Friends

What a treat to have our friends home from India. We get to have them home for 3 months. Rachel loves having Hana over and I love all the giggles I get to hear whenever the two of them are together. :)


I am too tired to write much, but did want to say hello! We had a wonderful fourth and enjoyed time as a family.

A special hello to Paula. I prayed for you while you were traveling. Missed seeing you while you were in Maine, but I know how crazy a limited vacation time can be!

I am thrilled you all enjoyed our moolas. I played Go Fish in different variations with the children tonight and used moolas to reward the winners. "Bragging rights" as your only compensation for winning can be a let down. ;D

And before I forget...we made a new dessert for our cookout today-thanks to Marisa! (I still always want to call you Missy!) It was an instant hit! It was every bit as delicious as she said. If you haven't already, check it out here.

That's it for now. Have a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow! God is so very good all the time.

Thanks for stopping by,

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is our absolutely hands-down favorite cookie recipe...

2 eggs
1 tsp. each of salt, vanilla and baking soda
1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup Crisco
3/4 cup each of white sugar and brown sugar
2 1/4 cup flour
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

With mixer, cream together everything but the last 2 ingredients. Gradually add flour. Stir in chips.

Bake 8-11 minutes at 350 degrees. Each oven is different, but we like our cookies still soft. Our oven takes 9 minutes.

We always double the batch as there are several people we like to share these with. We love Hersheys' Special Dark chips.

Thanks for stopping by,

Grandma's Meatballs

Margaret requested this family favorite. Here you go, friend!

First some history though...

When I was expecting our first child, my precious friend- "Lady Di"- made this for our family. We loved it so much she made it for our baby shower. She also made it again for my husband while I was recovering from delivery. (emergency c-section)

When we moved to go pastor a church she sent the recipe with me. It is my oldest son's all-time favorite meal. Nothing else comes close. I think it is ironic that it is his most requested meal as it was because of him we ever had it in the first place.

Thanks, Di! We think of you every time we make it. And we always double the batch. (We LOVE leftovers!)

Ingredients for the meatballs:

1/2 can evaporated milk (3/4 cup)
1 cup quick cook oatmeal
minced onion to taste
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine well, shape into balls and place in 9x13 pan.

Ingredients for the barbecue sauce:

1 cup catsup
1 cup brown sugar
onion powder
1 tsp. liquid smoke (found in catsup/barbecue aisle)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Heat on stove until mixture is smooth. Do not overcook!
Pour over the meatballs.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Enjoy!

And in case you wanted to know...we always serve it with cream cheese mashed potatoes. Scrumptious! We also frequently triple the sauce, but only double the meatballs.

Thanks for stopping by,

Chicken Tettrazini

My favorite cook...He's so cute! (And he is soooo very thrilled I put this picture on the blog!)

From time to time I would like to share some of our favorite recipes. I love getting recipes from other ladies that are their family's absolute favorites. I tend to like to try recipes that people I know have proven, tried and loved more than I like to try recipes from other sources. We love spices and seasonings, but we are no gourmet cooks in any way.

I am also blessed to be married to a man who cooks. I did not know there was such a thing growing up. :) Mom did all the cooking in our home growing up. Then I married Rick and he certainly surprised me! His specialties are breakfast and anything grilled. He also loves to create new recipes. (His cheese and bacon topped venison was amazing!)

All that to say, Margaret asked for a couple of recipes and I thought I would post them here.

This first one is called Chicken Tettrazini. I was served some here in a Maine a few years ago by a dear friend. Delicious! So many of my favorite things in one pan! I enjoyed it often until she moved. I did not have a recipe, so I did some research. After reading several different recipes nd remembering the one my friend used to make I came up with my own recipe. I probably never make it the same way twice as I tend to cook by formula as opposed to exact recipe.

One more side note...
I always make 2 9x13 pans as we love to cook once and enjoy having leftovers the next day. So, if you want less you would need to adjust the recipe.

Chicken Tettrazini

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of cooked spaghetti (we use thin or angel hair, any kind will do)
2-3 lbs. of cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast (we season ours with salt, pepper and garlic)
1 large can of Cream of Chicken soup (or 2 small)
1 16oz. carton of sour cream
1 stick of butter
Milk
parmesan cheese
2-3 sleeves of crushed Ritz crackers (all crackers are NOT created equal-Ritz is the best in this dish as it holds up better than my personal favorite, Town House)
your favorite shredded cheddar cheese ( we love a cheddar and Jack blend)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the cooked spaghetti in the pans. Shred or dice the chicken and layer it on top of the pasta. Add parmeasan cheese.

In a large saucepan, heat through the sour cream, butter, soup, and a can of milk and a can of water. (The can being the soup can.) Pour over the spaghetti and chicken. Layer on the shredded cheese and finish with the crushed crackers.

Bake for one hour.

We think this is one of those dishes that is even better the next day.

Thanks for stopping by,