Good Ole' One Leg

My mixer's name is One Leg. Because she only has one beater. I read half of a book around the time my beater went MIA, called "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" by Katherine Boo. It's one of the few books I started reading, but didn't finish. It didn't hold my interest overall, but a character named One Leg sticks in my head. One Leg is a mother in a slum by the Mumbai airport. She has one leg. She is a prostitute. One Leg frames her neighbor for burning her, but she actually did it to herself. After I stopped reading the book I found out that it's a true story, which disturbs me. Anyway, I cannot help thinking about One Leg from the book whenever I use my poor little mixer. I didn't think One Leg, my mixer, would work very well with one beater, but she still mixes away just like Ole' One Leg from the book was able to do her thing. Please don't mock or underestimate my mixer nor the One Leg in Mumbai. One of these days I might buy new beaters. Only I probably won't.

Alli came home from school Friday and said kids with summer birthdays could pick any day to celebrate their birthday by bringing treats to school. Alli wanted to celebrate right away, so we made cookies yesterday. I had just seen the perfect recipe on one of my favorite blogs, All Things Thrifty! Brooke calls them "The easiest lemon cookies you will ever make." The main ingredient is a cake mix, and Brooke said you can use any flavor. Alli chose Funfetti and Strawberry. They were a big hit! Apparently Alli was chased from the school by kids wanting more of those cookies.

Cake Mix Cookies {Easy Peasy, just like Brooke says!}

     Cake mix - any flavor

     2 eggs

     1/3 c. oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients with One Leg until well blended.

Roll dough into balls and put on greased cookie sheets. I had help from Alli, Gwen, and our neighbor, Kayley. They would be happy to come to your house to help with your cookies.

Bake 10 minutes and cool. Brooke dusted her cookies with powdered sugar. I didn't have powdered sugar, so I just used sprinkles. I bet her mixer has two beaters, but it all comes out the same in the end...yummmmmy!

P.S. If any of my relatives that normally give me Christmas gifts are reading this, one idea for 2012 is new beaters. Don't tell me you're getting them though because I love surprises!

P.P.S. One Leg and I are available for school assemblies or other events. She has a very inspirational story about never giving up. Just email me to make arrangements. To clarify, I talking about the mixer, not the prostitute.

Recipe Tool Box

I went to a bridal shower last weekend for a good friend of mine, Kelly, in Kalona. It was very nice and such a pretty part of the state!

Here is an actual text conversation with Kelly a couple days before the shower:

          Me: I know what I'm getting you! It's not on your list!

          Kelly: Oh boy! I'm excited!

          Me: It's something that may get passed down to your grandchildren.
          Me: And I'm making it.

          Kelly: That's a real head-scratcher!

          Me: It also may cost less than $3.
          Me: Maybe more with the card and wrapping paper.

          Kelly: Oh Lord!

          Me: But in perspective, a bronze Olympic medal only has a material value of $5.

Know what it is? I guess I gave it away in the title of my post! I can't claim it as a completely original idea since one of my favorite wedding shower gifts was a recipe box from my mom. What made it special is that she filled it with her favorite recipes. Did you know Target doesn't sell any recipe boxes in their stores? Walmart has exactly one recipe box, and it's in the canning section. Are people who can the only ones who use recipe boxes? Maybe so! It looks like this.

 No offense to any of you who have kitchens with strawberry wallpaper and a lattice boarder, but YUCK! The good news is that for $6.88, you also get some matching strawberry recipe cards. I doubt Kelly is into strawberries and red lattice, but I had an idea to transform it into something more awesome.

Did I mention that Kelly and I work at a company that manufactures tool storage? We both love tool boxes! If you don't have one, you should buy one. They make great gifts!  I used some acrylic paint and a metallic paint marker to make the modifications. Then I sealed it with polycrylic to give it a shiny, durable finish. Our coworker, Betty, made the Domino logo, which will be Kelly's new last name. It turned out like this.

I tried to skew the photo angle so you don't notice that the top handle is completely off center. Did you notice? I would try to do a better job with that if I did this again.

Then came the fun part. Recipes! I completely entertained myself personalizing them. Here are a few examples.

Yard Bird Spaghetti

This one looks and tastes good enough to serve to company. Admittedly, some of the others I’ve given you do not. Well, most of them taste fine. But some people are scared of casseroles, so my advice is to avoid casseroles for company unless you know them really well.

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 c. chicken broth

2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

6 oz. cooked spaghetti

4 c. cooked chicken, diced

Parmesan cheese

Mix first soups and cheese in a large bowl. Add spaghetti and blend. Stir in chicken. Place in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese. 

Cucumber and Onion Salad

Could you ever see yourself with a vegetable garden? If so, plant some cucumbers and onions so you can make this dish. If not, I don’t blame you. I can think of lots of better ways to spend my time. One thing I’d rather do than plant a garden is to go to the grocery store to buy cucumbers and onions.

2 cucumbers

1 onion

Salt

½ c. vinegar

2 T. sugar

½ c. water

Slice cucumbers and onions into a bowl, salting each layer. Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over the top. Chill for at least an hour.

 

Corn Supreme

When I was first married, I made a recipe called “Cheesy Corn Delight.” I thought it was delicious, but TJ was not impressed. We compromised with Corn Supreme, but let me know if you want the recipe for Cheesy Corn Delight. I had to promise not to make it ever again. He still makes fun of my Cheesy Corn Delight, and I don’t think it’s funny.

1 can cream corn

1 can whole kernel corn

8 oz. sour cream

1 stick margarine

2 eggs

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients. Dot the top with margarine. Bake 45 minutes at 350° or until set in the center. 

Eclair Dessert

This is a good one for company because it looks harder to make than it really is. Try to be happy whenever you cook or bake. I believe it will taste better, don’t you? It’s sort of like how you can tell when someone is smiling when you talk to them on the phone.

1 box graham crackers

1 6oz package instant vanilla pudding

3 c. milk

8 oz. Cool Whip

1 tub chocolate frosting

Line the bottom of greased 9 x 14 with whole graham crackers (don’t break or crush them). Mix pudding with milk and let stand several minutes. Fold in Cool Whip. Pour ½ over graham crackers. Add a layer of graham crackers. Pour on remaining pudding. Place 3^rd layer of graham crackers. Chill overnight. Top with chocolate frosting. Good leftover!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Just get the frozen ones, Kelly. They taste almost as good as homemade and are a heck of a lot easier to make. Just follow the directions on the bag. However, I don’t recommend this “recipe” if you’re planning to be in the Iowa State Fair cinnamon roll contest. Did you know the first prize wins $5,000. That’s actually true. The winner is usually Amish or Mennonite, but I hope you win. You could go on a fun trip with $5,000. I would be happy to go with you as long as you don’t insist I wear a bikini. 

She liked it!