These are some of my favorite recipes, many of which are mentioned or discussed in my blog. Some day when I grow up I want to write a cookbook…

GREEN BEAN SALAD

3-4 cans green beans [or use fresh]

1 medium cucumber, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

fresh dill or dill weed [McCormick's]

ranch dressing [Hidden Valley Ranch original]

Drain the beans well, or cook them and drain them if you're doing fresh beans. There sShould be about 4 cups of beans. Peel and core the seeds out of the cucumber, then dice it up, or just wash it and dice it if you’re not picky. Peel and dice up the onion. Put everything in a large bowl that can easily be refrigerated. Add the dill - LOTS of it. Add some onion powder and salt, to taste. Toss with ranch dressing. Tossing and mixing ingredients is key here. There should be plenty of dill flavor in every bite. We also like to add a good shake of onion powder, and some salt.

ELVA'S FABULOUS QUICHE

1 cup milk

2 cups grated cheese [doesn't have to be swiss]

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup shrimp or crabmeat

salt, pepper, onion powder [to taste]

Lawrey's seasoned salt

Tabasco [1-5 drops, depending on your taste buds]

Mix all the ingredients together. Don't overbeat the eggs. Get a piecrust from the box [I always buy ready made] and put it in your 9' pie pan. Pour in your quiche. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then cut down the oven to 325 for 30 minutes.

You can add in chopped onion or peppers, or almost anything. It's a very forgiving recipe, though I wouldn't add more than half a cup of anything.

Serve with a salad or veggie and it's a FAST and tasty dinner.

CHICKEN JULIA [inspired by reading Julia Child’s memoir]

Take 5 portions of chicken and wash and salt them. Put them in the crock pot, covered in chicken broth [however much it takes to cover], 1 stick of real butter, one cup dry sherry or white wine, 1 tsp. Onion powder, and 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, and cook on low 3 hours. Add in 1 ½ cups rice and cover. Add a salad, and it’s a 1 dish meal.

Apple Dip [great for parties]

8 oz. Cream cheese

¾ cup light brown sugar

pineapple juice

½ tsp. vanilla

½ pkg. Bits o’brickle toffee pieces

3-4 Granny Smith apples

Take out the cream cheese to soften. Wash and slice apples. Set slices in pineapple juice [dip each piece in juice and set it aside, so the apples won’t darken] and refrigerate. Mix together all other ingredients and put in a bowl. Just before the party, arrange the slices around the bowl of dip.

Elva's Fruit Salad

Mix: 1 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and juice of 1/2 lime until sugar is dissolved, and taste - it should be quite tart so add more lime juice if you need. Next, fold in 1 cup miniature marshmallows, and 1 lg. can mandarin oranges, drained, 1 tall can pineapple tidbits, drained, then 2 cups washed, seedless grapes. Fold fruit into the cream mix. Cover and chill til ready to serve.

Just before serving , fold in 1 cup toasted walnuts, lightly salted.

SYNOVIA'S POUND CAKE

2 STICKS BUTTER

3 CUPS SUGAR

-- CREAM TIL FLUFFY

ADD 5 LARGE EGGS, ONE AT A TIME, BEATING SLIGHTLY AFTER EACH

3 CUPS SWANSDOWN CAKE FLOUR

8 OZ SOUR CREAM [STIR IN 1/4 TEASPOON BAKING SODA]

ALTERNATE MIXING FLOUR AND SOUR CREAM, BEGINNING AND ENDING WITH CREAM. ADD 1 OR 2 TSP VANILLA OR MIX WITH ALMOND GREASE AND FLOUR PAN. 350 DEGREES 1 1/2 HRS [90 MINS]

Chicken and Dumplings
Take a whole chicken and clean it and wash it. Stick it in the slow cooker for 4-5 hours on high. Mother put in some seasoning salt and a spring of rosemary, which gave it a nice flavor. I took the chicken, shredded it, and set it aside. I took the broth and put it in a saucepan, and added a can of cream of chicken soup, and some onion powder, salt and pepper. I took flour tortillas and cut them into small squares and dropped them in as soon as the broth mixture was boiling. I then added back in the chicken, and a couple tablespoons of butter. After about 5 minutes, the tortilla pieces turn into dumplings. It was really good.

