My Headboard that I made from doors

I purchased a brand new , 6 panel door for $25 , a reg.
bi-fold door from a roadside sale, for $5 and I found a
more narrow, bi-fold door near the dumpster at the apts.
I live in; it had 1 hole where the doorknob was ripped out.   I unscrewed 1 door on each bi-fold set and swapped 1 door from each set, so that it would be symetrical.  I mixed some paints but, never could achieve the right color . Here is the result.

I bought some paint at Lowe's , called Robin's Egg and repainted the doors.  It took 2 coats.

I had begun to paint the larger bi-fold door that you see in the left side of the pic .

Here is a close up. 

You can see the contrast of the bird and the doors .
The bird was the original color.

I added a carved , wooden overlay to the center door.



Then, I added a small overlay to cover the hole and1 on the
opposite side , to make it symetrical.




I absolutely love this color.  It is so soothing and calming.
I am painting the overlays, cream color.
When I am done, I will post a pic of the headboard
with the French Duvet Cover that I have in the
first pic.
If you can't afford to buy something in the stores,
try to make it yourself.  It is so rewarding. 

           LITTLE KARYN'S DELICIOUS MEATLOAF

I love this recipe and you will, too .  My roommate gave it to me in 1980. It is my favorite meatloaf recipe of all time.  It freezes well, too.  There are few dishes that are are considered Comfort Foods , that taste better than this one.  I was caught offguard, when I saw that it calls for condensed milk and also, brown sugar, but, after I tasted it, I was sold .  This would be an excellent Sunday Dinner or a special dinner with friends , just add some creamy mashed potatoes and your favorite mac-n-cheese or vegetable and you will make some people feel very special and loved.
Preheat oven to 350° . If you want your meatloaf to be tall, rather than wide, refrigerate your prepared meatloaf until firm, before baking, but, ** be sure to put the chilled dish into a cold oven, and then turn it on, or , you will crack your glass loaf pan.

Meatloaf :
1 ½  lbs. ground Chuck
1 sm. onion, chpd. fine
¼ sm. bellpepper, chpd. fine
½ cup oatmeal
1 lg. egg
¼ cup condensed milk
1 sm. can tomato paste (not sauce)
 salt , pepper & garlic salt

Mix all and shape in a loaf pan or , if using
a metal pan, line with 2 sheets of foil; one crossing
over the other, to prevent having baked-on sauce to scrub off the pan.

Shape the meatloaf in the pan.

Glaze:
1 sm. can tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
½  cup brown sugar ( I use dark brown sugar)

Mix glaze in a small glass measuring cup .  Poke
holes, in the top of the meatloaf ,every 2 inches.

Pour glaze on top of meatloaf and bake.
Bake for 1 hour @350° .

Enjoy !

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Got Milk???

Almost everbody I know loves chocolate chip cookies ; very few don't like them.

I am known for my chocolate chip cookies and have been asked by many people for my recipe , men have even asked me for it.

I will share it with you. I used to be able to find chocolate chunks by Hersheys or Nestle' in the grocery store when I lived in Florida. They don't sell them here.
They make fabulous "Chocolate Chunk Cookies" .
Tamars' Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 bar butter
1/2 cup butter flavor Crisco shortening
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
Cream all together.

Add:
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp. baking soda (level teaspoon)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsps. of Pure Vanilla Extract (not imitation)
Beat well til creamed .
Add:
1 Lg. egg

Mix Only until well incorporated.
****Do Not overbeat .
12 oz. bag Nestle' semi-sweet chocolate chips
(I also love Hersheys' and Ghiradelli's )
****Never use something that reads
Chocolate Flavored***it is fake 
and never use carob chips(they taste fake
and gross).
Fold-in the chocolate chips .
Chill first, for best results .

TIP: I use a Med. size ice cream scoop to make the
cookies uniform. It's the Pampered Chef one.
TIP: Do not flatten out your cookie dough balls. It is fabulous. 

