Yummy Yummy Yummy I got love in my tummy . . .(Yes, for one frightening moment I thought about making that the music for today, but I love you too much — you get Flapper Man, Cliff Edwards, instead ♥)
Some months back, one of our girlfriends, Jackie Geddes from Chattanooga, spotted this recipe for Onion Casserole peeking out of my recipe box and asked if I would put the recipe on the blog. I said I would, soon, but “please remind me.” Then Jack was so cute; I made chicken soup; the full moon came up; we got our first snowfall; I had my colors done — everything got in the way! Jackie has been very patient! We’re off to New York on Monday, so I figured it’s now or never!
This is a delicious side dish, cheesy and filled with caramelized onions, the recipe isn’t in any of my cookbooks (yet); here’s what it looks like when it comes out of the oven. I’ll put the recipe at the bottom for you, so pay no attention to what I’m saying here! Just preheat the oven to 350°
There’s a small amount (a half cup) of rice in the casserole to give it texture and body. In a small saucepan, bring water to boil, add rice — simmer for 5 min. Drain it and put it in a large mixing bowl.
Chop four large Spanish onions into 1/2″ dice. Try not to breathe through your nose as you do this . . . it helps with the crying. Also, it helps if you keep the onion juice wiped off the cutting board and knife.
Melt butter in large skillet over high heat, add onions and stir often . . .
. . . until brown and caramelized — this takes up to 30 minutes . . . and makes your kitchen smell wonderful the whole time. It’s the perfect winter day thing to make!
Put the browned onions in the bowl with the rice and stir well . . .
Then add 1 ½ C. grated Swiss cheese . . . mmmmm, right? Stop for a moment, look outside your window, isn’t it pretty? Deep breath, happy.
Busy birds.
Add a half cup of milk . . .
And stir well . . .
Then some freshly ground pepper and salt to taste.
Pour it all into a casserole . . .
Sprinkle over 1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese,
. . . and pop it in the oven for about an hour — 55-60 minutes, until it’s all toasty brown, like . . .
this! It’s Onion Pudding (in my colors! 
)!
You might have noticed that I wrote, “delicious with spareribs and juice” on that recipe card at the top of this post? So I thought you also might like to have one of the best recipes for spareribs I’ve ever tasted . . . My mom (sometimes known as “Grandma Pat) made them the whole time we were growing up; it was often requested for our Birthday dinners; we love them as much now as we did then. ♥ They go perfectly with the Onion Pudding and a green salad (with Blue Cheese dressing YUM!).
Did the song end? Want to hear it again?
I would suggest you could make some people very happy by making this for your Valentine’s dinner! . . . ♥
S P A R E R I B S A N D J U I C E
I say this is the way to a man’s heart, but it’s really the way to MY heart! For dessert, try this: pineapple chunks, ginger ice cream, and warm caramel sauce. Caramel Sauce is so easy to make and stays soft and pourable in 
the fridge. You just stir together 3 Tbsp. water with 1 c. sugar in a non-aluminum pan. Bring it to simmer, cook without stirring, watch closely until it turns amber colored; this takes a few minutes. In another pan, heat 1c. heavy cream. When the sugar syrup is amber, slowly whisk in hot cream until well-blended. Good hot or cold.
It’s delicious when you dip fresh apple slices in it too; that’s when it becomes almost a health food!
Just so you know, I’m not suggesting you eat this every night! But I look at Valentine’s Day as a free get-out-of-jail card. You could exchange the dinner for the chocolate? Unless you’re against that. I love to read recipes, but I don’t make them all. Trying hard to be supportive! Bad and good at once!
And I leave you with this . . . and with love, and see you later. Next stop, New York! We go on Monday! xoxo
O N I O N P U D D I N G
- 5 c. water
- 1/2 c. white rice
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 large Spanish (yellow) onions, chopped in 1/2 ” dice
- 1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
- 1 1/2 c. grated Swiss cheese (approx. 6 oz.)
- 2/3 c. milk
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
Bring water to boil in saucepan; add rice and salt, stir, simmer for 5 min. Drain rice and put it into a large mixing bowl. Chop the onions; melt the butter in a large skillet, add the onions and cook over high heat, stirring often, until onions turn a golden brown (20 min to 1/2 hr.). Add the onions to the rice and mix well. Stir in Swiss cheese and milk. Add salt and pepper to taste and spread into an unbuttered baking dish (mine was 10″ x 7″. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the top. Bake at 350° for 55 to 60 min. ♥
You may have heard of this before; there was something very much like it, very popular back in the 1980′s, called “
just gets better all the time! I’m happy to discover that one does not have to bore oneself silly with the constant never-changing sameness of what one “thinks” one likes!
there. When we opened the door to her studio filled with color, we found she’d made us deviled eggs and bowls of fresh strawberries; she had dark chocolate, herb teas, little bowls of nuts and ginger cookies which she placed around the room on side tables never far from any of us. She understood the needs of her clients. 
to her; how could she not be passionate about that!
Wendy sent us home with our own make up colors and fabric swatches; we all helped choose the 
I was so excited when I got home I stayed up until 11 oclock trying on clothes (that’s like my 3 o’clock in the morning!). Matching the color swatches Wendy gave me, I went through my closet and pulled out anything in my colors — brick red, brown, olive green, camel and purple. And orange. I don’t have many clothes in these colors, but what I have looks SO MUCH BETTER than most of the things I wear that I can’t really believe it!
not including the lipstick and makeup, cost each of us $150 … I figure I’ll get my money back the first time I don’t buy a powder blue sweater. Which will be soon.
