Mama' Bates Macaroni and Cheese

Mama's Macaroni and Cheese was one of my favorite dishes that she made. It really was a comfort food. I remember when my mother left me with Mama and took my brother with her and my new stepfather and moved to Morocco for two years. I was inconsolable. 

My Daddy held me in his lap while I punctured my drum with the drum sticks and cried. I dozed off and he put me on Mama's bed. Later Mama woke me up and told me that she had something special for me. She took me in the kitchen and sat me down at the table. 

She had made a large dish of Macaroni and Cheese, but she had also baked me my own special little dish. I think they ate pork chops with a vegetable and the mac and cheese. All I ate was my dish of Macaroni and Cheese Mama made especially for me. Even before anyone ever thought of calling Macaroni and Cheese a Comfort Food, that was the most comforting food for me. I was four years old at the time.

Mama Bates 
Original Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups uncooked macaroni

2 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Pepper to taste (I use about a teaspoon)

4 tablespoons margarine

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup milk

Instructions

Cook pasta until tender, drain. 

Mix all dry ingredients together, set aside. Coat pan or dish with butter or Crisco and then layer half of macaroni on the bottom.

Sprinkle half of the flour mixture over top and top with half of the margarine, sliced into small slices.

Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups cheese over.  Then add another layer of noodles, flower and butter. Add the rest of the cheese on the top. Pour milk over all.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for thirty-five minutes. Remove foil, bake an additional ten minutes. Serve hot.

I always liked this recipe because you actually can taste the noodles and the cheese separately. Try it this way at least once.

The recipes for this has changed over the years and mostly it is made with a Bechamel Sauce using three and four kinds of cheese.

I also used to use this recipe to make Tuna Casserole. I would layer the tuna under the cheese. Sometimes I would add a can of Campbells' Mushroom Soup to the milk and mix it up really good and pour half of it over the cheese. The kids really loved this. 

When we moved to Texas, my daughter's best friend made me write out the Tuna Casserole recipe for her. When we got to Texas, she called and she said she cooked it but the noodles were a little hard. I forgot to tell her to cook the noodles first! I guess they were hard.

Mama Bates' Beef Stew

Mama's Leftover Pot Roast Magically turns into:

BEEF STEW

Most of the time, there was leftover Pot Roast (See previous posting), unless we had company. Mama would put more onions and garlic in a skillet, caramelize, and then add the pot roast. 

If you need more potatoes and carrots, cut some more up and boil in a separate pot until done. Put in one or two cans of diced tomatoes. If you want spicy, get the spicy diced tomatoes, or add salsa. It just depends on your taste. Do not add new potatoes and carrots to the stew until they are done, otherwise the beef will be so overcooked, it won't have much taste. 

This is not part of Mama's Beef Stew, but my own additions. It works even better if there is not much beef left. Add vegetables that you like. I have added squash, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, and greens of almost any kind. 

Add enough liquid to make a full pot. Note: add hot liquid so that you don't bring down the temperature of the stew. I usually add beef bouillon to taste, coffee to taste. Don't forget the salt and pepper and some soy sauce and Worcestershire Sauce. I taste a lot so that I get it just like I want it. 

Then I take out 2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix and make according to directions. This works for us in a hurry. Make any cornbread that you like. Or you may prefer crackers.

I like chopped onions on top with grated Cheddar Cheese. I hope you can follow this. I have never really cooked from a cookbook. Sometimes I just like to read them. Then I go make something similar, but something that fits our diet and taste. 

I watch cooking shows and make similar recipes, but add ingredients to my own taste. Ray loves my cooking and everyone says I am a terrific cook, so I guess I must do something right. Also, if you don't have anymore potatoes, but if you happen to have some instant potatoes, fix them and serve the  beef stew over them.

Mama's Special Pot Roast

On Special Sundays when we had company, sometimes Mama would make a pot roast. It was so wonderful. I would wander around just waiting to set the table when she called me in. My Mama could make a Pot Roast like no other.

We would always have green beans with slivers of almonds and butter and creamed corn. There was usually a salad for each place setting and a glass of Sweet Tea. I always put that out when dinner was almost ready. Mama made her own salad dressing out of vinegar and oil. I liked mayonnaise on my salad. There wasn't any fancy salad dressing then and you ate what Mama made and liked it.

Pot Roast

Prep Time:  20 Minutes                Cook Time:  4 Hours        Servings:  10

Ingredients

1 whole Chuck Roast (5 To 6 Pounds)

1/2 cup of flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 whole onions (large yellow onions)

2 pods of garlic, finely grated.

