Tuesday's Blue Plate Specials

Breakfast: Quiche
Slices of sweet apples

Quiche: Cook 1 cup minced onions in 2 Tblsp butter. Remove onions from skillet and add 2 sliced mild Italian sausages and brown them slightly. In a mixing bowl, combine 3 large eggs, ¾ cup milk, ¾ tsp dried sage and salt & pepper to taste. Place the cooked onions in an 8-inch baked pie shell. Pour egg mixture over onions. Sprinkle with ¼ cup Swiss cheese and arrange sausage slices on top. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Core and quarter the apples.

Dinner: White Chili
Tortilla chips & guacamole

White Chili: In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, saute together 1 each chopped onion, green pepper, red pepper, 2 jalopenos, 2 cloves garlic in ½ stick butter. Add 1 Tblsp cumin, 2-4 cups cubed cooked chicken, 1 can diced green chilies, 8 cups chicken stock or broth. Add any combination of the following: 1 can each navy beans, garbanzo beans, cannelloni beans, butter beans, lima beans and white kidney beans. Simmer 1 hour. Ladle into bowls and garnish with shredded Monterey jack cheese and sour cream.

Guacamole: Mash together (Nelli uses the electric mixer) 4 ripe avocados and 2 cloves roasted garlic. Stir in 1 Tblsp lime juice, a few drops Louisiana Hot Sauce and 1 finely chopped Roma tomato.

Lunch: Aunt Margie’s Cinnamon Rolls
Dissolve 2 Tblsp yeast and 2 tsp sugar in 1 cup warm water. Let stand 10-15 minutes.
Make a cinnamon-sugar mixture of 1 cup sugar mixed with 1 Tblsp cinnamon. Set aside. Sift 5-7 cups flour. Thoroughly stir together: ¼ cup scalded milk, 1 cup water, ½ stick butter, ½ Tblsp salt, 2 eggs and ¾ cup sugar. Stir yeast mixture into liquids. Add 3 cup sifted flour and stir until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Let rise until double – about 1 hour. Punch down and divide in two. Roll each half into a 9 x 13 rectangle. Spread with softened butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Roll up and slice into rolls. Place in 9 x 13 pan (this recipe makes two pans. It can be doubled.) and let rise until double. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. While still warm, frost with 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tblsp softened butter and enough milk to make a thin frosting.

Supper: Smothered Chicken Breast
Stuffed Acorn Squash

Smothered Chicken Breast: Brown 4-6 boneless breasts in oil or bacon fat, OR grill over hot coals until juices run clear. Chop 4 slices bacon, ½ medium onion, 2 Tblsp green and/or red pepper and sauté all together until bacon is crisp. Place chicken breasts in casserole. Spread some of the bacon mixture over each one. Top with 3-4 slices mushrooms and sprinkle with shredded Monterey or Swiss cheese. Broil until cheese melts. Top with a thin slice of tomato.

Squash: Cut 2 Acorn squash in half and discard seeds. Cook 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced with 1 small diced onion, ¼ cup brown sugar, packed, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/9 tsp nutmeg in 2 Tblsp butter about 10 minutes. Add 2 cups cooked rice and mix well. Stuff mixture into squash halves and bake at 350 45 minutes to 1 hour until squash is tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Monday's Blue Plate Specials

Breakfast: Omelet
Sliced Tomato
Toast

Omelet: For each serving, beat 1 egg and pour it into an omelet pan, tilting so it spreads out into a nice circle. Sprinkle half with cheese, bacon crumbles, mushrooms, chopped onion & peppers or what ever you like. Cook until the egg starts to look dry, then carefully fold other half the egg over filling and cook another minute or so. Serve hot with sliced tomato and toast.

Dinner: Pickled Slaw (made Sunday night)
Meat Loaf
Corn Fritters
Twice Baked Potatoes

Twice baked potatoes: (Start these first and finish them up while meat loaf is cooking.) Scrub one large potato per serving. Roast in 350 oven for 1 hour until potato is done. Remove from oven and slice a lengthwise cap from each potato. Scoop out insides carefully, leaving a potato skin shell intact. Beat the scooped out potatoes with butter (1 tblsp each serving), milk (2 Tblsp/serving), sour cream (2 Tblsp per serving) and shredded cheese (2 tblsp per serving). Whip it up nice and fluffy and spoon it back into the shells. Sprinkle with more cheese and return to oven for about 15 minutes.

Meat Loaf: Mix 1 ½ lbs lean ground beef with 1 egg, ¼ cup ketchup, 1 tblsp Worcestershire, ¼ cup finely chopped onion and ¾ cup oatmeal. Squish it around with your hands until it’s well-mixed. Place in loaf pan and top with two strips bacon and cover with ketchup. Roast at 350 1 hour.

Corn Fritters: In a large bowl, stir together 2 cans corn, drained; ½ cup each chopped onion and green or red pepper and 1 egg. Set aside. Whisk together until smooth ½ cup flour and 1 cup milk. Stir milk/flour mixture into corn. Drop by heaping tablespoonsful into hot oil in heavy skillet. Brown a few minutes on both sides. Keep warm in oven until all is cooked. CORRECTION on the CORN FRITTERS: Batter mix is 1 cup flour whisked with 1 cup milk. (Sorry).



Lunch: Sis’s Peanut Butter Bars
Heat oven to 350. Cream 1 ½ cups brown sugar with 2/3 cup crunchy peanut butter and ½ cup butter flavored shortening. Beat in 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir together 1 ½ cup sifted flour and 1 ½ tsp baking powder. Add dry mixture to wet mixture alternately with ½ cup milk until all is well mixed. Spread in greased 9 x13 pan and bake 30 minutes. Frost with 1/3 cup peanut butter creamed with 2 tblsp softened butter and enough milk or cream to make spreading consistency.

Supper: Carnitas
Guacamole
Potato Casserole

Carnitas: Pour 1 jar green salsa over 4-5 pound pork loin roast. Sprinkle with chopped onion, 2 cloves minced roasted garlic and 2 chopped jalopenos. Cover with foil and roast at 300 4 ½ hours. Remove and shred with forks. Return to pan and heat through. Serve with flour tortillas or taco shells, guac, salsa, cheese, sour cream and sliced black olives.

Guacamole: Peel, pit and mash 3 ripe avocados. Stir in 1 tblsp finely chopped onion, 1 tblsp lime juice, 1 small diced tomato, 1 mashed clove roasted garlic. Whip with mixer until fluffy.

Potato Casserole: Scrub 3 large or 4 medium potatoes and cut into chunks. In a saucepan, melt ½ stick butter with 1 can cream of chicken soup. Whisk melted butter in until smooth and stir in ½ cup sour cream. In a greased 2 quart casserole, place a layer of potatoes, sprinkle with chopped onion, chopped green chilis and shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Pour ½ the sauce over. Repeat layers ending with sauce. Cover and bake at 350 1 – 1 ½ hr until potatoes are soft.