Zesty Chicken Quesadillas

Zesty Chicken Quesadillas
Dorcas Annette Walker

Even though spring doesn’t technically start for a couple more weeks outside my mini irises and crocuses are blooming while the daffodils and hyacinths’ are starting to open and add their color to the world. Each day brings new anticipation of what flower will be blooming next. My bushes and trees have been budding out for a couple of weeks now due to our mild winter season thinking that spring has already arrived. I’m just hoping that once everything is in full bloom we don’t end up with a spat of freezing weather and snow the end of March or in April like it has done some years when we have had an earlier spring. On the other hand we’ll just have to take what the good Lord sends our way. Meanwhile I’ve been enjoying hanging out wash on sunny days and working in my flower gardens. I’m running behind this year on my veggie garden and starting plants from seed as Dana was back in the hospital again and this week there have been doctor visits. Sometimes it seems like there isn’t enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs doing.

This weekend is going to be very exciting for our family as on Friday our daughter, Dawn, is scheduled for a C-section. We can’t wait to hold tiny Miss Katie Dawn in our arms. For the past month or so Dawn’s amniotic fluid has been fluctuating up and down. One week our daughter was only one point away from having an emergency C-section. Right now our family is all on a countdown as we plan on heading down to Nashville early Friday morning to help entertain Annette, who is nine and quite anxious to see the baby sister that she prayed for, and William, who is six as we await the birth of our brand new granddaughter. Technology and science has advanced so much from back when I gave birth to Dawn years ago.

My Zesty Chicken Quesadillas are finger lick’in good and a quick filling lunch with crispy tortillas stuffed with leftover chicken or turkey, onions, and peppers covered in melted cheese. You can add chopped tomatoes, refried beans, black olives, mushrooms, or use a different kind of cheese if you prefer. Any leftover Zesty Chicken Quesadillas can be popped in the microwave and heated up for another day. Preparation time for my Zesty Chicken Quesadillas is fifteen minutes and this recipe makes one quesadilla.

Zesty Chicken Quesadillas

1 tb butter
1 flour tortilla
½ c chopped chicken
¼ c seasoned frozen onions & peppers
¼ c shredded coby-jack cheese
salt & pepper

Melt butter in a skillet. Fill half of the tortilla with the chicken, onions, and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste and fold in half. Fry tortilla on medium heat until one side is browned, turn over, and fry for five more minutes until the other side is brown. Serve hot!

Weekly tip: The quesadilla originates from Mexico derived from the Spanish word queso (cheese). Most quesadillas contain cheese with a savory mixture of meat and vegetables folded in half and fried until the cheese is melted. It then can be cut into slices or wedges. In the USA many restaurants serve quesadillas as appetizers. Dessert quesadillas come in flavors of chocolate, butterscotch, caramel, and different fruits!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Homemade Pretzels

Homemade Pretzels
Dorcas Annette Walker

I started the month of January with pretzels and I am going to end the month with another pretzel recipe. Our family always ate big fat pretzels with ice cream, but then we were Pennsylvania Dutch, who’s German and Swiss ancestors immigrated here to America in the early 1700’s searching for religious freedom. For years my sister has made Homemade Pretzels, but it wasn’t until this month that I decided to try it myself. To my surprise pretzels aren’t that hard to make and Homemade Pretzels are softer than store bought ones.

Pretzels originated in Europe made of dough in soft and hard varieties, savory or sweet flavors, tied in a knot-like shape known as the pretzel loop. Most agree that pretzels were invented by monks and became associated with Lent and Easter. By the 12th century the pretzel was an emblem of bakers. The custom of using lye in baking pretzels evolved in the 18th century and became well liked due to baking out excess moisture and increasing self life and crispness. In the 20th century pretzels had become popular throughout the United States as Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York became renowned for their soft pretzels. Today Pennsylvania is the center of American pretzel production.

Some pretzel facts:

- The annual U.S pretzel industry is worth over $550 million.
- The average American consumes 1.5 pounds of pretzels per year while the Philadelphian consumes 12 times more pretzels as the national average.
- In the early 1950’s the Volkswagen Beetle was nicknamed the “Pretzel Beetle”.
- The Pretzel Museum opened in Philadelphia in 1993.
- Governor Ed Rendell declared April 26 as “National Pretzel Day”.
- The Anderson Pretzel Factory produces 65 tons of pretzels daily.
- The largest pretzel weighed 40 pounds and measured 5 feet across.
- Speyer Germany is called the “pretzel town” and has a weekend festival in July that attracts 300,000 visitors with over 100 bands and floats where 22,000 pretzels are thrown out to the crowds.
- On January 1st some people give each other pretzels for good luck.
- In Germany the fourth Sunday in Lent is called “Pretzel Sunday” where boys give girlfriends pretzels.
- On May 1st love-struck boys paint a pretzel on the doors of sweethearts.
- An upside-down-pretzel means a sign of disgrace.
- Some pretzel sayings: “today the sun pretzeled down” means the sun is hot, “he got pretzeled” means he crashed, “I pretzeled him one” means I punched him in the nose, “he pretzeled down the road” means he went fast, and a “pretzeled appearance” means stylishly dressed.

Pretzels can be seasoned and decorated with: salt, sugar, sesame, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin, or caraway seeds, nuts, melted cheese, bacon bits, mustard, icing, and cinnamon. You can use different flours such as whole wheat or rye. Christmas pretzels are made with gingerbread and covered with chocolate frosting. For unique shapes boil the dough in baking soda water for 30 seconds. For a darker look glaze with egg yolk before baking. Preparation time for my Homemade Pretzels is around 1½ hrs and this recipe makes (depending on the size of pretzels) close to 30 pretzels.

Homemade Pretzels

1½ c warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 pkg dry yeast
4 c all-purpose flour
cooking spray
4 tsp baking soda
Kosher salt

Combine water, sugar, and yeast in a cup and let sit for 5 minutes until yeast rises. Put flour in a medium-sized bowl and add the yeast. Knead dough for 5 minutes until smooth adding a little flour as necessary. Place dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray, spray dough, and cover. Let rise for an hour. Take a pinch of dough and roll out into a thin string with your hands then loop and knot. Dip into a small bowl mixed with baking soda and ½ c of warm water. Place on greased baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350º for twenty minutes until browned. Cool and store in a zip-locked bag!

Weekly tip: Pretzels can be used as a crunchy topping for salads, desserts, and soups!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Homemade Beef Fajita

Homemade Beef Fajita
Dorcas Annette Walker

Last week I featured an old recipe of my mother. This week I am giving what to me is a new recipe, although fajitas- a Spanish nickname- goes back as far as the 1930’s of what were throwaway parts of the beef given to Mexican cowboys as part of their pay then grilled and served on tortillas. I have my son, Dwight, to thank for introducing me to fajitas as he puttered around cooking in my kitchen this past week as I seldom eat out in restaurants preferring to prepare my own meals at home. While some love to eat in Chinese or Mexican restaurants- trying foods they have no idea of what they are eating, including my own dear children, I am a bit fussier. A couple years ago I was talked into going into one of these types of restaurants to try fried ice cream that my husband declared was delicious. Even though all restaurants are supposed to be inspected unfortunately this one did not meet my standard of cleanliness to start with and I wasn’t put at ease with all the chattering away in a language I couldn’t understand, but my waterloo came when I was presented with greasy ice cream that turned my stomach on sight. I couldn’t get out of the place fast enough. Now some people- like my husband- might enjoy mixed up stuff like fried ice cream, but I prefer my fried foods and frozen desserts to remain separate, thank you, especially when I have no idea of what is going on back in the kitchen.

