Peanut Butter Pie

This past week we had two very important holidays!  I bet you didn't know that January 23rd was National Pie Day and January 24th was National Peanut Butter Day!  Who knew we had such important holidays!  I am behind a few days so I thought I could combine the two and celebrate by making a Peanut Butter Pie!  This peanut butter pie has long been a favorite of mine. 

The History Behind the Recipe

Peanut Butter Pie Filling

As you know by now, I love the history behind things.  Well, there is a little history behind this pie.  Right outside my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida was a little town called Orange Park, Florida.  In Orange Park there was a little tea room that my grandma, my mother and I would regularly frequent.  It was called, "The Sisters Tea Room". The Sisters was ran by two sisters. Everything was made fresh and from scratch.  It was long known that their specialities were pies and chicken salad.  One just doesn't go to the "Sisters" without having a slice of pie! 

The Sisters put together a little cookbook and sold it.  Thank goodness someone had the sense to get me this as a wedding present back in the day and it has been cherished ever since.

Unfortunately, the Sisters Tea Room is no more.  It closed a few years back when the "sisters", Gwen and Bobbie Jo retired.  Another piece of history gone.  Fortunately a new restaurant bought all the rights to their recipes and opened a new restaurant using some of the Sisters recipes.  I have not had the chance to visit "Honey B's" the new restaurant, but I hope to next time I am back.

The Sisters Peanut Butter Pie was so good, Ronald Reagan even wrote a letter to the Sisters expressing his thanks for the wonderful pies!  Another variation of the peanut butter pie they made was the double trouble peanut butter pie which had a layer of chocolate!

Ronald Reagan's letter to one of the sisters.

Look at those peanut butter "crumbs" that is the best part of this pie!

Above is a picture of the pie I made for you today. The pie starts off as a pre-baked pie crust that has cooled.  Add a mixture of peanut butter & powdered sugar to make "peanut butter crumbs" and cover the entire bottom of the pie crust with these crumbs, saving about 2 T for the topping.

Next, make a basic homemade thick pudding mixture and cool.  Once cooled cover the peanut butter crumbs with this custard filling.

Mix some heavy whipping cream to make a whipped topping and carefully cover the pudding mixture, top with the remaining 2 T of peanut butter crumbs and you have yourself a wonderful tasty peanut butter pie!  For best results cool in fridge for an hour before slicing.

Bake a Pie Today!

Chicken & Noodle Soup

A cold day like today deserves warm soup!  The schools were cancelled today because of ice.  No better time than now to make a homemade batch of chicken & noodle soup with homemade bread.  I have 5 very picky children, two of them will not eat any soup what-so-ever out of a can, but they will gobble this down in a heartbeat!  They ALL love the noodles!

Chicken & Noodle Soup

When it comes to chicken noodle soup this is my "go-to" recipe.  I discovered this on Pinterest and have made it several times.  Like with every recipe I make I have a "secret special ingredient" or my own way of making it special.  My secret in this recipe is Reames Noodles!  These can be found in the frozen foods in the grocery store.  They are egg noodles and can be used for a variety of things, but the only time I really use them is when I make this soup.  Kroger has them for $1.89 a bag.  They take about 20 minutes to cook, or you can cook them longer and it is fine. If you would like to try the chicken & noodle soup recipe it can be found here.

Pork Chops & Rice

Pork Chops & Rice with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Tonight I tried a new recipe for my pork chops.  The only thing I would have done differently is use less chicken broth.  For this recipe I used about a cup and I should have cut it back to 1/2 cup, which I will do next time.

I have made a variation of this before using the old stand by (Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup), but this way is more healthy I'm sure!

I really like browning the meat in the skillet and finishing them off in the oven.  Just be careful not to over cook.  I used boneless chops for this meal and they are very lean and could easily get dried out if cooked too long.

The Recipe Can be found here

Classic Comfort Food

Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes

My favorite comfort food has to be meatloaf & mashed potatoes!  I love most any and every type of meatloaf.  My favorite meatloaf has onions and peppers in it.  Unfortunately I am the only one in my family that likes it that way.  So, I have to go to Cracker Barrel for that!

For my family, I use my mom's meatloaf recipe.  It's pretty basic, but so tasty.  It does not have any peppers or onions or any "stuff" as my children like to call it.  My favorite part of the meatloaf is the special ketchup glaze.  

If there are any leftovers, which around my house that is rare, I love a meatloaf sandwich for lunch the next day.  This recipe is great for that, because the meatloaf holds up so well for slicing.

My meatloaf recipe can be found here

iMom Food

Tonight iMom starts back at church!  I am so excited because we are beginning a new series called "Celebrating Parenting".   Since it's the first night, we have food and this is what I am bringing.  I have never made these dishes before.  I pinned them on Pinterest and put them on my "Recipes to Try" board.  I finally made them and I can't wait to try them tonight!  If they are good, they may be on the menu soon.

 Italian Chicken Casserole

Jalapeno Popper Dip served with Crackers

The recipes can be found here:

Italian Chicken Casserole

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Southern Shrimp & Grits

One of my favorite seafood meals is just plain ol' shrimp & grits.  I don't think you can find a more easier recipe than that.  There are so many recipes out there for shrimp & grits.  But I think I have found one I really like a lot.  

This recipe book was my mothers.  It looks like from the inside writing it was given to her by Dr. & Mrs. Johnson.  The inscription says, "Mary Jane, may you have fun trying new recipes".  It looks like my mom liked trying new recipes as much as I do!

