Scrambled Eggs with Hominy

   I have no idea if this is a Appalachian food thing or just more of something my mother created, but I love love love it!  It is a nice twist on plain scrambled eggs and you can really add whatever you would like.  For this post I just had the simple simple version- eggs and hominy. But it is really delicious with chopped chives or even chopped bell peppers.

Scrambled Eggs and Hominy:

4 or 5 eggs
1 can of hominy ( white or yellow), drained
1 TBSP butter ( for frying)

To start off you will want to scramble the eggs. Add a splash of milk, salt and pepper, and any other extra add ins; mix well.  In a medium skillet melt the butter. Once butter is melted add the eggs and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently.  Once the eggs are pretty well done add the hominy.  Continue to cook, now is just basically heating the whole dish. Once it's hot you're ready to enjoy!

Easy Chocolate Sauce

This is a very easy giftable sauce that tastes like hot fudge! Yummm! Annndd its microwaveable!


Easy Chocolate Sauce:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups sugar
dash salt
1 1/2 cup evaporated milk ( 12 oz can)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Place butter in a medium microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high power for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes or until melted.  Add cocoa and stir until smooth, you do not want any cocoa lumps!! Add sugar, salt, and evaporated milk and stir until well blended.  Microwave on high 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.. I usually only set the timer for 2 minute increments that way you can check and stir and you won't have to worry about it running over, and it will if you don't keep a sharp eye on it! The sauce will be done once it comes to a boil.  Whisk again until smooth, then stir in vanilla extract.  Cover and refrigerate leftovers.


To gift:
Pour sauce into cute Mason jars and seal with lids.  Would also be really cute to decorate with ribbons or bows and attach a copy of the recipe with it!

Remember Pearl Harbor

 This past Saturday marked the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor.  My husband and I agreed I should write something to honor those lives lost, but what?!  Should I include FDR's famous Infamy speech, or maybe quotes from people who lived it?  But then I remembered what the speaker said at the remembrance ceremony on saturday, " Remember Pearl Harbor"!  Now just think about that a few seconds, yes we all have read about it in history books or see the Hollywood version, but that was not the point he was trying to get across.  "Remember Pearl Harbor."  Remember so each life taken that sunny Sunday morning wasn't lost for nothing. That they died true American Heros. Nothing I can write can do justice to what each and every single man and woman did that day! They each have a story, a personality, and I wish I could tell a story about each and every single one of the over two thousand lost, but I can not. Only they can do that themselves.  So when I think about the saying "Remember Pearl Harbor" I think about each and every single person as individuals not as a number. I think about their stories and what they may have been. I think about how their families never really got closure.  I appreciate, as I hope you do too, their sacrifices so it wasn't in vain. And though I've never met any of them they still hold something in my heart, and hopefully something in every single American heart.  Maybe its hope, maybe its pride.  But whatever it is let us not forget! Because this sort of thing can happen when we start to forget and get complacent, take 9/11 for example.  Remember.. I think that is something they would all want, not speeches and movies, but to just be Remembered....

Cornbread

  While trying to figure out what we were going to have for supper tonight (Does anyone still use that term anymore?!) I wanted something that wouldn't take much effort to prepare but still stick to your ribs.  So I went and did a freezer raid and came up with a ham steak.  I thought about the whole breakfast at night idea, nah I use more eggs than I thought possible and besides making biscuits are more mess than I wanted and pancakes take time with all their checking and flipping- I was feeling lazy! Then lightbulb! Cornbread!! Silly me, so easy to whip up and hardly any dishes are dirtied while making it!

Cornbread:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Combine all of these dry ingredients in a large bowl, I just give them a good stir or two!

Then add:

1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Add to dry ingredients and whisk until nicely combined.

