Warm and Tasty

Potato Casserole

5 large potatoes

3 tbs. butter or margarine, melted

1 10 ½ oz. can cream of chicken soup

1 c. sour cream

1 c. milk

3 tbs. finely chopped green onions

¾ cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

¾ c. cornflake crumbs, mixed with 2 tbs. melted butter

3 tbs. Parmesan cheese

Boil unpared potatoes until tender. Drain and peel. Shred coarsely. Place in 2 or 3 qt casserole dish. Pour melted butter over potatoes. Mix together soup, sour cream, milk, onions, and cheese. Pour evenly over potatoes. Do not mix. Cover with the crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Bean Casserole

1 can green beans

1 can bean sprouts

1 can water chestnuts, minced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Drain vegetables, add soup. Place in buttered casserole dish, sprinkle with buttered bread crumbs on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

The Incredibles

For Sinterklaas Day!

Runderlapjes (Dutch Steak)

2 lbs. round steak, cut in 4 slices

Salt (gourmet is yummy)

Freshly ground pepper

½ c. butter (the real stuff)

2 medium red onions, sliced

2 tbs. white wine vinegar

2 tsp. prepared mustard, any flavor

½ c. water

1 bay leaf

1 to 2 tsp. whole cloves

1 to 2 tsp. peppercorns

Score the meat and rub with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, using half the butter, brown meat thoroughly on both sides. In another frying pan, using the rest of the butter, fry onions on medium heat till transparent. Mix vinegar, mustard, and water, add to onions. Stir; pour over meat, scraping to loosen any particles on pan. Add spices. Cover and simmer 2 hours or till very tender, turning and scraping every half-hour. Add a bit of water if sauce begins to dry out.

Serve meat on heated platter with boiled or mashed potatoes. Sauce can be strained and thickened with a bit of flour to create gravy. Garnish with a red cabbage salad.

Making Your Own Bobbin Lace Pillow

Fall Favorite

Chili Soup

1 15 oz. can chili no beans

1 10 ½ oz. can tomato soup

1 10 ½ oz. can bean with bacon soup

1 10 ½ oz. can of water

Mix all ingredients. Heat just until boiling. Serve hot.

Slovenian Bobbin Lace

Oh Well

Here's our newbie story about the well.

Sellers never want to volunteer too much information. The listing said, "domestic well". Great! What a deal!

We asked for water testing,  and the sellers countered suggesting we do it ourselves.  Okay,  where is it?

Crickets.

So, we looked everywhere.  We found a plow attachment,  a few bones, lots of alfalfa. No rusty pipe.

Imagination can be a terrible thing.  Did they bury it? Was it ever dug? Was it full of strychnine? Had the neighbor commandeered it? I tried to stay positive, but Papa tends to worry, and it was contagious.

After three days, we heard back. The sellers had planted a post next to it so we could find it... on the opposite side of the property from where the well log said it was.

Yay!

We had a fellow from a wonderful local well company go out and inspect it, and it all turned out great! Plenty of production, it's in great shape, and a sample has come back clean and great. Needs a new pump, since there wasn't one, but that will be something we can hopefully install ourselves.