Christmas Cheese Ball~Reprise

There is just no good name for a cheese ball. If you can think of one for this recipe~let me know. It is made with Blue Cheese and Blue Cheese Cheese Ball doesn't cut it, in the best of all worlds. Instead of 'name that tune' we can play 'name that cheese ball!' Wanna play?

I have concocted this recipe over the years and we do make it a lot for various gatherings over the holidays. Even people that are not crazy about blue cheese love this. We were looking for a cheese ball that was colorful and Christmasy and delicious. You know how they are normally boring looking with no color and just rolled in nuts? Not this one, it just screams Christmas!

We think we have a winner here. Some people even invite us to their gatherings on the condition we bring this! It takes a little time (especially if you are photographing it) but is easy and I like that part. I am not into a bunch of labor intensive cooking. What I do love is cooking with my hubby, he is a natural in the kitchen. Lucky me! He says food talks to him...OK, so he is a little wacko!

Tomorrow is our big family dinner for our relatives that live in our area, so Jim and I are cooking up a storm. Speaking of wacko, it's Official~ I am totally wacko about blogging! I have discovered it is fun to cook, photograph and to stage the food. It is 10 times more fun that just cooking! Multi-tasking lives on!

Hmmm, people do not always sell their houses but...everybody eats. Maybe I can dabble in a new facet of design for me to supplement the mad money. Actually I am pretty much kidding because these photos need much improvement but we had a lot of fun cooking and shooting the process.  

Chop up some scallions or if you prefer,
some chives or a little finely chopped parsley for color.

Chop up some Craisins or 
dried cranberries
if you prefer calling them that.

Chop up some Walnuts

This is enough for four cheese balls.
Four bricks of softened cream cheese,
a bunch of blue cheese,
(I am not into exact measurements, sorry!)
Craisins, green onions, nuts and some garlic salt~
because everything that isn't sweet need garlic!

I put it in a big mixing bowl and start mixing it together.

Every time I start with a big spoon but soon
find it works best to mix it all by hand and 
shape into balls. Thus the name...cheese balls.
 Brilliant!

Here are the 4 cheese balls I varied 

the sizes for different purposes;

parties, gifts, or whatever.

I put my wedding rings on the cutting board
to remind you to remove them
as it is no fun getting the cheese out of 

the rings if you forget.

Stab it with a cute Christmas Spreader
~Fini~

Here I staged the food for you..
I had to put all these crackers back 
in the box afterwards!
A little Pomegranate Sparkling Cider 
is nice with it!

Try It, You'll Like It!

Let's Discuss Apples~It's Autumn After All

Let's talk about apples. With all the talk about pumpkins this time of year we can overlook the wonderful harvest of apples and all the delicious things they can be used for in baking. I always remember the one variety of apples that we always got in our lunches as little kids. The tiny, all red sometimes soggy ones, remember? They are called the Delicious ones but actually I never thought so. For us the best eating apples are Fuji most of the year and Honey Crisp apples right now. Oh my goodness, they are goodness if you like sweet and crispy!

One thing I have decided is that there are two clubs of apple eaters...the ones that eat them whole and the ones who prefer them sliced. I belong to the later club myself. Eating an apple whole is kind of bothersome. For one thing it gets lipstick on my chin sometimes...annoying. And then what to do with the core often presents a problem if you are out and about. Hmmm, just give me slices. Lately we have been eating the Honey Crisp apples by cutting them in wedges throwing them in a baggie and adding cinnamon. Very yummy, cinnamon is good for your blood sugar should you have a problem with it, so healthy! And if the apple oxidizes a little it is not noticeable with the cinnamon to camouflage it. And it is 0 WW points. So Fabulous.

Lately I have been adding some autumn recipes and you have seemed to like that so I have another one for you today. I have never made this recipe but I will be making it next week for a baby shower. I have eaten it a few times at Maureen's house and it is incredible. Try it, you'll love it and it looks so easy. The recipe photo below is not the actual recipe just one I found online. When I actually make it on Wednesday I'll take good photos to share.

Apple Carmel Cake

The Cake Ingredients

4 Cups of coarsely chopped Apples
2 cups of Sugar sprinkled over the Apples
2 Cups of Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of Baking Soda
2 teaspoons of Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt

Mix lighting all of the above.

