Strawberry Shortcake Cake. Send Help... Hurry!!

Today I made PW's Strawberry Shortcake Cake. I thought, "hey, after Tuesday's crazy wind & rain, and the very UN-Spring like SNOW on Wednesday, we needed something that screamed spring." I had strawberries that needed to be used, so this seemed the perfect solution. Oh boy, was I ever wrong!

I wasn't wrong that it screamed Spring. It really did - it also made me think of summer, bbq's, and splashing in the creek. I wasn't entirely wrong that it was a solution either. So exactly what was I wrong about? I assumed that this would be a nice light fruit-filled confection, with a fluffy, spongy like cake (you know, like a mix from a box?). I was wrong. Oh so wrong. I never would have known it by looking at it..... would you? I mean, look at it, it's PERTY!! Look at how the strawberries peek through the frosting!

Now, don't let me confuse you here. The cake was truly amazing. It was more an issue of my own tolerance for sugary sweet stuff that did me in. You see, sometimes sweets are just fine. Like PW's apple dumplings with vanilla ice cream. Or the Texas Sheet Cake I made the other day. They are a nice balance of sugar and other things. But there are times like this, times when there's just too much for me to handle. In this sort of case I can tell in minutes (literally one or two) if I'm going to have a reaction. I'm not sure if it's an allergic reaction, or if it's simply just too much sugar.

Whatever the case the reaction is always the same - It starts off with this Extreme Headache, the kind that throbs no matter how you move. And don't even THINK of bending over or sneezing! Next, my teeth start hurting... yeah, I know, weird. Finally, if I stop going I can collapse in a heap in seconds flat - a true sugar coma.

Well this cake sent me over the edge into that Sugar Coma in record time. It was..... the frosting.... 1 package of cream cheese, 2 sticks of unsalted butter, vanilla and a pinch of salt.... oh, and a POUND & A HALF  (yes, 1.5 lbs) of powdered sugar... I didn't even use all the frosting either. I can't imagine what it'd be like if I had used all the frosting. I probably wouldn't be typing right now. I'd probably be frantically scavenging for some celery (Can you name that movie?).

Now that I've bashed this sinful delight, let me tell you what I LOVED about it, because yes, help me, I did love it! I loved an entire 1/8th of the cake, which was probably part of the problem. Maybe... I should have had a smaller piece? Maybe I should have chilled the cake for several hours (like PW says to do) before cutting into it? But, I just couldn't be bothered with the waiting....or a smaller piece. So I ate the WHOLE piece.... and I was soooooo sorry I did. Not because it didn't taste good.... No Ma'am!

The cake is definitely like a short cake - dense with a semi-crusty outside. (And I absolutely love shortcake.)  This was no exception, it was more like a biscuit than a cake in texture, and I loved it. I also loved how the sugary sauce from the strawberries was absorbed by the cake - it added an extra depth of flavor to the cake which was really wonderful. I also loved the way this cake looks... I can see it sitting on a pretty table for a tea party or a foo-foo ladie's luncheon. But, it definitely needs to be served in small pieces!!

I would say, if you're brave enough.... if you don't slip into a sugar coma like I do...if your teeth don't hurt just reading this post... that this cake is OH SO WORTH making.  I think for me however, IF I make this again, it's going to need many more strawberries and a much lighter frosting. And definitely a smaller serving! Cause I like to be coherent after dessert, most of the time. Oh wait,  maybe a whipped cream/Cool Whip type frosting with some berries in it... Oh, I could even imagine this with a whole assortment of berries.... And I think making it in a 9x13 pan might make it easier to get a smaller piece with less of the frosting on it all at once.

Ok maybe, just maybe, this cake may have been granted a reprieve....with the help of a vegetable intervention I may just recover.

Pancakes.

I want to apologize in advance to those of you who feel "real" pancakes can only be made from scratch. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for that. There are some days though, when I want pancakes, and I want them easy and quick. I've been through so many "instant" pancake mixes that I can't recall them all: Bisquick, Jiffy, Sturdiwheat, Aunt Jemima, and mixes from countless "specialty" shops, mixes you make ahead of time and store, as well as online vendors. When you get right down to it, there are times when I don't want to mix it from scratch. Now, even more importantly since I've moved to the middle of nowhere, when I run out of eggs or milk (hey, it happens), I need something that is of a "just add water" sort of affair.

