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The “Cold” Sandwich

Tomato, Onion and Cheddar Sandwich

The “Cold” Sandwich

When my paternal grandmother passed, my sisters and I were given the task of going through her things. I discovered a box with recipes, something none of us thought she had. She was a great cook, but she never used a recipe, at least from what we could see.

Inside I found a little note written on a recipe card:
A Tennessee wives tale predicts if you have this 3 times a week, you can prevent the common cold. And beneath the recipe, was a note: “It works” and “From Fall to end of Winter“.

Preparation time: 5 minutes  Continue reading

Southern Sausage Gravy

Southern Sausage Gravy

Mamaw Carey’s Southern Sausage Gravy
A real southern dish that will surely stick to your ribs. I can remember my Mom fixing this dish for various occasions, and not just for breakfast.

Special dinners, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners always had a side of sausage gravy on the table.

Preparation time: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb mild sausage roll
    (Bob Evans or Jimmy Dean is best)
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • 2 to 2½ cups of milk
  • Salt and black pepper

Directions:

  • Cut sausage roll into 1/4 inch patties and fry them in a deep skillet.
  • Remove cooked patties and set them aside to cool slightly.
    Leave as much of the sausage grease in the pan as possible.
  • Add flour to left over grease.
    Scrape the mix with a fork to mix the grease and the flour until it becomes light brown.
  • Add the milk and stir thoroughly.
  • Crumble the sausage patties into the skillet and stir the mix.
  • Add salt and pepper to desired taste. More pepper than salt!
  • Allow the mix to boil, then reduce the heat and stir constantly until thick.
  • Thickness is up to you.
    If it’s too thick, add a little more milk (1/4 cup at time).
    If it’s too thin, add flour (1 tblspns at a time).

Serve:

  • Serve plain, over country biscuits or buttered toast.
    Personally, I think serving over home made biscuits is best.

Alternatives:

  • Consider sauteing chopped onions with the sausage to add a bit of flair.

 

© 1997-2018 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D., Springwolf's Kosmos. All Rights Reserved.
© 1997-2018 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D., Springwolf’s Creations. All Rights Reserved.

Southern Red Eye Gravy

Southern Red Eye Gravy

Southern Red Eye Gravy
When I was kid growing up in North Carolina, my Mom (GranMa Sandy) would cook up some ham, make red-eye gravy and black-eyed peas for breakfast. It was always a fill your tummy with warmth and comfort on a cold winter day.

It’s been 20 years since I’ve had a breakfast like that, until New Years 2010 when Vickie created her version of Red Eye gravy just for me. And boy not only did it bring back memories, it was really good too.

I guess those folks from Tennessee know how to make some stick to your ribs gravy too!

Preparation Time: 10
Serves: 2

Continue reading

Momma’s Sweet Jack BBQ Sauce

Momma’s Sweet Jack Sauce

Garrett’s Momma’s Sweet Jack Sauce
Unlike men in the house, I can’t handle a lot of “hot” foods. So Gary decided to try his hand at making a home-made mild sweet bar-b-que sauce just for me.

We had gone to a local steak house in Virginia who serve their own version of a Jack Daniels bbq sauce. It was nice, but way to hot for me. I was fairly disappointed, because it truly smelled so GOOD. That inspired Gary to make a new sauce.

It goes great on chicken, beef and everything in between!

Preparation Time: 1¼ hours
Makes a bit less than 12 oz.

Ingredients: Continue reading

Wide Awake Jack Sauce

Wide Awake Jack Sauce

Garrett’s Wide Awake Jack Sauce
During the last holiday season, we gave Gary a book about grilling. It has some wonderful recipes. But it also inspired the Grill Master to try his hand at making some home-made bar-b-que sauces.

I like sweet sauces, the boy child loves hot sauces. And Dad, well he’s fond of tart sauces similar to what you’d find in his home state of North Carolina. Needless to say there has been a lot of experimenting going on in our house on the weekends.

He has been working on this one for a few months now. I think he’s  finally gotten it just right. If you like hot, you’ll like this one.

It goes great on chicken, beef and everything in between!

Preparation Time: 1¼ hours
Makes a bit more than 1 quart

Ingredients: Continue reading

Vegetable Casserole

Vegetable Casserole

GranMa Sandy’s Vegetable Casserole
A good way to get children to eat vegetables. GranMa Sandy often made this dish for her children and they always liked this crunchy vegetable alternative.

When I’ve made this dish, everyone seems to like it much more on the next day as leftovers. I’ve taken to making this dish the day before a holiday meal and placing it in the fridge. Then cooking it for 15 to 20 minutes before serving to thoroughly heat it up.

Serves: 4 to 6 Continue reading

Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes

Vickie’s Scalloped Potatoes
One of our favorite items to set beside a great family feast. Not everyone in our family likes stuffing. So I began making a special potato dish to go along with those family holiday meals.

I’ve always loved scalloped potatoes, but it took some time for me to find a recipe I liked. And then longer to get that recipe just right.

Over time, with a little tweaks here and there, I finally settled on a hit. But after our young son decided he loved the dish too, I knew we finally had the right recipe. Not an easy task for a parent with a picky eater!

Preparation time: 90 minutes  Continue reading

Traditional Potato Wedges

Potato Wedges

Garrett & Vickie’s Traditional Potato Wedges
We’ve been experimenting with potato wedges for some time now. Our local deli has a recipe we absolutely adore and at least once a week, we picked up some chicken and wedges for a picnic by our favorite train station. What little boy doesn’t love watching trains and munching on chicken fingers!

By the time we started getting close to their recipe, the store was sold and the recipe changed…drastically. Now we’re going on memory, but I think we’re pretty close!

Preparation Time: 1.45 hour
45 min. prep time
1 hour fridge time

Serves: 4  Continue reading

Cheesy Tater Wedges

Tater Wedges

Garrett & Vickie’s Cheesy Tater Wedges
Wedges are our son’s favorite thing to have with dinner. So we’ve tried a few recipes to duplicate what we’ve found at our local deli. We haven’t quite got their version of wedges down yet. But in the process we’ve come up with some pretty good variations.

This recipe isn’t exactly the traditional version, but it’s a variation we’ve all come to love. They’re great for lunch, dinner or the back yard bbq.

Preparation Time: 1.45 hour
45 min. prep time
1 hour fridge time

Serves: 4  Continue reading

Herb Potato Wedges

Herb Wedges

Vickie’s Herb Potato Wedges
Do something different for dinner with those potatoes. I don’t know about your family, but mine gets tired of baked or mashed potatoes for dinner. Ideally we alternate potatoes with rice, or some other side dish. But some meals just cry out for potatoes.

That’s how we experimented with potato wedges. This recipe came about on a warm summer evening. The boy child wanted wedges, but Dad wanted Fried Potato Slices. So I compromised, and made herb potato wedges. And everyone was happy!

Preparation time: 50 minutes  Continue reading