Suntanned Turkey

Congratulations, Heather. You are officially the first person to contribute a photo to my recipe blog. I L-O-V-E this! I am dying to see if it actually works or if this is just someone's idea of fun with Photoshop. Either way, it's a hoot.


Please, please try this at home. Then send me a photo.


1. Cut out aluminum foil in desired shapes.
2. Arrange the turkey in the roasting pan, position the foil carefully.
3. Roast according to your own recipe and serve.

Beef and Bean Tamale Pie

Hello again, my fellow chefs. Sorry to leave you hanging with nothing new to cook. This is an original, so be kind in your critiques. It is a family favorite that can be served alone; it contains all the food groups. Add a little salsa to make your mouth say, "Aye aye aye!"

1 large sweet green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS cooking oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 6-ounce can vegetable juice
1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers, undrained
1 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. ground cumin
1 8 ½-ounce package corn muffin mix
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup snipped fresh cilantro or parsley

In a medium skillet cook sweet pepper, onion, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Brown beef in the same skillet. Stir in kidney beans, pinto beans, vegetable juice, chile peppers, chili powder and cumin; heat through. Spoon mixture into 2-quart square baking dish.

Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions; add cheese and cilantro, stirring just until combined. Spoon cornbread mixture evenly over the top of the beef and bean mixture. Bake, uncovered, in a 400º oven about 25 minutes or until golden. If desired, serve with salsa and sour cream.

Oriental Slaw

Mix each step separately, then combine at end.

1. Dry Ingredients:
1 cup sunflower kernels
¾ cup sliced almonds, toasted
2 packages beef or mushroom flavored Ramen noodles

Break up dry noodles into small pieces. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter. Add to it the flavor seasoning packets for the noodles. Pour butter mixture into pan and sauté the dry noodles, coating with the seasoned butter, for several minutes on medium heat. Combine noodles with toasted almonds and sunflower kernels.

2. Salad:
1 package broccoli slaw mix
1 bunch chopped green onions

Toss these ingredients at the last minute.

3. Dressing:
½ cup oil
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

Combine dressing ingredients. Toss with salad and dry ingredients just before serving.

Moussaka

This is a Greek dish that I love. Don't be scared off by all the ingredients; just make it when you feel like cooking. If you never feel like cooking, what are you doing here? Have you ever made one of my recipes? What did you think? Have I earned your trust? Do you believe me when I say this is worth making? Don't feel like you have to answer all of my questions, any one would be fine.

2 1-lb. eggplants, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices
¼ cup cooking oil
2 lbs. ground lamb or beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
¾ cup dry red wine
2 TBS fresh snipped parsley
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp dried oregano, crushed
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 beaten egg
¼ cup butter or margarine
¼ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
Dash black pepper
2 cups milk
3 eggs
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Ground cinnamon
Snipped fresh parsley


Brush both sides of eggplant slices with the oil. In a large skillet brown eggplant sliced over medium heat about 2 minutes per side. Drain; set aside.

In the same skillet cook ground beef, half at a time, until meat is browned, cooking the onion and garlic with the second half of the meat. Drain off fat. Stir in the tomato sauce, wine, the 2 TBS parsley, the ¾ tsp salt, oregano, and the ¼ tsp cinnamon. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Cool mixture slightly. Stir ½ cup of the meat mixture into the 1 beaten egg. Stir egg mixture into meat mixture in skillet.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan melt the butter. Stir in the flour, the ½ tsp salt, and pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. In a medium bowl beat the 3 eggs. Gradually stir the thickened milk mixture into the beaten eggs.

In a 3-quart rectangular baking dish arrange half of the eggplant slices. Spread the meat mixture over the eggplant slices; top with remaining eggplant slices. Pour the hot egg mixture over all. Top with parmesan cheese and sprinkle lightly with additional cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, in a 325° oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until edges are bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Cut into squares to serve. Sprinkle with additional parsley, if desired.

Gallo Pinto

Here's a little recipe I picked up on our honeymoon in Costa Rica. It means "spotted rooster" in Spanish. We eat it with eggs and toast.

3 cups day-old cooked rice (I often use fresh)
2 cups cooked black beans
2 Tbs onion finely chopped
1 Tbs bell pepper finely chopped
2 Tbs fresh parsley finely chopped
3 strips bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbed
2 Tbs oil
½ Tbs Worcestershire sauce
½ Tbs Tabasco sauce

Sauté onion and bell pepper in oil on medium heat. Add beans and cook 2 minutes longer. Add rice and mix, cook 3 minutes more. Add Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and parsley. Mix well. Garnish with bacon crumbs. If desired, top with sour cream.

Tortellini Soup

You say tortelloni, I say tortellini. I have no idea what the difference is.

This is one of the few recipes of mine that John doesn't just love. But hey, everyone has a right to be wrong about something. The kids love it, I love it, and my guess is you will too. Don't whine about the heat and the fact that I just posted a soup recipe, OK? We all know you have air conditioning and no one's asking you to eat outside.

1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs olive oil
3 cans (about 14 oz. each) beef broth
1 can (14 ½ or 16 oz) stewed tomatoes
½ cup picante sauce
1 tsp basil leaves, crushed
1 pkg (7 oz) dried cheese-filled tortellini
1 green bell pepper, diced
grated parmesan cheese

Cook onion, garlic, and bell pepper in oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven until tender, about 6 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, picante sauce and basil; bring to a boil. Stir in tortellini; simmer uncovered 15 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls; sprinkle with cheese.

Potato Salad

Whether you like mayonaisse or mustard potato salad, you'll like this. It's a little of both. Make sure to use the gold potatoes (usually from California). Sorry, Idaho.

2 lbs. gold potatoes
1 ¼ cup mayonnaise
1 TBS. prepared mustard
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
½ cup dill pickle relish
6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

Place potatoes and enough water to cover them in a medium saucepan. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer covered for 25 minutes or just until tender. Drain well; cool. Peel and cube potatoes.

Meanwhile, for dressing, in a large bowl combine mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper.

Stir in celery, onion, and relish. Add the potatoes and eggs. Toss to coat. Cover and chill for several hours.