All of that brought me to Krusteaz buttermilk mix. Really, truly. Just add water. That's all it NEEDS to make pancakes that are light, fluffy and nearly always turn out perfect. However, don't think that you have to stop there. Just because a mix "needs" only water doesn't mean you can't still make really tasty pancakes with it. Sometimes, I add fruit - fresh blueberries are my favorite, but diced apples, bananas and peaches work equally well. If I want savory, I add garlic or corn, diced peppers or sometimes cheese!! The options are as limitless as your imagination!

The other piece to adding stuff is that I am not a huge fan of pancake syrups - they're sweet, often too sweet for me to start my day with... and they're just so.... normal. This probably goes back to when I was a little girl and my grandpa made pancakes differently than most other folks. Often, we had them with light corn syrup vs pancake syrup, which isn't as sweet and certainly is NOT maple flavored. Other times, butter was all that was needed, or maybe a touch of powdered sugar. 

Today, because it was SNOWING, I wanted a warm breakfast. Yesterday exhausted me. The running around in frantic wind and rain, trying to clean up the messes that Mother Nature was making.... So I wasn't really in a mood to make a full on "mountain man" breakfast (steak, hash browns etc). The solution? Easy pancakes. I did up the ante just a bit by adding 2 tbsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon to the mix. It was perfect. Even LD who loves syrup on his pancakes, opted NOT to dip most of them in the syrup, butter was enough.

Cooking perfect pancakes is not as difficult, messy or labor intensive as you may think. However, it largely depends on your definition of "perfect." Around here, that translates into, more often than not, NO crispy edges, and a thinner pancake that is less cake-like than others. I'm not here to berate anyone who loves crispy edges on their pancakes. Nor am I begrudging anyone who wants thick cake-like pancakes. They're just not for us at breakfast time. There is one exception to the "no crispy edges" rule - and that is when it comes to the savory pancakes. But there's also the rule around here, that savory pancakes aren't breakfast pancakes. So for the purposes of this post, here's what you need for our version of perfect breakfast pancakes:

1 large, nonstick, electric griddle. The bigger the better - also helps warm plates!
Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix & your choice of additives
A place to warm your plates
A good, sturdy, yet flexible spatula - should be wide enough to fit under your WHOLE pancake. The other key to a perfect pancake is that your spatula should be THIN - too thick and you can damage the edge when you're trying to slide it under the pancake. Mine is plastic and VERY thin... almost like a metal one.

Notice anything missing? such as OIL or some sort of cooking spray? That's right... with these, there's NO NEED for any of that stuff!!

For today's pancakes, I cooked them on a preheated griddle at about 280 degrees. As the griddle is preheating sick a couple of your plates under it - that's right, under it. The heating element will warm your plates at the same time as it's cooking your pancakes. And, it doesn't warm them so much that they'll burn little fingers - just enough that they don't chill your pancakes before you serve them.

Add the water to the Krusteaz mix as directed on the package.  Once mixed, throw in your "additives" which can be as simple as a little sugar & vanilla or as complex as several fruits. If you opt for NO additives, which we sometimes do, you can cook at a higher heat. Ladle the pancake mix onto the griddle, spacing them so they don't run and stick together. I make 4-5 inch pancakes for most of the family and cooking them 8 at once which means two people get to eat at the same time.

Your other option, for "same time" eating for the masses, is to place your pancakes on a tray or cookie sheet in the oven on the lowest setting - use caution though, you can easily dry them out and they can stick to the tray.

Making smaller pancakes has several advantages;
1. No need to go looking for a crazy large spatula
2. They're easier to maneuver and you don't get uncooked batter flying everywhere as you turn them
3. You can cook 8 or more at a time, depending on the size of your griddle - which translates to quicker service to the children swarming around your ankles.
4. They fit in the toaster - that's right - these are GREAT frozen and toasted some other morning when you want pancakes but want them even easier! Better yet, this is perfect when only ONE member of the family wants pancakes.

