From the Kitchen of . . .

The kitchen was not the place where I went to have fun when I was a kid. I would much rather have been outside riding my bicycle, playing four square or tetherball with my friends.

My first experience learning to cook was when Mom helped my Girl Scout troop with our cooking badge. A gaggle of giggling young girls came to my house and scared my older brother into his room for the evening.

I thought that I could just sit back and relax and let the other girls do the work. I figured I had the home court advantage, since it was my house. I quickly discovered that this wasn’t going to be a “gimme,” but something that I would be required to put in some effort.

When the Scouts arrived my mother had already placed the brownie ingredients on the counter. As part of the teaching process she described the importance of assembling all the ingredients before you start putting them together. Recently, I forgot this critical advice as I reached into the cabinet for the key ingredient for cinnamon bran muffins—cinnamon—and had to try to crush the long, whole pieces instead of dipping into the container of already ground powder.

Anyway, I started to snack on the walnuts and mom gave me the evil eye. And I figured sticking my finger in the batter would be acceptable, since I was at home after all—not! By that point mom was getting fairly irritated with me, which I could tell by her graduating from the evil eye to saying through pursed lips that I’d better straighten up and fly right.

At that point, I got the distinct impression that I wouldn’t be sewing the cooking badge on my green sash unless I started playing by the same rules as everyone else. Thanks to my Mom, I was successful in earning my badge, but I just didn’t have the desire to hone that craft and become Suzy Homemaker, unlike my sister who loves to cook and is an excellent chef.

My sister said that Nannie, our grandmother, would let her mix all kinds of concoctions in the kitchen. They discarded a lot of inedible food, but sometimes she got it right. My sister makes delicious pork BBQ sandwiches, coleslaw and baked beans. She told me the recipe was foolproof which is obviously what I needed. Mine didn’t taste quite as good as hers, but it was pretty darn scrumptious.

Today’s gift is to share the recipe with my sister-in-law. Next time there is a spot on the recipe card to fill in the blank, “From the Kitchen of ____”, I’ll be sure to put the name of the person who gave me the recipe. Then when the recipe is passed on to someone else, credit is given to the creator—not a home court slacker like me! In fact, the recipes are below for you to enjoy.

In Giving and Sharing Recipes,

Robin

Terri's Pork BBQ

Pork Butt (5-7 pound)

Onion (1 large)

2 Large Garlic Cloves sliced

2 bottles BBQ Sauce—one that is vinegar based (Scotts or if you can’t find it a vinegar based spicy) and another one that is tasty.

Layer onions in the crockpot. Score the Pork Butt and insert garlic. Pour about 1/2 of the bottle of the vinegar based BBQ sauce over the roast. Cook on low 10-12 hours. Remove the roast and shred it removing large pieces of fat. Pour off all the juice that is in the crockpot and discard. Put shredded pork back in crockpot and add the tasty BBQ sauce—about 1/2 of a bottle. Simmer on low for 1-2 hours. Serve on buns with Nannie's slaw.

Terri’s Baked Beans

2 Cans Van Camp Pork & Beans (medium size)

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Green Pepper - chopped

1/4 Cup Onion - chopped

2 Tablespoons Mustard

2 Tablespoons Ketchup 

4 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

A few shakes of Scotts BBQ sauce or vinegar based spicy sauce.

2 slices uncooked bacon

Mix everything together, taste it and add more of whatever it needs, if anything.

Put it in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Lay a few slices of uncooked bacon on top. Cook uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Nannie's Slaw

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon white vinegar

3 cups finely shredded cabbage (what comes in the package is not fine enough)

1/3 cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon celery seed

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix sugar and vinegar with a whisk until the sugar dissolves. Mix in mayonnaise, celery seed, salt and pepper. Mix in shredded cabbage. Refrigerate and enjoy!