If I got to choose what I'd want to eat for the entire day, here's what I'd have:
Breakfast (to be served to Momma in bed): Breakfast Casserole, Biscuits and Gravy, and Hash Brown Casserole, with coffee, juice, fresh fruit and foot rub.
| Bodacious Breakfast Casserole | Momma's Biscuits
| Sawmill Gravy
| Hashbrown Casserole |
Light Lunch: Hidden Valley Ranch Cheese Ball with crackers, Fruit Dip with strawberries and sliced apples. Spinach Dip with tortilla chips (or raw veggies).
| Hidden Valley Ranch Cheese Ball
| Fruit Dip
| Guaranteed Bad Breath Snack Crackers
| Spinach Dip |
Supper: Stuffed Mushrooms appetizer followed by Lasagna with lightly toasted French bread, a light spinach salad and Heavenly Chocolate Cheesecake for dessert
| Stuffed Mushrooms (Crab Imperial) (oh Lord, I'm droolin')
| Angel's Lasagna
| Heavenly Chocolate Cheesecake |
12 ounces of buttermilk biscuit dough (we used Grands, which are slightly bigger)
6 eggs
2 cups sawmill gravy, *plus a cup or two extra
1 lb sausage, any flavor
2 cups cheese, shredded
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350F, and grease a 9x13-inch casserole dish.
Over medium heat, start browning the sausage, and while that's cooking, cut each biscuit into quarters. Toss the cut up biscuits across the bottom of the greased dish in a layer.
After your sausage is browned, drain it thoroughly and spread over the biscuit pieces. Next, layer the shredded cheese over the sausage. Whisk together eggs and milk, add salt and pepper and pour this over the shredded cheese layer.
Make gravy, and pour it over everything.
Bake this casserole uncovered for 30-45 minutes, or until eggs and biscuits are cooked through. Serve warm (leftovers are excellent too!).
*My family likes to smother their pieces of breakfast casserole with extra gravy, so that's why I suggested doubling the amount of gravy. Enjoy!
This is Mother's recipe for biscuits -- it is world famous, or at least Cohutta famous! When we were growing up, Sherri had lots of friends that couldn't wait to spend the night with her. Later she found out that they were just using her to get to Mother's Biscuits. Geez, you think you know someone, eh?
Self-rising flour, "Must be White Lily®," Momma says
Solid Vegetable Shortening (I use Crisco")
Milk
Preheat oven to 450°. (Mother likes to use a cold oven and cook at 350°.)
Cut solid vegetable shortening into flour, keeping in mind that the more shortening you use, the flakier (and greasier) the biscuits will be. Add enough milk to make a dough. Don't over-knead the dough, because it makes it tough.
Roll out dough, fold over, roll out, fold over, roll out, and fold over. This makes your layers in the biscuits. Cut out your biscuits and place on greased cookie sheet. I like great big old "cat-head" biscuits, but Mother prefers dainty biscuits. You're the master of your biscuits&do whatever flips your trigger.
Bake your biscuits 7 to 10 minutes until they are lightly brown on top and bottom.
About 4 to 6 tablespoons hot grease (preferably sausage drippings with pieces of sausage in it)
About 4 to 6 tablespoons of flour (I use self-rising)
Salt and pepper to taste
About 3 cups of milk
The grease should be hot and in a large skillet and over medium heat. (To help you measure: I let the grease cover the bottom of my 12-inch skillet). Add the flour (the amount of flour should be about 3/4 the amount of the grease) and bring to a hearty simmer and cook until the flour is golden. If you undercook this, your roux will taste like flour and grease, yuck. Season with salt and pepper. When you are satisfied with the color of your roux, reduce the heat to low and slowly whisk in your milk.
When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot of money and milk was expensive, so Momma would mix water with the milk. You can do this or not. Stir this mixture constantly, if you don't you will have lumpy gravy and your family will never let you live it down (like the time you left the guts in the turkey).
Bring this mixture to a boil. If it firms up too fast, remove it from the heat and add a little milk or water to thin. Re-season it, and pour over biscuits.
Stir, stir, and stir this and by the time you see bubble breaking the surface, you'll be fully thickened. Pay attention! You'll be really surprised at how quickly this happens. Also keep in mind that gravies thicken as they cool - it's better to thin a thick gravy with liquid than to thicken a thin one.
This is a classic, and has become a family favorite; you can use any kind (and amount) of cheese you like. It is great to take to covered dish thingies.
2 pound bag frozen hash browns, thawed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 small onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
Topping: (optional)
1 stick margarine, melted
1 sleeve Butter crackers, crushed
Preheat oven to 350º. Mix hash browns, soup, sour cream, cheeses, and onion. Put into 9x13-inch pan. Mix together crackers and butter and put on top, if desired. Cover and bake for around and hour and half, or until potatoes are tender.
Hidden Valley Ranch Cheese Ball
Every person that has tried this loved it! It is great for parties and especially for the holidays. You can freeze this recipe up to a month.
