"The Weekend Cookbook" - Baked Bean Casserole - Memorial Day

Date I made this recipe:  May 29, 2017 – Memorial Day

The Weekend Cookbook by Jeanne Adams

Published by Hewitt House

© 1970

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks - NYC

Recipe:  Baked Bean Casserole – p. 37

Is there a better time than a long weekend to pull out The Weekend Cookbook?  Nope, don't think so! 

Is there a better excuse to make yet another baked bean casserole than Memorial Day?  Nope, don't think so either!

Although Andy isn't as fond of baked beans as I am, I feel compelled to make them for one of the summer holidays and he eats them without complaint.  That said, I try not to push the envelope too far and so typically substitute my favorite accompaniment, potato salad, with something else.

These baked beans were super easy and were not doctored up like most baked bean recipes I've made (including my mom's) but I liked that it was no fuss, no muss.  You simply open two cans of baked beans/pork and beans, add some sliced onion and sliced tomato and bake.  What I like is that this then leaves you open to engaging in other Memorial Day activities, assuming it doesn't rain.

Although the author doesn't list specifically recipes for various holidays, she does break out her table of contents by seasons as follows:

• Summer Weekends:  Friday Dinners; Saturday Breakfasts; Saturday Lunches; Saturday Dinners; Sunday Breakfasts; Sunday Lunches.  (Apparently nobody eats Sunday dinner?)
• Summer Picnic
• Three-Day Summer Weekend
• Four-Day Summer Weekend
• Providing for a Working Husband (Well, this is rather sexist but we can given the woman a break because she wrote this in 1970 when women were generally either absent or invisible in the workplace.)
• Fall Weekends: Friday Dinners; Saturday Breakfasts; Saturday Lunches; Saturday Dinners; Sunday Brunch; Sunday Lunches.  (Again, cooking on Sunday nights is apparently out of the question. Also notice that one has brunch on fall Sunday's, not "breakfast")
• Winter Weekends: Friday Dinners; Saturday Breakfasts; Saturday Lunches; Saturday Dinners; Saturday Night Smorgasbord; Sunday Breakfasts; Sunday Lunches.  (Saturday Night Smorgasbords?  No.  Where I grew up, smorgasbords went mostly hand in hand with a Friday Fish Fry.  Some places served them on Saturday but these would be your rogue restaurateurs.)
• Three-Day Winter Weekend
• Spring Weekends: Friday Dinners; Saturday Breakfast; Saturday Lunches; Saturday Dinners; Sunday Breakfasts; Sunday Lunches
• Hors d'Oeuvres

 I was hoping to find a recipe in the "Summer Picnic" or "Three-Day Summer Weekend" category (even though summer doesn't arrive until June 21^st, but that didn't happen but the baked beans recipe came from the "Summer Weekend" chapter so that was close enough.  I pondered a few other recipes like Ratatouille but that just didn't seem right for Memorial Day. 

For those of you who are menu-challenged, the book provides you with countless menus so you have an idea of what other items make good accompaniments to your main dishes.  The menu containing the "Baked Bean Casserole," for example, suggested you serve it with "Cold sliced Baked Ham," "Sliced Cucumbers," "Rye Bread," and Frozen Éclairs.   Of course, you are not beholden to using frozen éclairs if fresh ones are available.

My menu was very different than the one suggested in the book as I made bleu cheese hamburgers (see my National Hamburger Day post), the beans, a macaroni salad (see my post from the L&L Hawaiian Cook Book) as is usual and customary.  I even threw in a shrimp cocktail from the Martha's Got Nuthin' On Me cookbook to round out our Memorial Day observance.

One final note:  This cookbook does not list any yields but based on the ingredients, I'd say you have plenty of baked beans to serve 6-8 people

Baked Bean Casserole – serving size unknown

2 jars New England-style baked beans

1 large onion, sliced

2 large tomatoes, sliced ½ inch thick

Salt, pepper

Empty one jar of beans into a casserole.  Separate the onion slices into rings and arrange on top of the beans.  Add the other jar of beans to the casserole and cover with sliced tomatoes, overlapping if necessary.  Salt and pepper, then bake uncovered in a 375° oven for 20 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.

Ann's Notes:  The author likely intended that you use B&M Baked Beans but I was shopping at Trade Joe's and they had their own brand of baked beans and so I used theirs.  And not that I've shopped regularly for these things, but Trader Joe's price was very reasonable – about $1.30 a can – and you can't beat that!

"Weiners Gone Wild;" "Serve It Cold;" "The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook;" "A Month of Sundaes" - 4th of July hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans and ice cream toppings

Date I made these recipes:  July 5, 2015 for a belated Fourth of July!

Wieners Gone Wild by Holly Schmidt

Published by: Running Press

ISBN: 978-0-7624-4727-5

Recipe:  Sloppy Dog (hot dog + Sloppy Joe) – p. 49-50

Serve It Cold by June Crosby & Ruth Conrad Bateman

Published by:  Gramercy Publishing Company

© 1968, 1969

Purchased at: Eat My Words used bookstore, Northeast Minneapolis

Recipe:  French Potato Salad – p. 108

The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook by Mary Donovan; Amy Hatrak; Frances Mills; Elizabeth Shull

Published by: Praeger Publishers

© 1975

Purchased at Bloomington Crime Prevention Association (BCPA) annual book sale, 2014

Recipe:  Boston Baked Beans – p. 30

A Month of Sundaes by Michael Turback

Published by: Red Rock Press

ISBN: 0-9669573-8-5

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick's Cookbooks, NYC

Recipes:  Classic Chocolate Syrup – p. 43; Classic Caramel Syrup – p. 54; Fluffy Marshmallow Sauce – p. 54, served over (store-bought) vanilla ice cream

Well, as always, the 4^th of July came and went and such is life.  Still, we kept the party going on Sunday, July 5^th, by having my husband's aunt, a cousin and his mom over for dinner.  I had already planned to make this menu for just the two of us but having more people added to the fun and cut down on the leftovers.  A great time was had by all.