Speaking of brand new, I also want to quickly tell you about a new hardback 365 day devotional from Bethany House that just came out called Love is a Verb by Gary Chapman and James Stuart Bell with several other writers featured in it including myself. This devotional retails for $19.99, but I will let you have it postpaid for $20.00 if you send a money order or check to: 929 Wildwood Lane, Jamestown, TN 38556.

Now back to cooking. Fajitas are a true blend of Tex-Mex food. While our Homemade Beef Fajita uses beef you can also substitute chicken, pork, turkey, steak strips etc. adding mushrooms, black olives, salsa, tomato, lettuce, and sour cream to your heart’s desire or for added zest and warmth sprinkle on three to four drops of Tabasco sauce like my son, Dwight, does. Preparation time for the Homemade Beef Fajita takes only ten minutes and this recipe makes one fajita, although you probably won’t stop with only one.

Homemade Beef Fajita

¼ c shredded leftover beef
¼ c frozen seasoned onions
¼ c chopped red & green peppers
garlic, regular salt, & pepper
¼ c shredded coby-jack cheese
1 flour tortilla

Lightly oil skillet and slowly sauté on low the beef, onions, and peppers for five minutes adding the salts and pepper to taste. Sprinkle on the cheese and let melt. Microwave the tortilla for fifteen seconds. Place the beef mixture in the middle of the warmed tortilla and fold over. You can use a toothpick to secure the tortilla. Serve hot!

Weekly tip: Each summer I chop up garden fresh red and green peppers layering them out on paper towel-lined trays to dry and then freeze for handy year round use or you can also dry the peppers in a dehydrator!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Nutty Cheerio Snack

Nutty Cheerio Snack
Dorcas Annette Walker

I’ve always kept snacks around and carried them with me as I traveled due to the fact that I have hypoglycemia- where my blood sugar can suddenly drop. Snacks were also a lifesaver when my children were young. I think though the biggest fan of my snacks is my husband, Dana. Every time we headed down the road on a trip the first thing- almost before we were out of the driveway- Dana would ask is, “What did you bring along to snack on?” Since Dana’s heart surgery and being diabetic where his sugar swings, having a snack handy has saved the day more than once traveling back and forth to the doctors down in Cookeville. Now that my husband has to be on a strict diet, I’ve been doing research on heart healthy foods. It hasn’t been easy for Dana, who for years ate everything and anything, to switch to smaller portions of food and stay on his cardiac/diabetic diet. After hearing my poor husband complain for the umpteenth time that there was nothing for him to snack on- refusing the baby carrots, bananas, and apples that I keep handy for such a thing- I decide to combine a couple different items together and came up with my Nutty Cheerio Snack that was an instant hit with Dana.

Cheerios was invented in 1940 by Lester Borchardt, an employee of General Mills, after months of trial and error to figure out how to puff the oats into a circular shape. First named Cheeri Oats the name was changed to Cheerios in 1945. By 1954 Cheerios became General Mills’ most popular selling cold cereal partly due to the face that Cheerios sponsored “The Lone Ranger” radio show. Today there are more than ten varieties of Cheerios. In 1999 Cheerios earned the distinction of being the only cold cereal to effectively lower cholesterol. Cheerios have only one gram of sugar per serving, fiber, aren’t made with any artificial flavors or color dyes, are low in fat, is an excellent source of iron, and contains at least 10 percent of your calcium needs.

My Nutty Cheerio Snack is a perfect filling crunchy heart-healthy snack. You can substitute a different kind of Cheerios from regular Cheerios, add other nuts instead of pecans- as nuts are low in saturated fat and beneficial to your heart as well- or use different dried fruit in place of raisins. Preparation time for my Nutty Cheerio Snack is ten minutes and this recipe makes twenty cups.

Nutty Cheerio Snack

1 (15 oz) box of regular Cheerios
1 (16 oz) pkg of pecan halves
1 (12 oz) bag or box of raisins

Combine all three ingredients in a large bowl and store 1-cup servings in a sealed baggie.

Weekly tip: Besides making a healthy snack, you can crush Cheerios and add to flour for homemade baked items or used crushed Cheerios in place of bread crumbs!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Dwight's Grilled Burgers

Dwight’s Grilled Burgers
Drocas Annette Walker

Family member support becomes invaluable during a crisis. My heart always goes out to people, whose family structure is fragmented during a catastrophe. We are blessed to have two adult children within our close-knit family unit, who have been right with us from the start of Dana’s hospital episode. Not only has Dawn and Dwight transported me back and forth, dropped their work schedules to rally around their dad, help with laundry and housework that I was getting behind on, but they make sure that I am eating right to keep up my strength. One of the first things you quit during hospital stays, as you become isolated from the outside world, is structured meals. One spends hours sitting in a waiting room waiting on surgery to get done, only to transfer one’s body to another waiting room where life revolves around the intensive care visiting hour, until you move to a hospital room of continual interruptions day and night for procedures and tests. Your focus on getting your loved one back on their feet becomes your first priority. I’ve found that simple and quick meals are what one goes for in hospital life.

My son, Dwight, loves to fix stuff on the grill stationed on our back porch. After a long day at work, Dwight will often grill something for his supper. During one of my short overnight stays while I was getting packed up to go back to the hospital, Dwight grilled up a hamburger to eat first letting me feature his culinary skills in this week’s column. Warm spring weather is a perfect time to spend outdoors cooking something on the grill surrounded by a dazzling array of spring blossoms. Dwight’s Grilled Burgers is a basic recipe that you can use to make your own deluxe burgers. With a soft bread exterior and crusty inside you get a toasted crunchy taste with each bite. Preparation time for Dwight’s Grilled Burgers is around fifteen minutes and this recipe makes one grilled burger.

Dwight’s Grilled Burgers

2 slices of bread or hamburger bun
1 hamburger
garlic salt & pepper
1 tb chopped green peppers
1 slice of pepper jack cheese
1 tb margarine

Get the grill hot and wait until the fire dies down. Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper on the hamburger and place on the hot grill. Lightly brown the bottom and flip over. Place peppers and then the cheese on the hamburger. Butter the bread and place the buttered side down on the hot grill. Shut the grill until the bread is lightly toasted and the cheese is melted. Place the toasted sides against the grilled hamburger. Add lettuce, sliced tomato, onion, ketchup, and mustard before eating!

