REDISCOVERING BORAX

I had some lovely white dish towels from the institute here at home a while back.  I decided to layer them in between the layers of biscuits that I baked here at home rather doing mighty battle with the ovens from, "you know where". Now what I had forgotten is how much fat was in those biscuits.  Those poor towels were such a mess but . .  I forgot when I washed and dried them.  Talk about nasty yellow stains.  They also developed a rancid odor, yuck!

So I brought them home again and thought about it for a week.  I noticed the box of Borax and thought It wouldn't hurt anything.  I also had a new bottle of a good degreaser(purple stuff from Sams Club but any good degreaser would probably work) to add to the mix.  Unfortunately, I didn't measure when I loaded the washer.

The Guesstimations are:
1--Enough HOT water to the small load level
2--About 1 1/2 qts. of the degreaser
3--About 2 - 3 cups of Borax.

 I agitated it for a few minutes to make sure it was all stirred up good and then let it soak for several hours.  then let it agitate for the longest cycle and put it through the extra rinse.

Everything came out very white, clean and smelling like  . .  nothing.  Now that is the true smell of  "clean"!  I had also added some real stinkers that had been waiting out in the garage including a table cloth that has been through several "war zones" trying to get some old, yellowed grease stains out of it.

Guess Grandma knew what she was doing!

* * * * I did a second load when I found some of those same nasty towels that had been kicked out of the way. Cut amounts in half and used warm water.  They still came out beautifully!

JULIENNE POTATOES . . . Not" Funeral Potatoes"

I decided a long time ago that the infamous "Funeral Potatoes" were invented by the owners of funeral homes . .  just to keep their business booming.  With all the butter, sour cream, and cheese, it can give anyone a heart attack!  This is just as ooey, gooey and yummy as any other.

1 C. Morrison Country Gravy Mix

1 t. Lawry's seasoned salt
1-2 C. Unflavored Yogurt
2 lbs. frozen hash browns, thawed
1/2 # grated cheese1/2 medium onion, diced

1--Mix gravy mix with cool water until well blended and set aside.
2--Bring  3 c. water to a boil.  Add gravy mix slurry, blend well.  Cook until thickened.
3-- Add yogurt, seasoned salt (to taste) and blend.
4--Toss hash browns and most of the grated cheese until they are mixed up evenly.  Place in 9" X 13" baking
     dish that has been sprayed.  Add "slurry" and mix;  sprinkle left-over cheese.   Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.  Remove foil and continue baking until the cheese topping is browned slightly.

**If you would like to shave the calories some more, use low fat cheese and make sure that you have plenty of slurry.  It will melt and blend in nicely.

My New Calling. . . . and Blessing

As a member of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I received a calling last Fall as a service missionary in our local area.  Our university has a pretty large Institute of Religion where they have a $1 lunch each Friday for the students . . . and full-time missionaries and few other misc. staff and visitors.  It has been one of the greatest challenges/blessings I have ever experienced.  I love the "kids" (young adults) .  They are a great group of young people who want to make good choices, do good in this world and follow our Savior's example and commandments.  It makes for a lovely and loving spirit that can only lift those around them.

I have learned a lot!  With the strangest ovens I have ever had the "opportunity" to deal with (was that put tactfully enough? . .  they are a NIGHTMARE . .  ah hem) to what will please the kids, make them feel that for just a few minutes, they can enjoy the tastes and love of home and help them relax and enjoy each other's company for an afternoon and there are a couple of grandmas (Sister Hays and me) with a hug ready and waiting for whoever needs it ( a couple of gramps too).

We have had near disasters, some pretty funny experiences and some great triumphs (in spite of the ovens).  All add up to a new adventure each week.

My greatest practical lessons have been in creating yummy meals that can be done, from beginning to ready to eat in 3 - 4 hours. . .  for a crowd of anywhere from 130, last week to 170 this last week.  Never boring!

I thought I would share a lot of what I have learned on this blog while I wait to get together with my DIL so she can show me how to add tabs and organize it better.

Hope you find my adventures useful, convenient and tasty for your families.  My family has been my tolerant if not willing guinea pigs for many of the dishes I have served down there!  I will have family and group size recipes posted here.

POSSE STEW

Posse Stew             (for groups down below)

#401 Can of Pinto Beans

# 401 can of Hominy (I like to use yellow but the whole country seems to have gone white)

#401 can of Diced tomatoes

1 Dice onion

1 # ground beef, cooked

1 can of diced green chiles ( I use 1/2 can of green chiles that I dice myself)

Red chile powder or taco seasonings to taste.

**Equal amounts of beans, hominy and diced tomatoes.  I usually use beans I have cooked myself.

Dump (dumping is an important part of the technique here) all of the canned ingredients into a big pot; add seasonings and simmer while you brown the ground beef and onion until they are softened.  Add to pot and check your seasonings.  Simmer a while until the flavors are blended nicely and serve with corn bread, crackers or whatever sounds good to you.  This has always gone like hotcakes when I have served it!

When you have a big crowd, there will always be some that want it hot as hades.  I put a bottle of Tabasco or Frank's Hot Sauce where they can add it to their bowls.  Yesterday we also had a bowl of HOT diced green chiles that had been given to us that we knew we would never eat (wimps here).  The kids liked both.

Tonight I will post the amounts I used for about 75 people and the chicken soup as well.

Posse Stew for a Crowd---

This should make about 14 quarts of Posse Stew and serve about 28 - 30 people.

I just realized that this would be a little hard since I was using left-over beans and beef from our stake BBQ in November.  So I will figure it as well as I can.

# Ten cans hold 3 1/2 quarts of food.  Did you know that?  We always call them gallon . .  NOT!  So to fill young people, we get the big paper bowls that hold "20 oz." .  That will give you a little head room with a good sized bowl of soup or chile.  Keeping that in mind, here is how I start out the Posse Stew:

1 - #10 can of pinto beans

1 - #10 can of hominy

1 - #10 can of diced tomatoes

1/2 - # 10 can of diced green chiles  (at home I often chop up a #401 can of "Hatch whole chiles" that come

         in pairs at Costco)

2 # ground beef

1-2 diced large onions

Serve with cornbread, biscuits, grated cheese crackers . .  it's all good.

This should make about 14 quarts of Posse Stew and serve about 28 - 30 people.