Macaroni & Cheese

This is a Paula Deen recipe that I have altered. I could not stomach the thought of adding eggs to Mac & Cheese, so I left that out and changed some of the processes, and the recipe is still delicious.

2 cups elbow macaroni

4 Tbsp. butter, cut up

2 1/2 cups (10 oz) grated sharp Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (1o 3/4 oz) condensed cheddar cheese soup

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 cup milk, room temperature

1. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan and cook elbow macaroni for 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. In a heavy saucepan, mix cheddar cheese soup, butter, salt, mustard, pepper and milk. Heat on medium until mixture is hot and slightly bubbly, stirring constantly.

3. Mix in sour cream and fold in cheese, stirring until all cheese is melted. Pour cooked elbow macaroni into cheese mixture and mix well.

4. Pour macaroni mixture into a buttered casserole dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Horseradish and Garlic Prime Rib

This is Tyler Florence's recipe ... I take no credit for it, except for having the good sense to watch his Ultimate episode on TV! I always follow this recipe to the T ... it is excellent just the way it is.

1 (3-rib) prime rib beef roast, about 6 lb.

5 garlic cloves, smashed & minced finely

1/2 cup grated fresh or prepared horseradish

1/2 cup sea salt

1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 parsnips

1 red onion, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Lay the beef in a large roasting pan with the bone sine down.

3. In a small bowl mash together the garlic, horseradish, salt, pepper, and olive oil to make a thick paste.

4. Massage the paste generously over the entire roast. Scatter the vegetables and halved onion around the meat. Drizzle with olive oil.

5. Roast the beef for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for medium rare (or 2o minutes per pound). Check the internal temperature of the roast in several places with an instant-read thermometer; it should register 125 degrees F for medium-rare.

6. Remove the beef to a carving board and let it rest for 20 minutes. Discard vegetables.

Note: I scrape off the horseradish & garlic crush before I start carving, but you can leave it on if you like. Just remember it is very salty and garlicky ... but some people might actually like that.

Pizza Rolls

Appertizers start appearing in our house during the holidays. If there is going to be a big dinner, then I'll serve several substantial appertizers instead of lunch. Here is one of Sarah's favorites. It's a very forgiving recipe and you can make substitutions quite easily without affecting the finished product.

4 cups (16 oz) shredded pizza cheese blend or mozzarella cheese

1 lb bulk Italian sausage, cooked and drained

2 packages ( 3 oz each) sliced pepperoni, chopped

1 medium green pepper, finely chopped

1 medium sweet red pepper, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 jars (14 oz each) pizza sauce

32 egg roll wrappers

Vegetable oil for frying

Additional pizza sauce for dipping, warmed, optional

1. In a large bowl, combine the cheese, sausage, pepperoni, peppers and onion.

2. Stir in pizza sauce until combined.

3. Place about 1/4 cup filling in the center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold bottom corner over filling; fold sides toward center over filling. Moisten remaining corner with water and roll up tightly to seal.

4. In skillet, heat 1 inch of oil to 375 degrees . Fry pizza rolls for 1 - 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Do not crowd the skillet.

5. Drain the browned rolls on paper towels. Serve hot with warm pizza sauce.

Makes: 32 rolls.

Note: I do not use chopped peppers since two out of the three people in this family do not like it. Just reduce the amount of sauce used. If you do not like pizza sauce, just use a traditional spaghetti sauce, which is what I do a lot. I also use smaller wonton wrappers instead of the egg wrappers. If you want smaller rolls, just cut the egg roll wrapper into four squares ... works just as well as buying wonton wrappers. If it's just the three of us, I will use just half of the filling and save it in the refrigerator for using later.