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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

The Hamoneer

Posted in Easy Recipes, Musings, tagged , , on August 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Anyone watching calories or on a strict diet will want to just skip today’s post entirely. For the rest of you, enjoy!

Way back when I was growing up, on the rare occasions we went into the big town, not just our little hometown, sometimes my Dad would take us through a drive-in for the best hamburgers on the planet. They didn’t serve fries there. No, sir. They had deep-fried tater tots that were cooked to crispy perfection and salted within an inch of their life. Their milkshakes were thick and creamy and delicious. But the thing you had to go there for was the hamoneer. It was a hamburger with some thick slices of deliciously wicked bacon that were beyond description.

I didn’t care back then what was in the hamburger, all I knew was that it tasted great and I was lucky enough to have one to enjoy.

When the drive-in went out of business, I may have even cried a few tears. No more hamoneer burgers – ever. It is a loss I have suffered from acutely over the years.

Then one day, I found cottage bacon at the grocery store and  decided to give it a try. Hello, hamoneer!  This bacon tastes just like the kind the drive-in used to put on the burgers.  So Hubby and I recreated the hamoneer and boy, was it good! For those of you who have not yet been introduced to cottage bacon, it is bacon made from the shoulder of a pig, resulting in lean pork meat that tastes like a fantastic combination of ham and bacon.

Just make your burger as usual, add cheese, top with the bacon and enjoy. If you want a real hamoneer experience, make sure you add a special sauce (mix ketchup and mayo in equal amounts) to the bun.

Yum!

Start with some cottage bacon, a delicious blend of ham and smoky bacon, there isn't anything quite like it

Assemble your burger as desired with whatever condiments strike your fancy. For an authentic Hamoneer experience, mix up a special sauce using equal parts ketchup and mayo and spread all over the bun.

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BLT Wrap

Posted in Easy Recipes, Fast Recipes, tagged , , , on August 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

BLT Wrap

Here is a quick and simple wrap you can make for lunch, dinner or cut into bite-sized pieces for an appetizer.

It is yummy and easy. And we won’t talk about calories. We just won’t!

Ingredients for the BLT Wrap

Chop or crumble your bacon into bite-sized pieces

Chop or slice tomatoes. I used cherry tomatoes and thinly sliced them.

Start layering ingredients in your tortilla.

Looks pretty tasty, doesn't it?

BLT Wrap

flour tortillas

shredded colby-jack cheese

sliced olives

bacon

tomatoes

lettuce

ranch dressing

I did not give specific measurements because you will assembly each one individually and can alter your amounts to your desire. For this particular wrap I used medium-size tortillas, two strips of bacon, a heaping tablespoon of cheese, three cherry tomatoes, a teaspoon of olive slices, a half-teaspoon of ranch dressing and a few small pieces of lettuce.

Cook your bacon. When it is nice and crisp, let cool then crumble. Line it up in the center of the tortilla. Top with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, olives and dressing. Roll up and enjoy!

See, I told you it was simple and easy.

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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Goin’ Fishing

Posted in Easy Recipes, Entertaining Ideas, Party Theme, tagged , on August 6, 2010| 1 Comment »

So today’s recipe isn’t really a recipe, and to just lay it on the table, not a lot of nutritional value here either. But it was something I threw together the other day for a fishing-themed meeting. I had fun with it, which means I took photos and now you get to see the kinds of crazy things I think about when I should be sleeping!

Despite my recent issues with Goldfish crackers and the fact that they continue to breed under the front passenger seat of my car, they really did make this whole thing look cute.

The Cast of Characters

Easy to Assemble

Goin’ Fishing

Goldfish crackers (I liked the rainbow variety for this particular purpose)

Foot Long Fruit Rollups

Pretzel Rods

Gummy Worms

Pour crackers into your serving dish. I used ramekins because a serving piece that is deep will work much better than one that is shallow. Cut off about a six inch piece of the Fruit Rollups. Wrap one end a few times around the pretzel rod. It is sticky and not only sticks to itself, but also the pretzel. Stick a gummy worm on the other end of the strip. Again, the sticky thing is a real help with this project.

(Note: if your husband is unable to keep his grubby hands off the gummy worms, you may have to hide them until you are done with the assembly because a second trip to the store to buy more worms is not where it is at!)

Stand the pretzel rod upright in the dish against one side. Let the worm dangle over the fish. Ta-Da! Wasn’t that fun and simple?

These would be great for a kids party or any event with a fishing theme.

Here, fishy...

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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County Fair Party Theme

Posted in Party Theme, Quick and Easy, tagged , , , , on August 3, 2010| 3 Comments »

Back where I grew up, they are picking their best produce, whipping up their best recipes, scrubbing down their 4-H animals, gulping  gallons of lemonade and indulging in dozens of “Happy Bowls” at the annual County Fair this week.

It was always a fun time of year as a kid. Everybody went at least one day. I remember strolling through the animal barns with my dad, begging for a bag of cotton candy and gawking at the huge and sometimes bizarre produce on display. I have never liked the carnival, so that wasn’t a big draw, but you could get all the junk food a little body could hold, see friends and family you hadn’t visited with for a while and, in general, enjoy all the spectacles the fair provided.

When I was in college and desperate for a summer job, I spent several weeks working at the fairgrounds, first as a grunt and then in the office (which was way more fun!). The fair manager was a sweet and wonderful lady who made going to work a pleasure.

Even where we now reside, we can go to any one of three county fairs in our immediate area.

For those of you who are too far away from a county fair or not into the whole carnival/dirt/smell/crowd thing that goes along with it, think about hosting a county fair themed party. It could be a lot of fun for both you and your guests.

Start out with the invitations. Make it look country using red or blue checked paper with contrasting red or blue gingham ribbon.

Set tables with red and white checked tablecloths. Nothing says “county fair” quite like those fun table coverings. You can find inexpensive plastic ones at party or craft stores or cloth ones at most department stores.

Use sunflowers as centerpieces and to highlight tables. Loosely arrange them in canning jars and tie a piece of gingham fabric around the top of the jars. If you have old jars that have turned blue, even better!

Ask guests to bring something to enter in a judging competition. It could be produce, a craft project, whatever. Although I recommend leaving the animals at home. Trust me on this one. Have everyone vote on their top three favorite entries, tally the votes and give ribbons out. You can easily make your own (or have the kids make them). Here is a website with a fun step-by-step guide. How to Make a Fair Ribbon

The food could be potluck or you can go “whole hog” and make a fun selection of  fair food like corn dogs, funnel cakes, lemonade and home-made ice cream. Here is a link  Funnel Cake Mix to some good funnel cake mix if you don’t want to make it from scratch.  You can also get a tasty corn dog batter mix here. Please ignore the fact that I know you can order them from Bass Pro Shops. Please. Thank you.

You could even set up some fun country fair type games. Attach balloons to a piece of foam board and have darts people can throw to pop the balloons. You can use jar rings and empty pop bottles for a ring toss. Sack races, water balloon fights and tug-of-war are all inexpensive and fun. Prizes could be fun little trinkets picked up from the dollar store.

Have fun with this theme and see if it doesn’t become a great party you and your friends remember for a long time to come. And eat a funnel cake for me!

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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