CHICKEN CASSEROLE

My husband called this "chicken pot pie without the crust". I guess you could. It almost works. It does include the cube stuffing that gives you some "crust" taste. Whatever you call it, it made a delicious casserole for us for dinner with plenty of leftovers.

The recipe was contributed by Nettie Elsasser. I reduced the ingredients and made a few more changes, but her recipe got me started. It is another recipe from the Wakefield Community Cooks cookbook I got at an estate sale. So far the recipes I have tried from it have been really good and well received.

CHICKEN CASSEROLE

1       13 oz can chicken breast in water or about 2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken
1       12 oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables
2      cups Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned cube stuffing
1       10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
1/2    cup shredded/grated cheese (I used shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese)
1/2    cup chicken broth or water (I used the water from the canned chicken)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a casserole dish about 9-1/2 inches with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine all of the ingredients in a LARGE bowl to mix thoroughly. (I have the large yellow Tupperware bowl that I have had FOREVER that is just perfect for this. I even bought another one at an estate sale because it comes in so handy. It also works great for kneading dough. The flour is so easy to contain.)

Pour into dish and 

bake for 45 minutes.

PASTEL LIMON (LEMON PIE)

The day we went to Old Scottsdale while on vacation in Mesa, AZ, I saw a recipe in a cookbook in one of the speciality shops that looked interesting. This recipe called Pastel Limon (Lemon Pie) came from Billy, the Kid Cookbook. The subtitle said it contained recipes and folklore from Billy, the Kid Country. (Darn. I thought maybe it was a favorite of Billy, the Kid.)

I am always looking for Lemon Pie recipes and this one sounded like one I might want to try. This recipe was certainly different from any I have seen or tried. It formed two layers as it baked. Very delicious!

Pastel Limon (Lemon Pie)

1       tablespoon oil

2      tablespoons flour

1       cup light brown sugar

1/2   teaspoon baking powder

1       cup milk

2      eggs, separated

juice of 1 lemon (I used 3 tablespoons)

1       tablespoon grated lemon peel (I used dried lemon peel)

prepared pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 

Beat the egg whites til peaks forms.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, and baking powder in medium bowl.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with a fork.

Add the ingredients to the beaten egg whites and lightly stir with spoon or spatula.

Pour into prepared pie crust.

Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 45 more minutes. The pie will be raised in the center when you take it out of the oven

The center will sink as it cools.

Cool, then refrigerate til ready to serve. 

Serve topped with strawberries or raspberries.

I couldn't wait for the pie to cool in the refrigerator before we enjoyed a piece of it.

GERMAN APPLE CAKE

Yesterday Fort Leavenworth recognized the work of the "staff" in the tax office. I missed the ceremony last year, but not this year. I will share some of the pictures I took later in this post.

My husband wasn't sure if they were having a reception or not, but I decided to get up early and make this German Apple Cake to take. I knew they would enjoy it in the office anyway. (They did have a very nice reception with cake and punch and a couple of other treats that I will be sharing the recipe with you soon. They were really, really good.) My cake was very well received also.

It took me a little longer to prepare the cake because I took extra time to thinly slice the apples. I'm glad I did. It would be hard to eat the cake if the slices weren't thin. It was such a pretty cake. I almost didn't want to frost it, but everyone likes a cream cheese frosting.

GERMAN APPLE CAKE

2         large eggs
1          cup oil
1-1/2   cup sugar
1          teaspoon vanilla
2         cups flour
2         teaspoons cinnamon
1          teaspoon salt
1          teaspoon baking soda
4         cups thinly sliced apples

8        oz pkg cream cheese (I only used 6 oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
3        tablespoons butter or margarine
1         teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2   cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. (I used my homemade Pan Grease.)

Add oil to eggs and beat until foamy.

Add sugar and vanilla. Mix well.

Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda together in small bowl.

Add mixture to egg/sugar mixture. Mix together scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Batter will be thick.

Fold in apples. There will be more apples slices than batter.

Spread in pan.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Cool on wire rack.








To prepare the cream cheese frosting,

Beat the softened cream cheese (1/3 fat doesn't need to be softened) and margarine til smooth.

Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat til smooth.

Frost top of cake. 

If you prepare the frosting and are not ready to frost the cake, just store frosting covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. If the frosting is too thick to spread, add a little milk.

The ceremony was quite impressive. It was held in the court room with the Garrison Commander, Col. Tim Wulf, presiding. He was very appreciative of the "staff" and their work. I didn't write it down, but I think he said 1800 returns had been filed saving the service men and women almost $500,000 in filing fees. I do remember that he said the returns totaled between 3.2 and 3.4 million dollars. (He had seen two different numbers.) 