Fabulous Chicken

4 chicken filets

original Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

2 cups crushed potato chips

Black pepper

Take your chicken and wash it carefully. In a shallow dish, place the chicken, and salt and pepper it on both sides. Cover it with Ranch dressing and let it soak for at least 30 minutes. Dip each piece in potato chip crumbs and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, a little more if they are thick pieces.

It's also good to make a dipping sauce out of Ranch dressing and grated parmesan. Yum.

Chesapeake House Fish Stew

3 lb. Flounder filet [I used Tilapia]

1 cup chopped onions

½ lb. Bacon

1 8 oz. Can tomato paste

1 bottle catsup [14 oz.] or tomato sauce

1 tsp. Tabasco sauce [or more, if you want]

1 tablespoon Celery salt

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Fry the bacon. Remove bacon from pan and brown onions in the drippings. [Note: if you don’t want bacon fat, brown the onions in olive oil.] In a separate pot, put 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Pour onions and drippings into water. Add fish, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and salt. Cook fish until completely done. Add catsup and tomato paste. Simmer for 2 hours. Serve over rice. [see comment nex page]

I ate this at the Chesapeake House restaurant in Myrtle Beach and loved it so much I asked for the recipe. To my shock, they handed me a Xeroxed sheet with the recipe pre printed. THAT’S a popular soup!

Easy Breakfast Casserole

6 slices white bread, trimmed and cubed

6 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 lb. Sausage, cooked and drained

1 tsp. Dry mustard

salt and pepper

2 cups whole milk

Butter casserole or Pyrex dish heavily. Line with bread cubes. Mix all other ingredients; pour over cubes, cover tightly and let stand overnight in fridge.

Bake 350 for 45 minutes.

We like to make this on holidays like Christmas, and/or when we have houseguests. Then you just make coffee and pull out juice, and breakfast is done.

Elva's Cornbread Dressing

STEP 1
Set oven to 425 degrees

Mix:

2 cups WHITE LILY SELF-Rising Buttermilk Cornmeal Mix

1 1/2 c milk

1/4 c oil

one egg.

Pour into 8" or 10" iron skillet or baking pan. Bake 20 or 30 minutes until firm and light
brown.

Crumble warm cornbread into a large mixing bowl. Add 8 or 10 pieces dry, white loaf bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces.

In a blender or food processor, finely chop 5 or 6 medium onions and 6-8 celery
stalks (sliced across to prevent "stringing ".) Place this mixture in a glass
container. Cover with chicken broth and nuke about 5 minutes or until almost
tender. Pour this over the bread mix. Mix this together, THEN TASTE IT. Probably needs salt and lots of pepper, and a tablespoon or two of onion powder.

ADD: 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 2 Tablespoons flour, 4 or 5 beaten eggs. MIX. Add enough chicken broth to make a moist mix, the consistency of thick soup.

Pour into a greased pan and bake at 375 degrees until barely firm – 30 minutes or longer, depending on the size of the pan.

Can double easily for 9x13 inch pan. This is absolutely the best dressing in THE WORLD!

Fried Tilapia

3-4 firm tilapia filets about the size of your hand

crushed Ritz crackers

4 Tbl. Mayonnaise

¼ cup olive oil

onion powder to taste

black pepper to taste

2 Tbl. Parmesan cheese

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to taste

Take about 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers and crush them in your hands into a small flat bowl or normal-sized plate. Add in the onion powder, black pepper, seasoned salt, and parmesan. Mix well with a spoon. Can add a little cayenne pepper if you’re adventurous.

In a separate bowl, mix the mayonnaise and olive oil. Heat in the microwave for 30-50 seconds to melt the mayo a little bit. Mix them together.

In a large skillet, put in 1-2 Tbl. Olive oil or whatever oil you like.

Take the fish and coat it well with the mayonnaise/oil mixture, then coat it with the cracker crumbs. Put the filets on a plate for about 15 minutes, to give them breading time to adhere to the fish. When the skillet is medium hot, put your filets in. Turn after 5 minutes. Brown 5 more minutes or until golden. Serve with lemon wedges and/or tartar sauce.

Note: The night we made this I also served grits with lots of cheddar cheese and garlic salt, and sautéed asparagus with lemon and butter.

