Oh, so self-conscious

I suppose I should begin my first post by introducing myself, and so here it goes:


Daughter Downhome Diva has set this up for me, and I hope I'll have fun with it. I'm a 59 year old married, retired school teacher. I suppose I've been in the kitchen all my life, but one of my earliest memories is of insisting on helping my mama wash dishes by standing on a kitchen chair. I still have my 5 year old birthday present from my mama , a very simple cookbook for boys and girls and my 8 year old present from her, Betty Crocker's Cooking for Boys and Girls. I must have had around 200 cookbooks at my highest count, but I've weeded out so that I'm down to around 100 now.

I've lived all my life in the South and most of it within a 70 mile radius of my present home on Lake Murray in Chapin, SC. I have two grown daughters, the Diva , who is married whom I mentioned above and a younger daughter who has moved back into the nest to save money to go back to college and change her occupation. She is now a dental assistant and aspires to be an optometrist. The Diva is a paralegal for her mother-in-law, a family attorney, and frequent guardian at litem.

I've just finished reading Sandra Lee's biography, Made from Scratch, and found it very inspiring. So, now I want one of her cookbooks, but I want it at a very good price. That's my other passion - getting a bargain on everything I buy. Men go out in the woods to hunt game and I scour the stores, newspapers, and Internet for bargains. What's the difference? I used to adore garage sales, but I am disabled by arthritis now and getting in and out of the car is too painful for me to enjoy it any longer.


One reason I wanted a blog was to help me keep up with my favorite recipes. As I make each one, I'll try to add it here. Tonight I made Hamburger Gravy, which was inspired by philocrates at Allrecipes.com (Nana's Favorite Hamburger Gravy #139492). I have changed it so much that I now consider it mine. Here's my version:

Hamburger Gravy

1.5 lbs. of ground beef

1/2 cup very finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons of water

6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

3 cups of milk (I use whole milk)

Kitchen bouquet browning sauce, optional (Hubby likes it without)

Toast to serve it over

Put the ground beef and onion in a large skillet and cook on medium heat until the meat is no longer red and the onion is transparent. Stir frequently. While that is cooking, put all the other ingredients in a quart jar with a tight fitting lid and shake or stir to blend well. When the meat is done, drain the fat and add the other ingredients and stir until thickened and smooth. It will take about ten minutes, still on medium heat. I bring it to a slow boil. Serve over slices of toast or split biscuits. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

That's it for tonight.