The Cow Queen

The palace has been a busy place for the last couple of weeks. In addition to our regular everyday chaos, we had the garden flourishing, the canning, overnight guests and the start of school. All of the busyness has meant the blog has been put on the back burner. However, I wanted to share this recipe with you. I wasn't sure how it was going to end and wasn't even sure how it was going to go together. So, I didn't get any pictures, but I did get some great help.

The prince and I took some yellow squash (are you sick of reading my squash recipes yet?), tomatoes, and onions. For our tomatoes, I cut them into about eighths. Then, I cut the onions into about the same size chunks. I cut the squash in half lengthwise and the prince sliced them from there. He did a great job and nobody got hurt! I just eye-balled what looked like a good combination of amounts. We mixed a packet of Italian dressing mix. We put almost all of it in with the vegetables. We put the lid on the casserole dish and microwaved it until the squash was tender.

It was delicious! Prince Charming said it was his favorite squash recipe, so far. He even requested it again when we had the overnight guests.


I’m linking to Mouthwatering Mondays.



The grass is green. It’s good to be

A few weeks ago, I posted some pictures of my canning projects.  I didn’t even say that the last picture was salsa, but that is what everyone thought. Well, you were right!

I am really proud of this salsa. I have been searching for several years for a good salsa recipe. You know, if you go to all that trouble of getting and chopping all those tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and spices, you want it to be good.

You’ve asked for the recipe. So, here it is. Don’t tell anyone. It is our secret.


The main character (If you don’t have this, it won’t be the same. Give up now!):

After searching for so long for a good salsa recipe, I was about to give up hope. Until one day when I was shopping for jars and lids to do my summer canning. I found a pack of salsa mix that I decided to try. This stuff was awesome. I mean this stuff was so good that after making the first batch, I had to find more. I went to 6 stores in 2 days (and called two others) to find more of the salsa mix. O.K., I’ll admit that the 6th store was actually to pick up a prescription, and I just happened to find more of the product line there.



 
All you have to do is peel, core, and chop your tomatoes (or use canned tomatoes), add some vinegar and the season packet. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. You can serve it immediately, can it, or freeze it.






I call this “Slap Your Grandma Salsa.” Huh? You’ve never heard that phrase? Let me translate: This salsa is so good that you will be out of your mind, forget your manners, and “slap your grandma.” Several years ago, we had a family gathering and I told my grown niece to “Try this salsa (the one we had that day). It’ll make you stand up and slap your grandma.” She replied, “Nuh-uh. My Grandma’s here!” I don’t think she ever did try that salsa.

I’m linking to Mouthwatering Monday.

Disclaimer: I’m only sharing this recipe because I liked it and you asked. Mrs. Wages does not know who I am. I did not receive any compensation from the company for this review. I had to buy my own mixes, grow and chop my own tomatoes, and make my own salsa. And you can dang sure bet that I’ll be eating it too! Maybe I should have called it “Little Red Hen Salsa.”

The grass is green. It’s good to be

Since I am the only one in the palace who likes summer squash, Prince Charming didn’t plant much. It was the first vegetable to start coming in after the corn. For others to eat it, I either have to fry it or “mix it with enough other stuff to cover up the taste.” I have been trying to come up with ways to fix it. I had already made the squash casserole with the sour cream and stuffing mix. So, I wanted something else to make. I could have searched the internet for other recipes, but I went “old school” and actually pulled out a cook book. I know … I must be insane! This was the cookbook from the church in which Prince Charming grew up. I usually ask him if “Mrs. Such ‘n Such” is a good cook. This time, he wasn’t home to ask, so I picked a recipe and tweaked it some. I usually don’t tweak until I have tried it the written way at least once. Since I was already being a renegade by getting the cookbook out to start with, I just went totally crazy!   Here’s what I did: (Basically, I added ham, mixed the ingredients in the wrong order, and added cheese and butter to the breadcrumbs … and crossed my fingers that it worked!)

Gathered my ingredients:
 
 yellow squash, eggs, flour, cheese (I’m not so old school that I won’t use pre-shredded cheese), onion, butter, milk, sugar, salt,  bread crumbs, ham chunks

Combine the squash, onion, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes in small amount of water. (I told you this was old school. You could probably just microwave it until it is really tender.)

Drain the vegetable mixture and mash it with a potato masher.

Stir in the flour. Add the eggs and butter. Stir over the heat until the butter is melted. Take away from the heat and add the milk.

Stir in the grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Add ham.

Pour into buttered casserole dish. Mix breadcrumbs with a couple tablespoons of melted butter and a big pinch of shredded cheese. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top of casserole.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Yummmmmm! It passed inspection! Prince Charming said it was “the best I have ever had of this particular vegetable … EVER!” He even asked for a small second helping!


Squash Casserole

2 lb. yellow squash, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt (I used less to account for the salty ham)
3 Tbsp. flour
2 eggs
6 Tbsp. butter
1 cup milk
1 cup finely grated cheese + about 2 Tbsp. for topping
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 cups diced ham
1/3 c. bread crumbs

Combine the squash, onion, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes in small amount of water. Drain the vegetable mixture and mash it with a potato masher. Stir in the flour. Add the eggs and 4 Tbsp. of  butter. Stir over low heat until the butter is melted. Take away from the heat and add the milk. Stir in the grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in ham and pour into buttered casserole dish. Mix breadcrumbs with a couple tablespoons of melted butter and a big pinch of shredded cheese. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top of casserole. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.


I’m linking to I’m Lovin’ It, Feature Yourself Friday, Foodie Friday, and Follow Me Friday.



The grass is green. It’s good to be

 have no story to go with this post. I was just trying to find a recipe that would work with short ribs in the crockpot. I find that if I cook them on the stove, they come out more chewy than I would like. But this, this recipe made them fall-off-the bone, melt-in-your mouth gooooood.

Here we go. You'll need:

My goal was to have this post up yesterday, but that didn't happen.


On Sunday, I picked Prince Charming up at the airport at 11 a.m. We had lunch at our house with his father and aunt as part of a ruse to get the father to his surprise 80th birthday party. Then, we had the party. After a week of 11 hour days in the strawberry patch, we were too exhausted to do much else.


Yesterday, we received more than two inches of much-needed rain. That means the patch was all-but closed. We gave our wonderful helpers the day off and remained open for pick-your-own customers. We had two! That gave me a chance to run errands (which I planned to do anyway), make a batch of jam, and catch up on a few things on the "need to do now" list.


So, here is today's yesterday's post...


This is a strawberry cobbler based on my mom's peach cobbler recipe. It is still kind of a work-in-progress. The pictures are for a double-batch in a 9x13 dish. The recipe below is for a single batch in an 8x8 pan.