Happy New Year

Yes, it is now 2011. The time has been flying by. I did find my mom's recipe box and found a really old recipe that my grandmother would make. It is Czarnina or Duck Soup...I'll share it with you as I did like to eat this...

1 6 lb. duck

1 c celery, diced

1 c prunes, unpitted

1/2 c. vinegar

6 TBSP. sugar

2 TBSP salt

1 c cold water

1 c flour

duck blood

cooked noodles or dumplings.

Cut duck in pieces and put in large pot with plent of water. Bring to a boil and spoon scum off surface, lower to simmering and add celery, prunes, vinegar, sugar and salt. Duck should be tender in 1 1/2 hrs. About 15 mins. before it is done, slowly add fluid duck blood blended with cold water and flour. Stir constantly until soup thickens. Serve the soup, prunes, and meat with the cooked noodles or dumplings. (There really isn't much more than a Tablespoon or two of duck blood needed) Hope you will try this and enjoy!

Christmas Holiday

Well, the season of Christmas is here.

Our family never really had any specific food that we would have at this time of year, but I am going to have a ham.

On Christmas Eve, I will observe meatless. We usually had pierogi and tuna fish or fish sticks..because on Christmas we had ham and sweet potatoes and yummy homemade bread. Was always so good. I have lost the recipe box of my mom's. I was moving things for the guys who were working on my house and now I can't find it. When I do, I will share more goodies with you.

Until we meet in 2011...have a great Christmas and New Year's Eve and day! Enjoy and love one another! Cheers!

Crock pot

Oh a crock pot! What a wonderful invention.

I used mine a lot when I worked...great for almost anything! Today with the snow and cold, I decided to make Chicken soup...came out yummy.

Next adventure: Turkey in the crock pot!

Take one turkey breast (4 or 5 lbs.) fresh or thawed and place in stoneware. Combine 2 Tbs. butter or margarine, 1/4 cup garden vegetable whipped cream cheese, 1 Tbs. soy sauce, 1 Tbs. fresh minced parsley, 1/2 tsp. dry basil leaves, rubbed sage, dry thyme leaves, 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper and garlic powder. Mix well and brush over turkey. Cover and cook on low 10 to 12 hours or on HIGH 5 to 6 hours.

Hope you will enjoy this!

After Thanksgiving

I do hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Mine was very special! I never realized the joys that children can bring into ones heart. I met my cousin's children and what gems they are. Made my heart warm and happy.

This Thanksgiving was so very great! The kindness and hospitality I was shown...the great food! Sure, we didn't have a turkey...but let me tell you we had other great stuff! Green beans, pierogi, mushroom gravy, biscuits, a vegetable salad....was like a succatash and yummy, mixed potatoes, a wonderful cranberry salad, home made applesauce, and a great ham! Dessert was pumpkin pie and jello/pretzel cake! I tell you it was just wonderful! I truly am blessed!

Hope yours was half as good as mine!

Will work on recipes later...today...we remember how thankful we are for all we have!

Thanksgiving 2010

Ah, the smell of turkey roasting in the oven, sweet potatoes cooking, stuffing baking, pies done and ready for dessert...It may take days to make, but it is always a special time to celebrate with family. I made Thanksgiving for my parents and in-laws. I really enjoyed that time together.

We always made the turkey in oven bags and it was sooooo nice and browned. Stuffing was made by mom from her mom's recipe and it is one of my very favorite. I can't find a recipe, but I did try this one .... it almost tastes like gram and mom's....

1 stick margarine

4 cups of dried bread cubed

1 diced onion

1 chopped stalk celery

1 tsp. each of the following: marjoram, thyme, sage, poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp. pepper

salt to taste

chicken broth/stock

In a skillet, melt the margarine and add the onion and celery and saute...don't brown it, til soft and translucent. In a large bowl add the bread cubes, mix in the onion and celery, seasoning and start adding stock/broth to moisten and mix. When bread cubes become sticky, stop adding stock. Put into a buttered casserole dish and back covered 1 hour. Take off lid and cook another 15 mins...Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Fall is here and almost gone

Good intentions sometimes fall by the wayside and that is what happened here with my blog. I had every intention of keeping this up and I messed up....let other things get in the way. But I hope to be able to work on my blog at least weekly.

This time of the year, my mom or grandma would make my dad's favorite and my favorite as well...Jellied Pig's Feet...

Use 4 pigs feet, cut in half. 1 clove of garlic 2 pork shanks

5 whole peppers 1 onion, browned 5 whole allspice

1 stalk celery, chopped 4 bay leaves 1 sprig parsley, cut fine

1 T. vinegar Salt

Wash feet and shanks, place in large kettle and cover with water. Bring to boiling point and skim. Add onion, celery, garlic and spices and simmer covered very slowly for about 4 hours or until meat comes off bones easily. Cool, strain, remove bones and spices. Return meat to liquid and salt and vinegar and pour into loaf or tube pan. Set in refrigerator until firm. Scrape fat from the top, garnish with cooked carrot slices, lemon slices and hard boiled eggs sliced. Enjoy!

We used to slice it and put a little vinegar on it and pepper no garnishes with a slice of rye bread...I can taste it now....Hope you like this ..... til next we meet.

Fall is around the corner

Well, my intentions were to keep this up at least monthly...and time flies by and you don't seem to have time for it..The summer is almost gone..the school season starts tomorrow and Labor Day is just around the corner.

I did put in tomatoes and got quite a few for my own use and they did come out pretty good. I can't find my recipe box. I cleaned up and put it in a good place. But that is life...I will have all winter to look for it again.

In thinking of fall...I think of pumpkins...so here is a pumpkin soup out of the Polish cookbook.

1 small pumpkin

Salt

2 qts. milk

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Peel and dice pumpkin. Cook in small amount of salted water until tender. Mash pumpkin. Cook milk add pumpkin, sugar and cinnamon. Serve with toasted pumpkin seeds.. Yum.