Tag: recipes

Irish Soda Bread

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Cheryl's Kitchen.

Since St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, why not celebrate by baking a nice Irish soda bread? Many (and I do mean many) years ago when I was still working at a local hospital as a respiratory therapist, my colleagues and I loved to share all kinds of food and special dishes with each other. One of the therapists had an Irish background, and every St. Patrick’s Day she brought several loaves of fresh baked soda bread for us to enjoy. She was kind enough to share the recipe as well, and the first time I made it I was shocked at how fast and easy it was, especially since I remembered what my Eastern European grandmothers went through to make fresh home made baked bread. I much prefer the Irish way, although after doing some research, I discovered that soda bread actually...

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When Life Gives You Lemons….

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Life's Lessons.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I was recently reminded of this when I was looking for an old Fannie Farmer recipe. I didn’t even know that Fannie Farmer was a real person. I just thought it was a catchy name for farm fresh recipes. That shows you how much I know! I was fascinated at what I found. Fannie was the oldest daughter in a family of 4 girls. Huh, interesting. I grew up in a family of 5 girls. She and her sisters were expected to go to college. Another coincidence–my sisters and I were expected to go to college as well. So we could be self sufficient before we got married. We were kind of expected to do that as well. Anyway, that’s where any parallels ended. Fannie never did pursue higher education. She suffered a paralyzing stroke when she was 16. Sixteen!...

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Bavarian Pork With Sauerkraut

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Cheryl's Kitchen.

I grew up in a home and with an ethnicity that relied heavily on sauerkraut for cooking. I even remember my dad drinking the juice directly from the jar, saying it was good for your health. Blech! Even though I did like sauerkraut as a kid, I really learned to love it as I got older. And luckily, I married a guy who loves it, too. Even if he is from the South. However, neither one of us will drink the juice. But I will cook with it. I found this little gem of a recipe so long ago I can’t even remember where it came from. The original recipe calls for baking it in the oven, but I prefer cooking it in the crock pot, with a thin layer of the sauerkraut over the pork chops. I apologize in advance to my vegetarian and vegan friends. Having included that disclaimer, here ya go: 1# pork cops...

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Baked Lasagna With Red Wine

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Cheryl's Kitchen.

Welcome back to Cheryl’s kitchen, where the food is always good and the kitchen is always a mess. Since this is the first recipe I’m sharing with you, I wanted it to be special. This is a recipe that my mom found in our local newspaper over 35 years ago. Since there were a lot of Italian families in our area, I knew it had to be good. I was right…for once! Baked Lasagna 3 cloves chopped garlic 1# ground round steak 1 28 oz can tomato puree 1 6 oz can tomato paste and 1 can water ½ tsp oregano ½ tsp basil ¼ cup red wine, plus one full glass for the cook 2 tsp salt ½ cup fresh Romano cheese 1# ricotta cheese 8 oz mozzarella cheese 1# box oven ready lasagna noodles Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9x2 baking pan or spray with cooking spray or olive oil. Brown the meat with...

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Introducing Cheryl’s Kitchen

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Cheryl's Kitchen.

I can’t believe that I have had a blog for almost 8 years and I have NEVER added a recipe or two. What’s up with that? I do love to cook, as long as I have the time. Otherwise I am running around my kitchen like a lunatic, totally frazzled with the age old question repeating itself in my head. Which is, “What’s for dinner?” The reality that dinner was all on me hit me after I graduated college and moved to Denver when I realized that if I wanted to eat, I had to cook. I’ll never forget the first dinner I cooked for myself. Frozen fish sticks, frozen veggies, and pre-packaged rolls. I thought that was cooking. And I wondered why I was getting fat. I am a totally self-taught cook, and I learned mostly through trial and error. And there was a whole lot of...

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