Tag Archives: Jacob

July 22, 2015 · 4:22 am

Birthday Casserole

Because a certain someone has a BIRTHDAY TODAY …and one of his ulterior motives to help me with the technical aspects of a blog was to have access to his favorite recipes….another of Grandma B’s recipes.

Mrs. Granatowicz’s Casserole

(Mrs. G was a LEIGH, NEBR- neighbor-)

A JACOB Favorite

1 ½ lbs. hamburger

1 C chopped celery

1 C chopped onion

2 Tb Oil or Butter

1 sm can mushrooms chopped

1 can cream of mushroom Soup undiluted

1 can cream of Chicken Soup undiluted

1 can Chinese Noodles

  1. brown onions & celery in butter
  2. mix soups together Add the above to soups.
  3. brown hamburger , then add #1 & 2

You can add ½ can bean sprouts or/& water chestnuts. I usually DO NOT. Also, you can leave out the can of mushrooms – I usually use these.

  1. Place in casserole
  2. Top w/ Chinese Noodles.
  3. BAKE 350° for 25 to 30 MIN – until heated through. I have a friend who uses Chicken in place of hamburger.

From Jeanette Burrey, I didn’t date the year she gave me the box, but this was in the box….

Back in the day, Chinese noodles meant one thing - THESE things. Now, there's quite a variety of noodles called Chinese

Back in the day, Chinese noodles meant one thing – THESE things. Now, there’s quite a variety of noodles called Chinese, but these are the one I’m talking about today

The beauty of this casserole is that it is also a last minute Express Lane Special. I usually have celery and onions on hand, it’s the hamburger and the soups – the crema – and the noodles that I need to grab and go. One short list, 10 items or fewer.and a quick mix up and pop in the oven once home. A salad and a bowl of fruit….even better if it’s pineapple chunks you eat with toothpicks or a mango, cut up hedgehog style – OK, 2 more things to pick up.

Open can, pour into a bowl, stick some toothpick in the hunks, happy child at the end of a meal

Open can, pour into a bowl, stick some toothpick in the hunks, happy child at the end of a meal

cut in half, discard pit (or try to root it - I got a little shoot growing out once, but then the cats played wit it one night...)and then cut slices one and and across but not through the skin - pop up and serve...with extra napkins - mangoes are JUICY

cut in half, discard pit (or try to root it – I got a little shoot growing out once, but then the cats played wit it one night…)and then cut slices one and and across but not through the skin – pop up and serve…with extra napkins – mangoes are JUICY

Jacob and me

Happy Birthday!

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October 22, 2014 · 4:18 am

The History of Corn is amazing

Or is it more properly ‘a-maizing’?
Either way, a few pictorial highlights – and a recipe – for a Wicked Wayback Wednesday from a talk I gave on a dark and stormy night for the South Shore Locavores.

corn

The audience was all ears!

In a nutshell –

Corn has been around for thousands of years in the America, in Europe not so long. In the 16th century maize was new and fashionable, but since it was easy to grow, and grow well, it became more and more common and less and less fashionable…..case in point – polenta.

Murillo - the Polenta Woman -17th century - notice how she's not fashionable

Murillo – the Polenta Woman -17th century – notice how she’s not fashionable

Pietro Longhi - Polenta - notice that it's being pored onto a cloth, from which it will be eaten

Pietro Longhi – Polenta – notice that it’s being pored onto a cloth, from which it will be eaten. This is the 18th century when ‘The Poor’ become romanticized. Their romantic  image is fashionable, not the poor actual selves .

made in Italy Gio Lochetti

In Made in Italy Giorgio Locatelli describe making polenta that is right out of the 18th century painting. He also writes of the irony of cooking the food his family ate to stay warm and fed in Italy in  a high end restaurant in London for people to pay a pretty penny to try. Polenta is now fashionable!

Click here for the recipe of Polenta in Chains – Polenta with Beans and kale and spinach that I brought. It’s from Michele Scicolone  The Italian Slow Cooker Italian slow cooker book

Polenta in Chains bears an uncanny resemblance to 17th century English  pottage, which was made with maize instead of oats when Englishmen came to North America, changing things to keep them the same.

Esau and Jacob Mathias Stom, 1640's. That's a Mess of Pottage in the bowl

Esau and Jacob Mathias Stom, 1640’s. That’s a Mess of Pottage in the bowl. The bread is pretty great, too.

Almost all the pottage in 17th century images include Jacob and Esau

Almost all the pottage in 17th century images include Jacob and Esau

A re-created 17th century English Pottage by Elizabeth Pickard

A re-created 17th century English Pottage by Elizabeth Pickard

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