Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak

Last week I was hit with the flu, and when I say hit, I mean like a hammer. Wow! Apparently, my darling little grandchildren were the carriers of this vile bug.  They gave it to me and their mother (fortunately my son was spared), as well as succumbing themselves, when we all got together here (and had a marvelous time, I might add) for breakfast on Palm Sunday. I’d set a darling little table with them in mind, that I’d hoped to share with you in detail, but, well, the moment has passed. I’m glad that was such a good day, because two days later there were no good days for any of us.

Because I felt so low, naturally, I did not feel at all like cooking, so was grateful to have filled up the freezer with single serving containers of soups and casseroles earlier in the year.

It’s very important to eat and stay hydrated while fighting an ailment. The first couple of days I lived on Chicken Noodle Soup. I’d like to say that it tasted as delicious frozen as it had when fresh, but I really couldn’t taste anything, so I am no judge. I will say that it was warm and soothing.

I also came up with a nutritious, throat-cooling, flu-fighting smoothie that was fabulous! The recipe is coming, but meanwhile, pack your freezer with banana chunks, strawberries, and pieces of mango. You’ll thank me later.

One thing that turned out to be a big hit with both me and dad was this easy-to-assemble, slow cooker version of Salisbury Steak. There is no greater need for comfort than when struck down by the flu.

Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak

 Adapted from Spend With Pennies

6 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms
1 medium yellow onion, sliced

Sauce ingredients:
1-14.5 ounce can low-sodium beef broth
1 1-ounce package brown gravy mix
2 tablespoons catsup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Beef patties:
1-1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup dried minced onion
1/3 cup Panko crumbs
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning

2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons water

Spray slow cooker with Pam; line bottom with mushrooms and onions.

Combine beef patty ingredients and form into six patties. Place 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil into a 10" skillet and heat until oil starts to shimmer. Brown patties over medium-high heat about three minutes per side. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and allow draining for a moment or two. Place the beef patties on top of the mushrooms and onions in the slow cooker. Combine sauce ingredients, and pour over beef patties. Cook on the low setting for 5 hours.

Remove patties to a warm plate; set aside. Turn slow cooker to high, combine cold water and cornstarch, and stir into the sauce. Allow to cook a few minutes until thickened, and then return beef patties to the sauce. Let heat through, about 5 to 10 additional minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes or alongside rice.

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Art of Homemaking Monday

Celebrate Your Story
Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesdays At Our Home

Tuesdays with a Twist

The Scoop

Dream, Create, Inspire
 Homestead Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Moonlight and Mason Jars
Full Plate Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things,
Home Sweet Home
Weekend Linky Party
Grace at Home

Coffee and Conversation
Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Share Your Style

Simple Saturday Blog Hop

Share It One More Time
A Bouquet of Talent

Besotted with Bunnies Tablescape

Last week I featured a Cabbage Bunny Tablescape that was made up of elements that once belonged to special people in my life. I wax a bit nostalgic in that post, encouraging you to enjoy what you have, and cast aside what no longer sparks joy. This week I have another tablescape that is equally sentimental, but in the creation of this tablescape, I got a bit of a jolt. Let me explain. 

My mother was someone who was not sentimental over dishware in the same way that I am. Last week, while I was having lunch at dad's, he had gathered up a lot of mother’s old Easter things to pass on to me. Many of them were used in this table, I'll get to that later, but in the going, I discovered that a set of six dessert plates that had belonged to the mother of my mom’s childhood best friend, Shirley, were no longer where they had been for many years. Apparently, in one of mother's purging efforts, she got rid of the set of plates. I was very upset to learn this. I am a great lover of antique plates, particularly those that have a history. So, while I encourage you to keep what you love and donate what you don't, please, please, PLEASE ask your loved ones if they would be interested in having these items before you do. I ask my boys every time I get rid of something if they would like to have it, telling them that it's okay if they don't, but I'm just checking to make sure. You need to do the same.

And now the table.

The centerpiece this week, like last, contains bunny items made by my dad and painted by me.

