I have been an inconsistent blogger for the past couple of months as I prepare to move. It has been worse this week and will be throughout the week and into next week. After that though…I hope to have my cookbooks unpacked, more interest in food again, and generally be a better blogger.

In the meantime, the house is in turmoil. My internet got fried by a storm on Sunday. My cookbooks and recipe cards are packed. My cooking has been pathetic. So…wander around and enjoy some other great food bloggers. Try some of the ones in my This Blog is Excellent post.

I apologize and hope to be back and better REALLY SOON. Promise.

This is the dish that I introduced to our blended family’s holidays. Well, that and eggs Benedict. It is one that everyone will eat. So it definitely, goes on the list of recipes to send our daughter out in the world with.

1 large box Strawberry Banana Jell-0 (or any red Jell-0…but I use the strawberry banana)
1 envelope Knox gelatin (optional)
1/2 cup red hots (You can use anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup)
2 cups boiling water
2 cups applesauce (in the recipe I scrawled in the back of my Cookbook for Boys and Girls it says 1 can which means I always say I need a can…even though canned applesauce no longer seems to exist)

Dissolve red hots in boiling water in a small saucepan on the stove. Mix the red jell-o powder and Knox in a bowl. When red hots are dissolved, pour into gelatins and stir until dissolved. Stir in applesauce. You will want to wait until the boiled water/Jell-o mixture cools a little before adding the applesauce or go back in and stir in about a 1/2 hour. Otherwise, the applesauce will settle and it won’t be as evenly distributed. Stick it in the fridge until it gels.

Note: The Knox isn’t necessary but you will want to add it if you like a firmer Jell-0 salad OR you want to do it in a mold that you turn it out and slice it.

1. Stuck on goo in a pot or pan? This one is the one your other mother didn’t know. Clean yucky pans and make them shine again with a mixture of 2 tablespoons cream of tartar dissolved into 1 quart water. Bring the mixture to a boil inside the pot and boil for 10 minutes.
2. You can also add liquid fabric softener to a casserole with warm water and soak for an hour to get stuck on goo off of it.
3. Cleaners are expensive. Mix 1/2 cup bleach with 8 cups of water in a spray bottle to clean counters and bathroom sinks.
4. 1/2 cup cascade powder + a splash of bleach in a large bucket of water will remove blood stains…but it will also seriously bleach any and all colors. If you soak too long you also risk holes in the item.
5. Crumbled aluminum foil works as an in a pinch scrub pad
6. Create a place where you always keep your keys and ID and train yourself to keep them there. ALWAYS.
7. Change the oil on the car every 3000 miles. Look for coupons. Wednesdays give “ladies” 10% off at Jiffy Lube in town. However, keep your own records of when filters/wipers/etc need changing. Do not upgrade to any service that they will try to sell you there…go home and figure out if it is really a worthwhile service and then go back if it is and they have a good deal. You are young, a girl and car repair places know how to push buttons.
8. Good wiper blades in Florida are a must. If they stop working well and your windows are clean, replace them.
9. Make up your bed every day before noon. It is good luck. Really. Do it.
10. Remember you are on your own but we will be a phone call, txt message or email away. You have friends in town, your brother, and we have more people than you can imagine in town who will help you out with anything. They adore us, adore you, and really do remember what it was like to be new to being on their own. So, don’t ever think you are alone baby girl. You aren’t. Besides kid…your moms…anything. anywhere. You know that.

Bear with me non-family readers as I pass on last minute mommy information this week. My 18 yo daughter Michelle is moving out this week. She has gotten her very first apartment. We are moving out of state as well in just a few weeks. This has caused anxiety all around.

The sweetest and yet saddest anxiety is her anxiety about cooking family favorites. She is a great cook. Invite her to any party where you need guacamole. She makes a fab chicken stir fry. She can make pancakes. Michelle even makes a good veggie lasagna. In any case she isn’t inexperienced in the kitchen. I am not worried she will starve to death through inability to cook.

I don’t know if she needs my meatball recipe. I think she is the one who sneaks them leftover and cold out of the fridge.

Note to Michelle: I have been using the frozen veggie meatballs for years to make these but since it is made with Lipton Onion Soup it isn’t technically vegetarian…since I believe there is some beef broth in it.