Here is what they look like right before they're ready to be turned - you know they're ready when about 70% of the bubbles have popped:

And after turning - what "our" perfect breakfast pancakes look like - evenly golden, with a nice creamy colored edge. They're about 1/3 of an inch thick. Because cooking times vary due to mix consistency & additives, elevation, humidity etc, you'll have to play around till you figure out what works for you. In general though, it only takes a few minutes to create a perfect pancake:

And because my little monkey likes to dip his pancakes in a cup of syrup, I always make him some that are about the size of a dollar coin (If I'm not exhausted, I sometimes make them as small as nickels!):

Here's my "short stack" complete with melted butter and a little drizzle of corn syrup... YUM!!

Today I made the smallest batch of batter based on the directions on the Krusteaz bag - 1 c of mix and 3/4 c of water. It made 13 4-5 inch pancakes and a half dozen little dippers for LD. I had 9 pancakes left over which I placed in between sheets of parchment and then into a zip lock bag and into the freezer. I now have them available when someone says, "I want pancakes," at a time when I really don't feel like cooking or cleaning up after cooking, or when no one else wants them. A short stint in the toaster makes them nearly identical to FRESH. You can even make a big batch of these over the weekend and freeze them for pancakes during the week!

Left over chicken... what to do what to do???

Today started out with the loss of our power at somewhere around 3:30 am... it didn't come back on till almost 10am. It was dreary. It was cold. It was wet. I wanted something warm & comfy for lunch.

Well, I didn't start out thinking stew, I was thinking chicken soup. But as I started putting it together I wanted something thicker than a soup - sort of like a chowder. I also wanted to use most of what I'd just cut off the asparagus that I was going to roast to go along with dinner - you know, that part you trim off the bottom 2 inches to get that nice consistent green color?

You'll need the following:

2c. cooked chicken meat, roughly chopped
2c. milk (fat free but you can use whatever you have on hand)
6 small (palm sized) russet potatoes, peeled & diced
3 medium carrots, peeled & diced
2" cut off the bottom of some asparagus, sliced in 1/4" thick slices
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cans chicken broth
Olive oil, salt, pepper and either corn starch or flour as a thickening agent
Fresh herbs for garnish

In a stock pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Meanwhile, in a saute pan, place the cut up asparagus stems, the onion some olive oil and salt & pepper. Saute until the onions and asparagus start to brown.

Add some water to further cook the asparagus - you want it JUST tender but still crunchy. Should only take a few ounces of water.

When the water cooks down and the asparagus are just getting tender, remove from heat & set aside.

By now the chicken broth should be boiling nicely. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook, boiling, for around 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. I recommend covering it so you don't lose too much of the liquid during the cooking process.

Once the potatoes & carrots are done, add the chicken along with the asparagus and onion mixture.

Add the milk - reserve a small amount of milk and add a couple small scoops of flour or cornstarch to it.

Mix the milk & flour/cornstarch till it's all dissolved and add to the pan. Stir until all incorporated. This will give your soup a nice thickness and it'll be more chowder-like.

Once I served this into bowls, I garnished with some fresh parsley and chives. It was YUM! But even  more than my own like of it, was the fact that LD at his whole bowl - he's my toughest critic!

Enjoy!

Texas Sheet Cake

After a couple hours of gardening stuff this morning and enjoying a near perfect spring day, LD and I decided to make this cake... because, well, any time is a good time for a chocolate cake, especially one that is this yummy.

I first had this delightful, and oh so rich, cake at a block party, more than 15 years ago. The woman who brought it also brought these amazing little beef & green chile burritos in foil. I couldn't get enough of either one. I asked her for the recipe for both... However, she said I could only have ONE....

Oh the torture... Oh the anguish.....I told her I would have to think about which one I wanted and get back to her. After a couple of miserable days recalling BOTH of the dishes, I finally decided on the Texas Sheet Cake. Now, mind you, this was before the internet was as common place in people's homes as a coffee maker. Today you can probably go to any recipe website and find a recipe very similar to this one, if not this exact one.

Even though it's made from scratch, it's really easy - in fact, I often forget how easy it is until I break down and make it. You don't even have to frost it because you pour the warm frosting on the cake immediately after it comes out of the oven - gravity does most of the work...Here's my budding chef mixing the cake batter.

I do have to warn you though, this is one of those desserts that sneaks up on you.... It doesn't seem rich at first... Before you know it, you've eaten half a pan and are collapsing on the floor in a sugar coma. It sort of reminds me of a really light (in texture) brownie with a fudge frosting that has become one with the cake. And, as tempting as it is to eat it before it cools completely, DON'T... let me save you the agony now..... It's SO much better after it's completely cooled. This also keeps the frosting from running off the cake, which is really, REALLY important. It just is, trust me on this one.

