Sunday Cats Ginger and Momma Socks

This is Momma Socks and Gin Gin enjoying the nice weather with a chase and romp in the back yard.

Miniature phyllo tart shells filled

This the last goodies that Lisa made and it was phyllo cups with pie filling in the cups. You can use what ever you want these were banana and raspberry filled with a little coconut sprinkled on top.

Pork Tenderloin

Next to a steak the meat we like the most is a pork tenderloin. Noel fixed two that he bought that were in a marinade. He wrapped in foil and baked in the oven.
They were so jucy and melted in your mouth.

Fruit Dip

Another yummy from Lisa and Noel. We really liked this one and can't wait to make it. The strawberrys was the best with the dip I think.
The fruit dip is a package of cream cheese, a cup of brown sugar and a
teaspoon of vanilla. I added about a tablespoon of sour cream to thin
it a tad, but the original recipe does not call for it per Lisa.

Chili Dip

Here is a nother dip from Super Bowl Sunday from Lisa and Noel that was quick,easy and tasty.
A package of cream cheese, a can of chili with no
beans and shredded sharp cheddar on top.
Then you just put it in the microwave and heat it up til it's melty. serve with corn chips

Sunday Cat Momma Socks

Last Sunday we had Gin Gin and this Sunday we are showing her mother Momma Socks.
Can you find her? She is a tortie and when she is in the leaves you can hardly find her. She was here when we moved in and has stayed. We did have to taker her to the vet after she got hit we guess by a car and broke her leg. The Vets took the ball off from hwe leg bone that fit in her hip and it has not stopped her from getting around and she can still climb trees.

Pig in a Blanket

We are still showing appetizers from our get together with friends Lisa,Noel and Mike.
This is some of their goodies.
Of course every one knows of the pig in a blanket it is a favorite of ours and Noel did them up right. Just take some little smokies,crescent role and cut in to strips (pinch triangles and use a pizza cuter to cut into strips and wrap a small piece around each smokie and bake at 375 for about 8 minutes. So easy and they are great finger snack.

Chili Cheddar Pinwheels

Another yummy crescent roll snack that looks like it can be tinkered with if you want from taste of home.
We pretty much stuck with the recipe but may add some jalapeno pepper next time. Again this is best while hot out the oven.
1 pkg 8 oz cream cheese softened
1 cup 4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 can 4 oz chopped green chilies drained
2 tablespoons picante sauce(we used mild as it was for other people but we might go with a hotter one for ourselves)
12 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 tubes crescent rolls
additional chili powder optional
In a large bowl beat cream until smooth then beat in the cheddar cheese,chilies picante sauce,chili powder,garlic and onion powder until blended.
Separate each tube of crescent roll dough into 4 rectangles and press perforations to seal. Spread about 1/4 cup of mixture over each rectangle. Roll up jelly roll style starting with short side. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least one hour.
(We felt it needed to be longer in the fridge)
Cut each roll into eight to ten slices and place on ungreased baking sheet
Sprinkle with extra chili powder if you want.
bake in pre heated oven at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or till golden brown. we found it was longer than 10 minutes.
Makes about 64 goodies.

Sunday Cat Ginger

Or Gin Gin as we call her funny how easy it is to give a cat two or more names.
It has been so cold here the past few weeks and we have had some very bad cat days. Our outside kitties that came with the house just could not stop rolling in the sunshine. Wife said if she could roll like that she would too.

Chicken Crescent Puffs

Well the Super bowl is over but the next few days I will be posting some of the goodies we had.
This is from Taste of Home recipes.
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 garlic powder
we added a little chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken
2 tubes 8 oz refrigerated crescent rolls
In a small bowl beat cream cheese and and garlic powder till smooth.
Stir in chicken and onion
Unroll crescent dough separate into 16 triangles. Cut each triangle in half lengthwise, forming two triangles. Place 1 teaspoon of chicken mixture in center of each. fold short side over filling and press sides to seal and roll up.
Place 1 inch a part on greased baking sheets,
Bake at 375 for 12 to 14 minutes or till golden brown.yield 32

Mona's Chocolate Pie

This is another of my Mother in laws tasty creations. We did not get this till we had been married some time as she worked on this recipe for a long time (10 years ?)and wanted it to be her secret. See the story is that this came from a restaurant called Johnny Rays Bar B Q and they had this chocolate pie to die for. It was a secret recipe at the time and mother in law decided to try to duplicate it. Well years later the restaurant was sold and the recipe finally printed in the paper. Mona was off by one egg. she had an extra one in hers. Now mother in law made her own pie crust but we cheat and use a bought one.
1 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons cocoa powder
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 Tablespoon butter
Mix dry ingredients. Add milk and cook in top of double boiler until thick. Beat egg yolks with a fork and add about 1/2 cup hot mixture to eggs to warm them. Pour egg mixture back into pot and cook until consistency of pudding. Add vanilla and butter.
Pour into cooked pie shell. Cool. When cool top with whip cream.

