Recipes From Tommy's Birthday Party

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     "Hail Mary"                                           https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
     "Tropical Depression"                        https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

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​Recipes From Tommy's Birthday Party

     A couple of blogs ago (9/6/2024,  https://www.ailantha.com/blog/celebrating-tommys-40th) I promised to share a few of the recipes from Tommy's birthday party menu. 
        Here are the recipes, as promised:

                                               1. Mashed Potato Casserole
        This dish is everybody's favorite:
​       5 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes (you can use fewer than 5 pounds of potatoes; 3 pounds works just as well)
        1 stick of butter or margarine
        8 oz. cream cheese
        1 cup of sour cream
        1 tablespoon horseradish
        1 shot of pepper sauce
        1 tablespoon chives (dried or fresh)
         Salt to taste 
         1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese
          Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
      Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes or so. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Add the rest of the ingredients except the shredded cheese and blend together with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese.
           Transfer the potatoes to a baking pan and bake in the oven for ten or fifteen minutes.

                                                         2. Fiesta Corn

         As this is a dish I make for company or special occasions, I usually double, triple, or quadruple this recipe. But however much you make, count on it being  gobbled up:
          1 12 oz. (or 16 oz.) bag of frozen corn​     
          1/2 cup each of chopped onions, red, green, and yellow peppers
           Several sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped
            2 tablespoons olive oil
            1 tablespoons butter or margarine
​            Salt to taste
            Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the onions and peppers and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Add the corn and the butter and sauté until the corn is cooked through. Stir in salt and parsley. 

                                                           
​                                                           3. Coleslaw

           
​         2 10 oz. bag of coleslaw
         1 cup of mayonnaise
         1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of milk
         2 teaspoons of white vinegar
          Salt to taste
          A couple twists of pepper from a pepper mill
       Mix the mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add to the coleslaw and mix.    

                                   
                                           4. Blueberry Strawberry Crumble Bars
        This recipe used to be Blueberry Crumble bars until this latest time, when I started making them and realized that I didn't have enough blueberries. I did, however, have some strawberries, and so I thought I'd see what happened if I substituted some of the called-for  blueberries with strawberries. The result was such a success that I decided that from now on it was out with the Blueberry Bars, in with the Blueberry Strawberry Bars:
    1 cup  sugar
    1 teaspoon baking powder
     3 cups flour
​      1 pinch cinnamon 
      1 cup shortening
      1 egg
       3 cups fresh blueberries
       1 cup fresh strawberries
      1/2 cup sugar 
      3 teaspoons corn starch
     About a cup or so of canned vanilla frosting

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup of sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries and strawberries. Sprinkle the berry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely.
5.  Microwave the frosting for 15 seconds, then drizzle over the top. Cut into bars.

​         (Which look very nice if you opt to dress them in cupcake liners).

                                                           5. Brownies     
         I make the best brownies on the planet.
         All right, I make brownies from a box. 

        But what makes my brownies so amazingly good is the icing, which, though over the years I've appropriated as my own, I truly can't take credit for since I acquired the recipe decades ago from my friend Diana (see post from 2/21/2014, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/secret-revealed-for-the-best-brownies-on-the-planet), who got it from someone else who likely got it from some one else, etcetera, etcetera, and so on. And now I'll pass the recipe on to you so you, too, can make the best brownies on the planet.
                                         Best Brownie Icing On The Planet

       This recipe frosts a 9x13 pan of brownies (in my case, made from a box):
        2 cups of confectioner's sugar
        1/4 cup of cocoa
         One half of 1/3 of a cup of boiling water
         2 1/2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, softened
          1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
         Combine the sugar and cocoa.  Add the water, butter, and vanilla.  Mix with a mixer until smooth (If the icing is too thick you can add a tiny bit more water). Spread the icing on the cooled brownies right away as this icing  firms up after a bit. 

                                                         
                                                                    6. Cherry Pie
        If you ever happen to have the phenomenal good luck (as I once did) of finding yourself in possession of a passel of fresh sour cherries, your resulting pie will be out-of-this-world delicious. However, if you must use canned sour cherries (as I always do except for that one time when I had the fresh cherries) your pie will still be out-of-this world delicious. Just not quite as far out as with fresh cherries:
     2 cans of tart red cherries with their juices
     2 tablespoons of quick-cooking tapioca
     1 cup sugar
     1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
      Two 9-inch unbaked refrigerated roll-out pie crusts
     
​       Mix the cherries and their juices with the tapioca, sugar, and cinnamon.  Let stand for 15 minutes. 
        Roll out one of the pie crusts, place it in a 9-inch pie pan  and spread the cherry mixture into the pie crust.  Place the second crust over the cherries. Pinch together the edges of the top and bottom crusts. With a sharp knife cut slits in the top crust.          Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and topping well-browned.
           And if, by chance, your cherry pie comes out just a weence ugly like mine did, 

....do not judge the pie by its crust; it will still taste beautiful, especially if you dress it up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
      Enjoy!