Grandma's Spaghetti Sauce

Wonderful spaghetti sauce!!



1 onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves grated garlic
1 T oil
2 lb. ground beef
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 T Italian Seasoning
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 or 2 cans mushrooms, depending on liking
spaghetti noodles

In large pot or dutch oven, heat oil and saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add ground beef and brown, breaking up into fine pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add tomato sauce and paste and seasonings. Cook on LOW for 3 or more hours. Serve over warm spaghetti noodles.

My grandma says the longer it cooks, the better it is!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Nothing is better to me than chocolate and peanut butter together! Mmmm...

Makes 24 cupcakes

1 box chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients according to box
peanut butter and chocolate morsels
cupcake baking cups

Make chocolate cake mix according to directions. Place a 24 baking cups in cupcake pans. Put about 4-5 morsels into the middle of each cupcake and poke down into batter. Bake according to directions. Let cool on wire racks.

This is Ina Garten's Frosting recipe. So delicious! This makes a lot of frosting, but I like to pile my cupcakes up with it! You can freeze the rest if you don't use all of it.

Peanut Butter Frosting:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 cups creamy peanut butter
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup heavy cream

Cream together sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in mixer. Add heavy cream to it at the end to make it light and smooth. Put in piping bag with favorite decorating tip and pipe onto each cupcake. Use chopped peanuts or chocolate sprinkles to garnish.

Breakfast Casserole

1 bag frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
1 roll mild sausage, cooked and drained (You can substitute diced ham or bacon if desired)
8 eggs
1 c. milk
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Grease bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Lay hash browns in bottom pan. I like to season the hash browns with salt for flavor. Beat eggs in bowl, then add milk, cheese, sausage, dry mustard, salt, and pepper. Pour egg mixture over hash browns. You can either put this in the refrigerator if you are making this ahead of time or go ahead and bake this at 400 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown, cover with aluminum foil and bake until everything is set. Take out of oven and let cool for at least 5 min. before serving.

Italian Pasta Salad

Perfect for a cookout!

1 box tri-colored spiral pasta noodles
1 packet Good Seasons dry Italian Dressing
1/3 c. olive oil
2 T water
1 log pepperoni (not the refrigerated slices), sliced in 1/2 in. slices, then quartered
1 log salami, sliced into 1/2 in. slices, then quartered
1 small can marinated artichokes, sliced
1 can sliced black olives
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 container feta cheese

Cook noodles according to directions. Drain, then let cool for a little while. Whisk together dry Italian Dressing, olive oil, and water until mixed well. Mix in pepperoni, salami, artichokes, and black olives. Pour in olive oil mixture and coat everything. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper. Mix well to make sure everything is seasoned properly and adjust accordingly. Stir in feta cheese just before serving as well as some more olive oil to freshen it up. Serve chilled.

Spinach Artichoke Crostinis

Wonderful appetizer. You can make ahead and thrown in the oven about 15 minutes before guests arrive. If you do not want to make crostinis you can make this a dip and serve with chips or crackers.

French bread "croutons"- I found these in the bakery of the grocery, but you could make your own by just slicing french baguettes at an angle
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 small can artichokes, chopped
4 oz. softened cream cheese
2 T mayonnaise
2 T sour cream
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 T shredded Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
dash salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together except for croutons. Put the spinach-artichoke mixture on top of each piece of bread, then sprinkle with extra Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for about 7-10 minutes. Delicious!

Fried Crab Won tons

These make about 30 wontons. Makes for a great appetizer and it looks like you've been in the kitchen all day slaving over these, when really, they are pretty quick. You can serve these with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. We used a Harry and Davis Onion and Sweet Pepper Relish to dip them in and it added a nice sweet flavor.

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 small can lump crab
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes, season to taste
few dashes of soy sauce
won ton wrappers (I find these in the produce section of the grocery.)
oil for frying

Mix all ingredients together, expect for won ton wrappers. Lay out won ton wrappers on counter. Place about a teaspoon worth of cream cheese mixture in the middle of each wrapper. Using a pastry brush, brush all sides of wrapper with water to make it stick together. Fold each wrapper either in a triangle shape or you can take all 4 corners and squeeze them together up top. Make sure you press all sides together. Heat oil on medium then fry in batches, about 2-3 minutes or until they start to get light brown. Drain on paper towel. Place on serving platter with sauce. Enjoy!

Granny's Cornbread Dressing

This is the best dressing ever!!! (if I do say so myself!) This is probably one of my most favorite foods. Everyone has their own preferences when if comes to dressings, but this one is my favorite by far! Enjoy! You can add the chicken at the bottom or not. It's up to you. I would help my grandmother every year making this.

This makes enough for 2 13x9 pans of dressing.

1 onion, rough chopped
4 stalks celery, rough chopped
2 T butter
Cornmeal- I double my cornbread recipe according to package directions to make a 9 x 13 pan
full. Check your specific cornmeal to see what ingredients it calls for. It usually calls
for eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and oil.
2 Pepperidge Farm Herbed Seasoned Stuffing
2 cans cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
2 cans chicken broth
4 cups chopped cooked chicken

Pulse onion and celery in food processor until fine. Saute with butter in skillet until soft. Set aside for now.

Mix cornbread ingredients together in bowl. Mix in cooled celery and onion. Pour into pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and the middle is set.

Take out of oven and let cool. Once it is cool, break the cornbread all up in a big bowl to make crumbs. Mix in the stuffing and soups, then add 1 can broth to moisten it up. Spread chicken out covering bottom of 2 9 x 13 greased pans. Spread dressing on top of chicken. Pour other can of broth over dressing. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until it is hot all the way through.

*If you are making this a day or two in advance, you can put in refrigerator, and then bake when needed. Pour some more broth on it if it has been sitting for a while.