Getting instructions

  

Ready and waiting

Col Wulf, Garrison Commander

The paid "staff"

"Boss" Amanda receiving a special award

The "volunteer" staff

Military personnel

My husband being recognized

A DISAPPEARING NINE PATCH QUILT

Almost three years ago (Man! How time flies!) I shared a post called from a nine patch to a ... of different blocks you could design from a traditional nine patch block cut up. I can't believe it was almost three years ago. I really intended to make a quilt top using this method sooner than now. 

I did attempt one earlier this year. I wanted a new shower curtain for my hall bathroom and had some busy cardinal print fabric I wanted to use. All I can say is it was an expensive learning experience. Some day when I am totally bored with nothing to do, I will "unsew" the seams and fix it. Lots of work but I think it will be work it when I am finished. The squares will still work. I will just have to cut small squares from a solid-like print and resew the blocks together individually to make the 4 quarters and then arrange them in the pattern.

In the post I used a nine-patch block that my friend Kay had made and then cut up. I don't think it really registered with me until I made my disastrous cardinal print shower curtain, that in Kay's block, the center square was a different print from the corner squares. While it wasn't a solid, it was close to it. That's where I made my mistake with my shower curtain. I used the cardinal print for the five squares and then a semi-solid print for the other four. That meant I was cutting the center cardinal print into the four small squares. Since the small squares appear by the large print when arranged, the busyness of the patterns did NOT look good together.

With this knowledge in hand, I recently set out to make a baby quilt using the disappearing nine patch block again. Knowledge is such a wonderful thing! I thought I would share with you how to do it. (I'm not totally through with the quilt, but will show you the finished quilt after I finish quilting it.)

I chose three coordinating prints to make 9  nine-patch blocks. I needed to have a total of 36 squares of one print (animal print in my example), 36 squares of the second print (polka dot print in my example), and 9 squares of the third print (solid purple in my example) to complete the blocks.

I used two methods for making the 9 blocks...the strip method and sewing individual blocks. I did it this way so I wouldn't have leftover block pieces by doing it all the strip method (which is the easiest and fastest way to make a nine patch) and the purple material had some spots I had to work around. I made my finished nine-patch block a 16-inch square. I will include amounts of material needed for a smaller nine-patch square below.

After I washed, dried, and ironed my material, I cut 5 strips the width of the fabric (wof) and 6 inches wide using my rotary cutter from the (animal) print, 5 strips wof and 6 inches wide from the (polka dot) print, and 1 strip wof and 6 inches wide from the (purple) solid, 1  6-inch square from (animal) print, 1  6-inch squares from (polka dot) print, and 2  6-inch squares from (purple) solid. 

I first made the outer sides of the nine patch block. Using two wof strips of the animal print and one wof strip of the polka dot print, I made a "panel" with the polka dot strip between the two animal strips. Matching the cut edges, I sewed the strips together across the wof using a 1/4 inch wide seam.

I did this twice. (That left me with 1 strip from the animal print. I will cut it up later into individual squares.)

Setting the seams by pressing the seam on the wrong side, I then pressed the seams open. Remember you are pressing not ironing. You don't want to stretch the material with ironing. (Pressing is just what it sounds like....press the iron on spot, lift iron, move to another spot, and repeat.) I decided to press all of the seams away from the polka dot print. This would make the seams "nest" when I had to sew the pieces together.

When I had pressed the panel open, I cut the panel into 7  6-inch wide pieces (the sides of the nine patch block).

Here is how I did this since I usually cut on the right side of the ruler. Using a 6-inch ruler, I trimmed the right edge of the panel for my starting strip. I made sure the seams in the panel lined up with lines on the ruler. Then I placed another ruler next to it making sure the first ruler didn't move. After removing the first ruler, I then cut down the right side of the second ruler.

I repeated this process with the other panel of two animal prints and one polka dot print. I had cut/made 14 side strips of animals - polka dots - animals.

I then repeated the process by making a panel using 2 of the polka dot wof strips and the one purple wof strip. Here they are before I sewed them. This made 7 middle strips of the nine-patch block after I sewed and cut them. (The one polka dot print wof strip left, I will cut into individual squares later.)

With the pieces cut, I could then sew them together to make the nine-patch block.

When I finished I had 7 of the 9  nine-patch block made. Fast and Easy. 

Now I had 2 more blocks to make. I did this method by actually sewing the individual 6-inch squares together to make the nine-patch. Remember the extra strip I had after I made the "panels"? Well, now I cut them into individual squares - 7 squares from each strip. Those added with the single squares I cut of each print made the 8 squares I needed of the animal print and polka dot print to make the last two nine-patch blocks. From the purple print wof strip, I cut 7 squares. I had to cut 2 more single 6 - inch squares to make the 9 squares I needed of the purple print. 

Since the other blocks had been made with panels, I sewed these smaller individual squares together the same way. In other words I sewed the block together to make vertical strips and then sewed them together to make the nine-patch and pressed the seams the same way as the larger blocks...away from the polka dot print.

