Paper Rose and Twig Centerpiece

I only had my phone for taking pictures of the centerpieces, but you've got the idea....

I'm always looking for centerpiece ideas that look beautiful, but are also inexpensive. Making paper flowers while watching TV is one of the perks of this project. It was also great to be able to use the many, many dead twigs in my yard for something other than kindling.  
I found a wonderful website on Pinterest awhile back that has a ton of free paper patterns for flowers and many more paper projects for party decorations and other projects.

I was asked to make centerpieces for our new pastor's installation. I happened to have a family Bible that I got for practically nothing because it had a broken binding. The pages of the Bible were the perfect size to print the patterns for the roses.  You can use plain copy paper, or any other 81/2 x 11 paper. 
The website has a rose pattern that includes a watercolor print  for blush, pink, and peach roses. I also used the paper rose bouquet template for the white roses I printed and another for the butterflies.

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The butterflies are also one of the free patterns included on the website.

Website with patterns for rose bouquet, watercolor red roses, watercolor butterflies, and a whole lot of other cool stuff are listed on the website below.

http://www.elli.com/blog/fabulous-freebies/ 

Creamed Asparagus and Eggs On Toast

I LOVE asparagus, and one of my favorite ways to eat it is with a cream sauce like mom used to make! My mother grew up as a live in maid and cook during her teen years, and she relied on her big sister (who was also a maid and cook), and a couple of recipe books to get her through. The recipe for the cream sauce came from one of the cook books she used as her "bible" when she was first starting out.  I used the two cookbooks I have of hers as a reference when I needed to know how to cook meat, and all of the other basics of cooking when I started cooking for a family . We didn't have the internet and the ability to Google anything we needed to know back then...so these cook books were a wealth of information for me. 
 

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And to think, the first addition of this book was printed in 1898!

Check out the listing of other variations on the sauce, and there are more on the next page!

I have a double boiler, but if you don't have one, not a problem. You can make this recipe with a regular sauce pan.  (I made a recipe and a half of the sauce so I'd be sure to have enough for the amount of asparagus I had.)
White Sauce
2 Tbs. butter
1 cup milk (you may substitute with half or cream)
2Tbs. flour (I only had wheat flour on hand, but I prefer white flour for this recipe)
1/4 tsp. salt
A few grains of pepper
You will need a bunch of asparagus, 2 or 3 hard boiled eggs, and bread for toast. I used whole grain bread, but I must admit, I love using a bread baked with garlic that I can get from my grocery store bakery. That extra bit of garlic flavor is yummy with the creamed asparagus!
Place the asparagus in a steamer to cook, or stand the asparagus in three inches of boiling water, cover and cook for 8 minutes or until the tips are tender, while preparing the white sauce.
White sauce: Melt butter in small flat-bottomed saucepan or double-boiler top, preferably with rounded edges, add flour mixed with seasonings , and stir until well blended. Use a wire whisk to keep sauce smooth and free of lumps. Pour on milk gradually, while stirring constantly. It is helpful to warm the milk a little in the microwave ahead of time to help to keep the sauce smooth. Bring to boiling point. Boil 2 minutes. Cook in double boiler or sauce pan for 15 mins. Stir well. If you don't have a double boiler, just turn your burner down to low and cook (stirring often) until it is thickened to desired consistency.

While the sauce is cooking in the double boiler, I take the time to cut up my cooked asparagus into bite sized pieces, and prepare my toast.

 I slice the eggs and lay them on the buttered toast. It would also work to cut up the eggs and add them to the sauce along with the cut cooked asparagus.

Put the cooked asparagus into the sauce and let it heat up a bit before spooning onto the prepared toast and eggs.

Jean's Famous Barbequed Ribs

This rib recipe is a favorite in our family, and was created by my sister-in-law Jean. She mixes up her own barbeque sauce and slow roasts her ribs for a wonderful fall off the bone tender and tasty delight! I love Sweet Baby Ray's barbeque sauce when I'm barbequing on the grill, I have tried a number of slow cooker rib recipe and have had many other sauces on ribs at restaurants that I really enjoy, but the combination of the tenderness of the ribs from the slow roasting, and the taste of the sauce just make this my favorite recipe for barbeque ribs.

