Karene's Kitchen

Bloggy Housekeeping - Karene's Kitchen Moves to Lily's LIcorice

2009-04-18T15:12:00.004-04:00

After much thought, I have decided that I need to merge Karene's Kitchen into my Lily's Licorice blog. It's just too taxing trying to keep up with both while still keeping track of my Usborne Activities for Kids blog, home school, run a business, keep my dear hubby out of trouble with his escapades, and clean up after this crazy dog!

So what does this mean for Karene's Kitchen readers? You will still find all the great tips, cooking, cleaning, recipes and whatnot that you found on Karene's Kitchen. I so loved all that I wrote on there, and will transfer some of those posts onto Lily's Licorice every so often.

What does this mean for Lily's Licorice readers? You will get to learn all sorts of good tips and recipes with a Lily's Licorice twist. Don't worry, this isn't turning into a kitchen blog. Karene's Kitchen is full of some good reminiscent times. My mom is also full of crazy stories like my silly hubby's. No wonder they get along so well.

So with that said, let's all head on over to Lily's Licorice and see what Karene is up to.

Dad's Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches

2009-03-28T00:58:00.001-04:00

I had done a post earlier on my dad's famous grilled cheese sandwiches. He is also known for his grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You make them pretty much the same way you would a grilled cheese, but obviously you use peanut butter and jelly instead. Mmmm, they are delish!!

Here's how dad makes them:

Heat the griddle up. Butter one side of two pieces of bread. On one piece spread peanut butter on the non-buttered side. Use lots of peanut butter. Chunky peanut butter makes them better. Then spread the jelly over the peanut butter. Place the other piece of bread on it (butter side out). Cook til golden brown on both sides.

I have to admit that now, sometimes, I get a little lazy and just toast two pieces of bread and put peanut butter and jelly on them to make the sandwiches. Not quite as good, but definitely faster.

Hope your kids enjoy these.

Six Degrees of Randomness - My Favorite Foods

2009-03-23T20:33:00.008-04:00

My buddy Amanda over at Moving Forward tagged me to do 6 Degrees of Randomness. Now I already did this on my Lily's Licorice blog - you can read my 6 Degrees there. But it got me to thinking that I should do something on that order here. So here are my 6 Random Favorite Foods of All Time. I guess it says "random", but I actually put it in order to what I really love the most. #1 being my all time favorite.

6 Favorite Foods

1. Filet Mignon - nothing can make a finer meal than a good Filet Mignon!! Especially with a loaded baked potato. Now my nutty sister puts ketchup on hers. Can you believe that!!

2. My grandmother's chocolate chip cake - the best part of our birthdays as a kid were the fancy chocolate chip cakes my grandmother made for us. Chocolate chip cake for breakfast was always the best! Unfortunately I cannot make those cakes like my grandma did, but even in a memory, they are my second favorite. Ooo - how I'd love a piece right now, and with a nice cold glass of milk.

3. Lou Malnati's Pizza - people who know me will be shocked that this is not #1. However, in terms of pizza - Lou Malnati's is #1. It's the dough, and the cheese, and they sauce. It's everything! My mouth just waters looking at the picture on the link.

4. Italian Beef Sandwiches - you can only find good ones in Chicago. My mom used to get ours from Rex's. Mm Mm. It was a staple at Christmas Eve dinner too. Now I'm trying to find the perfect recipe so I can make it myself. They don't have real Italian Beef down here in the south.

5. My mom's cheeseburgers - here's the post I did on them already.

6. Chicken Kiev AND Chicken Croquets - not sure which I like better. All that coated chicken slathered in butter or the sauce is just too good. I remember my mom getting frozen Chicken Croquets at the Howard Johnson restaurant after church some Sundays. They were really good. They don't exist anymore, so I make them from the recipe out of the Fannie Farmer cookbook. Yum! Those are way better than the frozen Howard Johnson ones.

So what are your 6 favorite foods?

Scrambled Eggs That Are Sure To Cure Any Hangover

2008-12-26T23:42:00.010-05:00

I purchased a delightful cookbook published back in 1953 at our local Timrod Library sale this fall. I just love it! It's amazing how they cooked everything with alcohol back then. Women must not have had much else to do, if you know what I mean.

For those of you left with a hangover this morning here are some eggs that are supposed to fix it for you. Sure wish I knew about this back in college.

"Often on Sunday morning comes the problem of the HANGOVER. The medical profession offers no solution other than the completely unacceptable one of not drinking at all. Bartenders have done better on this problem -- at least in giving a temporary lift to sagging spirits. There is no solution. But eggs in beer offer a glimmer of hope --and they will get your eyes open if you drink the beer with them.

2 eggs
1 bottle of beer
Celery salt, pepper and tabasco to taste

Place 3/4 cup of beer and season in an individual bowl. Bring to a boil in a 450 degree oven. Drop in the eggs. Do not stir. Cook in the oven for 6 to 7 minutes. Serve while very hot and stir in the eggs at the table. Serve the remainder of the bottle of beer with the eggs. Serves 1."

Cited from The Dorn Cook Book,Henry Begnery Company, Chicago, IL, 1953 pg. 63 -64.

2008-12-23T23:23:00.001-05:00

Santa's Elves

2008-12-20T21:31:00.003-05:00

I so loved all these little elves when I was a kid. They had the plastic head and the felt clothes, and they were so fun to have around. My favorite is a larger elf that looks just like the one above. He sits on a shelf and plays jingle bells and his head moves around to the music. My sisters and I always fought over it as a kid. Each of us wanted "The Elf" in their room. Ha! Ha! I got the last laugh on that one, cause I have IT! He's sitting on the shelf in MY living room.