The bunny tins at each place setting I have had for so long that I don’t even know where they came from. They are so old, in fact, that they still had the price tag on them. Remember price tags?

The bunny sauce boat was my mother’s. I have been looking for this for years, and stumbled upon it when at dad’s and wondering just what was in the unreachable cabinets above the fridge. My question was answered, and now this adorable bunny is mine!

I am not a lover of soft-boiled eggs, but I do love these eggcups. At first I had placed filled eggs into them, but then, knowing the grandkids were coming, I decided to turn them into little Easter baskets, which ended up being a huge hit, (I also use these as holders for honey mustard when I serve chicken tenders.).

The subtly printed napkins are from Pottery Barn. I love these.

The wicker placemats, chargers, and spice brown plates are from Pier One.

Have a great Easter everyone!

This post is linked to:

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Art of Homemaking Monday

Celebrate Your Story
Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesdays At Our Home

 Homestead Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Tablescape Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things,
Home Sweet Home
Grace at Home

Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Share Your Style

Simple Saturday Blog Hop

Share It One More Time

Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie (or something vaguely similar)

Those of you who follow me on my personal Facebook page, are well aware that I am a bit of a reluctant baker, and often end up with disastrous results. It's probably because, as I've said so many times, I don't like to bake, but I do like to make people happy. So when I go out to have lunch with my dad, I like to take him something special. And by special, I mean good. And by good, I mean edible.

Pretty much these days, if I make a dessert, I'm happy enough if it's edible. I just don't like doing it. This morning when I got up I decided I was going to take my dad a pie. I'm always going through dessert recipes, I print out a lot of them, and set them aside for making later. This morning, while rifling through my stack, I saw a recipe for something I thought dad would like. It was called Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie. Chocolate. Bourbon. Pecan pie. What's not to like there? Pecan Pie is one of my dad's favorites, so I thought I would give this recipe a try.

I started off making the piecrust. I had it in the pan, the edges not fluted as expertly as they could have been, and headed for the freezer to get out some pecans to toast. It was then that I realized that I didn't have any pecans. I had three brand-new bags of walnuts, but no pecans. So, I thought to myself, does it really make that much difference? I mean, nuts are nuts, right?

So I used the original recipe and just substituted walnuts for the pecans. That done, I reached into the pantry for semisweet chocolate chips to pour into the crust along with the pecans, err, walnuts. It was then that I realized that I didn't have chocolate chips either. Well, I had chocolate chips, just not semisweet chocolate chips. 

I have entire shelf in my pantry full of baking chips. I have cinnamon chips, pumpkin chips, white chocolate chips, salted caramel chips, Butterfinger chips (Yes, they make those, but I haven't tried them yet, I'll report.), mini M&Ms, Bits of Brickle (both with chocolate coating and without), and I also happened to have a few remnants of mini chocolate chips, and milk chocolate chips. So, in place of the 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips that the recipe called for, I emptied the bag of mini chocolate chips into a measuring cup (it came up about 1/4 of the way), then I emptied the rest of the milk chocolate chips into that same measuring cup (bringing the measurement to 1/2 cup), and then I reached for the Bits of Brickle (those covered in milk chocolate), and dumped enough in to fill up the cup. Huzzah! I sprinkled this creative mixture on top of the toasted walnuts, and then continued on with the recipe as written.

 As it turned out the pie was pretty darn good. Dad was more than happy with it, but that in itself is no recommendation, because he is a guy who eats a lot of Marie Calender and Aunt Jemima frozen meals. At any rate, the original recipe, a product of Southern Living, is below. The reason I shared this story is so that you won't be held hostage by recipes for which you may not have the exact ingredients. Feel free to use my example, or make some substitutions of your own. As long as the ingredients for the custard are there, you really can get a little creative in a pinch, as long as you substitute cup for cup.

Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie

As seen in Southern Living  

1/2 (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts (or make your own, please make your own)

 1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels

1 cup dark corn syrup

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup bourbon or water

4 large eggs

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 teaspoons plain white cornmeal

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon table salt

Preheat oven to 325°F. Fit piecrust into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate according to package directions; fold edges under, and crimp. Sprinkle pecans and chocolate evenly onto bottom of piecrust.

