From the kitchen of: Nanny Marge's Oven Stew & Biscuits

A. I can't believe I don't have this recipe on my blog yet

B. Time to add it so next time someone asks me for it I can find it sooner

C. This is a very good and yummy recipe!  Enjoy!

...without further ado!

NANNY MARGE'S OVEN STEW & BISCUITS

2 lbs Round Steak or Stew Meat

1 Medium Onion

3 Stalks Celery

6 oz Mushrooms

6 Carrots Sliced

1 1Lb Can of Diced Tomatoes

1 can water chestnuts sliced

1 can of Popping-Fresh Grand Buttermilk Biscuits (or your choice?)

Do not brown the meat. Arrange in a Dutch Oven in the order given, cover tightly and Bake at 300 degrees for 4 hours or longer.  

For the liquid to be added last just before you add the biscuits around the top

Combine separately (to be added last):

4 tsps Flour

1 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Salt

1 cup Red Wine

Mix the thickening ingredients for the 'gravy' together and simmer in a small saucepan on the side to remove lumps, if there are lumps for whatever reason, complete mixing and then add to the oven stew by pushing through a strainer to break up the lumps. If that makes sense??

During the last 15-20 minutes of baking add one can of popping fresh buttermilk biscuits around the edge of the pan and cook until lightly brown.  Enjoy!

This is a very delicious recipe. Everyone enjoys it every time I make it.

What I've been up to lately...

Hello,

Just chick'n    in to see if anybody's out there.... hello hello hello hello.  (think echo-sound).  My little blog is woefully neglected but every now and then I like to pop-in with some blews (blews=blog news, I just made that up).  LOL, still crackin myself up.  What I've been up to lately?  That is the question.  Awhile ago, I took a class at my mostest favorite stamp store ever!!! ---> Papertales (hi Michelle) with my mostest favorite teacher/designer ever, ---> Debby Schuh.  I'm taking this ---> class in July!!  Can't wait.  Anyway, the journal was called 'Recipe of Me' and could be used to hold stories of people, places and events that made up 'me'.   However, I decided to modify and use it for a recipe holder all of my favorite, well-worn, family heirloom recipes.  I think its perfect for it!  

I've been meaning to transfer all of the recipes I love to recipe cards (either 4 x 6 or 5 x 8, whichever fits better) and include in my journal.  Some I will print out and some I am going to handwrite.  My personal recipes and family heirloom recipes will be handwritten.  I've assembled a stack of all of my favorite recipes.  Some are my favorites, some have been printed off the internet, some from family/friends.  

Front cover.  Tablescape w/candles, hen, handwriting samples

Dessert Section

Breakfast Section

This is kind of a four part entry.  A tag card slides into this page for the Soup & Stew Section:

1.

Pull the card out from the page.  See my section tag?

2.

I will keep all of my Soup & Stew recipes here.  I made a flap on the bottom inch of the tag card by folding it up approx an inch.  That way when I pull the tag out of the envelope the recipes come up with it.   I wanted to store several recipes in this envelope so the flap contains them easier.

3.

I made blank recipe card templates (of course I did) digitally (in MSWord) using (download font here --->) 'Old Typewriter' font style.  It's one of my favorite fonts to use for papercrafting and adds to the vintage feel I'm going for.  What I love about my recipe card templates is I made them in several sizes, 3x5, 4x6 and 5x8.  I can use whichever size works best for the page I'm using in my journal.  They are fully editable and can be modified as needed.  I also made them double-wide (or long ,,)) with a dotted line for the fold.  So would that make them 6x5, 8x6 and 10x8??? OMG nevermind.  I can either type in the recipe and printout or print blank recipe cards and handwrite.  I can also add clipart or borders if I like.  So far, I've kept mine plain with just the classic blue lines and red borderline.  I plan on customizing sometime.  Aren't they cute?  I printed them out on cardstock to make them sturdier.

 4.

I think this journal lends itself very well for 'favorite recipes'.  I made category tabs as needed.  I printed them out using the first couple of rows from my recipe card template.  I added clipart to the category headings as you can see.

 I hope you enjoyed your visit!!  Leave a comment (with email address) and I will email a digital copy of my recipe card templates for you.

