Favorite Memories of Cooking Out

I just entered for the Bush Bean's Grilling Set at Wenderly's blog. All I had to do was answer the question of what my favorite memory of grilling out was.

My very favorite  memories of cooking out is my dad pitching the tent in our backyard for it to dry out after a camping trip we had just returned from. My parents would let me invite my friends over to have our own backyard slumber party. They would have a bonfire to let us roast our own hot dogs and s'mores. Life was simple then. I look forward to enjoying these same summer time events with our children.

I can smell the wood burning now and imagine the gooey marshmallow melting the Hershey chocolate...we may be headed to Food City after the pool today.

Happy Memorial Day y'all!

A Fun Memorial Day Treat

 I have always loved the idea of gifts in a jar, what a great presentation for a homemade gift. Here is an idea from Babble of just serving dessert in a jar for a festive table decoration too. You could also do the angle food cake layered with pudding and berries in a jar to be patriotic and healthier.
 Babble has a custom-made treat just for the Memorial Day weekend.
While many cakes can be baked in jars, this one is baked in a large pan then crumbled into place in mason jars, thus allowing the final product to look as bright, colorful, and perfectly layered as the photo you see above.

Cake-In-A-Jar

• 1 white cake mix
• 1 tub vanilla frosting
• red and blue food coloring

Mix cake mix according to package directions. Separate 1 1/2 cups of the cake mix into a separate bowl. Tint on of the bowls bright red and one bright blue with your food coloring. Pour each batter into it’s own greased 8″ round pan and bake according to package directions. Cool cakes completely.
To assemble jars, crumble cake into large pieces.  Fill the bottom 1/3 of the jar with blue cake. Top with a thin layer of frosting. Add a layer of crumbled red cake on top of that, then finish off your jars with a final layer of frosting. Add sprinkles, if desired.
Twist caps onto the top of your jars. Store at room temperature for up to 24 hours, and in the fridge for up to three days. Because you aren’t sealing the cakes into the jars, this treat is best when not mailed via snail mail.
Makes 3 medium-sized cakes-in-jars (shown in picture) or 6 small, cupcake-sized cakes-in-jars.

Be safe this holiday and have fun sharing good food with family and friends!

A Family Recipe Was the Answer All Along

I have tried several meatball recipes in hopes of freezing them in meal portions to make life easier when I return to work. I was disappointed with failed attempts, so I decided to try my grandmothers recipe for meatloaf that we love. BINGO! Why didn't I think of that first? Nothing was wrong with the other attempt, its just I don't like my meatloaf too dense or dry. My grandmother's recipe is moisten with tomato sauce instead of milk and the cornbread adds a just the right flavor instead of bread crumbs, crackers, etc.

Mamaw's Meatloaf/Meatballs
2lbs hamburger
2 eggs
1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
1 medium green pepper (chopped)
1/2 skillet of cornbread (mom always used the Jiffy box, so do I...turns out great every time)
8oz of tomato sauce (1/2 of a 16oz can, so you can use the other 1/2 for the topping)

In a large bowl, mix hamburger, eggs, onion, green pepper with finely crumbled cornbread until everything is mixed well.
For meatballs: shape into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
For meatloaf muffin cups: press mixture into a greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
For mini loaves: shape mixture into small loaves and place in a casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
For a large loaf: shape mixture in a loaf in a 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.
*I shape the loaves that the sides are showing and not touching the dish, so that when basting the sauce on it will have more surface area for it to stick to. We love lots of sauce, so much we usually double the recipe*

Sauce for topping the Meatloaf
8 oz of tomato sauce (the other 1/2 of the can)
3oz of  brown sugar
3 oz of mustard
3 oz of apple cider vinegar
Baste sauce onto loaf until completely covered about 15 minutes before it is done baking.

Enjoy!

I will add pictures later...