In my book, and maybe yours as well, the 4^th of July is not the 4^th of July without a hot dog.  I changed this up a bit this year by making a Sloppy Dog, basically a hot dog topped with Sloppy Joe mix.  Well that works, doesn't it?  This cookbook has a lot of very creative recipes although I am not sure how well the "Lasagna Dog" recipe on p. 146 would work.  Seems rather messy.  Other dogs though, seemed kind of fun like a "Quesadilla Dog" – p. 131 or the "Rasta Dog" – p. 139 or a "Soul Dog" on p. 93.  I hated to choose just one but given that I love, love, love Sloppy Joe's, that one won the day.

The 4^th of July is not the 4^th of July without some potato salad but since Andy does not really care for potato salad (it's all about the mayo), I had to work a bit to find a substitute that he would like and thus Serve It Cold saved the day.  Now I have to tell you that the gelatin-covered fish dish on the front cover almost dissuaded me from using this book because I consider that to be "rude food," but luckily there's a wide range of options, from things like "Spinach Mushroom Salad" – p. 102 or an "Antipasto Salad" on p. 103, not to mention entrees, sandwiches and desserts that are all served cold but my mind was set on "potato."  And really, since France gifted us Lady Liberty, it would be very rude not to invite them to the table, oui?

As to The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook, my baked bean selection was a no-brainer because hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans are almost a national requirement on our big holiday.  In fact, I should check the fine print of Declaration of Independence because I'm sure it's in there, way down at the bottom.  Way down.  "Get a magnifier" down.

Recipes in this book are divided by northern colonies; middle colonies and southern colonies.  Let me see if I can refresh your memory:  Northern Colonies – New Hampshire (often overlooked, am I right?); Massachusetts; Rhode Island and Connecticut.  Middle Colonies – New York; New Jersey; Pennsylvania and Delaware.  Southern Colonies – Maryland; Virginia; North Carolina; South Carolina and Georgia.  So there you go and give yourself an A+ if you remembered them without me telling you (because I sure didn't and I minored in history in college!).

Finally, no 4^th of July repast is complete without ice cream, preferably hand-cranked but since I don't have an ice cream maker, and most assuredly not an old-fashioned crank one, I decided to make sauces and just buy the ice cream.  That said, Andy and I laughed at how many ice cream options there are and why is this anyway when all we wanted was vanilla?  (Yes, but what kind of vanilla?????)

This book is very fun because it has all kinds of recipes for sundaes and other sweet ice cream confections but I wanted to keep things rather generic in case somebody didn't like a flavor of ice cream I might serve.  And you might think that three sauces is a lot but they were all very easy to make.  Well almost:  I burnt the caramel the first time around (do not look away while making this, do not!) and started over.  I put Andy in charge of the marshmallow cream and then I finished up with the chocolate sauce.  Again, a big hit with this tough crowd! 

And that concludes our 4^th of July meal and it was fabulous.  Even better?  Andy's Aunt Betty is 86 years old and was in town, along with 10,000 other athletes to participate in the National Senior Games, held in various venues around the Twin Cities.  Betty has been participating for many years in various events, but for a while now, she's been focusing on archery.  And so Andy and I and Andy's cousin, Sandy, went to watch Betty and her fellow archers in these games and well, color me impressed!  When I was a teenager, my dad let me use his bow and arrow set and I am pretty sure that the first two times "at bat," the bow flew out first, followed by the arrow!  The arm strength needed for this is incredible and here were 134 participants age 50-96 (the oldest man!) shooting arrows like it was no big deal.  Betty won a medal in her age class as did the 96 year-old man who stood alone in his age category.  As one of Betty's friends joked "Sometimes it helps if you're older as there are less competitors!"  Regardless, we are very proud of Betty and learned a lot while watching.  It felt like a very patriotic thing to do the day after the 4^th.

Sloppy Dog – serves 8

1 ¼ pounds ground beef

¼ large onion, finely chopped

½ green pepper, seeded and finely chopped, divided

2 garlic cloves, minced

¾ cup ketchup (store bought or use the recipe on page 23)

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon mustard powder

1 tablespoon tomato paste (buy a tube if you can so you don't waste a can)

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (the larger amount makes for a spicy Sloppy Joe, so use the smaller amount if you don't like heat)

¼ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 potato sub rolls or hot dog buns (store bought or use the recipe on page 15)

8 hot dogs

8 ounces Muenster cheese, grated

Ann's Note:  at first I just made a little less than half of the recipe but that was too stingy so I made up another batch.  One must not skimp on Sloppy Joe mix.)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef.  Cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until the meat is universally brown.  Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and set it aside in a bowl.  Discard all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan, add the onions, all but 3 tablespoons of the green pepper, and the garlic.  Saute the vegetables until they are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the ketchup, brown sugar, chili powder, mustard powder, tomato paste, Worcestershire, red pepper flakes, and ½ cup of water.  Stir to combine and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes.  Add the salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a second large skillet or grill pan over medium heat.  Butter the insides of the rolls and toast them in the skillet.  Set the rolls aside.  Cook the hot dogs according to your preferred method and place them in the rolls.  Top each hot dog with the Sloppy Joe mixture, some grated Muenster cheese, and some of the remaining 3 tablespoons of green pepper. 

French Potato Salad – makes 4 to 6 servings

"The French trick of pouring a little white wine or stock over warm potatoes before adding the dressing is a good one to know.  Less oil is absorbed by the potatoes, they are lighter, more flavorful.

2 pounds small boiling potatoes

Salt (for the potato water)

2 tablespoons dry white wine

2 tablespoons light consommé

½ cup Sauce Vinaigrette (to follow)

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon and chervil, mixed (or 1 teaspoon dried fresh herbs) Ann's Note:  I used dried Herbs de Provence

2 tablespoons minced shallots or green onions

1 tablespoon minced parsley

For the vinaigrette

¾ teaspoon salt

1 clove garlic, crushed with the salt, optional

Pinch dry mustard, optional

3 to 4 tablespoons [white] wine vinegar

¾ cup salad oil or olive oil (or a mixture)

Generous grinding of black pepper

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until just tender.  Drain, peel while warm and slice about ¼ inch thick.  Mix wine and consommé and pour over them.  Let stand until liquid is absorbed.  Beat vinaigrette* into mustard until smooth.  Add herbs.  Sprinkle shallots, parsley and dressing over potatoes.  Toss gently until mixed.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Cover and chill only until flavors blend.  Serve cool but not icy, in a pretty glass bowl.  Sprinkle with more parsley if you wish.