Stir together corn syrup and next 3 ingredients in a large saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Whisk together eggs and next 4 ingredients. Gradually whisk one-fourth of hot corn syrup mixture into egg mixture; add to remaining hot corn syrup mixture, whisking constantly. Pour filling into prepared piecrust.

Bake at 325° for 55 minutes or until set; cool pie completely on a wire rack (about one hour).

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Art of Homemaking Monday

Celebrate Your Story
Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesdays At Our Home

Tuesdays with a Twist

Dream, Create, Inspire
 Homestead Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Moonlight and Mason Jars
Full Plate Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things,
Home Sweet Home
Grace at Home

Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Share Your Style

Simple Saturday Blog Hop

Coconut Bunny Cakes

I don't know what it is about Nordic Ware pans, but we just don't get along. Having seen little bunny cakes on other blogs, I caved and bought this Nordic Ware bunny pan. Because I'm taking lunch to my dad tomorrow, and because he loves coconut cake, I decided to make coconut pound cake bunnies. Well, it didn't work out exactly as I'd planned. With the exception of one or two, most of my bunnies looked like war victims. I did everything I possibly could have to keep them from sticking. I melted Crisco, I brushed it into the pan not once, not twice, but three times, then filled each cavity with sifted flour covering every nook and cranny, and tapping it out. I just knew these bunnies were going to pop out like beautiful little animals. No! I had to tap the pan on the counter, I had to tap it on the side, I inverted it, I "re-verted" it. I used a knife to encourage the bunnies out of the pan. Nothing. I tried to get some out while warm (that seemed to work better), then remembered reading somewhere that said allowing them to cool makes them come out easier. No! At any rate, you may have better luck than I did (as so many other people have), and end up with darling cakes. Me? Next year I'm going for the big bunny pan like this one.

On a positive note, the coconut cake was phenomenal! The best coconut cake I think I have ever eaten. In fact, it is the best pound cake I've ever eaten, coconut or otherwise. I tinkered with a couple of recipes to come up with this one, and, instead of icing mine, because I'm not a huge fan of super sweet icing, I made up a glaze and drizzled it over the warm cakes. It gave them a nice sheen, and an extra good taste. Then, I lightly dusted them with sifted powdered sugar. I cannot recommend this cake enough. If you decide to make mini cakes, like I did, you'll be baking them between 10 and 15 minutes less than you would if you were making an entire cake. Just watch them, when the edges turn light brown, and the cake springs back when lightly touched it's done.

Best Ever Coconut Pound Cake

3 sticks (1½ cups) butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

½ cup sour cream

½ cup vanilla Greek yogurt

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon coconut extract

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

1¾ cups flour

2 cups flaked coconut

Coconut Glaze:

1 cup sugar

¼ cup water

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon coconut extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Generously (And I am talking GENEROUSLY!) grease and flour a Bundt or cakelet pan.

In a medium bowl, mix flour and flaked coconut; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, and at a time, and mix until light and fluffy. Add sour cream, yogurt, baking powder, and extracts. Mix well.

Add half of the flour mixture to creamed mixture and mix well; add remaining flour mixture and mix until combined.

Let cake batter rest for 5 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 60 - 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 25 minutes. Invert onto serving plate; coat with coconut glaze.

For the glaze: Mix ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is melted. Pour on top of cake and let the glaze soak into the cake. Allow glaze to dry and then dust cakes with powdered sugar.

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Art of Homemaking Monday

Celebrate Your Story
Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesdays with a Twist

Dream, Create, Inspire
 Homestead Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Moonlight and Mason Jars
Full Plate Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things
Home Sweet Home
Grace at Home
Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Share Your Style

Share It One More Time

This post contains affiliate links.

Happy National Beer Day!

