'BEST COOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD'

If you have memories like mine about your Grandma, then you know what I'm talkin' about. There is no food like Grandma's. Most of my memories of Grandma are of her in the kitchen, performin' only the magic that Grandma could do. Now my Mom was a great cook but there was just somethin' about Grandma's food. Maybe it was the fact that she always made your favorites when you came to stay. Now that I am a Grandma I do the same thing. When my Granddaughter comes to stay she has favorites that I know I need to fix while she is here. She was here this past weekend and I made some of her all time favorites (she informs me these are her all time fav's, but she has many more she says).

I love the fact that when the yungin gets here, one of the things she quickly asks is , "Gamaw, you got sum'ndeet?" I love it! I'm a Grandma and I can give her wonderful memories of Grandma's cookin'. In her eyes I am pertneer the 'Best cook in the whole wide world'. And that is one of my favorite parts of bein' a Grandma.

I thought I'd share some of her favorites with you.

This salad, I made one Sunday when we all got together for dinner. My Granddaughter was four years old and that itty bitty girl just about ate her weight in this salad. The next time she was over she wanted to know if I had any California salad. It took me a few minutes to figure out what she was talkin' about. My daughter and I never could figure out why she called it California salad, I think it was because she was enamored with the state of California at the time.

So here is granddaughter's California salad.

We'll make the dressin' first. You are gonna need:

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup ketchup
1 T. sugar
1 T. rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. black pepper


In a screw top pint jar combine oil,

ketchup,

lemon juice,

sugar,

rice wine vinegar,

paprika,

salt and

pepper. I like to use fresh ground black pepper.

Put lid on jar and shake until creamy and well blended.

Get you lettuce greens ready in a bowl. About 10 ounces.

Crunch up about 2-3 handfuls of corn chips.

Sprinkle about 3/4 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese over top.

Drizzle dressin' all over the top. Toss all ingredients together.

Now you have a California salad. It is really good. And addictive. Just ask my granddaughter!

This next dish is the only way Granddaughter will eat corn. And it is only eaten at my house. Her mom fixed it one night but Granddaughter said it just didn't taste the same and she didn't want to hurt her mommas feelin's, but she didn't really care for it. What a hoot! My daughter fixed it exactly the same way as I do. That's too funny.

We call it Indian Corn and I've been fixin' it since I was in high school.

For this recipe you are gonna need:

4-6 slices of bacon

1 green pepper or 1/2 green and 1/2 red pepper

1 bag (10-16 ounces) frozen corn or about 4 cups fresh off the cob

2 T. canola oil

salt and pepper to taste

Fry your bacon strips crisp. Remove bacon and crumble and set aside. Save 2-3 tablespoons bacon grease in the skillet and to this add 2 tablespoons canola oil.

Chop up your sweet peppers.

Add peppers to grease/oil in skillet and fry over med-high heat about 5 minutes or until crisp tender.

Add your corn, crumbled bacon and the salt and pepper. Continue cookin' until corn is hot, stirrin' frequently. With the frozen and fresh corn you will need to cook about 10 minutes.

And we are now to the Ham and Cheese Muffins. They are really biscuits but granddaughter calls 'em muffins. Who am I to argue with an angel?

These are sooo good.
They are even great cold, so they make a good travelin' snack.

You are gonna need:

2 cups flour

3 t. bakin' powder

1 t. salt

1/2 t. bakin' soda

1 to 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk

1/2 cup mayo (I always use the real stuff)

1 cup finely shredded or chopped, cooked ham

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup milled flax seed

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Mix 1 cup buttermilk, mayo, ham and cheese together in small bowl.

Add buttermilk ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just to moistened addin' more buttermilk to make soft but firm dough.

I use a small ice cream scoop to dip out the mixture but you can use two spoons.

Place on cookie sheet. I line pan with parchment paper because these things stick, bad.

Bake 16-18 minutes or until 'muffins' are browned in a 425 degree oven. See how the cheese is melted and runs off from biscuit a little? Just break off these baked cheese parts and the cook or granddaughter gets to eat these and nobody else is the wiser.

Now they are gonna be sneakin' these out in their pockets so you may want to make a double batch.

I went to my granddaughters school to eat lunch with her one day and afterwards I went back to her classroom to meet her teacher. The teacher said, "I'm so glad to finally meet THE BEST COOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!"

Yep, that's my granddaughter's opinion.

R.