Friday Friend Recipe #139 -- Pork Roast

Come with me as I continue to countdown my Friday Friend Cookbook!

What is it, you may ask?

In a nutshell...
About 17 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.
I decided to count those down!
Why?

Because  one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog"
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said,  "you'll never EVER do that."
Well,  maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings me to recipe #139 Traci's Crock Pot Pork Roast  

Pork Roast

Traci Marques

Los Banos, CA

1 pork shoulder roast

3 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 to 2 cups favorite BBQ sauce

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 small onion--sliced

2 cloves garlic--sliced

salt/pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and pour over roast.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours.  Once done, strain the juice and thicken with cornstarch for gravy.

This is Traci's 6th appearance in the Countdown!

You can see all her recipes and stories here...just click.

Speaking of funny stories, I asked her just yesterday for a funny story to tell.
She was blunt when she answered me....

Do not need funny stories attached to all your posts.  Just say this is from Traci in Los Banos CA. If they don't know who I am by now it doesn't matter.  hahhaa

And then...
That I'm 3 years from retirement but counting the days anyway!   

Aren't we all?

Really?  No funny story Traci?

I kind of feel I do need one...but (sigh) whatever.

I will tell you a fun fact! 

Traci's family doesn't like 'cold meat', such as leftover chicken eaten cold, which was my mother's staple for picnics.

And yet--Traci is a queen of leftovers.  She loves a good leftover meal, but unlike me ( who says--there's leftovers in the fridge if you want them. With a nod of my head towards the fridge to the Handyman), she actually makes a meal, a dinner.  Complete with a 'set' table, side dishes and meat that is heated up!

I really admire that.

But you know, there is something to be said for a leftover COLD sliced pork sandwich or just cold sliced pork with sliced tomatoes and salt and pepper on a hot Sunday Summer afternoon.
Mmmmm.
I have to laugh at Traci's daughter, Lauren, who says that cold meat is pretty much like eating raw meat.
Okay... a cold meat sandwich is sort of disgusting, but it's also sort of wonderful!

Traci and Lauren a few years ago.

I've decided that Traci has great hair, be it long or short!

Traci and me in my backyard when she came to visit me about 15 years ago!

And that makes recipe #139!

Only 155  to go.

Friday Friend Recipe #138 - Rice and Broccoli

My Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown #138!

(#willreallyfinishthissomeday)

My Mom's Rice and Broccoli

and you know all the whys and wherefores of this countdown, right? Homemade cookbook, friends contributed, Handyman said I couldn't/wouldn't do it, I'll show him, yadda yadda yadda....

...and the rest is cookbook history!

As I've said many times before---food trends come and go.  This dish and similar ones were really popular in the 80's?  I  had not had it in years when I made it for the FF cookbook countdown.  I  didn't even know if I could find Cheeze Whiz anymore, but I did.  And while this is too  'fake' cheesy for my taste buds anymore, there was a time when I loved it.

You might still!!

To see all of my mom's recipes and stories just click here!

I went home for lunch and had a pb&j sandwich--with orange marmalade.  I love orange marmalade.

Orange marmalade reminds me of my mom because she loved it too.

When I start thinking of stories about my mom and I in the kitchen,  my mind goes to the pie crust incident.

I wrote about this earlier in a FF post, but it's a good one to bring back...  here goes....

When I was around 13 years old, I decided I wanted to learn to make a pie crust.

I decided I wanted to learn to make a pie crust on a Saturday night at about 6pm--just when my parents were headed out to a fancy dinner.

My mom was getting ready for dinner, dancing and cocktails.  She was all dressed up in a fancy dress with her hair done up, perfume, pearls, etc.

I could not get my pie crust to roll out in a circle without huge cracks in it and just as they were leaving the house I thru a fit and wanted her to stay and teach me her pie crust--JUST LIKE A GOOD MOM SHOULD!!

She of course, didn't stay. And I think I told her she was a horrible mother.

oh come on....don't judge.  At least we had this kind of relationship where I felt safe enough to tell her that. I mean, there are some children in the United States where they would get slapped or beaten for this kind of disrespect.  I, on the other hand, knew my mother was not horrible, and she knew I knew it, so it seemed reasonably safe to throw that in her face to see if I could get a reaction.  I didn't.

In my mind tho, she was devastated and felt awful all evening long and wished she had never left me sobbing at home, covered in flour. In reality, she probably either just looked at me--the mom look,  finished putting on her earring without saying a word to the screeching creature before her and walked out of the house on the arm of my father OR told me I was a selfish little turd and then walked out of the house on the arm of my father.

Neither of them looking back to see me wailing over pie crust!

I can't make a good pie crust to this day.

During the time  I was asking all the Friday Friends weekly questions, I must have asked about  teenage selfishness and shared a story similar to this one, because my mother sent me an answer---

Not once in my life did I call you a selfish little shit (I beg to differ Mom) but if I had, I am sure that you deserved it!  There was a time in  your life that I would have given you away if I had had a chance!

