Cashew Tuna/Chicken Casserole by Mauring G.

***Disclaimer***  No one in my family would touch this if I used tuna, so I used canned chicken.  ***

This is warm chicken salad, which I love and my children hate.  I give it a 4 and they give it a 1.  It is super easy to make.  You just dump everything in the baking dish and slide it in the oven.  I was afraid that the Chinese noodles would be soggy, but it wasn't too bad.  When my children leave the house, I think I will make this all the time.

Cashew Tuna Casserole by Maurine G.

1 can chunk tuna or chicken
1/2 lb salted cashews
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c minced onion
1 can chow mein noodles, divided
1/8 tsp pepper
1 c diced celery

Combine everything, but half of the noodels, in a greased casserole dish.  Bake at 325 for 25 minutes.  Top with remaining noodles

Frosting for Graham Cake by Birdean M.

Sorry, but no picture on this one.  It looks a lot like frosting.  :)

It tasted fine, even good, but it was WAY too much work!  It requires you to cook sugar and water to soft ball stage.  Yes, I said SOFT BALL STAGE.  This takes longer than I supposed.  I got side tracked by my children, and it cooked too long (it was almost to crack stage before I caught it).  Because it had been cooked so long, some of it hardened into a sheet of rock hard candy in the bottom of the mixer bowl.  Yes, I was beating it the whole time, but adding the room temperature or cold ingredients cooled it down too much.  Like I said, it tasted fine.  I think I'll just stick with the simple, but still delicious, buttercream frosting (beat butter, powdered sugar, milk, dash salt, vanilla until it's fluffy).

Frosting for Graham Cake by Birdean Murie
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C water
2 1/2 C powdered sugar
1 beaten egg
1/2 C butter or shortening
1 t vanilla

Boil sugar and water to soft ball stage.  Blend in all other ingredients.  Add 2 T cocoa for chocolate icing.  This frosting does not lose it's body when put on warm cake.

Herb Mix Dip

We hate this.  Don't make it, it is yucky!!!!

I won't even put the recipe down, because we hate it.

Opera Creams - Della G.

I don't have a photo because they went to sugar and I didn't even try to beat them.  I called Jennifer to ask about the sugar not dissolving before it started to boil and she thought is the recipe has a misprint.  So, I am guessing it should be 2 C of sugar not 4 C of sugar. I also thought it strange to add salt to the candy after it had been cooked. That said, the flavor wasn't amazing either.  I don't know if I will try them again with 2 C of sugar.  Another thought is the sugar just didn't dissolve well.  Who knows?  Mom was going to check her original book for a misprint.  I have to admit I was really dissappointed.  I was really excited to try these.

Because of all that I am giving it a 1.

Opera Creams
4 C sugar
1 C cream
4 T corn syrup
1 t vanilla
1 C chopped walnuts
dash of salt

Combine sugar, syrup, cream until dissolved, then without stirring, cook to 238-degrees.  Remove from heat and add vanilla, salt, and nuts.  Beat vigorously until creamy and heavy.  Pour on a buttered sheet to cool.  Mark in 1" squares.

Barbecue Beef by Mary N.

She should really call this sloppy joes.  It is similar to the sloppy joe recipe that Jennifer gave me a long time ago, but not as good.  Plus, when I hear the title barbecue beef, I think of shredded beef, not ground.  So, to save yourself the hassle of finding chicken gumbo soup, and trying to figure out a gluten free version, just use this one:

Sloppy Joes
2 lbs ground beef
chopped onion
chopped celery
1 C tomatoes or juice (I have used fresh and canned, and they both work well)
1 1/2 C ketsup
1/4 tsp each sage, mustard powder, chili powder, curry

Brown the beef with the onions and celery.  Add other ingredients and simmer until ready to serve.  The actual directions say simmer for 1 hour, but I've never managed to do that.  My family smells it, then come running for dinner.


Here's the picture and recipe from the cook book:

Barbecue Beef by Mary Mae Nelson
3 lbs ground beef
chopped onions
4 T prepared mustard
1 can chicken gumbo soup
1 1/2 C catsup

Brown ground beef with onion.  Add other ingredients, simmer for a few minutes and serve.

Lemon Chiffon Pie by Maurine G.

I love lemon, so I was excited about this pie.  The ingredients are basic, but it took all day to complete all the steps.  You definitely can't just mix it up and walk away.  I found the directions a little vague about the gelatin, but we made a guess (actually two guesses when the first one wasn't right) and it worked out. It turned out super light and airy, and just melted in your mouth.  Everyone at our game night, where we served it, gave it 4 stars.  However, the next day, when we pulled it out to eat the leftovers, it was a disaster.  I should have taken a picture.  You know how merengue starts to weep after a while and makes the lemon meregue pie all watery and gross, that is what happend, only worse.  For this pie, the lemon and meregue are  mixed together, so the weeping was not just the merengue, it was the whole pie.  So, on day 2, we give this recipe 1 star. The bottom line is, if you are going to eat the whole pie in one sitting, this is fabulous, but if you have leftovers, just throw them away.

 

Lemon Chiffon Pie by Maureen G.

4 eggs, separated
1/2 c lemon juice
1/4 c sugar
dash of salt
1/2 T gelatin
1/2 c cold water
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 c sugar
graham cracker crust

Combine egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, and 1/4 c sugar in either the top of a double boiler or a small pot.  Cook in the double boiler or over low heat until thickened.  Meanwhile, soften gelatin in water for 5 minutes.  Add gelatin to lemon mixture and continue cooking for 5 minutes, until gelatin is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat, add lemon zest, cover with waxed paper to prevent a skin from forming, and chill.  When the mixture is completely cool and almost set, beat with an electric mixer.  Beat egg white until soft peaks form.  Gradually add 1/2 c sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold into lemon mixture, pour into crust and chill completely.  Serve the same day and discard leftovers.

Whole Wheat or White Bread by Mildred M.

     I have been looking for a new recipe for wheat bread, so I was excited to try this one.  Unfortunately, it was a FLOP!!  My husband almost spit out his first bite of bread, and then threw the rest of the piece away.  I'm partly to blame, because I should have realized that 2 Tablespoons of salt is too much, and maybe the recipe should have read 2 teaspoons.  :)
     But the way the recipe was written is a problem, too.  I put in 4 1/2 cups water.  The 4 that are listed, plus another 1/2 cup for the yeast.  I think the 1/2 cup for the yeast should have come out of the 4 cups, because the dough was so sticky that I couldn't form it into pretty loaves.  I ended up globbing it together as well as I could and plopping it in the pans.  Also, the instructions are less than one line long, so if you don't understand how to make bread and the meaning of "let it rise twice", you would have a problem.
     So here's a picture of my flat, lumpy (because of too much water) bread that I'm probably going to throw away because it's too salty to eat.  And the recipe that a good cook may, or may not, be able to fix.

Whole Wheat or White Bread
10 C whole wheat flour, or white
2 T salt
6 T sugar, molasses, or honey
1 T yeast in 1/2 C water
5 T shortening
1 2/3 C powdered milk mixed with flour
4 C warm water

Mix and knead.  Let it rise twice.  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

note:  I melted the shortening, as my mother taught me, I used sugar, and I used half white and half wheat flour.

Our Rating System

Here is a rundown of our rating system:

1-Why did I have to make this one, I plan to forget this ever happened.

2-If I have the ingredients I might make again

3-We liked this and plan to make again

4-This is going into my regular rotation, and I will share it with all my friends, and my life was never complete until I found this recipe!