Monday morning recipe

Good Morning! I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and extra long weekend. Everything went well here except for the fact that I forgot...don't ask me how...to make mashed potatoes. I think the fact that Ray stepped into the kitchen to make sweet potatoes really threw me off my game. LOL Yeah, I'm gonna go with that excuse.

Not that it really mattered since there was so much food besides the forgotten mashed taters. We had so many leftovers it was ridiculous. We ate turkey all weekend and still have some left. There were enough desserts to feed a small army. Even though I sent some of the cookies and treats home with the kids, there were still a lot sitting here.

Okay, so time for another recipe/meal idea. This one is for Southern Fried Chicken and an Apple Pie Cake. Mm, sounds good.

SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

Ingredients:
4-5 lbs. chicken parts
4 cups salt brine (recipe below)
1½ cups buttermilk
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground sage
1 cup flour (to dredge the chicken)
Oil or shortening to fill skillet ½ inch deep

Directions:
1. Make the salt brine by dissolving 1/2 cup salt in 4 cups of cold water.
2. Place chicken parts in a large glass bowl, add enough salt brine to cover, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to soak overnight.
3. The next day, drain off the salt brine and add 1½ cups buttermilk to the bowl. Allow the chicken to soak in the buttermilk for a couple of hours (or until ready to cook) turning the chicken several times to make sure all the pieces get to soak.
4. To make the breading: Add salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and sage to 1 cup of flour.
5. In a very large, heavy skillet, add vegetable oil or shortening to ½ deep, and heat over a medium flame. Be careful of overheating or you'll burn the flour coating, but if the oil isn't hot enough it will soak into the coating (making it greasy). Test the temperature by dropping a pinch of flour into the hot oil. If it sizzles right away without smoking, it's perfect.
6. Dredge each piece of the buttermilk-coated chicken in the seasoned flour and place them skin side down in the skillet. Do not to crowd the pieces in the pan to achieve the best all-over crispiness.
7. Cover the pan with a loose fitting lid to vent some of the steam and cook to a deep golden brown (approx. 15 min.). Turn the chicken over with tongs and cook an additional 15 minutes or until deep golden brown. Chicken is done if the juices run clear and there is no sign of pink near the bone.
8. Drain the cooked chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Serve on a warm platter.

Serve the chicken with some mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans and biscuits.

If you don't want to make mashed potatoes then Cheesy Hash Browns sound good to me. I love this dish.

CHEESY HASH BROWN POTATO CASSEROLE

Ingredients:
2 lbs. hash browns, defrosted
1/2 c. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. milk
1 c. sour cream
2 c. grated sharp cheese (Colby or cheddar)

Directions:
Mix above ingredients and put in a 9"x13" pan.

TOPPING:
2 c. crushed corn flakes (can use Ritz crackers)
1/2 c. melted butter

Melt butter and add corn flakes to mix. Sprinkle topping over potatoes and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

I don't do the butter and corn flakes though. I always take the bag of nearly empty chips that has just the crumbs in the bottom and pour them into a ziploc baggie. I save all the crumbs and use them on nearly every dish that calls for a crunchy topping.

Then you can follow the fried chicken dinner with this simple Apple dessert.

APPLE PIE CAKE

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg -- slightly beaten
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups apples, peeled -- chopped
1/2 cup pecans -- chopped

Directions:
Thoroughly grease a 9-inch pie pan. Melt margarine, remove from heat, and blend with sugar and egg. Mix in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, apples, and pecans. Spread into pan.
Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.
Serves 8

So did ya'll go out and shop on Black Friday? I've never gotten up in the wee hours of the morning after Thanksgiving to go shopping...until this year. Unfortunately, I did not have a shopping buddy so I did not get any of those crazy good $ deals. I did, however, get a lot of my Christmas shopping done and picked up some really good things for Rylie.

I had gotten up at 5 AM on Thursday to start the Turkey, so I was a bit surprised when, without the aid of an alarm, I woke up at 4:30 AM Friday morning. I showered, got around and was at Wal-Mart just moments after they opened the doors. I got a few things and waited for nearly 45 minutes to check out.

I went to Kmart next as they were opening at 6 AM. I got there just about 10 minutes after they opened. However, I was too late to get the Princess Bed Tent that I was looking for. I did happen upon 2 women who had several of the tents in their cart as they were talking. I asked if they were planning to put one of the tents back and they said "No, is that what you were looking for?" I told them that the Princess Tent was the main reason for my trip to Kmart. As I was walking away they said "wait a minute" and then they gave me one of the tents and wished me a Merry Christmas. It was the highlight of my entire day. So a huge Thank You to my two unknown angels that morning.

All I can say is that if I ever go again...I'm taking two things. 1) A shopping buddy...a definate must have. And 2) A mini-van or some sort of big vehicle. LOL

I'll leave you with this thought this morning...

"To undertake is to achieve." — Emily Dickinson

Have a great week!
Jill Marie