Friday Friend Recipes #317 and 318--Melissa's Italian Cheesecake and Yummy Braciolee

 

My Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown #317 and #318

My wonderful niece's Yummy Braciolee and Italian cheesecake

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!

Just remember, the countdown is not all about pretty food and food design---it's about the people and the stories.

And (the most important thing) proving my husband wrong--and that I can and WILL make every recipe in this cookbook

And this time it's not about the photography AT ALL!

It looks like raw meat, but it's just tomato sauce that didn't spread.  It tasted good, just didn't look so great--for me.  I'm sure when Melissa makes it, it is stunning to look at.

See?  Here it is all ready to go into the oven---perhaps I should have drenched it in tomato sauce?

....drenched in the sauce,

So that it didn't come out looking like raw meat. 

But it tasted great and that's the most important thing, right?

(sigh--I do know that they say, you taste with your eyes first)

This?  This is the best!

And the photos turned out great.

It really was yummy!!

As I get closer and closer to the end, it makes me kind of sad---because now we will say good-bye to Melissa (in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown only)

But you can check out all her recipes here.  Just click here.  Do it.  Do it now.

I am surprised by how good her dishes are.  (only an aunt can say that, right?  Being surprised I mean.  LOL)

(well, it's because I still think of her as a little girl, that's all)

Now I need a Melissa story--

She's a Vet-tech by profession, a single mom doing her best every day, and apparently a great cook. 😘

But let me go back 3 spaces to the vet tech.

Most vets and vet techs love animals and usually have a few more than the average person.  Dogs, cats, perhaps a Guinea pig or two.  A rabbit, maybe?

Not my unique niece!

Oh, she has the pets alright --just not the kind you would think.

She has.... wait for it....

Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

and

Hairless Egyptian Cats (Yes, plural)

Oh and some chickens.

Come on, don't get so creeped out. 

Someone's gotta love them, right?

And that someone is my niece, Melissa.

She's a lover of all things!

And see? Wikipedia says they actually make good pets.

See, even I am holding one. 

Or letting it be upon my hand.  

Do I look scared? Freaked out?  NO.  (well kind of)

It's just a harmless little hissing cockroach.

Who, by the way, live in rotting logs in Madagascar and don't roam your house at night. (just to be clear--they are clean and friendly)

The cats?  Poor little hairless things--they still need loving-- LOL

Actually, they're just like any cat, only they might have a bit more superiority complex. 

And the chickens, are well, just chickens.

She looks so normal!

Okay, we tease her, but we love her.  And she loves us.

And apparently a plethora of unique creatures.

They're all God's creations, right?

Again, I want you to check out all her other recipes--her complete series in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown, as we say so long

just click here.

My friends I bring to you recipes #317 and 318.

Only 49 or 38 left to go! 

(I'm so confused now! 😂)

(Because if you remember, I counted wrong---but I'm 99% sure I only have 38 more recipes to post.)

Friday friend recipe numbesr 315 and 316, Deb E's Hot Cocoa and Vegetable Puff

 

 I am under 60 recipes* now--I must get this done!  At least to prove something to myself if not the Handyman...

 because...

...about 22 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/Mayor, 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 us to Debbie E's Hot Cocoa and Vegetable Puff Casserole!

(these are two separate recipes--it sounds as if it is one. 😛 Trust me--the hot cocoa is not in the Vegetable Puff)

**********************************

I just need to hurry up and 'get 'er done'

Then I'll show him!

And as always, it's not about the quality of the photos, it's about the family, friends and fun we have all had together!

Before you go any further, let me give you an update--Debbie now makes a variation of  this 'puff' with fresh vegetables.  times, they are a changin'

 But I made the original recipe with the frozen veggies, because I think that is the whole idea of the countdown, right?

We do love the Vegetable Puff...  but the Hot Cocoa mix is just the perfect thing to do for gift giving.

I forgot to take a photo of the powder once it's done (and I made this and took pictures months ago--it has been sitting in my drafts for months.  Hmmm---perhaps this is why this cookbook countdown is taking FOREVER)

It tastes great and is easy to make and it makes a lot--perfect!

And look at my pretty, pretty Hot Chocolate Pot.  At least that's what my mother-in-law called it when she gave it to me.  My friend April might say it's a coffee pot?

Whatever it is, I rarely get to use it as one doesn't have people over for coffee like that much anymore.

Speaking of times a changin',

see what 15 years can do?

Below is a photo of Debbie and her daughter Kelsey, taken 15 years ago.

Beautiful!

And this one?  

Taken of Debbie and Kelsey, two weeks ago at the Mayor's Ball.  Also Beautiful!

Then one of the with me and April (who knows her antiques and might say my hot chocolate pot is a coffee pot)

If you have followed this countdown for any amount of time, you'll know that I've been friends with Debbie for over 35 years.  We used to be neighbors when the kids were young and now that we don't, we have coffee (DAMN! I never thought to bring out my cool hot chocolate/coffee pot.)

every Tuesday morning at 6am.  Come rain or shine. (Excluding Christmas day) We've been doing this for well over 20 years now--been through so much on Tuesdays, marriages of kids, birth of grandchildren, death of our parents, divorcés of kids, and everything else you could imagine.

We solve the problems of the world with a cup of coffee.

Someone should have written a book and called it, 

"Tuesdays with Debbies"

You can see all of Debbie's recipes/stories here.  Just click.

When we lived next door to Debbie and her family, my youngest son Mark was best friends with Kelsey and her twin sister Katie.

There was lots of running back and forth between houses (we had 7 kids between us) both adults and children.

We lived on a corner and well---I can only explain it by this little scribble  (and it is a scribble) of the street and our houses.

So you can kind of see how our backyards could see into each other's?  

One day when I was working in my garden, Debbie opened her back door (the kids were playing in the backyards, but Kelsey was having a meltdown--she was 3) and Deb yelled,  Mark! (she also had a son named Mark)  you give Kelsey back her YOU right now!!!

Now some other neighbor might have thought this was crazy-- her you? What?

Well, I didn't think much of it--he really should not have taken her you.  But the boys thought it was hysterical to torment the little girls.

Their "you" was --well, their you.

You wouldn't want anyone taking your YOU, would you?

You know how you steal or get a little kid's nose?

I've got your nose?

For some reason their dad, Charlie, would make a motion like he was taking something from them and he would say "I've got your you", and they would want it back and he'd give them back their you, right away and they'd laugh--  It was a funny thing between the girls and their dad, BUT their older siblings would steal their you and send it to California to make the girls cry.

This day it got out of hand---her brother Mark forgot to give Kelsey back her you--and the backyards were in an uproar--hence Debbie yelling--GIVE KELSEY BACK HER YOU RIGHT NOW!!!

I hope this story didn't lose too much in the translation.

I feel all is good at this point-- Kelsey looks like she has her YOU.  At least she did at the Mayor's Ball.

And that my friends is my story.

*Now I have some good news--

I think I have made a counting mistake and I only have 40 more recipes to go--I think.  

I'm not doing these in any order, so I have to flip thru my falling apart Friday Friend Cookbook each time I cook and cross off and count.  I hope I didn't miss any that I've checked off this time, because 40 sounds so good to me!

My friends I bring to you recipes #315 and 316.

Only 51 or 40 left to go! 😂