Bake cookies on the middle rack of the oven for approximately 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. They are wonderful. 
Once baked, let cool on the cookie sheet for about 2-3 minutes , then remove to a wire rack to cool. 
I like them a little bit gooey with a glass of ice cold milk.  

I have a medium size Parrot who Loves Cookies and Milk. She doesn't like 
homemade cookies, only Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies. She gets so excited if 
she hears me open the cabinet, or even more so, if she hears me open a bag of
Chips Ahoy . She shreiks at the top of her little lungs,"Cookies??Cookies??",
"Want Cookies??" "Cookies and Milk??" 
I don't let her eat the chocolate chips.
When she is full, she wipes her beak and walks to the back of her cage. She is so funny.

THE MOST DELICIOUS CHICKEN SOUP I HAVE EVER HAD!

I first tasted this wonderful chicken noodle soup at a Soup and Chili luncheon at our church last year. It was so delicious that I chose to skip dessert to have 2nds, after I made sure that everyone had eaten all they wanted. 
It is called Mama Mandolas' Chicken Soup.

MAMA MANDOLAS' CHICKEN SOUP (like Carabas' Restaurant)
Ingredients:
5 celery ribs
4 medium carrots, peeled
1 large yellow onion
2 medium potatoes, peeled
1 large green bell pepper
1 can (14-ounce size) imported Italian plum tomatoes
1 (5-pound size) hen, washed and cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 quarts water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
(the soup I tasted had several shakes of Louisiana Red Hot Sauce in it,but,it wasn't enough to make the soup "hot".)

Dice celery, carrots, onion, potatoes and bell pepper into 1/4-inch pieces. Chop tomatoes; reserve all juice. Place vegetables, tomatoes with their juice, chicken pieces, parsley and garlic in a 10-quart stockpot. Add water. Season with salt and pepper. Slowly bring soup to a boil over low heat. Skim off foam that rises to the surface; may have to skim 2 or 3 times. Partially cover pot and simmer 2 hours. When soup is finished, remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon. Let cool. 

Meanwhile, mash a little bit of the vegetables**(if you desire the soup to be a little bit thicker) in the bottom of the pot with the back side of a large cooking spoon or a potato masher. When chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove skin and bones and chop into bite-size pieces, then return meat to soup.   Enjoy!

Notes: Soup is best served the day after it is made. Refrigerate and remove fat that solidifies on the surface of the soup. Serve soup with rice or small, stubby pasta such as Farfale(mini bowties),pastina or tubetti. For better flavor,pratially cook the rice or pasta,drain well,then finish cooking the rice or pasta in the soup when reheating. You may need to add a little bit of chicken broth or chicken bouillion cubes to sustain the flavor of the soup. Add freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, if desired.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Carrabba's "Mama Mandola's Chicken Soup" makes 1 .5 gallons

********You can add corn and sweet peas,and maybe even short-cut green beans,and small white navy beans just to increase the volume.********
I know that you will enjoy this soup. 

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A BOWL OF HEARTY BEEF STEW!

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A BOWL OF HEARTY BEEF STEW!

I used to cook lunch for our small church school and I developed this recipe for Beef Stew which everyone loved. I serve it over rice with hot, buttered cornbread 

BEEF STEW RECIPE 

1 3-5 lb. beef Shoulder Roast, seasoned
TONY CHACHERIE'S CREOLE SEASONING 
GARLIC POWDER
OIL for searing the roast
Season Roast and brown on all sides over high heat in a heavy Magnalite Pot,
then, reduce heat to low and pour 1-2 cups water around the roast.
Add:

2 envelopes of LIPTON BEEFY ONION dry soup mix 
Sprinkle over the roast.
1 very large Onion, chopped fine
Spread chopped onion over the roast 
Let simmer for 2-3 hours on low. 
Remove roast to a platter, trim any fat and cut meat into large chunks and refrigerate overnite. 
Remove fat from pot after chilling overnight and discard. 
Cut meat into bite size pieces and add 2 more cups of water and cook on Med. High.
Add:
2-3 envelopes of Brown Gravy Mix and
1 cup cold water
Stir until dissolved. 
Add to the pot and stir while adding.
Meanwhile, peel and chop potatoes and carrots, as many as desired,and boil until almost tender. 
***Parboiling the potatoes and carrots in another pot cuts down on the gassiness 
of the potatoes.***
Drain vegetables after parboi;ing and add to the pot of beef. 
Boil the stew on high, stirring constantly,until thickened. 
Serve over rice. 
Serve with cornbread.
***The Beef Stew will taste even better after refrigerating it for one or two days before serving it.***

Enjoy!