Weekly tip: Use hickory or other wood chips to add flavor to your grilled meat!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Sloppy Joe's

Sloppy Joe’s
Dorcas Annette Walker

My husband is quite the storyteller, who not only puts himself into the story changing voices to match characters and creating sound effects as he goes along, but with his imagination Dana is also good at adding or changing parts of a story on a whim. Our children always begged their dad to read them a story knowing that before the story ended they would be nearly scared out of their wits. Even simple nursery rhymes became hair-raising experiences. I have to credit my husband with getting my children to read at an early age in order to catch Dad when he suddenly veered from the written words. I can still hear my kids yelling, “No, daddy, that isn’t the way it goes,” and Dana answering, “How do you know? You can’t read.” Their little faces would concentrate on each word until they could identify them. The only place I didn’t let my husband tell stories was at bedtime to avoid nightmares.

I’ll never forget the first time our daughter asked why the barbeques we had for supper one night were called Sloppy Joe’s. My husband instantly got a gleam in his eye and before I could answer he said, “Sloppy Joe’s are called that because Mommy chops up this person called Joe, adds some stuff to him, and cooks him up.” Dawn immediately questioned, “That’s not true is it, Mommy?” Before I could reply, Dana grabbed his knife and waved it around saying, “And you know what? When we run out of Joe we’ll start on your guys. We’ll have sloppy Dawn first and then sloppy Dwight.” By now both of our kid’s eyes were huge and they were hanging onto the edge of the table. Then Dana put down the knife, grabbed his sandwich, took a big bite, and said, “Mmm, I love Sloppy Joe’s. I can’t wait until we have sloppy Dawn and sloppy Dwight.” I was quick to reassure my children that it was only another one of their dad’s tall tales. Now-a-days it is the grandkids that beg their Grandpa to tell read them a story.

The history of Sloppy Joe’s is a paradox. Owners of a restaurant in Iowa that is known for their sloppy sandwiches claim that it was named after a cook they had by the name of Joe, another hypothesis is that the name derived from the appearance of a man called Joe after eating a messy sandwich, while in Florida a bar called Sloppy Joe’s claims they invented the name. There are many varieties of Sloppy Joe’s with alternate names such as: Wimpies, Yip yips, Slush burgers, Barbecues, and Hot tamales. In parts of Northern New Jersey a Sloppy Joe refers to a cold deli-type sandwich. My Sloppy Joe recipe comes from an old Mennonite cookbook that I have used for years.

Sloppy Joe’s

2 lbs hamburger
1 small onion chopped
1 c catsup
2 tb br sugar
2 tb vinegar
1 tb prepared mustard
garlic salt, regular salt & pepper

In a large iron skillet fry hamburger and onion until brown sprinkling on the salts and pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with hamburger buns. This recipe serves eight!

Weekly tip: When doubling the recipe you can substitute tomato sauce or soup for part of the catsup!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Gourmet Hot Chocolate Mix

Gourmet Hot Chocolate Mix
Dorcas Annette Walker

An exciting part of Christmas is giving gifts. Our family tradition is to start placing gifts under the tree as soon as it is up. My youngsters loved touching, carefully counting and shaking presents to see if they could guess what was in them. By their teenage years I was using all sizes of boxes, weights, and items that would make noise in order to camouflage what was inside the wrapped gifts. Now that my kids are grown, I still like to keep them on their toes. For a couple of years I took turns choosing one to be “honored” by giving them a gag gift that involved starting with a big box with a slightly smaller wrapped present inside until they got down to a tiny final gift. Then last year instead of just selecting one person, I wrapped up all their presents that way. This year I plan to have a treasure hunt giving a clue to discover the first gift with the next clue attached to the gift etc. After all the hours spent wrapping presents it will be relaxing to sit back and watch my grown children race back and forth throughout the house searching for their Christmas gifts. I don’t want them to lose the anticipation and excitement of Christmas just because they are getting older. I am open to other suggestions to help keep the spirit of Christmas alive at my house.

Instead of just giving toys, I began when my children were little to give books by a favorite author and then to build sets of books each year. I get my practical side from my mother. When my daughter was a teenager, she would give me the size and colors of a couple carefully selected clothes within a certain price range that I would put back on lay-a-way. I initiated my son-in-law, Randy, on his first Christmas by giving him socks. It has become a family joke with everyone wildly guessing each year in which present Randy will find his socks. I always make sure not to disappoint him. In the first couple of years after my daughter was married her mother-in-law gave a large basket filled with toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap etc. each Christmas. Last year my daughter she said what she really wanted most for Christmas was a new laundry basket. Like a loving mother I made sure that my daughter got the one she desired. By sharing lists of things that are needed or wanted our family avoids the hassles of standing in long lines after Christmas to return or exchange items.

My Gourmet Hot Chocolate Mix makes an ideal gift from the kitchen. This rich chocolate drink is perfect for wintertime. You can substitute a mocha-flavored creamer with one cup of instant coffee granules; add miniature marshmallows, two teaspoons of ground cinnamon, or chocolate/mint chips to the mix to make one-of-a-kind gourmet drink. Preparation time is ten minutes and this recipe makes around nineteen cups of mix.

Gourmet Hot Chocolate Mix

10 quarts powdered milk
1 (16 oz) coffee creamer
1 (16 oz) instant chocolate breakfast drink
1 lb powdered sugar
1 (5 oz) pkg cook & serve chocolate pudding
In a large container mix all the dry ingredients together thoroughly and store in an airtight container. Use ¼ c of mix to one c of hot water. Serve with marshmallows or peppermint candy canes!

Weekly tip: For a holiday twist dip 24 large marshmallows halfway into a mixture of: 1 c powdered sugar thinned with 4-5 teaspoons of water and then roll in crushed peppermints. Let dry for a couple of hours on wax paper and thread with wooden skewers!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

PA Dutch Apple Butter

PA Dutch Apple Butter
Dorcas Annette Walker

Autumn has finally arrived up here in the Tennessee Mountains with chilly nights and warm days. I’ve been keeping a fire in my woodstove relishing the warmth of a crackling fire. The smell of wood smoke wafting on the air, dried leaves swirling downward, and the popping sound of acorns hitting the hard ground somehow makes one feel energetic once again. Even our ancient chocolate lab, Sandy, kicks up her heels and rolls around on her back in the grass as if to savor the last bit of warmth from the earth. Now is the time for gathering in the last bit of garden vegetables before the first frost hits while pumpkins and apples finish ripening. Although my pantry shelves are overflowing with canned goods, like the squirrels outside, I still want to put up more food. The sight of baskets filled with colorful apples in the market draws me like a magnet.

This is the time to make up a big batch of my homemade apple butter using an old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe. Just like it takes a mixture of the right kinds of apples to produce good cider so does the blending of certain spices make high-rate apple butter. Once you have tasted the PA Dutch Apple Butter you will never be satisfied with what they sell in the stores now-a-days. My Mennonite grandmother made apple butter in huge black pots over a fire out in her yard that she would put up and sell in their market. I enjoy keeping the family tradition going. There is something captivating about the smell of apple butter slowly cooking on the stove sending out a spicy aroma that makes all the hours it takes to prepare well worth the effort.