6 – 8 whole carrots  

Salt and Pepper to taste (I like Kosher or Sea Salt)

1 cup Red Wine (optional)

2 - to 3 cups beef stock

A couple of splashes of Worcestershire Sauce

1 cup of fresh coffee (leave out the wine if you would rather have the coffee)

3 sprigs fresh thyme

3 sprigs fresh Rosemary

5 large potatoes or about 10 - 12 small red potatoes

Preparation Instructions

Choose a nicely marbled piece of Chuck roast. This particular cut of beef will flavor the pot roast like no other. Generously salt and pepper the roast, then rub it with flour all over.

Iron Dutch Oven

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Mama always used a deep iron skillet that had a lid. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (sometimes I add a teaspoon or two of butter).

Cut two onions in half and cut 6 to 8 carrots into 2-inch slices (you can peel the carrots, but you don’t have to). When the oil in the pot is very hot (not smoking), add in the halved onions, minced garlic, and carrots, browning them on one side and then the other. Take out the onions, garlic, and carrots and put aside on a plate.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

Marbled Chuck Roast 

With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a spatula to get all of that scrumptious browned flavor up.

When the pan is deglazed, add the Worcestershire Sauce and cup of coffee, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.

Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 5 hours.

Mama's Special Pot Roast

Wash and peel the potatoes if you like potatoes peeled. You can put in the whole potato or cut into large pieces. Place in a bowl of water that covers the potatoes with ice in the bowl if you want to get the prep done early. After the roast has cooked about 3½ hours, drain the potatoes and put in the pot. Cover and continue to cook until done.

BTW: Using flour to brown the roast results in a thicker gravy. You do not have to use the flour if you want it Aujous. 

Afterwards (at least 2 hours) we would all have coffee and a piece of Mama's Apple Pie with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. The ice cream was made in a ice cream machine that was powered by strength and elbow grease. It was Uncle Billy's job to make the ice cream. It was my job to sit on top of the towels on the top while Uncle Billy turned the crank. It was the best ice cream ever. It would give you a brain freeze if you ate it too fast. In the winter, Mama would melt cheddar cheese on the pie. She sure could cook. 

Funny, there didn't seem to be as many obese people then. The only time we had sweets was dessert on Sunday. As a special treat, Mama would make pancakes on a Saturday morning when we had company. We lived in Birmingham and they have the best syrup there. It is Golden Eagle Syrup.

Sunday Dinner in the 50's

Mama used to make fried chicken almost every Sunday for dinner. We would have mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese, green beans or green peas, maybe some fried squash or stewed tomatoes. Mama would have a chocolate cake for a coffee break about two hours after dinner. 

Mama would get up very early and go out into the backyard and select a nice plump chicken. She would wring the chicken's neck, cut off the head, and hang it by its feet while the blood drained out. She would pluck the feathers but by the time she got to the little pin feathers, the chicken was dipped in boiling water and immediately put in in cold water because the chicken skin shouldn't cook at all. By doing this, it made the pin feathers come out easier. 

Then she would cut the chicken into pieces and get it ready to cook. She had everything waiting on the table to get things ready. She would put the chicken in buttermilk, then roll it in plain flour that was salted and peppered. Then she would dip it in beaten eggs and then roll in flour again. 

The huge iron skillet was on the big black wood stove. There was always Crisco melted into it to the exact temperature Mama required. She wanted the chicken to start to fry as soon as it was placed in the grease. She would put in the larger pieces, like the breast and thighs. She would let them cook some before she put in the smaller pieces. She made sure that she didn't put too much in at once because it would lower the temperature in the iron skillet .When everything was cooking nicely, she would turn down the heat and put the iron top on it and cook it until done. about 45 minutes. 


She would then be working with the potatoes that had been boiled on the stove. She would drain them and put in the mixer bowl, add salt and pepper, one stick of butter, and then whole milk as she mixed them up. 

Meanwhile, the green beans would be cooking in an iron pot with a piece of ham or some bacon. 


Sometimes, we would have cornbread, but mostly we would have biscuits. On special occasions, Mama would make yeast rolls. 

She was the best cook  for a down-home Alabama cook. She could cook just about anything. She worked at home most of her life. After our Sunday dinner, we would all go to the front porch and relax. If it was summer, I would lay on the concrete gray painted steps in the shade. That was the coolest place to be on one of those hot Sunday afternoons. We had a huge front porch with a long swing at one end and a glider set at the other end. There was plenty of room for guests who liked chocolate cake with homemade ice cream.