~M!ssPr!ssy

Shepard's Pie

There's nothing like comfort food on a rainy, fall Sunday afternoon.  I've had requests for my recipe for Shepard's Pie, so I thought I'd do a quick blog post to share.  It's so quick and easy and yummy and good and... well you get the picture.  Typically, only ground beef and peas are used in most Shepard's Pie recipes that I've seen.  I like more veggies than that so in my rendition I add one can each of corn, substituting green beans (instead of peas) and thinly sliced carrots (fresh not canned).  I think its a healthier version adding more veggies and its more colorful.  Typically I think that a cream soup is used instead of brown gravy also.  I prefer brown gravy.

Cook's Tip:  I forgot to line my cookie sheet with aluminum foil first, now I'll have a mess to clean up!

Recipe

2 lbs of ground beef 

(I used organic and I'm sure you could use ground turkey)

2 large jars of brown gravy or

4 packets of brown gravy mix

1 chopped onion

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 can of corn

1 can of green beans or peas

(Typically peas are used.  I like green beans better)

4-6 carrots sliced thinly

8-10 servings of instant mashed potatoes

4-6 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (to taste)

Brown the ground beef in a fry pan.  Add the chopped onion/garlic and simmer until ground beef is fully cooked,  drain off excess grease. Add the brown gravy to the beef/onion mixture, simmer for 5 minutes. While this is cooking make the instant mashed potatoes (7-10 servings) according to package directions.  (I like a good one inch layer to my Shepard's Pie).  Layer the ground beef mixture into a 9x11 casserole dish.  Add the corn, beans and carrots, mix all together. Spread mashed potatoes over the top covering all.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese over the mashed potatoes to taste.  Place the casserole dish onto an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet (to catch spills).  Cover with aluminum foil (spray mine with Pam on the inside so it doesn't stick to the cheese).  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until bubbling.  Take the aluminum foil off for the last 10 minutes to brown the cheese.

Enjoy!

A couple of in-process pics

All the ingredients mixed together before mashed potato topping.  Make sure you get the carrots mixed into the gravy good because they still need to cook.

Mashed potato and cheddar cheese topping added just before the oven.  My shredded cheddar was frozen from the freezer.

Fanny's Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Hellerrrrrr!



Wow I've not been blogging much.  Working full-time puts a major crimp in my playtime.  OBVIOUSLY.  How appropriate to start a post after having been gone so long, whining with the "y" part of PRISSy aka yatayatayata.

and now for the point to my story....

Recently, I LOST a favorite recipe of mine.  It was on a 3x5 recipe card.  It was ancient and I mean ancient.  Distressed and antiqued to perfection including watermarks and stains from being out on the counter next the bowl while cooking.  This recipe card is so old the ink (not pencil, INK) on the card is fading.  This also makes it one-of-a-kind.  Imagine my distress when I realized I had misplaced it?  It also just happened to be MY favorite Oatmeal Cookie recipe EVER.  I really have never found a recipe to match this one.  I was so excited when I found the card today whilst cleaning a cupboard.  Go figure?  I decided to make a post about it to share with you all my devoted blog followers and also for selfish reasons.  If I ever lose the card again I an refer back to this post.

I thought I'd share this favorite recipe as a hello back and thanks for sticking with me.   Leave a comment to let me know you and I are alive? 

This is my (maternal)  grandmother, Fanny's recipes.  I loved her so much.  Maybe I'll do a post about her one day.  Her life is so fascinating I couldn't do it justice with just a mention today.  So more on her later.

~ENJOY!

Fanny's Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Seriously, I'm not lying these are the best Oatmeal Cookies EVER

Preheat oven 350

1 cup sifted flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 shortening (Crisco)

1 1/3 Cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups of uncooked oats

1 cup raisins 

Sift dry ingredients

Add shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla

Beat until smooth (approx 2 min)

Stir in oats and raisins

Drop on greased cookie sheets

12-15 min

Makes about 3.5 dozen (and I'm not kidding)

Cooks Tip No. 1: Optional, add 1 cup of butterscotch chips for 'oatmeal scotchy' version.  