You can bake the meatballs in the oven or cook them on the stove top before adding sauce if you do not have or want to use a crock-pot.

I know she asked me at Easter how to make Eggs Benedict. sigh. I hope she is home with us wherever home might be for the Eggs Benedict holidays. Holidays on your own are a bittersweet mixture of “wow, I am grown up” and “I want my mommy(ies)”. They still are that way for me close to two decades after having my own household.

Child of my heart: The measurement for the milk is estimated. You may need to add a bit more milk SLOWLY if it is too thick towards the end of cooking. Watch out for boiling…the hot splats of sauce burn!

Leftover sauce works well for a lot of people on broccoli and on asparagus. You will need to add milk when reheating. Or you can put a dollop on an english muffin topped with Canadian bacon then stick it in the toaster oven or oven the next day.

For some reason…Michelle won’t want the Asparagus Jell-o or the Cheese Nip casserole recipes.

I am heading to BlogherCon again this year. You should too! Really, fun, not scary. I promise.

But…I think I need these Food Lover Temporary Tattoos from Archie McPhee. What do you think? Are you going? Which tatt is best for your style?

Ok, this recipe is not how I make deviled crab at all. However, some of you might like it this way…

2 hard boiled eggs
1 raw egg
2 TBS melted butter
1/2 c hot water
crab meat
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/4 teasp dry mustard
2 TBS vinegar
salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Mix yolk of raw egg with yolks of boiled eggs. Add dry mustard, vinegar, melted butter, pepper and salt. Chop whites of hard boiled eggs, add crab meat and bread crumbs. Mix with dressing. Add beaten egg white and water. Place in shells or casserole. Cover with bread crumbs and dot with butter. Bake at 450. Mrs. E. C. Marshall- From the Alachua Hospital Auxiliary Cookbook, 1969.

From the same newspaper clipping as yesterday…sounds delicious…and like a very good substitute for mango chutney.

3 17 oz cans apricots in syrup or 24 fresh apricots
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/3 cup candied ginger
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3 whole cloves
1 whole allspice
1/3 stick cinnamon
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
salt

Drain canned apricots. (Or blanch apricots in 1 cup boiling water, then drain, peel and remove pits.) Dice apricots and set aside 1/3. Combine remaining 2/3 of apricots with raisins, ginger, vinegar, brown sugar, cloves, allspice, cinnamon and garlic in saucepan. Bring to boil, simmer 5 minutes. Puree reserved apricots and stir into mixture with almonds. Season to taste with salt. Makes about 3 1/2 cups.

Well, we don’t have any alcohol around the house…save for some apricot brandy from a party 5 years ago and a bottle of dry sack sherry that hasn’t been opened and was a gift to my father a couple of decades ago. You can tell…big drinkers in this house. However, this sauce may have me beg a bit of rum from someone…or see if I can find a similarly old bottle of rum extract around here. Of course, I may just leave it out entirely.

From a newspaper clipping with no date…

1/2 pineapple peeled and cut up
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps rum

Blend pineapple, coconut milk, sugar and rum in food processor or blender until smooth. Spoon over sherbet or ice cream. Makes about 2 3/4 cups.

It is hot here. Really hot. Pink snow salad is just the thing. Really. Try it. My mother sometimes made this while we were growing up…not expensive…lots of healthy stuff in it…she actually cut the sugar quite a bit. I would be surprised if she uses more than a 1/2 cup

1 2/3 cup evaporated milk, chilled
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 can fruit cocktail, drained
2 c. fresh sliced peaches (or 1 can)
3/4 c. sugar
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
1 sm bottle Maraschino cherries, drained reserving 3 tbsp cherry juice
1 c miniature marshmallows
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Beat milk at high speed in mixer until stiff. Add lemon juice. Fold in remaining ingredients and freeze.

It has been hotter than the blazes here this week and humid. I don’t want to even look at the kitchen, much less cook. Thus…this is appealing. It is very similar to the much loved curried chicken/curried not chicken salad I make for the family.

Luau Tuna Salad

3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp parsley flakes

Mix ingredients well

1 13-oz can tuna
1 cup pineapple chunks, drained (I use tidbits-well-drained)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped (I use cashews)

Combine tuna, pineapple, celery and walnuts. Fold in curried mayonnaise. Serve on lettuce leaves garnished with whole walnuts. Serves 6-8.