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch" (HVR) dressing mix (milk recipe)
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup mayonnaise
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 ounces cheddar cheese, grated fine
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Mix together HVR dressing mix with mayonnaise and milk. Blend in cream cheese. Next, gradually mix in cheddar cheese.
Place mixture in freezer for around 45 minutes. You want the mixture to thicken, not freeze. If you don't let it thicken, you'll end up with cheese "discs". This, I know, comes from experience.
Form mixture into either one big ball or 2 smaller ones. Roll the ball(s) in nuts and refrigerate.
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 7-ounce container marshmallow cream
Mix together ingredients and chill. Serve with apples, grapes, and whatever fruit you like.
This makes 3 cups. This dip is WONDERFUL and not too bad for you! It is good served in that fancy hollowed out bread or out of a Tupperware dish just with chips (potato chips or corn chips). Make this dip either 4 hours or a day ahead to allow for the onion flavor to be absorbed throughout. This is the best stuff EVER! I'm drooling just remembering this as I type it in. Double it -- you'll thank me later. My friend Diana suggested putting in about a half of a cup of chopped water chestnuts. Also, try making this recipe into a spread for crackers by, "Same recipe except add one softened 8 ounce block of cream cheese (blend it with the sour cream and mayo first before adding the other ingredients). I then do it in a mold, and you use a knife to spread it."
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (the original recipe said, unthawed, so uh, let's not go there, 'k?)
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 envelope vegetable soup and recipe mix
3 to 5 green onions, chopped fine
Stir all ingredients until well mixed. Cover; chill.
Guaranteed Bad Breath Snack Crackers
This is popular with everyone! My mother-in-law Genevieve gave me the recipe. NOTE: since this is so popular with everyone, I usually double the recipe. One day, I'm going to use the Goldfish shaped crackers for the kids.
12-ounce package oyster crackers
3/4 cup oil
1/2 package Hidden Valley Ranch" (HVR) mix (milk recipe)
1 tablespoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Mix oil, HVR mix, dill weed, lemon pepper, and garlic salt in large mixing bowl. Add in crackers and coat them well with oil mixture. Let the mixture set about one hour, stirring occasionally. Pour out on paper towel and let dry for around 30 minutes. (No, don't use your hairdryer!) Store in airtight container.
Stuffed Mushrooms (Crab Imperial)
My sister Sherri provided this recipe.
1 pound crab meat
1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 egg
1/2 cup or more cracker crumbs (I used butter crackers) to thicken
1 tablespoon parsley (optional)
1/2 cup light cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Large mushroom caps
Paprika
Preheat oven to 350º. Saute onion and peppers in butter. Add to crab meat and other ingredients. Mix well; place in mushroom caps and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 15 minutes, then increase oven temperature to broil and broil for just under 5 minutes.
This is one of my favorite items to have for supper (or breakfast or lunch).
1 package lasagna noodles
1/2 cup wine
1 small can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons Italian dressing or bacon grease
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 can tomato paste
1 large can whole tomatoes or 1 jar homemade canned tomatoes
2 eggs
1 Bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon crushed Oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 big tubs ricotta cheese
4 teaspoons garlic salt
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 packages sliced mozzarella cheese
Pinch sugar
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Cook noodles according to package instructions, and when noodles are cooked, spread them out on waxed paper, side-by-side.
In large sauce pot, add tomato sauce, paste, tomatoes, Bay leaf, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme and turn heat on low.
Put Italian dressing (or bacon grease) in skillet and sauté onion until translucent. Add in chopped garlic and sauté just until garlic starts to turn slightly brown. Deglaze skillet with wine then pour into tomato mixture. Add meat into skillet and brown. Rinse off excess fat using hot water and then add drained meat to tomato sauce. Simmer sauce for a couple of hours until it reduces and is a good thick consistency. Taste and re-season.
Preheat oven to 375º. Mix together ricotta cheese, 4 teaspoons garlic salt, eggs, and Parmesan cheese, and set aside.
In 9x12-inch large baking pan sprayed with non-stick spray, remove bay leaf and layer the following ingredients in the following manner:
Spray one side of tinfoil and place sprayed side down over lasagna to cover and bake for around 25 minutes. Uncover and finish baking for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes before serving.
This is relatively easy to make and it tastes, well, heavenly!
Crust:
3 cups crushed vanilla wafers
1 1/2 cups ground pecans
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup margarine, melted
In a medium bowl, combine crumbs, pecans, sugar and margarine; mix well. Press firmly into bottom of 12-inch spring form pan and 2 inches up sides.
Filling:
3 cups (11 1/2-ounce package) milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup skim milk
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup whipping cream, whipped
In a small heavy saucepan and over low heat, melt chocolate chips, stirring frequently. In small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over milk; let stand for one minute. Warm over low heat, stirring frequently, until gelatin is dissolved. In larger mixer bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream and chocolate until fluffy. Beat gelatin mixture and almond extract. Fold in whipped cream; pour into crust. Chill about 3 hours or until firm. Run knife around edge of cheesecake; remove rim.
And THAT is my dream food for Mother's Day. Mmmmm.