Involuntary Manslaughter Fried Potato Balls

I love surfing the web for new ideas for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It is so wonderful to be able to simply Google "sponge cake" and you have thousands of options at your finger tips.  Even television has The Food Network, my absolute favorite.  I  found myself justifying a 50 dollar hike in my cable bill simply to keep that beautiful channel which by the way is responsible for at least 40 lbs of my personal weight gain.  Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, Rachel Ray and the Queen of butter and fat Paula Deen.  This recipe is one I found on Paula Deen.com.  The recipe was simple and I was craving a good deep fried treat.  These are so yummy!  My kids simply gobbled them up and asked through a mouthful of food, when I would be making them again.   As I could sense open heart surgery in my future if these were on a weekly menu I decided to file this one away for a Christmas appetizer.  A much better option than involuntary manslaughter.

1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
5 tablespoons milk

In a large mixing bowl, mix ingredients in order given. Drop from a tablespoon into deep fryer at 360ºF. When brown, drain on brown paper. Serve hot.

Paula suggests having these with syrup.  Oh sweet Jesus could it get any better.

http://www.pauladeen.com/index.php/recipes/view2/french_fried_potato_balls/

The Basement Flooded Chili

With global warming has come larger than normal amounts of rain in our area.  Over the last two weeks I have felt the need to begin to build an arc.  Just to be on the safe side.  So this Sunday I thought I would be ahead of the game and make a crock pot full of warm spicy chili.  This would prevent me from having to unsuccessfully avoid the Sunday evening clean up from a large dinner.  So I diligently got the ingredients together and allowed them to simmer all afternoon.  Maybe, just maybe I would get a chance to have a rainy day nap or curl up on the couch and leaf through a magazine.  Approximately 1 hour before supper was set to be served my husband came up from downstairs to tell me that water was coming into the basement.  This wouldn't have been so crazy if we hadn't just had the basement finished after a larger flood caused by a power outage.  The new dry wall, the new plaster, the painters were coming oh dear god.!  Fortunately we got things dried up quite quickly and the olive branch was in site when the rain slowed down and eventually stopped.  Arc building was averted.

This Chili is normally delicious, however it was never more so then that Sunday afternoon.

                                        
1 lb hamburger meat                                 1/2 green pepper diced 
1 small onion diced                                       1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste                                       1 can kidney beans
3/4 cup water                                               1 can mushrooms
1/2 cup celery diced                                     salt & pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chili powder                                     1/2 tsp cumin

Fry hambuger and drain the fat off.  Add to slowcooker along with the remaining ingredients.  DO NOT DRAIN THE KIDNEY BEANS.   Allow this to simmer on low for 2 to 3 hours.  We serve ours with shredded mozzarella and a dollop of sour cream.  When my kids were younger I would even give them some tortillia chips to dip their chili.  Yum Yum

Mama's Marinated Carrots

This is another recipe handed down from my mother.  I don't remember where she got it from but I remember how we all raved about them in my youth.  We would eat them straight out of the container in the fridge.  Mom would get so irritated when there was nothing but a dish of sauce and the odd green pepper left in the fridge.  My three brothers and myself never wanted to own up to being the person that ate the last carrot so we would just leave the container in the fridge and play dumb.

2lbs carrots
1 green pepper (sliced in thin stripes)
1 onion sliced
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil (never olive oil)
1 can tomato soup (anything but Campbells)
3/4 cup white sugar

Cut carrots either in medallions or quarters.  It is really your personal preference.  I do it the quickest way which is in quarters.  Boil carrots until they are almost done.  If you cook the carrots until they are completely soft they will eventually be too mushy to enjoy.  The last minute of boiling I throw in the onions and the peppers.  I only want to soften them to make them more palatable for even the most rigid onion hater.  Drain the vegetables and set aside in a large bowl. 

Mix together the remaining ingredients in a small pot and just bring them to a boil.  Stir all the time to ensure the sugar dissolves.  Once it comes to a boil pour the liquid over the carrots.  Stir so that the carrots are all covered.  Let this sit out and come to room temp.  Then cover and refridgerate for at least a day.  The longer they sit the better they are!!  Serve these cold!  My mouth is watering now so I am going to enjoy a warm roll and a cold dish of carrots now.  I will even make the extra effort to take the dish out of the fridge! 

Enjoy!

Newly Wed Spaghetti Sauce

This is my all time favorite spaghetti sauce recipe.  My son loves it and always tells me that I need to make it more often.  I enjoy playing Michael Buble and having a glass of wine while I am making it.  It also makes the kids clear out of the kitchen while I am preforming an impromptu duet.  This recipe was given to me by my mother after I moved in with my husband.  She had gotten it from a family friend and believe it or not he is Acadien and not Italian!

1 can tomatoes (crushed)                                                 1 Bay Leaf
1 can tomato paste                                                           1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups water                                                              2 tsp chili powder
1 lb ground hamburger or sausage                                    1 tsp oregano
4 cloves of garlic (crushed)                                               1/4 tsp thyme
1 large onion diced                                                           1/4 tsp rosemary
1/2 cup celery diced                                                         *when using rosemary
1 cup canned mushrooms                                           I use a mortar & pestle
1 1/2 tsp sugar                                                                   to grind to a powder*
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp ground cloves


Brown the meat with onions, garlic, celery.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 3 to 4 hours covered and then for 1 hour uncovered.  The longer it simmers the better it is.

This is absolutely DELICIOUS the next day after the sauce has sat overnight.