Meatloaf

I actually don't care much for meatloaf, never have.  But, this recipe below is the by far the easiest meal ever, plus, it's the first meatloaf I could eat without gagging.  It's from my mom, she swears it's the same recipe she's used forever and I swear her meatloaf growing up had some sort of tomato base to it.  As usual, she is probably right as I was a bit of a drama queen when it came to eating so I probably made it out to be something awful without even trying it.

2 lbs ground beef
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
1 packet Onion Soup mix

Squish it all together until all the liquid is soaked up.  Pour it into a loaf dish (no need to grease it) and pop it in the oven at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The drippings left over when done make a mean gravy if you add a little cornstarch/water mixture.

Addicting Popcorn

I had this at a Christmas party last month and was pleasantly surprised because I was just grabbing a handful of plain popcorn. 

1 bag of almond bark
1 large bag old dutch popcorn

Melt the whole thing of almond bark in the microwave (like 3 min)
Dump the bag of old dutch into an empty grocery paper bag
Pour the melted almond bark into the bag and shake like crazy.
Once it's all coated, spread it out on some wax paper until it's dry.

That's it.  Easy and delicious!

Easy Fudge

I've had very little time for keeping up these other sections of the blog, but Patrick just sent me this recipe and confirmed it is both easy AND delicious.  I think he should send some of the finished product my way so I can judge for myself!

Here's the recipe:


2 packages (11.5 or 12 oz package) of choc chips (1 milk chocolate, 1 dark or semi sweet chocolate)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 or 16 oz)
3 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or peanuts(this is optional)

Combine first three ingredients in a microwaveable bowl.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
Stir everything up and add the nuts if you are using them.
Pour into a 9 by 13 pan (for thinner fudge) or a 9 by 9 pan for the ticker version shown above.

A French Treat

In 7th grade I took French (and 9th grade and 10th grade).  I loved that class.  The teacher remains one of my all time favorites and she did her best to include cuisine into our curriculum whenever possible.  One day when we showed up for class she had a baguette and a bar of chocolate.  She told us it was a common snack for kids when they got home from school.  A chocolate sandwich. 

Now, it's rare that we have a yummy piece of bread AND a plain chocolate bar laying around our house at the same time, but when we do, you can be sure I will make this:

My guess is that true French children have fresh baguettes from the local market and some sort of savory Belgium chocolate.  But, croissants leftover from one of my mom's parties and a Hershey's bar does the trick.  It might seem an odd snack but it's super delish!

Deep Fried Pickles

Another State Fair favorite of ours.  Another recreation from our party.  I know, they sound disgusting...or at least I thought they did.  Maybe you think they sound delish!  As a side note, if you haven't already, try these at the State Fair.  Only, order the ones that also have cream cheese in them.  We'll have to investigate this year how they accomplished this addition. 

To save myself some time, visit the onion ring recipe.  Now, instead of onion slices, use pickle slices. Dredge them in the flour mixture, just the same, and then the batter, and then the Panko bread crumbs.  Into the fryer, onto the paper towels, dipped in ranch.

Tedious, but another favorite from the party.

Deep Fried Snickers

About five years ago the State Fair introduced their latest stick creation.  Deep fried candy bars on a stick.  I had to try one.  If it's made with Snickers, there is a chance I will love it.

My thoughts were mediocre.  While tasty, it was WAY too much breading and just fell like a brick into the bottom of my stomach.

At our State Fair party we decided to try them ourselves.  Only, I suggested we just use fun size Snickers because I didn't want anyone feeling sick after trying it.  The results were outstanding.  I think I had four.

Ingredients
Snickers (pick your size, but the fun size worked well for us!)
1.5 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c milk
2 T white vinegar
1 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil).

1. Freeze your candy bars.  Rock hard.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Whisk in the wet ingredients.
4. Coat the frozen candy bars in a thin layer of flour (or cornstarc).
5. Dip them in the batter, shaking off the excess but ensuring the candy bar is completely covered.
6. Fry until golden brown and then just a touch longer to make sure the inside is all melted and gooey.
7. Sprinkle with powdered sugar
8. Eat, repeat.

State Fair Corn Dogs

We recently hosted a "State Fair Warm Up" party with our neighbors.  We tried corn dogs, cheese curds, fried pickles, onion rings, and fried snickers.  Some recipes worked better than others.  The following was Riley's favorite (and Amy's too).  Riley worked her way through two large corndogs in a matter of minutes.

Ingredients
1 c flour
2/3 c yellow cornmeal
1/4 c white sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 c buttermilk
1/2 t baking soda
2 pounds hot dogs; room temperature
cornstarch
disposable chop sticks (wooden, found in your Asian section of your grocery store)

1. In a bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar baking powder, and salt.
2. Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, buttermilk and baking soda.  Mix until everything is smooth and well blended.
3. Pour the batter into a tall glass and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.
4. Pat the dogs dry and coat them in a thin layer of cornstarch.
5. Insert a chopstick into each dog, leaving about 1/2 inch at the top.
6. Heat the oil to 365
7. Dip the dogs into the batter a couple times for a nice thick coating of batter. 
8. Place in the fryer.  The longer sticks should serve nicely when you want to flip them around (since they will stick out of the oil).
9. Drain on a paper towel and serve!