Asparagus and Ham roll ups

My wife made this for me before we were married and it may be the first time I remember really eating asparagus. I grew up in the country and if we didn't grow it we didn't eat it.

Glad my views have changed as I love asparagus and a whole lot of other foods now. I just read an article on how our taste has changed and I know I can eat more spicy and hot stuff (thanks to wife) than I did 20 years ago. Any way this is a really easy and impressive dish.

She can't remember where she got the recipe and she tore the house up looking for it but it was easy to remember. You can make as many or as few as you want. We used the last of the lasagna noodles we had from the lasagna the other night.

Lasagna noodles cooked to directions on pkg

heat oven to 350.

sliced deli ham

asparagus steamed or cooked till tender about 3 to 4 per role

Swiss cheese slices.

We also had some ricotta cheese we used but its not necessary.

hollandaise sauce.

salt and pepper to taste

Take one noodle and smooth layer of ricotta cheese place slice of swiss cheese, ham slices and 3 to 4 spears of asparagus role up and place in baking dish. seam side down.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes covered.

Cook hollandise sauce. We cheated and used Knorr pkg mix.

Place roll up on dish and pour sauce over and serve.

Some of our babies showing off

Spooky Boo

Wolfie

Stink and Ms P in the sink (his head is twice her size)

Frostys cat scan

Just thought I would put up a picture or two of some of our babies. Stinker is our biggest cat with huge paws and at times has a ridge on his back where the hair seems to stand up. Frosty is who we call our puddle puddy as he just melt in your lap and he is a big ol' boy also. Our second largest to Stink. Sambo is our cat that does a forward role all the time (if we could only get him to do it for stupid cat tricks.) We had to rescue them and bottle feed them when little so that is why we think they are so big. And of course the Smittens, Spooky Boo and Wolfie have the longest and bushiest tail we have ever see.

Mona's Strawberry Salad

This will be a blast from the past for some folks as this is one of my mother in laws recipes that was going around in the 70's and 80's. Almost every family had one of these jello salads in their family gatherings. If you look on one of earlier post a few back you will see this on a picture of a holiday dinner back in the 1980's taken at my mother in laws home. (close up picture to be added later)
2 small pkg of strawberry jello 3oz.
2 pkg of frozen strawberries 10 oz. drained
1 large can crushed pineapple 1 lb 4oz. undrained
3 mashed bananas
1cup chopped nuts
1 pt sour cream
1 cup boiling water

In bowl mash bananas add pineapple,pecans, thawed strawberries.
mix boiling water with jello till dissolved.
Add to together and stir till blended. Pour half in a 8x12 pan and chill.
Keep remaining mixture at room temp. After layer is chilled add pt of sour cream and then pour remaining jello mixture over top and jell. Serve with cool whip or shipped cream or plain. Looks good on a lettuce leaf for eye color.

Lasagna

This is our first time to make a Lasagna. And of course we did tweak it a bit.But it turned out ok not great but quick and easy compared to more involved ones.

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic minced

2 Tablespoons oil

1 lb ground beef (this is a tweak.... we added a link of Italian sausage, casing removed)

2 caned stewed tomatoes 14 oz (we used diced tomatoes)

1can tomato paste 6oz

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon pepper(tweak we also added 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes and mushrooms)1 cups cottage cheese 1 cup ricotta cheese (combine these two together)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese divided

1/4 cup fresh parsley

8 oz wide lasagna noodles1 cup mozzarella cheese

Cook and stir onions and garlic in oil till soft push to one side and add beef and sausage.

Drain if needed.

Add tomatoes with juice and tomato paste,basil,oregano,sugar,pepper,red pepper, mushrooms. Simmer 30 minutes.

Combine cottage and ricotta cheese with parsley and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.

Cook noodles according to package.

Heat oven to 350

Place thin layer of meat sauce in bottom of 13x9x2 baking dish.

Add half of noodles half of cottage cheese mixture sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup of mozzarella then thin layer of sauce.

Repeat noodle and cheese layers, top with remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese.bake 45 minutes.

Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Poached eggs

I guess most foodies have watched the Julie and Julia movie. We loved it.We happened to catch a show with Julia Child poaching eggs. I don't know what happened to me but I have become obsessed with a poached egg. This is something I have not done before so I tried several ways. Shallow pan, vinegar, in a ring (don't use a mason jar top the little grooves keeps the egg from coming out looking pretty.) So after several weekends I think I can do a pretty good poached egg. So go out there and give it a try. Here are some I did over the weekend.

Tuna with white beans and touch of orange

We are trying a new one here with the little tuna steaks we have and they sure have been good but I think I will have to go with salmon being my favorite. We really need to try this again with a better orange than we had and we did not have any fresh basil but its growing now outside.

4 tuna steaks 4-6 oz about 1 inch thick (ours was a little smaller)

2 Tablespoons grated orange zest

1/2 cup orange juice

2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons finely minced fresh Basil leaves

1 Tablespoon sea salt

2 teaspoons ground pepper

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle after cooked)

4 cups cooked white beans

1/4 cup shredded fresh basil

In a small bowl combine orange zest,brown sugar,garlic,mustard,cumin,basil,salt,pepper. Reserve 1 Tablespoon to season white beans. Rub on tuna coating well

In a saute pan or cast iron skillet warm the olive oil. When hot add tuna in pan to sear for 1 minute, then turn over and reduce heat from high to med. Sear this side for 1 ore minute until med rare.

In large saucepan whisk the orange juice,vinegar and reserved spices. Bring to simmer and add white beans and 1/4 cup of basil leaves, tossing till hot.

Place beans on plate and drizzle with olive oil and place tuna steak over beans.

Railroad Special from Pocahontas County Cooks

This is from a cookbook called beyond grits and gravy and has some quick meals in it. This one is an all in one meal, the kind we like.

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion chopped

1can tomato soup

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 cup whole kernel corn(we used a can)

1/2 chopped bell pepper

we added garlic, 2 carrots and some red pepper flakes as we thought it would give it a little more flavor.

Brown beef and onion, add soup, water, seasonings, corn and bell pepper Mix well let simmer 15 minutes then fill casserole dish 11x7x2

Topping

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

Sift together cornmeal.sugar,flour,salt,and baking powder. Stir together with egg and milk. Spread over meat mixture. bake at pre heated oven 350 for 45 minutes.