Two-Hour Rolls

I never really believe the time estimates on these recipes; i.e., Two-Hour Rolls, One-Hour Rolls, Quick Rolls, etc. I probably stretched these rolls out to three hours, but I think two might have been realistic. I made one accidental modification - I mis-read the butter amount as 3/4 cup rather than 3/4 cube. Only made them richer, so I'd say go for it. To compensate for the extra butter, I did add more flour - probably closer to 7 cups. I also would recommend softening or melting the butter before adding it to the milk. The scalded milk (I just did it in the microwave) wasn't hot enough to make the butter soft enough for the kneading process. Don't want a big hunk of butter left after 10 minutes of kneading! This is a delicious, light roll.

TWO-HOUR ROLLS
Scald 1½ cups milk. Add 3/4 cube margarine into milk. Add 3 tbsp. sugar and 1/2 cup cold water. Put 2 yeast cakes [5 tsp. dry yeast] in 1/2 cup warm water. Mix together. Add 2 beaten eggs, 5 cups flour, 1½ tsp. salt. Knead good. Roll immediately. Cut. Raise for 2 hours. Bake 15 minutes at 425°F.

Brian's Favorite - Lasagna

I'm not really sure why it has taken me so long to post this recipe. I made Lasagna on December 29 when Camille & the boys were here for a few days. I took advantage of the fact that one of Brian's favorite dinners is lasagna. Doug doesn't particularly like it, but he was a good sport and only scraped off a little of the cheese. I did make one modification though. I used oven-ready noodles and didn't boil them in advance. I highly recommend it!

LASAGNA
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup minced onions
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. parsley flakes
1 tsp. basil
1½ tsp. salt
1 pound can tomatoes
2 6-oz. cans tomato paste
10 ounce pkg. lasagna noodles
3 cups cream style cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 lb. mozzarella or mild American cheese
Brown ground beef, pour off extra fat, add next seven ingredients and simmer till sauce is thick (about 45 minutes). Stir occasionally. Cook the noodles according to instructions on package. Rinse in cold water. Combine cottage cheese with the beaten eggs, parmesan cheese, a dash of salt and pepper. Place half the cooked noodles in a 13x9 baking dish. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture over; add half of the mozzarella cheese and half of the meat sauce. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.

Perfect for a Cold Night - Hamburger Minestrone Soup

Try this delicious and easy soup recipe - made enough for four and the same amount to freeze.

HAMBURGER MINESTRONE SOUP
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup cubed potatoes
1 cup cubed carrots
1/2 cup cubed celery
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 No. 2 can tomatoes
1/4 cup rice
1 small bay leaf
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. basil
Salt & pepper
1½ quarts water
Brown hamburger & onions. Add potatoes & bring to boil. Add remaining ingredients. Cook 1 hour. Put grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Family Party - Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Every year for at least 25 or so, we have a giant sleepover Christmas party with Doug's family. It's complete chaos, lots of noisy kids, fun & games, and no sleep. But wonderful. My food assignment, among several, was a fruit salad. And I just happened to have a recipe! This poppy seed dressing would be good on any salad. I doubled the fruit portion, and only used about half of a single recipe of the dressing. It goes a long way, especially since the juice left in the fruit tends to dilute the dressing.

FRUIT SALAD WITH POPPY SEED DRESSING
1 can pineapple chunks
1½ to 2 large Delicious apples
1 avocado (optional)
1 banana
1 can mandarin oranges
Flaked coconut
Miniature marshmallows
Dressing:
1 cup pineapple juice
2 well beaten egg yolks
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
Juice of 1 lemon & 1 orange
1/3 cup sugar
Cook until thick. Add few drops lemon extract. Cool. Add 1 heaping tbsp. poppy seeds and 1/2 cup mayonnaise.

Christmas Dinners - Salad (2) / Trifle / Impossible Pumpkin Pie

It seemed a little strange to not be making a huge Christmas dinner this year. It's the "off" year, which means everyone is off having fun somewhere besides home. We had a lovely invitation from my nephew's wife, phenagled by my wonderful sister, to join them for Christmas eve. My assignment was to bring a green salad. I decided to bring Geralee's recipe for this easy and delicious salad.

SALAD (2)
Lettuce
Grapefruit
Oranges
Avocado
Onions
with Catalina French

Geralee's food assignment was Trifle. Here she is holding the dessert she made. This recipe was attributed to Aunt Julie, but Geralee has made Trifle every year of Bruce's 40++ years of life, according to Bruce. She makes it with Danish Dessert, which is equally yummy to using Jello. And I prefer raspberries over strawberries. I have made Trifle every year since Coray's mission to England. We're a Trifle-loving family!