Beat 2 Eggs
3/4 Cup Oil
2 teaspoons of Vanilla
3/4 Cup chopped Nuts (Optional)

Mix together by hand!
Batter will be thick, spoon into a greased 9x13 pan.
Bake @350* for 35 minutes...
Or until done.

Carmel Sauce

1/2 cup both White and firmly packed Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Flour
1/2 Cup real Butter
1/2 cup unwhipped Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons of Flour

Boil for one minute!
Drizzle over sliced cake and serve.
And add some candles if it is your Birthday!

You can use any apples in the cake but I am planning on Pippins or Gravensteins. My Mom told me to always bake with these because they are not full of water and because they will retain their shape and do not just dissolve into the batter or get mushy. I don't bake that much but when I do I follow her expert advice.

My mom was right, the best baking apples are green! And she made the best apple pie on my planet. So there you have another one...Happy Baking! If you lived closer and it was your birthday today...I'd bake one for you! Ah heck, even it is not your birthday I'd make one for you! :-)B

Roast Beef Marinade

When we were first married and living in San Francisco, our friend, Maureen, had this most delicious recipe for roast beef.  For years I made it and then one day I couldn't find the recipe.  We had lost touch over the years but reconnected awhile back on Facebook.  I asked her if she still had that recipe after 40 something years.  She had to dig a little but she did find it.  So here it is.  I haven't tried it again yet but I want to at some point.

Buy the beef roast of your choice.  I always used just a tender boneless roast.

Marinade:

2 cups Burgundy Wine (I'm going to try it with 
the non-alcoholic variety of wine.)
2 medium onions finely chopped
2 or more cloves of minced garlic
3 bay leaves crumbled
1 tsp dried thyme

Marinate roast beef overnight.
Cook roast as usual
Add the marinade last 30 minutes
Use along with drippings to make the gravy.

I remember this was the best ever meat and gravy.
I'll report back after we try it!

I'm so glad we are back in touch after all these years.
Thanks, Maureen!

Dessert to Die For....

 

 English Sticky Toffee Pudding

Recipe courtesy Marie Simmons
The Food Network
Show: Cooking LiveEpisode: Apres Ski Party


Bonnie here...I don't really bake often but this recipe is amazing.  Jim's cousin brought it for Christmas Eve and it vanished quickly and with raves.  I wanted to share it with you and save it in my files just in case I really get inspired to go in the kitchen.

Photo: English Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe

Rated 5 stars out of 5

• Rate This Recipe
• Read 56 Reviews

Total Time:

1 hr 5 min

Prep

20 min

Cook

45 min

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• Save to My Recipe Box
• Review Recipe
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• Share It!

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup pitted dates
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

TOFFEE SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch round or square baking dish. Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper. Chop the dates fine. Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a bowl of electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the date mixture to the batter and fold until blended with a rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack. Toffee Sauce: Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Preheat broiler. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the sauce over the pudding. Spread evenly on top. Place pudding under the broiler until the topping is bubbly, about 1 minute. Serve immediately spooned into dessert bowls. Drizzle with toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream.

English Sticky Toffee Pudding

 

 English Sticky Toffee Pudding

Recipe courtesy Marie Simmons
The Food Network
Show: Cooking LiveEpisode: Apres Ski Party


Bonnie here...I don't really bake often but this recipe is amazing.  Jim's cousin brought it for Christmas Eve and it vanished quickly and with raves.  I wanted to share it with you and save it in my files just in case I really get inspired to go in the kitchen.

Photo: English Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe

Rated 5 stars out of 5

• Rate This Recipe
• Read 56 Reviews

Total Time:

1 hr 5 min

Prep

20 min

Cook

45 min

• Print Recipe
• Full-Page View
• Save to My Recipe Box
• Review Recipe
• E-Mail
• Share It!

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup pitted dates
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

TOFFEE SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch round or square baking dish. Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper. Chop the dates fine. Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a bowl of electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the date mixture to the batter and fold until blended with a rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack. Toffee Sauce: Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Preheat broiler. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the sauce over the pudding. Spread evenly on top. Place pudding under the broiler until the topping is bubbly, about 1 minute. Serve immediately spooned into dessert bowls. Drizzle with toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream.