*Vinaigrette recipe:  You may combine all ingredients and shake vigorously in jar until blended, but we like to beat it with a wire whisk to a soft creamy emulsion.  The flavor seems richer, mellower.  With whisk, beat salt, garlic, if used, and mustard into vinegar, then beat in oil, in small portions, until sauce is smooth and lightly thickened.  Season with pepper.  Use at once or store in bottle and shake vigorously before using.  Ann's Note:  don't forget to beat the vinaigrette into the mustard – see above.

Boston Baked Beans – serves 12 (Ann's Note:  please note how much this full recipe makes!  I made half a batch. Also note that you will need to soak the beans overnight and then bake the mixture for 4-5 hours.  In other words, plan in advance!)

4 cups pea beans (a/k/a navy beans)

1 large onion, studded with cloves

½ pound salt pork (Ann's Note:  if you can't find salt pork, trying using a thick slab of bacon)

1 cup brown sugar

3 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

½ cup dark molasses

Soak beans overnight.  Drain.  Cover with water and cook until the skins burst when blown on.  (Ann's Note:  What the hell does that  - "cook until the skins burst when blown on" – mean?  This is not a proper cooking instruction.  So I Googled "cooking navy beans" and found I needed to cook the beans between a half hour and an hour.  So honestly—was that hard?)

Drain and ladle the beans into an earthenware bean pot.  Press the onion into the center of the beans until barely covered.  Cut salt pork 1 inch deep every ½ inch and splay out to cover a larger surface.  Push salt pork slightly below the surface of the beans.

Over pork and beans, pour mixture of ¾ cup (leaving ¼ remaining) brown sugar, mustard, salt, pepper, and molasses.  Pour 1 cup boiling water over the beans; slowly stir with a large spoon.  Add enough boiling water to cover the beans.  Cover the bean pot and bake at 250 for 4 to 5 hours.  Uncover for the last half hour.  Sprinkle with the remaining brown sugar to brown and crisp the pork.  Add water as needed during baking.

Classic Chocolate Syrup – makes 1 cup

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

½ cup evaporated milk

¼ cup water

Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler.  Gradually stir in evaporated milk, and continue stirring until sauce is fully blended and smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in water until smooth.

Syrup may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.  To reheat, set over a double boiler and stir until smooth.  If re-heating over direct heat, use very low flame, and be careful not to let the sauce bubble or burn.

Classic Caramel Syrup – makes 1 cup

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup water

1 cup heavy cream

Combine sugar and water in a heavy medium-size saucepan.  Stir constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil.  Stop stirring and boil until the mixture turns a deep caramel color (6-12 minutes).  Watch carefully to make sure mixture doesn't get too dark.  (Ann's Note:  and this can happen in a heartbeat unless you are vigilant.  If you start to "smell" the sugar, yank it off the stove or it will burn.  I ruined the first batch because I was not quick enough on the draw!)

Remove from heat and add cream (Caution:  mixture will bubble up fiercely).  Return pan to high heat and boil, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour into a glass measuring cup or other heatproof container.  Allow to cool to desired temperature.

Fluffy Marshmallow Sauce – makes 3 cups

2 large egg whites (Ann's Note:  I keep powdered egg whites on hand for baking because it's easier and cheaper to use than buying fresh eggs that I never use up in time.)

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

16 regular marshmallows

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a mixing bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.  Set aside.  Combine sugar and water in a medium-size saucepan and place over medium heat.  Stir until sugar dissolves.  Stop stirring and allow sugar/water mixture to come to a boil.  Boil for 3 minutes without stirring.  Reduce heat to low, add marshmallows, and stir until they are completely melted and mixture is smooth, about 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and, using the electric mixture at slow speed, beat hot marshmallow mixture into the egg whites.  Continue beating for 2 minutes.  Beat in vanilla.  Serve warm or cold.

Sauce may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.  To re-heat, microwave on low power for 30 seconds, or until warm.  

"The Complete Barbecue Cookbook" & "A Salute To American Cooking" - Burgers in Bacon Skirts and Sunset-Baked Beans

Date I made these recipes: May 25, 2009 (Memorial Day)

The Complete Barbecue Book by John and Marie Roberson (Authors of The Chafing Dish Cookbook!)
Published by: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
© 1951; third printing August 1965
Recipe: Hamburgers in Bacon Skirts – p. 175

A Salute to American Cooking by Stephen and Ethel Longstreet
Published by: Hawthorn Books, Inc.
© 1968
Recipe: Sunset-Baked Beans – p. 24

I tell you what the National Cattleman’s Beef Association owes me big time as we had beef, beef and more beef this past weekend. I’d say we are now “beefed out” and are starting to turn a romantic eye to vegetables…or chicken…or even fruit.

On Saturday night we went and got burgers from a new place (chain) in town, Smashburger. They was pretty good although rather messy but we’ll likely go back.

Then on Sunday night, I made the Tarragon-Flavored Beef recipe and we had ourselves another moo-cow experience.

I was all set to go another route on Monday when my husband said he wanted burgers for Memorial Day (and he didn’t mean Smashburger) and so I dutifully pulled out the BBQ books and away we went.

These burgers were good although due to gusting winds beyond our control, they were cooked on the broiler instead of over charcoal. Move over, Chicago-we’re working our way up to bragging rights about being the newest Windy City!

I would be remiss if I didn’t say a word about the name given to the burger recipe: Hamburgers in Bacon Skirts. Did anyone else besides me think of the children’s book Amelia Bedelia?

In this book, Amelia Bedelia is hired as a housekeeper for a wealthy couple but is rather clueless as to how things are done. When the instructions say “Dust the house,” she finds “madam’s” scented dusting powder and sprinkles it all over the furniture. When the instructions say “Draw the curtains when the sun comes in,” she takes out a drawing pad.

But the best instructions are for the food: “Trim the beef” and “Dress the chicken.” Sure enough, Amelia Bedelia gets out a sewing kit and trims the beef with some beautiful lace and makes a small suit for the entire chicken.

I absolutely adored this book as a kid and now have my original copy of it (all battered and worn) in my own home. So you can imagine what a hoot I had when I saw “Hamburgers in Bacon Skirts.” I’m thinking a nice floral printed fabric might be nice for summer….