Cooks Tip No. 2: Add a crust of bread to the cookie jar your cookies will keep their just baked texture (soft/moist/chewy) for entire shelf life.  I've done this for years and I don't know why this works but it does.  Funny, my husband uses this tip now too.  It made me chuckle to go to the cookie jar and see a crust of bread in the jar that he put there.  

If you do try this recipe come on back and leave a comment and let me know how you liked them!!!

Show me some love

xoxo

M!ss Pr!ssy

Cranberry Bars Recipe

I used to live in Cranberry Country I think its only appropriate that I have at least one recipe that contains cranberries.  Don't you?  Me too!  This one's a keeper so I thought I'd share tis' the season!

CRANBERRY BARS
2 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups whole cranberries
(you could use cran-raisins re-constituted)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts
(I save the nuts to sprinkle on top of the frosting.  
I don't add these to the cake batter, but you can if you want to)  
(I think pecans are better with cranberries but you can use walnuts)

Mix together and bake in greased 9x13 pan @ 350 degrees for 40-45 min

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz)
1 tsp milk
2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
Top w/chopped nuts (see comment above)


Here is what the bars look like before being frosted

Frosting and chopped nuts (I use Sahale Nut Blends) ready to go...

Frosted

ENJOY A GREAT RECIPE AND VERY FESTIVE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR!

Coffee Cake with a Twist!

Well, hello there!  First a backstory...   I had written an entire post last night with this recipe including pics and saved it to my drafts to publish later.  When I went back to get the post and publish it... it was GONE.  Boo what a waste of time.  Anywho, here's what it said:

I love fall baking and so I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes.  It has nutmeg and cinnamon in it so it makes the house smell divine and fallish.  Just what I wanted.  Now for the *twist* part... the crust is on the bottom ~and oh so good~  I only took a couple of pics of the process and not the play by play that I sometimes share.  Its a simple yet elegant recipe.  Try it, its good.

Crust Bottom Coffee Cake
Rub together:
1 stick of butter ~room temperature~
2 cups of flour
2 cus of brown sugar

Divide mixture into 2 parts 
~I did the math, that would be 2 cups and 4 tblspns~
Press part 1 into an 8x8 cake pan
~I used my 9 in round clay baker and it was a perfect fit also~

To the other part add:
1 beaten egg
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg ~maybe a smidge more~
Mix well and spread carefully over the crust bottome
Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and chopped nuts
I like to make sure my cinnamon covers the entire top.

I use a liberal amount so that no cake area is showing and then also sprinkle nuts over it. Use lots of cinnamon

Below on the left is the 1 part pressed into the bottom and on the right is the other part.  The cake part that is spread onto the crust bottom

In this next picture is the finished product

This next picture is with no flash and shows the layers with the crust bottom

Here's the same shot with a flash.  I wanted you to see the lovely and yummo crust bottom.  This is a very elegant coffe cake and is great to bring to a potluck or Sunday event. 

~ENJOY!

and Happy Fall Ya'll

 

Herbal Flu Tonic

It's flu season again and with all of the snowmagedon's and blizzasters we've all had across the country (except for me, since I live in Sunny SoCal, don't hate) I thought I'd share my SECRET recipe for  Herbal Flu   Tonic used to help get over the common cold/flu.

Liz's FAMOUS Herbal Flu Tonic

Peppermint tea -  2 bags per pot

Elderflower tea – 2 bags per pot

Yarrow tea (or herb loose) – 2-4 Table spoons per pot.  Use a teaball.

Echinacea Drops – 2 droppers full per cup or approximately 6-8 droppers full for pot.  (Can be found at any health food/Whole Foods/Henry's type store, possibly even in a general grocery store)

All of the above support immune system.

To taste:

Crystalized Ginger -  Metabolizes fever, body aches and pains, promotes draining of nasal passages.  I use a couple of very large cubes.  You want to taste/feel the ginger.

Honey – provides lubrication for throat, promotes draining of nasal passages

Lemon slices – Source of extra Vitamin C

Oranges slices – Source of extra Vitamin C
Lime slices - Source of extra Vitamin C
Fresh Mint leaves - Pack the pitcher with these

Whole cinnamon stick stirrers

With boiling water

Steep teas and yarrow

Add echinacea drops to pot

Season with honey, ginger; garnish with lemon/orange/lime slices, fresh mint leaves and whole cinnamon sticks.
Serve hot!