Sauce Ingredients
2- 28oz. bottles of Heinz ketchup
2-Tbs. lemon juice
2-Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1-Tbs. yellow mustard
4-dashes of Tabasco sauce
4-Tbs. Taco sauce (medium)
1-cup brown sugar

Heat the ingredients on low to medium-low for about an hour (until thickened) stirring occasionally. 

I use baby back ribs from Sam's Club with a triple rack of ribs in each package. Heat your oven to 275 degrees. Place racks of ribs on jelly role pans without sauce and covered with foil, place in preheated oven for 4 hours. After 4 hrs. take the ribs from the oven and drain off the fat. Cover the ribs with the homemade sauce, recover with foil, and bake for another hour. This has always been a highly requested recipe...thanks Jean!!!






                                                          

Chicken and Sun Dried Tomatoes with Wild Rice Pancakes (Rave Chicken)

This chicken dish is called "rave chicken" because when the cook served this to her guests, she always received "rave reviews".  My sister made this for my husband and me many years ago, and it's a recipe I like to pull out when I want something out of the ordinary and delicious. Guests always seem to especially love the wild rice pancakes and the sauce that goes with the chicken. I have made a few revisions to the original recipe by Barb Senness.

Ingredients for Chicken
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil (I used the oil from the jar of marinated sun-dried tomatoes for added flavor)
4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup sherry
1 Tbs. sherry vinegar
8 marinated sun-dried tomatoes (sliced)
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/2 Tbs. minced garlic
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbs. fresh cilantro (chopped)
8 oz. pkg. of Portabella mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Heat butter and oil in large frying pan over medium-high heat.Add chicken pieces. Cook for a few minutes per side, seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove chicken from pan.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Add sherry, sherry vinegar, tomatoes, shallots and garlic. Cook until almost no liquid remains in pan.

Add cream; reduce to thicken slightly. Return chicken pieces to pan to reheat,sprinkle with cilantro. Chicken and sauce can be prepared ahead, chilled and reheated. (I actually prefer to make ahead so the flavors run through the dish.) If sauce becomes to thick, add additional cream. I also sauteed some portabella mushrooms and added them to the dish.

To serve, spoon chicken and sauce over 2 pancakes for each serving. Garnish with cilantro. Makes 4 servings.

Use in place of clarifying your own butter

Wild Rice Pancake Ingredients
*2 cups cooked wild rice
2 eggs
3 Tbs. minced shallots
1/2 Tbs. minced garlic
2 Tbs. minced fresh cilantro
1/3 cup unbleached all- purpose flour or wheat flour
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbs. clarified butter (I use Ghee to eliminate the work of clarifying the butter)
2 tsp. olive oil

*Easy Oven Prepared Wild Rice

1 cup wild rice
3 cups boiling water
1 chicken Bouillon cube (I use a tsp. of Better Than Bouillon) 
Preheat oven to 500 degrees
put everything in a covered Pyrex or glass dish, put in oven and turn the oven OFF. Either do it overnight or in the morning so it's ready for supper. Works great!

In medium bowl place wild rice, eggs, shallots, garlic and cilantro. Stir together. Then add flour, cream, salt and pepper to taste.

Heat clarified butter* and oil in large skillet over medium-high heat and add spoonfuls of the batter to form pancakes. Cook about 3 to 4 mins. or until top begins to look dry and bottom is golden. Turn with spatula and cook the other side for about 2 to 3 mins.

*It is important to use clarified butter so the pancakes don't burn. If you are not able to find Ghee (usually found in grocery stores that carry ingredients for cooking dishes from India), then you can clarify your own butter.
Clarifying Butter- Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat or in microwaveable container in microwave oven. Skim away the white portion that rises to the top.

Lamb Meatballs

Wolfgang Puck's Lamb Meatballs

 I served these lamb meatballs along with lentil soup for my nephew's wedding shower because he loves lamb. I decided to use the extra meatballs as an appetizer at Easter. I put them in a store bought vodka pasta sauce and heated them in a mini crock-pot. They would also work well as a spaghetti and meatball dish.