Have Yourself a Merry Chaotic Christmas

2008-12-15T20:05:00.004-05:00

I don't know about you, but I just can't seem to get my act together this Christmas. I usually get the tree done in a couple of days - the tree is still a mess. Boxes are still all over my house. All the Christmas cookies are already gone, and I just can't seem to be able to make more. I'm even starting to play hooky from Holiday parties cause I just cannot make another "treat". And I cannot go out and get more gifts. I don't even have all my shopping done for out of town relatives whose presents need to get shipped. The kids haven't seen Santa and Santa hasn't done his shopping yet. AHHHHH!!!!

I feel bad. My kids can tell it's an "off" Christmas cause they keep saying "Nothing's the way it usually is." I wonder if my mom ever had an "off" Christmas. I doubt it. I remember everything always being so perfect. The decorations were all done, the tree was perfect, we had dinner parties all the time with lots and lots of cookies. We went to lots of parties. And mom never seemed frazzled. My aunt, her sister, was another story. I remember my mom having to go over to her house on Christmas Eve to help her wrap packages. I must be more like my aunt.

So I've decided whatever I have done for Christmas this year, is going to have to be good enough for everyone. I can't be Karene this Christmas - in fact I'll never be Karene. Anyone else having an "off" chaotic Christmas?

The Christmas Angels and Choir Boys

2008-12-13T22:11:00.003-05:00

Anyone remember these Christmas angels and Choir Boys? My mom used to decorate a table with these. There were three angels and three choir boys singing. I had so much fun playing with them. The really neat thing is my mom saved them! When I got my own apartment after college my mom gave me a bunch of her "old" Christmas decorations. They are really "old" now. And now my daughter loves playing with them.

Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer

2008-12-03T20:07:00.010-05:00

As I write this I'm watching Rudolph on TV with my kids. This is my favorite Christmas special of all. The story line about the couple of misfits (Herbie and Rudolph) will always pertain to society, so it will never get outdated.

Every time I watch this I am always reminded of watching it as a kid. We only had a 9" black and white tv. My mom HATES tv. So when something special was on we got to bring the tv up from the basement and watch it! Now that was a treat!

I always remember mom putting the garland up around the living room as I'd watch Rudolph. She'd sing "It's beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" and I'd have to complain at her to stop singing so I could hear my show. She did the most awesome thing in the living room with that garland! She'd hang it on the wall in scallops right below the ceiling. It was green garland and at each point where it went up to meet the ceiling there would be the most perfect red, velvet bow that mom had made herself. In case you don't know, my mom is the queen of making beautiful bows.

As for the Christmas TV specials, I also love The Year Without A Santa Clause and The Little Drummer Boy - they never put that one on anymore. I so loved that one too. As for the new ones that our kids love, I do like Shrek the Halls and Olive the Other Reindeer.

So what is your favorite Christmas Special?

Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies

2008-12-02T16:00:00.003-05:00

Christmas Cookies! I love Christmas cookies. Mm Mm Mm. That is one thing my mom is great about doing. So now I do it too.

My mom would bake (still does at the age of 72) dozens and dozens of all sorts of different kinds of cookies. We had droves of sugar cookies (she would make extra penguins just for me), spritz cookies, chocolate chip cookies, m&m cookies, these green wreath cookies made out of cornflakes and marshmallows, crescent cookies, date rolls, fudge, peanut butter cookies, ginger snaps, and every kind of new cookie she could find that year to add to her cookie batch.

She keeps them all organized in tins and boxes. Everywhere she goes she brings along a plate of cookies. Not just A plate, a HUGE plate. She even delivers a whole box of cookies to all her doctors' offices. We also had lots of company over cause my mom loves to entertain, so you'd always have a huge array of cookies to go with dessert. I remember watching the way she made up her cookie plates. There was a special spot for each cookie!

When i was in college, mom made sure she made even more cookies so I had lots to take back with me. Now my daughter is making a big tin of her favorite cookies to send to Grandma. She's making her every kind of Santa cookie she possible can and putting it in a Santa tin. Won't Karene be surprised!

Light up Your Kitchen

2008-12-01T11:06:00.004-05:00

I just got finished putting the lights all around the kitchen. The kids so love it and it gives the kitchen such a festive feel. Lights in the kitchen you ask?

One of the first things my mom, Karene, does to decorate the house for Christmas is to get out the strands of the smaller multi-colored lights and put them around the whole kitchen. I always loved that as a kid! It gives the kitchen such a neat ambiance. She would string the lights up under the cabinets and around all the windows.

She also puts a Christmas tree in the kitchen. And it's no small tree. It's a regular size tree! I can't quiteget my hubby to let me put a tree in the kitchen yet. I'm going to finally do it at some point. My mothier-inl-law had collected the Hershey's ornaments every year and gave them to me right before she died. I think it'd be fun to have a Hershey tree. You know what! I'm just going to do it. How can he complain when it's decorated with all his mom's ornaments.

Karene's 25 Days of Christmas

2008-11-29T14:56:00.005-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! My mother would sing that song over and over and over again as she decorated our house each year. Christmas was a blast at our house cause my mother turned it into Christmasville. Even the bathroom was decorated more than most people's living rooms.

Over the 25 days leading up to Christmas I will share with you all the fun, wonderful things my mom has done to make Christmas so special for us. I hope you will find something special from Karene for your family as well. I'm looking forward to hearing from you too, as to what special things your mom or grandmas did to make Christmas special.

Oh, and if this blog gets a bit Christmasy you'll know why - Karene's Kitchen has to look like Christmasville!

You Can't Have Thanksgiving Without the Pumpkin Pie!

2008-11-24T16:50:00.005-05:00

I do not like pumpkin pie, but my hubby and kids just love it. My hubby loves it so much he actually makes the pumpkin pie. He even makes it quite frequently throughout the year. He's a great pumpkin pie maker because he even makes his crust from scratch.

Of course the only pumpkin pie recipe used in our house is my grandmother's. Enjoy!

Pie Crust

2 C sifted flour
1 tsp salt
10 2/3 tbs crisco and add a little extra
7 tbs ice water

Put all the ingredients together except water.
Cut the crisco into the flour to make small pieces.
Add the water.
Mix.
At the end you will have to use your hands to get the flour all mixed together.
Divide in half and roll out of a floured board.
You should have enough for two pie crusts.