Orange Almond Molded Jello Salad

My Sister-in-law, Emily, has been making this salad for family gatherings for as long as I can remember.  It is delicious and not your typical jello concoction.  Today we made it ourselves for the first time for Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow.  Lucky us, that is all we were asked to bring??  Seems criminal, doesn't it while Jim's cousin, Debbie, will be slaving over a hot stove all day. Blessed her heart!  Well, we'll sure give her a hand once we arrive.

Emily said she usually doubles or triples this for large gatherings so we decided to do a triple batch.

 

 ORANGE ALMOND SALAD

Serves 4-6

6-oz can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

2/3 cup water

3-oz pkg. orange flavor jello

3/4 cup lemon-lime carbonated beverage

11-oz can mandarin oranges, drained

1/2 cup slivered almonds

In large saucepan, heat orange juice and water to 

boiling; stir in jello until dissolved. Slowly add 

lemon-lime beverage; chill until thickened.  Fold

in mandarin oranges and almonds.  Pour into 4-cup mold 

Chill until firm.

The above picture is not mine, got it from Google images.  We actually just made it in a festive bowl.  But I like the way the mold looks and the garnish is lovely too.  The orange juice makes this salad opaque and the sprite makes it a little tangy.  The slivered almonds and mandarins are just great combination as well.  It is a winner and so easy!  

What I like is how pretty it will look with that turkey and all the trimmings.  Eye appeal on the plate is important, especially if you like to decorate the plate as much as preparing it.  (Or more!) It just comes with the territory if you are an interior decorator.  Smiling! 

 Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S.  I am thankful for your friendship! ♥

Potato Salad Just For You...

Simply~the Best!
Thanks Mom for 4 generations of enjoyment!

Around this time of the year, there seems to be this unspoken contest going on all over the country about whose mom's potato salad is the best. Have you ever noticed that? Well, just to set the record straight..It is MY Mom!

Here's the thing about potato salad...don't goop it up with too much stuff. The essence of the best potato salad is that it is simply delicious. Here how to find a favorite recipe for it if you don't have a favorite made by your own mother...which of course can never be replaced. Try mine! I always make mine for a crowd so I started out with:

10 pounds of potatoes...peeled, cooked in boiling water for about 20 minutes or until tender and not too mushy. Drain and let them cool and then I sliced them up like I would for an apple pie or crisp...thin, not too chunky.

A dozen hard-boiled eggs...cut up into smallish pieces.

A bunch and a half of green scallion onions...Chopped up.

Some plain yellow mustard...I don't measure it but I take the squeeze bottle and just make a grid across the bowl of squiggly lines in both directions. (sometimes I add a little more as I am mixing it to make sure it is enough but not too much.

Mayonnaise, it has to be Best Foods (or Helman's for you east coasters!) It does take a lot of mayonnaise but remember it is something that you have for a treat on special occasions not every day! That being said it will require at least a quart of mayo for this large recipe that will feed many. You will be able to tell when you blend it all together if you need a little more.

Now here is the secret ingredient...
Celery Salt...you have to have it.

I use quite a bit.
I also add garlic salt and black pepper.
And add some paprika to the top or color!

Mix thoroughly and enjoy.

Simple, comfort food ~ extraordinaire and delicious!
Happy Fourth of July tomorrow!

We Made Italian Meatballs Today!

Fun video on how to make them!

http://screen.yahoo.com/the-perfect-italian-meatball-27096548.html

Here is how we slightly modified this dish:

3 lbs ground beef...1/2 of that the extra lean meat
4 shallots~chopped finely
2 Cups bread crumbs (We used Progresso Italian Seasoned)
2 Raw Eggs
8 Oz Ricotta Cheese
2 Cups Shredded Asiago Cheese
Seat salt and freshly ground pepper.

Everything else was just like the video! (Minus the Vino!!)

Le polpette sono molto buoni!

One Minute Fudge!

It is that time of year when you want to do
a little something for your special ones.
This is delicious and very user
friendly and a time saver!
What's not to love unless .......
You are a Weight Watcher like me?
Even then...
Fudge for your friends and family
That is sooooo easy.

In a 2 quart microwave proof bowl add:

1 can 14oz. can of sweet be condensed milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate 12 oz. chips
Heat on high for 1 minute until melted.
Stir in 1 Teaspoon vanilla
Optional additions:
1 /2 cups chopped nuts
1 cup mini marshmallows.

