Grandma's Orange Jello Salad

My grandmother made this jello salad for nearly every family event. To this day, we call it "Grandma's jello salad" and make it for every family function in honor of her. It makes me think of her, which is lovely, because she was fantastic. Love you Grandma!

1 small pkg orange jello
2 small pkgs instant tapioca
3 c boiling water
2 cans drained mandarin oranges
1 8 oz Cool Whip

Mix jello, tapioca & water. Let set. Stir occasionally. When slightly hardened, stir in oranges and Cool Whip. Refrigerate overnight.

Eat it and feel loved.

Meatballs

Eat Drink or Die may prove to be the end of my career. I really need to close the page, like now.

See, I couldn't ignore the meatball banner (could YOU?), so I clicked. And read about these yummy meatballs and thought of my grandmother and the meatballs she would make, and well, now I need to make meatballs too. How on earth am I going to get through all of these recipes I simply MUST make? And again with the meat?!

I plan to take plenty of guidance from Caprial's recipe, but mix in a page from Grandma's instruction. I was always a huge fan of Grandma's meatballs - you know the kind, you go to a party, there's a crock pot and a bunch of meatballs and some toothpicks? And the sauce is sweet and spicy and smoky and awesome? Well, all I can remember is grape jelly & bbq sauce (similar to this recipe) and baking the meatballs on a piece of paper bag to get rid of some of the fat. Genius.

I like the idea of sauteing the garlic and onions first, then mixing them in with the meat, and trying a baby meatball to test seasoning - how simple is that?! Of course, you know I'll be doing this with the leanest beef I can get my hands on, or ground chicken.

MEATBALLS

1/2 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 pounds ground meat

1 egg, slightly beaten (you might need two eggs; start with one and then decide on how well everything is binding)

1 cup soft white breadcrumbs

dried parsley and basil - approx 1/2 tbsp of each

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 tablespoon cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Heat a saute pan with olive oil, add the onions and cook over medium heat until the onions start to brown about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute quickly. Remove from the pan and chill. Once the onions are cold place in a large mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients and mix well. Try not to over mix the meat. Cook off a test meatball. Adjust seasonings. Form the meatballs and place on a cookie sheet lined with a clean paper bag (yes, I use the inside side of the ones I get from grocery shopping - reuse!). Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until done - you'll have to be willing to sacrifice one of the meatballs to peek into the center.

You can also brown the meatballs in a saute pan in olive oil before baking, but I think that just adds extra fat to the mix. Since fat = flavor, I'll humor you by mentioning that you COULD do it that way. You know, if you insisted. If you decide to clog your arteries like that, you'll probably only need 10-15 minutes in the oven.

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I made the meatballs last night, and forgive my modesty, but Best. Meatballs. Ever. I even used actual beef, though it was 93% "extra" lean.

I made as directed with fresh sourdough for my breadcrumbs (I toasted first to dry it out a bit) and made a tomato sauce from scratch (which is so easy and tasty that I have no idea why I ever buy the jarred stuff).

I baked the meatballs at 375 for 10 minutes, flipped them over (onto cleaner spots on the paper bags) and baked for 10 minutes more. This recipe made around 30 good sized meatballs (think golf balls).

For the sauce, I did my "standard."

Smashed a couple of cloves of garlic and tossed into a pot with some olive oil to infuse the flavor into the oil. Then I added about a cup or so of diced yellow onion and let that all soften a bit. I added one can of stewed "Italian" tomatoes, one can of tomato sauce, half a can of tomato paste, and a glug of the cab we were drinking (Chateau St. Michele this time), let's call it a quarter cup. A sprinkling of dried herbs - I used oregano and marjoram, maybe a half tbsp of each, and a tsp or so of red pepper flakes. I tossed the lid on and let it bubble away for a while getting thick. Checking, stirring, tasting, added a tsp of sugar since it was really acidic, and three large basil leaves, ripped up into smaller pieces. Let it go for a while longer (maybe too long, it got REALLY thick), but damn it was awesome.

Once the meatballs were done I put a few into the pot of sauce and made sure they were coated. I served on a small pile of spaghetti, sprinkled with grated parmesan and then annoyed Quinn by going on and on about how good it was. See? Modest. I sent him to work today with a bunch of leftovers to make a meatball sandwich, and still have a ton left to make Swedish meatballs or something later (if I'm not in the mood for tomato sauce). I should've put them in the freezer.

Lasagna

I love lasagna. Not like Garfield loves lasagna, but I do love it. It says family to me - it's sort of an ongoing joke that at any Romo family gathering there will be a big old tray of Stouffer's lasagna. This (and grandma's spaghetti sauce) are why I plan our Mexican-Irish family dinner at an Italian restaurant every year. Whenever I'm missing my grandma it means one of three dinners will be on the table soon: lasagna, stew, or spaghetti with meat sauce. We'll get into her orange Jell-O salad later.
In any case, I've been home sick the majority of the week, and we all know that means nonstop HGTV and Food Network (since it doesn't really matter when I fall asleep and miss half of or perhaps three shows). Drawback being that I don't really have any food in the house and this is somewhat torturous. Yesterday and today featured lasagna and now I'm confident I'll have to make it next week. Give me a shout if you want to come over.
I think whenever I've made lasagna in the past I've used the recipe from the BH&G cookbook my dad got me.
Following are three recipes: the BH&G version, Ina Garten's Portobello mushroom lasagna, and finally Robin Miller's version, only because I love that she made a ton of ground beef and used it for lasagna one night, tacos another, and sloppy joes another. How easy is it to cook up a bunch of meat on a Sunday, have a delicious lasagna that night and leftovers for lunch during the week, then spend 15 minutes or so making tacos or joes?!

