After Church Dinners, Sunday, January 26, 2014

Sundays take me back to times gathered around a table sharing a meal with friends or family.  When I was younger, people would go to each other’s homes after church, but as we got older, this practice stopped…a lot of things have stopped from the “old days”.

I can remember the hustle and bustle of Mother in the kitchen trying to get things ready for the meal after church as she tried to hurry us along to get up and get ready.  At my house, the meal wasn’t the problem, the CLEANING of the house was the problem…As a FLETCHER, I BELIEVE it is our heritage to NOT throw anything away…sigh…

In TRUE SOUTHERN form, a meal was not merely a meat and three, but at LEAST a two meat and eight…HEAVEN forbid that one should serve SOMETHING that was not liked by SOMEONE…In my family alone, choosing two meats was not easy for I had a brother who ate NO chicken and NO soup or Gravy and another brother who ate EVERYTHING, EXCEPT liver…My Father liked what he liked and he had NO problem with the things he didn’t eat, he just left them for others, BUT he DID want his gravy with EVERY meal that warranted gravy!

Country Ham, Roast and Chicken were staples at my house.  Hot Chicken Salad was gobbled down as LONG as nothing crunchy was put in it…sigh…yep, that was DADDY…Personally, I love water chestnuts as long as they are cut into smaller pieces…I don’t like the BIG pieces…Celery just adds to the flavor in my opinion!

Mother was one of the BEST bread makers around and thought NOTHING of getting up and making biscuits…and her yeast rolls were some of the best things to EVER be placed in your mouth—EVER…That was most everyone’s favorite part of having company, because she would have at least four pans of rolls…Toasted Buttered rolls the next morning is a TREAT that I still miss.

Two of my favorite things to have when we had company was a spinach salad with HOMEMADE Poppy Seed dressing and then to have Homemade Shortbread served with fresh fruit…oh my…I’m hungry JUST thinking about it.  Oh, and frozen Cranberry Salad is ALSO one of my favorite things too…it is SO pretty on a plate.

Mother taught me that making food PLEASING to the eye was just as important as it being healthy AND if you would choose foods from all the color groups, then usually you would have most of your vitamins covered.

I thought I would share some recipes today for quick and easy things that I LOVE…To me, taking time to prepare a HOMEMADE meal for those you love is just one of the best things you can DO…AND when you place your feet together under a table, I think there is NO PROBLEM that can’t be solved by sharing the burdens of the day…TOGETHER really is the BEST place to be…Enjoy being with those you love and don’t FORGET to tell them that you love them…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte♥

Poppy Seed Dressing

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon grated onion

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon celery seed

¼ cup vinegar

1 cup salad oil

Approximately 1 Tablespoon Poppy seed (optional…and LESS if you don’t want as many…well, duh, huh!!)

Combine all ingredients except vinegar and oil.  Beat thorough as you dribble oil and vinegar alternately.  This makes a grand glossy dressing to serve over fresh or canned fruit.

My favorite SALAD to use this dressing on is:

Baby Spinach Leaves

Slices of well-drained Mandarin Oranges

Pecans that have been toasted

Scottish Shortbread

1 cup of BUTTER (NOT margarine), softened

½ sugar

2 cups of flour

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Gradually add flour and beat on medium until smooth…It will take about 5 minutes to beat this with your mixer.  Spread evenly in a ungreased 9x13 pan.  Bake in 300 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until lightly brown.  Immediately after removing from the over, prink all over with a fork and cut into small squares.  BEST served at room temperature.

Avis’ Chicken Casserole

1 cup cooked rice

½ cup chopped celery (finely chopped)

2 cups cut up cooked chicken

2 Tablespoons of chopped onion

1 can cream of mushroom or chicken soup

¾ cup mayonnaise or salad dressing.

Mix all together and place in a baking dish.  Top with

1 cup corn flakes (crushed)

2 Tablespoons of melted butter…Mix these two together and place on top of the chicken.

Bake 40 -45 minutes at 350.

Frozen Cranberry Salad

1 can of WHOLE cranberries—mash with a fork to break up the big pieces

1 large can of crushed pineapple, drained well

2 large Bananas, mashed

1 Regular Sized contained of Cool Whip, thawed (the original recipe called for REAL whipped cream, but Mother couldn’t have dairy food, so I made this change)

A couple of hands of mini marshmallows

A dash of salt

IF you wish, you may add chopped pecans, toasted

AND if you really like SWEET, add a can of Eagle Brand milk…I don’t, but it is good!

Mix together and place in cupcake wrappers placed in a cupcake pan to hold their shape…You can also place this in a square container…just be sure to remove for a bit so you can cut it!

This recipe can be served frozen…BUT if you want to make it a refrigerator Salad, use a can of Cherry Pie filling INSTEAD of the Cranberries…My niece LOVED this and she called it PINK SALAD…for some reason, I don’t like the cherries frozen as well as the cranberries!

Happy cooking QUICK and EASY!  =)

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