Seafood Medley

This is a recipe that my husband actually found in one of my various cookbooks. After several attempts, deleting some of the ingredients, I have finally settled on a variation that my very picky daughter will eat. I don't follow the recipe exactly, so I'm going to give it to you the way we eat it. That isn't really it's name, that is just what my daughter decided we should call it.

1 T vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic
1 T flour
1 can (16 oz) whole tomatoes undrained
1 pkg (10) oz frozen cut okra, thawed
6 oz shrimp (recipe in the book says cooked, I use raw, if frozen thaw)
6 oz crabmeat (I have only used imitation, but recipe states real crab, if frozen thaw)

Put oil in skillet, add okra, we like the okra cooked a little longer than the recipe states, so I cook it till it's soft, but not brown. While the okra is cooking I put in the garlic. After this add the flour and tomatoes, break up tomatoes. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, just as mixture begins to thicken, add shrimp and crabmeat. Cook till shrimp is pink, by then the crab has warmed through. Recipe calls to put it over noodles, my girls prefer steamed rice.

I gave you the weights on the seafood that the recipe states, I just put in as much as I need to feed my family of 4. You could put diced onions in it if you wanted, I don't if I'm feeding my oldest.

Refrigerator Biscuit Donuts

Amanda Gardner Photography

One Saturday morning I was trying to come up with something different to make for the girls for breakfast. This is a doughnut made from refrigerator biscuits. This was probably one of the very first things I ever cooked in 7th grade Home Ec. You take the biscuit, form a hole in it and deep fry it. As soon as it comes out roll it in something. I rolled these in sugar. You could use anything, cinnamon and sugar, powder sugar. You could put a sugar glaze, or a chocolate glaze. I've only had them with regular sugar, however. The taste is similar to Funnel Cake, so if you go with that concept you could put whipped cream, strawberries, you name it. Though when your cooking them don't turn your back on them they cook really fast. Hope you try them and enjoy.

Pumpkin Bread

The first time I made this recipe was in 7th grade Home Ec. We didn't have time to mix it and then bake it for an hour or more, so we made it in a rectangle cake pan. Since we made it as a cake we put a cream cheese frosting on it. It was soooo good. However, I have never made it that way since then, I have always made it in the plain and simple loaf version, and it is still soooo good. I make it every year around Thanksgiving and Christmas to give out to friends and family. My girls will go through at least 2 loaves by themselves.

1 3/4 C. sifted flour
1 1/2 C. sugar
3/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
1/4 C. + 2 T. water
2 eggs
1/2 C. oil
1 c. canned pumpkin (100% pure-not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 C. nuts (opt.-I don't use them)

Sift all dry ingredients together in large bowl, make a well in the center. Add water, eggs, oil, pumpkin, and nuts (if using). Mix well. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours.