great-grandmothers and salsa

I'm in the process of compiling some of our most treasured family recipes from both the Bendel's and the Yancey's & publishing them in cookbook form. It has proven to be quite the undertaking, but I know I'll love it once I'm done.

I've stumbled upon several old recipes and memories from my great-grandmother, Granny B. I vividly remember being 5 years old and walking into her Tupelo, MS home & being greeted by the savory smell of fried chicken, black-eyed peas and corn bread. She passed in 2005 and it has been such a blessing to remember the Granny B I knew. The Granny B who cooked to show her love, cared for her chickens in the coop, and who feared the Lord above all else. To remember the Granny B I knew, before the dementia came and the Lord called her Home.


It's been some time since I shared a recipe here on the blog. I thought I might start sharing one every now and then, while I'm putting this book together. After all, I've already typed it and a little copy-and-paste action doesn't require a magnificent effort.

Today I'm sharing a recipe I stumbled upon last year preparing for a super-bowl party. It has become quite the staple for family gatherings. Much like that darn cheesecake!
We are more of a finger food kind of family. We rarely do the big sit down, formal dinner. Easter and Thanksgiving are really the only times that we even sit in the dining room. (it serves us well as Christmas present storage the rest of the year.)  We like to have lots of options, and often serve more dips and "snack-y junk food type stuff." So this salsa recipe is perfect for us. Minimal effort, fantastic result.

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Restaurant Style Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1- 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1- 10 oz can original Rotel
• 1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1/2-1 jalapeno, seeded or not (depends on how spicy you like it)
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• small to medium size handful of cilantro, washed
• juice of 1 lime

Instructions

1. Put all the ingredients in the base of a food processor or good blender and pulse to combine for 30 seconds or so until all the ingredients are finely chopped and salsa is desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste. Serve with chips or over tacos.

Banana Split Cake = Pure Awesomeness

This cake is one of my favorite recipes. It is scary good. I made it last night and we've almost cleaned the pan already!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

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Banana Split Cake

• 1 box of vanilla wafers
• 4 sticks of butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 2 20 oz. cans of crushed pineapple, drained
• 5 bananas, sliced
• 2 cups of Cool Whip
• 1 small jar maraschino cherries
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Run the vanilla wafers through your food processor. Once they are well crushed, mix in 1 cup of melted butter. Combine well and firmly press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
Combine sugar, eggs & the remaining butter. Beat in your stand mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy. Pour sugar mixture over the wafer crust and spread until smooth.
Layer the crushed pineapple onto the cake, followed by the banana slices.
Spread the whipped cream over entire cake. Top with cherries {& pecans if you so choose.}
Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Although it is much better if allowed to set up in the fridge over night!

Poppyseed Chicken Recipe

Last week I shared my seemingly never-ending to do list. One of those "to do's" was to take dinner to some sweet friends. Well I did, and it looked delicious. So I made it for us that night too. Then Olivia and I shared the left overs with our friends at the slumber party. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
Go make it, now.
Well maybe you should wait until dinner time. But I wouldn't judge you if you wanted to eat it for breakfast. It's that good.

{photo borrowed from here}

Poppyseed Chicken
{Adapted from the recipe found at The Girl Who Ate Everything, my changes in pink}

5 cups chicken breasts, cooked and cubed - I used boneless chicken tenders because they can be easily and quickly cut with kitchen sheers and sister was in a hurry!

1 cup sour cream

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 1/2 rolls of crackers - We love these crackers, I used 2 rolls)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 T poppy seeds

Additional Ingredients to make it fancy:

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce - used it

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp minced garlic

1 T lemon juice - used it

1/4 tsp pepper - used it

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Boil raw chicken breasts with salt and pepper until done. I like to boil it with half an onion cut into large chunks to give it more flavor. I used 2 bouillon cubes. Let chicken cool slightly and cut into one inch cubes. I cut it before I boiled it, decreasing the cook time. Place cubed chicken in a 9X13 casserole dish.

Stir together the condensed soup and sour cream. If you wish to add the additional flavorings stir in the Worcestershire, celery salt, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper to the soup and sour cream mixture. Pour over the chicken.

In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly. I cooked mine (both of them) for 30 minutes exactly thanks to a timer, and they turned out perfect. Serve plain or over rice. We like to eat it with steamed broccoli and we mix it all together. I served it with green beans and macaroni and cheese. Classy.


All in all this is a great weeknight recipe. The prep time is minimal, and the finished product is fantastic.
It's definitely what Chance refers to as a "repeater."

Birthday Pancakes

 

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I would like to think that I would be woken on Thursday morning at 10am by Chance (dressed, clean shaven and smiling), Olivia (dressed, bow-in-hair, and smiling) with these sweet things and a big ol' glass of orange juice in hand. But let's be real here, that's a dream. So instead I'll make them at 7:30, when Olivia wakes me up. I found the recipe at How Sweet It Is, it's a really cute blog- you should check it out.
I can't wait to make them, even if it is 7:30 in the morning.

Cake Batter Pancakes 
makes about 12 pancakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 cups milk
assorted sprinkles

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; not too thin, not too thick. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. I suggest a small taste test as well to see if the pancakes are flavored enough.
Preheat a skillet on medium heat. Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more. Serve with vanilla glaze.


Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
assorted sprinkles

Mix milk, extract and powdered sugar until glaze forms. You may need to add a little more sugar or water/milk to reach desired consistency. Mix into glaze and drizzle on pancakes.