Spread into 8x8 inch buttered pan.
You can put parchment paper in
the pan but it is not required.

Cool in pan in freezer for 15 minutes
or in refrigerator for 30 Minutes.
Cut and serve.

Ellen's Whiskers

This is a great recipe for the summer and fall.

These little lovelies are great at a BBQ or with your chili on a cold winter's night or at your Super Bowl party. In fact I cannot think of a time they would not be good, except at a formal occasion maybe.

Actually I added Ellen's name not because of her whiskers (far from it she is lovely in every way) but because she is the lady that gave me the recipe! She brought these to Jim's Retirement party way back when and they were to die for, so I wanted to share this great recipe with you!

Whiskers

12 corn or flour tortillas
(7 to 10 inches in diameter)

Salad oil
Garlic paprika salt or chili salt
(recipe to follow)

Stack three to six tortillas and with a long, sharp knife
cut the tortillas into long strips about 1/4 inch wide.

Repeat until all the tortillas are cut into strips.

In a 4 to 5 quart pan add an inch of salad oil and
heat to 350 degrees using a thermometer.
(I'll be guessing on this part!)

Drop in 1/3 of the tortilla strips
Cook and stir until lightly brown and crisp
(about 1 to 2 minutes)

Transfer with a slotted spoon
to a paper towel to drain.

While the whiskers are still warm sprinkle
with the salt mixture of your choice.

Repeat to cook the remaining whiskers.

Serve warm or cool.
If making ahead package in an airtight
Ziplock plastic bag until the next day.

To reheat spread out on a paper towel
on a cookie sheet and bake for
about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Paprika Garlic Salt
1 Tablespoon garlic salt to 1/4 tsp paprika

Chili Salt
1 Tablespoon salt to 1/2 chili powder

Ellen's Mixture
She does the chili mixture and adds a pinch
of Cayenne Pepper to give it a little more kick!
She has the magic touch so I'm doing it her way!

My Idea:
Flour tortillas Whiskers with cinnamon
and sugar would be awesome too.

P.S. My photo shows the whiskers looking a little short. They were put back into a bag after the party and I think they got broken in the transfer. They are so cute when they are long and crispy. They are a hundred times better than tortilla chips. And a real crowd pleaser, everyone wanted the recipe which is one reason why I am posting it. You can be the first to embrace it in your neighborhood, ladies!

Also shown are my latest and greatest new kitchen toys. I love these little 4 inch square plates from Cost Plus World Market. They are $1.99 and just the perfect size for appetizers and small snacks. I had only them a week and had to go buy more, they are always in the dishwasher. A piece of toast fits perfectly on them.
I have a feeling they are a great little portion controller too. The little black circle is a sticker that comes off, these are brand new. since then I have given them to lots of people as Christmas gifts.

Don't you just love it when you find a
useful and fun thing for the kitchen?

Slow Food

Jim and I are not fast foodies, in fact I think it has been decades since we tried a Mac Donald's Hamburger and quite frankly, once was enough. We have never been dashboard diners, even at the busiest times in our lives. So consequently cooking is a necessity. However, after years and years of dashing home after work, caring for mom, dropping kids off everywhere for their activities, night time church meetings and school involvement, etc. I was pretty burned out by the time we stopped punching the time clock. I still did the cooking daily, but it was a bit lackluster, I have to admit.

During those very hectic years I tried all kinds of methods of staying organized and feeding the family well but, bottom line was I still had to spend too much time that I didn't have...thinking about it, planning, shopping for the food and the like. I tried crockpots and food co-ops and organic delivery on the front door and making meals with and for friends on an exchange type of arrangement. I would cook for your family on Monday, you would cook for mine on Thursday, so we'd get a day or two off.

I tried making three months worth of menus on the computer and then buying everything for the meals that week, then using flexibility as to what night I would cook which thing. I had a computer generated shopping list that I could just mark off the things we needed, I think I tried everything, make-a-mix cooking, making two of everything and freezing one, you name it...I tried it. But, sadly it was never my passion. I wanted to create the best home environment I could and that had to include cooking. The driving force for me was to nurture and take care of my family more than loving the process of creating in the kitchen.