Happy National Beer Day! I am not much of a beer drinker, well, truth be told, I don’t drink it at all. But I do love to cook with it, finding it can greatly enhance the flavor of any dish, be it sweet or savory. Here are some of my favorite recipes using beer, ale, and stout. Click on the name of the dish beneath the photo,  and you’ll be taken right to the post with the recipe. Cheers!

River City Casino Beer Cheese Soup

Black Magic Cake with Irish Mocha Frosting

Irish Cheddar and Leek Strata

Kräftig Beer Cheese Soup

Beer Steamed Potatoes

Chocolate Stout Cake

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Art of Homemaking Monday
Grace at Home
Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Simple Saturday Blog Hop

Share It One More Time
A Bouquet of Talent

 

Cabbage Bunny Tablescape

Earlier this week on Facebook, someone posted a link to an article entitled, “Your Kids Don’t Want Their Grandparents’ Stuff.” A lot of people took issue with this, saying that they would be thrilled to have things passed down to them from their grandparents. I'm not sure how many people feel this way. I do, but I'm a different generation than the current one. I am from a generation that followed one that was made up of people who didn't have much, and who didn't save much. These days people have so many things, leaving behind a colossal amount for their bereaved descendants to have to deal with.

I came face-to-face with this when Mr. O-P passed away, and I was left thousands and thousands of books, along with hoards of other things. This taught me a bit of a lesson in that, people who are grieving have enough to deal with, without the added burden of dispersing someone else's stuff. Now this is not to say that a lot of people wouldn't be thrilled to have things left behind by their parents and grandparents. My boys have already told me things of mine that they would cherish having. That pleases me. But I've also told them to discard my things with reckless abandon should they not want it. Donate! Gift! Consign! Sell! Don’t be sentimental about it. Don't feel guilty about it. Pass it along to someone who will love it as much as I did. I want them to have what they want, and nothing more. What I love, may not be what they love, and they shouldn't be stuck with it.

Why am I mentioning this? Because as I sat at this table today, I was thinking about the various components of this table setting, and the meaning that they have for me.

The candlesticks Jim gave to me early in our marriage. I’d spotted them in an antique store when we were out shopping one day, and immediately fell in love. I'm not sure why, because generally they're not my style, but I was crazy about them, and crazier still when they became mine.

The little juice glasses on this table have a bit of a provenance. They came to me from my mother, but they came to her from her childhood best friend, Shirley, who was also Maid of Honor at her and dad’s wedding. They are a set of six, and match a little darling little pressed glass carafe. Shirley long knew that she wouldn't be using them, so decades ago gave them to my mother. I don't think mother ever used them either, so she gave them to me. Naturally, I adore them. So not only is Jim at this table with me, but so is my mother, and her friend, Shirley.

Joining this group is tablescape blogger friend Marigene Purcell, who gifted me with the green charger plates. Isn't it fabulous how one table can have so much meaning? It's things like this that make the table feel special.

The flatware belonged to my mother as well. She gave it to me after she’d given me some yellow chalices that she’d bought at the same time. After she gave me the chalices, she was sorry that she did, because she saw all of the ways in which I used them and figured she could've done the same. So, she decided I might as well have the flatware to match. It gives me a smile every time I pull either of these things out. 

The white plates and bunny mugs are new additions this year; the cabbage plates I've had for decades. The green glassware is also new.

This is the first of two Easter tables that I'll be doing this year. Be sure to come back for the next table, that has equal the history as this one.

Wicker placemats - Pier 1 (You can get them here)
Green chargers - gift
White plates – Amelia Blanc by Versailles (You can get them here)
Green leaf salad plates - Williams-Sonoma
Green glassware - Villeroy & Boch
Yellow flatware - Noritake

Bunny mugs – Maxcera (Similar ones are available here)
Bunny Basket - Pier 1

Napkins – Pottery Barn

This post contains affiliate links

This post is linked to:

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Art of Homemaking Monday

Celebrate Your Story
Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesdays with a Twist

Dream, Create, Inspire
 Homestead Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Moonlight and Mason Jars
Tablescape Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things
Home Sweet Home
Grace at Home
Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Share Your Style

Share It One More Time