Comfort Food

A few weeks ago we had some really cold weather in San Antonio. Unusually cold for this far South. When I was preparing my grocery list with those chilly temperatures (which I do by category - produce, frozen, canned good, etc.) I found that I was wanting to make things like chicken and dumplings, chili and of course lasagna! Jason's favorite thing I cook is lasagna. This isn't any ordinary lasagna - it has a twist. My recipe includes a cream cheese and green onion layer. It might sound strange at first but it is amazing!

This recipe was given to me by my Grandmother in a cookbook she prepared for me when I went off to college. She had been given this recipe from a friend. This recipe had been passed down for years in her friend's family. I have made some changes to the recipe over the years to suit Jason.

This is definitely comfort food in our house!

The first thing I usually start with is getting the cream cheese out of the refrigerator so it can get to room temperature, then I start on the sauce.

I put cream cheese, sour cream and green onions in my mixer with a little milk to help it mix really well.

I didn't include photos of all the steps to make this but here's the final product before Jason got a hold of it!

Below is the recipe, let me know if you try it and how well it goes over in your house!

Lasagna
1 1/2 lb. hamburger 1 box lasagna noodles
1 box mushrooms 1/2 stick butter
1 onion (chopped) 1 small can tomato paste
1tsp.basil 1 tsp. oregano
1 bunch green onions (chopped) 4 chopped garlic cloves
1 pkg. cream cheese Garlic salt
1 large carton sour cream 2 pkgs. mozarella cheese 1 jar Ragu

In skillet saute onion, garlic, mushrooms in butter. In pot, combine Ragu, paste, oregano and basil. Brown hamburger with seasoning of garlic salt. Combine cooked and drained hamburger in pot with sauce and onion/garlic/mushrooms. Bring sauce to low boil and then turn to simmer and cover. Boil lasagna noodles 10-12 minutes. Drain, rinse and cool. Chop green onions and mix with mixer to sour cream and cream cheese. Place noodles and sauce in layers. In the middle smooth cream cheese mixture. Top with mozarella cheese. Place in oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and melted. ENJOY!!

A Science Experiment

This summer I inherited my Great-Grandmother's silver tea service. Unfortunately, it was badly tarnished. I tried everything to make it look presentable - TarnX, silver cream, and about 3 other silver cleaners. Nothing seemed to do the trick and my hands were too tired to keep trying! I contemplated having a professional try to clean the pieces or possibly getting it replated. Before I sought professional help I did some goggling. Don't you love Goggle? And I can across this link. You need aluminum foil, salt, baking soda, hot water, clean towel and some silver polishing cream. The combination of the salt, aluminum foil and water creates a chemical reaction known as ion exchange. The ion exchange causes the tarnish on the silver to be transferred to the foil!

Here's a before picture of one of the silver pieces:

Basically I followed these steps.

1. Layered my sink with aluminum foil and filled it with hot water.

2. Added two tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of baking soda.

3. Placed one silver piece at a time in the water.

4. The instructions called for 5 minutes per piece - it took mine at least 1-2 hours per piece.

5. Removed silver from the water and wiped down with a clean towel and then used silver cream polish.

6. Tarnish GONE!!!

* I did have to repeat this entire process for each piece, I think the foil starts to collect too much tarnish so you have to start over.

* for the silver trays I used a bathtub!

Here's the after photo:

Not completely perfect but such an improvement! I'm so happy to have this wonderful set from my Great-Grandmother. I am displaying it in our dining room on an antique tea cart I bought in Canton for $40.

YEA for ion exchange! Haha :) If you know of any other tips let me know, I'm currently working on cleaning up a pair of brass buffet lamps with crystals and I'm having a hard time getting the brass clean. I'll post pictures when I get them all cleaned up!

A Great Holiday

We spent the holidays traveling around visiting family. We had a great time in Humble with my family celebrating from December 23-26. My extended family on my Dad's side gets together on December 23rd every year to celebrate Christmas at my Aunt Janet's house. Jason and I drove in after work and made it there just in time to enjoy some homemade chili, tamales, dips, and of course my Aunt's amazing pecan pie. We also have a great time enjoying some adult beverages and a bit of gambling! Just a dice game we play every year. This year I won the cash! Here's a picture of all the cousins playing 4 to the Left, 5 to the Right....that's what I think it's called anyway.

We had a great time on Christmas day with my family. It was so wonderful to see Rett open all his gifts. He got a train set and the large table it sits on. Unfortunately that was his first gift so he wasn't too interested after that but we had a great time watching him play with Thomas the Train!


On December 26th Jason and I flew to Virginia to be with his family until January 3rd. With so many days in town we were able to see Kelly and Brendan's new home, visit old friends in Loudoun County, visit friends in Staunton and of course see all of the Rollers and extended family. We celebrated with his extended family on the 27th and spent a wonderful New Year's Eve at Matt & Elizabeth's house. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and we still had a White Christmas. Here's some of the fun from New Year's Eve...Matt had his Ipod going so there's a good chance the guys are singing to REK.