The verdict? LD, my chocolate-connoisseur kid, had not a word to say till it was all gone... Now that's a good chocolate cake!

Here's the recipe:

Heat Oven to 375, grease & flour a large rimmed baking sheet (jelly roll pan), the deeper the better. Mine is almost an inch deep. I have officially been converted to this stuff (Baker's Joy Spray) by PW... it's AMAZING and SO much easier than greasing & flouring a baking dish, plus it doesn't leave a layer of flour on the cake!!! (you can even get it at Wal Mart!)

Anyway, back to the cake....

Mix in a large bowl:
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda

In a sauce pan mix
2 sticks (1 c.) butter
1 c. Water
4 tsp. cocoa powder (unsweetened)
Bring to a boil, then boil for 10 seconds longer and remove from heat and mix into the flour mixture. After it's mixed completely, add:
1/2c. Sour Cream
2 eggs
Mix well and pour into your prepared pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the middle of the cake clean.

While the cake is baking, make the frosting - the timing should be almost perfect - I was able to wash the dishes from the cake and make the frosting and it was done exactly when the cake came out of the oven.

In a sauce pan, melt
2 sticks (1 c.) butter

Add 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder, mix well and reduce heat to low
Add:
1 tsp. vanilla
1lb (3 1/2 c.) powdered sugar
6 tbsp. sour cream
and, if you want, 1c. chopped nuts. I used macadamia nuts today - but it's also VERY good with pecans.

When the cake is done, immediately pour the warm frosting over the top of the warm cake. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

Enjoy!

Ravioli with Shrimp sauce

After lunch today I put on a movie for LD and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up the movie was over and I realized that I hadn't put anything down to defrost for dinner... So I had to figure out something different - something that I had already (aka left overs) or something that was meant to go from freezer to dinner in very little time (which isn't much).

What I finally decided was that I wanted shrimp and pasta. However, I was out of cream, and fat free milk a good alfredo sauce does NOT make. I rummaged around the freezer and realized that I had frozen shrimp and frozen raviolis, add onion, garlic and some other stuff and it was dinner!

First, place the shrimp in a colander and run cold water over it to defrost. While that's happening, add some olive oil to a non stick pan, once it's hot, add some onions and salt & fresh pepper.

While you CAN get the frozen shrimp with the tails removed, I had these on hand, so once they were defrosted I just pulled the tails off... aren't they pretty??? I LOVE shrimp:

Once the onions are almost translucent, add the shrimp, some salt & freshly ground pepper.

Make sure the heat is on low, cover the pan and gently simmer, while you dice up 4 cloves of garlic - you can roughly dice these or mince them - whatever floats your boat - here's what I like - not so huge that it's overpowering, but still big enough that you can actually bite into the pieces:

After you've cut up the garlic, remove the lid of the pan - in this time there will be quite a lot of broth. Add the garlic and raise the heat to medium, cooking uncovered, stirring occasionally until all the broth is evaporated - you don't want a heavy fishy overtone to this. While you're reducing the shrimp broth, start a pot of water for the raviolis:

Once the broth has COMPLETELY cooked down, and it starts to sizzle, reduce the heat as low as it'll go and pour in a jar or can of your favorite pasta sauce, stir to mix & cover until the pasta is cooked.

Add the ravioli to the boiling water and cook according to package directions - generally, once they start to float they're done:

Once the ravioli are done, drain and top with the sauce.  I got so excited about eating it I forgot to take a picture of it with the cheese on it - I had grated some mozarella to top it all off with - REALLY a nice contrast to the shrimp and the ricotta in the raviolis, and a nice change from parmesan. 

Here's the ingredient list:

1lb frozen shrimp (whole or parts)
1 24oz package frozen raviolis
4 cloves garlic, diced or minced
1/2 large yellow onion, large dice
1 24oz jar of pasta sauce
olive oil, salt & pepper
freshly grated mozarella cheese

Enjoy!

Chicken..... it's what's for dinner.

Sometimes coming up with "what's for dinner" is often more confounding than I'd like it to be. Perhaps I should do some better planning? Hmmmm....Sometimes, you just want something that hasn't been on the menu in the last 6 months.