The beans were quite tasty as well although I should have made half the recipe as we now have beans coming out of our...ears. When I asked my husband how he felt about baked beans and he said “What’s a burger without baked beans?” I should not have taken him at his words because it turns out that beans are okay with him but only in small quantities. Live and learn.

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day. Aside from the mighty wind gusts, we actually had sunshine…you know, that rare thing we here in the north see from time to time!

Hamburgers in Bacon Skirts – serves 6
2 pounds lean beef
¼ cup heavy cream or condensed milk
1 tablespoons grated onion
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, beaten
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon marjoram
¼ teaspoon pepper
12 strips bacon
2 tablespoons soya sauce
6 hamburger buns

Form the meat, cream, onion, Worcestershire sauce, egg, pepper, and herbs into 5-inch patties. Bind them with bacon (2 strips each) and secure bacon with toothpicks. Sprinkle with soya sauce.

Place the hamburgers in a hand grill (or on a broiler pan). Sear the burgers on each side and cook, until done-about 5 to 7 minutes. Served on toasted buns with chili sauce.

Sunset Baked Beans – 4 (enormous) servings (Note: this recipe requires 3 hours of cooking time plus 2 hours of bean soaking)
3 cups navy beans
1 onion, sliced
4 ounces salt pork, diced
1-pound can tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
Dash of ginger
½ cup molasses
1/3 cup chili sauce

Place beans in saucepan, cover with water, bring to boil, boil 3 minutes. Cover. Remove from heat and let stand 2 hours. Drain liquid and reserve.

Put two cups of the bean liquid in a saucepan, add 2 cups water, onion, salt pork, tomatoes, salt, mustard, ginger and the beans. Stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer covered 1 hour. Turn mixture into baking dish. Combine molasses and chili sauce and pour over beans. Arrange salt pork over top. Cover and bake at 325 F for 1 hour. Remove cover. Bake 1 hour longer, or until beans are very tender (in my case, about 1.5 hours). If beans should become dry during baking, add more liquid. Remove pork before serving. (Why?! Wasn’t that the best part of a can of pork and beans growing up?)

"It's All American Food" & "The American Regional Cookbook" & "The Best in American Cooking" (Paddleford) - 4th of July dishes

Date I made these recipes: 4th of July weekend 2008

It’s All American Food by David Rosengarten
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0-316-05315-5 © 2003
Recipe: New York City Pushcart Onions for Hot Dogs – p. 265

The American Regional Cookbook – Recipes from Yesterday and Today for the Modern Cook by Nancy & Arthur Hawkins
Published by: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
© 1976
Recipe: Hamburgers – p. 58

I Hear America Cooking by Betty Fussell
Published by: Elisabeth Sifton Books VIKING
ISBN: 0-670-81241-2 © 1986
Recipe: Bean Town Beans – p. 287-288

The Best In American Cooking – recipes collected by Clementine Paddleford
Published by: Charles Scribner’s Sons
© 1970; originally published as part of How America Eats © 1960
Recipe: Donna’s Potato Salad – p. 190


People, I had a very relaxing 4th of July weekend, the first in years, and had plenty of time to make all these recipes celebrating American cooking but finding time this week to write up my review was a challenge. So here it is, a week after the fact, and I’m just now getting going.

Now I’m sure many of you are like me and grew up in a very “traditional” family when it came to holiday picnic food. Mine was a mustard and ketchup (hot dogs and burgers) and Miracle Whip family (never Hellmann’s—that was what the east-coast cousins used) and potato salad was made with potatoes and celery (never relish) and Miracle Whip with sliced eggs as garnish.

Picnics were held down at the lake (as in Lake Superior, back in the day when beach bonfires were still allowed) and all the food was brought down in a newspaper-lined wooden bushel basket that my parents got at the local farmer’s market (yes, my small town had a small farmer’s market when I was growing up). To this day, there’s something about the smell of the newspaper and wood that brings me right back to the beach. Dad usually brought our little hibachi grill (we never had a big kettle grill in our family, likely because dad got used to using a hibachi during WWII). We grilled our hot dogs until the skins popped open (or roasted them in a bonfire), slathered them with mustard and ketchup and washed it all down with lemonade from the thermos. After waiting a suitable time after eating (an old-wife’s tale but we usually adhered to it, we took a plunge into the frosty waters – even in July – of Lake Superior and stayed in until our lips were blue and our teeth chattered. Those were the days.

On the 4th of July, my home town had a big parade followed by a pet parade for the kids and then around 4:30 or so, the fire department staged a water fight on the main street of down, dousing all of us excited children who deliberately came in bathing suits, hoping to get wet. Down at the boat docks, the Lions club had pie-eating contests and other assorted kiddie fun events going on and then at dusk, the fire works exploded over Munising Bay.

So in sticking with the 4th of July theme, I pulled several “American” cookbooks off my shelf just for the occasion. One recipe, for blueberry buckle, didn’t get made that weekend (darn that whole butter-softening process) but I’ll be making it shortly and posting those results separately. I must say, given all the cookbooks I have, it was challenging to find something that reminded me of my childhood—nothing too fancy yet something that sounded like it would be good when I made it, and (as you’ll see) one that didn’t take days to make. After all, there was a long, holiday weekend to enjoy!

Now, the entire menu almost unraveled due to lack of a potato salad recipe, something I neglected to select during the initial selection round. Talk about a gross oversight on my part because what’s a 4th of July picnic without potato salad??! But people, finding a recipe that wasn’t too weird turned out to be a huge challenge. (Can you believe some cookbooks that include “American” in the title, didn’t even include a potato salad recipe?! That’s just wrong, wrong, wrong on so many levels!).

I found recipes using horseradish (too modern), recipes using cream (??) and a couple recipes using, of all things, beef broth. Um….no. I was all set to throw in the towel when I read through the original baked bean recipe I selected and discovered that it needed to cook for 10-12 hours and that was just too long on a hot summer day. So after mixing and matching and reselecting some recipes, the 10-12 hour baked bean was substituted for one taking 4-6 hours and a potato salad recipe was in! Whew.

All the recipes were good, all were easy to make and hit the spot on a very lovely 4th of July. The hamburgers didn’t quite stay together as I expected (and so I really ended up with a loose-meat sandwich) but the flavor was there.

