Living 2 Eat |

Boston Market’s Creamed Spinach

10 3/4 can cream of celery soup

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup butter or margarine or canola oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt or to taste

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

20 oz. frozen chopped spinach, cooked according to package directions, well drained, OR

2 pounds fresh spinach, cleaned, stems removed, chopped, cooked and drained

1 tablespoon dry onion, chopped, OR

1 small onion, peeled, ends removed, diced

In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk together celery soup, flour, butter or margarine or canola oil, garlic salt, salt and pepper until smooth and piping hot.

Add cooked and drained spinach, dry chopped onion or diced onion.

Serve.

Dear Ben,

The “Crew” will be here soon so I wanted to get this mailed before they arrive.

I LOVE Bean Salad, but in all these years have never found a recipe that was as good as I knew it could be.  Today was the day!  After experimenting and tasting it, I thought you would love it too.  My Mother and Grandmother would definitely approve!!!  It is super easy but perfect!!!  I have had three helpings and still want more!!!  Hope you will enjoy it!

Love,

Burma

Burma’s Four Bean Salad

2 15- ounce cans green beans, rinsed and drained

2 15-ounce cans yellow wax beans, rinsed and drained

1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 15-ounce cans large white butter beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium red onion, diced in chunky sized pieces

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 4-ounce jar pimentos, diced but not drained

1-3/4 cups thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1 can Campbell’s Tomato soup

Place the beans, red onion, green pepper, pimentos, celery, and oil in a large mixing bowl. 

In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and tomato soup with a whisk.  Bring to a boil while stirring. 

Pour over the vegetables.  Toss the mixture lightly.  Toss several times as your salad cools.  Cover and chill for around 4-5 hours.  It is best if chilled overnight.  

This is a perfect dish to make ahead of time and it will keep for several days.  Drain the reserved liquid prior to serving.  (The extra liquid can be used later!) 

Yum Yum Yum!!!

This cake became an instant favorite when it arrived on the scene in the late 1970s. The first recipe for this cake has long been attributed to Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greesnboro, North Carolina, who submitted it to the February, 1978 issue of Southern Living magazine. But Helen Moore, a former food editor at The Charlotte Observer, says that hummingbird cake actually hails from Jamaica, where it is called Doctor Bird cake. She says that recipes for basically the same cake by that name were distributed by the Jamaican Tourism Board in the late 1960s.

There are two major schools of thought as to where the name came from. The first is that the cake is so sweet it could attract hummingbirds; the second is that the cake is so good, people spontaneously begin to hum while eating it. No matter which story is true, this is one of the most delicious of all Southern cakes. The recipe is adapted from Mrs. Wiggins’ original.

Special thanks to Chef Rick’s Southern Cooking for this award winning recipe.

Hummingbird Cake

For the cake:

• 3 cups all-pupose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon soda
• 11/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, Drained (reserve 1/4 cup juice)
• 2 cups chopped pecans, divided
• 2 cups mashed bananas

Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans; preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together flour, sugar, salt, soda and cinnamon; place into a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add eggs and vegetable oil, stirring with a rubber spatula until dry ingredients are moistened (do not use an electric mixer). Stir in vanilla, pineapple, pineapple juice, 1 cup of the pecans and bananas. Spoon batter into pans.

Bake until cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool in pans for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 (16 ounce) boxes powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a 2-quart mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter; using an electric hand mixer, cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy; stir in vanilla. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans.

Yield: one 9-inch layer cake

… from Denise S. Plunkett

Sitting high on a hill in the historic town of Warm Springs, Georgia, the Bulloch House looks like a beautiful old house from days gone by.  It is, but it’s oh-so-much-more.  Inside you will find a southern all-you-can-eat buffet that will cause you to eat until you’re in a coma.  This is country cookin’ at its finest.  A recent trip there, the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Little White House”, reminded me of the food I was brought up eating and the very reason we call it “comfort food.”

Sunday buffet included fried chicken, chicken and dressing, ham, shrimp, butter beans, fried green tomatoes, fried sweet potatoes dredged in sugar, sweet potato casserole, green beans, macaroni & cheese, turnip greens, red skinned potatoes, salad bar (who really eats salad at this place???), cornbread, biscuits, butter rolls.  Desserts are not included in the buffet, but are worth trying - caramel cake, chocolate cake, whipping cream pound cake, banana pudding, lemon meringue pie and chocolate chip pecan pie.  I tried the caramel cake, which was a moist 3 layer yellow cake with thick, sugary-sweet brown sugar icing.

Since my last visit, they have added frozen take-out food, which means you can take home some of their most popular dishes. 

The house is a very old southern house with lots of character.  It’s a beautiful setting for a fabulous meal.  A quaint gift shop sits next door, where you can shop if there is a short wait to get into the restaurant.

If you’re anywhere near the area, don’t miss it.  It’s truly worth the drive!

http://www.thebullochhouse.com/

My Aunt Dianne has always been an excellent cook.  When Jon and I married, one of the gifts she gave us was a handwritten recipe book of some of her favorite recipes.  The first one was for Sweet Potato Casserole.  I remembered having it for special occasions as I was growing up, so it was the first one I tried, shortly after we married.  Jon and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary soon, and this recipe is a must for every Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any other special occasion we can find! 

I’ve been asked for this recipe more than any other. 

Tara Holland Christensen

Miss America 1997

Aunt Dianne’s Sweet Potato Casserole

4 cups mashed, cooked sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. cinnamon

Topping:

¾ cup melted margarine

1 ½ cup light brown sugar

1 ½ cup pecan halves

½ cup all purpose flour

Bake potatoes in the microwave.  Peel, mash and measure.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Put into greased 9×13 casserole dish. 

Mix topping ingredients and pour over sweet potatoes. 

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Dear Foodies,

Ok, get ready for some of the finest jams and jellies that you have ever put in your mouth… a dear lady by the name of Mildred Crosby of Zolfo Springs, Florida whips up homemade goodies that puts Smucker’s to shame!

Although I have never physically met Mildred, I have ordered countless jars of her creations and everyone that I have shared with raves.   My father and Mildred were in high school together and at a recent class reunion she introduced my parents to her strawberry-guava jam… my mother called me immediately and told me it was incredible.

Long story short, my mother was not mistaken!   Mildred’s strawberry-guava is second to none.  Although she does not sell this commercially, she may be kind enough to sell you a jar or two if you are nice.   The best way to reach Mildred is via e-mail – mgcrosby@dishmail.net .  Tell Mildred I said hello!

Ben