With the 9  nine-patch blocks made, I was ready to cut them vertically down the center panel ... 

and the across the other center

To make sure I was cutting down the center, I lined up the seam with the 2-3/4 inch mark on the ruler.

Once they were all cut I ended up with 36 "quarters".

I squared them up by checking the size of the purple square and trimming off any excess.







The next step was to lay them all out in the pattern I had chosen...at least what my dining room table would hold.

Of all of the arrangements I made that day almost three years ago, this is the easiest one because you don't have any seams to match except the middle/center ones. With pressing the seams as I described, those two seams will "nest" neatly together.





The pattern will look different because of the prints you chose and of course because you are adding more blocks with it. I see so many different patterns when I see the whole top made.

This is another one I am anxious to try. I will let you know how it turns out.










MATERIAL  AMOUNTS TO COMPLETE THE QUILT 

Quilt top:

3     prints/solids - 43-45 inch wide

       1st print/solid - 1-1/8 yds 
       2nd print/solid - 1-1/8 yds
       3rd print/solid - 3/8 yds

These amounts will work for up to 6 - inch cut squares. The quilt top will measure 48 inches x 48 inches using 6 - inch cut squares. If you want it smaller, cut the strips and squares 5-1/2 inches. This will make a quilt top about 43-1/2 inches  x 43-1/2 inches.

Backing:

If using a 6 - inch cut strip/squares, the larger quilt top will require backing fabric that is 54 inches wide (1-1/2 yards of fabric) or if using 43-45 inch wide material, you will have to have twice the length of the quilt top or 2-3/4 yards of fabric. 

If using a 5-1/2 - inch cut strip/squares AND the fabric is 44 - 45 inches wide, you can probably get by with just 1-1/3 yards of fabric for the backing. This means you would have a one-piece backing and no seam. If the finished quilt top is slightly larger than the backing fabric, I have trimmed/cut the quilt top slightly so it will fit without having to piece the backing (my preference for a smaller quilt).

Binding:

1/2 yard of fabric - 43 - 45 inches wide

Batting:

1 piece 50 x 50 inches. 

I have tried to make these directions easy to follow. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or you can email me for more detailed instructions. 
       

OUR TRIP TO ARIZONA - SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN & ROCKIN R RANCH

After watching the Royals beat the Angels on Sunday, Monday we drove to Apache Junction and Superstition Mountain and the Apache Trail. 

Here we are with Superstition Mountains in the background. This was taken near the Superstition Museum.


Maybe you have heard about the Lost Dutchman's Mine. It is believed to be in the area. You can read more about Superstition Mountain and the area HERE.

We intended to go about half way round on the Apache Trail, but we didn't make it to even to Apache Lake, the second lake, because the paved road turned into a "washboard" dirt road. (The man at the resort where we were staying had told me to turn around at Roosevelt Lake, the third lake, because the road became dirt.....he was right about the road becoming dirt, just not when it happened.)

Here are some of the pictures I took on Monday.

Canyon Lake, the first lake on the Apache Trail loop...

Another view of Superstition Mountains. This was taken from Goldfield Ghost Town.

This sign was on the outside of the Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel near the museum. Janice and I thought it was a pretty good interpretation.

Wednesday was Janice and Leon's 55th wedding anniversary. We made plans to go to Rockin R Ranch for their BBQ dinner and stage show.





















But I'm ahead of myself. Earlier that morning I treated myself to getting my hair fixed at a nearby beauty salon. Then Janice and I met our husbands at the Painted Mountain Golf Resort Steak House for a late breakfast. We didn't want to eat too much and not be able to enjoy our BBQ dinner that night. The food there is fantastic. It was right next to Westgate Painted Mountain Resort where we were staying. We ate there two different nights and enjoyed their Happy Hour.

After lunch, we went to downtown Scotsdale, in particular Old Scotsdale and walked around there for a couple of hours. Both of us had been there on previous trips but it was still fun. I added a new bracelet to my collection. Sorry I didn't get any pictures.

That night as I said, we went to the Rockin R Ranch for their BBQ dinner and stage show. The food was really good and we enjoyed the show that included lots of comedy and music. 

It was so much fun when Janice and Leon were invited on stage. 

They had to sing Happy Anniversary to each other....

They sounded pretty good. 

Here is a picture of us in front of the saloon that was taken before dinner. The saloon is used for receptions and private parties.

They even ended the evening with a gunfight in the western town.

Monday and Wednesday were busy days for us, but that is normal for us when we vacation together. It was so special for my husband and me to be able to celebrate Janice and Leon's wedding anniversary with them in such a fun way.

Hope you will check back later this week and see pictures from our day trip up to Sedona. As far as we are concerned, that is a must-see if you are in Arizona.