Blog Archives

Where does the time go?

2/26/2019

Today, February 22, Pa Lloyd and I are celebrating our 55th anniversary! It doesn’t seem possible that many years have passed by since we stood at a church alter and said those wedding vows. They have been good years. We were married at a small United Methodist church in Elmore. A few years after we were married the congregation built a new church, the old one is now a museum. 55 years ago was also a snowy winter. Because of the weather we had to wait a day to start out for our first home at Omaha Nebraska. It was a small one bedroom apartment, the upstairs of a home which cost $ 75.00/month including heat and electricity, furnished!
Today I am sharing a salad recipe that I have made for years, then sort of forgot about it and made it again a couple of weeks ago. It used to be my take to a potluck salad, hope you like it too.

7-Layer Salad:
1 head lettuce, washed, shredded and dried with paper towels
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced green pepper ( I don’t use)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 box frozen peas, thawed
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 qt. Spin Blend salad dressing, mixed with 3 Tbsp. sugar ( I don’t use quite that much salad dressing, more like 3 cups)
shredded cheese, colby/jack or to your liking
8-10 slices bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

I use a glass pyrex 9x13 cake pan, start with lettuce then layer ingredients in order listed with the bacon being the top layer. Refrigerate covered overnight.

Stay warm and safe and have a good week.

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Sweet Endings!

2/19/2019

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Tomorrow we get to have our great-granddaughter, Lydia for the day. She turns two this month. She is our ray of sunshine, and haven’t we needed that this winter! I love this age. She loves books and to be read to. When I stop after a word, she fills in the word that comes next and just repeats everything that is said. When I put her down for a nap I ask her what she wants me to sing and she says “ Jesus”. Now a singer I’m not, but she doesn’t care, so we sing “Jesus loves me”. My list of songs I know isn’t too long, so she probably has them all memorized! I’m so glad we are able to look after her when needed. She gets so excited when I go to pick her up she says “ Nana, Nana” and runs to get her shoes, hat and mittens. She also loves to eat, and eats almost everything offered. A girl after my own heart!
Today I am sharing the first recipe for cheesecake that I made years ago. The recipe comes from the Fairmont AFS cookbook. It’s still my favorite cheesecake.

Amaretto Cheese Cake:
Crust:
1 stick melted butter
2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers
1/4 cup sugar
Combine crust ingredients. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of an ungreased spring-form pan. Set aside.

Filling:
4 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. Amaretto Liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1/3 tsp. salt
4 large eggs
In a mixer combine cream cheese and sugar; beat for 2 minutes or until well mixed. Add liqueur, extracts and salt; blend thoroughly. Add eggs, one at a time, keeping mixer at lowest speed. Pour filling over crust. Bake in preheated oven 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let set on countertop for 10 minutes while you prepare the topping.

Topping:
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted.

Combine topping ingredients and spread over filling. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place in refrigerator immediately. Let chill overnight before serving. Makes a large cake.

Have a great week, stay warm and safe!

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A native Minnesota food!

2/13/2019

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Yes I am talking about wild rice. I may be wrong but I don’t think any other state grows wild rice, at least not to my knowledge. I love it, I just made wild rice soup and I know I have given you that recipe. Today I am going to share a side dish for wild rice that is one of my favorites! To me this is a cozy warm you up dish, and don’t we need that this winter! Well it is pretty out and the snow is good insulation for my flowers, I’m trying hard to think positive!!

Wild Rice casserole:
1 cup wild rice
4 cups boiling water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. can mushroom stems and pieces
2 beef bouillon cubes, dissolved in 1 1/2 cups hot water
1/4 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Put wild rice in saucepan. Pour boiling water over it and let stand 20 minutes then drain. Put rice in 2 quart casserole. Add soups and mushrooms. Saute’ onion and celery in 3 Tablespoons of butter then add to rice. Dissolve bouillon cubes in the 1 1/2 cups hot water, then add celery salt, garlic powder, pepper, onion salt, and paprika to the beef bouillon, mix well and add to casserole. Sprinkle slivered almonds on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Serves 6-8
Stay safe and warm!

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Everyone loves Bacon!

2/6/2019

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At least most people do! I just recently came across a great snack bacon recipe. This time of year when its so cold out we tend to stay in our cozy homes and maybe have friends over to play cards or just to visit. Times like those calls for a snack, it seems like food in our culture means hospitality! That is probably why many of us are over weight!!

Bacon Cracker Snack:
1 pkg. butter crackers, like club or townhouse
8-10 slices of bacon
1 cup brown sugar
a pinch of cayenne pepper
a pinch of ground black pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees, line baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper. Align crackers on a wire rack on the baking sheet, leaving a little space between crackers. Slice bacon in thirds, place bacon length wise on each cracker, sprinkle about 1 heaping tsp. of sugar on top of bacon then sprinkle lightly with peppers. Bake 20 minutes until brown sugar melts and bacon crisps. Cool before removing from racks and eating. Enjoy!

Have a great week!

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Author

I'm Kathy Lloyd. I grew up on a farm near Elmore, MN and have lived in Fairmont for over 44 years. I have always loved to cook, even when I was very young. I loved to stay with my Aunt Dorothy during my childhood. She was a great cook and used to give me freedom in the kitchen, teaching me along the way. She made recipes from our Norwegian heritage, along with pies, homemade doughnuts, yeast bread and cinnamon rolls.

Marrying a husband with a hearty appetite and raising 3 sons and 1 daughter gave me plenty of hungry appetites to satisfy! I worked as a nurse for 42 years and have been retired for 11 years. Even though I loved my work, I love having time to spend with my grandchildren, to experiment with new recipes and work with my flowers in the summer. Life has been very good to me, blessing me with my loving family and great friends!

I enjoy sharing my love of cooking and recipes with the readers of the Photo Press! (I have had my share of cooking failures over the years!)

Where does the time go?

Sweet Endings!

A native Minnesota food!

Everyone loves Bacon!

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