Sweet Potato Casserole

I had intended to post this one after Thanksgiving but I'm always putting things off. Now I'm typing this on a shiny new laptop so perhaps it will inspire me to blog more often. This recipe came from a church cookbook my mom bought years ago. Here's the original recipe...

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 c. mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 stick margarine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients. Put in a 7x12 inch casserole dish.

topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1c. nuts
1/2 c. flour
1/2 stick margerine

Put on top of the potatoes. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.
Top with mini marshmallows and put under the broiler until brown and melty. Keep a close eye on it, I think I remember my sister catching the marshmallows on fire when she got distracted.

I have made some changes to the recipe. My sister and I aren't big fans of nuts, but we like pecan pie, go figure! So my mom always made it with out nuts in the topping. The last few years we've been buying 20 lb. boxes of sweet potatoes. These sweet potatoes have been really sweet and buttery so I've been cutting back on the butter and sugar in the recipe. I also use about 4 c. of sweet potatoes. It would work fine to cut back on the topping as well if you're watching your sugar.

I actually made a larger one for Christmas because we had a couple of extra people and most of the people who come take some leftovers. 7 c. potatoes and one and a half times the amount of other ingredients and the original amount of topping. There were way more leftovers than I figured there would be. It turns out one of the people who came was allergic to sweet potatoes and I'm not sure if the other person had any or not. Next year I will not be doubling it.

Ravioli Lasagna

Quick, easy and good! I used the frozen spinach which may have been a mistake as I actually had someone refuse to eat it it, no this someone was not a child even if they acted like it. "What's that icky green stuff? I'm not eating this." I personally didn't even taste the spinach except where it was clumped up in a few places. I would try this one again, without the spinach to accommodate my family.

I found this recipe over at Dinner With Julie.

Ravioli Lasagna

1 large jar good-quality tomato sauce
2 16-18 oz. bags fresh or frozen large ravioli – any kind
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 cup grated part-skim mozzarella (or as much as you like)
½ cup grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spray a 9”x13” baking dish with nonstick spray, and spread about a third of the tomato sauce over the bottom. Lay half the ravioli in a single layer overtop. Sprinkle with the spinach and half the cheese, another third of the sauce and then the remaining ravioli, sauce and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake another 10 minutes, until golden and bubbly.

Serves 6.

Buttermilk Cornbread

I completely forgot to take pictures of this but since I wasn't crazy about it I'm not gonna worry.

We had some buttermilk in the fridge so I decided to try out a new recipe for cornbread. The recipe came from this blog. It was moist but it was way too sweet. The crust was also a little soggy and tough. The only changes I made was to half it and I cooked it in a cast iron skillet. I wouldn't make it again.

Beth's Melt in Your Mouth Barbecue Ribs (Oven)

This amazing rib recipe came from recipezaar. I had a package of smithfield spareribs in the freezer and they turned out fantastic. They were incredibly tender and the sweet dry rub was so good no one even wanted any barbeque sauce. A note on the recipe suggested when pulling the membrane off the ribs to grasp it with a paper towel and pull which is a handy tip to try. I used the liquid smoke brushed on the ribs instead of the hickory salt, which I couldn't find. The poster also suggests trying the rub on chicken but I haven't tried that yet.

I repeat... these ribs were fantastic! You must try them.



Beth's Melt in Your Mouth Barbecue Ribs (Oven)

4 lbs pork ribs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon hickory smoke salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees f.
2. Peel off tough membrane that covers the bony side of the ribs.
3. Mix together the sugar and spices to make the rub.
   
4. Apply rub to ribs on all sides. If you don't have hickory salt brush ribs with liquid smoke.
   
5. Lay ribs on two layers of foil, shiny side out and meaty side down.
6. Lay two layers of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up to seal.
7. Place on baking sheet and bake for 2-2 1/2 hours or until meat is starting to shrink away from the ends of the bone.
8. Remove from oven.
9. Heat broiler.
10. Cut ribs into serving sized portions of 2 or 3 ribs.
11. Arrange on broiler pan, bony side up.
12. Brush on sauce.
13. Broil for 1 or 2 minutes until sauce is cooked on and bubbly.
14. Turn ribs over.
15. Repeat on other side.
16. Alternately, you can grill the ribs on your grill to cook on the sauce.

Smothered Pork Chops, Turnip Greens and Cornbread

Tonight's dinner was way more trouble than it was worth, especially the turnip greens. My father had planted some turnip greens which needed to be harvested, so I went out and picked them and pulled the tough stems off and washed them several times to get all the dirt and bugs off. I cooked them using this recipe, no one really like it, not that it was bad, but I think we all prefer canned.

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I found the recipe for the pork chops over at The Given's Chronicles. They were kind of tough and I didn't think they had a lot of flavor and I wouldn't make them again.

The cornbread was an old recipe I've made numerous times before. I found it in a Taste of Home magazine. The only problem I've ever had with it is that the top never browns, but nothing does in our oven. BTW, it's a sweeter cornbread so if that's not what you like you might want to look for something else.

Corn Bread Squares

1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. yellow corn meal
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, milk and oil. Beat just until moistened. Spoon in a greased 8" square pan. (I've also used a cast iron skillet) Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.