HAMBURGERS

This is hands down the best way to cook a hamburger on the stove. Get a skillet and lightly salt the bottom. Make your burger patty the size you want, and put it on the pre-heated skillet When that size is light brown, flip it over. With your thumb, make a little indentation in the meat. Take an ice cube and put it on there. Turn the heat down. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan to keep the meat moist. When the ice cube is completely melted, the meat is done ,and very juicy. We like to put lots of soy sauce and onion powder and black pepper on burgers. Yummy!

SPICED PUMPKIN BREAD

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in walnuts, if desired.

Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.

I didn’t come up with this recipe. However, I have made it many times and it’s always a huge hit. Plus, you get a vegetable!

SQUASH AND ZUCCHINI CAKES

3 medium zucchini
3 medium yellow squash
1 cup toasted bread crumbs
1 cup shredded Parmesan
1/3 cup minced Vidalia onion
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 jar store-bought marinara sauce

Grate zucchini and squash with a fine grater. Press between paper towels to remove excess moisture.

In a medium bowl, combine grated zucchini and squash and next 7 ingredients. Shape mixture into 2-inch patties, pressing together firmly.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Cook squash and zucchini cakes 3 to 4 minutes per side or until lightly browned.

Place onto serving platter and serve with marinara sauce.

This is really Paula Deen’s recipe, but oh so yummy!

EASY RECIPES

We do a lot of homemade Vegetable Beef soup. It's easier than you might think. We use as a base Classico spaghetti sauce, which comes in a jar. Brown a lb. of ground sirloin, add the Classico, plus some water or tomato juice to thin it. Drop in a can of black beans, a can of corn, whatever other canned veggies you like. Heat on low for an hour or two. About 15 minutes before serving, heat it back up and drop in some uncooked pasta, and cook until tender. We like to jazz it up with extra garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, etc. My kids LOVE this.

Bud's Chicken - Take a package of chicken pieces. Wash them and salt each piece. Set it in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. Take a large carton of half n' half or whipping cream, and a cup of fresh parmesan cheese, and set aside. Get out the chicken breasts. You can either dredge them in flour and brown them in butter, then put in a shallow baking dish, or not. I've done it that way, or just put them in the dish unbrowned. Either way is fine. Pour the cream over the chicken. Add some fresh mushrooms, if you like. Top it with the parmesan. Bake at 350 for an hour, covered.

Eggroll Cabbage - At the store, get a bag of shredded cabbage, like you use for coleslaw. Heat some oil in a skillet. Chop an onion and cook it until browned [or not, it's optional] Dump in the whole bag of cabbage. Cook and stir, adding 1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce, onion powder, fresh pepper, etc. Pull out when it's the desired crispness. Great low fat side dish. My kids love it.

Pork Roast - Get any kind of pork roast, and cover it with salt. Put it in a baking pan, uncovered, and bake at 250 for 4 hours. Pull it out, it will be fork tender, I guarantee. You can then pour some barbeque sauce or bought teriyaki sauce over it, or not. It's great with the cabbage recipe above.

Then there's the tried and true homemade pizza recipe: get a package [or two] of English muffins. Split them in half, and cover with the canned tomato sauce of your choice [we love Classico], plus pepperoni, mozzarella, and whatever other pizza toppings you choose. Run under the broiler of the oven for 5-8 minutes, checking it frequently.

This is the best Corned Beef ever - buy a corned beef at the grocery store. They come in the meat department, in a bag, with a little packet of spices. Place the corned beef in a slow cooker. Cover it with a bottle of cheap fruity red wine,and the spice packet contents, plus 4 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled, and about 1/2 cup of soy sauce. Simmer on low for 5-8 hours, depending on the size of the beef.

Dee's Special Hearty Chowder

2 cans Progresso clam chowder
1 can cooked, small white potatoes [chop these]
1 can minced clams [drain well]
Lawry's Seasoning Salt [to taste, but I use lots]
onion powder [to taste]
2-4 tbls. butter, depending on your cholesterol count
milk

Put all this in a pot and heat it up. Serve with hot garlic toast, which is just regular toast with some garlic salt sprinkled on it. Add a salad, and you've got a full meal. Ta da. Mike ate 3 bowls...