My PA Dutch Apple Butter has a thick dark-brown sweet smooth texture of intermingling spices that can be used in different ways: to make a filling apple butter sandwich, spread on one slice of bread, used for filling in stack cakes, and on top of fried squash. While there are recipes that cook apple butter in microwaves, ovens, or the Crockpot, I prefer cooking mine on the stove in large roaster pans like I’ve always done. Preparation time for making up a batch of PA Dutch Apple Butter is three to four hours and this recipe makes seven pints.

PA Dutch Apple Butter

12 c of unsweetened applesauce
6 c sugar
1 tb cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp allspice

Mix all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon in a large roaster pan boiling slowly for at least three hours until thickened. Pour into pint jars and can for ten minutes to seal. Let cool completely before serving!

Weekly tip: One bushel of apples quartered, cooked, and processed into applesauce will be enough to quadruple (four times) this recipe yielding thirty pints of apple butter with one quart of applesauce left!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Salsa Dip

Salsa Dip
Dorcas Annette Walker

It seems like yesterday that our house phone buzzed nonstop with teenage conversations- back in the dark ages before cell phones and wireless phones. In fact I seldom answered the kitchen phone as there was always a teenage grabbing the headpiece as soon as the phone rang, with a surprised look of amazement when a caller actually wanted my husband or me. Since I didn’t believe in letting my teenagers have a phone of their own, much less in their bedroom, the cord was stretched to maximum tautness with the headpiece attached to my daughter’s ear as she’d walk down the hallway talking nonstop. Those were the days when the constant ringing of the phone became normal background noise. My younger son complained that all his sister ever did was talk and giggle on the phone with her friends. He thought it was quite boring and dumb. When Dawn started going with Randy, who lived in Nashville, the only communication we could get with our daughter was between intense private talks on the phone that somehow she managed to stretch to her closed bedroom doorway. Each chat with her boyfriend meant more analyzed and dissected discussions of feedback from her closest friends. It probably would have been more appropriate to have had the florist use phone cords instead of trailing ivy in our daughter’s bridal bouquet.

My husband and I thought that after our daughter was married we would once again have the use of the house phone to ourselves, but lo and behold if our son, who usually didn’t talk much, hit the teenage stage and he became attached to the phone head piece. All kinds of friends called for long and debated conversations ranging around car and truck parts and how many miles a gallon a certain vehicle got. Interestingly enough when I compared all the earlier girl giggles to the present boisterous boy laughter they seemed just about evenly matched and the length of the phone calls remained just the same. So after our son got married it was quite a shock to suddenly discover that when the phone rang we had to answer it. Since then our house has been quite silent without the continual ringing of a phone in the background.

The only way I survived those hectic teenage days was with my Salsa Dip and plenty of tortilla chips during sleepovers. Today there are a variety of tortilla chips that you can use. You can also add or substitute chopped red & green peppers, mushrooms, onions, sausage refried beans, black olives, or serve with sour cream. Heat the dip in the microwave or keep in a Crockpot on low for instant use. My Salsa Dip takes about fifteen minutes to prepare and this recipes makes around six cups of dip.

Salsa Dip

1 lb hamburger
1 pint of medium salsa
15.5 oz jar of salsa cheese or cheese whiz

Brown, chop fine, and drain hamburger. Mix together in a medium bowl the hamburger, salsa, and cheese. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator!

Weekly tip: Use mugs or foam cups instead of bowls or plates for dips, and paper towels as an alternative to napkins for holding chips!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Popcorn Balls

Popcorn Balls
Dorcas Annette Walker

October is National Popcorn Month so I thought I’d give Popcorn Ball recipes for you to enjoy. It wasn’t until I married into the Walker family that I became acquainted with real popcorn eaters. They eat it by the bag, uh, not those little bags the microwave popcorn comes in, but the ole fashion large brown grocery store bags. The first time I saw my husband’s parents filling up an entire brown bag, I thought that the rest of the clan was going to appear. Believe it or not that huge bag of popcorn was just for the four of us and yes it all was consumed. I told my husband later that now I understood why my father-in-law was so hyperactive. He was full of popcorn.

Popcorn was originally discovered by the Native Americans. Popcorn became popular as a snack food in the Great Depression. During World War II, sugar rations slowed down candy production causing Americans to eat more popcorn than before. Today popcorn is one of America’s favorite snacks with US consumption of popcorn at 73 quarts per person each year. One out of every ten Americans is a popcorn fanatic.

Popcorn is a type of corn, which explodes when heated as each kernel contains a tiny drop of water. The expansion of the water causes the corn to pop. Some strains of corn are now cultivated specifically for popping corn. Almost all the popcorn consumed throughout the world is grown in: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and Ohio.

Popcorn facts: popcorn can pop up to three feet in the air, the English Corn Laws passed in 1436 were actually about wheat, Colonial housewives served popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast- the first “puffed” breakfast cereal, January 19th is National Popcorn Day and April 7th is Carmel Popcorn Day, the peak season for popcorn sales is in the fall, and the world’s largest popcorn ball was 12 feet in diameter containing 2,000 pounds of popcorn, 40,000 pounds of sugar, 280 gallons of corn syrup, and 400 gallons of water. Now that’s what you call a popcorn ball!

Popcorn Ball combinations are endless making popcorn a guaranteed snack pleaser for any family as you can mix and match ingredients to please even the fussiest eater in your household. You can make healthy Popcorn Balls by using a variety of dried fruits, cocoanut, and other nuts or load your Popcorn Balls with any small colorful candies, white, chocolate, or butterscotch chips, and mini marshmallows. The sky is the limit. Also any flavor of popcorn can be used as well. Both recipes can make about a dozen popcorn balls.

Popcorn Balls

2 bags of popped pop corn
1 (10 oz) bag of regular marshmallows
1 stick of margarine
¼ c peanut butter (optional)

Microwave marshmallows, margarine, and peanut butter until melted. Add popped corn and any other ingredients. Shape into balls and let harden!

Ole Fashion Carmel Popcorn

2 bags of popped corn
1 stick of margarine
1 c brown sugar
½ c milk

In a small saucepan boil margarine, brown sugar, and milk for five minutes until thickened. Let sit for five minutes and then drizzle over popped corn!

Weekly tip: The best way to store popcorn is in a plastic or glass airtight container as even a 1% drop in moisture will affect the quality of your popped kernels. Avoid storing popcorn in the refrigerator!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Cheesy Sausage Burgers

Cheesy Sausage Burgers

Dorcas Annette Walker

It was another night following a church revival and we were at the parsonage for a snack afterwards. I was in the kitchen helping the pastor’s wife and immediately became intrigued when she made up a batch of Cheesy Sausage Burgers. Not only did they taste delicious and were filling, but this snack was so simple to make. I quickly jotted down the recipe and have used it ever since.

