Meatloaf

My meatloaf recipe has changed over the years.  This is the latest and greatest.  What makes it the greatest?  BACON!

Here are the ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup diced onions
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Pepper - 1 teaspoon
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
Chopped parsley - 1/4 cup
5-7 strips of bacon
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons A-1 sauce
Garlic sauce - 1 teaspoon

Mix all of the ingredients together and shape into a loaf.  Put it on a baking sheet.

For the sauce:

1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons A-1 sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard


Mix those ingredients together and pour over the meatloaf.

Cover the meatloaf with strips of bacon.............

Put in an oven and bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  I like my bacon crispy so I kicked up the oven at the end and let it crisp up.

Enjoy!

This recipe is listed on Weekend Potluck

Onion Straws

I love all things onion:  onion soup, onion rings, onions on my hamburger.  I could go on and on, like Bubba on Forrest Gump.

For tonight's dinner I wanted to cook a thick, juicy steak.  I love sauteed mushrooms on my steak, but tonight, I wanted something different.  ONION STRAWS.

This was so easy.  Here are the ingredients:

Onion, sliced very thin
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Oil

To begin, slice your onion very thin.  I am lucky to have a mandolin so I was able to slice the onion before I started crying!

Soak the onions in the buttermilk.

In a large pot, heat oil to 350 degrees.  In the meantime, take the flour and add salt, pepper and a little cayenne pepper. 

When the oil is hot, take the onions, shake off the buttermilk and dredge in the flour.

Fry in the oil until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Layer Cake With Lemon Curd Filling

Cake, lemon, whipped cream.............all things I love.  Ok, if you know me, you already know that there isn't much I don't love!  Ever since I made my sister Karrie's lemon bars, I have been fascinated with lemon curd.  Check out her great lemon bars:

 I'm the cute one holding the Raggedy Ann doll, Karrie is in the middle, and little Tonette is the baby.

 Lemon Bars 

Here are the ingredients for the cake:

2 sticks butter
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk or cream

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder.  Add the flour, one cup at a time, alternating with the milk.


Divide the cake batter in 4-5 separate cake pans.  They will be little layers, but that is ok because this cake is like a pound cake.  You will need many layers of lemon curd to get the right balance.

Bake each layer at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let the layers cool.

To make whipped cream, add 2 cups of heavy cream with 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  Whip in the mixer.  Taste - add more sugar if you want it more sweet.

Ingredients for the lemon curd:

4 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons lemon zest

Make sure you get the juice from fresh lemons

Mix all ingredients together and cook until slightly boiling.  Whisk constantly.  Remove from heat and let it cool.

When the cake layers and lemon curd are cool, it is time to assemble the cake.

When I made this cake I only did three layers.  I've updated the recipe 

to add more layers so that there is more lemon curd!  YUMMY!

At this point it is time to put the final layer on:  whipped cream!  

This cake is really great!  Enjoy!

Tried and True Recipes From Our Families

One of my passions is learning about my family - the heritage, photos, stories and recipes. My blog is a great way to share all of the things that our families have to offer.

Here are the rules:

1. Link up a family recipe or craft
2. Please follow my blog - I'll follow you back
 3. Please link to this post in your blogs
4. No spam, contests or giveaways please
5. Please note that by linking up your posts and projects you are giving me permission to use your photos in the featured posts and possibly on my social media outlets. All photos will be linked back to your sites and your posts
6. Visit at least two of the links and comment on the page so the blogger knows you visited

At the end of the week, I will pick out a few of my favorites! Spread the word - there are so many great blogs out there. Let's learn from each other!

Surprise Recipe Swap

I am so excited for this post!  I signed up to do a Surprise Recipe Swap.  One blogger gets paired with another and they each pick a recipe from each other's blog.  Thanks goes to Jutta at Hungry Little Girl for organizing this recipe swap.

I was paired with Elizabeth from The Law Student's Cookbook.  When I received my match, I immediately went to the blog.  I began scouring for recipes that I wanted to try.  After a while, I got lost in the blog (in a good way!) and began to learn about many different ethnic foods.  Elizabeth is a worldly cook, as evidenced by her Around the World in 52 Weeks posts.

If you want to learn about different foods from around the world, check out her blog!


Ultimately, I knew I had to narrow down the recipes and decide what a Sicilian girl like me was going to cook.  I decided upon Lentil Soup.  At this point I must confess that I have NEVER tried lentils!  I've always wanted to try them but haven't gotten around to it.  This soup recipe was quick, easy and a great introduction to a new staple in my house.

Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons lentils
1 can diced tomatoes

Begin by chopping the vegetables.  Saute the chopped vegetables in the olive oil 3-5 minutes.  Add the canned tomatoes, lentils and vegetable broth.  Let that simmer for 35 minutes or so.  Take 2 cups of the soup and put in the food processor.  Return that to the soup.  This serves as a thickener.


This recipe is quick and healthy.  If you haven't tried lentils, you need to!  It is easy to find yourself in a food rut.  When that happens, find a recipe that will inspire you to try different things.  Thank you Elizabeth for helping me discover something new!

Chicken Picatta

Tonight I had dinner with my Uncle Vince and cousins Ginny and Joe.  Since I lost my father, I have had a huge hole in my heart.  Tonight, Uncle Vince filled that hole a little bit.  He has the same sense of humor as my father and looks like him.  In a way, having dinner with him was like having my dad back, even for a little bit..................

Uncle Vince is almost 90!  He still drinks wine at every meal.  A true Italian!

Tonight, I made Chicken Picatta.  I love this dish!  Here are the ingredients:

Chicken breast

Butter

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds mushrooms

2/3 cup lemon juice

1 cup flour

Salt

Pepper

Capers

Parsley

To begin, take your chicken breast and put it in a Ziploc bag.  Pound the chicken thin.  Take the cup of flour and add a little salt and pepper.

In a large saute pan, heat up 1/2 stick of butter.  Dredge the chicken in the flour and brown on each side.  Keep warm while you make the sauce.

In another saute pan, add 1/4 stick butter, 1/4 cup olive oil, garlic.  Add the mushrooms and saute 5 minutes or so.

 Take some lemons and squeeze out 2/3 cup lemon juice.

When the mushrooms are done, add the lemon juice, capers and parsley.  Cook another 5 minutes.  Pour over the chicken and serve.  YUM!

I served the chicken with fresh, sauteed broccoli and pasta with oil, butter, and garlic sauce

Phil, Mom, Uncle Vince, Cousin Joe and Ginny

Family is everything.  Savor every moment you have with your family.  Cherish them, and thank God for them everyday.

Cousin Ginny and I

Mangia!

Mozarella Cheese

In my quest to learn new things, I have become obsessed with making things myself instead of buying it at the store.  One of the things I wanted to try was to make cheese.  I bought a cheese making kit to make my first time a bit easier!

This kit made it very easy!  It had everything I needed to make mozzarella cheese.  To begin, I bought some fresh cows milk.  You can use pasteurized milk, but not ultra-pasteurized milk.  However, I wanted to see what it was like, making cheese, straight from the source!

The cheese making kit contained the following ingredients:  citric acid, salt, and rennet tablets.  I dissolved 1 1/2 teaspoons citric acid in 1 cup water.  In 1/4 cup water, dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet.

In a non-aluminum, non-cast iron pot, add the citric acid water and 1 gallon of milk.  Stir and heat to 90 degrees.  Remove the pot from the burner and add in the rennet water.  Stir for 20 seconds and then put a lid on the pot and let that set for 10 minutes.

The curd will be separating from the whey.  The curd will resemble custard.

After that has set, take a long knife and cut into the curd.  Make long slits in the curd.  Put it back on the stove and cook to 105 degrees.  Slowly stir as your curds heat back up.

Take off the burner and stir for another 2-5 minutes.  Drain the whey from the curd - save the whey!  This can be used for a variety of things!  Do some research before discarding the whey.  It can be used for shakes, pet food, baking bread, making cakes, making ricotta cheese, etc.

In another sauce pan, heat water to 185 degrees.  Put the curds in a strainer and dip into the hot water.

This will allow you to stretch the cheese.  Dip it in the hot water a few times and then put some rubber gloves on.  Take the cheese and stretch the cheese.  It should pull like taffy.  If it doesn't put it back in the hot water.


Add 1 teaspoon of salt and work it into the cheese.  Form the cheese into a log, braid, ball - whatever shape you want.

Put the cheese in cool water for 5 minutes and then in ice water for 15 minutes.

Caution!  1 gallon of cheese does not make a lot of mozzarella!  It makes 2 small logs................Some people may think it isn't worth it, but I got a lot of satisfaction from making this product all by myself!   I don't like to think about all of the chemicals that are put into the things that I buy at the store.  If I can keep food in an organic state,  the healthier my family will be!

Mangia!