Know what else looks like fun? Watching the Random Number Generator choose the winner for our birdie salt and peppers! Actually, to tell you the truth, I’ve been dreading it. Up until we hear the name, it could be YOU; then if it isn’t, I feel bad. I need more birds! I want to send them to everyone! Anticipation is almost always more fun than reality, and this is proof!
Birdie reprieve! No winner announcement today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some 
I had my colors done once a long time ago, and found out I was a cross between a Spring and an Autumn. It only confused me. The only real thing I got from the experience is that I should wear lots of orange. Not exactly helpful since, with me and orange, except as a watercolor, the twain does not meet. But Lowely had hers done a few days ago and thinks the experience was “magic” and “life changing.” Either way, I’m off with the girls and we’ll have fun! I’ll let you know how it goes! Have a wonderful day! See you tomorrow!
Today, I have the same problem I have with every post, too many things to talk about and only one blog 
The “what to talk about” question was solved for me, because we finally had snow over the weekend! I can’t bring myself to talk about a recipe when all this beauty is sitting outside the window just waiting for the click of my camera! Having been born and raised in California I don’t think I can ever stop thinking about a snow fall as a kind of miracle!
The views from inside the house were wonderful . . . this one is from the living room . . .
Looking out the kitchen window toward the barn . . . the feeders were filled with chickadees, wrens, nuthatches, and cardinals, tiny feathered things, hungry in the snow, keeping warm by doing lots of eating — much the same as yours truly.
It’s a decorator’s dream, white on white with smidgens of black trim thrown in for graphic contrast! Joe and I decided to go for a ride and check out the island; we brought back lots of photos, so now it’s your turn! I can barely wait till you see the ferry docking!! While Joe cleaned off the windshield and heated the van, I checked out the garden . . . 
We’re only growing snow flowers today! But it’s still a “lovely garden.” 
Down our street, through the mist to Main Street . . .
Some of you are probably starting to recognize the places in my photos — remember the lighthouse the other night under the full moon? In this photo, you can barely tell where the mist ends and the water begins!
A beautiful long fence collects snow . . .
I visited this tiny graveyard on my first trip to the island. It was fall; the leaves were coming down; I had no choice but to fall in love. That will be thirty years ago, March 6th of this year. Like it was yesterday.
Beautiful houses are even more so in the snow. I’m laughing, just thinking, so many of you can probably look out your windows and see these kinds of scenes in your own neighborhoods; you would probably rather have me show you last year’s garden in full bloom!
But I can’t help it, this is so beautiful to me. Lines get blurred with the blowing snow and wind off the sound on our left. Can you imagine being a whaling captain in the 1800′s in this weather?
Another cozy little house in the snow…
Joe had to get out and play with the windshield wipers. We wandered around a bit more out there and then fishtailed and slid our way back into town . . .
to the harbor . . . the shore line and this little green boat with the red life saver. But then the real fun started, because the ferry came in . . . so we ran over to watch it dock . . .
Joe dropped me off at the back driveway so I could walk up; I took this picture of the house next door to us — always so pretty in the snow!
Love Gladys Taber; she always says the right thing. And then, Home Sweet Home . . . where we found this . . .
. . . the garden from our upstairs window
Life goes on, no matter the weather — I loved seeing these people trudging along with their umbrella.
After the sun went down, we had to celebrate by turning the Christmas lights back on the tree in our front yard. We didn’t have snow at Christmas, but we knew we would someday, so we left lights on the tree just for this moment! Yay. Now we are complete!
Also, I wanted to show you another item I designed for Wedgwood that I really wish I had today!
It would have had the thinnest glass top, etched lightly with flowers, and would have been perfect to cover and keep our delicious 
Here’s the original recipe as printed, although I finished up the directions with suggestions for things such as what size pan to use, what is “a little salt,” and what temperature to bake it at. I’ll rewrite the recipe and put it at the end of this post so you can print it out. I broke the rule and “thought” about frosting it, but didn’t; and since I was “fresh out” of yellow tomato conserve, I made a sauce to puddle in the bottom of a bowl full of cake. 
So here’s what you do:
First you get yourself a “rounded teaspoon” of butter (love the way old recipes are written — this was much easier than one that reads add a “knob” of butter!); drop the butter into a half cup of whole milk and heat it on top of the stove until hot.
Whisk a couple of eggs within an inch of their lives.
Gradually whisk in the sugar . . . beat well.
In goes the first half cup of flour, the baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
Stir well . . . then add the other half cup of flour and the hot milk with butter . . .
And that’s all there is to it! Pour the cake batter into a buttered 8″ square (or round) cake pan. Bake 40-45 min.
Pull it out of the oven when the edges start to pull away from pan, or check it with a toothpick in the center . . . allow your kitty to watch . . .
Let the charmingly plain little cake cool while you make the sauce . . . (There’s Jocelyn’s two Love books, all ready to send to her! Remember? She was the winner of our last drawing!)
So, for the sauce, which is also really easy, scrape the seeds from a 1″ piece of vanilla bean, put it in a small pan with heavy cream and sugar, bring to a boil, stir and cool. Chill.
I tried the cake, as suggested, plain and unadorned, and it was wonderful. I have to say I would like to bite off all the chewy edges first (like corn on the cob), so good! BUT . . .
. . . then I added the sauce and this is when the heaven’s parted and this cake melted in my mouth becoming God’s Gift to the World; I was proud to be human and able to cook. The sauce turns it into a kind of pudding cake. Just delicious.
OK, I guess that should keep you busy — that, and then of course, you have to leave a comment at the bottom of this post if you’re interested in the birds! We’ll let our Random Number Generator choose a winner for this drawing in a few days. See how the bottoms twist off for easy filling? Pretty wonderful!
