Sheets Culinary Feats

I have been pondering what I wanted to do this week for a blog, and have not had a whole lot of inspiration. I found myself pondering a lot on what cheap meals we could throw together and feed the four adults that are living in the house for not a lot of money. I fell back on a couple of my old family recipes that I grew up with, cheap and easy to prepare. Next week I think I’ll post some of those recipes.

This week however, I wanted to focus on a wonderful set of videos that I found while I was randomly surfing YouTube. I found a wonderful profile of 91 year old Clara, who grew up during the depression.  Watching them she reminds me so much of my own GG (Great Grandma, we could never say it as kids so she became GG), that I couldn’t help but link to her profile.

In the videos she goes over some great recipes that are economical, nutritious, and tasty. Though they may not be gourmet, they certainly work. Not to mention that she has a great personality and discusses some of her memories from childhood, which I really enjoy.

Hope you do as well!

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted here folks, quite a lot of personal matters all tossed on top of the holidays. But without further ado…

I had gotten a request from a friend of mine up in Seattle for a good crab soup recipe, so I decided this week will be dedicated solely to our little crustacean friend. It can be very difficult to get even frozen crab this time of year anywhere but on the coasts. I know that it’s a lot cheaper, but if at all possible try to stay away from the imitation crab if you are unable to find fresh or frozen locally.

As the name implies, imitation crab contains no crab meat what so ever. Generally it is made from the Alaska Pollock (also known as: Walleye Pollock, Snow Cod, or Whiting). Then the fish meat is colored and flavored to resemble crab meat.

As in most things you get what you pay for, and while imitation crab may vaguely resemble the flavor of crab it will never compare at all. Well I’ll step off my soapbox now.

I’m always looking for comments and requests. If you have a request for any recipe, or any comments, feel free to post them on here or email me at bob.sheets@yahoo.com.

Recipes for this week will be:

Crab bisque

Maryland Style Crab Cakes

So I was thinking today with the large amount of snow that we’re expecting this week that it’s the perfect time to stay home curled up under some blankets in front of a fireplace and eat some delicious comfort food.

These are some of my absolute favorites of all time when ever I’m feeling down in the dumps or just need to warm up.

The beef and noodles is probably my most favorite recipe ever from childhood and I loved hearing those words when my mom told us what was for dinner. Now a days it’s so difficult to make truly amazing noodles now a days, especially since my GG’s (read great grandma we couldn’t say it as kids) is over 100 years old and contains this sort of timeline: When the men go out to milk the cows mix the ingredients roll it out and let it dry; When the men come in for lunch, turn the noodles over…you get the point. I have, however, located a wonderful frozen noodle that actually tastes just as good as any noodle that ever came from my GG.

So without further ado, here’s the list of this weeks recipes.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Cream chipped beef

Beef and Noodles

While not necessarily my favorite holiday during the year Thanksgiving always holds a special place in my heart. Most of the major holidays deal with food, but none quite so much as Thanksgiving, when we throw our diets out the window and indulge our souls in some good old fashioned comfort food.

The menu I’m proposing this week is certainly not one that I would recommend every week, or even once a month. It is all very fattening and indulgent, but presents the perfect (in my opinion) menu for a delicious Thanksgiving meal. Sure a lot of these ideas are the traditional, and rely heavily on carbs, but they’re my favorites, and even one of my secret appetizers that goes over wonderfully every year. This year I think I’m going to leave out the turkey, everyone has their favorite recipe. But next year I plan on buying a turkey fryer and trying out a few different recipes, so I’ll cover those.

Thanksgiving Menu:

Appetizer: Twice baked Stuffing Muffins

Starches: Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Baked Yams with Marshmallows

Vegetables: Green Bean Casserole