Crockpot Blueberry Cherry Dump Cake

If you like the dump cake recipe that uses a can of pineapple and a can of cherry pie filling, you'll like this one, too!  This one is made in the crockpot. Instead of using pineapple, I replace it with a pint of fresh blueberries.

In the bottom of your crockpot, place a pint of fresh blueberries. Add a can of cherry pie filling.  Fill the empty can half full of water and stir it around to make sure you get all the cherry sauce and pour water and all into the crock pot.  Stir the ingredients around to even out the distribution.

Dump a white cake mix on top of the fruit.  Place slices of a stick of butter evenly over the cake mix.  Add a handful of chopped pecans.

Put the lid on the crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours.  That's it!

Read About OUR Chili!

I want you to know a little bit about the history of chili before I tell you my favorite family story about OUR chili!  Chili is a concoction of the Southwestern United States, probably more specifically West Texas. 

My favorite legend regarding the origin of chili is a Southwestern American Indian story about a beautiful nun who shared a recipe in the 17^th century. Sister Mary of Agreda was in Spain. She was a mystery to the Indians, but was known as “La Dama de Azul” … the lady in blue.  Sister Mary went into trances for days at a time and she would tell that her spirit went to faraway lands where she preached Christianity to natives and encouraged them to look for the Spanish missionaries. Sister Mary shared a recipe for a stew that included venison, antelope meat, onions, tomatoes and chili peppers.

What is so mysterious about this legend?  Sister Mary never left Spain. The recipe she shared was one she learned from American Indians. King Philip IV of Spain and Spanish missionaries (in America) were convinced that she was the lady in blue.

The lady I want to tell you about is my mother.  When she was a young bride, she and Daddy lived in a tiny apartment.  They shared a bathroom with another apartment, but they had their own wood burning stove. Mother’s cook stove also heated the apartment. There was no refrigerator.

Hamburger meat in 1940 was 20 cents a pound, but Daddy was in a local grocery store one day and it was on sale for 20 cents for FIVE POUNDS!  Of course, he took advantage of the deal and happily carried his bargain home to their little apartment!  He had his appetite all set for a few days of juicy hamburgers. You might be questioning their ability to keep the meat cold without a fridge! It was wintertime and Daddy had created a box on the outside of a window where they were able to keep their foods that needed refrigeration!

Because she came from a large family, Mother was an accomplished cook. Because she was accustomed to cooking for several people, her first inclination to use five pounds of ground beef was to make CHILI!  Daddy came home from work, expecting hamburgers and sat down to a bowl of chili.  There was nothing wrong with that, except that they had enough chili for three families! That evening, Daddy delivered chili to a few other families!

I heard this story throughout my life.  Daddy loved to tell it!  What I didn’t know, however, was that the little apartment they lived in was a place I visited regularly.  It was on the second floor of a house that is now used as the General John A. Logan Museum in my hometown.  A couple years before he died, I was delighted to be able to take Daddy to see his first apartment.  Once again, he got to tell his chili story to the museum employees!

If you want to read more about the history of chili, visit What's Cooking America

If you are interested in the General John A. Logan Museum visitLogan Museum

YELLOW CURRY CHICKEN

I've recently fallen in love with yellow curry. The oven does most of the work with this easy recipe, but the flavor rings of extensive preparation!

Combine a Tablespoon of yellow curry paste, a Tablespoon of rice wine vinegar and a Tablespoon of golden soy sauce. Make sure the boneless skinless chicken breasts are dry and dip them in the curry paste combination, coating them well. 

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet. You can make some wonderful roasted vegetables to go with the chicken.  Chop cabbage, red or green peppers and onions if you like them.  Place the vegetables in a single layer alongside the chicken breasts. Drizzle olive oil over the veges and turn them a few times to coat them.  Roast the chicken and vegetables at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.   When you plate this meal, use the pan drippings to finish the chicken breasts.  Delicious!

AIR FRIED MUSHROOMS

I love fried mushrooms, but I do my best to stay away from real fried food.  These are air fried and couldn't be easier!

Slice fresh mushrooms and dip them in egg wash. Dredge lightly in flour. Place in the basket of the air fryer and spritz with a tiny bit of olive oil.  Fry them at 356 degrees for 10 minutes.

They are delicious! They are tender inside but crispy on the outside with nearly no amount of oil used.

OLD FASHIONED STRAWBERRY CAKE

When my granddaughter asked for "Grandma's Strawberry Cake", it took us a minute to realize that she was talking about my mother's recipe. Every time one of us bakes  this cake, we talk about "Grandma" and how she used to make it every year for Christmas Eve dinner ... and for every summertime food event we had!

