Saurkraut Salad???

Saurkraut salad.  

YUM!

Once upon a time, very long ago, I dated a really great man. His Mom invited me over for dinner on Sundays or Saturdays, depending upon when we had a date. He always apologized for his Mom's cooking not being up to par.Well, let me tell you...she was a fantastic cook! I learned so much from her. Including this scary sounding salad.

Now, saurkraut salad doesn't sound that great, does it? If you like saurkraut, even a little bit, you'll love this salad. It doesn't taste like saurkraut. It does have crunch and flavor.

Here's how you make this simple recipe.

Saurkraut Salad

Saurkraut, canned, in a jar or in a plastic bag

Crunchy veggies like celery, carrots, onions, radishes, cukes, green peppers, etc.

Equal parts white wine vinegar, cooking oil (not olive), sugar

Place equal parts white wine vinegar, cooking oil and sugar in a saucepan over low heat just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat to cool.

Place saurkraut in a colandar, rinse and drain well.

Peel and chop or grate your veggies.

Place saurkraut, veggies and cooled vinegar mix into a bowl. Stir well.

Salt and pepper to taste, if you like. It gives more color and flavor.

You may eat this at room temperature, but I like it best when it has been refrigerated until cold.

Crunchy, sweet and yummy!

Now, Mr. K, you were blessed with a great cooking Mom all of your years. You didn't even know it!

Easter Bread

 got a little bug in me to bake some bread for Easter. Actually, I try to make this for every Easter because it's Easter bread!

 I love this stuff! Because Lent is a time of abstinence from meats and dairy, this is loaded with dairy! Lotsa eggs. Lotsa butter. Lotsa sugar. Lotsa yumminess!

It is Greek-style Easter bread. This bread is flavored with anise. Yes. There are different styles of Easter bread depending upon different cultures and how Easter is celebrated with each.

No. I am not Greek. I am Hungarian-Croatian-German-American Indian. What a mix! Anyhow, the Croatian side, my Mother, always baked the nut roll (shown below) for Easter and holidays. She and my Aunt always made this, poppyseed roll and apricot roll. Apricot is my favorite. Then, nut. NOT poppyseed. I don't like it that much. Mom and Auntie LOVED the poppyseed.

We used to have great after Easter service lunches at my Aunt's house. She'd bring out the good china...the good tablecloth...all her pretty things for the table. It was a HUGE table! Then, we'd have a tureen of little noodle soup, that's what we called it. It is actually a beef broth flavored with veggies. The broth was strained off and served with very fine egg noodles. Then the veggies and a huge beef roast, from the soup, were served in another bowl.

THEN...drumroll, please...the nut rolls!

It was tradition. I loved that tradition!

Yummy!

We've been picking strawberries from our garden for about a month, now.

Here's how we get rid of them...Yummy!

I hull the strawberries, slice them and add sugar to them. I use about 1-2 tablespoons of sugar. I cover and let them sit for a while in the fridge. This give the sugar time to melt and some of the strawberry juices to come out.

I make a 'Lazy Daisy Sponge Cake' recipe from an old Pillsbury Family Cookbook from 1963.

Lazy Daisy Sponge Cake

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk, scalded
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease a 9-inch layer pan. I used an 8" x 8" square glass dish so I can split the cake, if I want.
After milk is scalded, remove from heat and add the butter to it until the butter melts.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl.
Put eggs, sugar and vanilla in another bowl and beat until lemon colored.
At low speed, add dry ingredients.
Then mix in the milk and butter mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees F until a silver knife comes out clean. This will be about 30 minutes. Cool a bit and make your strawberry shortcake!

It takes me about 15 minutes to put together the cake and 20-30 minutes to bake it. The taste and texture is so much better than the rubbery little dessert cups you get at the store.

We ate 2 of these cakes one right after the other. I cut them into 9-pieces each. We had 18 shortcakes!

This is one of my favorite desserts ever! I also use blackberries on this cake and peaches, too! Use your imagination and enjoy this simple cake. You won't be sorry!

Sorry...

I've been under the weather a bit, so I haven't posted for a long while. All is well, though.

Here's one of my favorite things to do with leftover spaghetti. Yes! A spaghetti pie! Yes, we couldn't wait.

This is one easy thing to make. I don't remember where I got the recipe. I think it was word-of-mouth from an Italian friend.

Put in enough spaghetti in a bowl to fill an 8" or 9" pie plate. I fill the pie plate beforehand to make sure I have enough. Then I put it into a bowl. Then, lightly spray or grease the pie plate.

Scramble one egg and add to bowl. Stir egg into spaghetti really well. You can salt and pepper if you like. I usually don't because the toppings are flavorful enough.

Put eggy spaghetti into the pie plate.

Top with leftover, meats and veggies, then cheese. You may use the sauce, if you like. I left off the sauce on this one. I used a liberal amount of pepperoni in this one. It turned out really good.

Put into the oven at 350 degrees F until a knife comes out of the center clean. I use a glass dish because I can look underneath to see that all is cooked.

Serve with more sauce and cheese.

Easy!

Royal Breakfast fit for a King and Queen

Have you ever wondered what the royalty eats for breakfast? Well, the King and Queen of our household have this.

On the left, fruit bowl. On the silver (plated) platter, bacon, sausage, toasted Easter bread and homemade crumpets. On the right, homemade strawberry jelly and butter.

Of course, the Princesses have their treats, too! (In the blue bowl.)

Best wishes for a very happy life together, Prince William and Princess Catherine!!!