TRIFLE
Use flat bottom punch bowl. Line bottom of bowl with Lady Fingers or Angel Cake. 2 pkgs. Of jello slightly set. Pour over cake while runny. Let set. Drain fruit (2 pkgs. Strawberries). Use 1 pkg. vanilla pudding layer, fruit & pudding over jello. Set and serve garnished with whipped cream.

For Christmas day, I made this Impossible Pumpkin Pie. Note that there is no crust - perfect for Doug, who scrapes the filling and leaves the crust every time. Including this time! He didn't notice there was no crust until he got to the bottom. A pretty good pie, but I prefer crust over pie, so I like the traditional version best.

IMPOSSIBLE PUMPKIN PIE
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Bisquick
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 large can evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 can pumpkin or 2 cups
2½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp. vanilla
Beat until smooth (2 min.). Pour in pie plate & bake 375°F (high alt.) 350°F (reg.) for 50-55 min. Serve with whipped cream.

Salads for the Shelter - Pineapple Cheese Salad / Delicious Salad / Orange Cream Cheese Salad / Bean Salad (3)

While it is a wonderful thing to do and a great time of year to do it, I can't take credit for overwhelming generosity. I had many of the ingredients in my fridge ready to expire, left over from too much food for Thanksgiving. Before anyone gags, I have properly checked expiration dates and they're all safe. And Doug won't eat the cream cheese. Great solution for us all - not wasting food and hopefully someone will appreciate a salad or two.

PINEAPPLE CHEESE SALAD
Bring to boil one #2 can crushed pineapple & 3/4 cup sugar. Add 1 pkg. Knox gelatin which has been dissolved in 1/3 cup cold water. Stir till mixed well. Set to thicken. Add 1 cup shredded cheese & fold in 1 cup whipped cream. Pour in 8" square pan. Chill.

By the way, I had to look up #2 can. It's a 20 ounce. In the "olden days" cans were numbered with some kind of system. I used to know what the numbers were but have lost that in the recess of other unused facts. I still love Google. Today at the grocery store, a lady asked if I knew what scallions were. I told her I was pretty sure they were green onions. Then I asked her if she would like me to "google" it and she said OK. Well, I was right and she was grateful!

DELICIOUS SALAD
1 large pkg. orange jello
1 large bottle maraschino cherries
1 large can whole pineapple
1 can pimentos
2 cups chopped celery
1 pint whipped cream
2 pkgs Philadelphia cream cheese
Set jello with boiled cherry & pineapple juice until slightly thickened. Add celery, pimentos, pineapple, cherries & cream cheese. Blend in whipped cream & set.

ORANGE CREAM CHEESE SALAD
6 oz. pkg. orange jello, set
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 small can pineapple tidbits
1 can mandarin oranges
3/4 cup cubed cream cheese
Set
Thicken pineapple juice. Cool & mix with 1 pkg. whipped topping mix. Spread on top of salad & sprinkle with nuts.

Confession here - I used Cool Whip on top, but I bet it would be really good with the pineapple cream topping.

BEAN SALAD (3)
1 can yellow beans
2 cans kidney beans
1 can green beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped onion
Dressing:
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
Salt & pepper
Mix & pour over vegetables. Set in refrigerator for at least one or two days.

Cathedral Window Cookies

Sometimes when I tell people this recipe title, they think of the cookies that you carve out a spot and then melt a life saver to make a little window. Not this recipe. These cookies look like stained glass when you cut them. I didn't use an entire bag of colored marshmallows because it was a large bag. I'm glad I didn't. Still I was afraid that I had used too many. I molded the cookies into about six small logs, which made it more manageable than trying to make one big log. After chilling, they hold together well, and taste great. So here's the dilemma with this recipe - the raw egg. Years ago, I don't think they worried about eating raw eggs like they do nowadays. Just have to say at this point that I love Google. You can ask any question and get the answer! I just "googled" raw egg substitute and got a great list of alternatives. The one I chose was 2 tbsp. cornstarch. Tasteless and safe. I added it with the powdered sugar.

CATHEDRAL WINDOW COOKIES
1 square margarine
1 bar German chocolate
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1 pkg. small colored marshmallows
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup coconut
Melt margarine & chocolate in pan stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Remove from heat. Add sugar & egg to chocolate mixture. Pour mix over marshmallows & nuts. Stir gently. Shape into roll & roll in coconut. Wrap in wax paper & refrigerate. Keep in fridge until used. Cut in slices to serve.