I know the thing that took the joy out of the creative part was always having a time crunch. But now...things are different. We have time. What a tremendous blessing that is. So I thought by eliminating that one thing maybe a passion could be reborn?

Jim really enjoys cooking. He is like a sous chef, loves all the slicing and dicing and chopping and then he can look into what I see as an empty refrigerator and create something astonishing. He loves experimenting with food that he says talks to him. And he stages his meals like a decorator. Very perplexing but he does it and it is a gift. (Especially to me!!)

Here is a salad he made for lunch the other day.
We are a good match because while he is staging the food,
I am crazy over the plates and other tableware.

These seemingly simple things can make an ordinary lunch into something special. I love that because it is part of slow food, as opposed to fast food which is just designed to fill up the hole. Taking time to enjoy a meal together is one thing that builds good family relations. More than once our kids were treated by their Dad to breakfast by candle light on cold winter mornings. The older I get the more I realize that the little things make all the difference in your day to day life. They are more than a nice touch they are good for the soul. Slowing it down a notch is essential. I hope our children are reading this!

Anyway, pardon the digression to the Martha Stewart moments....

Now that we have more time than money, we are free to actively seek things that we both enjoy doing together. We are trying to discover some new things that we enjoy. So I have been collecting all kinds of recipes electronically. So if and when the fancy strike us, we can just jump right in to it. So with that as a background here is what we are going to cook this weekend. It is going to be fun, even without the wine. This guy is a genuine Italian character.

http://screen.yahoo.com/the-perfect-italian-meatball-27096548.htm

Let's Discuss Apples...

Let's talk about apples. With all the talk about pumpkins this time of year we can overlook the wonderful harvest of apples and all the delicious things they can be used for in baking. I always remember the one variety of apples that we always got in our lunches as little kids. The tiny, all red sometimes soggy ones, remember? They are called the Delicious ones but actually I never thought so. For us the best eating apples are Fuji most of the year and Honey Crisp apples right now. Oh my goodness, they are goodness if you like sweet and crispy!

One thing I have decided is that there are two clubs of apple eaters...the ones that eat them whole and the ones who prefer them sliced. I belong to the later club myself. Eating an apple whole is kind of bothersome. For one thing it gets lipstick on my chin sometimes...annoying. And then what to do with the core often presents a problem if you are out and about. Hmmm, just give me slices. Lately we have been eating the Honey Crisp apples by cutting them in wedges throwing them in a baggie and adding cinnamon. Very yummy, cinnamon is good for your blood sugar should you have a problem with it, so healthy! And if the apple oxidizes a little it is not noticeable with the cinnamon to camouflage it. And it is 0 WW points. So Fabulous.

Lately I have been adding some autumn recipes and you have seemed to like that so I have another one for you today. I have never made this recipe but I will be making it next week for a baby shower. I have eaten it a few times at Maureen's house and it is incredible. Try it, you'll love it and it looks so easy. The recipe photo below is not the actual recipe just one I found online. When I actually make it on Wednesday I'll take good photos to share.

Apple Carmel Cake

The Cake Ingredients

4 Cups of coarsely chopped Apples
2 cups of Sugar sprinkled over the Apples
2 Cups of Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of Baking Soda
2 teaspoons of Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt

Mix lighting all of the above.

Beat 2 Eggs
3/4 Cup Oil
2 teaspoons of Vanilla
3/4 Cup chopped Nuts (Optional)

Mix together by hand!
Batter will be thick, spoon into a greased 9x13 pan.
Bake @350* for 35 minutes...
Or until done.

Carmel Sauce

1/2 cup both White and firmly packed Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Flour
1/2 Cup real Butter
1/2 cup unwhipped Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons of Flour

Boil for one minute!
Drizzle over sliced cake and serve.
And add some candles if it is your Birthday!

You can use any apples in the cake but I am planning on Pippins or Gravensteins. My Mom told me to always bake with these because they are not full of water and because they will retain their shape and do not just dissolve into the batter or get mushy. I don't bake that much but when I do I follow her expert advice.

My mom was right, the best baking apples are green! And she made the best apple pie on my planet. So there you have another one...Happy Baking! If you lived closer and it was your birthday today...I'd bake one for you! Ah heck, even it is not your birthday I'd make one for you! :-)B

Family Recipes~And Forever Friends

A small section of the murals at The Beach Chalet Restaurant
in San Francisco that I photographed this
week when we went over for dinner.