I have taken a little here and a little there, but I think I have came up with the best shrimp & grits recipe, at least to my liking.  Give it a try!

The recipe for my shrimp & grits can be found here.

For this recipe, I used the Land O'Lakes Saute Express that I talked about in my previous post.  Instead of using 1T butter and 1 T olive oil, I just used a pat of the Saute Express Butter & Olive Oil butters.  It worked great!

Cookbook & Recipe Review

I love cookbooks!  There is nothing I love more than getting a new cookbook and savoring each and every page.  Something that I am going to do from time-to-time, is a cookbook review.  This is where I take a cookbook and give you a detailed look at it.  It will be  fun to put of pictures and recipes of the cookbook.

The first cookbook is my newest cookbook called, "Brennan's".  I get most of my cookbooks through second hand stores such as Goodwill and thrift shops.  Brand new cookbooks are so expensive, and if wait and look around eventually I will find one that I have been wanting.  I found my new Brennan's cookbook at a local thrift shop for $1. This book was in excellent shape and included the dust jacket still intact and perfect after all these years.  I suspect that the original owner visited the world famous Brennan's restaurant, bought a cookbook and it sat on a shelf for years and was never used. 

I did not set out to find this cookbook and neither was it on my list of cookbook "wants", but it looked interesting, so I thought I would give it a try. I am so glad I did!  It  was printed in 1964.  It is also signed by the chef at the time, Lucas Rheinhart and Howard Jeansonne, a waiter with Brennan's. The writing says, "Bonne Appetite".

"Bonne Appetite"

Here is a picture I found of waiter Howard Jeansonne presenting a bottle of wine.

Brennan's Waiter Howard Jeansonne

One of the reasons I love this cookbook so much is it tells a story and gives a history of the famous restaurant in New Orleans known as "Brennan's".  The Brennan's were very hardworking people who immigrated to the New Orleans area from Ireland.  In the early years, Brennan's was an entirely family run business.  I found it quite interesting that Ella Brennan at a mere 18 years of age, and having taken no formal cooking classes was the brains behind many of the recipes that are still in use today.  She mainly learned about cooking from other housewives through "backyard fence chatting" while doing the wash.  I have never been to Brennan's or New Orleans for that matter, but after reading the book and it's history it is definitely on my list of places to go and things to do!

Favorite Recipe

Simple recipe, but oh so tasty!

My favorite recipe from the book is Chicken Clemenceau.  This is a chicken dish with lightly fried potatoes, mushrooms and small peas.  One thing I have noticed about many of the recipes in this book is that they are really rather simple ingredients, but they way they are prepared and the ingredients that are put together make the food so tasty and delicious.

Chicken Clemenceau

The recipe for Chicken Clemenceau can be found here:

Here is the website to the famous Brennan's restaurant:

http://www.brennansneworleans.com/

If you want your own copy of this cookbook, and you don't want to wait until you find it 2nd hand you can find it here

Check out my Brennan's Pinterest Board

This web site had some interesting historical facts

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

Last night I made Lasagna Stuffed Shells my kids (all 5 of them) loved them! It is so hard to find something they will all enjoy.  Last night was a big hit, so I will definitely be making these again.

The recipe for Lasagna Stuffed Shells can be found here.

Homemade Banana Pudding

Homemade Banana Pudding

One of my customers ordered homemade banana pudding.  I was so excited to make it because it was the first time that I have had it on the menu.  In the past when I made banana pudding, I would use vanilla flavored Jell-O pudding and add banana and Nilla Wafers and then top it off with some Cool Whip.  Not any more!  

I discovered this recipe on Pinterest for "The Best Banana Pudding" and that it is!  I have to admit that I am intimidated when it comes to making meringue.  But this recipe is great, no problems.  I made a small pudding for me and the kids, I mean, I can't make something and not try it myself , right?

I would love to make one for you! If you would like to make one for yourself, you can find the recipe here

Homemade vanilla pudding, bananas, Nilla' wafers and meringue.

Veneto Rescue Beans

Original Veneto Rescue Beans Recipe

Are you looking for a unique side dish recipe?  This bean recipe has a story behind it (and you know I love that).  In the summer of 2001 we were living in Vicenza, Italy because my husband was in the Army and we were stationed there.  Guy's unit had to do a week-long training exercise called "Veneto Rescue".  If  you are not familiar with Italy, here is a brief geographical lesson.  Vicenza is located in northern Italy between Verona and Venice, which is known as the "Veneto Region" of Italy.

Anyway, after the week-long exercise the "unit" and their families got together to celebrate the end of this exercise and we did so with a feast.  One of the things served was something appropriately called "Veneto Beans".  These beans were made by my husband's commander's wife "LIz".  They are absolutely delicious.  They will be on the menu in January as a side to my Sausage & Potatoes meal.  I can't wait for you to try them!  Here is the recipe, the printable recipe can be found here.

Veneto Rescue Beans

Veneto Rescue Beans

1 8 oz can green beans, drained
1 8oz can yellow beans, drained

1 8oz can kidney beans, drained

1 8oz can lima beans, drained

1 16oz can pork and beans

1 C finely chopped celery

5 strips of bacon, chopped

2 C finely chopped onion

1 Can tomato soup

1 C brown sugar

2 tsp mustard

1 tsp chili powder

1 lb ground hot sausage

Mix all except ingredients together, top with bacon and bake 325 for 2 hours.