Brisket

Trim fat from brisket (but leave about 1/2 inch on top). Sprinkle fat side of brisket liberally with garlic salt. Wrap securely in tin foil (so that juices will not leak out). Place into cake pan (fat side up). Cook at 275 for 5 hours.

Taco Soup

1 lb. hamburger browned and drained
1 onion, chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes and juice
1 can kidney beans and juice
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can corn and juice

Brown beef and onions together. Put all items together in a soup pot. Bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with grated cheddar cheese.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

3/4 c. brown sugar
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ginger
3 slightly beaten egg yolks
3/4 c. milk
1 1/4 c. canned or mashed cooked pumpkin
3 egg whites
1/3 c. sugar
19 inch graham-cracker or regular crust

In saucepan, combine brown sugar, gelatin, salt and spices. Combine egg yolks and milk. Stir into brown sugar mixture. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in pumpkin. Chill until mixture mounds slightly when spooned (test every now and then - don't let it get too stiff). Beat egg whites until s oft peaks form. Gradually add white sugar, beating to stiff peaks. Fold pumpkin mixture thoroughly into egg whites. Turn into crust. Chill until firm. Garnish with whipped cream.

This is the traditional pumpkin pie recipe at the Hickman's house.

Eileens Candied Yams

Boil Yams until soft throughout. Then cool until you can peel them. Slice them about 1 inch thick and place them in 9x13 pan. Then this is what she says about the recipe.

"About the yams. I do a little water with some, butter, brown sugar and melt them together. I boil the yams and add to the brown sugar, butter and water mixture and add marshmallows on top. Then back and turn them over after awhile. I bake them until they liquid is thick. I don't have amounts of what I put in. I put about half inch water and half cube of butter and a couple handfuls of brown sugar. Write and I'll try to help some more if I can."

I had to add this because I look up the email every Thanksgiving. Jared really like marshmellows so that's a must for the Yams. I actually bake the yams with the rolls and then turn the broiler on for a minute to brown the marshmellows (if you add them too early they just melt)

Fettuccini with chicken breasts

1 lb fettuccini
4 single chicken breasts cut into thin strips (I use less than this)
3 Tablespoons butter
6 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
6 scallions, finely chopped (I use green onions - I don't know which you have)
1/3 cup heavy cream (I usually double the liquid parts of this to make it more saucy)
1 Tablespoon flour
1/3 cup grated gruyere or swiss cheese (I actually just use mozzerella and I use a lot more than it calls for)
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1. While the pasta is cooking, saute the chicken breasts in hot butter for three minutes until firm and white.
2. Stir in the garlic and scallions and fry over moderate heat for three minutes. Discard the garlic. Stir in the flour. Add the cream and lemon juice an d stir until hot.
3. Add the cheeses and season with salt and pepper. It says to toss the pasta and the sauce, but we just serve it over the pasta like spaghetti.

Prosciutto-and-mushroom sauce

2 oz (60g) dried procini mushrooms (we just use regular mushrooms and skip the hydrating process)
1/4 lb (115g) prosciutto
1/4 lb (115g) boiled ham (I really just do 1/2 lb of diced ham instead of prosciutto and boiled ham)
1 red onion, peeled an dminced
1 tablespoon utter,
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (14-oz / 400g) chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup (125ml) whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste
cooked pasta for 4
parmesean cheese

1. Cover dried mushrooms with boiling water and let stand 15-20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid for another dish. (like I said above we use fresh and skip this step)
2.Finely chopped togheter prosciutto, ham and mushrooms.
3. Saute onion in butter and oil 2-3 minutes. Do not brown
4 Add meat mixture and chopped tomatoes and stir well.
5 Bring to a boil and cook, paritally cobered, 10-15 minutes to thicken sauce.
6 Stir in cream, heat and season with salt and pepper. Spoon over pasta and serve with greated parmesan cheese

Penne With Black Kale, Sausage, and Roasted Peppers (or sun dried tomatoes)

1 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb hot italian sausage, cut into chunks
1 lb penne pasta
1 lb black kale, leaves torn into 2 inch pices, stems discarded (I tried to make this for mom and she accidently got red-leaf lettuce instead of kale - it's not quite the same)
1 (12 oz jar roasted red peppers, drained, cut into strips - I can never find this so I use sun dried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded parmesean cheese

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat; add sausage. Cook until browned and halfway cooked through, about 7 minutes. At this point, add pasta to boiling water, stir a few times, and cook according to package directions
3. Add Kale to sausage; cover skillet and cook 2 minutes, tossing once or twice, or until kale is wilted. Stir in peppers (or tomatoes)and garlic; cook 7 minutes longer, or until sausage is cooked.
4. drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return pasta to pot; add sausage mixture and reserved cooking water, and toss. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Sweet Pulled Pork

Sprinkle garlic salt over pork roast placed in crock pot.
Cook all day on low (or fewer hours on high) or until pork is easy to pull-apart.
Remove from crock pot. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
Strip (pull-apart) the pork and put back into juices in the crock pot.