My nephew the "lamb lover" and his future bride

 Ingredients
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (see link below for instructions on how to make your own)
1/4 cup milk
1 pound ground lamb
1 cup blanched almonds, toasted and ground (I used sliced almonds, and more like 3/4 cup. Methods for toasting almonds listed below.)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup raisins, coarsely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 tsp. chili pepper flakes
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. salt (recipe says to taste...how can you taste raw meat???)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Fresh Breadcrumbs
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/BreadCrumbs.htm

Toasting Almonds                                                                             

1. Saucepan method:
2. Place almonds in a heavy, ungreased skillet.                                
3. Stir often over medium heat until golden brown.
4. Oven method:
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Spread nuts in one layer on ungreased shallow baking pan.
7. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden. 

 I combined the methods for toasting the almonds, along with drying out my bread for the bread crumbs, in order to save time.

Directions
Prepare toasted almonds and fresh bread crumbs. 

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F
In a small bowl, soak bread crumbs in milk. In a mixing bowl, combine the lamb, almonds, soaked bread crumbs, onion, raisins, egg, garlic, parsley, cilantro, and chili pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle olive oil on the cookie sheet you will place the meatballs on and rub oil into the palm of both hands as needed to form the meatballs. Form meat mixture into 40 golf ball-sized meatballs, each approximately 1-inch in diameter.

 

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Arrange the meatballs in 1 layer in the pan, quickly sear meatballs over high heat, and then place in the oven. Cook until the meatballs are well browned and firm to the touch. (10 to 15 minutes)

Hand made paper tulips arranged with fresh Gerber daisies

The wedding venue is a barn, so I decided to go with a barn type theme for the shower. The print-outs and instructions on how to make the flowers and pinwheel stars are from the link below under "freebies".

 

 

Congratulations Jake and Kathryn! May God bless you with many years of wedded bliss!










http://www.elli.com/blog/fabulous-freebies/

Breakfast Caserole

Here is yet another recipe from Southern Living All-Time-Favorites . It's always great to make ahead and have ready the next morning for guests.


Ingredients
1 pound ground pork sausage*
10 white sandwich bread slices, cubed (6 cups)
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
6 large eggs
2 cups milk
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1. Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain well.
2. Place bread cubes evenly in 6 lightly greased 8-oz. individual baking dishes or ramekins; sprinkle bread cubes evenly with cheese, and top with sausage.
3. Whisk together eggs and next 4 ingredients; pour evenly over sausage mixture. Cover and chill casserole 8 hours. Let stand at room temp. 30 minutes.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Makes 6 servings
*2 cups cubed cooked ham or light pork or turkey sausage may be substituted for sausage.
Note: You can also bake this casserole in a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish.

Saucy Manicotti

Because of trying so many Pinterest recipes, it's been awhile since I made a recipe from my favorite cookbook, Southern Living All-Time-Favorites.  This recipe looked like it would work well to make for my Bible study group.  Delicious!

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package uncooked manicotti shells
1 (16-ounce) package Italian sausage, casings removed 
1 large onion, chopped
9 garlic cloves, pressed and divided
1 (26-ounce) jar seven-herb tomato pasta sauce (or pasta sauce of your preference)
1 (8-ounce) container chive-and-onion cream cheese, softened
 6 cups (24-ounce) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
3/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper



1. Cook manicotti shells according to package directions, and drain.

 2. Cook sausage, onion, and 5 garlic cloves in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 6 minutes or longer, stirring until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in pasta sauce; bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

  3. Combine cream cheese, 4 cups mozzarella cheese, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 4 garlic cloves in a large bowl, stirring until blended. Cut a slit down the length of each cooked manicotti shell.




4. Spoon 1 cup sauce mixture into lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Spoon cheese mixture evenly into manicotti shells. Arrange stuffed shells over sauce in dish, seam sides down. Spoon remaining sauce over stuffed shells. sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 cups cheese.







 5.Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 7