The word sausage comes from a Latin root meaning prepared by salt as in the ancient time people did not have refrigeration to preserve their meat. Sausage is classified as prepared food consisting of ground meat, fat, salt, and spices. The Greeks had a comic play entitled “The Sausage” around 500 BC and mention of sausages date back to China in 589 BC. Sausage is considered a traditional food preserving technique using curing, drying, cooking, or smoking. Different countries and cities developed and became known for their own type of sausages. Today three European countries are famous for their sausages: Germany, France, and Hungary. Sausage making has become an art. Over 200 different varieties of sausages are made in the United States alone. Sausage recipes also include seafood and vegetarian blends.

Sausage facts:
- Hot dogs are the most common pre-cooked sausages in the United States and Canada.
- Sausages were called bangers during World War II because they contained so much water they exploded when fried.
- 83% of sausages are made of pork.
- More sausages are eaten on Saturday than any other day of the week; 18% eaten for breakfast and 44% in the evening.
- Every day 5 million Britons will eat sausages.
- Sausage is the ultimate Finnish fast food.
- Seafood sausages are popular in Asia.

My Cheesy Sausage Burgers are finger-licking good with a melting cheesy spicy sausage taste. These burgers are very versatile as you can use any type of sausage from mild to hot or substitute hamburger for the sausage, use any kind of cheese whiz or dip and for the crust bread, buns, or biscuits can work. Leftover Cheesy Sausage Burgers can been frozen and microwaved for later. Preparation time for my Cheesy Sausage Burgers is twenty minutes and this recipe makes one dozen.

Cheesy Sausage Burgers

6 hamburger buns
1 lb of sausage
1(16 oz) jar of cheddar cheese dip

Brown the sausage in an iron skillet until crumbly, drain, and add cheese. Heat until the cheese melted. Then divide and spread the cheesy sausage mixture on top of halved hamburger buns. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes. Serve hot!

Weekly tip: Salad tip #4: Allow greens to stand at room temperature no longer than 15 minutes before serving. Tossed salads with dressing should be served immediately or add the salad dressing at the table. Too much dressing will also make salads soggy!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Tuna Burgers

Tuna Burgers

Dorcas Annette Walker

Usually I am able to remember where I first tasted a food whenever I think about the circumstances of where I was at the time, but for some reason Tuna Burgers comes up blank. I probably ran across this recipe somewhere while out on the road. During the summer my daughter wouldn’t unpack her suitcase when we came home as invariably we’d be heading out again somewhere else the next week. I do know that during those whirlwind days of traveling around the United States and school days, Tuna Burgers were a lifesaver.

Tuna has been fished from the Mediterranean Sea, Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans since ancient times, but the name only dates back to 1880. A member of the mackerel family, tuna has streamlined body’s two fins, five or more finlets, and is very narrow at the tail, which is forked. Tuna are in constant motion, can cruise up to 55 mph, and have been tracked from Japan to California traveling through open ocean and waters of dozen of nations in its lifetime. To maintain this speed, tuna eats up to ten percent of its body weight daily and can reach up to 600 pounds per fish. Efforts to conserve and manage tuna’s sustainability stock are an ongoing one.

The majority of commercial tuna harvest comes from California. Only about one percent of tuna is sold as fresh fish. Canned tuna is America’s most popular fish second to shrimp. The average consumption of tuna is 3.6 pounds per person each year; a total of 1 billion pounds of canned and pouched tuna annually. Canned tuna is healthy being rich in protein, low in fat and calories, and is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Canned tuna, unopened and not damaged, has a shelf-life up to four years under normal conditions; pouched tuna has a shelf-life of three.

In March 2004 the FDA and Environmental Protection Agency reassessed their findings on mercury in fish. Their summary: It is safe for the average person and women of child-bearing age to eat up to two cans of tuna per week. Pregnant women should avoid eating tuna while young children (up to 45 pounds) can safely eat one-half a can of tuna per week. So unless you plan on eating an entire can of tuna each day, tuna is perfectly safe to eat.

My Tuna Burgers have a mild creamy tuna salad consistency laid on top of a crusty bun. These burgers can be made up ahead of time, served warm or eaten cold, or you can double the recipe and place part of the Tuna Burgers in the freezer for later meals. The Tuna Burgers take only fifteen minutes to prepare and this recipe serves ten.

Tuna Burgers

5 hamburger buns or 10 slices of bread
2 (5oz) cans of tuna
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1 c mayonnaise
½ c chopped celery
1 tb minced onion
Salt and pepper

Place hamburger bun halves on a large tray. In a medium-sized bowl mix together thoroughly tuna, cheese, mayonnaise, celery, onion, and shake in salt and pepper to taste. Divide and place a heaping tb on each hamburger half. Bake for 15 minutes at 350º until the cheese is melted. Cool for fifteen minutes and then serve with celery sticks or a tossed salad!

Weekly tip: Salad tip #3: Never cut salad greens with a knife. Instead tear them with your fingers into bite-size pieces as cutting greens with a knife will turn the edges brown!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Spam Burgers

Spam Burgers

Dorcas Annette Walker

I first tasted Spam Burgers in the Bible Institute kitchen that I attended. Since I had a study hall right before lunch, and the call had gone out for volunteer help in the kitchen, I found myself a couple days each week in the school kitchen helping prepare and serve the lunches. I soon became good friends with the cooks. Guess who was one of the first fellows to arrive at the kitchen close to lunchtime? This tall lanky blond fellow with a wide grin seemed to hang around every time I worked in the kitchen. He knew just exactly how to butter up the cooks and get larger portions of food. He also knew how to work his charm on me and that is how one afternoon, instead of a romantic setting like I had always envisioned, I found myself being proposed to at one end of the dining hall while the cooks bustled back and forth in the kitchen preparing a meal. For some unknown reason my destiny always seems to circle around a kitchen.

Spam by first developed by Hormel in 1926 and was the first canned meat that did not require refrigeration. It was called the “miracle meat” and became a prime staple for the military during WWII, who soon began singing songs about how much they hated the stuff. Regardless, once they returned home the soldiers brought a taste of Spam back with them. This innovative product became fated to save lives, win wars, and balance the diet of people worldwide. One of the most important moments in Spam’s history was in 1970 when a popular British comedy show produced a skit where every item on the menu consisted of Spam ending with a song in praise of Spam. Today spam is most widely known as a term used for the sending of unsolicited bulk messages over the internet. Its start in 1993 came by Richard Drew, who had a software program with a bug in it that ended up posting 200 messages ticking a lot of people off.

My Spam Burgers have a sharp ham flavor surrounded by melting cheese on toasted wheat bread. Spam Burgers can be made up ahead of time and popped into the oven right before serving. Leftovers can be frozen and microwaved later. These Spam Burgers are great for parties or as a snack. Any type of breads or buns can be used from regular, pita, and French to rye along with using Swiss cheese instead of mozzarella. My Spam Burgers take only ten minutes to prepare and this recipe serves eight.

Spam Burgers

8 slices of wheat bread
1 (12 oz) can of luncheon meat
½ (12 oz) bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 c mayonnaise
3 tb catsup
1 tb dried onion
1 tb sweet pickle relish
Black pepper

In a medium-size bowl shred the luncheon meat and add cheese, mayonnaise, catsup, onion, and pickle relish. Sprinkle on black pepper to taste. Mix well, divide up, and spread on the slices of wheat bread laid out on a large tray. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes until lightly browned and the cheese is melted. Garnish with chives or parsley and serve hot with a tossed salad!