`For pumpkin pie do not cook the pie crust until the pumpkin ingredients are put in.

The Pumpkin Pie

2 C pumpkin
2 tsp melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp mace
1/2 tsp ginger
1 C milk
1/2 C arnation milk
2 eggs

Combine salt and spices with sugar and add pumpkin.
Add all other ingredients.
Pour into unbaked pie shell.
Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees.
Then lower oven to 350 degrees and bake about 35 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.

The Surprise Great Thanksgiving Turkey Stuffing

2008-11-22T00:32:00.004-05:00

I always thought my grandmother made the best stuffing for the turkey. I cannot believe someone actually was able to one-up my grandmother on anything. Turns out my mother-in-law did with her stuffing. Even my sister (the one that never cooks) likes my mother-in-law's recipe better than my grandmother's. I can't believe it. So I don't even make my grandmother's anymore. That last sentence actually makes me sad.

So here is the beat all, end all, greatest stuffing recipe on the planet. And you HAVE to put it in the turkey. We are all still alive after eating much stuffing cooked in the turkey, so have at it.

Betty's Turkey Stuffing:

Fry up one pound of mild sausage. Sprinkle a little bit of ground sage into it as you are frying. Make sure you drain the grease.

Prepare one box of Stove Top Stuffing with Herbs. (I cannot believe I am telling you all to use Stove Top Stuffing - but trust me, this is great!) Where it calls for the amount of butter, put one full stick of butter in. My mother-in-law put two in! I think that is a bit much.

Once the Stove Top Stuffing is done, mix in the sausage. Then mix in chopped walnuts. You have to add the right amount of walnuts to your tasting. Usually if you get at least a walnut piece or two into each forkful after you've mixed it up good, you're good to go.

Go ahead and stuff it into the turkey and cook it. I love to baste the turkey so I baste ALOT! The part of the stuffing that gets all that basting is SO good!

Enjoy! I think the best Thanksgiving I ever had was the first one my hubby and I spent together. His parents came to visit and Betty made the stuffing (first time I ever had it). We had such a wonderful time that Thanksgiving - I think it was the first Thanksgiving I truly enjoyed.

Grandma's Ice Box Rolls

2008-11-20T21:48:00.005-05:00

OMG! If you can make these like my grandmother did you will be in Heaven! My grandmother always made the BEST homemade rolls to go with all our holiday dinners. My aunts and mom and myself make them well, but no one makes them like my grandmother did. I wish she were still around to find out her little "secret" to the rolls. Unfortunately she died before I ever attempted to make them myself. I have played and played with the recipe, but I have an electric oven so I don't think I will ever quite get it.

Here they are! Enjoy! (and YES, they are worth the work of making them from scratch)

Ice Box Rolls -

Mix half a cup of sugar, half a cupr of crisco and one fourtch cup milk together.
Heat until crisco is melted.
Let cool.
Add 2 well beaten eggs.
Disolve 1 1/4 oz. packet of yeast in 1/2 cup tepid water.
Add to the above mixture.
Stir in thoroughly 4 cups of sifted flour and 2 tsp salt.
Turn out on well floured board and roll in flour enough to keep it from sticking to hands.
Place in greased bowl and place in refrigerator at least over night.
Roll into balls and place in muffin pans. Put three balls into each muffin cup.
Let raise.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
(Don't forget to grease the muffin pan)

One thing I love about these rolls is that you have to break them apart in three pieces. That way you get to butter all portions of that roll, and they are so delicious that way.

Thanksgiving at Karene's - And a Baked Corn Recipe

2008-11-19T22:13:00.007-05:00

Thanksgiving was never one of my favorite holidays. I like it so much more now because it is my husband's absolute favorite day of the year. He LOVES that turkey! And he LOVES that turkey grease that settles at the bottom of the turkey pan! ICK!

Good thing I had many wonderful Thanksgiving dinners cooked by my grandmothers, aunts, and especially Karene, my mom. Dear hubby just loves everything I make, except the baked corn. I love the baked corn!

Over the next days leading up to Thanksgiving, I will post the recipes that I serve at our great Thanksgiving feast. My hubby refuses to go anywhere else for Thanksgiving dinner so you are in for a treat!

I will start with the baked corn since I already spoke of that. The baked corn is something I always remember being served at Thanksgiving dinners so my grandmother must have always made it. It is such a simple recipe (even my sister who has not turned her oven on in 13 years can make it when she visits for Thanksgiving). You can make it the night before and put it in the fridge (covered). Take it out in the morning to warm up and then cook it when the time it right to have it ready for dinner.

Baked Corn

2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 cans cream style corn
dash pepper

Combine above ingredients. Roll 30 saltine crackers into cracker crumbs with a rolling pin. Cut into corn to thicken the above mixture. Pour into casserole dish (I save on dirty dishes and make the whole thing in the casserole dish itself). Dot with butter and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Win a Reed and Barton Set of Silverware at My Wooden Spoon

2008-10-30T00:14:00.007-04:00

Lori, aka The Cowboy's Wife, over at My Wooden Spoon has a great and easy contest to enter.

Lori's Shrimp Stroganoff Casserole was chosen for the Velveeta Casserole Challenge. Vote for her casserole, post a comment on her blog, and you get entered in for the Reed and Barton Silverware set. Nice, easy blog contest. She has other ways you can get extra entries into the drawing too. So stop on by her contest here and get yourself entered!

Karene's Halloween Costumes

2008-10-24T21:31:00.007-04:00

My daughter is all set to be Dorothy for Halloween. She is so excited. She has the full costume (I ordered it for her), the ruby slippers and a basket for her Toto dog. So her older brother (age 10) decided he would be a scary scarecrow to go trick or treating with Dorothy.

