Fall Breakfast Casserole for Tailgating

I had not thought of mulling Apricot Nectar before, but it sounds rather interesting. I like the fact that you make it up ahead of time and can store it in the refrigerator. If you were serving this is a punch bowl, or chafing dish, you could stick a few whole cloves in the other half of the lemon sliced as a decoration.

We joined the old gang Saturday morning for a Tailgate Party before the game. At first we would bring a cold picnic lunch, and then people started bringing in hot dishes, and soon the guys were barbequeing, and now that everybody comes early to the games we have to arrive so early that we begin with breakfast. Some fans stay and have a late night dinner after the game!

So now, it’s not just fix a couple of dishes to share, it is fix TWO meals to take.

There are all kinds of versions of this Breakfast Casserole around, but this one is easy and transports well. When I fixed it Friday night, I chopped in a bright red pepper for color.

Hearty Breakfast Casserole:

8 eggs
7 slices of bread
1 pound mild cheddar cheese
4 cups milk
1 package sage breakfast sausage crumbled
2 teaspoons dry mustard
Dash Worcestershire sauce

Use a firm bread, such as French or Italian or Whole Wheat. Trim off the crusts and save for another use. Cut bread into 1 inch cubes. Place the break on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Beat the eggs with a hand whisk in a large mixing bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour over the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Cook at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Serves 4 to 8 depending on the size of the servings and what else is on the menu.

Unusual Fall Hot Apricot Drink

Guess who HAD to buy a jug of cider Saturday at the store? Max, dear, it would not be Fall without real cider. Not that pasteurized apple juice that people try to pass off as cider. We sometimes buy up some at the end of the season and let it turn into Hard Cider. Now that is a drink! It is what our ancestors drank all winter.

All right, Max, I can hear you now. “There goes Erma with her alcohol enhanced recipes.” So? Hard Cider has to be full of vitamins, minerals, and other such necessary stuff. Remember, that it is All Natural–which must count for something.

If you tire of Cider, and I never do, try this unusual Fall drink. Mulled Apricot Nectar is a nice change from the more usual hot Mulled Cider.

Mulled Apricot Nectar:

1 can (46 ounces) apricot nectar
½ lemon, sliced
2 sticks cinnamon
15 whole cloves
8 whole allspice berries
Sugar or honey (optional)

In a heavy saucepan bring everything to a boil and then simmer gently for 5 minutes. Taste after a minutes or so and see if you want to add a bit on sugar or honey for a sweeter nectar.

Remove pan from heat, cover and let stand 30 minutes. Strain. Reheat when you are ready to serve. Makes about 5 cups.

Quick and easy Fresh Coffeecake from the Midwest

Yep, Erma, it definitely is Fall gingerbread weather.

Here is another quick and fool proof “cake” recipe that you, the clueless cake decorator, can use. No frosting, or decorating at all.

Coffeecakes like this were a staple of every household when I was growing up. We used to make them up in the morning and as soon as they came out of the oven, we drove them out to the fields for a midmorning coffee break where the men were harvesting the corn or soybeans.

Like a lot of my other favorite foods, this kind of coffee cake seems to have gone out of style, and I can’t understand why. They are so easy to make. And, heaven knows, fresher and better than the bear claws on the grocery shelves. Thirty minutes, thirty-five tops, and you have a fresh from the oven, home made coffeecake!

As this cake bakes, some of the crumb topping “flops” down into the coffee cake, giving it a great flavor and a marbleized look. I think Flops were a New England thing.

Midwest Cinnamon Flop Coffeecake:

1 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup butter
2 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons solid shortening
1 ½ cups sugar, white
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

In small mixing bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon; cut in the butter with a fork until you have crumbs.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Cream the shortening in a mixer, and gradually beat in the white sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. On low speed alternate mixing in the flour and milk. Pour into an 8” square greased baking pan. Sprinkle on the brown sugar crumbs. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

Yields 8 servings. And yes, you can dress it up with a few chopped nuts.

Real New England Gingerbread for Fall

A school Fall Festival. Now, doesn’t that bring back some memories? Seems like we baked for days. I always brought in cookies, or brownies, or your Rice Crispy Squares, and I am sure you know why. I just couldn’t compete with the fancy cakes. Yes, I know that I make some really excellent homemade cakes. It’s that whole decorating thing that eludes me.

I keep saying that I should take a Cake Decorating Course and learn to pipe on little flowers, and names, and such. But, let’s face it, I would probably fail Cake Decorating I. I have illegible handwriting, does anyone think that I could do better with a pastry bag? The poor instructor would not doubt take me aside after a few disasters and offer to refund my money.

It was little consolutation that my cakes tasted great, and that I knew some of those beautifully decorated things were really straight out of a box. Mine just were not eye catching. Okay, they were eye catching, but for all the wrong reasons. So I stayed with safe cookies.

Which sort of brings me to one of my all time favorite cake recipes: Old New England Gingerbread. “Old New”? Anyway, Max, you know what I mean.

The first cool fall days and I begin to think of making Gingerbread. I loved it as a kid, AND you don’t ever decorate it with frosting!!

This has to be one of my oldest recipes. It dates back to our early days when all I had was one of those weak little Portable Electric Hand Mixers that would barely beat eggs. I remember distinctly that it struggled to even mix a box cake.

Somewhere in those first years, I came across this recipe, and I wrote down in my Cooking Notebook that, “This authentic New England recipe came from the “Boston Post Newspaper.” It was first published in the 1930’s and is still there most requested recipe.” Of course, that was in the 1960’s. Who knows if New England ladies are still making Gingerbread?

My notes go on to say that, “There is NO ginger in this recipe, and that all the early Gingerbread recipes did not include ginger.” Wonder if that is true?

