Things Remembered (44 page)

2 slices whole wheat bread without crust

2 tablespoons water (approximately)

1 large egg, beaten

½ large yellow onion, chopped

1½ pounds lean ground beef

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

pepper to taste

1 15-ounce can tomato sauce

Break bread into pieces (about a square inch in size) and place in large mixing bowl. Add water and mash with fingers into meal. Add egg, onion, and the ground beef. Mash all together, adding in 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning, and about an ⅛ cup of tomato sauce.

Form into a ball and place on 9x13-inch baking pan. Form into a loaf about 2½ inches high. Pour remaining tomato sauce over loaf and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees until barely pink in center.

GRANDMA VITA'S SICILIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE

Submitted by Luann E.

  When I was a little girl, I'd come home from school to the sweet aroma of my mom's spaghetti sauce, rich and fragrant with Italian seasonings and red wine. My mouth would water as I stirred with the big wooden spoon, breathing in the steam rising from the stockpot.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 pound lean ground beef

4 15-ounce cans tomato sauce

2 15-ounce cans tomato pieces

2 cups red wine (the better the wine, the better the sauce)

2 cups water

1½ cups sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon of butter

4 tablespoons Italian seasonings

4 tablespoons dried parsley

½ teaspoon baking soda

Sauté onion in olive oil in large stockpot. When cooked clear, add garlic and sauté for a minute or two. Add ground beef, breaking up with spoon and cooking until brown. Add tomato sauce, tomato pieces, red wine, and water. In separate pan, sauté mushrooms in butter. When cooked through, add to stockpot. Add remaining seasonings and baking soda. Simmer for approximately 4 hours until sauce is mellow.

TATER TOTS CASSEROLE

Submitted by Kathy C.

  With two teenage boys and two adult careers in our family I had to come up with something that would come together fast and gather everyone around the dinner table rather than going out for pizza. This has fit the bill for more years than I want to remember.

2 pounds ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can golden mushroom soup

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1 large package Tater Tots

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef with onion. Drain. Put in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Combine soups together and pour over ground beef. Sprinkle cheese over top. Top with Tater Tots. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

NO-FROST PRUNE CAKE

Submitted by Marge B.

  Prunes come in and out of popularity, but this recipe for No-Frost Prune Cake has never stopped being a favorite of my family.

½ pound (1½ cups) dried prunes

1½ cups sugar

½ cup oil

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cloves

Cover prunes with water and cook until tender. Dice prunes and set aside. Reserve ⅔ cup of cooked prune liquid.

Sift together dry ingredients in separate bowl. Combine oil, eggs, and sugar and beat on medium/high with a mixer for 2 minutes. With mixer on low, alternate prune juice and flour mixture three times, starting with juice and ending with flour mixture. Just mix to blend. Stir in prunes and then pour mixture into a greased and floured 13x9-inch pan. Sprinkle with crumb topping (recipe below)

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until cake passes the toothpick test. This is a very moist cake so it's important to make sure it's baked long enough or it will appear underdone.

TOPPING

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Cut butter into sugar and flour until it forms a coarse crumb. Add nuts.

Note from Georgia:
John and I love pecans so I put a cup (or more) into the batter rather than in the topping. We're part of the family that loves this cake!

EASY MINCEMEAT FRUITCAKE

Submitted by Julie W.

  I love that people are always surprised when they like my fruitcake. I can't remember where I got the original inspiration for the recipe, only that I've tweaked it beyond recognition since then. It freezes so well we've actually had one for dessert on July 4th!

1 jar mincemeat

1 cup raisins

1 cup nuts (I use pecans and always add more)

1 cup sugar

½ cup oil

candied fruit (This is to your personal taste. I like the mixed fruit with citron and always add at least a full container. Then I add about a half cup of red and green cherries and save the rest to decorate the top of the cake. The recipe is very forgiving about these ingredients.)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2½ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

Combine mincemeat, raisins, nuts, sugar, oil, fruit, and vanilla and mix well. Add eggs and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended.

Grease lightly two loaf pans and bake at 325 degrees for 1½ hours. Test with toothpick. Let cool in pans.

OLD-FASHIONED BANANA BREAD

Submitted by Mary S.

  This is almost as easy as a mix but tastes so much better. There are times my family purposely ignores—or even hides—fresh bananas just so I'll make homemade banana bread for them. I don't know what it does to the recipe to let the batter stand for twenty minutes before baking, but it makes a big difference in the taste.

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

1½ cups mashed bananas

Stir dry ingredients together to blend and set aside. Beat shortening and eggs. Add bananas. Add dry ingredients. Pour into lightly greased and floured loaf pan and let stand 20 minutes before baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, using the toothpick test to check to see if it's done.

APPLESAUCE CAKE

Submitted by Georgia B.

  This is one of the recipes I mentioned in the original
Things Remembered
release. If it isn't my favorite cake recipe, it's right up there in the top three. I particularly love cakes that are so flavorful they don't need frosting to set them off. Best of all, this one is from my mom.

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup sifted flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup milk

1 cup raisins

1 cup nuts

¾ cup applesauce

1 cup rolled oats