Last Sunday Dinner of August

Is it Sunday again already????  Man, times flies when you're having fun and you're busy.  Well, over at our house we pulled off another tasty Sunday dinner.  It was a small crew at the dining room table today, just Easton, Stephen and myself.  Sometimes it can be hard to be motivated to cook a grandiose meal when our numbers are small, but I remind myself that my youngest child deserves the same love and care that I put into our meals when our house was full of four children as it does now with just our wonderful caboose, Easton! So here we go.....I'm just sending out a disclaimer right now...I went to the grocery store last night and forgot my grocery list at home.  In the parking lot of Kroger I had to rack my brain and come up with another list, hopefully not forgetting anything needed for the meal.  And yes, of course I forgot one of the side dishes, the Cole slaw.  It really was needed to add some texture, color, and pizzazz to our plate.  So with that being said please look at the dinner plate with a mental note to add a lovely plop of Cole slaw to complete your meal.

Saucy Barbecued Chicken (See Recipe Below)

Zesty Baked Beans (See Recipe Below)

Cole Slaw

Chilled Grapes

Sweet Cornbread (See Recipe Below) 

Dessert: Luscious Lemon Crackle (See Recipe Below)

Can't you just see a tasty serving of cole slaw just sitting there waiting to be eaten?  I guess this just proves that I'm not perfect!  It was still a great dinner anyway.

Saucy Barbecued Chicken

This recipe is so old and has totally been made thousands of times by everyone in the family.  It's pretty much our go to recipe when we want a mouthwatering, juicy piece of chicken cooked on the grill.  It's seriously an old recipe because I remember getting it out of my mom's Betty Crocker cookbook that she got from her wedding when I was just learning to cook.  She's been married over 50 years so I guess we'll call this recipe is a timeless classic!

There's a plethora of ingredients that goes into this yummy sauce.

In a saucepan add:

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 TBSP paprika

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp onion powder

1 Cup ketchup

1/4 Cup butter

1/2 Cup hot water (I never use hot water, not sure what difference it makes)

1/3 Cup lemon juice

1 TBSP worstershire sauce

Stir over medium heat until bubbles.  When Stephen grills the chicken we cut the breasts into strips or filets.  When you have smaller pieces of chicken you get more flavor.  He places chicken in a bowl with some of the sauce so that it gets thoroughly covered.  Then places meat on grill until done.  Serve with more sauce on the side.

Zesty Baked Beans

These baked beans are a hit where ever they are served.  I give credit for this recipe to a good friend, Nanette Johnson who made these beans for a going away party for our family when we moved to Utah for six months.  I could not stop eating them and had to ask for the recipe....they are super easy to make and you can cook them in the oven or in the crock pot.  I did tweak the recipe a bit by adding less brown sugar.  I made these the night before, placed them in the refrigerator and cooked them an hour and a half before serving.

In bowl combine:

1 large can kidney beans or two 15 oz cans, drained  (I use light and dark red beans for added color)

1 can lima beans, drained

1  28 oz Bush Homestyle Baked Beans

Don't you just love the different colors?  Looks like a party waiting to happen!

For the sauce combine in a saucepan:

8 slices bacon, crumbled (I always add a little bit more!)
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 Cup brown sugar
2/3 Cup ketchup
4 tsp A-1

Cook sauce.  Simmer 15 minutes.

I just had to show this handy, dandy little measuring cup that I got on my New York trip last summer.  It measures teaspoons and tablespoons.  It's so cool to just measure 4 tsp in a little cup rather than measure 4 individual spoonfuls of whatever!  Or 3 tablespoons.  Great invention!

Add the sauce to the beans and mix well.  Place in oven uncovered at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Baked to perfection!

Sweet Cornbread

I've always been a sweet cornbread kind of person.  I love putting a pat of butter on my warm cornbread and then a drizzle of honey.  Ahhhh, perfection!  It took me years to find the perfectly sweet cake like cornbread recipe that reminded me of the cornbread that they used to serve at the Marie Calendar restaurants in Utah. This is it folks and it came from my daughter.  She got it from a youth leader at church who was helping the girls gather recipes to start their recipe collections.  A shout out and thanks to Laralee Angel.

In a bowl combine:

1 Cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

1 cube melted butter

Add:

2 cup Bisquick

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup cornmeal

Pour batter into greased 9 inch pan.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Let sit 5 minutes before cutting.  I have doubled this before for a crowd and baked it in a 13x9 and just cooked it a little bit longer.

Luscious Lemon Crackle

This lovely lemon dessert comes from my Mother's recipe box.  Anything lemon is always so refreshing with the tartness that gives it a little bite.  It is a surprisingly rich dessert so the servings need to be a little smaller.  Trust me!  

Filling:

In a saucepan cook:

2 eggs, beaten well

1 Cup sugar

1 Cup cold water

Add:

2 TBSP cornstarch, dissolved in a little bit of water

5-6 TBSP lemon juice (I use 6)

When sauce begins to thicken add:

1/4 Cup butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

Remove from heat.

Crust:  In a bowl mix:

1 Cup saltine cracker crumbs

1 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Cup butter, softened

Then add:

1 Cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Cup coconut

Place 3/4 of mixture in 13x9 and gently press it into pan.  Top with lemon filling and then top with remaining crumb mixture.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until slightly browned.

Thanks to my son, Easton who helped make this dessert.  He did awesome and I appreciate him!

We served our Luscious Lemon Crackle with raspberries and a dallop of cream.  I have also used strawberries.