Needless to say, we can't find a scary scarecrow costume. So I told him we could make one. Well you'd have thought that was the dumbest idea ever thought of on this planet! So I told him about the wonderful Halloween costumes I had as a kid. All hand me downs from my older sisters! And my mom hand sewn each and every one.

The DEVIL! This is the most classic of all the costumes. I so wish I had pictures to share, but they are all at my parent's home. My mom made this red devil costume obviously for when we were little, cause when we grew out of it the dogs started wearing it for Halloween. It had a bonnet with the horns on it and even had the pointed tail. The classic photo is one of my middle sister throwing a temper tantrum in that devil costume. I need to enter that in some photo contest. It's hysterical! (She was the queen of temper tantrums! At the age of almost 50 she still is!)

The Angel - I guess as we got a little older mom thought we turned into angels cause next we got to be an angel for Halloween. I hated that costume. Who dresses up as an angel for Halloween? From here on out, the costumes get even better. Whew! Lucky for me.

The Pilgrim - I'm sure I got made fun of with this one. I never got to be anything good for Halloween. Full-fledge Pilgrim costume with the goony white hat and apron. Talk about embarrassing.

Then I moved up to being an ELF! I must say it was a great ELF costume. Looked just like the ELF that spins the kid in A Christmas Story before putting him on Santa's lap.

Last, but not least, the Lady with the Bustle. I'm too lazy to look up what decade ladies wore that weird thing that made their rears stick out three feet behind their bottoms, but that's what I got to be.

No wonder I hate dressing up for Halloween! It's because I was traumatized by my costumes as a child.

Dad's Pumpkin Seeds

2008-10-17T17:21:00.009-04:00

One of my favorite things about Halloween is carving the pumpkins and making fresh home made pumpkin seeds. This was always my dad's job. My dad was quite an artist so we always had some "cool" looking pumpkins that he carved every year. My favorite was the cat he did of Paul Stanley from the rock band KISS.

Anyway, my dad LOVES pumpkin seeds. He eats them year round. We used to walk up to the little drug store on the corner just to get a pack of Indian Pumpkin Seeds. They are SO salty and SO good. They were also a nickle a pack back then too.

So when dad carved the pumpkins my job was to get all the pumpkin seeds out of the pumpkin goop so dad could make his good pumpkin seeds. My dad bought and carved lots and lots of pumpkins just for the seeds!

Here's how to make dad's pumpkin seeds:

Pull out all the goop from inside the pumpkin.
Separate the seeds from the goop.
Soak seeds in a bowl of water for a while (hm.. I guess a while is about 2 hours)
Throw salt and some garlic powder in the seed water mixture. (Do this when they first start soaking, mix it up a bit)
Heat oven to 250 degrees.
Place seeds flat on a large cookie sheet. Don't overlap them.
Salt them to your tasting. I like salty pumpkin seeds so I throw a ton of salt on them.
Bake til done. You have to check them. Cook for about 1/2 hour and then keep checking on them. You want the seed to be crisp. It'll depend on your oven as to how long it takes for them to get crispy.
ENJOY!

Taco Salad

2008-10-12T11:15:00.004-04:00

This is such an easy meal to make. It makes great left overs, and the whole family will eat it. There's no written down recipe from my mom for this, but I just make it the way she had told me to years ago.

1. Brown up a pound of ground beef. Add 1 packet of taco seasoning mix. (I don't get the Taco Bell brand of seasoning for anything - otherwise it tastes like Taco Bell. If I want Taco Bell, I"ll go to Taco Bell)

2. Drain the meat, and put it in a large bowl. Allow to cool a bit.

3. Add 1 can of drained dark red kidney beans. Mix

4. Add lettuce. I'm now lazy and use already shredded lettuce. If you cut up a fresh head, it may take about 3/4 of the head. You have to judge how much lettuce you want. Mix

5. Add shredded cheddar cheese. Again, judge how much you want. I buy a 2 lb bag of it, but don't use the whole thing. Mix

6. Add almost an 8 oz. bottle of Western Salad Dressing. Mix this all up.

7. Add grape or cheery tomatoes cut in half or fourths. Again, judge how much you want.

8. Mix all together really good. I'm careful not to add everything to the max all at once. I taste and add as I go. You can always add, but but you can't take a way.

9. Serve with regular Nacho Cheese Doritos. I like to put the Doritos in the bottom of the bowl and put the salad on top. My hubby and kids just eat the chips - Heaven forbid something make their Dorito soggy!

10. The reason I don't crunch up the Doritos into the salad is so that you can put the leftovers in the fridge. The Doritos would be icky the next day. The salad is ok for a day. This makes such a wonderful lunch the next day.

Enjoy!

A Funny Thing Happened One Day In Karene's Kitchen

2008-10-04T12:13:00.000-04:00

The below post about the dinner salads and my dad reminded me of a classic event in Karene's Kitchen. In the 70's my mom had the typical row of hanging plants in the goony macrame hangers lined in front of the windows in the kitchen. That was where my poor dad sat at the table, so sometimes when the plants got a little long they'd tickle his bald head. Too funny.

Anyway, my last sister had just left for college which meant it was just my mom, dad, and I at the kitchen table. So instead of dad sitting under the plants that he loved so much, he was excited to sit on the side where my sister always sat. Well what do you think happened! The plant that was usually right above my dad's head came crashing down onto the table. That was so hysterical! Usually dad's head would have been under there! I don't think those plants stayed up much longer after that.

Karene's Daily Dinner Salads

2008-09-30T22:01:00.004-04:00

We had a salad with dinner every night. Everyone had their own bowl of salad set by their place setting. This was not an ordinary salad, it had EVERYTHING in it. Fresh lettuce, carrots, onion (I picked that out as a kid, but now I like it in my salad), green pepper, cucumber, and radishes.

It drove my dad nuts! I often remember him complaining about "the darn salads". I also noticed he ate them every night too. That's because I made him my own special house dressing. My mother had every kind of salad dressing you could think of in the middle of the kitchen table. So I'd take a little bit of each and mix it all up. Mom always had different varieties on the table, so my dressing was never the same. Plus it also depended on how much of what I put in the cup. I have to admit, I make some good salad dressing that way. Dad always ate it. I did too. Mom thought it was just awful!