Now there are a few options on how it's baked. I like using cast iron, I love the crispness and flavor it gives the bread.  If you'll be using this method add a little oil to the bottom of your skillet (mine is a 10") and heat until hot.  You'll want the oil to hot enough to essentially "fry" the bottom of the bread.  Just leave on a few seconds you'll just want the bottom to start frying, this will give it a little crust. Place in the oven and bake for 17-19 minutes, keep check on it because time varies. You'll want the edges to be golden brown.  Cool and enjoy!

Now the second option is to spread the batter into a greased square cake pan (8"x 8" or 9"x 9") Bake for 20-25 minutes. Again you'll want the edges to be golden brown.  Baking it this way you will get a softer "crust".  Cool and Enjoy!

Chicken and Rice Casserole

     My husband, like most of the men in my family, is almost strictly meat and potatoes. And when I say meat I mean beef.  Sometimes that can be a great thing, you know that you have a safe go to. But more than not it's a headache.  There is only so many ways known to man that you can cook a potato, and if there is another way I'm sure it's not the least bit good!  So trust me when I can stray away from that I run and I run fast!! 

   My husband does have a stronger bond with the chicken though.  That's a sigh of relief for me too because I do love chicken.. But chicken can be so.... bland!  Yes, I agree, it can be bland at times, but if you have the right tools and ingredients it can be an amazing dish!  Which brings me to the whole reason I'm writing this post!

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cups rice

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 cups celery

1 Tbsp butter

2 cups undiluted cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup real mayonnaise ( not Miracle Whip)

2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion

2 cups chopped chicken, skinned and deboned

1 cup crushed corn flakes mixed with 2 Tablespoons of melted butter

  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the chicken until tender, I use a pressure cooker or you can boil it. ( Another great idea is to get a cheap rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and that will save you a good 30 minutes!) While the chicken is cooking you'll want to cook the rice with the chicken broth until the rice is tender, roughly 20 minutes. And you'll need to cover that while it cooks!  

 By this time your chicken and rice should both be done. Set them both aside to cool.  

Next you'll want to lightly saute the 2 cups of celery in about 1 tablespoon of butter. There is no need to cook until tender this step is to just start the cooking process, it'll finish up in the oven.

Being very careful, it may still be hot, you'll want to remove the skin and bones from the chicken.  Give the meat a quick chop, you just want the pieces to be bite sized.  

In a large bowl you will just carefully mix the chicken, rice, sauteed celery, cream of mushroom soup, mayo, and chopped onion. Give it a good mix so everything is evenly distributed.   Place into a buttered casserole dish and top with the buttered corn flakes.  Bake for 45 minutes, covered.  Cool about 10 minutes before serving it'll be hot! Finally enjoy!

Potato Candy

  In West Virginia everyone makes Potato Candy for Christmas and I honestly thought it was a common thing everywhere, ha wrong! We was stationed in Upstate New York and boy the looks I got when I talked about it! Needless to say they were clueless and even some of the Southerners were too! You bet I enlightened them right away and they were happily surprised. It's a very simple candy to make, no thermometers, no watching closely, and it's only 3 ingredients- Win!!!

Ingredients:
2 medium potatoes
1-2 lbs powdered sugar
creamy peanut butter

 You want to start off peeling the potatoes and chop them into pieces for cooking.  Boil them in salted water until tender. Drain and cool.

Once cool mash to eliminate all the lumps. Add powdered sugar a cupful at a time, and mix well.  Do not be alarmed when it gets gooey, that is totally normal see!

 Keep adding and mixing in the powdered sugar until it represents fondant, you want to be able to roll it out with a rolling pin.

 Once your at that stage make a ball and place on a surface dusted with powdered sugar, roll out into a rectangle about a 1/8th of an inch thick.  Using a knife spread a coat of creamy peanut butter over the whole rectangle.  Roll up like a jelly roll and slice into pieces. Enjoy this family heirloom treat!

Tomato Gravy

During the hot summer days my Grandma would make this yummy "gravy".  I know its December but maybe this summer treat will warm you up!