Weekly tip: Salad tip #2: Cut the core out of lettuce heads with a paring knife, wrap in paper towels, and store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. You can store lettuce this way for up to a month letting you stock up on lettuce when on sale!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Meat Lovers Pizza Burgers

Meat Lovers Pizza Burgers

Dorcas Annette Walker

Schools are back in session. It doesn’t seem that long ago that my life completely revolved around a school schedule. When my son started kindergarten, I also went back to school and taught kindergarten. It was a learning experience for us both. When Dwight reached high school, I homeschooled him due to his chronic internal bleeding episodes that made him absent so many school days. There never seemed enough hours in a day to do everything that needed done. I didn’t have time to spend in the kitchen cooking up a huge meal. So this month I am going to feature four different kinds of burgers that are quick and easy to make that our family enjoyed.

There is a lot of controversy over who exactly first invented the pizza. Egyptians and other ancient Middle Eastern cultures were eating bread much like a pita. Pizza was considered a peasants meal in Italy for centuries. The modern pizza has been attributed to a baker in the 16th century, who owned a restaurant in Naples and baked a special pizza for the Italian king and queen. The introduction of tomatoes on pizzas came in the 18th and early 19th century. As pizza became more popular street vendors gave way to shops where people could order custom pizzas with different toppings. In the early 1900’s pizza made its way to the United States through Italian immigrants. For over 50 years pizza has been an American favorite food. Millions of pizzas are eaten daily.

My Meat Lovers Pizza Burgers are very versatile in that any favorite pizza topping can be added to customize the pizza burgers for your family, leftovers can be frozen and then microwaved, or you can make up a batch of Meat Lovers Pizza Burgers to freeze and bake later. Sausage or ham can be added or substituted for the hamburger as well as peppers and black olives. Any way you make them Meat Lovers Pizza Burgers will be a hit with your family each time you serve them. Preparation time for my Meat Lovers Pizza Burgers is around thirty minutes and this recipe serves sixteen.

Meat Lovers Pizza Burgers

8 jumbo hamburger buns
1½ lb ground hamburger
1 tb chopped onion
1 tsp oregano
¼ tsp garlic salt
2 c pizza or spaghetti sauce
½ c parmesan cheese
48 pieces of pepperoni
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Fry hamburger until browned adding onion, oregano, and garlic salt. Lay half a hamburger bun on two large trays inside up. Spread with a tb of sauce and sprinkle on parmesan cheese. Drain the hamburger and divide up between the buns. Place three pieces of pepperoni on each half and then top with ¼ c of mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350º for fifteen minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve hot with a tossed salad!

Weekly tip: Since each of my four burgers go great with a tossed salad; I’m going to give a salad tip each week. #1 Select greens that are crisp and free of discoloration. Heads should be firm and solid to the touch!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Dad's Crispy Treats

Dad’s Crispy Treats

Dorcas Annette Walker

My son’s friends at the body shop do more than work on cars. Besides keeping up with all the news, they love to taste-test any new recipes that I come up with, especially along the dessert or snack line. I always appreciate their feedback and honest opinions. In fact this week’s Dad’s Crispy Treats evolved from the suggestions and ideas that came out of the body shop. I thought it would make a perfect treat for dads this month.

There are all kinds of fathers. This August my son is getting married to a single mother and will not only become a husband, but he will also be a stepdad to a little boy. I know I’m prejudiced, but even though Dwight has never fathered a child biologically, he will be an excellent dad to this little boy. All Case has ever known is Dwight as a father. It has been a special time watching as my son changed from a single young adult status to becoming a responsible young father learning how to take care of a small child. In a perfect world there would be no split families or single parents struggling to raise children by themselves. I’m very proud of my son, who has chosen to take on the role of a stepdad.

I’d like to honor all the stepdads that have opened up their hearts to children needing a father figure in their life. Not only have these dads been willing to financially support and raise an extended family, but a good stepfather gives security and a steady role model to his stepchildren. I’d also like to include the dads, who are split from their children yet continue to financially support their children year after year and be a part of their lives as much as possible. I know of one young divorced father, who drives four hours across the state every other weekend just to spend time with his small daughter. These dads are pillars in the lives of their children and should be praised and emulated.

My Dad’s Crispy Treats are easy to make and will be an instant hit with both children and fathers. You can substitute or add chocolate chips, Skittles, Reece pieces, crumbled Butterfinger candy bars, peanuts, butterscotch chips, or any other kind of candy, nuts, or frosting that the dad of your household likes. These fudgy crunchy treats will appeal to every man’s sweet tooth. My finger-licking Dad’s Crispy Treats takes fifteen minutes to prepare (not counting sitting time for hardening) and this recipe makes eighteen large squares.

Dad’s Crispy Treats

Melt together in the microwave:
1 stick margarine
1(10 oz) pkg large marshmallows
1 c peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

Stir in:
6 c rice crispy cereal
1 c M & M’s
1 c mini marshmallows
Pour the mixture into a wax paper lined 9 x 13 baking dish and press flat with a spatula. Let the treats harden for a couple of hours.

Then spread on the top:
1 (16 oz) can of chocolate frosting
Cut into squares, and serve!

Weekly tip: For a harder frosting topping chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

A La Golden Rod

A La Golden Rod

Dorcas Annette Walker

I have been blessed with many memories of my mother that lives on even though my mother has been gone for almost sixteen years. One childhood memory I cherish is the rare times my mother made her favorite dish, A La Golden Rod. Every time I make A La Golden Rod I remember my mother. Both my children loved when I made A La Golden Rod as I would tell them stories about their grandma. Today I try to live up to the wonderful legacy that my mother left to pass it along to my daughter and granddaughter. I hope that your Mother’s Day will be filled with making or enjoying lots of memories.

Any beauty or sweetness that I have I owe to my mother, who believed that I could do or become anything that I wanted to be. My first book published, To Say Good-bye, is about my mother. You can find it on my website at: http://www.dorcasannettewalker.com/ I’m still awed by the strength and sacrifice my mother possessed in order to support her family, keep food on the table, and clothes on our body while somehow managing to give us children a private education. My mother was very talented and yet she stifled her desires and dreams to keep our family secure, take care of a disabled husband, and work fulltime. Her loving personality brightened the lives of her patients and coworkers. Everyone that met my mother fell in love with her.

Though never formally trained, my mother could draw and sketch. I remember early years when church services seemed to last forever and us children would become restless, my mother would take out her pen and a small piece of paper and draw pictures for us. We’d become so enthralled over seeing a blank piece of paper come to life that we’d hate when church was over. My sister, Lois, inherited my mother’s artistic gene and is a talented artist today. In college my mother wrote a couple of poems that were published and once a newspaper article. I like to think that I have inherited a small portion of my mother’s gift for putting words together.