When Mama married my Grandfather Bates, she was only 14 years old. Grandpa was a widower with five children, most older than Mama. She took care of him and when my Daddy was three years old, Grandpa died. My dad was the eleventh of the eleven children Mama had with Grandpa. Nine of the eleven children were born profoundly deaf, so it made things even more difficult.

Mama moved to Bessemer and rented a large house and turned it into a boarding house. She was able to send three of her deaf children to the Talledega School for the Blind and Deaf which was a boarding school there. Six of Mama's babies, either died at birth, drowned in the river, had whooping cough, or diptheria, and died.

Godchaux Department Store on
Canal Street in New Orleans

My dad and my Aunt Frances were the only two of her children who could hear. Since daddy was the baby, he was spoiled rotten. Aunt Frances was one of the older children and as soon as she could, she moved to New Orleans and worked as a beauty consultant in the largest department store there (Godchaux).  

I will tell you more in my blog at least three times a week. There were amazing dishes that I remember and have been researching. My mother has been able to help some. She has dementia now, but she remembers a lot from long ago.

GO BOOMERS!

When I lived with my Mama and Uncle Billy in Alabama was one of the best times of my life. They always made me feel so loved and happy. Whenever I need a good place to go in my mind to  relive stress, I go back to those cool concrete steps on a hot day with blue sky and floating white clouds . . . . . . . .

Nana Learns to Cook in the 1950's

NANA and  the Twins at Christmas 2010
We make cookies every year.

When I was just a little girl, about 9 years old I guess, I decided that I wanted to make some vanilla wafers. We were in England at the time living on a military base. The grocery or commissary didn't have any Nabisco Nilla Wafers. 

My Mother wanted to make Banana Pudding and there was just no way that you could make Banana Pudding without Nilla Wafers.


I decided to look in my Mother's Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. I looked up the recipe for Vanilla Wafers and it looked so easy. I got all of the stuff out of the cabinet and a big bowl that went with the mixer. When I had everything in the bowl, I turned on the great big mixer  my mom had. 

The oven was hot, so all I had to do was put the dough on the cookie sheets and bake. I had watched my Mother enough to know how to do this. I started to spoon out the cookies on to the cookie sheet. It was so runny, but being a child, I thought they would come together magically in the oven and I could surprise my mother when she got home from her woman's club meeting. Since we lived in a controlled environment on base, we didn't really need a babysitter because there were neighbors next door. 

Well, I watched the clock and at the proper time, I opened the oven door, and there was a big sheet of very thin cookies. I had to cut them with a knife, but ended up throwing them away and cleaning up the kitchen. I didn't want my Mother to know what I had done. I then sat down with the cookbook. I went over the recipe line by line, then the light came on and I realized that instead of 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of flour, I only used 2 tablespoons of flour. 

Needless to say, I never told my Mother about this, until now. She is 84 and wouldn't mind even if she reads it now. She always encouraged me to think out of the box.

Original Nilla Banana Pudding

This recipe courtesy of Back of the Box Recipes.
www.backofthebox.com Home Page

This recipe created by Nabisco.Ready in: 60 mins.
Layers of Nilla wafers, creamy pudding and fresh banana slices are the stars of this American classic.

3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Dash salt
3 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
45 NILLA Wafers, divided
5 ripe bananas, sliced (about 3 1/2 cups), divided
Additional NILLA Wafers and banana slices, for garnish

1. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler. Blend in 3 egg yolks and milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

2. Reserve 10 wafers for garnish. Spread small amount of custard on bottom of 1 1/2-quart casserole; cover with a layer of wafers and a layer of sliced bananas. Pour about 1/3 of custard over bananas. Continue to layer wafers, bananas and custard to make a total of 3 layers of each, ending with custard.

3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Spoon on top of pudding, spreading evenly to cover entire surface and sealing well to edges.

4. Bake at 350°F in top half of oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Cool slightly or refrigerate. Garnish with additional wafers and banana slices just before serving.

Makes 8 servings

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION per serving
287 calories, 6 g protein, 50 g carbohydrate, 7 g total fat,
2 g saturated fat, 117 mg cholesterol, 134 mg sodium,
1 g dietary fiber.

Preparation Time: 30 mins.
Cook Time: 15 mins.
Cooling Time: 15 mins.
Total Time: 60 mins.

_________________________________________________________

I am not receiving any products or re-numeration for this blog post and apologize for reprinting the recipe. It has been written in my Mother's cookbook over 50 years. (and my Mama Deason's too).

GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!

Cutie Cat - Take a look at my Halloween Costume

My Halloween Costume
Cutie Cat!

