Sunday Dinner, December 14, 2008

I've only just finalized my Sunday Dinner menu as I sat down here to type my Sunday Dinner post. Nothing like the excitement of last minute menu planning if you're into that kind of cutting edge sport, I suppose.

I'm going to make a pot of white beans seasoned with some bacon, some of MY TEXAS HASH, some turnips seasoned with brown sugar and bacon (do you see a theme developing here?) and for those who don't like turnips, some stewed potatoes. If there's enough who want some CORNBREAD or PANBREAD I'll make an iron skillet of one of those breads.

That's the menu for Diane's Place this week. What's on the agenda at your place this Sunday? Going to Grandma's for dinner? Going out to eat? Cooking at home?

If you'd like to participate this week just leave your menu/plans in the comments.We had our Adult Sunday School class party Friday night and it was so much fun! We have potluck supper before our games and gift sharing. Most of our food is finger foods such as sandwiches, veggie trays, chips and dips, cookies, candies and other holiday goodies.

I made pigs in blankets, deviled ham and cream cheese spread on cocktail breads, and MY HOT SPICED CIDER.

The cider was got rave reviews as it always does and there was just a little bit left which I gave to a friend. She took it home to her hubby who had to work and couldn't attend our party.

The pigs in blankets were all gone in seconds and I made 5 dozen of them! I usually make MY HOMEMADE YEAST ROLL DOUGH to wrap around the small cocktail sausages, such as the Little*Smokies. But this year I was feeling a little pressed for time (and a little lazy, to be honest here) so I bought tubes of refrigerated crescent roll dough to make the pigs in blankets.

There are 8 triangles of dough in each can, which I then cut with a sharp knife into 5 strips of dough, then wrap a strip of the crescent roll dough around each cocktail weiner. I bought 1 lb. packages of the weiners.

One can of crescent rolls with 8 rolls cut into 5 strips each yields 40 pigs in blankets. I opened another can and used 4 of the rolls cut into 20 more strips of dough, so I made 60 pigs in blankets total, or 5 dozen.

There were about 4 or 5 cocktail weiners left which became the cook's snack, so a 1 lb. package of cocktail weiners and 1 1/2 cans of crescent rolls yields 5 dozen pigs in blankets. That worked out great!A great sandwhich filling or dip that my sister Ducky shared with me probably 2o years ago or more is deviled ham and cream cheese. It's really simple and much better than it may sound to you.

Soften one 8 ounce package of cream cheese to room temperature. Add one can of deviled ham (such as Under*wood brand) and a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise.

If you're feeling really frisky you can add a dash of worcestershire sauce and a dribble of liquid smoke, maybe some cayenne pepper if you like spicy stuff, but it's really good even without the worcestershire, liquid smoke and cayenne.

Now, beat the tar out of the deviled ham, cream cheese and mayo mixture until it's all combined. You can chill this and use as a spread for sandwiches or crackers, or as a dip for chips or raw veggies.

But don't make the same mistake I did. I bought a loaf of sourdough and a loaf of pumpernickle rye cocktail bread to smear my deviled ham spread on for the party. You probably know the stuff; it's the little loaves of bread, about 2 inch squares, used for hors doerves, or as we call 'em in my family, horse doovers.

My apologies to any of my readers who may be fans of cocktail bread, but I don't think I've ever tried to eat anything with less flavor or worse texture. It was staler than cardboard and I'm thinking cardboard might even have more flavor. Blech! I won't be making the mistake of using the rest of the cocktail bread that I have left from the first batch. I'll just use regular wheat and white bread for the deviled ham sandwiches I'm taking for the church fellowship after our Christmas program on Sunday evening.

I'm also making some savory pecans to take. I preheat my oven to 300 degrees, then dump pecans in one of my cast iron skillets. I shake on some seasoned salt, add good smoky bacon grease if I have it, (a little oil if not) and put it in the oven. About 10 minutes before I estimate that the pecans are toasted enough, I stir in a little a dash of worcestershire sauce and some liquid smoke.

These pecans are a family favorite and a favorite of my church family as well, and you can't get much easier than that.I still need to cook my supper so I'd better get this posted. I also have to cook the beans for Sunday Dinner.

Y'all have a blessed Sunday and Christmas season. To my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah! May God meet all your needs, and may you have enough to share.