I think the recipe emerged in the 1960s.  I remember having it for the first time at a summertime family reunion!  From then on, it was a huge family hit. 

I was delighted to bake it for Phoebe, and everybody at the party enjoyed reminiscing about the old recipe!

Grandma's Strawberry Cake

Thaw the strawberries and add the first half of the package to the cake mix, oil, eggs and strawberry gelatin.  Mix thoroughly and bake in a prepared 13 x 9 cake pan at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

1 box white cake mix
1/2 of a 10 ounce package of frozen strawberries
1 cup canola oil
1 box strawberry gelatin
4 eggs

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and immediately make the icing.  Prepare by adding
the second half of the package of thawed strawberries to 1 pound powdered sugar and 1/2 stick soft butter.  Whip until smooth and pour over the cake while the cake is still warm.

You can also bake this cake in 2 or 3 round pans.  You'll need more frosting for a layered cake, so use the following recipe.  Let the round cake layers cool completely before frosting them.

Big Batch of Strawberry Frosting

Add the second half of the package of strawberries to 8 ounces of softened cream cheese, 1/2 stick soft butter and 2  pounds powdered sugar

Phoebe's Thanksgiving Tablescape!

My daughter often says, "my job is done", when Phoebe demonstrates that she has learned something really important to our family life!  Usually that pertains more to her interest in music or movies from the past ... or her interest in technology!  On Thanksgiving, I thought "my job is done", when Phoebe came in the front door carrying a box and proclaimed that nobody was to go into the dining room until she was finished!  She had some decor to add to the table.  Take a look!

Don't assume that Phoebe had her holidays confused!  Her mama had been teaching her about the long history of Thanksgiving Day and the fact that George Washington had proclaimed the holiday in 1789.  We've also been having lots of conversations lately about the importance of our flag and the National Anthem and how all these things represent the freedom we have in the USA.
So ... it was important for Phoebe to include flags on our tablescape ... and the quill pen is just like the pilgrims used.

Our Thanksgiving tablescape included turkeys ... one wearing teal pearls around her neck!

I have been collecting cornucopia baskets for years and these little tiny ones are part of my collection!  This year I placed them on Pioneer Woman coasters and filled them with candy.

There is almost always a pig on my tablescape! Thanksgiving is no exception!

                                                                                                                                 

You might recognize this checked table cloth as a Pioneer Woman piece.  I left all my turkey dinnerware on the shelves this year and used the new PW Willow pattern for Thanksgiving.  I'm trying not to buy everything I see made by PW, but when I saw the large platter, I bought it.  When I realized what a nice turkey platter it would make, I bought the dinner plates and gigantic mugs!

I decided to add some flowers to my turkey shaped napkin rings, so they would look cute with the Willow pattern!  The pearls on the turkey in the centerpiece, set the overall theme!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheeseburger Chowder!

I made a small batch of Cheeseburger Chowder over the weekend!  

I needed to stock up on a few frozen containers of soup to use for my lunches. I thaw them in the fridge over night and I package just the right amount for my mini crockpot that I keep in my office. 

The ingredients are simple and you can use whatever you have on hand.  The one thing that I add ... that I've never seen in any other recipe is DILL leaf!  That adds the subtle flavor of a dill pickle and that makes it taste truly like a cheeseburger!

Brown half a pound of good ground beef.  Leave some big chunks.  While the burger is browning, add 1/2 cup chopped onion and half a cup of chopped red and/or green bell pepper. Add 3 cups of beef broth, a half cup of uncooked pasta (I used noodles) and a cup of frozen corn kernels.  Let the soup simmer about 30 minutes.  Finish the soup by adding 1 teaspoon dill weed, plenty of freshly ground black pepper, 1 cup of sour cream and 3 cups of shredded cheese. Continue to simmer the soup for another five minutes, stirring constantly so all the cheese melts and the sour cream blends in nicely.

Tiers of Autumn

I decided to load my galvanized metal tiered tray with some autumn decor. It had been sitting on the sunroom table, filled with an apple theme!

When you have red furniture, you have to have some red pumpkins!

Don't you love this teal pickup truck!   

The tray is filled with pumpkins, pigs ... and nothing I do lately seems to be void of a piece from the Pioneer Woman!  Measuring bowls and spoons are tucked in the bottom shelf!  I don't use them ... because they are just too cute!