When mom and dad come to visit or I go home (mom still makes her daily salads) I still make dad his wonderful dressing. I still make it for myself and my daughter now likes to make it too. Dad says no one makes dressing as good as me. There is something I can make better than mom!

Dad's Famous Grilled Cheese Sandwhiches

2008-09-26T14:17:00.002-04:00

I talk so much about my mom, cause after all this is Karene's Kitchen, but my dad does lots of stuff in Karene's Kitchen too - like washing the floor! Ha! He's so sweet.

Anyway, on Saturdays we always got a special treat. Dad made lunch for us. If dad was making lunch you knew you were getting grilled cheese. It's the only thing he knows how to cook, but he cooks them well.

Dad does a couple little things to make his grilled cheeses special:

Of course you have to butter the outside portions of the bread.

Make sure your griddle is nice and hot before you put the buttered portion down.

Put both pieces of bread down.

Put one and a half slices of cheese on one piece of the bread.

Then put a little bit of ketchup in the middle, and spread it around a bit.

Once the cheese starts to melt, put the other side on top.

Flip and make sure both sides are golden brown before serving.

The ketchup may sound strange to some of you, but it actually adds a neat flavor to the grilled cheese. Of course, Karene thinks putting ketchup on a grilled cheese is horrible! Which way do you like it better? With or without ketchup? I'm voting for WITH ketchup.

Toasted Ham Sandwiches

2008-09-23T14:16:00.003-04:00

I didn't put a photo of this on here, because I know I'd never be able to find a picture of it. I have yet to get myself a digital camera. I sure do need one.

Anyway, I hated lunch meat as a kid. As you read in my PBJ post, I ate Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches almost every day for lunch. When I was at home and mom could make a fresh lunch she would make me Toasted Ham Sandwiches. All you do is toast white bread, butter it, and put ham on it (mom always got cooked ham sliced very thin). But what made these sandwiches special was that mom cut them in four squares! That made all the difference in the world and made icky ham sandwiches taste so delicious.

I still make these for myself for lunch and my kids love them too. And yes, I still cut them in fours - even for myself.

What's For Dessert? Chocolate Pudding!

2008-09-22T00:05:00.000-04:00

A nice special treat we'd get after dinner sometimes when I was a kid was just your basic Jell-O chocolate pudding. My mom would wait til we were almost done with dinner and then she'd start the pudding cooking. She'd pour it into 5 bowls for us. The greatest part of fresh made pudding is the skin that forms over it. My son hates that part, so I get to eat it! Anyway, if you pour just a little bit of milk on top of that skin of the warm chocolate pudding and then eat it .... mm, mm, mm, it is SO delicious!

Side note: Make sure you use the Cook & Serve kind of Jell-O Chocolate Pudding. The instant is not as tasty. In fact the instant isn't tasty at all!

Sunday Lunch - Cheeseburgers!

2008-09-20T20:07:00.003-04:00

Our Sundays consisted of the same thing, week in and week out. In fact most of my childhood did. No wonder I don't adapt to change well as an adult.

My parents made sure we went to church EVERY Sunday. You had to be on your death bed to get out of going. I think I missed once in high school cause I had a concussion from a major wipe out skiing the day before.

Anyway, we'd go to church and then dad had to stop at his favorite gas station to get the Sunday paper. Then we'd go to Thompson's, a local grocery store that no longer exists. By then I was starving! Why couldn't dad get the newspaper at Thompson's and save the trip to the gas station? Was the paper better at the gas station? And mom wouldn't shop the day before because we had to have "fresh" buns from the bakery for the hamburgers. What difference does a day make!?!?

So we'd get all the stuff at Thompson's go home, and then mom still had to make and cook the cheeseburgers! Meanwhile I'm dying of starvation. So I'd always sneak a bunch of Doritos (they only had cheese flavor Doritos back then) and read the Sunday jokes. (The comics according to my husband)

As with everything else my mom makes, she also makes the best cheeseburgers. She makes them very big and round. Not thick, but big in circumfirence. That's why she uses the nice fancy hamburger buns from the bakery instead of the packaged ones. Her hamburgers would never fit on a regular old packaged bun. Plus the bakery buns make cheeseburgers taste so much better. All mom does is throw some salt and pepper on them, and cook them over the broiler. Again, she has a gas stove so she gets to flame broil her burgers. She cooks them so perfectly. Dad is in charge of the cheese though. She always has all the fixings like sliced tomato, onion, lettuce, relish, mustard, ketchup, and fancy mustard. I only used the ketchup.

So if you want to add a little oomph to your burgers, make them Karene's way. Make them big in circumfirence, yet thin, and put them on a fancy bakery bun with all the fixings. Only use salt and pepper too. You don't need all that fancy hamburger flavoring stuff.

Here's to a Happy Hamburger! (cheeseburger)

Friday is Clean the Bedrooms Day

2008-09-19T09:43:00.008-04:00

Well I'm terribly upset that the last post for Mom's Schedule is a more modern picture. I could not find an older picture of someone cleaning a bedroom. And I certainly have no pictures of my mom changing sheets. Too bad I didn't know when I was a kid, I'd grow up to do this post. Just think of the photos I'd have!

So we get to our last day of the week - Friday. Friday is the day to get all the bedrooms clean. This includes changing the sheets, dusting, vacumimg, and straigtening. Funny, I don't remember my room or my sisters' room getting in the condition that my kids' rooms get into. I know it's because we didn't have the amount of toys and JUST STUFF kids have nowadays.

This is the one weekly task I never fall astray from - probably because I love fresh sheets. One of my most favorite childhood memories is going to the high school basketball games on Friday night with my dad. (My dad never missed a game for over 20 years and taught me everything about basketball) Then he'd take me out for icecream after the game. It'd be a cold winter night when we got home, and I so loved to crawl into those nice, crisp, clean smelling sheets. Those basketball game memories aren't complete without the clean sheets. So moms! Look how 30 years from now your child could be raving about you just cause you changed the sheets every Friday.