Speaking of flavor, one of my favorites of the weekend was the New York Pushcart Onions for Hot Dogs. If you’ve ever been to Gray’s Papaya in New York, you’ll know the joy of using this condiment. I could have eaten the entire pot of this stuff…but I didn’t! So much for traditional mustard and ketchup!

I hope you all had a Happy 4th of July!

New York City Pushcart Onions for Hot Dogs – yields enough for 12-16 hot dogs (yeah, right!)
1 T. vegetable oil
4 firmly packed cups of thinly sliced onion (about 2 large or 4 medium onions)
2 tsp. mined garlic (about 2 medium cloves)
1 T. flour
8 ounces canned, smooth tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 T. light corn syrup
2 tsp. white vinegar
2 bay leaves
½ tsp. dry mustard
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of ground cloves

Place the vegetable oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and the garlic. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes the onion should be softened but not browned.

Add the flour and stir well to distribute evenly among the onion slices. Cook for 1 minute, stirring to make sure the flour doesn’t burn. Add the tomato sauce, water, corn syrup, vinegar, bay leaves, mustard, cayenne, and cloves. Stir well to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and cook very slowly over low heat for 45 minutes. If the mixture has become too thick, add a little water.

Hamburgers – 4 servings
1 ½ pounds chopped round steak
1 onion, chopped
1 T. chopped shallots
4 T. butter
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T. sour cream
4 large hard rolls, buttered

Saute the onion and shallots in 2 tablespoons of the butter, add the seasonings. Mix with the chopped steak and the beaten egg, suing your hands, not a fork.

Roll loosely into 4 balls the size of tennis balls and drop onto the kitchen table to flatten. Pan-broil on both sides in a heavy skillet with 2 tablespoons butter. Transfer to a heated platter.

Heat buttered rolls. Place a hamburger on each. To the pan juices, add the sour cream, simmer a minute or two, and pour a spoonful over each hamburger.

Bean Town Beans – serves 6 to 8
2 cups dried beans (pea, navy, or soldier)
½ pound smoked slab bacon, with rind on
1 large onion, chopped
¼ cup blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 bay leaves, crushed
½ teaspoon each salt and black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper, or dash Tabasco
Boiling water to cover the beans before baking

Pick over beans to remove grit or stones. Cover beans with cold water, bring to a boil, and boil one minute. Remove from the heat, cover pot, and let the beans sit 1 hour. Drain.

Score the bacon in squares without cutting through the rind. Put half the beans in the pot in which you will bake them and add onion, molasses, and seasonings. Add remaining beans and bury the bacon, rind up, in the top layer. Add just enough boiling water to cover. Cover the pot tightly and bake at 300 for 4 to 6 hours or more to melt the pork fat and melt the flavors. Add boiling water from time to time if needed. Remove lid for the last 30 minutes to make a brown crust.

Note: a big shout-out to Clancy’s Meat Market in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis for being the only place to carry a slab of bacon. A slab is just what it sounds like – a slab of bacon that has not been cut into strips. The slab of bacon is usually the very top piece to appear when you open a can of pork and beans. Several people asked me if salt pork would work but I had no idea. And the best thing was that the pork slab (I only got a quarter of a pound) only cost me $1.71. Of course, the cost of the gas it took to get there from my house was another story….


Donna’s Potato Salad, submitted by Donna Hansen, Idaho Falls, Idaho – yields 2 quarts
6 medium potatoes, boiled and diced (2 quarts diced)
6 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
½ cup minced onion
1 T. chopped parsley
¼ cup chopped dill or sweet pickle (I used sweet)
1 T. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 T. prepared mustard
1 T. mayonnaise
1 T. French dressing
1 T. dill-pickle juice
¾ milk or light cream (about)
Paprika

Toss together lightly: potatoes, 5 of the sliced eggs, onion, parsley, pickle, salt and pepper. Combine mustard, mayonnaise, French dressing, pickle juice, and enough milk or cream to make 1 cup dressing. Toss with potato mixture. Arrange in a bowl. Place the remaining egg slices around top and sprinkle with paprika.

"Buffy's Cookbook" & "Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Cookbook" - Baked Bean Casserole and Scalloped Potatotes and Hot Dogs

Buffy’s Cookbook by Jody Cameron of Celebrity Kitchen
Published by: Berkely Publishing Company
© 1971

Recipe: Baked Bean Casserole Dish – p. 141

For those of you who don’t know, Buffy was a character from the TV show Family Affair that aired from 1966 to 1971. The premise of the show was this: Bachelor engineer, Uncle Bill, suddenly found his NY apartment invaded by his niece, Cissy, and six-year old fraternal twins, Buffy and Jody, after their parents died. Although Uncle Bill adapted well, let’s just say his manservant, Mr. French, was a bit dismayed to find himself playing instant nanny to the kids.

People, I loved this show. I thought it was just too cool to be living in a New York apartment at that age along with a butler to do everything for you! And then there were the clothes -- when the young actress, who played Buffy, Anissa Jones, was featured in a magazine photo spread wearing white go-go boots, well, I just had to have them. Of course, this meant that I never got them, not that I didn't covet them through my pre-teen years.

And do you know, although my pre-teen years are long (and I mean long) behind me, as I was preparing this recipe, all of a sudden the theme song, dormant for 40 years, suddenly popped into my head. This from the woman who cannot locate her car keys for neither love nor money.

And speaking of locate, it was by sheer luck that I saw this book when I did. I was staring up at my cookbook shelf while on hold with someone about an internet problem (my computer is by my cookbooks) and I spied this book which was almost eclipsed by some of the larger books nearby. I completely forgot until then that I had it, but since I yanked it from it’s hiding place, I thought the least I could do is cook from it.

Now obviously, Buffy, at age six, is not going to make gourmet dinners (nor is her ghost-writer) so finding something that was a little more complicated than “put the bread in the toaster” was challenging. Nonetheless, I spied this recipe and was off and running.

By the way, I was disappointed when I discovered there was not one recipe for Mr. French’s French toast. Not one. How could they not include it?

I’ve reprinted this recipe exactly as it was shown in the book which is why you’ll see “utensils,” “what you will need” and “how to do it.” I thought it was pretty cute.