Well, after being gone for 3 days, having a LONG day yesterday, and coming home late last night, I wanted something (relatively) easy for dinner tonight. Now, PW posted a Chicken with Tomatoes & Garlic, which looked wonderful. However, I didn't have enough canned tomatoes to make it.... sigh.... So I hopped on over to Tasty Kitchen for some inspiration. I saw a yummy looking recipe for some chicken legs, but again, not all of the ingredients.... so I decided to wing it...

I took 8 legs & 8 thighs, removed the skin (left the bones) and placed them in my crock pot with salt & pepper. I started them on high and cooked for a few hours till I could see hardly any pink. While they were cooking, I mixed up the following ingredients and then poured it over the chicken pieces:

10oz seedless raspberry jam/preserves
1c. ketchup
1/4c. worstershire sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
4 chopped up cloves of garlic
2 shakes of Tapatio hot sauce

After I added the sauce, I cooked it (still on high) for another 3 hours (give or take). Basically, I wanted the meat falling off the bones and the sauce nicely mixed up with the liquid that the chicken had made in the previous 4 hours.

Just LOOK at this.... chunks of garlic, yummy sauce, meat that falls apart... YUM YUM YUM!!

I let it sit for about a half hour (while the olive cheese bread was cooking) and served it with a salad and the olive cheese bread, with MUCH less olives. Oh, and I followed it all up with some of PW's insanely delicious Apple Dumplings.  The only change I make to that recipe is that I use 3 apples - cutting each into 6th's - instead of 2 apples cut into 8 pieces. We all agreed that a little more apple was in order.

The chicken does produce a fair amount of "juice" which translates into yummy broth AND fat. While I didn't drain off the fat before adding the sauce, I did spoon some of it off after cooking it down. There was enough chicken here to feed all 5 of us and leave a good amount left over. I pulled all the remaining meat off the bones and shredded the meat, which was mostly already to that point. I placed it and ALL the sauce/juice into a container & put it in the fridge. I think I'll serve it over rice for dinner tomorrow... YUM...

Coffee, you need not apply, and other food stuff....

Some people like coffee in the morning. Some even like soda. But me, well for me there's NOTHING in this world that compares to a glass of OJ.... Especially FRESH SQUEEZED....

Look at that.... don't get me wrong, frozen concentrate is ok, that Simply Orange stuff is even better. However fresh squeezed, particularly when it's winter - when the oranges are best, well there's just nothing like it.

This little baby makes fresh OJ a breeze!! My mom got it for me more than a decade ago..... I absolutely LOVE it. I love most that it gets ALL the possible juice from an orange. From just 4 oranges I can get 24 ounces of liquid gold.... mmmmm I love this stuff!

Then, I perused PW's recipes.... I made her sausage gravy from the website and from her cookbook I made chicken fried steak. LOOK at this gravy. Holy moly. Sausage & cream.... mmmmmmm....... by the way, this IS phenomenal over biscuits... but we didn't have biscuits today....

Dale is a Chicken Fried Steak connoisseur.... Every time we've ever gone out to breakfast at a new place, he always tries the Chicken Fried Steak. So far, according to Dale, the BEST EVER Chicken Fried Steak is to be found at Mel's Diner in Reno. I'm not a big fan of this dish, I just can't justify beating a good steak to mush, breading it and then drenching in gravy... But who am I to deny a guy his favorite breakfast?

After eating this (along with eggs and my country potatoes) he says, "this is ALMOST as good as  Mel's." WHAT??? OMG really? I was excited because I tasted the Chicken Fried Steak at Mel's, and even though I am not a huge fan of it, it tasted really good. Like any mom/wife, I really LOVE it when my family likes what I cook. The only thing I don't like about cooking is the mess:

After we stacked a bunch more wood, I started thinking of dinner.... and opted for Spinach Salad and Olive Cheese Bread.

Let me start with the Salad.... I've had spinach salad before.... but at home it was always made with the store bought dressings & raw onions. The sauteed onions and mushrooms? That was just too much good stuff. Ok, there's NEVER too much good stuff. The dressing made from scratch was amazing. It was PERFECT!!!

