Best Salmon Ever

I can’t remember where this came from – but I always find that cooking seafood at home is tricky.  This recipe, however, is simple and foolproof.  First of all, you need fresh salmon – steaks, filets, or an entire half of salmon – depending on how many you want to feed.

Preheat the broiler of your oven.

In a saucepan heat the following ingredients:

2 Tbps. Honey

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. Butter

Heat until the butter and honey are melted, stirring frequently.

Drizzle the honey-mustard mixture over the salmon and broil to desired doneness.

Note:  You can increase or decrease the recipe, depending on how many people you want to feed.  Just keep the proportions of the ingredients the same (equal amounts of each).   If I’m cooking one piece of salmon, I use two teaspoons of each.  My sister has used this recipe at dinner parties serving eight to ten people.

Holiday Cranberry Mold

This is a recipe with a story (don’t they all have a story?)  Anyway, the story goes that my cousin Diane Allen got this recipe from the cooks in the cafeteria at Park Davis Pharmaceuticals where she worked right after graduating from college. My mother and sister have prepared this mold every single Thanksgiving since then. (My children were never great cranberry fans so I sort of dropped the ball, but I must have made it at least once because I passed the recipe on to my sister-in-law, and now it’s a favorite with her family.)  Trust me. It’s delicious. Make it and then pass it on!

1 8 or 9 oz. can crushed pineapple

1 pkg. cherry Jello (sm.)

½ cup sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 cup ground or food-processed fresh cranberries

1 sm. unpeeled orange (seedless) ground or chopped finely in a food processor

1 cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped walnuts

Drain pineapple and reserve syrup. Add water to syrup to make ½ cup. Dissolve gelatin and sugar in 1 cup hot water. Add lemon juice. Chill until partially set.  Add fruits, celery and nuts.  Chill in 5 cup ring mold overnight. (Or use some other decorative mold. My mom had a Star mold she used at Christmas time.)  Serves 8-10.

Cara's Best Ever Marinade
for Grilling Steaks

The first year that I taught high school, I was invited to one of my student’s houses, and I watched the cook make this marinade. This is a great summertime barbecue recipe.

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup soy sauce—or enough to make a thinnish syrup when the sugar dissolves in it. (The woman I watched didn’t measure.  She just put scoops of brown sugar in a cup and then poured in the soy sauce and stirred.)

Garlic Salt

Stir the mixture until the brown sugar dissolves. That’s it. Then marinate the steaks in it for about an hour. Then grill. This works well with a whole beef tenderloin too.

People will ask for your recipe.

Cara's Chocolate Cheesecake

This one is very rich and decadent.

1 ¼ cups chocolate wafer crumbs

1 Tbsp. Sugar

¼ cup melted butter

12 oz. (12 squares) semi-sweet chocolate

½ cup hot coffee

2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 teas. Vanilla

¼ teas. Salt

Whipped cream

Shave chocolate

Combine chocolate wafer crumbs and 1 tablespoon sugar.  Butter sides of a 10-inch springform pan.  Shake some of the crumbs around the pan to coat sides.  Add melted butter to rest of crumbs, blend well.  Press over bottom of pan.

Cara's Best Ever Marinade
for Grilling Steaks

The first year that I taught high school, I was invited to one of my student’s houses, and I watched the cook make this marinade. This is a great summertime barbecue recipe.

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup soy sauce – or enough to make a thinnish syrup when the sugar dissolves in it.  (The woman I watched didn’t measure.  She just put scoops of brown sugar in a cup and then poured in the soy sauce and stirred.) 

Garlic Salt

Stir the mixture until the brown sugar dissolves. That’s it. Then marinate the steaks in it for about an hour. Then grill. This works well with a whole beef tenderloin too.

People will ask for your recipe.

Pineapple Dessert

Nothing says “lovin’” to me like this recipe. It’s one of my Mom’s, and it must have been a favorite of mine growing up. From the time I went away to college, whenever I came home to visit, I would find a pan of this in the refrigerator waiting for me.

You will need a 9” by 13” glass dish.

One box vanilla wafers (small) – roll very fine and put ½ in the bottom of the dish.

2 cups powdered sugar

½ cup butter (soft)

2 eggs

½ teas. vanilla

Beat very well and spread over crumbs.

½ pint of heavy cream

1 #2 can of crushed pineapple

Beat heavy cream until it is very stiff. Then drain the pineapple and fold it into the whipped cream. Spread this mixture over the top of the egg and butter mixture.Sprinkle remaining vanilla wafer crumbs over the top and refrigerate overnight.

Then enjoy!

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