Mashed Cauliflower Potatoes

Here's an awesome low-fat, low-carb substitute for mashed potatoes. 

My whole family loved these....and that's a feat in and of itself!

What you'll need:

1 1/2 pounds Cauliflower Florets

1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons Mashed Potato Flakes

1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons low-fat Milk  ( I used non-fat Milk)

2 Tablespoons and 2 1/2 teaspoons Margarine

Salt and Black Pepper - to taste

Place a steamer insert into a pot and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add Cauliflower, cover and steam until tender, approx. 20 minutes. Transfer Cauliflower to a large bowl. Add Mashed Potato Flakes, Milk, and Margarine. Mash with a potato masher until Cauliflower mixture is fluffy, Season with salt and pepper.  Serve as desired.  Serves 6.

 

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Easy Egg and Rice Layered Omelet

My youngest Son came up with this recipe which has become pretty popular in our home.

Easy Eggs and Rice Omelet

Add to pan:
8 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
salt to taste

Break eggs into bowl, add milk. Whisk together. Add to medium hot skillet. Cook eggs into a flat omelet, set aside

Repeat making another flat omelet

 
Top second omelet with:
3 slices thinly sliced Ham, torn into pieces
1 cup cooked Rice

Place omelet you set aside on top

Top off with a few pieces of Ham and 1 Tablespoon of cooked Rice

You can slice up in quarters for 4 servings
or feed one big hungry man!

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The Hearty Cuban Sandwich

This is a wonderful dinner sandwich because it's served hot

 and makes for a quick filling lunch or dinner.

Great for after the Holiday's to use up leftover Ham and Turkey!

We first had this sandwich in Little Havana when we lived in Miami. I used to take the kids to a coffee shop after church on Sundays to get myself a Cafe Con Leche and they would have Mexicoke's.  We would order these sandwiches for lunch. They were so good. One day my son asked what the sauce was that they used. The waitress told him the ingredients, but not the amounts. Of course, they were Cuban Brands, but we figured out what they were, then experimented with different amounts to try to get the correct flavor.  This is what we concluded it tasted like.  Yummy Sammy!

Ingredients

Mayonnaise - 1 1/2 cups 

Italian Dressing - 1/3 cup and 2 Tablespoons and 1 teaspoon

Mustard - 1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons

Sourdough Bread - 12 slices

Deli Turkey Slices - 3/4 pound

Deli Ham Slices - 3/4 pound

Swiss Cheese slices - 3/4 pound

Dill Pickle slices - 1 1/2 cups ( if desired)

Olive oil

Directions

1. In a small bowl/jar mix together Mayonnaise, Italian dressing, and Mustard. 

 

Spread dressing mixture on inside slices of bread.

On each sandwich arrange layers of Turkey, Ham and Cheese. Top with Dill Pickle slices. 

Close sandwiches and brush tops and bottoms with Olive Oil.

2. Heat skillet over medium high heat. Place sandwiches in skillet. Cook sandwiches for 2 minutes, pressing them down with a plate or skillet.  

Flip and cook for 2 more minutes or until Cheese is melted. Remove from heat, place on plate and cut in half diagonally.

Serves 6

 

Muy deliciosa!

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Mom's Stuffing Recipe

I think we all grow up with certain smells that triggers fond memories from our childhood.
This stuffing is one that does it for me. We could me anywhere in the house and when our eyes would start to water we knew Mom was making her fabulous Stuffing!
Those onions!

We always had it for the Holidays - Thanksgiving and Christmas. We always had a Ham and a large Turkey. Why both. My Dad's family raised Turkeys when he was young - he'd only eat Ham, guess he'd had enough Turkey growing up.

My Sister has the Thanksgiving Holiday now, or should I say prior to the Pandemic.
She always has the same menu as Mom did. Whenever I was out of state I also made the same. The tradition carries on. My children look forward to that same menu each year now.  Hoping they carry it on long after I'm gone.

I'll make it again for Christmas and can't wait for those aromas to carry me back to my childhood.

