Herself's Recipes

8-10 lg potatoes, sliced
1 lg or 2 medium onions diced or sliced
2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of condensed cream of celery soup
24 oz chicken broth (more if thicker than desired)

Combine in a saucepan on medium heat until blended the broth and soup.

2 quart crock pot, layer sauce, potato slices, onions, sauce, potato slices, onion…. ending with sauce on top.

Cook on high 4 hours or 8 hours on low.

Waxy red or white potatoes work best in scalloped potato recipes.

If your potatoes turn black or gray when cooked it is because they were stored at too high of a temperature. Keep potatoes in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.

We’ve got cucumbers coming out of our ears this year. I’ve made several salads, but so far I like this one the best. Cucumber salads are often served alongside of curry dishes to take some of the sting out of the spice. They are either made with yogurt or sour cream you might experiment with both. If you use yogurt you’ll find mint makes a better spice for the salad.

1 teaspoon sugar
2 Tablespoon cider vinegar
1 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoon chives, diced
2 Tablespoon dill
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 cucumbers, diced small

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and chill at least one hour before serving.

The cucumber originated in India, later being cultivated in Greece and Italy before heading to China. In the New World uncooked vegetables and fruits fell out of favor being believed to be a major cause of disease. The cucumber was not much eaten by people again until the late 1800s when fresh fruit and vegetables came back into favor.

This showed up in local restaurants about 1999. It has been such a hit in this area you would be hard put to find an Italian restaurant that doesn’t serve it. This version is the best adaptation we came up with from the restaurant versions. This makes a great summer meal when you can grab tomatoes and basil right out of the garden. It is traditionally served as an afternoon snack.

Ingredients
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
French bread, sliced about 1/2″ thick
4 large tomatoes diced
An equal amount of mozzarella cheese diced, fresh if you can get it
2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
4 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions:
Put crushed garlic and olive oil into a glass dish and microwave 2 minutes
Remove garlic from olive oil and brush olive oil on to the French bread
Toast the French bread until golden brown
Mix remaining olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, tomatoes and mozzarella in a bowl

Serve the bread on a platter and spoon tomato, cheese mixture onto bread as you get ready to eat it so the sauce doesn’t make the bread soggy.

I’ve also had this down here in Houston with melted fresh mozzarella on top, then thin slices of peppers that have been roasted with Balsamic vinegar and oil are put on top.

Or in place of peppers one or two shrimp roasted in garlic butter are placed on top of the mozzarella.

Some restaurants add diced red onions to the cold tomato and mozzarella version which is also very good.