BAKED BEANS

College football is my favorite time of the year. I consider it a pre season and prepares me for College BASKETBALL season. Hey, I'm from Indiana. What do you expect? 

And it is just around the corner. That being said, we are going to explore some cool foods that you can make for Game Day. Take 'em to the 'Tailgate'  or to your living room.

One of the easiest is baked beans. They go well with just about anything. And they are so easy to spruce up. Here is my version 

1 - 28 OZ CAN OF BUSHES ORIGINAL BAKED BEANS

2 - TEASPOONS BROWN SUGAR

¼ - CUP CHOPPED ONIONS

2 -3 STRIPS OF BACON CUT TO 1” STRIPS

1 – DASH OF TABASCO SAUCE

2 – TABLESPOONS CATSUP     (YOU DID MAKE YOUR OWN, RIGHT ??)

PLACE BEANS IN 8 X 8 ALUMINUM PAN. DO NOT DRAIN (I USE DISPOSABLES)

ADD BROWN SUGAR, ONIONS,BACON, TABASCO SAUCE AND CATSUP.

STIR

Cover with foil, and place in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 45 minutes. 

 I hope your team wins. (Unless it is Florida State)

FRIED HOT DOGS

Friends,

     I was going through some files and found a couple that I wrote about six months ago, and never posted. I guess I got busy with retirement and they slipped my mind. This and the last two posts are from this forgotten file.  ENJOY.

FRIED HOT DOGS

Hot Dogs. American food. We eat 'em at picnics and ball games. Fast and easy to make, most guys throw them in boiling water or the microwave.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING ????

You can do better than a stinking microwave !!

Guys love fried food or all kinds, and there is not a better game day treat than fried up Doggies !!!

And your cardiologist will love you.

PUT 2 OR 3 PATS OF BUTTER IN FRYING PAN AND BRING TO SIZZLE (Bacon fat also works !!)

CUT HOT DOGS DOWN THE CENTER ALMOST ALL THE WAY THROUGH

OPEN THEM UP AND PLACE IN PAN

COOK UNTIL BROWN THEN TURN OVER AND REPEAT

Before done, place ½ slice of cheese (folded in half) on the inside of the hot dog. (American or Mozzarella. )

Cover pan with lid and remove from heat. Allow cheese to melt

PUT ON PAPER TOWEL TO DRAIN GREASE.

PLACE ON BUN WITH CONDIMENTS OF YOUR CHOICE. 

I used chopped lettuce, chopped onion, & mustard.

All done !!! Add some chips and beer and go turn on the ball game.

BAKED UP SKETTI

I love sketti. Plain and simple, it's my favorite food. I am a true PASTA lover. With this in mind you will find some really good recipes here for sketti. We'll do plain sketti, sketti with meatballs and sketti with meat sauce. We do it as many ways as we can.

This one is easy. Left Overs !!!!.

We have a Greek restaurant in Ocala named LAKIS that we have been eating at for well over twenty five years. http://places.singleplatform.com/lakis-greek-and-italian-restaurant/menu

They make all kinds of things Penny loves, and one thing for me. BAKED SPAGHETTI !!! 

 

I always wanted to try my hand at it. And the other night the opportunity arose.

We had friends over to celebrate my recent retirement from the work force. (I was in Broadcasting for almost 50 years. But I digress.) 

Penny made her famous Spaghetti & Meat Balls.

Don't worry. We will get around to that recipe (or something similar) when I can figure out how it's done.

Any who, I thought what a great way to use the leftovers. Let's bake it !!

In a casserole dish, put in a ungodly amount of pasta (cook it first). Then add a bunch of sauce, and a gaggle of meatballs. Then add 8-10 ounces of mushrooms (pre cooked). You can get small cans of mushrooms at the grocery. There are lots of choices. Top it all off with about three pounds of mozzarella cheese. (Just kidding, amounts are to taste) I USED 8 OZ

I am showing one serving PRIOR to adding the cheese for viewing clarity. Now add the damn cheese.

It's also a good idea to throw a couple rolls on a cookie sheet as well. I used Pepperidge Farms.

 

Make sure you have some garlic butter on hand.

Throw it all in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Check the temp with your handy dandy Thermo gadget. The hotter the better.

This made for a great dinner for Penny and me. AND I had enough left over for lunch the next day. 

RECIPE

½ POUND of you favorite PASTA

Left over sauce and meatballs

1 can Mushrooms

1 8 oz. bag of shredded whole milk Mozzarella Cheese

Place sketti in serving dish, then add sauce, meatball and mushrooms. I suppose you could stir it a bit if you so desire, I just did the 'layered' thing.

Add cheese on top, and bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so. If it starts to brown on the edges, check the internal temperature. It should be about 150-160 degrees.

Using POT HOLDERS, place the baking dish on top of another dish and serve.

(I tried scooping it onto a dish, and it ruined the presentation. So eat it out of the baking dish.

BUT BE CAREFUL , THAT DISH IS FRICKIN' HOT

The rolls are best served with garlic butter. Everything is better with Garlic Butter....

Enjoy

JELL-O PARFAIT

There are two things in this world I love. (Actually three counting the wife) Deserts and Jello.

For the last sixteen years I worked, I took some sort of Jell-O dish in my lunch. (I always ate at my desk, in case a customer called) Any who, I do love Jell-O.

This is one I found on line at 

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/floating-fruit-parfaits-57651.aspx

It's my favorite Jell-O desert. Jell-O Parfait !!!

It is easy to make, so lets get the ingredients together.

½ cup sliced fresh strawberries

¾ cup of boiling water

1 pkg of JELL-O Strawberry Sugar Free

½ cup COLD water

¾ cup ICE

1 cup COOL WHIP LITE WHIPPED TOPPING

4 Tablespoons COOL WHIP for topping – (Top just before serving)

Wash and cut up some berries

Place berries into 2 parfait glasses. 

Add boiling water to gelatin mix in medium bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add cold water and ice cubes; stir until ice is melted. Pour 3/4 cup evenly over berries.

Refrigerate 20 min. or until gelatin is set but not firm. Meanwhile, let remaining gelatin stand at room temperature until cooled and ready to be used.

Add 1 cup COOL WHIP to remaining gelatin; stir with whisk until blended. Spoon over gelatin in glasses.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.

Serve topped with COOL WHIP.

I had some trouble getting the Cool Whip into the glasses without smearing it on the glass. Put it into plastic bag, cut the corner and squeeze it in.

This made two good servings.

If you use fresh strawberries, sprinkle them with a sugar substitute. Even then, mine were a bit sour..

You could also use frozen berries, or Peaches, or even fruit cocktail. How about Peaches with Peach Jell-O ? or Cherries with Cherry Jell-O ? Oh, and Raspberries with Raspberry Jell-O.

The list goes on and on and on and on.

You know what the Coz says. “There's Always Room For Jell-O.”