Well, I hope I've helped someone by sharing my mom's schedule. I know Jill from Everyday in South Carolina mentioned that her mom had the same schedule. Jill lost her mom to cancer 9 years ago, so I'm glad I was able to bring back some of those memories for her. Hey, Jill's mom even made the pbj sandwiches like my mom- with the butter!

Happy Cleaning!

Thursday is Cleaning Day

2008-09-17T23:33:00.003-04:00

Thursday is the day to vacuum, dust, clean the kitchen floor and the bathrooms. This is probably my least favorite day. But now that I just wrote that first sentence, I'm realizing why I am all out of sorts with my house. I really need to stay on this schedule. It's really not that hard to vacuum, dust, scrub the floor and get the bathrooms clean. I think it's all the toys and junk the kids bring in that does it!

Happy Cleaning!

Wednesday - Grocery Day

2008-09-17T11:37:00.003-04:00

Wednesday is grocery shopping day. I always loved this day when I was a kid. Maybe that's why I should go back to my mom's way.

For some reason I end up going to the grocery store EVERY day. My mom thinks I'm nuts. But I never know what I want to make for dinner that night until that day. How do you know on Sunday what you want for dinner on Thursday night?

According to my mother, you should plan your meals for the week, and make one trip to the grocery store per week. Although my father was always running up to the Jewel to get stuff that she had forgotten. I think my dad went to the Jewel almost everyday! Ha! That's funny now that I think about it.

Anyway, if you plan your meals for the week and try to do your shopping in one trip, you should save time and money. Money? Yes, because you're not going to the store constantly and buying more than you need on a daily basis.

Now one thing my mom did do too was to check the sale pages. They came out on Wed. That must be why Wed. was grocery day. She planned her whole shopping based on what store had what on sale. That can save you quite a bit of money too.

Happy Shopping!

Tuesday is Ironing Day

2008-09-16T07:37:00.006-04:00

I'm sure many of you don't even touch an iron anymore, but I'm one of those people who still likes fresh ironed clothes. So does my hubby. I only iron what is needed. I certainly DON'T go to the extreme and iron my sheets and hubby's boxers.

So to keep on my mom's weekly schedule, we will iron and put away all the clothes that need ironing that we had washed yesterday. This makes for a great TV day. The day you can catch up on the soaps and talk shows. This is how I was introduced to All My Children. I was mesmerized by this show as a girl when I was home during the summer and school breaks. Now I get to watch it every day. My mom never watched TV except while she ironed.

Magic Sizing is one of my best friends. I don't know what I'd do without it. You spray that stuff over anything, throw the iron over and it whallah! it's so nicely pressed. It makes ironing so much easier. It also makes hubby's work shirts look so much nicer.

FYI - the Oreck cordless iron is wonderful! You don't have that cord getting in your way. I could never go back to a corded iron ever again.

Not much else to harp about ironing. Most hate doing it. I actually like it.

Happy Ironing Day!

Monday Is Wash Day

2008-09-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

When it seems like my house and life get out of control, I go back to my mom's weekly schedule. Then things seem to get back into place for me. So this week I am going to get back on Karene's schedule. Join me each day this week - you can walk through it with me.

Wash Day Mondays are for doing ALL the laundry. My mother's laundry room is in the basement, so we always threw the clothes downstairs. She has a HUGE laundry area where she can sort all the clothes in it's different piles. She's very particular about this. Whites can only be washed with whites, darks with darks, lights with lights, reds with reds, towels with towels, you get the picture. I'm horrible at just mixing everything together and filling the washer up to the rim with every last piece of clothing I can fit in. (I guess if you do that your clothes don't come out as clean, at least that's what my mom tells me).

I live in the South, so unfortunately, I don't have a nice basement to do my laundry in. My washer and dryer is in the garage. It's horrible! I will never buy a house with laundry facilities in the garage ever again. It's been so hot over the summer that it's been quite difficult to do tons of laundry, so things have piled up a little. Today, I will go out there, sort like I haven't sorted in a long time and get that laundry done!

Oh, one helpful tidbit - when the stuff is done in the dryer, fold it or hang it up right away! This will save you on some of the ironing. And if you fold each item as you take it out of the dryer, it'll keep you from just throwing it in a laudry basket and having it sit there. Once the dryer load is all folded or hung on hangers, PUT IT AWAY. Put the darn clothes in whatever drawer or closet they belong in. This will save you from having piles of laundry all over your living room.

Have A Happy Wash Day!

Pop Corn - Karene's Way

2008-09-11T00:39:00.006-04:00

No one makes popcorn better than my mother. I've never seen a popcorn contest, but if they ever had one, she'd WIN. Orville Redenbacher missed the boat on this.

This is how my mom makes her famous popcorn:

You have to heat a few knife fulls of Crisco in a whirly pop popcorn popper on the stove. Have the heat up high. When lots of smoke is coming out of the popcorn popper pour just plain old regular Orville Redenbacher popcorn in. It HAS to be Orville Redenbacher. Then twirl the darn whirly pop until the lid starts exploding off. Hurry up and pour it into the big yellow popcorn bowl. Then salt with Morton's Popcorn Salt.

This is what we had every Friday night for game night, every Sunday night for The Sunday Night Movie on ABC, and at every family party. Oh, my mom would even pop popcorn and sneak it into the movie theaters for us to munch on when we went to the movies. (I'll have to admit I love the real movie popcorn slothered with butter when I go to the movies now, cause I never had buttered popcorn as a kid).

Forward many years, and I have my own whirly pop popcorn popper that my mom got me for my first apartment. I put the Crisco in and had the heat on high waiting for it smoke really good. The darn thing exploded into flames!! I had just moved out on my own and already had a kitchen fire. I was a nut. I went in the pantry and threw flour all over the fire and my kitchen. At least I knew not to throw water on a grease fire!

