Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
from https://pinchofyum.com/instant-pot-mashed-potatoes


Ingredients
about 2.5 lb russet potatoes
2 t salt, divided
1/4 c butter
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 c cream cheese
1/4 parmesan cheese
1 t garlic powder

Peel potatoes and quarter.  Add to instant pot and cover with water (around 4 cups).  Add a teaspoon of salt.  Cook on steam setting for 12 minutes.  Release steam right away.  Drain.

Mash potatoes with a potato masher.  Let the steam escape for a few minutes, then mix in the butter, olive oil, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, remaining salt, and garlic powder. 

Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf
from Aunt Frances and Uncle Paul,
via Southern Living Homestyle Cooking, slightly modified

MeatLoaf:
2 pounds ground beef
3/4 c uncooked regular oats
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper

Saucy Topping:
1/2 c ketchup
3 T brown sugar
2 T spicy brown mustard

Combine MeatLoaf ingredients in a large bowl; stir well.  Form beef mixture into a loaf and place in a pan for baking.

Combine Topping ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well.  Spoon half the mixture over the top of the meatloaf.  Bake uncovered at 375 for 1 hour 15 minutes.  Spoon remaining mixture over meatloaf and bake 10 more minutes. 


*****

Aunt Frances and Uncle Paul gave us this cookbook when we were married and we have used it frequently!  Other favorites include cheese grits, lemon bars, fried shrimp, and hushpuppies.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

from Lauren's Latest https://laurenslatest.com/lemon-crinkle-cookies/ 

• ½ cups Butter, Softened
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ⅛ teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
3. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
4. *If using a non stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Lemon Bundt Cake

Lemon Bundt Cake
from https://www.culinaryhill.com/lemon-bundt-cake/

Cake:
1 pkg lemon cake mix
1 (3.4 oz) package instant lemon pudding
2/3 c water
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 t lemon zest

Glaze
3/4 c powdered sugar
1 T milk
1/2 t vanilla (I always go heavy on vanilla)
1-2 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350.  Generously coat large Bundt pan with Baker's Joy spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix and dry pudding.  Add water, oil, lemon juice, eggs, lemon zest; stir to combine.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes.  Cool 15 mins in pan.  Invert onto cooling rack and cool completely.
For glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.  Add lemon juice until the glaze is thin enough to pour.  Drizzle over cooled cake and let glaze harden for at least 10 minutes.


** Every year when the lemons come off the trees at Grammers' house, we juice a bunch and freeze the juice in cubes to use all year.  But also while there's fresh lemon juice in the house, we make all the lemon recipes.  We made this delicious treat for Grandma Day on Great-Grandma's birthday a few times because chocolate isn't her favorite, but citrus is.  This is a springtime classic.

Hammy Sammies

Hammy Sammies
  from Becky Higgins

24 rolls (I've used Sister Schubert's parbaked frozen rolls, Hawaiian rolls, and Costco's yeast rolls, and it doesn't matter they are all delicious.)
mayonnaise
12 thick slices deli ham (black forest)  
12 slices Swiss cheese
1/2 c. melted butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Slice rolls in half so they open. Spread mayo on top and bottom of the inside of each roll. Assemble rolls with ½ slice of cheese and ½ slice of ham. Place all of these in a baking pan or stone. Mix together the melted butter, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Brush this mixture all over the tops of the rolls and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until heated through.

This is one of my favorite things to make to take in to families who are sick or have a new baby because leftover sandwiches go well in lunchboxes the next day.  A bag of chips and a few grapes and you're ready to go.  In colder weather, serve with a nice brothy soup (visiting teacher soup, anyone?) as an indulgent roll, or with macaroni and cheese to make the kids happy.  It's also a good way to use up leftovers from an Easter or Christmas ham. (Save the ham hock for Bean and Ham Soup.)

See someone else's post, with photos, here: https://www.kerribradford.com/2011/09/21/ham-swiss-rolls/

Bean and Ham Soup

Bean and Ham Soup
from the delightful Tammy Adams

1 pound navy beans (2 1/2 cups)
5 cups water
1 clove garlic
1 ham hock
1 t salt

Soak beans in water at least 4 hours.  You'll want to add MUCH more water than beans because they expand.  Drain water.
Add garlic, ham hock, beans, and water to crock pot.  Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours of high for 4 hours.  Add salt during the last hour of cooking time.
Remove ham hock from cooker and allow to cool.  Cut ham off hock and stir back into bean mixture.

Note from the original recipe:  "The most important thing of this recipe is you MUST use a ham hock.  I will make a ham for Sunday dinner and then keep the blessed hock to use for this soup!  I will sometimes cook a ham just so that I can have the hock for this soup.  It is really that good.  Be careful for the occasional bone.  For added flavor or color, you can add onion, celery, carrots, or tomatoes."

Tammy brought me this when when I was sick with pneumonia and also had two newborns.  I ate it for days and then got the recipe and made my mom make me another batch.  Now it is one of my cold-weather favorites!

Holy Turkey Loaf

Holy Turkey Loaf
from the amazing Gina Gephart Adams

2 lbs ground turkey
2 eggs
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
2 cups parmesan cheese
1 palmful chopped fresh parsley
1/3 c. olive oil
1 T minced dried onions (from Costco)
1 t granulated garlic (from Costco)
lots of salt and pepper (which we get in grinders from Costco)
1/2 can French's fried onions (I use about 2 handfuls... from Costco)

Mix ingredients and form into loaf. Place in a greased 8x11 glass pan and top loaf with a little more olive oil and some more parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. Bake at 365 (yes 365) for 45 to 60 minutes (internal temp of 165). Don't let it go too long or it will dry out. YUM.
(The best part is the "crust," so I've formed two loaves today to make extra surface area: more crustiness. Just a tip.