MOM'S CAJUN FRESH CORN SOUP with BEEF

On cold Winter days, my Mom used to make this soup with fresh frozen

corn that she and Daddy and I had shucked, cleaned and cut off of the cob

during the Summer.

Mom always made 2 cuts(or passes)on the cob;kinda like you would for

creamed corn. It wasn't whole corn kernels.

Canned, store-bought corn would never do. This soup has a distinct flavor

from the fresh corn. I love this soup and I crave it. I like to douse my

bowl of soup with about 10-12 hard shakes of Louisiana Red Hot Sauce to

kick-it-up a few notches. I like to drink ice cold milk when I eat this

soup; it relieves my mouth from the burn of hot sauce.

Ha.

No kidding. I am so looking forward to Autumn.

Mom's Cajun Corn and Beef Soup

Look for meaty soup bones in the meat market. The are also referred to as marrow bones.

Also purchase a small beef roast or stew meat already cut up.

Season well with Tony Chacherie's Creole Seasoning and garlic powder.

Boil in a large pot of water, about 1-1 1/2 gallons.

Dice 2 large onion and 1 large bellpepper and add to the pot.

Add salt,pepper and my favorite, Tony Chacherie's Creole Seasoning to the water.

Turn the temp. down to about med.-low and let cook for about 30 minutes.

Peel and cut potatoes into 1" cubes and add to the pot along with peeled and cut carrots into 1" pieces. 

I use about 6 or more large potatoes and about 6-8 large carrots.

MY TIP...you can use small new-potatoes and just cut the peelings off around the middle, leaving the peelings on at both ends.

Add 1 small can of tomato paste. Stir well.

Let cook for about 20 minutes on Medium High.

Add the equivalent of about 1 regular ziploc sandwich bag of fresh cut corn;maybe about 6 or more large ears of corn.

The amount of corn you add is up to

you. It adds to the flavor of the soup.

When potatoes are tender,taste the soup and add more seasoning if needed.

I like to cut the meat into smaller pieces at this point.
P.S. You can add petite diced tomatoes, frozen green peas or green beans at this point , if you want to stretch the smount of soup. 

MY TIP...this soup gets better after it sits in the frige

overnight or in the freezer. I remove potatoes before freezing;they don't freeze too well.

REBECCA'S CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN MUFFINS


 My friend, Rebecca, made these fabulous muffins for
 a Friday Nite Game Nite and we loved them. They are
 good that they demand a glass of ice cold milk be enjoyed with them.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
                                           3/4 c. sugar 
                                          1 1/2 c. self rising flour 
                                          1 1/2 teaspoons  pie spice or cinnamon  
                                          1/4 c. vegetable oil 
                                           2 eggs 
                                          1/4 c. water 
                                          3/4 c. pumpkin (canned) 
                                          3/4 c. mini chocolate chips


 Mix all the ingredients except the chocolate chips . 

   It'll look something like this 




Fold-in miniature chocolate chips .


  Spoon muffin batter into the muffin pan,
  filling them approximately 3/4 full.

 Set timer for 15 minutes, for regular size muffins,
   then, check them, using a toothpick inserted in the center
   of the muffin, to check for doneness.



 Bake 400 degrees 15-20 minutes,or
   if baking mini muffins, bake only 15 minutes.

 Allow muffins to cook in the pan for a few minutes.
 Next, using a butter knife, pass it around
  the muffins to loosen them and flip them
  on their side to allow the bottoms to cool.

Yummy !

These are so delicious.  I hope that you enjoy them.

 Check back for other recipes and tips and treasures.