Needless to say, I cannot make the popcorn the way my mom does. 20 years out on my own, and I still can't. I think there's two reasons. One, my mom has a gas stove, and mine have all been electric. And two, I am not my mom.

Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs

2008-09-09T20:56:00.004-04:00

Clearly this is not a healthy eating blog with the type of food that I put on here. I post about my favorite foods that my mom and grandmothers made.

It was always a special treat when mom made the bacon wrapped hot dogs for dinner. That meant we were getting chips and pop with dinner. No salad, potatoes or milk! Yippee!

These are absolutely delicious. You slice an opening long ways in the hot dog. Then you fill it with small slices of American cheese. Take a slice of bacon (2 actually works best to make it fit fully around the hot dog) and wrap it around the hot dog. Then you broil the hot dog til the bacon is done. You can also toast the bun just a bit. Top the dog with what you usually top it with, and Whala! you have a most delectable hot dog.

Enjoy!

Comfort Food - Rice with Butter and Cinnamon

2008-09-04T21:51:00.007-04:00

For some reason when I was down and out as a child, my mom would pipe up and say "Do you want me to make you some cinnamon and rice?". Funny that such a simple little dish usually would do the trick to make me feel better. I'm sure it was more the love that was put into that dish of rice than the rice itself that made me feel better.

Turns out that my mom's mom did this for her as a child. I remember walking into the kitchen once to find my own mother eating the cinnamon and rice concoction. I asked her why she was eating it - she said "Oh grandma always made this for me when I was a kid, and I just felt like having some." Now that I'm older, I wish I had known, and I could have made that rice dish for her that night. By then grandma was gone, and I'm sure eating that bowl of rice made my mom feel a tad bit closer to her.

Now when my own daughter is in a bum mood, I fix her the same old cinnamon and rice dish. It always does the trick. I bet spam on rye bread with mustard and sardines would do the trick too. It's the love that goes in to making the dish that brings the "comfort" in comfort food.

A Good Ol' Southern Breakfast

2008-08-23T20:51:00.004-04:00

My father-in-law always made these grandiose southern breakfasts. My husband was used to these breakfasts so after my father-in-law died, I had to take over.

Now you cannot eat this every day, or even every week, as my father-in-law did. No wonder he died of heart disease. But, oh, did he love his breakfasts. And we did too.

This is what the Colonel's, and now my, breakfasts consist of:

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits:

You must use a full pound of mild sausage. Cook it up real good. Heaven forbid, DO NOT drain the grease (I do drain most of the grease though). Then just any packet of southern gravy mix will do. Mix it up and add to your cooked sausage. I just use regular Grands biscuits to serve with the sausage gravy.

Bacon:

You still have to have bacon, even with all that sausage. No breakfast is complete without bacon. And it has to be a full pound of Oscar Meyer bacon fried in a cast iron skillet.

Sunny Side Up Eggs:

There's nothing like sunny side up eggs cooked right in all that bacon grease!

Scrambled Eggs:

Use two or three pieces of the cooked bacon to crumble into the scrambled eggs as they are cooking. Right before the eggs are done add shredded cheddar cheese, and let it melt all throughout the eggs. I'm someone who likes ketchup on scrambled eggs so make sure you serve the ketchup.

Hash Browns:

Use shredded hash browns and cook them in a skillet of oil so they end up crispy on the outside. Lots of salt on these makes them extra delicious.

Toast:

You have to serve regular white toast with butter on it.

What, No Grits!?!?

Nobody like grits in our family, so why make them. But you are more than welcome to.

It took me more than a few tries to get all this to be done at the same time. Now I'm a pro. It's a wonderfully delicious breakfast. Hm, if I add 12 or so pancakes to this, maybe Michael Phelps will come to breakfast!

One of the Best Things About Summer - The Farmers Markets

2008-08-16T13:48:00.010-04:00

Saturday mornings we head out to our local farmers market for our fresh produce for the week. This is something that we did every Saturday when I was a kid. My mom would drag me and my dad to every farmers market in the area. At least my kids are lucky that we live in an area where there is just one farmers market, and its right down the road.

My mom knows of every produce stand within an hours drive. So during the week no matter where we went, she already had it planned as to what produce stand we were going to stop at on the way there or back.

Now there was a wonderful place that we'd drive specially to. I thought it was called Tom N Apples, but my mom always corrected me, and now I don't have a clue what the real name is. I just know it's NOT Tom N Apples. Anyway, that was the primo place to go for produce. It was an open air market with lots of big fans. All the fruits and veggies were in wooden bins. Big wooden bins. There were rows and rows of these bins. My favorite was the potato bins. You'd have a wall of potatoes going up about 5 feet. As you pulled potatos out, a bunch would roll down. I had so much fun making all those potatos come rolling down. Eventually urban sprawl was more important than the most wonderful fruit and veggie market. It was a sad day when Tom N Apples closed.

I'm just glad there are still farmers markets and the road side produce stands. This fresh produce is way better than the rotten stuff you find in the grocery stores. And I'm lucky. We live in the south so all of ours are open almost year round. And we get fresh Georgia Peaches and Vidalia Onions! Yummy!

Where Did the Good Old Fashioned Church Picnics Go?

2008-08-15T20:11:00.013-04:00

There was a write-up in our newspaper today about the Old Fashioned Church Picnics that used to occur in our town. Hundreds of families would meet at the local swimmin' hole in the morning. Moms would bring all their baked goods and other foods, and families would feast on the vast amount of food all day long. Men would relax under the trees and kids would play, while the ladies gossiped about the goings on of the days. Gossip to them, I'm sure, was whose pie was the best or worst.

