Creamy Garlic & Cheese Pasta Bake

Yesterday I was really busy and needed something easy to make for dinner and had only an hour. I also had some cottage cheese that I needed to use. So I made something up. It's very simple and good. My whole family loved it. Here is what I pulled out of my hat:

Creamy Garlic &  Cheese Pasta Bake

4 cups cottage cheese (2% or 4% milk fat, I wouldn't use fat free)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried basil
6 cups freshly cooked (cooked until still slightly chewy) macaroni or other small pasta (about 3 cups dry pasta)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray.

Cook the pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking combine all the other ingredients except the pasta and the cheddar cheese in a food processor. Turn the food processor on and let it run for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is very smooth and creamy. You could probably use a blender for this step as well.

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, measure out 6 cups of the pasta and add it to the pan. Immediately add the cheese sauce and stir until well incorporated. Smooth out the top. Top with the grated cheddar cheese. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes, taking the foil off the last 10 minutes to let the cheese melt and brown a little.

This is great with a nice salad or steamed broccoli and some crusty bread. I also thought that next time I make it I might add in some sausage or ham. But I like that this dish is vegetarian and made from items you usually have in your fridge/pantry. Enjoy!

Fresh Peach Jam

I recently started making my own jam instead of buying it at the store. My daughter has a corn syrup intolerance and most jams and jellies contain corn syrup. I don't want to pay a lot for a little jar of fruit spread or organic jam made with real sugar, so I make my own. It's easy to make a small batch of jam. It just takes some time to cook. It's very fresh tasting, and I like it better than the jam from the store. I make about a pint at a time and after we eat it then I make another pint. My latest creation was peach jam.

Fresh Peach Jam

5 cups fresh or frozen peace slices (skins removed)
1/3 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar (if you like a sweeter jam, use 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons lemon juice

* You can also add 1/2 tsp. of pure almond extract if you want to try something snazzy.

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, stirring frequently until the peaches are really soft. Then mash the peaches with a potato masher or a fork to break them up. Continue to cook until the mixture is thick (45 minutes to 1 hour total). Pour into a clean glass jar, let cool to room temperature, put the lid on and put it in the fridge. This is great on homemade biscuits or even ice cream.

Persimmon Pudding

I've been thinking about creating a recipe/cooking blog for a while now. I just had to come up with a name on it. Two of my daughter's suggestions were "Gosh! That's Good!" and "Recipes For Dummies". I don't think that the latter one would go over that well. I went through several names and finally it just dawned on me - Persimmon Pudding. It is one of my favorite foods of all time. It ranks right up there with chocolate in my book (shocking, I know). I almost hear angels singing Hallelujah when I eat it, it's that good. I was thrilled when I found that no one had taken that name on blogspot, and I quickly grabbed it.

So where did my love of persimmon pudding start? When I was a child. I remember many a fall that my mom would collect persimmons that had fallen off a persimmon tree (then you know that they are ripe), turn them into a pulp, and make pudding. Or freeze the pulp for later use. My favorite way to eat it is cold with real whipped cream (the fake fluffy stuff just won't cut it here!). Of course you can eat it warm or at room temperature. It's not a true "pudding". You bake it in the oven and you can cut it into pieces like cake. It has a very unusual texture, because of the persimmons, but it's heavenly. It's very dense, rich and moist.

When I was visiting my parents last fall my mom made a batch for me. I took the above picture from that batch. I can still taste it...yum...I loved every bite. It had been years since I had eaten it. We currently have a persimmon tree in our back yard, but it's growing very slowly. It produces about 9 small persimmons a year, not enough to make pudding. I can find persimmons at the grocery store in the fall, but they are the Japanese variety, and not exactly the same as the ones I'm used to.

My mother got this recipe from a neighbor, Fairney Bowman, in Indiana in 1978. Mrs. Bowman used to let her pick up persimmons under her tree and gave her fresh eggs.

So, after all that waiting, here is the recipe...

Persimmon Pudding

1 quart (4 cups) Persimmon Pulp
1 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan.
3. Cream together butter and sugar.
4. Add persimmon pulp and beaten eggs. Mix well.
5. Sift all dry ingredients together.
6. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk until well mixed.
7. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours (this depends on how firm and dry you like it).

Serve warm, room temperature or cold with real whipped cream.