January 2016
Other Recipes From the Box

Upside Down Cranberry Cake (courtesy of Mildred Keagle)
Spread 2 cups cranberries onto well-buttered cake pan.  Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup nuts.  Mix 2 eggs, 3/4 cups melted butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour.  Pour over cranberries.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.  Flip upside down on plate.


Simple Beet Salad
2 pounds beets, cooked and peeled
1 T + 1 t red wine vinegar
1 t lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 t course salt
1 t pepper
1/4 cup mint


Marinated Cumumbers
3 large cucumbers
1 Cup taragon vinegar
1 cup water
1# cup chopped scallions
2 T chopped dill
1 T sugar
1 t salt
Freshly ground pepper to taaste
Peel cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise, and remove seeds.  Cut each half into thin slices.  Combine cucumbers with remaining ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours,  Drain and serve.

January 2016   Mexican Eggplant Casserole
Last weekends blizzard is mostly cleaned up.  I spent my snow day at home, with my casted broken foot, looking through mom's recipe box and remembering all of the great meals she and Nan have cooked over the years.  Tonight I decided to make Mexican Eggplant Casserole.  I think Nan found it in her Sunset magazine back when they lived on Walsh Road.  Can't wait to try it tonight.

Mexican Eggplant Casserole
Green chilies make this dish mild to moderately hot; vary the amount according to your taste.

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds)
About 1/4 cup salted oil
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 to 1 can (41/1/2 oz) green chilies, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup green onion
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 can drained sliced ripe olives
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Cut unpeeled eggplant into 1/2 inch slices and brush all sides with oil.  Arrange in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; bake, uncovered, in a 450 oven until soft, about 20 minutes.  In a saucepan, combine tomato sauce, chiles, onion, cumin, garlic salt and olives; simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.

Line bottom of shallow 1 1/2 quart casserole with a single layer of eggplant, spoon on about half the sauce, sprinkle with half the cheese; repeat, ending with cheese on top.  Bake uncovered in 350 oven about 25 minutes.