Okay, I guess I was a little snot sometimes.  I might have even drove her to drink!

When she answered about herself , she said,

Yes, I was very selfish in my early high school years.  My parents wanted to move back out to the ranch to live and they did for one summer.  I refused to move!!  All summer long I stayed with friends and my grandparents.  I was a real butt!

Now, did you know that about your mother?

I did not know that story about my mother!

She did have a stubborn streak tho. She refused to ever taste lamb, no matter what!!  Even at a Seder Supper! One little teeny-weeny bite?  NO, she had had mutton once and she hated it.  So there was no 2nd chance for a rack of lamb or a nicely seasoned lamb chop, which I make and it's SO GOOD.  I just wanted her to try...one little bite?

No, she'd just have some toast and orange marmalade instead.

That's my mom story!

Recipe #138, only 156 to go!

Friday Friend Recipe #137 - Sweetie Dogs

Friday Friend Recipe #137 - Linda's Sweetie Dogs

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook: I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 18 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #137

Linda's

Sweetie Dogs

Little sausages in a tangy sauce are welcome at anybody's appetizer table.

Especially mine.

SWEETIE DOGS

Linda Ornelas

Walla Walla, Washington

2 packages cocktail links

1 jar grape jelly

1/2 cup mustard

Melt jelly in saucepan, over low heat.  Stir in mustard, add links.  Cook 10 minutes over med. heat. Serve warm using a crock pot or candled serving dish.

This is my cousin Linda's 5th appearance in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown.  You can see all her recipes and stories here--just click!

Stories...stories...stories.

I have trouble thinking up new stories--even if I have tons of memories. But when I have to put pen to the paper, nothing comes to mind.  It's weird, I know.  It's like a writers block.

So let me just tell you this about my cousin....

Well--first let me meander a bit.

I read a book today called "Home Cooking-A Writer in the Kitchen" by Laurie Colwin.  I loved it as it brought to mind so many memories of family and kitchens and food.

Let me quote from the book:

No one who cooks, cooks alone.  Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past...

I had a friend  who was making a mustard sauce this past Easter and she was talking about it on Facebook--how her mother would not look kindly on black pepper when one was supposed to use white pepper in the sauce and how some of the family loved the sauce, some not so much. But, one of her nieces who ate dinner with them on Easter, commented that "it smelled like memories".

Isn't that the truth about food?!! -- no one cooks alone--more often than not I am surrounded by generations of cooks past that are members of MY family.  And it always smells like memories!

When the Handyman and I got back from our honeymoon, I invited my parents and his parents over the very night we returned--to watch us open our wedding gifts (we had left them for after the  Honeymoon), and I made a dinner--my very first for company.

I chose a dinner that Linda would make and that I loved.

She used to bake chicken and pour a cream of mushroom sauce over the top of it and sprinkle it with Rice Krispies!

It was so fancy!  Linda used to make it every time she came to visit us, and I LOVED it.

I wish I had a picture of it.  I haven't made it or thought of it in years.

 Food trends come in cycles and rice krispies sprinkled on a baked chicken has been out of style for a while I guess.

But it is a great memory for me.  I loved to watch her cook and loved to eat the dishes she fixed.

It smells like memories......

She was 13 years older than I.  I followed her around and did everything she did.

She probably hated me back then.

Linda and I with our grandfather.  Neither of us look like we wanted to share!

And that is recipe #137.

Out of 294.

157 to go!

Friday Friend Recipe #136 -- Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

Come with me as I continue to countdown my Friday Friend Cookbook!

What is it, you may ask?

In a nutshell...
About 17 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.
I decided to count those down!
Why?

Because  one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog"
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said,  "you'll never EVER do that."
Well,  maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings me to recipe #136  Darleen's Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

Easy, tangy and good!  I love to be able to put things in a crockpot in the morning and come home to a meal all ready.

Sweet and Sour Ribs

Darleen Evans

Kennewick, WA

Boneless, country style pork ribs

1 bottle of BBQ sauce, your choice

1 small can of frozen lemonade

Thaw lemonade & mix with bbq sauce.  Pour over ribs in crockpot.  Cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-5 hours.

Serve over rice.

If Auntie Darleen had a nickname, it would be Darleen the illusive! Finding a photo of her is hard.  I don't think she likes her picture taken much.

This is Darleen's 4th appearance in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown, you can see them all here--just click.

Perhaps Auntie Darleen doesn't like her picture taken, because she is so old!  She is over 21 you know---her life is over!

At least  that's how I understand it.  It's a family known fact, that when Darleen turned 21, she was very depressed and cried, because she thought the best part of her life was behind her.

I do believe tho, she's had some very good times since then.  She hadn't even met the love of her live yet...

Her nephew, the Handyman, had a similar meltdown when he approached his 25th birthday-- the term QUARTER OF A CENTURY, kept him awake at night.

My husband and my favorite Aunt-in-Law,

Were kind of silly.
(There is only 3 years between the two of them)
I haven't been bothered by a birthday yet...and as far as I know, these 2-- 21 and 25-- have been the most traumatic for them both, so far.
40 and 45 years ago....

That's my Darleen story!

Old, not so old!

AND---I have some great news!  I was looking thru the FF cookbook as I often do and I noticed that there are a couple of double recipes. Same exact recipe turned in by the same person, accidentally put in 2 different categories.  I found 4. So I am closer to being done than I thought.

This was recipe #136 out of 298

minus the 4 doubles makes that 294.

So I now have 158 to go!!

WOO HOO!

Friday Friend Recipe #135 -- Celery Oriental

My Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown #135!

(#willreallyfinishthissomeday)

Barb's Celery Oriental

and you know all the whys and wherefores of this countdown, right? Homemade cookbook, friends contributed, Handyman said I couldn't/wouldn't do it, I'll show him, yadda yadda yadda....

...and the rest is cookbook history!

Please forgive the thoughts I was having when I began to make this, because....

This was really good!

Oh come on--- you are thinking the same thing I did--CELERY?

Really?  Celery Barb?

But both the Handyman and I  liked it.  A lot!

I would fix this with my mom's Teriyaki  Steak and some steamed white rice, with maybe a slice of grilled pineapple.

FOR COMPANY!

It's company good!

You know, it's funny, because I have two recipes from Friday Friends, in which celery is the main ingredient, and I thought (sigh) really?  For both of them, BUT they both are so good!! The other was a celery and bleu cheese salad from Theda.  Yummy!

But this... give it a try!

You won't be sorry.

Celery Oriental

Barbara Brown

Buckeye, AZ

Slice 6 to 8 large celery stalks on the bias. Cook in boiling water till crisp-tender, drain.  Cook 1 cup  (or  more) sliced mushrooms in 3 T butter till tender.  Add celery and 1/4 cup toasted, blanched almond halves.  Toss lightly till hot.

(I think I added a couple dashed of soy sauce)

Hello again Barbara!

This is her 30th appearance in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown.  Check out all her recipes (and stories) here! (Just click)

Once upon a time we went to Marine World in Vallejo, CA.  This was back in the day before digital cameras and cell phones, so we took photos sparingly.  (and sometimes not so greatly). 

There I am pointing to a fish.  And Barb is proudly showing off the butterfly on her arm.

The Butterflies flocked (or is that bird terminology?) to Barb, when we went into the Butterfly Garden.

I am a bird girl myself and loved when the birds would sit on my hand and drink juice from the little cup I was holding.

And while we know this isn't politically correct anymore (in fact the whale shows are being phased out) we still did it....

We rode the Killer Whale!

And we had a great day!

This is recipe number 135.

One Hundred and Thirty Five!

Only  163 more to go!

Friday Friend Recipe #134 -- Good Salad

Friday Friend Recipe #134--Barb's Good Salad

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook: I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 18 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #134

Barb's

Good Salad

Jello salads.  There are a ton of them in this Friday Friend Cookbook.
I do like Jell-O tho, and I don't tend to make Jello nowadays. The Handyman prefers plain Jell-O so when I make a "Jell-O salad I have to eat it all myself.
That's okay, because this salad is aptly named "Good Salad".
And it is.



Good Salad
Barbara Brown
Buckeye, AZ

1 large Cool Whip
1 lb. creamed cottage cheese
1 6oz Jell-O (pour in dry)
1 large can crushed unsweetened pineapple-drained
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup coconut

Fold together and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Barb has a gazillion more recipes for me to make and post--so I don't feel bad for not having a story to tell this time.

I just want you to look at these photos very carefully.

VERY carefully.

She still has the same profile all these years later!

It's not fair!

There is no double chin, no sagging jowls, no wrinkly neck waddles-- just beauty!
My beautiful friend.

Yes, that is her standing in the photo above--doing a funky kick. That was in her dorm room, during her college years.

Once she gave me a big shoebox full of her college letters and I read them and returned them.  I wish I had kept them--for some deep dark secret to share--but I didn't.  They were so much fun to read tho!!

In the 2nd photo--who knows?!  (I guess it would be fair to say this of photo #1 also--who knows? Who knows what Barb was doing?)
Back to photo #2
It was my 25th wedding anniversary party, a mere 14 years ago.  The Handyman's siblings are giving Barb bunny ears and by the look on her face--who really knows what's going on?!

So, this is recipe #134.
Only 164 more to go!

**Just a little inside information.
Barb wins for the most Jell-O recipes and  Bisquick recipes.
The Handyman is keep track of stats.