Drink all day/night until symptoms gone.  Usually notice improvement after 1-3 days.

I normally make a huge pot of this tea and sip on it ALL day.  I cannot stress this enough.  One cup won't cut it.  But if you sip on this all day you will be surprised how quickly you feel better.

Have you noticed that ALL of my recipes start with the words secret and Liz's FAMOUS....  a bit of self-grandiosity because I can... te-he yeah because they are super secret shhh and VERY famous. 

Happy <3 Day toooooooo!  Here's a cup-o-love for ya! 

Fanny's Heirloom Apple Bars

  Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,

and never thought upon;

The flames of Love extinguished,
and fully past and gone:
Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold,
that loving Breast of thine;
That thou canst never once reflect
on Old long syne.

These will be but a memory...

My Heart is ravisht with delight,
when thee I think upon;
All Grief and Sorrow takes the flight,
and speedily is gone;
The bright resemblance of thy Face,
so fills this, Heart of mine;
That Force nor Fate can me displease,
for Old long syne.

Since thoughts of thee doth banish grief,
when from thee I am gone;
will not thy presence yield relief,
to this sad Heart of mine:

Say goodbye to old friends...

Why doth thy presence defeat me,
Say hello to my new friend... (forever)

 with excellence divine?
Especially when I reflect

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne. 

 

Perhaps the title of this post should have been, again... don't ever ever ever try this at home children.... EVER!!  I jest but srsly this will probably be the last recipe I share that doesn't contain carrots.  So good-bye old friend hello new friend =C.  This recipe is another from my heirloom collection of recipes I have from my Grandmother Fanny (R.I.P.)  She was an awesome cook.  This was a family reunion or potluck favorite.  Enjoy!

Fanny's Heirloom Apple Bars

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cup butter
4 beaten egg yolks
4 medium apples, pared, cored, sliced (4 cups)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 slightly beaten egg white

Combine the 4 cups of flour, the 1 cup of sugar, the baking powder and salt; cut in butter or margarine till crumbs are the size of peas.  Stir in egg yolks.  Divide mixture in half.  Press one half over the bottom of a cookie sheet size baking pan.  Combine apples, the remaining sugar and the flour, and the cinnamon;  arrange over bottom crust.  Crumble remaining dough over apples.  Brush egg white over all.  Bake @350 over for 40 min.  Cool drizzle with powder sugar icing, if desired.  Cut into bars.  Makes 4 dozen.

M!issPr!ssy

Don't Try This at Home Children

I decided to make my Famous Egg Rolls for New Year's Eve and weekend munchies.  Its a fam favorite and they usually fly off the plate.  I thought I would share the recipe and a pictorial.  As the title suggests I wouldn't recommend you try this at home.  Its a lot of chopping PEOPLE.  But if you feel REALLY ambitious and are in the mood for some drain bamage HAVE AT IT.  No I'm kidding here it is a bit of work but well worth the trouble because they are DELISH...

Liz's Famous Egg Rolls

Cast of Characters

2 center-cut pork chops
2 chicken breast (I used organic)
1 lb shrimp
2 tablespoons oil (or more)
All meats browned on both sides and fully cooked in a fry pan using a couple of tablespoons of oil
1 head of cabbage shredded
1 lb of soy beans (Amount approx. I used fresh, but you can use a large can of soy beans if you can't find fresh) diced
1 onion diced
4 carrots shredded
1 can mushrooms or fresh
1 lb of peas (I used the fresh sweet snow peapods) diced
2 small cans of bamboo shoots diced
2 small cans of sliced water chestnuts diced

1-2 packages of egg roll wrappers (I used almost three packages of wrappers this time because I ACCIDENTALLY doubled the meat I normally use.  Shoot me now)
For the sauce use 2 tblspoons of each of the following (amount are approximate because I just shake a little of each onto the batch of filling until it looks right?@!?)
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Premium fish sauce
Kitchen Bouquet browning & seasoning sauce
2 packages of stir fry seasoning mix (Any flavor you can use chop suey, fried rice, stir fry seasoning mix.  I normally use what I have on hand)

La Choy Sweet & Sour Sauce for dipping (the red stuff) OR
If you don't have any of this on hand (my favorite) then you can make some.  TIP of the CENTURY: Mix equal parts of apple sauce and honey for a fantastic sweet and sour sauce substitute.