BH&G LASAGNA
3/4 lb of your favorite ground meat (chicken, turkey, sausage, pork, beef)
1 c chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of diced tomatoes (7 1/2 oz)
1 8 0z can tomato sauce
1 6 0z can tomato paste
2 tsp dried basil, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
(optional 1 tsp crushed fennel seed)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 lasagna noodles (5 oz)
1 beaten egg
2 c ricotta cheese
1/2 c grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
8 oz of mozzarella (slice it if it's not already sliced)

Of course I typically use lowfat cheeses and chicken or turkey meat when I make this, but go with what you like.

Put the pasta water on to boil.
SAUCE - heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat and add onions and garlic, cooking til fragrant. Add the meat and cook until it's well browned and drain off any fat. Stir in the tomatoes (undrained!), tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, (fennel if you're using it) and s&p. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occassionally.
NOODLES - while the sauce is simmering, cook the noodles according to package directions (I pull them when they're still pretty al dente so they don't get too mushy) and drain.
**note: you don't want the noodles to sit around after they've been cooked and drained or they go all stiff and weird**
FILLING - Again, while sauce is simmering, and noodles are cooking, combine egg, ricotta, 1/4 c of the grated cheese and the parsley flakes.
ASSEMBLY - In a 12 x 7 1/2 x 2" baking dish, add a small amount of sauce in the bottom. Lay half of the cooked noodles in, trimming if necessary. Spread with half of the cheese filling and top that with half of the meat sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers sprinkling the remaining grated cheese on top.
BAKE - 375 for 30-35 minutes til heated through. Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

This can be made ahead of time; just stop before baking. Cover with plastic wrap for up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, remove the plastic, cover with foil and bake in a 375 oven for 35 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 20 minutes or til heated through.


BAREFOOT CONTESSA'S PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM LASAGNA
Kosher salt
good olive oil
3/4 lb dried lasagna noodles
4 cups whole milk (I bet I'd use low or nonfat)
12 tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 cup AP flour
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 lbs portobello mushrooms
1 c freshly ground Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 375.
SAUCE - bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan. Set aside. Melt one stick of butter (8 tbsp) in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. Add 1 tbsp salt, the pepper & nutmeg, and cook over medium-low, stirring first with the wooden spoon and then a whisk, for 3-5 minutes til thick. Set aside off heat.
Separate mushroom stems from caps and discard the stems. Slice the caps 1/4" thick. Heat 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp butter in a 12" saute pan. When the butter melts, add half the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes til they are tender and release some of their juices. Toss occassionally to make sure they are cooking evenly. Repeat with remaining mushrooms and set aside.
NOODLES - while preparing the sauce, cook the noodles, drain and set aside.
ASSEMBLY - spread some sauce in the bottom of an 8 x 12 x 2" dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more sauce, 1/3 of the mushrooms, and 1/4 c of the Parmesan. Repeat layers two more times. Final layer should be noodles, sauce and remaining Parmesan.
BAKE - at 375 for 45 minutes or til top is browned and sauce is bubbly and hot. Allow to sit 15 minutes before serving.

And because a) this post is damn long enough, and b) you can use the same basic idea to do this your own without following these exact recipes, (and maybe c), I've only made one of her recipes and I'm not quite comfortable vouching for the fact that all of her stuff turns out well with only one try under my belt) I'm only posting links to Robin's.
Lasagna
Tacos
Sloppy Joes

Grandma's Favorites

Once upon a time, I was sitting with my grandmother watching television, and this commercial came on. You know the ones, sponsored by some big food manufacturing conglomerate that owns thirty brands and they're showing you how to use all their brands to make a "quick and easy" treat or some such hoo ha.
This particular one featured Cool Whip and Jell-O pudding so it must've been Kraft. In any case, we both kind of went, "mmm, that looks good." So for Grandma's birthday Quinn and I stopped by the assisted living facility and dropped one off. Apparently it was just about the Greatest Thing Ever because she's been talking about it ever since. Like any time anyone mentions birthdays, cakes, desserts, pineapple, Cool Whip or the weather.
And because I always have to think, "wait, what was in that again?" posting it here will save me a precious few minutes of redundant web searching.
You can make it too, I hear it's pretty tasty, especially in the opinion of diabetic grandmothers who shouldn't be eating it anyway.

I'm putting all the brand names in caps because I'm sure KRAFT would (to show their GREAT IMPORTANCE), so you can decide if you'd like to fall prey to the manipulations of the KRAFT machine, or so you can swap 'em out and get whatever brand because I'm sure it doesn't matter one bit. Don't tell KRAFT I said that though please.

Pineapple Cream Angel Food Cake
1 package JELL-O instant vanilla pudding (4 oz)
1 can DOLE crushed pineapple in juice
1 cup COOL WHIP
1 ready to go Angel Food Cake
fresh berries for garnish

Mix pudding and pineapple in medium bowl. Fold in the COOL WHIP.

Cut cake horizontally into 3 layers. To make this easy and even, some genius recommended I put the cake in a baking pan/cookie sheet with sides and slice across using the sides as a guide for my knife. Brilliant!
Top bottom layer with 1/3 of the pudding mixture. Repeat layers 2 times.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Top with berries just before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Travel with it carefully; it's slidey.

I hear she also likes this stuff, which I totally forget how to pronounce, even though my mom just told me not five minutes ago.