Ham and bean soup in crock pot

This makes a lot. We had a good bowl and was able to put up some in the freezer for another cold night. This had a great flavor and smelled great cooking.
The only problem we had is needed to cook longer than 8 hours for our beans to get cooked. Now these were dried beans soaked overnight and then just put in the crock pot. We saw at about 6 hours the beans were hard so we kicked it up on high and that did the trick. So I'd say the first hour if you can cook for one hour on high then turn down and still count on 8 hours with 9 hours altogether.
1 lb dried great northern beans soaked overnight and rinsed and drained.
3 cloves garlic sliced
1 large sweet onion (I just used half of a huge yellow onion)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
a few baby carrots
6 cups water or broth (we used 4 cups chicken broth and the rest water)
1 ham bone
1 to 2 cups ham (we had a honey ham left over and saved the bone and a few chunks not sure how much it was but it was enough.)
Place beans in crock pot with onion,salt,pepper,parsley,cloves,carrots,ham and broth and water.
Cover and cook on low till beans are tender and creamy _ we needed longer
skim any excess fat if necessary before serving.

Bird Food Mix

Ye Gads snow in in the forecast AGAIN!!!!! I do not remember a winter this cold or with so much snow in the forecast here in central MS. We also have several bird feeders and it has been hard keeping them full this winter. The little gold finches are all over the place and we have so many redbirds I count over 20 males and must be at least that many females at our feeders. The blue jays like the cats dry cat food.
This a bird mix that all the birds like but the red birds are always all over it as soon as I put it out. Again this comes from my mother in law Mona.

Peanut Butter and lard ( we use crisco) or Bacon grease Use equal amounts of these (two ingredients pb and Lard.) I use about a cup of each. (make as much as you need.) If you use the cup it will take a good bit of corn meal.
1 Tablespoon white corn syrup
corn meal to mix and hold the stuff together add a little at a time and do not let it get to crumbly and best to work this with your hand not a spoon. Its fun getting your hands all messy.
This is a kind of feel thing and you may need to add more corn meal to keep it from being to sticky and should be like a soft dough feel to it.
We have a few pine cones that we have hanging near the feeders that we put it in and a suet cake cage that we also use.
You can also add some plain oatmeal.

We add a handful of ground up pecans because we have the trees and have observed the birds eating the crushed nuts.
We even saw crows hanging by the road waiting for cars to crush the nuts open.

Sunday Cat Casper

This is Casper but we really never call him that for us its baby boy.
He is another stray we found at our old home. For a week we only saw this little gray blur going by and I really thought it was a baby squirrel.
Wife told me it was a baby kitten and she got him to come out and eat and after a week we were able to get him close enough to grab him. Poor baby he still had blue eyes and he was so small to have been out there all by himself. Something may have bit his ear because it had a notch on it.
This baby has had a bad skin problem since we have had him he is 11 years old now and it is getting worse. The poor thing has been in a collar for 3 weeks to keep him from scratching. We are on our last attempt to clear up the scratching hoping the olive oil and new food helps. We had thought it was a flea allergies but we use advantage on everyone so it is not that. Vet thinks it may be a food allergie. They said to feed can fish cat food and see if it helps as they develop chicken and beef alergies and the oil from the fish will help. If any one has had this problem and know of a cure please let us know.

Hambuger Steak

We told you about going to our old fav restaurant the other day and it reminder us of another restaurant we used to get our lunch from CS's. Now I remember when this restaurant was open at night and playing pool there. They have some great hamburgers called Inez's Burger and we have not been able to duplicate their fried pork chop. But we have come close to the hamburger steak.
This is good with mashed potatoes or rice but we thought we would go with a baked sweet potato and cornbread.
about a lb hamburger or chuck or sirloin, what you want.
1/2 cup onion minced (to but in hambuger patty)
1 onion
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce or more to taste
pinch of salt
and pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
one onion sliced
1 pkg brown gravy mix
i can sliced mushrooms or use fresh.
Mix in bowl meat with chopped onion,egg, salt, pepper, garlic powder,Worcestershire sauce,
pat into patties.
Place in oil and cook till well browned on all sides, remove and drain
Add sliced onions and cook till litley caramelized. While cooking prepare gravy mix according to pkg.
Re tun hamburger to skillet with onions and add gravy mix. add mushrooms and simmer for about 20 minutes
.

Chicken Sandwich

We buy these flattened frozen chicken breast from Sam's and have found they are great for a chicken sandwich.
All you need is a little seasoned flour you can use what you like. exp lemon pepper
we use Zaterans as you know by now we like it spicy.
Use an egg wash then dip in your seasoned flour and pan fry in a little oil. Drain on a rack and we used a cilantro lime mayo but look forward to doing one with chipotle mayo that we tasted at Lisas. Its sitting in the pantry calling our name.

Restaurant

Better Half and I were in town the other day for a Dr’s appt. and by the time we got my Rx’s filled it was about 5:00 Since we had not been in town for a while we decided to go to one of our go restaurants when we lived in town. The Elite. Wife really misses all our old haunts.
What a difference 5 years can make along with a recession. This little restaurant has been in Jxn a long time and was always full no matter the time. This was a rainy Monday and almost no one was there.
As we were seated and looking over the menu it has not changed and we ordered our old favorites.
We wondered how much longer this little restaurant will be there.
Spouse remembers some restaurants she went to growing up and are no longer around most little Mom and Pops but some may remember The Magic Pan, and Shakey’s Pizza (best sausage) are two from B‘ham and I went to Widow Watson's a lot.
The Mayflower was the only restaurant open after 9 when she moved here in the late 70’s. We also have really been missing the Macaroni Grill as we can not find as good a calamari. A long time Jxn favorite for a fancy night out or Prom was Dennerys. Loved the roman villa look.
What restaurants did you go to that is no longer around and miss dearly?