Apparently my husband thought I was giving away too many of his secrets. Writing about his hand mixed steak rub was just going too far. Maybe he thinks he will make his secret rub and sell it across the U.S. So you are not going to get his secret recipe for steak rub. I can tell you that it had a lot of different seasonings in it. It was very flavorful and not hot.

Anyhoo, back to the farm. We will move along. Everyone has a basic hot roll recipe, so I won't bore you with another one.

This last weekend we had some friends that came to visit that like to camp. We have the perfect place to camp. There is a stand of mulberry trees that have been there since the homestead days. There are some large tree stumps underneath that are used for seating. We have dug a nice fire pit surrounded by rocks. We can then put a grate over the rocks and cook most anything. This time we had a campfire breakfast. We made biscuits with sausage gravy and scrambled eggs. I did cheat and make the biscuits at home. I took them along in disposable pans covered with aluminum foil. That way I could heat them up on the edge of the grate and not have the cooking time of a dutch oven. I always make gravy over the campfire with canned milk. I don't have to worry about carrying milk in the cooler. Just make sure you have some water.

Sausage Gravy

2 lbs. pork sausage, mild or hot
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 cans evaporated milk
2 cans water
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown sausage in deep skillet breaking up all large pieces. Do not drain fat. Add flour to sausage and fat in skillet. Cook until all sausage is coated with flour. Add milk and water. Bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over split hot biscuits.

Enjoy!

For the seafood boil, we put about 1/2 cup of Old Bay Seasoning in a large pot of water. Bring to a boil. Add smoked sausage, about 1/4 lb per person, and boil for 15 minutes. The sausage will help flavor your water. We added two small new potatoes per person and boiled for another 25 minutes. Then we added an ear of sweet corn per person, broken in half, and boiled another 15 minutes. Then we added easy peel shrimp, 1/2 lb per person, and boiled 5 minutes. The trick is to make sure everything else is cooked before adding the shrimp. They do not take long and will turn to rubber if overcooked. We then dipped a strainer into the water and removed all the contents and served large trays in the middle of each table. You could add any kind of seafood you would like. We served with butter, cocktail sauce, tartar sauce and ketchup (mainly for the kids that don't like cocktail sauce).

We covered our tables with newspaper for easy cleanup.

Enjoy!

Dessert is first this week. I am behind. I am posting the recipe for a flag cake. That is sooo last weekend. I'll try to move forward.

Flag Cake

1 1 lb. pound cake
1 6 oz pkg red gelatin of your chosen flavor (cherry, strawberry, mixed fruit, etc.)
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
16 oz. Cool Whip
1 container fresh strawberries
1 container fresh blueberries

Dissolve gelatin in 1 1/2 cups of hot water. Add 1 1/2 cups cold water. Place in refrigerator until partially set. Spray a 14 x 10 x 3 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Slice pound cake into 1/2 inch slices. Lay in a single layer in bottom of pan. Pour gelatin over the top of the pound cake. Refrigerate until set. Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in Cool Whip. Spread this mixture over the top of the firm gelatin layer. Refrigerate until serving time. Right before serving make a square out of blueberries on the top left hand corner of cake. Slice strawberries in half and make stripes for your flag out of the strawberry halves. Cut into 24 squares to serve.

Enjoy!

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I just wanted to tell you how great the seafood boil went at our house on Saturday night. Before the thunderstorm hit, that is. It was one of the best picnics we have ever had. We had about 25 people over. We had enough food for about 50, of course. We served cajun rubbed steaks, shrimp, smoked sausages, potatoes, corn, hot rolls, handheld peach pies and flag cake. We will go one recipe at a time this week. So, the best first, dessert.

Handheld peach pies

2 cans sliced peaches, drained
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
2 9 inch prepared pie crusts

Finely chop peaches. Mix with marshmallows into peaches. Mix sugar and cinnamon together. Add 2 teaspoons to peach mixture. Roll out pie crusts. Cut each pie crust into 6 triangles. Spoon a small amount of peach mixture onto each triangle. Dip finger into water. Run along edges of pie crust triangles. Fold each triangle over. You can either leave the top open and fold back to reveal filling or completely cover all filling. Use a fork to seal edges of triangle. Sprinkle with more sugar/cinnamon. Place on greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Makes 12 pies.

Enjoy!

I can't believe the Fourth of July is already here again. I collect cookbooks and one of them was written by Paula Deen. Of course we have different things available here than she does in the South. Be that as is may, we have decided to do something different for our family get together over the weekend. How about a Low-Country Boil. We thought that sounded like a lot of fun. Sausage, shrimp, potatoes and corn. We will still make homemade ice cream and handheld peach pies. It would not be a summer holiday without the kids making ice cream. It keeps them out of trouble. We have one of the old fashioned hand crank versions of ice cream maker. They all get involved and then get to eat the fruits of their labor. It is a win-win for everyone. Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

In My Cookie Jar this week are Gingersnaps. These are great to have in the morning with coffee. Or in the afternoon with milk. Or, gosh, just about anytime.

Gingersnaps

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
4 Tablespoons molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon ginger

Mix shortening, sugar, egg and molasses well. Add remaining ingredients. make into balls the size of walnuts. Dip tops in sugar. Place on cookie sheet sugar side up. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Enjoy!