned this in Girl Scouts over 40 years ago and we have it at least once a month.

Saute:

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 slices bacon, chopped

Add:

2 cups raw tomatoes, blended

or 1 No. 2 can tomatoes, smashed (if canned, lower salt to 1 ½ teaspoons)

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon celery salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 No. 2 can full of water

Bring to boil.

Add 7 oz. spaghetti, broken up

Enough water to cover the spaghetti

Meatballs- combine and make into 1-inch meatballs:

1 lb. ground chuck

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon celery salt

¼ teaspoon ground sage

¼ teaspoon pepper

Place in mixture. Simmer for 25 minutes. Add more water if it looks necessary.