Mom's Stuffing

Brown in pan:

1 Onion, ground up

2 lbs. bulk pork sausage

1 cup celery, cut up

Once brown stir in:

1 package seasoned bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

milk to moisten

Place into buttered casserole dish. Cover with foil. Bake at 325* for 1 hour. 

Serves 8.

Grind onion

Brown sausage, onion, and celery.

Add egg and milk

Butter casserole

Add stuffing

Cover with foil and bake

Done!

Yum!!

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Quick And Easy Barbeque Sauce (BBQ Rabbit Sandwiches)

We were invited over to my son's for lunch and to our surprise we were lucky enough that his wife had made BBQ Rabbit Sandwiches!

Love Rabbit. I know it probably sounds odd to a lot of you, but growing up on a farm raising our own food ~ including meat of all kinds, rabbit was a staple.

Her own recipe for Barbeque Sauce is easy and delish!

1 24 oz. bottle of any brand BBQ sauce

1/4 can of 6 oz. Orange Juice Concentrate

4 Tablespoons Worchester Sauce

5 drops Tabasco Sauce

6 shakes of Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper to taste

Add all to large pot. Whisk together and heat.

It's ready for whatever you desire barbeque sauce for.

In this case she just added 
meat from 2 deboned cooked Rabbits,

and heated through. 

Served on warm sourdough sandwich rolls with Potato Salad.

Serves 8

Leftover sauce can be kept in refrigerator for 2 months.

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Color & Cook HALLOWEEN

Print, color, relax 😊

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Nectarine Fruit Crisp

I love this recipe because you can use just about any fresh fruit with it.

Our Nectarine went crazy and produced an abundance this year!

We are eating them like crazy but it was time to do some baking. So I got up at 4am - to beat the heat - so I could bake a Nectarine Fruit Crisp. 

The kids popped a piece in the microwave when they got up and had it for breakfast! LOL

Fresh Fruit Crisp

1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter or margarine

5 - 6 cups sliced fruit

2 tablespoons sugar

Vanilla Ice Cream

Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and dash salt. Cut in butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside. 

Core and slice fruit. Place fruit in a 10x6x2 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar. Sprinkle crumb mixture over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream, if desired. Serves 8.

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Missing the Portuguese Holy Ghost Festa and Sopas

Both of my parents were Portuguese, so we attended Festas Spring through Fall throughout California each year during my childhood and I continue to do so now with my family. 

Except for this year due to the pandemic :(

Above is St. Michael's Catholic Church in Livermore my family attended and I grew up in.  We attended so many growing up. My parents always went to celebrate at St. Michael's, as well as, Manteca because we had family there.

Our family has spread out over the years ~
 since my Sister and I have left the nest, we've ventured out a bit.
My Sister lives in Petaluma so we have gone to several there.
I live in Newman, so we've celebrated here and we have attended the largest in the valley at Our Lady Of Miracles in Gustine.
It has been the largest for many, many years. When my Dad was little they lived in Modesto and would make room at their home for many Portuguese friends who would travel cross country to come to Gustine for the celebration.

When my Mother was young she was crowned Queen at St Michael's in Livermore 
where she was born and raised, as were my sister and I.

My Grandmother made her beautiful beaded long dress 
with collar and train by hand! Who was a beautiful seamstress in her own right.

Now as my parents have gotten older (and since Mom has passed) we attend The Holy Ghost in Livermore.
It's usually around Dad's Birthday so it makes for an overall beautiful celebration.

So what is the Festa? What does it represent and celebrate? 

This article describes it well. 

"Feed your fascination for other cultures by going to a Portuguese Holy Ghost festival.  Whether your name is Silva or McClanahan, you'll be welcomed.

Portuguese Americans from the Azores-many whose ancestors came to the West to fish or farm hold festas (pronounced "fesh-tas") in California, Nevada, and Hawaii. There may be one in your city or town; more than 500,000 Azorean Americans live in California alone.

