I often invite Craig and Kalissa along with Carver over for supper…or sometimes Kalissa is working so Craig and Carver eat with us.  It gives Craig and Hubby a chance to talk farming and it’s good for me as I feel like I’m helping them out.  I love feeling needed.  Besides, Craig is great at helping cleaning up supper dishes so it’s not much extra work for me.

One of Craig’s favorites is what he calls “a Kramer burger”.  He claims I make about the best hamburgers….Hubby agrees and to be truthful I do too.

One of my favorites is the mushroom and swiss version.

Here’s what you need to make your own.  Good hamburger is key.  Ours comes from the cattle raised at the farm so it’s the highest percentage of meat vs fat.  I also use the ingredients you see below:
Worcestershire Sauce
Greek Seasoning
Pepper

This day I used pretzel buns.  We are on a pretzel roll bun kick lately….any bun you like will do.

I started with two pounds of hamburger.  I was feeding just Hubby and I BUT the extra burgers were going to be used the next couple days in Hubby’s lunch.  He gets tired of lunch meat and doesn’t have access to a microwave at work so it’s some type of cold meat sandwich…he likes cold burgers.

I add the ingrients listed above.  I don’t have any exact measurements…I’d guess…
several shakes of pepper
2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 teaspoon Greek seasoning

I mix it up and form into patties.  Try to keep patties as flat as possible without a hump in the middle.  Here are my burgers…. Continue reading →

I had some ham in the refrigerator that needed to get used….so what do I make?  Scalloped potatoes and ham.

My recipe came from the crock pot recipe book that came with my crock pot.  The one you see below is actually a thrift store find.  My original has long since discinagated.

I chuckle when I see this recipe…Note that the owner of the cook book before me wrote, “Boys don’t care for.  10-8-91”  Well on the left I wrote “GREAT”.  I really think it’s a good recipe.  Try it yourself and see what you think.

Over time I’ve skipped a few steps and added some.

I spray my pot with cooking spray.  I don’t for the most part follow the amounts.  I do whatever I the ingredients and the amount of people eating calls for.   I do not bother with putting the potatoes in Cream of Tarter.

I fill the crock pot half full of peeled sliced potatoes.  Layer on half of a chopped onion on it.  Layer cubed ham over it…if you are having this as your main course add extra ham…if it’s a side dish, add less ham.

Layer more sliced potatoes over the top of the ham.  Add salt and pepper to your liking.

Put two cans of cream chicken (or mushroom or celery) over the potatoes.  Put a cup of cheese on top of that.

Let it cook in the crock pot on high for about 4 hours or until the potatoes are tender.  Stir and serve.

I’ve tried to convert this over to the instant pot….it wasn’t as good.  I tried using the crock pot function on the instant pot…I didn’t like that either.  This recipe is one of the reasons I still keep a crock pot around.  It’s a standard recipe at out house.  I often make it for a pot luck.

Here’s how they look all finished.  This is Hubby’s plate.  There were left over ribs so he had ribs with his.

YUM!!

Give it a try and let me know if you think great or if you’re like the original owner of the recipe book and “don’t care for it”.  Honestly, I think, it’s good hearty food.

Kalissa was over the other day.  I had made vanilla pudding.  She looked at the pan and said, “Oh Mom, you love me.  You made rice pudding!”  Well yes I do love her and making my family favorites is something I loving do for them but this was not rice pudding.  It was vanilla pudding.

So a couple days later…I made rice pudding….not a very appetizing picture I know but trust me, it’s good.

Growing up my mom made rice pudding but hers was different.  It was a Swedish version that my dad adored.  It had rice on the bottom and egg custard over the top.  It was cinnamon and sugar flavored.  It was a family favorite and my sister and her oldest daughter still make it.

As a young wife, I made mine that was for a long time and then one day at a church function the pastor’s wife brought a rice pudding dish.  I immediately loved it and asked for the recipe.  The next week she brought it.  This is made on the stove top…my mom’s was baked in the oven.

Here is her recipe.  She didn’t have directions when she gave the recipe to me so I learned the way I learn most baking and cooking things, through practice.  Happily I have a crew of people here who are willing to eat my not so perfect first versions.

Having good eaters around really does help make a good cook.  Today when I made it, I am finally satisfied after 7 years of practice to say it’s EXACTLY how I want it.

I like mine without the custard.  I it to be more like creamy rice all the way through.

I typed out some directions to help if you decide to give the recipe a try.  I doubled the batch as I know Hubby (and Kalissa) will eat it in his lunch over the next couple days.  This is for a single batch.

Put 1 cup of rice in a pan along with 2 cups of water.  Add a 1/2 stick of butter.

Put it on medium heat.  Don’t cover it.  Cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed BUT not burned to the bottom of the pan.  Add 1 quart of milk….if you forgot your math, that’s 4 cups.  Let that cook until boiling.  Let it lightly bubble  for about 1 minute stirring all the time.

In another bowl combine 3 beaten eggs.  Add 1 teaspoons of vanilla and a half cup sugar.   (I’ve now modified the recipe to add 1 Tablespoon of CORNSTARCH)  Now take about 1 cup of the milk/rice mix and stir it into the eggs.

Here is what I found was the magic ingredient for me…MY IMMERSION BLENDER.  I mix the egg combination with it….

Now whisk that mixture back into the pan on the stove. Again use the immersion blender to mix the eggs in.   Continue heating and blending for a minute or so.  Now, you can add cinnamon if you wish. The original recipe has it but, we like it best without.  You can pour it in a bowl and refrigerate if you want….I don’t because Kalissa likes it warm.

Before I when I didn’t use the immersion blender I would get a bit of a custard on the top.  Now, with the immersion blender I don’t.

When everyone is home, I double the batch.  I use whole milk.  It makes it richer and creamier.  Leftovers make a GREAT breakfast!

Everyone here eats it a little different.  I eat mine in a bowl with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top and milk…kind of like cereal.  Kalissa eats her’s with cinnamon and sugar BUT no milk.  Dad eats his with a dollop of butter on top, cinnamon and sugar and milk.  Regardless of how you eat it, it’s yummy.  It’s better than ever now that I found that the immersion blender makes it just the way I like it!

Growing up with a Swedish Dad, rice pudding was always a special Christmas thing.  For our family, it’s an any time thing.  If I need to use up eggs or milk.  It’s my go to recipe.