Dutch Oven Cooking in your Backyard

My Cousin Renee and her husband Roland are amazing! I don't know which one of them came up with this awesome idea but I was VERY impressed!

They purchased a 2 drawer Metal file Cabinet at a local thrift store.
They created a tin foil layer on top (not sure what they have under it maybe a cookie sheet?) I will ask!
She purchased a charcoal starter :

This gets the coals hot then you put the desired amount under the Dutch Oven
The lid on then the coals on top and cook the desired time depending on what you are cooking.
Then store the dutch ovens in the drawers when done!

No heating up the house to do your Sunday Roast!

Foolproof Fudge

This recipe is from my Mother in Law Lila, I have not tried it yet, but I want to put it in my blog before it gets lost....it's on a small square piece of paper that keeps falling off  the desk!!

FOOLPROOF FUDGE

3 C. (18 oz) semi sweet chocolate chips
14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
dash of salt
1.5 t. Vanilla Extract
Optional:
1/2 C. Chopped Nuts
OR
2 C. minature Marshmallows

Line a 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil. Butter the foil. Set aside.

In a Heavy Saucepan melt the chips with the milk and salt
remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and the Nuts
or
2  Tablespoons of Butter and the marshmallows.

Spread evenly in prepared pan and chill for 2 hours or till firm.

Turn out onto a clean cutting board and peel off the foil.
Cut into squares.
Store covered in the refrigerator.

Baked Meatballs

My husband loves Meatballs! He keeps buying them from the store...ug! Who knows what could be in those! My early attempts at meatballs were tasty but decidedly lacking in execution, the fry in oil method was NOT working for me and we certainly did not need the added oil in our diets!

When we were on Vacation at a cabin in Montana we decided to try to make our own. Here is the recipe we came up with and the resulting pictures!

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with foil

Mix together
1/2 C. Milk (or water)
2 eggs
1 t. Salt
1/2. t. Pepper
1/2 t.Garlic Powder
1 t. Italian spices
1 T. Parsley (fresh if you have it all chopped up)
Add:
1/4 C. canned or fresh breadcrumbs and soak for a few min till the crumbs are soft
ADD:
1/2 C. Parmesan Cheese
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground bison (you can use any other lean meat like chicken or turkey)

Now,  mix this well and get out a cookie scoop. I use a 18/9 (whatever that means!) it makes a good sized meatball. If you do a smaller meatball you may need to adjust cooking time.
Scoop the meat and pop out onto a cookie sheet lined with foil. Roll the meatball in your hands to get it as round as possible. It's important to get them close to the same size so that they cook evenly.
Put them on the cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 min.

When they are done, they will not be beautiful till you clean off the drippings. At this point you can eat them, refrigerate them, freeze them or do what we did and pop them into some spaghetti sauce and let them get all nice and toasty and saucy then serve them for dinner!