Add:
1 c. salsa
1 c. brown sugar
(if you have a larger pork roast, you may want to double or triple these two items)
Cook until warm through.

Serve on burritos, taco salad, or rolls.

Steam-Canned Peaches

First a disclaimer: Experts do NOT recommend canning using a steam canner. Utah State Extension advises to only bottle high acid foods using a steam canner.  (More information HERE.)

Buy freestone peaches. Clingstone pits are difficult to get out of the peach.

1) Clean the bottles with soap and water (or sanitize in the dishwasher).
2) Bring a pot of water to boil. Mom said, "You can also put ½ c. to 2/3 c. of water inside the clean bottle and microwave them to heat the water. I put 4 in at a time and by putting them in for 2 minutes, the water was hot enough then for me to add the sugar and dissolve it. This is probably faster than the boiling water UNLESS you are preparing lots of bottles."
3) Pour about 2/3 c. of hot water into the bottom of the glass jars.
4) Add 1/4 c. of sugar into jar (swirl to dissolve sugar). You can use additional amounts of sugar according to your preference. Mom said "old days used 1 c. Then I went to ½ and then to 1/3 and then to ¼ - your preference, but it does need sugar."
5) Boil several peaches for 1 to 2 minutes (depending upon hardness). Mom said, "This is called scalding the peach. I did mine for 1 ½ minutes. I think it depends more on the size. You shouldn’t do those that are not ripe yet. . . The peach needs to be completely covered with water when in the scalding bath."
6) Peel and cut peaches. Mom said, "After scalding the peach, cut in half, pull of the skin. A melon “baller” will help get the pit out. (I tried this after I stuck the sharp end of a pit under my fingernail. It worked really well)."
7) Shake jar occasionally to help peaches settle into the jar. Mom said, "when jar appears full, juggle or shake the bottle to settle the peaches and then finish filling the bottle."
8) After jar is full of peaches (fill to jar neck), add water to fill (also up to neck).
9) Wipe rim with clean towel. Mom said, "You do this to get off any sugar or peach remnants so the flats will seal. This is not to wipe dry but to clean off."
10) Place flats on top and secure with lid. Mom said, "Screw tightly. Tightly is the key. They will loosen a little while cooking, but if they are not tight, some of the juices will boil out."
11) Fill steamer base with water (so boiling water does not touch jar bottoms). You'll need to refill the base each time even if water is already hot/full. This allows the jars to heat up more slowly, thus reducing breakage.
12) Place jars into steamer, put on the lid and turn the temperature to high.
13) Reduce temperature to medium or medium-high once steam is consistently blowing from the vent (after about 8 minutes). Set timer for 20 minutes.
14) When timer goes off, remove lid. Lift the jars out with a wet washcloth (on top) and hold bottoms with a hot pad (or two). Twist to tighten lids.
15) Set jars onto counter (on a towel) and leave them alone until they are cool and the flats have all popped. Mom said, "If you press down in the middle of the lid, they will not make a popping sound. They have all popped down and will not put up again until the jar is open. When you set the jars on the towel, set them close together. It helps them to maintain their heat while they are sealing."
16) If the lid doesn't pop, put those jars into the fridge and use immediately.

Mom added: "Place the hole in the lid that lets the steam out above or within a inch of the hole in the plate bottom. Watching the clock is absolutely essential. As soon as it starts to send steam out of the holes – 8 to 10 minutes, turn down to medium or slightly above and set clock for 20 min. After about 3 minutes of turning down, check to see that steam is still coming out. Adjust temperature as necessary. It does not have to be a powerful burst of steam, just a steady steam release. Don’t over cook! When steam is too powerful it can crack the bottles.

Notes from Wendy:  Typical processing as recommended by Utah State is 40 minutes instead of 20 for quarts.  One extra-large heaping bowl full of peaches does about 6 quarts.

(Mom and Wendy)

Red White and Blue Jell-o

1 small box red raspberry jell-o
1 small box berry blue jell-o (or a 2nd box of red rasp. if you can't find this)
3 cups boiling water (not all at once)
1 envelope knox gelatin
1/2 c. cold water
1 c. half & half
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese
1 c. chopped pecans
1 can wild blueberries (wyman's works best - don't drain)

First Layer:
Dissolve 1 box of red rasp jell-o in 2 cups boiling water. Pour in 9x13 pan and place in fridge. Allow to set before next layer
Second Layer:
Dissolve plain gelatin in 1/2 c. Cold water. Heat 1/2 & 1/2 & sugar until it just about boils. Mix w plain gelatin mixture. Add vanilla and cream cheese. Blend this until smooth so there are no chunks of cream cheese. Then add the nuts. Pour over first layer and allow to set in the refridgerator.
Third Layer:
Dissolve other box of Jell-o in 1 c. boiling water; stir until dissolved. Add bluberries with juice. Allow to cool before pouring over second layer. When mixture is luke warm pour third layer on and allow to set.

Don't take this to a picnic or anywhere it will be set in the sun for a long time.

Recipe from Jaci Kern