2020. You suck. Comfort Food for Dark Times... These are Dark Times right? Some stuff to make your insides feel better.

I don't know if these are "dark times" but it sure feels like it. If you know me, you know my personal feelings about BLM, Trump and the whole shebang--which I won't espouse here because this isn't about that. Just wear your mask and have compassion for your fellow human beings--please. 

But, dark times. Yes. I lost my mother in February, literally just before the shut down. We were not able to have a service so she sat on the shelf in Dad's apartment. He had a fall in April, went to hospital then to "rehab."  Locked down, we were never able to see him, or touch him again. We said goodbye to him via Zoom. Told him we loved him and that was it. Four months and one day after Mom. 66 years together and he couldn't bear to be without her. I can't blame him. They were PB&J, salt and pepper. A matched set, put together by my grandmothers. 

They had a typical 1960s nuclear family unit. My siblings rode their bikes, played in the desert, set off firecrackers, got in fights, played Little League while my dad coached. The adults drank Olympia and Coors; hung out at the beers gardens, had backyard barbeques or gatherings at each others homes. I came along in 1970--ruining everyone's fun. I was the baby everyone held and clung to though. All my mothers friends were older and now there was an "itty bitty"--I was very spoiled. And they took me everywhere with them. I learned how to play pool, poker and gin rummy. Hang out in the pool room at the Moose Lodge, play pinball, listen to the jukebox. Wait for them to be ready to go home. I think about it now... and eeesh.  

They eventually let me stay with my Grandma Doyle or home alone. If I was with Grandma it was a Saturday night of card games and Falcon Crest! And fried pancakes with too much butter in the morning. I think I was 14 the last night time I stayed with her. It was fun. She tried to teach me to crochet. I wanted to learn to make 7-up cake. There were things she made for family gatherings and one was her famous potato casserole. It's called "funeral potatoes" in other parts of the country and her's is definitely different with the addition of chilies-and I think she always claimed it was Aunt Marcella's recipe anyhow. 

 Grandma Doyle's Funeral Potatoes

1 bag cubed potatoes O'Brien, with the onions and peppers

1 can cream of celery

1 can cream of chicken

2 cups sour cream

1 can fire roasted Ortega chilies

salt and pepper

Mix ingredients and place in 9x13 inch casserole pan top with

1.5 c Plain salted potato chips, crushed

1.5 cup shredded cheddar blend or cheddar cheese

Bake uncovered for 45 to 55 minutes at 400F until bubbly and crisp on top.

Allow to rest for 15 minutes. 

She brought this casserole to events well into her 80s. So easy and damned tasty. Try it the next day with a fried egg on top... this is comfort food.  Makes you warm inside thinking of it. 

 

 Another one of Grandma Doyle's go to's was her 7-up cake.

Glazed generously with powdered sugar icing

3 c of granulated sugar

5 large eggs- room temp.

2 sticks of unsalted butter- room temp.

1/2 c of 7 Up

1 1/2 tbsp of lemon extract

1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

3 c of all purpose flour- sifted

Cream your sugar and butter together, add one egg at a time, mixing and scraping down sides after each, add in 7up, lemon extract, oil. mix together and add one cup of flour slowly at a time, scraping and folding in slowly . After flour is just incorporated, pour into well greased and floured Bundt pan. 

Bake at 350, 65 to 75 minutes, until it is evenly browned. remove from oven, allow to rest for 20 minutes. Invert cake on plate and make the glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 TBSP lemon juice

6 TBSP 7-up

Mix together to form a loose glaze. Pour over top of cake and allow to soak in and harden up--dust with more powdered sugar, because you need more sugar. Always. 

Anyhow, go make these things and feel better. This year is almost over. I hope the pandemic is waning. I hope that we are all surviving and have what we need. 

Talk later.... get to cooking