Ham and Egg Combo

This recipe is a great use for all your Easter Dinner leftovers. It includes ham, cheese (Mom always had cheese on hand for ham and cheese sandwiches), and hard boiled eggs. Being Easter, our family had always dyed a number of hard-boiled eggs, so this dish was always a little more colorful than expected. Eating hard-boiled eggs that have had some coloring bleed into the egg itself is perfectly safe, but perhaps a little disconcerting.

This meal is easy to assemble after Easter because the main ingredients are all leftovers. This meal is also very easy to make, especially on a busy weekday night.

For me, I particularly enjoy the English muffins served with this dish. There is just something unique about English muffins. With this dish, the English muffin is both an edible plate and also used to wipe the real plate clean.

Ham and Egg Combo

• Ham, cubed
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 pound cheese
• 1/4 cup minced dried onions
• 1 1/2 cup cubed ham
• 4-6 hard-boiled eggs, cubed
• English muffins

Blend mayo, flour, salt and pepper in a sauce pan on low heat. Gradually add and blend up to 2 cups of milk. Add cheese and onion. Heat until cheese melts and is well-blended. Add in ham and eggs. Heat thoroughly. Serve over toasted English muffins. Enjoy!

Party Punch

Having a party? I recommend serving Party Punch, especially if there will be a lot of kids. The best part of this punch is just after the sherbet is added, the ice cream melts and becomes foamy, as you can see in this photo. When serving myself, I am sure to get mostly sherbet.

John and Laura brought the ingredients and made this Party Punch for our Easter dinner party. They had remembered this punch from years ago, but it had not made a recent appearance at family parties. I am grateful to John and Laura for recalling this punch and bringing it to the party.

This particular punch was a big hit with the young kids. After drinking some punch, all the kids were running around like they were crazy. But now that I think about it, that is how they usually are, so maybe this tasty punch had nothing to do with their energy. Still, this party punch will have to make a regular appearance at family parties again. MDS's only complaint about this punch was that he did not get enough. He should know the Buckley way by now--once food is available, it is every man for himself. Next time, MDS will have to push past the kids to get to the punch bowl first.

Party Punch

• 2 liter bottle Hawaiian Punch
• 2 liter bottle Ginger Ale
• Frozen Sherbet (orange or rainbow)

In a large punch bowl, mix the Hawaiian Punch and Ginger Ale. Add sherbet and mix gently. Enjoy!

Eggs Newport

Eggs Newport is a classic Easter dish, and something that Mom only made on Easter. The primary reason for this dish's annual Easter appearance is its use of hard-boiled eggs. Just before Easter, we would dye Easter eggs all sorts of fun colors. We would then have an Easter Egg hunt on Easter morning. One year, an egg was not found for months (or so the story goes) until the smell got so bad. I would suggest counting eggs before and after an Easter Egg hunt.

Every year, there were always so many eggs, that Mom had to be creative to use them all. So there were many Easter dishes that featured hard-boiled eggs, and as you can see here, colorful hard-boiled eggs when the dye leaked into the eggs. Easter dinner always featured potato salad and Eggs Newport with these colorful eggs.

Eggs Newport produces mixed results from the family. Some love the once-a-year appearance of this Easter delicacy. Others look at Eggs Newport with a distrusting eye toward something that only appears once a year and never made it into Mom's regular rotation. Whether you love or hate Eggs Newport, it is one of Mom's Easter classics.

This year, MDS and I hosted Easter. We loved having everyone over and were grateful that the weather was so nice that everyone could enjoy being outside. Some of our guests even took a walk to Wrigley Field to check out the Cubbies. They won.

Because Easter dinner would not be complete without Eggs Newport, we asked Mom to make it here with us. Megan and Jenny were also on hand to assist. To be honest, this might be the first recipe posted on this blog for which I played no real role in actually preparing.

Eggs Newport

• 6 to 8 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup milk
• pepper (to taste)
• 1 Tbsp. dried minced onion

In a bowl, blend condensed soup with mayonnaise. Gradually add milk; stir until well blended. Add in pepper and dried minced onion.  Slice the hard-boiled eggs.

In a one-quart baking dish, layer the sauce with the eggs in several layers, finishing with the sauce. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Every Friday during Lent we had fish for dinner, and even when it was not Lent, we often had fish on Friday. I recall that fish sticks were a common Friday dinner, but there were other Friday specials, including Tuna Heroes and today's dish, Tuna Noodle Casserole.

This casserole is made with simple ingredients, but what I always loved was the potato chips on top. There was something special about having potato chips at dinner when I was young. Now that I am old and can anything I want for dinner, I don't really want to eat potato chips for dinner. Mom usually bought a box of Jay's potato chips. In the box, there were two bags of chips. While Jay's chips are still available in the Chicago area, I have not seen them packaged in a box in a long time.

A warning about this casserole: it is very large. If there are only two people in your house, it will last a week. When we were young, there were so many of us that I suspect this casserole did not last long.

Tuna Noodle Casserole 

1 pound elbow noodles, cooked

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

2 cans tuna, drained

6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Potato chips, crushed

Mix the noodles, soup, tuna, and eggs.  Pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Sprinkle crushed potato chips on top to cover the casserole. Bake a few minutes more. Enjoy!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Every St. Patrick's day, Mom made corned beef and cabbage. I am not sure how it came to be that corned beef and cabbage is considered an Irish-American meal, but it is, so enjoy it today.