Don't you just love having your old family recipes? You know what I mean, the ones your mother use to make for you as a child, the ones that were always a part of your traditions, the ones that brought you comfort and still do. Sometimes when I make a recipe of my mom's it is almost like she is right here with me again. And in many ways she is.

Several years ago I set about to create a family cookbook. Well, it never did quite come to fruition but I did manage to collect some of our favorites from older family members that are now gone. Then one time while transferring information from an old computer to a new one the recipes disappeared. I was devastated! Well, fortunately for me, it was a PICNIC problem. This is an acronym for what my friend calls Problem in Chair Not In Computer. PICNIC problems of this nature arise for me a lot so I am use to them. But losing the recipes was not easy to swallow.

So a few weeks ago I was working on organizing my genealogy files and quite appropriately my recipes reappeared. Because aren't family recipes a part of our family history? Definitely. They were filed under one of the obscure titles that one chooses so they won't forget where the files are and then promptly forgets what the chosen name is. Mamma Mia!

One thing I adore about old recipes from the 50s and 60s is their simplicity. The ingredients are simple and straight forward. Basically they are just down home cooking with no fancy frills attached. You never look at a recipe from that era and ask, "What is that ingredient and where on earth can I find it?" Hate that when I am trying to make something.

So this past week we had a dinner party and we decided to make one of our tried and true recipes from my mom. The menu consisted of baby back ribs, macaroni salad, a green salad with lots of veggies and some fruit in it and my Mom's Famous Baked Beans and garlic bread. These beans are delicious with all kind of picnic faire and yummy with autumn comfort foods too.

The recipe for the baked beans is simple and delicious!

Here Jim is has cut up a pound
of bacon and is browning it.

We cook this in this old pan that doesn't even have handles anymore. We use it so it can just go directly into the oven when we are finished assembling the baked beans. He then removed the crispy bacon from the pan.

Next he is chopping one large onion
after this he will do one large bell pepper.

He then sauteed the onion and the pepper
in a tiny bit of the bacon grease
after removing 95% of it.And added the bacon back in.

Taking cooking photos is fun if you can catch some
of the action/movement of what you are doing
like pouring the Ketchup!

Then we put in 2 (29 to 31 oz) cans of pork and beans.

Use as much as you need for your crowd
and then just adjust the other ingredients accordingly.
Pour in a small bottle of ketchup.

Add 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce

Add a cup and a half of firmly packed brown sugar

Then we baked it for 3.5 to 4 hours in the oven at 250*
degrees. We then put the baked beans
in our crockpot for reheating the next
night for our dinner party.
We love cooking ahead so we can have a
more relaxed evening with our guests.

Ingredients:
2 cans 31 oz. Pork and Beans
1 lb browned, lean Bacon (oxymoron I know)
1 large Onion~chopped
1 large Bell Pepper~chopped
1 small bottle of Ketchup

Combine ingredients and slow bake
at 250* for 3 to 4 hours. Enjoy!

Here are the baby back ribs.

I got them at Sam's Club, I'm not ashamed to admit.
You can find them in the same case
as the hot roasted chickens.
They were wonderful and all you do is cut apart,
for easier handling and eating
and add a little extra BBQ sauce and cover and
heat for one hour or so before serving
at 250* with a tight foil
cover over your dish.

If you don't have a Sam's Club. Sorry
you will have to make them yourself!
Or serve them with just about any other meat.

The table cloth is a little wild but great for the Fall.

Everything but the guests now complete the tablescape,
and it is time to invite them in from the family room.
I removed my big centerpiece and added
this great candle holder that keeps the ambiance
just perfectly candle lit and you can
actually see everyone without an obstructed view.
Win/Win

And here they are! The best part of the evening!
Our wonderful Family Home Evening Group
minus one couple that could not make it.

To see the recipe for the dessert I made for this dinner go here
http://tinyurl.com/44xry2p

When you host the dinner for the group for the month you do everything including the Gospel related lesson. That makes it so nice for everyone because then for three months you just get to go and not worry about anything for that one evening. Jim and I shared some thoughts on genealogy and family history with them. It was a fun evening for us and we hope they felt the same. Wish you could join us for such an occasion one day!