 Halloween is very soon. My birthday is on October 1 and for some reason when I was at the grocery, I decided to get Halloween Candy. (Mostly Hershey's)

Then, when I got home, I thought "What a nut I am, Halloween isn't until the end of the month."

Now, the question is "what am I going to do with this much candy?"

How am I going to hide it from Ray (diabetic) and most especially me. I cleaned out the cabinet and hid it on the bottom shelf behind the crackers.

I thought about putting it into the freezer, but that is full of ice cream bars, frozen pieces of cake, frozen cookies, etc.

I don't know why I play these games with myself, but I do. My first husband would tell me how great I looked and would bring home a box of chocolates. How is that for support? I am being critical, I hope you know it.

Ray brought home some amazing Chocolate Caramel Popsicle's the other night. It was almost a sin to even look at the box. We both had one. There were three in the box and he bought 2 boxes.  When we got through eating them, he said that he had to tighten up on his diet because the won't let him have surgery until he gets his sugar down. So, that means that I have 4 Chocolate Caramel Popsicle's to get rid of. I wonder how I am going to do that.

 Take a look at my Page to see my new service that is available. Come Chat with me. I am good at ethical advice and I have a lot of incite into women's problems with children, husbands or boyfriends.

You and I are Members

I received this and almost deleted, but read and think it is important to read.  

Here is what is going on with our once great Nation!

You and I are Members, Just Read and Pass on the link

 The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released.
 They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs.  Some of us are "Baby Boomers" getting ready to retire.
 Others have been retired for some time.  We walk a little slower these days and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were.
 We worked hard, raised our children, worshiped our God and grown old together.
 Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill, and that is probably true.
 But before writing us off completely, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.
 In school we studied English, history, math, and science which enabled us to lead America into the technological age.
 Most of us remember what outhouses were, many of us with firsthand experience.  We remember the days of telephone party-lines, 25 cent gasoline, and milk and ice being delivered to our homes.
 For those of you who don't know what an icebox is, today they are electric and referred to as refrigerators.  A few even remember when cars were started with a crank. Yes, we lived those days.
 We are probably considered old fashioned and out-dated by many.  But there are a few things you need to remember before completely writing us off.
 We won World War II, fought in Korea and Viet Nam.  We can quote The Pledge of Allegiance, and know where to place our hand while doing so.
 We wore the uniform of our country with pride and lost many friends on the battlefield.  We didn't fight for the Socialist States of America; we fought for the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave."  We wore different uniforms but carried the same flag.
 We know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, America, and America the Beautiful by heart, and you may even see some tears running down our cheeks as we sing. We have lived what many of you have only read in history books and we feel no obligation to apologize to anyone for America .
 Yes, we are old and slow these days but rest assured, we have at least one good fight left in us.  We have loved this country, fought for it, and died for it, and now we are going to save it.
 It is our country and nobody is going to take it away from us. We took oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is an oath we plan to keep. There are those who want to destroy this land we love but, like our founders, there is no way we are going to remain silent.  
 It was mostly the young people of this nation who elected Obama and the Democratic Congress.
 You fell for the "Hope and Change," which in reality, was nothing but "Hype and Lies."
You youngsters have tasted socialism and seen evil face to face, and have found you don't like it after all.
 You make a lot of noise, but most are all too interested in their careers or "Climbing the Social Ladder" to be involved in such mundane things as patriotism and voting.  Many of those who fell for the "Great Lie" in 2008 are now having buyer's remorse.  With all the education we gave you, you didn't have sense enough to see through the lies and instead drank the 'Kool-Aid.'  Now you're paying the price and complaining about it.
 No jobs, lost mortgages, higher taxes, and less freedom.
 This is what you voted for and this is what you got. We entrusted you with the Torch of Liberty and you traded it for a paycheck and a fancy house.
 Well, don't worry youngsters, the Grey-Haired Brigade is here, and in 2014 we are going to take back our nation.
 We may drive a little slower than you would like but we get where we're going, and in 2014 we're going to the polls by the millions.
 This land does not belong to the man in the White House nor to the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Eric Holder.
 It belongs to "We the People" and "We the People" plan to reclaim our land and our freedom.
 We hope this time you will do a better job of preserving it and passing it along to our grandchildren.
 So the next time you have the chance to say the Pledge of Allegiance, Stand up, put your hand over your heart, honor our country, and thank God for the old geezers of the "Grey-Haired Brigade."
 Footnote:  This is spot on. I am another Gray-Haired Geezer signing on.
I will circulate this to other Gray-Haired Geezers all over this once great county.
 Can you feel the ground shaking???
 It's not an earthquake, it is a STAMPEDE!
 You and I are Members - Just Read and Pass on the link to this page.