Happy Birthday, Annie, Here's To YOU!

I know, I haven't really posted here since starting the new blog with Annie. Happy Cinco de Mayo, you all.

Split Pea Soup

I am now going to share with you my mother's recipe for split pea soup. She got it from my grandmother. You and I are not going to tell anyone that Grandma got it from the back of a bag of green split peas, then tweaked it, are we? Now you know where I got my recipe stealing, er, borrowing, skills from. That is what has been passed down to me from generation to generation.

Green Split Pea Soup with Ham
1 lb. of green split peas (use yellow if you have been watching movies you shouldn't have been. If you still can't deal, look on the back of a package of lentils, and tweak that)
8 cups of water
1 meaty ham bone
1 cup of chopped ham
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 carrots, scraped and chopped
a pinch of salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
Wash, sort, and drain split peas. Combine all ingredients in a large pot with lid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for about 1 hour or until cooked through, stirring occasionally. Before serving, remove ham from the bone. Cut ham off bone, and dice. Add to the soup and serve.

When you go to a restaurant, you get a cup this as the soup of the day sometimes with your meal. A full bowl of this is a meal in itself. Sometimes it is hard to think of soup as a meal. If that is a problem for you, think of it as ham and pea stew. Now you can serve it as a meal, no?

Ham and Green Bean Casserole

I don't know about you, but I have way too much ham left over from Christmas. I do not like pineapple or glaze on my ham. About one hour into cooking I pour a can of soda pop over it to keep it moist. My mom believed in using ginger ale, which is really good. One year I was having company, forgot to buy ginger ale, so I had to use Pepsi instead. It was different, but in a good way. This year I chose to go with the Pepsi again. It was good. Still, there are only so many ham sandwiches three people can eat (mom can't eat ham). This is where pea soup, fried rice, and ham and green been casserole come in.

Ham and Green Bean Casserole

1 cup of ham (I have lots of ham leftover, so I was a little more generous in the ham department.)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of cut green beans, drained
1 cup of shredded cheese (I usually use cheddar, but yesterday I used Kraft's Mexican blend, and it was good)

Spray a microwave safe dish with cooking spray. Put ham, soup, and green beans in dish. Mix well to combine. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Pour cheese over the beans and ham. Microwave for one more minute. Serve with rice.

Did I forget to mention it was an easy recipe, and could be done in the microwave? Woops!

You Would Think This Was a Joke, But No, it is Not

Today my husband had to go to the dentist to get a bridge put back into his mouth. It fell out while he was eating an egg salad sandwich I had prepared for him. Yes, I removed the shells. Yes, I mashed the eggs. The problem may have been that the eggs were "hard"boiled. My husband is a sweetie who insists that the bridge must have already been loose. But you know I believe in full disclosure. You are reading a food blog written by a woman whose egg salad can crack a bridge. What does that say about the both of us? Please vote on my Christmas Cookie poll.

Merry Christmas

"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'" John 6:35

What does this verse have to do with Christmas? Everything. This is why Jesus was born: to become our very sustenance.
What does this have to do with food? I can offer no one anything better on Christmas, than the sustenance God provided for us on Christmas day. No recipe from me required. God bless you all. Merry Christmas!

Crock pot Beef Stew

Captain Obvious Cook is going to post a recipe on my site again today, since we know you all know how to make beef stew in a crock pot, but it is what's cooking today.
Beef Stew
3lbs of london broil, cut into cubes(any cut of meat is fine, but cut it into cubes yourself.)
4 carrots, peeled and cut
4 potatoes, scrubbed and cut into cubes
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 cup of hot water
1 bottle of beer
2 bioloun cubes
4 tablespoons of flour
salt, pepper, and paprika to taste

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Add meat. Add flour and mix. Add onion and garlic and mix. Add carrots and potatoes, and mix. Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste, and mix. Place the boulion cubes at the bottom of the crock pot. Pour the beer and hot water over the ingredients in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.

Pigs in a Blanket

Okay, today I am Obvious Cook. We all know the recipe for this. Take one can of Pillsbury crescent dinner rolls, and a package of cocktail wiener franks. Tear bits of dough and wrap them around the franks.* Place on cookie sheet. Cook at temperature on package for the amount of time specified on package. Am I the only one who asked a hostess for this recipe, only to realize that even the kids knew how to make it?
Well, yesterday, the infamous Chicago Tribune (see today's post on other blog), gave me information I didn't know. Yeah, I know I shouldn't promote them, but for your sakes gals and guys, I thought this needed to be shared. And I have promised full disclosure on my sidebar, even if I must credit a talking dog and evil baby!
Brace yourself. You can put the dough covered hot dogs in the freezer while still on the cookie sheet. After they are frozen, put them in a bag until they are ready to use. When you are ready to use them, spread them on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
When I read this, I thought it was great for preparing ahead if you were having company. If you already knew this, go ahead and call me Obvious Cook in the comment section.
Anyone want to know Trib's recipe for Cheesy Olive Bombs, let me know. These are a make ahead appetizer, too.

* Okay Katdish, I know you like specific directions. Here we go. Pop the can of dinner rolls and unroll the dough. Take two triangles of dough and form a square. Cut each square 5 down and two across. Wrap one strip of dough around the center of each cocktail wiener. Is that better?