Glitzy Pumpkins for Brunch!

I happened in to the local Walmart when Halloween things were 75% off and there were a few glittery pumpkins left, so I bought a couple.  I already had plenty, but I do love pumpkins!

Having my new additions to a rather large collection meant that I had to set one more pumpkin tablescape.  No, it won't really be the last one for the season ... I have another one planned for later!

I also found this cute Harvest Blessings framed tray, so it became an important part of my composed centerpiece.  Notice my 1965 edition of Fannie Farmer's cookbook!  That was the 11th edition published of the original 1896 cookbook.

I mixed my very affordable Walmart Mainstays pumpkin dinnerware with a little collectible green glass!  The tiny butter plates are what we got in the oatmeal box when I was little ... Sandwich Glass!  The green leaf shaped bowl is Anchor Hocking 1960s vintage ... probably from a dime store!  The faux bamboo flatware is twenty years old and just part of my stash!  The beaded place mat is from Kohl's ... on sale-on sale after Christmas a couple years ago!  I would never pay the original price for those things!

Miss Phoebe is spending the night with me tonight, so I think we'll eat Sunday brunch on this table in the sunroom!  When she was little bitty, I'd let her drink coffee from a demitasse cup!  Now, we have our coffee from a big mug.  I've ruined her.

I'll share this post with some of the parties listed in my sidebar, so make sure you click through to see the other posts!  Hope you are enjoying the autumn season!

Roast Chicken with Potatoes & Creamed Spinach

This creamy comfort food is perfect for Saturday night supper on a cold evening!  Who doesn't love to smell something wonderful from the oven? Who doesn't enjoy relaxing for 45 minutes when the oven is doing all the work? Just look at these glistening potatoes and the glossy skin on the chicken thighs!

I used chicken thighs because I love the tender meat on the thigh.  You could use chicken breasts, just plan on cooking it a little longer.  You could also use skinless, boneless breasts ... and you'd roast those in a little less time!

Place 6 to 8 chicken thighs in a 13x9 baking dish.  Surround them with tiny potatoes. Pour 1/2 stick of melted butter over the chicken and the potatoes.     Add 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth to the dish, but don't pour it over the meat and vegetables.  That will cause the butter to run off and into the dish. Pour your broth carefully at the edge of the dish.

Add your favorite fresh herbs and a little minced garlic over the top of the chicken.  Roast (uncovered) for 45 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees.  Most of the broth will be absorbed, but during the last 5 minutes of roasting, pile all the meat and vegetables on top of each other and make room to add a bag of fresh baby spinach.  Before you add the spinach, add a tablespoon of flower to the remaining broth and whisk it around. Add the spinach and it will wilt beautifully in the oven.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and add half a cup of Half and Half to the spinach side of the dish!  Toss the spinach around in the Half and Half. The flour slurry you made will cause the Half and Half to thicken a little.

The end result is beautiful and delicious!

I may share this post with some of the blog parties listed in my sidebar, so make sure you click through to see the other posts!

HALLOWEEN CHILI SUPPER FOR PHOEBE - 2017

Our Halloween celebrations always include a chili supper!  This year, I made the usual venison chili using Papa Joe's acclaimed recipe ... but I also made white chicken chili, for the first time.  It might become 'acclaimed' too!

Here's the cute tablescape.  

If I don't stop buying galvanized metal ... my whole house will be filled with it!  I love that look and I think it just comforts my spirit ... kind of like comfort food ... it takes me back to the earliest days of my marriage, when Joe would ice down watermelons spiked with booze in a big galvanized wash tub that had been his grandmother's!  She would have spun in her grave had she known we were intoxicating water melons!

Did I need to buy these pumpkin dishes from Walmart's collection this year?  The answer is NO, NO, NO.  If you don't believe me, check out my Halloweens of the Past post RIGHT HERE!  The galvanized chargers came from Miss Phoebe as a Mother's Day gift; the flatware is Mikasa ... sunflowers; the stemmed glasses are from my vast vintage collection; and the cute pumpkin napkin ring is at least ten years old, but I remember buying them at JoAnn Fabric!   Miss Phoebe and I always enjoy shopping our favorite collectible shop before holidays.  This year, we found this tablecloth and napkins (a Kohl's product) and they had never been used ... so they came home with us!

Halloweens Past!

Just thought I'd post some pictures from Halloween parties in the past!  Halloween is a favorite family holiday at our house ... and it centers around taking care of the little goblins that visit for treats ... and eating chili!  Enjoy!