Anyway, I made this a lot in those pre-decent mixer years as you can mix it all by hand. It is at its best served warm (Bless you, Oh microwave) and with a hot Lemon Sauce.

Old New England Gingerbread:

1 cup sugar
½ cup solid shortening
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup real molasses
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 cup boiling water

Beat the eggs slightly in a large mixing bowl with a hand whisk. Add everything else but the boiling water and stir until shortening is in small lumps. Pour on the boiling water and stir by hand until the shortening is completely blended in the batter.

Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan that has been well buttered. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes. Test as for any cake.

Serve with a hot Lemon Sauce.

Fall Treat Recipes

Erma, I never fail to be amazed at how our minds seem to focus on the same thing at the same time. There you were celebrating the beginning of fall with a fragrant pot roast, and I was busy making batches of Rice Crispy Squares to the Fall Festival at the grandchildren’s school. And I thought that the days of baking for school carnivals was over when the kids graduated? Ha! Since it is only us grandmothers who have the time (and lack of brains) to spend hours in the kitchen baking, here we are years later still cranking out the baked goodies.

One of the things Cate specifically requested for the Bake Sale was that old 1950’s standard Rice Crispy Squares. “No problem,” I said. Guess what? They no longer print the recipe on the cereal box anymore. I actually had to spend quite a while hunting through old cookbooks to find the recipe. I found lots of “improvements” like adding M & M’s, candy bars, nuts and such. Frankly, the original is still the best. It must be, as the things sold like hotcakes at the Home Baked Treats Booth.

By the way, don’t ever, ever buy the already made Rice Crispy Squares. They are dreadful!

Rice Crispy Squares:

¼ cup butter
36 regular sized marshmallows (about half of a standard 16 oz package)
½ teaspoon vanilla
5 ½ cups Rice Crispies

In a large saucepan melt the butter over low heat and then add marshmallows. Cook and stir until all marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat and pour in the cereal. Stir well and stir in the vanilla.

Pour at once into a well buttered 13 x 9 x 2 pan. Press down lightly so cereal sticks together. Use the back of a large cooking spoon that has been buttered to press down the cereal. Cool and then cut into bars with a serrated knife.

Fall Meat Recipes-Pot Roast

Max, look at the calendar. It says October, and that means that FALL is here!! The heat is over (okay, so it is still unusually hot here) and now we can think of cooking hearty recipes with things like pumpkin and apples. I have become more than a little tired of summer salads, and so, even though it is still quite warm, I made Classic Fall Pot Roast Sunday.

Is there a man alive who does not love Pot Roast? Such a homey dish, and easy, and cheap. Usually I put carrots and potatoes in to cook with the roast, but this version with its rich gravy is supposed to be served over noodles which says to me that it had its origins in Germany or Austria. The long marinade soak says, to me, that this is supposed to be a pretty tough cut of meat–which is good as the selection of beef roasts, at a reasonable price, lately seems to be poor.

This is a recipe that also works well in a Slow Cooker like the CorningWare Slow Cooker. Just use the low setting for about 6 hours.

Classic Fall Pot Roast:

3 to 4 pound beef roast (with or without bone)
Meat tenderizer (optional)
2 large onions
2 tablespoon sugar
1 lemon
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon salt
12 black peppercorns
1 ½ cup red wine (can substitute apple juice)
2 tablespoons shortening
2 tablespoons flour

If using, sprinkle roast with a little meat tendizer and then place in a casserole dish with a cover. Slice the onion and lemon and mix with all the seasonings. Then add the wine or apple juice. Pour over the roast. Marinade should half cover the roast.

Marinade, covered, in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Turn the meat several times. Next day drain the roast and save the marinade.

Brown the roast on all sides in shortening in skillet or heavy kettle with lid. Simmer with the saved marinade, covered, for 3 to 4 hours, adding additional wine or liquid if necessary.

Remove the meat and keep hot. Blend the flour with a small amount of water and stir into the remaining marinade in the skillet. Bring marinade to a boil and scrape all bits of meat off the bottom of the skillet. Add the flour/water and cook until thickened.

Slice the roast and serve the marinade gravy over the top.

Serves 4 to 6 depending on how many males you are serving.

Unique Apricot Spread

Erma, Erma, Erma. What am I to do with you? Exactly how much Brandy and Bourbon do you really put in that Mincemeat?

“The scent of mincemeat cooking is heavenly” you said. Well, it should be. The kitchen would be like a brewery. And I know you, dear. The stuff would be simmering along and Erma would be stirring and tasting. “Hummmm, not enough Brandy yet” and in would go another cup full. If the bottle were less than half full, you would probably dump in the whole thing.

And yes, I have had your Brandy Sauce. It would cure anything that ails you. In case the turkey meal hadn’t mellowed your family, that Brandy Sauce would polish them off.

The National Association of Spirits and Alcohol Manufacturers ought to award you a medal for, “Your Selfless Promotion of Food With Spirits.”

Here I was going to send you a nice appetizer that someway found its way into my Canning and Preserving Section–okay, so it was the name Jam that sent it there–and as I was writing it out, and thinking of your mincemeat, I thought, Erma would not use apple juice to marinade the dried apricots. Erma would soak the apricots and raisins in Apricot Brandy. Erma would say soak this stuff for at least a week. Erma’s guests would ignore the cream cheese and sweet breads, and eat this Jam straight out of the bowl.

You know, it just might be an improvement on the original recipe!

Apricot-Almond Raw Jam:

½ cup dried apricots
6 to 8 whole almonds
½ cup raisinsGrated peel from 1 lemon
Apple juice to cover

Place apricots, almonds and raisins in a large jar. Cover with apple juice. Let stand at least 24 hours in the fridge. Place in blender, add the lemon peel and process until smooth. This makes a great spread with cream cheese on bread or crackers.