Baked Bean Casserole Dish – Serves 4

Utensils:
1 ½ quart casserole dish
Knife
Can opener
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons

What you will need:
2 cans (16 ounces each) baked beans (mine were 21 ounces)
2 tomatoes
½ c. potato chips, crumbled
1 slice American cheese
1 T margarine (butter)

How to do it:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease casserole dish with margarine (butter)
Open canned beans (with the aforementioned can opener). Pour ONE can of beans into casserole dish.
Slice tomatoes into thin slices; cut cheese slices into strips
Place the slices from 1 tomato on top of beans. Sprinkle half of the potato chips on top. Now we do the whole thing over again: Pour second can of beans over the layer of potato chips. Place the slices of second tomato over beans. Sprinkle the rest of the potato chips on top layer of tomato slices.
Place cheese strips over the potato chips. Bake in over for 25 minutes.

Frankly (and by the way, franks are involved in the next dish to follow), I didn’t think the tomatoes added anything to the dish so I’d probably use ketchup the next time around. It might also be that tomatoes aren’t in season right now but I still think ketchup is better.

And speaking of tomatoes, can we talk about the instructions to “slice tomatoes into thin slices?” Buffy is six. I can’t see Buffy thinly slicing anything at age six. I can’t even thinly slice tomatoes (well, I can, but they’re not very pretty) and I am definitely not six. I’m just saying I’d rethink that instruction if I were you.

I also didn’t use the slice of American cheese as directed because my husband threw me a horrified look when I mentioned it was in the recipe. I took that to mean that we should instead use a slice of the Cheddar cheese that was already in our refrigerator rather than buy processed “cheese” slices that would remain unopened and unused because that’s not the type of cheese we tend to keep in our house. (Yes, you can call us cheese snobs.) Whatever makes him happy….

Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Cookbook by Murray Handwerker
Published by: Grosset & Dunlap
© 1968

Recipe: Scalloped Potato Hot Dog Casserole

Once upon a time, Nathan’s hot dogs were a well kept secret to those living in New York. Nathan’s Hot Dogs was one of the original stands on Coney Island, where people queued up by the thousands to get one of Nathan’s Famous. (http://www.nathansfamous.com/) Nathan’s is still “famous” for its hot dog eating contests; this year’s winner ate 53.75 hotdogs in 12 minutes. Oy!

Over the past few years, Nathan’s spread its wings and set up shop in Minneapolis’ Mall of America. Although I haven’t stopped in, I’m guessing that they probably sell the hot dogs cooked (I may be going out on a limb here, but I don’t think so) whereas I needed them to be raw. I could have mail ordered the dogs to be sent to me but that was too expensive so I substituted Oscar Mayer for Nathan’s. I know, I should be ashamed of myself, but there it is. If you’re lucky enough to be able to buy Nathan’s in your area, then by all means, stay true to the recipe. The rest of us will have to use our imagination.

Speaking of imagination, some of the recipes in this book were quite…imaginative! I really wanted to make Hot Dogs a Go Go (who doesn’t love that name?) but it called for 24 hot dogs and there was no way I was cooking that many dogs for two people. I’m thinking you’ll probably thank me for sparing you Minted Kabobs (I hate mint but regardless…ew!), Peanut Butter Hot Dogs (which was listed in the Kid’s section but…double ew!), as well as Hot Dog Eggplant Casserole.

So instead, I settled on Scalloped Potato Hot Dog Casserole as it sounded good and it was a good dish to pair with Buffy’s Baked Bean Casserole dish. When I was younger, my mom often served us meatloaf, scalloped potatoes (sans hot dogs) and baked beans for dinner. To this day, it’s one of my favorite comfort food meals.

Scalloped Potato Hot Dog Casserole – serves 4
6 hot dogs
3 large onions, sliced very thin
4 ½ cups potatoes, sliced thin
2 teaspoons salt
3 T butter or margarine
2 T flour
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon paprika
2 cups milk
2 T parsley, minced
3 think slices Cheddar cheese

Cook the onions and potatoes in one inch of boiling water to which 2 teaspoons salt have been added. After boiling 5 minutes, drain.

Okay, I’m one instruction in and I already have “issues.” I couldn’t quite see how one inch of water was going to appropriately cook 4 ½ cups of potatoes and 3 large, sliced onions, so I added a bit more water to the pot.

The next problem was the “boil 5 minutes instruction.” After boiling 5 minutes, the potatoes were very soft, almost mushy, but the onions were not. If I were you, I would consider boiling the two items separately to make sure they are evenly cooked. I’m just not a big fan of crunchy onions.

Back to the instructions…Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, boil a small amount of water in a pan and then place another pan on top of the first pan so that the boiling water “cooks” your ingredients. The top pan should be the same size, if not slightly larger, than the pan below. Stir in the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, paprika and milk. Stirring constantly, cook until smooth and thick (about 5 minutes). In a 2-quarter casserole, arrange one-third of the potato-onion mixture topped with half the hot dogs, cut into halves lengthwise, and minced parsley. (You might want to consider cutting the halves in halves as well as it makes them easier to get the hot dogs out of the bowl). Pour on one-third of the sauce. Repeat in two more layers. Arrange the slices of cheese on top, and bake for 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Just so you know, I topped the dish with the last layer of hot dogs and when I pulled it out of the oven, all the hot dogs were curled up in a semi-fetal position. It actually didn’t look that bad, but I’m sure that was not the intended effect. Alas, a food stylist, I am not.

"Green Bay Packers Family Cookbook, Vols. 1&2" & "The NFL Cookbook" & "Favre Family Cookbook" - Packer fan recipes

Oh, people, it’s challenging to be a Packer Fan but cooking up a bunch of Packer-related recipes was no challenge whatsoever.

Despite their woeful performance so far this year (2006), I have always been and will always be a Packer Backer. My hometown in Michigan’s U.P. (Upper Peninsula) is three hours away from Green Bay whereas Detroit is eight hours away. Suffice it to say, we felt more attached to Wisconsin, both spiritually and by land and so most of us from that area are Packer fans.

So it stands to reason, doesn’t it, that as a fan, I have no less than three Green Bay Packer-related cookbooks? One is the Green Bay Packers Family Cookbook, Volume 1, which is of course, followed by the Green Back Packers Family Cookbook, Volume 2, and the third is the Favre Family Cookbook (and if you say to yourself “Favre who?,” just quit reading now and go to the recipe. Please, I beg of you.)