When I was a kid, we still had those big church picnics. Even though our swimmin' hole was a swimming pool, we still spent the day out at the church campgrounds. There was swimming, of course, but there were also tons of organized games to play. And yes, there was the mass amount of food. They'd have a long, and I mean loooooooong line of picnic tables full of the pot luck dinners the ladies had brought. Then later in the day, there was a round building that opened up where you'd get desert. This was not just any kind of desert. This was a warehouse full of the very best cake or pie or desert that EVERY lady in the church had baked. Us kids were able to keep running in there to get whatever we wanted! It was pure bliss!

I specificly remember the summer that a lady first brought her Red Velvet Cake to the church picnic. That was the day I fell in love with Red Velvet Cake. It was also the day I ate almost the whole cake myself and went home one very sick little girl. Those church picnics were such fun, and such a wonderful memory of my childhood. It's a shame they don't exist like that anymore for my own kids.

Mom's Classic PBJ Sandwiches - With Butter

2008-08-14T20:58:00.013-04:00

My mom makes the BEST peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I can't make them like she does at all. My kids don't like them that way anyway.

Here is the way my mom makes them:

You have to use Skippy's Crunchy Peanut Butter, Welche's Grape Jelly, white bread and butter. The key to this sandwich is you butter both pieces of bread before you put the peanut butter and jelly on. And you have to put ALOT of peanut butter and jelly on - at least half an inch thick of peanut butter and half an inch of jelly. Mm, they're delicious this way.

I ate these every single day for lunch til I graduated from high school (I hated lunch meat back then). Kids would even beg to trade their lunches with me! Sometimes I would if they had pizza to swap. My kids sure are missing out on something good!

Delicious Dill Dip

2008-08-05T23:23:00.005-04:00

My mom always went overboard with the hors d'oeuvres when we had guests over. I guess that is where I get it from. I have my own Usborne Books business and this Delicious Dill Dip has become a staple at our meetings. I had this recipe in amongst my mom's stuff and one of my consultants called wanting an easy recipe for her first show. The show was so good that she called it the good luck dip and started serving at at every Usborne event. It is now a staple at all our Usborne events. You can make it one of yours too. Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs chopped parsley
2 Tbs chopped scallions
2Tbs minced fresh dill or 1 Tbs dried dill
1/2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine all ingrediants in a small bowl. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for up to three days.

I like to serve this with sliced cucumbers and wheat thins. Carrotts and anything else go well with it too.

If you have a good dip recipe you'd like to share, please add your recipe to the comments section of this post.

Recipe Roundabout

2008-08-02T00:24:00.007-04:00

I have tons of friends who send me recipes. I thought it'd be easy for you all and anyone else to post them right here on Karene's Kitchen. I have a dear friend, Amanda, who rattles off all these wonderful recipes while we're on the phone - I never get a chance to write them down. I am hoping she will post these for you, and for me! They are easy and sound delicious! So start posting away ladies!!!

My Dad Was Robbed!!

2008-07-26T21:47:00.005-04:00

Remember these things? While I was trying to find a picture of a retro Coke bottle for my last post I came across a site selling these empty vintage Pepsi cartons. The cartons alone go for $15.00!! And that's without the bottles included!
I remember going to the liquor store every Saturday night with my dad (cause that's where we went back then to buy pop - go figure). We'd walk in, dad would turn in his cartons, with bottles, and he'd only get 45 cents per carton! (For those too young to know - they charged a 5 cent deposit on each bottle you purchased. When you brought it back, you got your deposit back.)
So basicly dad should have kept all those cartons! We would have been a whole 14.55 ahead per carton. Who'd of known.

Pop Bottle Mania

2008-07-26T21:36:00.005-04:00

My son is so intrigued because the gas station has pop bottles sitting in a container of ice for sale. They even have a little bottle opener attached to the container. My son hadn't seen anything like that before, and just thinks it's the neatest thing. Too fuuny. A little 6 oz. bottle of coke is 99 cents!! Yikes!

My parents still have the bottle opener attached to the side of the basement steps. That bottle opener has seen many a bottle in it's day. It's been on those steps for over 45 years! I just thought of a grand idea - I should attach one like that just inside my garage off the kitchen. I can never find a bottle opener when I need one!

My Daughter Wants to Bake Her Own Birthday Cake

2008-07-22T23:59:00.003-04:00

Today is my daughter's birthday. She's only 7 and informed me that SHE wants to bake her OWN birthday cake. Hm, am I already getting to the point where my cakes aren't the big hit of the party!?!?

Anyway, I'm thrilled that she likes to cook so much at such a young age -- I'm definately doing something right. She's one of those very independent ones, much like me. She even likes to wash the dishes!!! Definately something that's helpful for me! (can't find a smiley emoticon on this blog site, but I'm-a-smilin')

So, we get out the famous red velvet cake recipe (that's a whole other post in itself - watch for it). Yes, we make everything from scratch. No box mixes in this household!! Oh! And grandma's frosting is just to die for!!!! It's the basic buttercream frosting. (I know that's not what's supposed to go on a red velvet cake, but it is SO good that way!)

Unfortunately, I cannot decorate cakes the way my grandmother did. The highlight of our birthdays as kids was to see how grandma decorated your cake! One of my favorites was my Snow White cake. I bet that was the cake I had when I turned 7. When I can find some cake pix I will post them.

Nothing like baking with your little girl! Happy Birthday Em!!!

Love, Mom

(~Kristie~)

Karene's Kitchen

2008-07-21T22:34:00.000-04:00

I started this blog because I thought I'd share some of the wonderful food and cooking tips that my mom and her mom taught me. Mm Mm Mm, I was fortunate to grow up with a mom that cooked incredibly well, and a grandmother who cooked even better!!

I'm sure many of you have special memories of your mom or grandmother cooking. I'm sure you learned a lot from them too. Or, if you didn't. You can learn from me.

This blog will be a wonderful resource for us to share our mom's, and any other ladies in our lives, cooking tips and recipes.

I have to tell you -- I love the look of this blog. It SO reminds me of our kitchen when I was a little girl with the white metal cabinets and the silver handles.

Happy Cooking! ~ Kristie