Some of us, maybe many of us, may have been, via our old memories,revisiting our past a lot during these first few weeks of 2016.
So much time has moved by us so quickly that now, oh, yes, here we are once again already in mid-February of yet another nearly-all-new year.
The first six weeks of this New Year came and went so fast, seemingly in no more time than it takes to blink an eye.
We’ve gotta get cookin’ quickly to keep up with this so speedy passage of time!
Preparation of our daily breakfasts, lunches and suppers get sufficient amounts of each day’s time. Add together all of the bits and pieces of extra cooking time we can find here and there and that can go a long way toward making all of our days and meals more memorably special thus helping to keep our lives interesting and meaningful.
For more of those especially good and unforgettable breakfasts, lunch-times and suppers, consider now and then just putting together a quick but very tasty and interesting carry-out meal, and packing that “eating out” adventure’s meal, home-cooked-in-your-kitchen, into a picnic cooler (with or without the summertime ice, as needed) on our next sunshine-warmed beautiful blue-skied Florida-style winter’s day.
Bundle up in warm winter clothing (if needed), take that good hot meal out into our great Florida outdoors and there relish the joys of dining outdoors on the next nice warm Florida-style winter’s day.
You might want to take that special meal with you on your next return trip to your favorite park or lakeside grassy hill or favorite ocean site if you haven’t visited it recently.
Alternatively, you might go no further away than just your big picnic table in your own backyard, preferably beneath a big shade tree if you are so fortunate as to have one.
Floridians are privileged to have so many of these great opportunities for outdoor dining just about year-round, which is the inspiration for Kitchen Kapers’ very frequent theme of eating out, Florida-style – something that really can’t always be comfortably done up north.
Enjoy and relish our local legacy of picnic weather just about any day year-round. Pack a cooler and a picnic basket full of fun foods and enjoy a great day or evening of “dining out” in our usually warm enough winters’ Florida outdoors.
BARBARA HALL’S
TATER TOT HOT BAKE
FOR A COLD WINTRY DAY
Recipe from Calvary Church
of the Nazarene’s
A Harvest of Recipes
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
Salt and pepper, amounts to your taste
16 ounces tater tots
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
In large skillet, over medium heat, brown the beef and onions. Drain mixture and season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a two-quart casserole dish after first spraying the dish with Pam. Top the beef and onions mixture with the tater tots, covering the mixture.
In a small bowl, mix the soup and milk. Pour mixture over the tater tots and beef. Sprinkle cheese over the soup layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Recipe makes eight servings.
MILDRED CROPP’S
SAUSAGE VEGETABLE DINNER
Recipe from New Vision
Community Church’s
Feeding The Flock
3/4 lb. Italian sausage or other meat
4 potatoes
1 green pepper
4 carrots, cut in strips
1 can French style green beans, drained
1 onion, quartered
1 medium head cabbage, quartered
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. water or tomato soup
Place ingredients in Dutch oven in layers putting sausage on bottom. Continue with remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper each layer. Cover and simmer 35-45 minutes on top of stove.
SUZANNE HAUSLEITER’S STEAMED BREAD PUDDING
Recipe from Church of the Holy Spirit’s Favorites for all Seasons
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup seedless raisins
5 thin slices white bread
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix brown sugar and raisins in the top of a double boiler. Remove crust from bread slices buttered on one side.
Cut the buttered slices into half-inch cubes. (This should make about two cups full of the half-inch buttered cubes.) Place the buttered cubes on top of the brown sugar mixture.
In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs lightly and add the remaining ingredients, stirring just until blended. Pour this egg mixture over the bread cubes, but do not stir! Cover and cook in double boiler over simmering water for about 1 hour, 20 minutes. When the steamed bread pudding is done, a knife inserted in the center should come out pretty clean. (The pudding will continue cooking after taken out of the pan, so if it is still shaky at the end of the cooking time, this is OK.)
Immediately loosen edges of the bread pudding and invert it onto a 12-inch round platter with a lip. Decoratively arrange any stray raisins around the edge. Serve the Steamed Bread Pudding while it is warm.
RHONDA GREEN’S RED HOT PUNCH WINTER-WARMER
Recipe from The New Good Ole Boy’s Cookbook
1 cup warm water
1-1/2-cups-plus-2 tablespoons cinnamon red hot candies
1/4 cup sugar
2 (46 ounce cans pineapple juice, chilled
2 quarts ginger ale, chilled
1 quart vanilla ice cream
In a small saucepan, combine water, red hots and sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until red hots have melted (about 20-30 minutes). Strain and allow to cool. In a punch bowl, combine this red hots mixture with pineapple juice and ginger ale. Just before serving, add scoops of ice cream.
Note: To warm up this “Red Hot” recipe even just a bit more for our current cold or semi-cold winter days the pineapple juice and ginger ale might be not chilled and the ice cream might be just a bit melted, which might make that cup-and-a-half-plus-two-tablespoons of the cinnamon red hot candies simmered until melted transition more a very welcome somewhat warmer wintertime treat rather than its cold original version perfect for summertime.