Our mother had a knack of sending special cards. I’ve made books out of all the cards she sent me and placemats out of the cards she saved. Each year my sister and I have a tradition. We browse through all the Mother’s Day cards until we find one like our mother would send us. We carefully read each word and tenderly place it back on the shelf. Then we’ll find a card that says exactly how we feel and send the thought skyward to our mother.

A La Golden Rod is a perfect dish for lunch or a brunch. The creamy sooth white sauce on top of hot buttered toast is filling as well as a delight to the eye. My A La Golden Rod takes about twenty minutes to prepare and this recipe serves four.

A La Golden Rod

4 hardboiled eggs (chop the whites and mash the yolks with a fork separate)
4 pieces of buttered toast

In a large skillet melt 3 tb margarine. Add:
¾ c self-rising flour
4 c milk
chopped egg whites
1 tsp salt
Sprinkle on pepper
Stir slowly with a Wisk until thickened. Pour white sauce over toast. Sprinkle on mashed egg yolks and garnish with parsley!

Weekly tip: Store eggs broad side up. Yolks are less likely to break!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Puppy Chow

Puppy Chow

Dorcas Annette Walker

Want to fool your family this April Fool’s Day and raise some eyebrows? Serve them Puppy Chow. I am intrigued by names people give food as I travel around like: Dirt Pudding, Mississippi Mud Cake, Pigs Piggin Cake, Better Than Sex Cake, Cow Plop Cookies, Turtle Cake, Wackie Cake, Rabbit Salad, and Monkey Bread to name a few. April Fool’s Day is a perfect time to serve an unusual recipe to your family.

April 1st is a day when jokes, pranks, and tricks are played on family, friends, and coworkers throughout the world. The most accepted theory where April Fool’s Day originated from dates in 1582 when France adopted the Gregorain Calendar shifting the observance of New Year’s day from the end of March to the beginning of January. Since communication traveled slowly some folks out of ignorance or stubbornness continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on the first of April and were made the butt of pranks and considered foolish and thus April 1st turned into April Fool’s Day.

Some past April Fool pranks:
- In 1957 the BBC television programmed a hoax showing Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. A large number of folk contacted BBC wanting to know how to grow spaghetti trees.
- In 1976 a British astronomer told listeners of BBC Radio 2 that due to a unique alignment of two planets an upward gravitational pull would make people lighter at precisely 7:47 a.m. that day. He invited his audience to jump and experience a strange floating sensation. Dozens of listeners phoned in to say that the experiment worked.
- In 1993 a San Diego radio station announced that the space shuttle had been diverted from Edwards Air Force Base and was about make an emergency landing at a small local airport.
- 1996 Taco Bell put out a full page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to help reduce the national debt and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell. When asked about the sale, White House press secretary replied that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
- In 1998 Burger King ran and ad in USA Today saying that people could purchase a left-handed Whooper. Not only did customers order new burgers, but some specifically requested “old” right-handed burgers.
- In 2003 a radio station WAAF 107.3 in Boston announced a free concert by Pearl Jam giving a fictitious city in New Hampshire. A gas station in New Hampshire reported streams of cars drivers stopping to ask directions to the fictional town.
- Also in 2003 Chinese and South Korean websites claimed that CNN had reported the assassination of Bill Gates resulting in a 1.5% drop in the Korean stock market.
- In 2005 a news story was posted on the official NASA website purporting to have pictures of water on Mars. The picture was a glass of water sitting on a Mars Candy Bar.
- In 2006 a Cheyenne radio station reported that a Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 “Big Boy” steam locomotive weighing more than 550 tons was stolen from Holliday Park even though there were no tracks connecting it to any railroad. The road that overlooks the park was jammed for hours as people came to investigate.

My Puppy Chow isn’t guaranteed to make any major national news headlines, but it will be a hit with your family. The Puppy Chow has a crunchy texture with a chocolate peanut buttery taste. You can mix-match any Chex cereal. Nuts, dried fruits, or plain popcorn can be added/substituted to make your own original Puppy Chow. My Puppy Chow takes only ten minutes to prepare and this recipe makes thirteen cups.

Puppy Chow

Melt in the microwave:
½ stick of margarine
1 c creamy or crunchy peanut butter
1 (12 oz) pkg semi sweet chocolate chips

Pour over:
1 (14 oz) box of Corn Chex in a large bowl. Stir until well coated.

Put 2 c powdered sugar in a paper sack and dump the coated cereal into the bag. Shake thoroughly until coated with powdered sugar. Store the Puppy Chow in an air-tight container! (*Do not feed Puppy Chow to your dog as chocolate is poisonious to them!)

Weekly tip: To maintain a clean-free microwave cover any food that is being heated or melted and keep a paper plate on the round turn-table changing as needed for liquid spills!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Valentine Barbecue Biscuits

Valentine Barbecue Biscuits

Dorcas Annette Walker

I’m the type of cook that thinks a little bit more is better. My daughter on the other hand will count out a potato for each person and add one to the pot. I count the people, grab an extra large size pan, and fill it up. So invariably I end up with leftovers. While I don’t go as far as my grandmother did- she’d grab a bowl of food and keep filling up your plate every time you emptied it during a meal at her house- I tend to rate the success of my meal by how well a person can walk after eating at my table. If they groan complaining about being too stuffed and stagger when they try to walk, I figure that my food was good. As a precaution for preventing heart attacks or sudden seizures we sit around and talk for awhile after everyone is finished eating. I was raised that mealtime should not only be a time for enjoying food, but also a time for fellowship. To me the table should be a haven from the fast paced society that we live in. I always made it a rule for our family to gather around the table at least one time a day no matter if I had to juggle the hour back or forth in order to accomplish my goal. Now that my children are grown I cherish our mealtimes together even more when they come back home for a visit.

Nighttime snacks can also be an opportunity of fellowship whether it is with the family, a youth group, or an adult get-to-gether. Leftovers are an ideal chance of using food in different creative ways. One Sunday afternoon as I was scrambling around trying to figure out what to have for our Sunday night open house at the parsonage, I decided to experiment with the leftover roast and came up with my Valentine Barbecue Biscuits.

Any leftover meat such as pork, hamburger, and beef can be used in making the Valentine Barbecue Biscuits. Also in place of biscuits you can substitute soft tacos, pita bread or a slice of regular bread. These Valentine Barbecue Biscuits are quick and easy to make- I’ve even made them up beforehand ready to pop into the oven at the last minute. So use your imagination and don’t be afraid to personalize your Valentine Barbecue Biscuits to pamper the taste buds of your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day.

Valentine Barbecue Biscuits

1 (16oz) can of jumbo-size buttermilk biscuits
1 c cooked meat (chopped or shredded into bite-size pieces)
½ c barbecue sauce (any flavor)
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Flatten out each biscuit making a slightly raised edge on a greased baking tray. Mix the meat and barbecue sauce together then place a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture on top of each biscuit. Sprinkle on shredded cheese and bake in the oven at 350º for fifteen minutes until slightly browned. Serve hot right from the oven! This recipe makes eight Valentine Barbecue Biscuits.