Brown the pork chops, chicken breast in a fry pan in oil on both sides until fully cooked.  Cook the shrimp in boiling water, drain.  Dice the meat/shrimp.  Shred the cabbage and carrots.  Dice the soy beans, onions, pea pods, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.  Combine all and add to the meat mixture.  Season w/ seasoning mix, soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce and kitchen bouquet (to taste).  Simmer until all is mixed well and wilted.  Drain the egg roll filling in a strainer until dry.  Add 2 tblspns a filling to each wrapper.  Brown in hot oil on both sides approx 3-5 min each side or until lightly browned.  Drain on paper towels.  Makes: approximately 2 dozen

Close up of the cast, Part 1

Egg roll wraps, seasoning mix, fresh soy beans etc....

Close up of the cast Part 2

Onion, water chestnuts (yes I said sliced chestnuts but the hus did the shopping), mushrooms, carrots, pea pods

Cast Part 3, Soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce and kitchen bouquet (secret ingredient)

Shredded cabbage

Pea pods, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and mushrooms diced

Shredded carrots and diced onions

Tri-meat filling (diced shrimp). Meat diced in food processor.  Normally I dice it by hand bc it adds texture to the egg roll mixture.  To save time I used a food processor this time.  I like hand diced better.

Combine all of the diced items above add seasoning and simmer

Drain egg roll filling in a strainer over a large bowl.  A tip to successful rolling is to have a very dry filling.  If you leave it moist the egg roll wrappers tend to tear and fall apart in the oil.  I drain them on the counter for at least 30 min or longer.

Egg roll filling is still draining... meanwhile prepare your wrapping station.  I like to wrap on paper towels.  Again to keep the wrappers as dry as possible during the process.  I have a little bowl of water for sealing the wrappers once rolled.

Heat your oil.  It's times like this I wish I owned "Fry Daddy" It doesn't seem to get as hot as I like on the stove top.  We eat so little fried foods that owning an appliance for frying doesn't seem necessary.

Spoon a couple of tablespoons of filling onto a wrapper (don't overfill)

Fold the bottom corner up.  Wet the upper left and upper right edges with water

Fold the right side over

Fold the left side over.  Just like swaddling a baby.

Fully folded.  Set off to the side on another paper towel lined plate.

Prepare a batch for the oil.  I like to get an assembly line going so some can be browning in the oil while I continue to wrap.  They cook quickly so I don't want the hot oil sitting empty while I wrap.  So I try and get a couple of batches fully assembled before I start frying.

Fry in hot oil until lightly browned

Flip once, fry for an additional 3-5 minutes or until lightly browned

Cookie sheet lined with (yep, you guessed it more paper towels) and a draining rack

Finished egg rolls.  Don't try this at home.  I'm telling you people, you don't want to.  Really.

Drain between layers of paper towels

 

Bon Appetit!!

Heads bow.  Cut open so you can see how the filling looks

My husband said I made approx. 4 DOZEN.  The accidental (on my part) doubling of the amount of chicken and pork chops.  I had to have him run out for more wrappers so I could use up all of the filling I made.  Help me Rhonda.

 

I really don't have a recipe for my egg rolls.  I just chop and dice and slice what I thought would taste good in an egg roll.  Really lean meats, cabbage, carrots, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts etc.  The reason I don't have any amounts for the seasoning and spices is because I add a little bit of this and that until I think it looks and tastes right and usually whatever I had in the house that was Asian flavors I would use. Draining the filling and using the paper towels are tips I learned by trial and error.  Egg roll wrappers are very delicate and they don't like moisture.  Amen.  I haven't made these in a long time and that's why I forgot how much meat I normally use.  After I had the filling made I realized I used double the meat that I normally use.  4 pork chops & chicken breasts instead of only 2.  HENCE 4 DOZEN EGG ROLLS instead ofthe normal 2 dozen.  Anyone want to come over for dinner?

Enjoy

and HAPPY NEW YEAR!