Great-Great-Grandma's Cookies

I recently inherited my great-grandmas recipe collection. It is so amazing to have her handwritten recipes. She was an amazing cook and an even better baker. Since baking is not my forte, I wanted to take some instruction from her little box. This morning I was looking through the recipe box and I found one titled "Mother's spiced oat cookies." Since her mother would be my great-great-grandma, I felt I had to give it a try. Sorry but there will be no recipe attached. This one holds too much nostalgic value to share outside the family. Any Witt's are welcome to it (message me if you want) but no one else! It may seem kind of hateful to share this moment without the recipe but I couldn't help but record it. Tasting these cookies has brought so many memories back to me. Baking with her recipe makes me feel close to her. Plus it resulted in some delicious cookies!

No More Frozen Dinners!

Salisbury Steak

Salisbury steak has always been a favorite of mine but I've never made it myself. There are special diet restrictions in my house so it hasn't been something we eat often. On occasion, I would settle the urges with a Michelina's frozen meal but they have way too much sodium and not enough filling power. I decided tonight I was going be adventurous and make my own. I thought maybe it'll good or maybe it wont. I had no intention when I began to blog this recipe. But it was DELICIOUS!  There were no left overs and my husband said to definitely put it on the "repeat list."

Here is the recipe:
1 lg egg
1/4 c milk
2 tsp / 1 tsp Wildtree Onion Blend
Pinch of salt and pepper
3 tsp / 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 lb ground beef 80/20
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 pt button mushrooms (sliced)
2 Tbsp light butter

First you mix egg, milk, 2 tsp Wildtree onion blend, salt and pepper, and 3 tsp Worcestershire sauce with a whisk until its all incorporated together. When it is, fold in the meat.  Careful not to over mix it.  It'll be kind of like a meatloaf.  Form the meat into palm sized/shaped steaks.  For me, that made 5 patties.  Smash them flat because they will plump up as they cook.  Brown the steaks on a grill pan (med high) until both sides are beautiful and brown.  With the size of mine, it took about 5 min on each side. The caramelization really helps keep them juicy so make sure the pan is hot before you put them in.

While your steaks are browning, the sauce should be made in a different pan.  If you used a leaner beef, you probably could do it all in the same but I did not want the extra grease in my sauce.

In a separate, hot skillet (medium heat) saute mushrooms in the butter.  As the mushrooms begin to cook down, add the 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and 1 tsp Wildtree onion blend.  You do not need to add any salt or pepper (unless you really want it).  The seasoning will give it great flavor.  When your sauce is hot and bubbly and your steaks are brown, transfer the steaks to the sauce pan (leaving as much grease as possible out of the sauce). Cover and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Like I said, the size of my steaks equaled 5 steak patties.  I served mine with  oven roasted veggies and 1 steak was plenty for me.  My husband ate the rest!  The nutritional data below, courtesy of MyFitnessPal, is based on 1 steak and the veggies are not included.

I hope you all try this and enjoy it as much as we did at my house!   They were perfectly juicy and seasoned.  Enjoy!