Gyudon

I took this from an About.com recipe and changed it a little to taste.
Simmered beef is served on top of steamed rice. It's one of the most popular rice bowl dishes (donburi) in Japan.
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups steamed Japanese rice
1 lb thinly sliced beef loin, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 1/3 cup dashi soup
1 cup water
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1Tbsp fresh ginger juice (grate and filter by wringing the mush through a paper towel)
1 crushed garlic clove
3 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp sake (optional)
benishoga (pickled red ginger) for topping *optional
Preparation:
Put dashi, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake in a large pan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Add onion slices and simmer for a few minutes or until softened. Add beef in the pan and simmer for a few minutes. Serve hot steamed rice into individual deep rice bowls. Put simmered beef on top of the rice. Top with some benishoga if you would like.

Fresh Peach Salsa

2 TB fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper
2 peaches (or nectarines)
2 medium tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 TBS  Extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. white balsamic vinegar

Chop cilantro and place in medium bowl. Cut jalapeno pepper in half (remove seeds); chop pepper finely and add to cilantro.  Cut peaches into small pieces, add to peppers. Cut tomatoes into small pieces; add to peaches. Add onions; gently stir in vinegar and oil.

* I added mango
* Left out jalapeno

Recipe comes from grocery store, they serve it with a pork tenderloin, we have had is with fish and skirt steak so far. It tastes great and adds a nice color to the plate.

SNICKERDOODLES

1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, sugar and eggs.  Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.  shape by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.

Mix 2 TBS sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon; roll cookie balls in mixture.  Place on ungreased banking sheet.  Bake at 400 for 8 to 10 minutes.

ANGEL HAIR PASTA WITH SHRIMP AND BASIL

This recipe is from allrecipes.com. We had some shrimp in the freezer and other seafood so I looked it up on line and we tried it last night and liked it we also added the other seafood that was in our freezer, scallops, green clams. I think you can use the basic ingredients and add anything you want.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 1 (8 ounce) package angel hair pasta
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 pound large shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 2 (28 ounce) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (water or chicken broth)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add 1 tablespoon oil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Place pasta in a colander, and give it a quick rinse with cold water.
2. Heat remaining olive oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic, stirring constantly, until the garlic is tender, about 1 minute. Do not let the garlic burn. Add shrimp, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove shrimp from the skillet, and set aside.
3. Stir tomatoes, wine, parsley, and basil into the skillet. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half, 8 to 12 minutes. Add shrimp, and continue cooking until the shrimp are heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve the shrimp mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Grandma's Favorite Sugar Cookies from Nancy

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup Shortening
3 Cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
Cream shortening and sugar and beat until fluffy. Stir eggs and vanilla into shortening mix. Mix dry ingredients separately in a bowl. Add dry ingredients, alternating with milk. Blend well and chill. Roll out and cut into shapes.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until edges are barely turning golden light brown.
Frost when cookies are cooled down.

Butter Frosting
1/2 Cube Butter
1/2 pkg Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes it so good!)
Milk to right consistency

Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork
6-8lb pork shoulder
liquid smoke
2T pepper
2T cumin
4T paprika
1tsp cayenne
2T brown sugar
2T salt
2T chili powder
1T oregano
1T sugar
2T mustard powder

Splash meat with liquid smoke.  Mix spices together & massage into the meat. Wrap the meat in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge overnight - 2 days. Cook in the crock pot on low for 8-10 hours. Add 2C BBQ sauce for the last hour.



I filled two muffin tins with the extras and froze them for later. After about 30 minutes in the freezer you can transfer then to a ziplock.  Now when we want a quick lunch or dinner we just take out a "muffin" of meat and heat it up.  

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pound chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
3-4 potatoes (uncooked) cubed
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 flour
garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed
2 1/2 chicken broth
1 1/4 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

1. preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, celery, and potatoes.  Add chicken broth to cover and boil for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed.  Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk.  Simmer over medium-low heat until thick.  Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Cook bottom crust 5 minutes.
5. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust.  Pour hot liquid mixture over.  Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough.  Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
6.  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Cool for 10 minutes before serving.