Weekly tip: Refrigerated canned biscuits make ideal crusts when flattened out and can be used in a pinch for about any recipe. I always like to keep a couple of cans of biscuits in my refrigerator for any unexpected company.

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Mountain Cookin page and blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Homemade Zesty Salsa

Homemade Zesty Salsa

Dorcas Annette Walker

As the summer months wind down to a close I love gathering the remaining garden produce savoring the freshness for the winter months ahead. One way of using those last tomatoes is to make up a batch of salsa. Growing up we had pickled and hot relishes that used cucumbers as a base. Today salsa is a big hit with the younger generation. I was amazed to see my son that refuses to eat fresh tomatoes, consume jars of salsa. So I began making homemade salsa thrilled to see groups of teens at our house gobble up bowls of healthy vegetables disguised by the name of salsa.

The word salsa is a Spanish word for sauce that goes back to the Aztec culture where tomatoes, chilies, squash seeds, and even beans were used. In 1868, Edmund McIhenny began packaging aged pepper sauce in cologne bottles, which immediately became an overwhelming demand. David and Margaret Pace introduced the first commercial taco sauce in the United States in 1955. In the 1970’s the “whole food movement” trend swept the country adding to the popularity of salsa. Dan Jardine began producing salsa in Austin, Texas in 1975 giving Austin the reputation as the hot sauce capital of America. By the year 2000 more households bought salsa than ketchup. Today chunky salsa is currently the most popular form.

Salsa ranges from mild to sweet to spicy and is used as a dip for chips or to accompany any kind of food. Salsa generally has a tomato or corn base. There are over 500 recipes for salsa ranging from pineapple and blueberry to mango. Salsa is healthy as it is low in calories and contains little or no fat. Tomatoes and chilies contain vitamins A and C with tomatoes also having potassium. No matter what style of taste you prefer there is bound to be a salsa to meet your liking.

My Homemade Zesty Salsa is what I consider to be medium salsa. I’ve perfected this recipe under the advice and suggestions of different teens with my son being the chief advisor. My latest experiment this summer has resulted in a chunky salsa that my son declares is as good as or better than what you buy in the store. My Homemade Zesty Salsa is a combination of fresh vegetables and spices cooked for two hours over medium heat (just at a slow boil) and then sealed to preserve freshness. Preparation time for the Homemade Zesty Salsa will take a good half of a day or more. This recipe makes 30 pints.

Homemade Zesty Salsa

½ bushel of tomatoes
5 sweet green peppers
10 onions
5 (6 oz) cans of tomato paste
5 (15 oz) cans of tomato sauce
1 c sugar
1 c vinegar (white)
¼ c salt
4 tb crushed red pepper
2 tb garlic salt
1 tb parsley flakes
Blanch and peel skins off of the tomatoes and chop up into small chunks. Chop up the green peppers and onions in a food processor. Pour into a large canner. Mix in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, and salt. Stir in the crushed red pepper, garlic salt, and parsley. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil the ingredients for at least one hour at a slow boil. Pour the salsa into pint jars. Process pint jars in a hot water bath for fifteen minutes to completely seal.

Weekly tip: For a sure seal on your canned jars: always make sure that the jar edge has no nicks or cracks, moisten your finger and rub along the top edge to ensure that it is clean, tighten the lids as tight as possible, then process the jars under water!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, syndicated columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net For more recipes check out her Creative Mountain Cookin page at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Homemade Granola Cereal

Homemade Granola Cereal

Dorcas Annette Walker

Growing up my breakfast was always a bowl of hot oatmeal- something that I absolutely positively hated with a passion. I was told many times how good it was for me, but I was never fully convinced. Some mornings my bowl of oatmeal seemed more like a form of punishment while eating under my father’s eagle eye to make sure that every bite was swallowed. Once we finished our bowl of oatmeal we could have some applesauce that sat tantalizing within sight. Today’s child psychologist would probably raise their hands in horror over such treatment saying that making a child eat something he didn’t want would scar him psychologically for life. All I knew was that once I was grown I would never ever eat another bowl of hot oatmeal. Guess what I now eat each morning for breakfast? Both my sister and I start out our day with a bowl of hot oatmeal- I like the instant fruit oatmeal packages. My father would be proud.

Unfortunately, with tight daily schedules I found it quicker and more convenient to give my children cold cereal for breakfast instead of cooking oatmeal convincing myself that with the vitamins added it was healthier for my kids. I even used cold cereal as a bedtime snack. I also found that cold cereal was a handy in-between meal snack when we were traveling- those were the days before trail mix. Thankfully both my kids survived their modern upbringing despite viewing eating hot oatmeal as a foreign practice from out of the dark ages. I was quite excited when a friend of mine told me she found a recipe for making homemade granola cereal. Here was a way to add oats to a diet that even the younger generation could not resist. I just wish I could have found this basic recipe when my kids were small. At least it’s not too late to educate my grandkids.

Instant or cold cereal is largely an American invention, but through popularity is marketed around the globe. The first breakfast cereal was invented in 1863 by James Jackson, who was a staunch vegetarian. Despite its high fiber content, his cereal was inconvenient as the bran nuggets had to be soaked overnight to make them tender enough to eat. In 1877, John Kellogg invented a ground-up wheat, oat, and cornmeal biscuit for patients suffering with bowel problems then by accident started using flaked cereals known as Wheat Flakes and Corn Flakes that instantly became popular. In 1897, C.W. Post introduced Grape-Nut’s soon followed by Raisin Bran. By the 1930’s puffed cereal was on the market. After World War II cereal companies began to target children using different mascots and advertising fortified cereal with vitamins. Today breakfast cereals are marketed to attract the attention of all ages.

The exciting thing about making a batch of Homemade Granola Cereal is that you can add or delete ingredients using the basic recipe to individualize your family’s preferred taste. The possibilities are endless. My Homemade Granola Cereal is filling and nutritious. Homemade Granola Cereal is easy to make and this recipe can be halved for a smaller amount or the extra cereal frozen until you need it. This recipe of Homemade Granola Cereal takes one hour and five minutes of preparation time and makes over a gallon of instant granola cereal.

Homemade Granola Cereal

1 (2 lb) box of Quick Oats
*Old Fashion Oats can be substituted for a coarser-type cereal.
½ lb shredded coconut
1 lb brown sugar
1 lb almonds
1 (12 oz) box/pkg raisins
*If you wait to add the raisins until after the cereal is baked they will be softer.
1 tb cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Mix ingredients in a large baking pan and then add:
4 tsp vanilla
1½ c cooking oil
1 c honey
Stir in liquid ingredients and bake at 350º for 1 hour- stirring every fifteen minutes. Use the top oven shelf for a toasted cereal. Stir frequently as the granola cereal cools- about a half an hour. When the granola cereal is cool, store it in an air-tight container. You can add dates, cranberries, or any other dried fruit to this recipe!

Weekly tip: Granola cereal can be used as a topping over apples when making Apple Crisp, eaten with yogurt and fruit, or munched dry by itself as a snack!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, syndicated columnist, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net For more information check out: www.dorcasannettewalker.com