The festa tradition, which has been observed in this country for about a hundred years, mingles Catholic religious beliefs and ancient legend. Although the sentiment behind festa's is the same everywhere, particular customs can differ between communities. The Sunday portion usually starts at 10 A.M., with a parade from the Portuguese hall in town to church. Other fesh-tivities sometimes including bloodless bullfights-- take place on Friday evenings, Saturdays, and Monday evenings.

But for the uninitiated, the Sunday events are the most interesting. Appointed festa Queens (big Queen and little Queen) and their Side Maids make their way down the parade route towing capes of velvet, jewels, seed pearls, beading, feathers, and appliques (their finery, and other aspects of the festa, recall 14th-century Queen Isabel, a peacemaker and friend to the poor-particularly during a Portuguese famine). 

A Portuguese brass band or two enliven the atmosphere. 

At the church, the costumed parade cast jams into the front pews, and a Mass is said, often in Portuguese. After the Mass, the priest crowns the Queen at the altar.

A feast of tradition ~

The parade then returns to the Portuguese hall, where the new Queen releases a white dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, into the air. (The popular belief that a visit from the Holy Spirit is what enabled Isabel to relieve her people's suffering is the subject of several miraculous legends; according to one, the queen, smuggling food to the poor in midwinter, produced live roses from her robes when her husband, Diniz, demanded to see what she was concealing.)

Inside the festa hall, volunteers prepare sopas e carne (beef soup),

served free to everyone in the charitable spirit of Isabel.  The cooking starts in the wee hours of the morning in order to have enough to feed everyone who attends, Portuguese or not.

To make the sopas, cows donated by Portuguese community members are slaughtered and boiled for about 6 hours in huge pots (some large enough to hold the meat of entire cows).  Added are onions, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, tomato, wine, and sometimes cabbage. The broth is poured over French bread and mint sprigs; the beef is served alongside.

Bread and meat are served to the tables in huge metal bowls along with carafes of wine.

The hall fills up fast, as people finish, more are ushered in.

Everyone makes their plate.

Throughout the day, you can usually buy other Portuguese specialties-sweet bread, linguica, tremocos (boiled lupino beans).

After the meal, an auctioneer sells donated items like homemade bread, homemade wine, homemade table linens and a multitude of other items..  

Proceeds are used to defray the cost of the festa's. Portuguese music fills the hall Sunday night (or sometimes Saturday),

and dancers stamp their feet, spin,

and pose according to the calls of the Chamarita. Generally, a community holds its festa at the same time every year."

Sunset Magazine

Every year I try (someone usually outbids me) to win some homemade delicacy.

This year I finally did!!

Portuguese Sweet Bread,  Portuguese Cheese From Portugal (huge wheel came into the Oakland Port, they cut wedges and zip locked),

Casal Mendes (a white Portuguese Wine),

and the illusive Pièce de résistance....

Aquardente (Homemade Portuguese moonshine)!!

Donations are also given after the meal. Deacon Dave receives one from the Knights of Columbus.  Talk about a small world ~ Dave and my sister graduated High School together. She used to date him!

Since they were all cancelled, I decided to make Sopas myself. Mom used to make it all the time. This is her recipe.

Sopas

Ingredients

• 3/4 container Pickling Spice
• 5 Bay Leaves
• 1 can Tomato Sauce
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
• Dash Salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup Dry Red Wine (Burgandy)
• 3 lbs. Stew Meat
• 1 bunch Fresh Mint, tied into a bundle
• 1 loaf French Bread, sliced
• Water, to cover

Place Pickling Spice and Bay Leaves in Spice Bag or make Cheesecloth bundle.

Tie spice bundle tight

You can see Mom's recipe had been used many, many times

Boil meat till tender, reserving the liquid. Place all ingredients, but the Mint, into dutch oven/kettle. Fill with water until all is covered. Simmer 3-4 hours, covered.

Add the tied bunch of Mint. 

Simmer 20 minutes more covered. Remove spice bundle and Mint bunch. Discard. Serve gravy and meat over sliced French Bread and enjoy!