I thought about telling you all the interesting connections I have to the Packers organization, coaches and assorted staff but then realized those stories could make up an entire blog all by themselves and so it’s off to the recipes we go.

One of my law school classmates and her husband are from Milwaukee, WI (now living in Hudson, WI, just across Minnesota border (and about 20 minutes from St. Paul, MN) and so I invited them over to watch the Packer-Viking game with us last year. And, course, I pulled a Packer cookbook, in this case, Packer Family Cookbook, Volume II, and found the perfect thing to accompany brats on the grill – Calico Beans.

Knowing of my deep love and affection for the team, Autumn and John bought me a Cheesehead as a hostess gift (and really, it’s just the gift that keeps on giving). (Note: a Cheesehead is a foam replica of a piece of cheese that Packer fans far and wide wear on game day. It’s the football version of a rally cap). When I told my mom about having them over and the Cheesehead gift, she got confused and said: “Well that’s nice that they got you a tea set.” (??!) to which I replied “No, mom. Cheesehead. They bought me a Cheesehead, not a tea set. Sheesh.”

Mind you, Autumn is Vietnamese so it’s entirely possible that she could have brought me a tea set…but she didn’t.

Green Bay Packers Family Cookbook, Vol. II – by the Green Bay Packers
Published by – Packers Women’s Association
© 2001
Recipe submitted by Betsy Mitchell, Psychological Consultant to the GB Packers

Recipe – Calico Beans – p. 174

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? How COOL would it be to be a Psychological Consultant to the Packers! I’m picturing Brett Favre (the Packer’s current quarterback) on the couch being counseled after a game: “So Brett, when you were being blitzed by the (Bears, Seahawks, Eagles..), how did it make you feel…..?”

I swear I’m always choosing the wrong profession.

Luckily, I chose a great dish to make on Packer game day. Thank you, Besty!!

Anybody who has ever been to a potluck has seen a dish like this: You take your basic canned beans (butter, kidney, pork and beans, etc), add browned ground beef, a few spices and after cooking for 40 minutes or so at 350, we have a kickoff! But just in case you need the actual ingredients and directions:

Calico Beans
1 lb. ground beef
1 c. chopped onion
1½ c. ketchup
¾ c. brown sugar
2 tsp vinegar (white or cider)
1½ tsp. salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 16 oz. can drained butter beans
1 can kidney beans
2 16 oz. cans pork and beans
*note, some people use garbanzo beans as well. I think you could substitute and still come out okay.

Brown the ground beef and onion. Drain well. Mix all ingredients together then bake uncovered for 40 minutes at 350 F.

Next we have.....Bart Starr's Favorite Salad...


Date I made this recipe: Sunday, September 22
The NFL Cookbook
A National Football League Publication – New American Library
© 1981

Recipe: Bart Starr’s Favorite Salad – p. 38

Before there was Brett, there was Bart. Starr, that is.

Bart Starr was, and still is, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all times. The fact that he played for Vince Lombardi (may he rest in peace) and took the Packers to the Super Bowl puts him on the left hand of God (Vince, naturally, is on the right) in the hearts of many Packer fans.

So seeing as how I was on this Packer recipe roll, I couldn’t resist making a recipe from The NFL Cookbook.

I scored (no pun intended) this cookbook at a bookstore in East Lansing, Michigan, last year (2005) while attending my cousin’s daughter’s wedding. I’ve been to this bookstore before and usually walk away with at least a bag full of fun finds. (Note: I should clarify that there are two bookstores blocks away from each other, owned by the same person. One is Curious Books – 307 E. Grand River Ave and the other is Archives Bookstore – 517 W. Grand River Ave. Both are just blocks away from Michigan State University’s campus)

This book, however, was not without its problems: You just try finding a recipe that was not submitted by an “enemy” team (which, these days, includes everyone). Lucky for me, Bart Starr’s Favorite Salad was there to save the day.

This salad is easy and quite refreshing, even for a fall day. But what to team it with was my next big question. (I swear, these sports analogies are just popping up all over the place). Chicken, steak, fish or….

And then, people, the freezer light bulb went on and voila! We would finish up that second frozen, pre-packed and highly salted pork tenderloin, previously mentioned in an earlier blog.

In my humble opinion, the “mesquite” rub (of potassium, potassium, potassium, and salt) was overkill and added nothing to the meat but at least this time it was edible.

So pork and salad it was. Pork and beans would have been better, but I covered the bean issue last week. So pork and salad it was.

The Packers, by the way, beat Detroit that day but we didn’t get to see it because of a TV blackout that goes like this: If those pathetic Vikings are playing at the same time as my brilliant, yet struggling, Packers, then (and for this, recall your 9th grade Algebra rules), FOX TV will show the Viking game, in its entirety, in Minnesota, with complete and utter disregard for the fact that the Wisconsin border is 15 minutes away from downtown St. Paul. Those interested in joining my amicus brief to the Supreme Court, see me afterwards (after the game that is. You know better than to interrupt a Packer game, right?!).

Bart Starr’s Favorite Salad
For the dressing (note: makes one quart)
3 c. salad oil
1 c. cider or wine vinegar
¼ c. Worcestershire sauce
¼ c. Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp Italian seasoning
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
For the salad
1 head iceberg or Romaine lettuce
½ unpeeled cucumber, sliced
½ red onion, sliced
6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 stalk celery, diced
8 to 10 black olives - cut up
½ avocado, diced
½ c. Fontina or hard white cheese, grated
½ c. seasoned croutons

Combined salad oil (I used olive oil), vinegar (I used white), Worcestershire sauce (can we talk about how impossible it is to spell this?), Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper to taste in a container. Cover and let stand several hours, or overnight.

Combine lettuce (I used Romaine as I hate iceburg), cucumber, onion, tomatoes, celery, olives (I used a mix from an olive bar that I then had to slice myself which was a bother but then I like making things difficult for myself), avocado, cheese and croutons in salad bowl.

Add the desired amount of dressing and toss lightly. Makes six servings of salad.

And so back to you, Brett….