And the Bread??? Oh man. This stuff is really great. It was a touch on the salty side, and I think the next time I make it (and there will be MANY next times for this bread) I will use fewer olives - particularly the green ones. It was salty enough that I'm really glad I didn't serve it with anything BUT a salad.

I had a dream.... and it's name was cookie....

Last night I was craving cookies. Now, I still, remarkably, have some Girl Scout cookies.... likely only because I put them WAY in the back of the pantry. Out of sight out of mind, right? Well, those weren't exactly doing it for me.... so today, I looked for something else. 

I ran across PW's recipe for Oatmeal Crispies (click there to see the step-by-step instructions for the dough). I thought yeah, that might just do it! I wanted something that I could at least THINK was healthy... with oatmeal and pecans well that would be perfect. But then, I decided to tweak it a bit. 

I doubled the recipe and then divided the dough in half, and omitted 1/3 of the oatmeal. The first half I mixed up and ALSO added Macadamia nuts, chopped apricots and cranberries (equal amounts to the pecans):

Seriously, this stuff was really good. And I did learn one bonus to making THIS much dough all at once - you can eat enough to not want to eat anymore and still have plenty of dough left to make lots of cookies! So, I highly recommend this to anyone who likes to eat cookie dough.

The other half of the dough I set aside, before I added the pecans. Now, this dough is really tasty. I'm not sure why I like it SO much... but let's just say, between you & me, I probably ate a full half cup of the plain dough before I added the pecans:

After I mixed all the goodies into the dough, I divided it and wrapped them up in parchment, stuck 'em in freezer bags & into the freezer. I followed Ree's directions (10 minutes at 350), but they weren't even the slightest bit browned.... so another 5 minutes and they came out looking like this:

First were the cookies (nearly) as the recipe directed. I think omitting a  third of the oats might not be such a good idea if you're not adding a bunch of other stuff....However, they were still tasty as all get out and I will definitely make them again, and again... and again....

Now, the ones that I added all the other good stuff to. I found that because the cranberries and macadamia nuts and apricots were somewhat larger pieces, I couldn't cut them quite as thin as the other. As a result, they're a bit softer in the middle.... but the flavors.... the nuts and fruit??? Oh man, this was JUST what the doctor ordered:

Individual Scalloped Potatoes

I included a link to the recipe I used - just click on this post's title above & you'll go to Tasty Kitchen.... in all it's glory!!

Let me start off with this. I have left over ham.... LOTS and LOTS of left over ham. Now. PW added diced ham to these, but I went with the original and served it as a side... to go with my copious quantities of left over ham.

Everyone ooo'd and ahhh'd and there was much lip smacking to be heard. In short, these little beauties were well received by my family......

 

Now, for just a moment, cast your eyes upward and be thankful for potatoes, cheese, butter, cream and green onions... for this is the GOOD stuff my friends... Oh and the even better stuff? See that little upright lacy looking thing? That's cheese.... glorious crunchy cheese.....

So.... make these.... with or without the ham in them... just make them. 'Cause they're YUMMY.

Food!!!

I used to post on Facebook, all the food I made. However, as with everything else I did on Facebook, I did it a LOT. Which meant that all my friend's walls were getting flooded with everything I posted. So, as with life in general, I decided I'd start posting here instead.... and I'd start with What I made for Easter:

OOOOOHHHHHH Dessert... Yes, Yes, Please, dessert first. This is Apple Cake in a Cast Iorn Skillet - from Pioneer Woman's website (aka PW).

 

And these INCREDIBLE potatoes are Creamy Herbed Potatoes, also PW fare..... and simply devine!

Oven Roasted Asparagus (also PW fare). I will NEVER, EVER go back to steaming asparagus again. EVER. These were wonderful fresh from the oven and true to her word, PW claims they're great cold from the fridge the next day.... she wasn't kidding!!!!

 Buttered Rosemary Rolls (PW strikes again) and no, I had no clue why the photo is sideways, no matter how I tried I couldn't get this one to turn just 90degrees to the left. While the recipe calls for making them in a cast iron skillet, I made them in a 9x13 glass casserole and they were just fine!

 

Orange Glazed Yams. I got this recipe from cooks.com

 

Sauted green beans with garlic, shallots and bacon. 

  

Ham..... of course

 

And then there were left-overs. PW's Buttered Rosemary Rolls with left over ham were JUST what the doctor ordered the next day......