Around March, corned beef and cabbage can easily be found in any grocery store. Corned beef brisket is a salt-cured beef that is usually sold with a packet of spices and pepper that is used to season the beef while cooking. If your corned beef does not come with the seasoning packet, just use a bay leaf or two and whole black peppercorn. It can be difficult to find corned beef brisket in grocery stores outside of March. I do not know why it is not sold year-round because it makes for a delicious meal. Sure, it is easy to get a corned beef sandwich, but most corned beef sandwiches are not as delicious as this meal.

Corned Beef and Cabbage 

• 2 to 3 pound corned beef brisket
• 2 medium potatoes, quartered
• 3 medium carrots, quartered
• 1 large onion, cut into wedges
• 1 small cabbage, sliced

Trim the fat from meat. Place the meat in a Dutch oven; add spice packet and enough water to cover the meat. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about 2 hours or until almost tender.

Add potatoes, carrots, and onion. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add cabbage and cook 10 to 20 more minutes. Remove meat and vegetables. Slice meat across the grain.

Serve with rye bread and mustard. Enjoy!

Pizza

Mom often made pizza from scratch. Homemade pizza is not too difficult. But most importantly, homemade pizza is easy to customize. Mom always made this pizza as thin-crust pizza, but you could use the pizza to make a stuffed pizza if you wanted.

I remember helping Mom make pizza. She always used rectangular cookie sheets and cut the pizza into squares. Cutting pizza into squares is common in Chicago, even for round pizzas, and is known as "party cut" or "tavern cut." Also, Mom had a few mini-pans, that were about 4 inches by 2 inches, and Mom always let me have one of the mini-pizzas that I could top however I wanted.

For the cheese, Mom used to get a block of mozzarella and cut it into slices. Using this type of cheese can create a nice thick layer of cheese on the pizza. For this batch, I made one pizza with sliced cheese and one pizza with shredded cheese.

I suspect that the most popular pizza topping in Chicago is Italian sausage. Mom's standard topping was usually ground beef. For this pizza, I used Italian sausage, but any toppings will work. Sometimes, Mom would use vegetable toppings, but I am not sure my siblings like anything but Mom's standard pizza. The great thing about homemade pizza is that you can use any toppings, any sauce, any cheese that you want.

Pizza 
(yields 2 pizzas)

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
• 2-3 cups flour
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. sugar
• Sauce (16 ounces of tomato sauce seasoned with garlic and oregano)
• 2-3 cups mozzarella cheese
• toppings such as cooked sausage (about one pound), veggies, etc.
• grated parmesan cheese

Dissolve yeast in the warm water and let stand for about 10 minutes until foamy. Combine flour, olive oil, salt, sugar, and yeast mixture in a large bowl. Stir well until the dough comes together and is stiff. Add additional flour, if needed. Cover dough and allow to rise until dough has doubled, about 1 to 2 hours. When the dough is almost done rising, cook any of the toppings (such as sausage) that need to be cooked. Turn out dough on floured surface and form into pizza crusts. Grease the pans and sprinkle with semolina flour. Place dough into pans and create a slight edge with the dough. 

Cover the dough with sauce, toppings and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle pizza with grated parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until pizza is golden. Enjoy!

Grandpa's Birthday Cake

One year (and just one year) Mom made this birthday cake for Grandpa. It must have been in the 1980s because we still lived on Lincoln. Grandpa loved blueberries, so Mom made this very special blueberry layer cake. Layer cakes, especially with whipped cream topping, can be fragile. After dinner when it was time for dessert, John was carrying the cake to the table when suddenly the top layer slide off. I seem to recall that the cake was salvaged, and it was messy but delicious. This photo is not from this famous blueberry layer cake birthday, but it captures Grandpa.

Today is Grandpa's birthday. It has been not quite five years since Grandma and Grandpa passed away. I miss them, but I have wonderful memories of them, especially this delicious birthday cake. While Grandma was famous for her sweet tooth (which I have inherited) and would be happy with anything sweet, Grandpa loved cake. But not just any cake. Grandpa did not like and refused to eat chocolate cake; he always said devil's food cake was for the devil. So this cake is made with a classic yellow cake. I personally think it would also be tasty as a chocolate cake. But in honor of Grandpa, this cake is not chocolate.

After making and taste-testing this cake, I can report that this cake is as delicious as I remember. Even though the top layer did not slide off this time, the cake was still a bit messy. The cake itself is a standard yellow cake; you can follow the directions below or just use a box mix. The frosting is whipped cream and the blueberry filling is store-bought blueberry pie filling. You can make your own blueberry filling, but Mom used store-bought pie filling and so did I.

Grandpa's Birthday Cake


Yellow Cake

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add milk, butter, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes until well combined. Add eggs and beat for 2 more minutes. Pour into 2 well greased and floured 8-inch round pans until pans are half-full. If you have leftover batter, make a few cupcakes or use another pan. Bake in an oven heated to 350 for 25 to 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to completely cool before removing from the pan.

Whipped Cream Frosting

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Place all ingredients in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use

To assemble the cake, place the first layer on a plate and cover completely with whipped cream frosting. Before placing the second layer on top, cut out a circle from the top layer to create a ring of cake. Place the second layer on top of the first layer and cover completely with whipped cream. There will be a well in the center of the cake. Smooth the whipped cream frosting. Fill the well with the blueberry pie filling.