In paging through Mom's Recipe Book ( you all have copies) I decided to pick my 10 favorite dishes. I really don't like to limit my choices to 10, but I promised I would try.
Anything produced on a char-coal grill is excellent. Mom's chili is a "main-stay". Chicken and dumpling soup is required when you are sick. Crockpot selections are always great. Johnsonville sausages are nestled in my meat compartment for snacks. So you see, I have general preferences.
From Mom's Recipe Book my top 10 are:
No. 1 - Pork Chops and Stuffing. Anything with stuffing is good.
No. 2 - Chicken Popovers. You can't eat just one.
No. 3 - Turkey Casserole.
No. 4 - Easy Chicken and Broccoli. Broccoli? Broccoli!
No. 5 - Hearty Fish Chowder. The secret is the spices.
No. 6 - Pork Chops and Potato Scallops.
No. 7 - Swedish Meatballs.
No. 8 - Vegetable and Hamburger Casserole.
No. 9 - Salmon Loaf.
No.10- Sweet and Sour Chicken
My holiday picks over and above the "top 10" would be cold shrimp appetizers, grilled thick (very thick) New York Strip steak and boiled lobster. All that gets pretty "pricey" but what the hell, it is only once a year.
Your mom was always pretty good at selecting tasty dishes and the dishes got progressively more healthy as time passed. Her recipe book lets you go back and enjoy the eating experiences that shaped your life. How many kids can say that?
Love,
Dad
It really was one of the greatest gifts ever recieved. Ours is all full of flour and paste, looks used and abused and Mom would not have it any other way.
Just a quick note, Mom does have the whole book on computer so if you need to reprint a page or two she can hook you up.
Paul, your recipe book sounds like "The Velveteen Rabbit" story - his eye was missing, the fur rubbed off, etc. - and all because he was so totally loved! I'm so glad your family "totally loves" my recipe book.
Happy cooking! Love, Mom