Crunch time on the Super Bowl recipes

I must be an idiot when it comes to this blogging stuff. Why do I have to reset my font and color every time? Sometimes it won't even let me have arial, but forces me to use the dreaded New Times Roman which I do hate.

Well, on to the recipes. One that I always get requests for is "Janet's Cheese ball." Janet is my niece. She brought this to my house for Christmas 10 years ago, although it seems like yesterday. That's what happens when you get old - time just flies on by. I like this because it's easy to keep the ingredients on hand, it's quick, and it makes just a small amount, but it's easy to double, triple, quadruple (yes, I have), well, you get the idea.

Janet’s Cheese Ball

For each 8 oz. block of cream cheese you need 1 pkg. of Good Seasons Italian dressing mix, kept dry (regular or the Zesty, you can’t tell the difference)
Jane’s Crazy Mixed Up Pepper

Soften the cream cheese to room temperature and mix in the dry salad dressing. Form into a ball and roll it in Jane’s Crazy Mixed Up Pepper. That’s it. Do make at least a few hours ahead of time so the veggie flakes from the dressing can rehydrate.

We like it with Triscuits and Wheat Thins, but use your favorite cracker. The Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Pepper is with the spices, and is in a cardboard container like the small Kraft's Parmesan Cheese package. Look hard, along the bottom of the shelves and you will probably find it. If you can't locate it in your stores, it's made of coarsely cracked black pepper and the herbs and spices that are in Lawry's Seasoned Salt, without the salt.

I'm off to Paula Deen's Food Network site to look for a recipe she made earlier this week. I missed the part of the show where she made it, but saw it at the end and was interested. Kathryn took what she thought were my chicken wings out of the freezer to thaw and I didn't pay attention until it was too late - she got out huge breasts. So, I'll be trying something new. The recipe had what looked like small pieces of chicken tenderloin wrapped in bacon and sprinkled with something. I'll just cut up the whole breasts. I might try making what some restaurants call boneless wings by cutting the breasts into appropriately sized pieces and proceeding with my Teriyaki Wing recipe.

That's all for tonight.

Not keeping up here

I do admire those who make entries on a regular, dependable basis. I can see that keeping up a steady pace is going to be a problem for me. I have to decide if I'm writing for myself or for possible readers. I remember the very first time I heard of blogs years ago, I thought they were a terrible idea. Why would someone put their "business" out there for anyone to see? Having made that judgement, I as surprised that I am doing this now, even if it is only to share recipes.

First I want to share the recipe for Ham Delights that my daughter will need if she decides to make them for the Super Bowl Party.

This version is from Cooks.com with a few tweaks from me.

2 sticks of butter
3 tablespoons of poppy seeds (the seeds may cause someone to test positive on certain drug tests, and I usually reduce the amount to 2 tablespoons)
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons of prepared yellow mustard
1 lb. boiled ham, chopped
1/2 lb. Swiss cheese, cut into small squares
3 packages of Pepperidge Farms party rolls (These are the rolls that are about the diameter of a quarter. I use rolls the size of the dinner rolls that White Castle burgers are made on - 2 dozen. I have even used Sub rolls before when not preparing them for a party.)

Blend the first five ingredients together and spread on both sides of the cut surfaces of the rolls. Try to keep the sheets of rolls attached because it will be easier to spread the butter mixture that way. Divide the ham and cheese evenly between all the rolls. and and if they came in aluminum foil trays, cover tightly with foil. If the rolls came in a plastic bag, completely wrap the assembled delights into two or three foil packages. At this point you can freeze them for later use or to use at different times. When ready to serve, preheat oven to 400° and heat still in the foil 10 minutes or until very warm. If you froze them, increase heating time and lower the oven temperature to 350° so that they will thaw inside before drying out or burning on the outside.

Teriyaki Wings

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup catsup

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 lbs. chicken drumettes

Combine in a large bowl or ziplock bag all ingredients except chicken and mix well. (If I have time, I look over the wings and trim off any large pieces of fat I can see and even some of the ridge of skin that runs down the side of the "flats," as my girls call them.) Add the chicken and stir so that the marinade cover all. If using a bowl, cover it or close the bag and put in a bowl or on a tray so that if it leaks, it won't mess up your whole refrigerator. Refrigerate overnight or at least 6 hours. Turn it the bag or stir the bowl occasionally. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375° and cover a shallow pan with aluminum foil (I use heavy duty foil because this gets really messy). Arrange the wings in a single layer. Bake 40 to 45 minutes (longer if your wings were really large). Baste occasionally with the marinade. I turn mine about halfway through the cooking time. Some people bake theirs on a rack, but I find that the marinade will thicken up and coat the wings if they cook directly in it.

Well, that's it for today. I'll try to get back here tomorrow.

Slow day in the kitchen

Today I didn't cook a meal because hubby had to leave for the upstate to do an inspection and training session. I don't usually cook just for myself - I'm too lazy. For breakfast, I had made a batch of double chocolate muffins with a mix I doctored up a little. Yum, yum. Daughter number two and I ordered Domino's pizza and ate half for lunch and half for supper.


We talked a good bit about what she would prepare for her friend's Super Bowl Party. She loves my teriyaki wings and they are easy to prepare. Everybody enjoys our "Open House Meatballs," so she's going to make those too. She pulls for the Boston Patriots and will make a Boston Cream Pie in their honor. Salsa and tortilla chips will be easy. If she's inclined, she'll make the seven layer dip for the tortilla chips. She's thinking of making Ham Delights, but when we are serving them to men, we use those dinner rolls that are the size of White Castle burgers instead of the tiny Pepperidge Farms party rolls. She'll include a bowl of salted peanuts too.


Over the next few days I'll include the recipes for the above dishes. Tonight I'll share the one for Open House Meatballs:


I'm going to give you the easy version.


Buy frozen meatballs which are usually already cooked. Each batch requires 1 lb. of meatballs. Combine 14 oz. of Heinz catsup (the amount in the small bottle) and 12 oz. of beer OR Coca cola in a large skillet (at least a 10" straight sided one). Bring it to a boil and add the meatballs and bring back to a boil. Simmer them, stirring occasionally, until heated all the way through - about 20 minutes should do it. Cover them to keep the splattering to a minimum, but if there's no vent, tilt it so the steam can escape. You can remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and cook another batch in the same catsup/beer or cola mixture. After that, too much grease will probably have cooked out of the meatballs, but if you can't see it a lot, you can cook another batch in that same liquid. I have used a huge skillet and doubled the cooking liquid and meatballs and made one huge batch of meatballs. When I've cooked the amount I want, I transfer them to my small crock pot (which the Down Home Diva, daughter #1, has made off with). I include some of the cooking liquid to keep them moist.


I've had this recipe for about 35 years - I got it when hubby was in graduate school and back then you couldn't buy frozen meatballs. My original recipe gives ingredients to make your own, and says to freeze them not touching each other on a cookie sheet before bagging in 1 lb. batches. Then you can pull them out and prepare just as I've described above. You DO NOT have to brown them or thaw them first. They will cook in just a little more time than it takes to heat up the frozen, cooked ones.



My nieces and nephews are now in their mid forties and still love them as much as they did as kids. They were thrilled to be eating "beer meatballs." That's why I experimented with the Coke and found that it also worked well.

Well, that's it for tonight. I'll have to get myself organized to include the rest of the items in the next few days.