Brett Favre, the Packer’s current quarterback, is a man of many talents, one of them being cookbook publisher. Okay, technically, he did not publish the cookbook but he submitted recipes, so there.

Long before I purchased the Packer Family Cookbook Volume II, I snapped up the Favre Family Cookbook and naturally, I had to make a recipe submitted by Brett – Red Beans and Rice. (Note, I did not make the dish at the same time as Bart Starr’s dish, but I had Famous Packer Quarterbacks (“for 10 points, Alex”) on the brain so I had to include it for continuity’s sake. I think I made this dish about a year or so ago).

Favre Family Cookbook by the Favre Family
Published by Addax Publishing Group http://www.addaxpublishing.com/
ISBN: 1-886110-75-1
© 1999

Recipe: Red Beans and Rice – p. 135

This dish was relatively quick and easy but the thing I felt was missing was bit of spice and I’m not even a big fan of spice. My husband disagreed and he’s the spice king in our family. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought I added a can of Rotele tomatoes (to add that little snap to the dish), as was called for in other recipes in this book, but I checked the list twice and I didn’t seem them so…there it is.

Red Beans and Rice
Water
1 pound dried kidney beans
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
½ stick butter
1 T. flour
1 pound smothered sausage, sliced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 c. rice, cooked

Soak the beans in enough water to cover, overnight; drain and rinse. Saute’ onion and garlic in butter until tender. Sprinkle flour in with onion and garlic and mix well. Add sausage and beans with enough water to cover the beans then season with salt and pepper. Cook slowly on low heat for one hour or until beans are tender. Serve over rice. Serves 6-8.

Okay, as a note, the back of the book had definitions but “smothered sausage” was not one of them. I’m sure a southerner can enlighten me in about a minute flat as to what that term means and so I’d love to know if there was something I should have done to the sausage to smother it – get a pillow perhaps? (or better yet a blanket for smothered Pigs in a Blanket - pigs=sausage, get it?! Hahahaha....)

And last but not least....

Date I made this recipe: October 2, 2006

Packer Family Cookbook Volume I by the Packers Women’s Association
Published by – Packers Women’s Association
© 1998
Recipe submitted by Vaughn Booker, Defensive End #96

Recipe: Tuna Macaroni Casserole – p. 89

I swear, dear readers that this is the last recipe I have from any football-related cookbook. And I specifically chose a recipe that transcends all time, including football season: Tuna Casserole. Who doesn’t love tuna casserole (well, except people who don’t love tuna…or casseroles).

I selected this recipe because it seemed easy and appropriate for a fall football evening when the weather gets cooler…or so I thought. Of course, the weather people got it all wrong and on October 2, 2006, the temperature spiked to 80 degrees. I was not deterred. October 2nd was a Monday night game between the Packers and the Eagles (Philadelphia). Despite getting off to a good start, and despite my endless coaching, we were spanked: 31-9.

But people, do not despair because the recipe was a winner.

First things first: if you do not understand that the base of all casseroles is a can of cream of “something” soup, you have not been paying attention. Sure, purists will want to make it with a traditional white sauce (as I learned to do in Home Ec), but as I am known to say: “why do something yourself when you can pay others (in this case, a soup company) to do it for you?

This recipe called for Cream of Celery soup and I liked that over Cream of Mushroom but that could just be me. Cream of Mushroom has its place, you understand, but I like a lighter taste to my casserole. It also called for mayonnaise and I liked that, too. It did not call for peas, but I’m sorry, in my culinary world, tuna casserole = tuna + noodles + peas. Period. If you do not like peas, you can leave them out and still get great results. Add to that mixture some milk, grated cheese and dried mustard and you have a game winning result.

The ease of preparation got this recipe a gold (and Packer “green”) stars and here’s why: I simply had to take a walk after work it being unusual to have 80 degree weather in October (snow is more like it) plus I had numerous errands to run (the local library, Target, Barnes and Noble –I had an extra 15% off coupon that expired that day and if there’s one thing I love, it’s an additional discount – and the grocery store). By the time I got home, it was 6:45 and the game started at 7:30.

I put a pot of water on the stove to boil the macaroni, preheated the oven, raced upstairs to take a shower and came back down just past 7. I threw the pasta in the boiling water, started combining all ingredients (and a big shout out for not having to chop a damned thing) and at 7:28 the whole thing went into the oven. Piece.Of.Cake (or, in this case, Tuna.Casserole).

When the casserole was done, the Pack was making a good showing. By the time I finished eating, they were not. Seeing the Pack lose the game gave me heartburn but the tuna casserole gave me joy. And I really didn’t mind that it was hotter than Hades in my house with the oven on. Really. Okay, maybe just a little.

And so a couple of final words before I move on to a recipe that is not sports-related: I finally made it to “hallowed ground” on September 17th for the Packer/New Orleans game (what a thrill) and just yesterday, got a book signed (alas, not a cookbook) by former Packer great, Jerry Kramer, he of Instant Replay fame (one of the funniest football books ever) and one of Lombardi’s best players. It was a thrill to meet him, let me tell you. Believe it or not, I actually read something other than cookbooks and my brother and I pawed through Kramer’s book so often when we were younger, it’s amazing it is still in one piece.

Tuna Macaroni Casserole
4 oz. small shell macaroni
1 10 ¾ can condensed cream of celery soup
1/3 c. milk
¼ c. mayonnaise
½ tsp dry mustard
1 c. shredded American cheese
1 6 ½ or 7 oz. can tuna, drained
¼ c. fine dry bread crumbs (or crush some croutons for the same effect)
1 T. butter
½ tsp paprika

Cook macaroni according to directions then drain. In a bowl, blend together the soup, milk, mayonnaise, and mustard. Stir in cheese and tuna. Fold in cooked macaroni. Put mixture into 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Combine the bread crumbs, paprika and melted butter then sprinkle on top of the casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 for approximately 45 minutes.

NOTE: I purchased the two Green Bay Packer Family Cookbooks from the Packers Pro Shop (once online and once in person) but I just checked the website today (12/4/06) and neither book showed up. (http://www.packerproshop.com/) I Googled the book titles, but no luck there, either. I hate to say this, but you might need to take a road trip to Green Bay to find the books. I'm just saying.... (and if you do go on a search and destroy for them, please let me know! I'd love to hear of your quest.)