Kicked-Up Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwiches

Cindy had major back surgery on Friday and her sister Nancy (ex nurse) came up from Florida to tend to her during her early recuperation, so we had dinner ready for them when Nancy got in on Wednesday evening.  We decided on our version of a Kentucky Hot Brown using Chris’ (Nibble Me This) kicked up Mornay Sauce which I doubled to get this one – also added country ham.

Katelyn and Tyler Come To Visit

When Kathy and her clan visited us in June from San Antonio, her oldest daughter, Katelyn, was taking a summer class at Texas A&M, but when it was over, she and boyfriend, Tyler decided to make a trip on their own stopping first at her aunt Wende’s in Oak Ridge then coming to Almost Heaven South.

Our old jet ski had finally died so they went paddle boarding a couple of times instead, but she did come with a wish list for food and activities.  Capt Big Dude and his first mate.

Dave and Laurie Visit - Galette

Our friends Dave and Laurie came over for an afternoon visit and since I’d seen, Pam’s blog post for a tomato galette, we decided to serve it as a little snack but then Bev, the non-recipe follower, engaged her memory to say “remember those individual tomato pies we made several years ago?  I think the stuffing for them was great so we should use it in this recipe.”  I looked it up and since we raved about the pies, I decided she was right.  So we opted to make one by her inspiration and one from Pam’s recipe and have a taste test.  This is our version of her recipe.

A Visit From The Walkers

The whole Walker clan came in for a weekend visit and this is the first time in at least a year they’ve all been here.  Of course, one of our high priorities was providing meals using this plan.

Fri. Evening – Fried okra, boiled corn, and green beans (as I made them recently).

Sat. Morning – Sausage and pancakes with choice of blueberries, banana, and chopped pecans (it was all three for us smart ones).

Sat. Evening – Million Dollar Spaghetti Pie

Sun Morning – Sausage & Cream Cheese Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

Sun Lunch – BLT with Benton’s bacon and delicious local tomatoes.

I thought sure that I had blogged about making the spaghetti pie but could not find it anywhere so here it is (again).  The Million Dollar Spaghetti Pie recipe is from Spend With Pennies – I followed the ingredients list (except the butter) but assembled it differently.  Check out Holly’s blog for the original recipe and some great how-to shots – here is one of her shots and mine looked the same except I don't like the cheese to be this brown so I added it toward the end of cooking.

Lemon and Dill Salmon with Sautéed Tomato, Spinach, and Feta Orzo Ala Pam

Good buddy Joe called to say he’d provide the salmon if we’d cook it and provide the sides to which we quickly agreed.  Rather than use our normal cooking method, I decided to try something different and went to one of my go-to sources for good recipes who just happens to live in the Pacific Northwest – salmon country.  Pam had several salmon recipes on her For The Love Of Cooking Blog and the one that appealed to me this day was Lemon and Dill Salmon with Sauteed Tomato,Spinach, and Feta Orzo.  Check her blog for the original recipe and here’s a shot of her dish from the website.

Scalloped Potato Roll

Cindy saw this recipe on line at tasty.com, volunteered to make it for us and we quickly agreed – even without seeing the recipe, I was sure I would like it just from the name of the dish.  If you look at the website, it even had a short step-by-step video which you should watch before making the dish.  Here's a web shot of how it should look.