First you'll start off with ripe tomatoes, make sure they are rinsed before you start.  You will remove the stems (if any) and cut out the tops where the stems grow, they will be awful in your gravy, and cut out any spots on the skins, but don't remove the entire skins, trust me it'll be a nightmare that'll come later.   Randomly chop the tomatoes making sure you remove the white hard spots that can sometimes be in tomatoes.  Drop the chopped tomatoes into a medium pot.  Add enough water to cover the bottom about 1/2 inch deep, this aids in the cooking and will become part of the juice for the gravy.  Salt and pepper, you'll want a good amount to give it flavor and you can sprinkle in a little sugar to cancel out some of the acidity. Cook on medium heat, you'll want to cook it on the slower side to prevent scorching and trust me it will scorch if you don't! Here is what it will look like once it has cooked down and ready for the next steps.

Next you will strain out the peelings, get them out of there!!!!! And toss them, well not literally but into a trash can.. Alright so now that we have a nice and smooth juice in a separate bowl mix about a tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of milk and give it a good stir to eliminate any lumps! Add to the cooked tomatoes and stir on low heat until thickened.  Serve on bread, toast, or biscuits. Enjoy!

Fried Apples

  One of my absolute favorite go-to things to make for any potluck would be Fried Apples, they're simple and delicious! Like a lot of things I cook around here this isn't an exact science, its just more to your prefered tastes.  And I'm 99.9% positive you can't mess this one up! Are you excited as I am yet?!?

What you'll need:
Apples
Apple cider or apple juice
Oil
Butter
Ground Cinnamon
Brown or white sugar

Depending on how many you want to make will of course depend on how many you'll need.  I usually peel and slice about a 1/2 peck or 1/2 gallon for us at home.  Now you'll want to choose apples that will hold their shapes while they cook, some good choices would be Pink Lady, York Imperial, Stayman, Jonathan, Rome, Granny Smith, and trust me on this one Red Delicious. (The best way to choose is to get just get a mixture of several different kinds, that way you'll end up with different flavors and textures and it just makes it extra yummy!)


 Once you've done that daunting task you'll want to peel, core, and slice the apples.  Place them into a skillet with about a tablespoon of oil ( you may need more depending on how many apples you are cooking). Then add about a cup of cider or apple juice.  Now is when it gets really yummy! Next you'll add roughly 1/4 cup of brown OR white sugar, either one works just fine, but if using white sugar I wouldn't use quite as much.  And you can always adjust the sugar to your liking.  Sprinkle with ground cinnamon, and again this will be to your preference, I give it a good dusting! Lastly you'll dot the top with 3-4 tablespoons of butter.  Fry the apples on medium heat stirring occasionally. Once they are tender when poked with a fork they're ready.  And that's it!! Pretty easy peasy right?!?!

Here's the final product.. Tadaa!!!

Grandma's Pumpkin Pie

Well its still barely fall, winter is well on its way!! Well for most of us anyway, not here in the Aloha state.. Now don't get me wrong, Hawaii is beautiful and adventurous, but I miss my West Virginia home!  So when I cook I cook things that remind me of all the wonderful things about home. Growing up on an Orchard I mainly think of peach and apple everything, but my Grandma has an amazingly yummy Pumpkin Pie recipe, that to be honest is less fuss than the recipe on the pumpkin puree cans. Super easy I promise!


Grandma's Pumpkin Pie

1 unbaked pie shell
1 can (15oz) canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk (this is where its different)
1/2 tsp. salt
spices of your choice- cinnamon, ginger, and cloves

Mix all ingredients well (except the pie shell that could turn out extremely messy!) I usually use the mixer to just get it mixed well but its not necessary! Pour pumpkin mixture into pie shell.  I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon on the top just to make it extra pretty.

In a preheated oven of 425 degrees, bake for 15 minutes.  After the 15 minutes have passed reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes.  To check doneness insert a knife and if it comes out cleanly then you're all ready to cool on a cooling rack! Cool completely. Enjoy with some yummy whipped cream or in my case a lot of whipped cream!

I tried to make it all festive and used a cookie cutter to add leaves and a cute little turkey.