Most people prefer to have someone else do the cooking for their birthday parties. I, on the other hand, was super stoked to be able to try out a lot of Grandma’s recipes last night. I would have posted afterwards, but I only cook for my birthday.
There were five recipes that were consumed…or should I say devoured…last night. Pulled pork with homemade BBQ sauce, cheese hermits, marinated carrots (from last week), meat & cheese dip, and THE strawberry cake. I’ll break them down for you.
The BBQ pulled pork was cooking low and slow all day in the crock pot. The sauce is a mix of “catsup” and red currant jelly, along with some hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. After cooking all day, the ingredients in the sauce broke down the meat to a tender, juicy “mess” of deliciousness. We did, however, have to transfer it to the slow cooker so the meat& cheese dip could be made in the crock pot.
What do you think?
Pulled Pork Roast
I’m even having a sandwich now…along with some of the Meat & Cheese dip. Who says you must have eggs and bacon for brunch?!
The dip…a fantastic blend of meat, cheese, meat, rotel, garlic, and soup…that’s right, soup! This recipe isn’t credited to my mom, but growing up it was a staple party food at our house. I think Grandma may have claimed this one as her own, when it was really mom’s. But who is going to accuse Grandma of using the “five-fingered-discount” on a recipe?!
So, I’m sure you’ve had this dip, or something similar: sausage, ground beef, Velveeta (gotta love processed cheese product), Rotel tomatoes, and cream of mushroom soup. When everything begins to melt you might think, “This isn’t going to be enough to feed all my guests.” Don’t worry! There will be more than enough and people with nosh on it ALL NIGHT! When you serve it, also, make sure to use GOOD tortilla chips or corn chips. Santitas, Tostitos, or Fritos Scoops are the only “Grandma’s Kitchen-Endorsed” chips for dipping. Anything else and you’ll be eating the dip from your hands, potato chips (even ruffle ones) don’t hold up to the think consistency of this concoction!
See for yourself:
Meat & cheese dip
I am not, however, eating any leftovers of the Cheese HErmits. I’m not really sure how to describe them. Their texture resembles cheese straw, but their flavor is a little lacking in my opinion. Grated cheddar and butter are mixed thoroughly. Flour, salt, and cayenne pepper are added along with a few teaspoons of Worcestershire. Sounds good, but I am still not convinced. It instructs to roll the mixture into marble-sized balls and put onto greased cookie sheets, baking for 45 minutes “or until golden.” Well, let’s just say that Grandma’s 45 minutes must have been a lot shorter, or her 350 degrees must have been a lot cooler. The first two pans were WAY brown…beyond golden. So, the second try I took the rest of the mixture and doubled the size and halved the time…cooked perfectly. The flavor was still not quite there, but there were a handful of people who kept going back to them. So, I guess they weren’t a complete flop. I just won’t be making them again, any time soon…that is, unless there is some sausage thrown into the mix. THAT is a different animal all together!
Cheese Hermits
As for the strawberry cake. It tasted even better than it looked and smelled! MOist, delicious, amazing, incredible, and SO good, were just a few of the adjectives used to describe it. It was those things and even more this morning when I had my coffee. The picture speaks for itself as to how much people enjoyed it!
Yum!
As a last note, the marinated carrots were very tasty. The boy even ate them and kept going back to random people’s plates for more. The only things left were a few green peppers and onions.
Grandma’s notes: BBQ Sauce 1/13/82- Had gone back to Frank’s; spent Christmas there (notes not clear); drove home in heavy snow; got to Tenaha and found Barbara stuck in the ditch. Lance and George got her out of the ditch. Talked to Frank; not snowing at their house, but still snowing here. Meat & Cheese Dip When the Lord takes care of a situation, we can be sure of the best results He has. THANK YOU LORD FOR YOUR CARE FOR ME. PRAISE YOU. Cheese Hermits MORE NOTES- Isaiah 61:3, three promises of God: 1. Beauty for ashes. 2. The oil of joy for mourning. 3. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Marinated Carrots- 1/7/91- Searched for a recipe for marinated carrots most of the morning; finally found it, but only had a part of the ingredients. 1/9/91- If your knees are shaking, try kneeling. Mailed Amber’s birthday card; started a crochet rung out of double knit. PRAISE YOUR NAME WHEN I AM TROUBLED I CAN CALL ON YOU. THANK YOU.
Tags: cheese product, corn chips, cream of mushroom soup, homemade bbq sauce, red currant jelly, strawberry cake
Grandma's Kitchen 