Recipe Favorites!!

Okay, so growing up I'm sure you all had a favorite recipe or dish that your mom, grandma, great aunt, or great grandmother used to make, right?! For me, it was my grandma. She made the absolute BEST homemade applesauce. I haven't had any as good since. I think her secret was a TON of sugar! LOL Which would explain my obsession!! =)

Well, grandma has long since given up in the kitchen. She's going to be 88 this August, widowed, suffering from Dementia, and living in an assisted care home not far from my folks. The other day another one of my favorite dishes that she made for us came to mind...and I haven't had it in YEARS! Mom and I tried to make it 6-7 years ago (even went out and bought a meat grinder and all! LOL) but alas, it just wasn't the same as granny's.

Since it popped into my mind, I have of course, true to pregnancy form, been craving it! LOL So I made mom spend two nights searching for the meat grinder--which she finally found (um, in the EXACT place I told her she'd stored it!)! Yay! So this weekend I am going to attempt to make Roast Beef Spread Sandwiches! I even found a recipe on the web for it---so it wasn't just some creation of granny's mind! =) Wish me luck, ya'll!

Shredded Roast Beef Salad Sandwiches

This is a delicious way to use roast beef. Feel free to change the amount of mayonnaise to moisten to your taste. Instead of making sandwiches, you could serve the spread with crackers for a party, along with chopped red onion in a separate dish.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound cooked roast beef
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped celery
• 1/2 cup bread and butter pickles (granny used sweet pickles)
  
• 1/2 to 1 cup mayonnaise
• pickle juice, to taste (again, granny used juice from sweet pickles)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, optional
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• slice of cheese (your choice), for topping
  
• sliced red onion, for topping
• lettuce, for topping
• sliced wheat or white bread

PREPARATION:

Put beef and onion, celery, and pickles through a meat grinder with the coarse plate, or mince the ingredients or process in a food processor until evenly chopped. Add remaining ingredients, with enough mayonnaise and pickle juice to taste and moisten as desired.

Serve as a spread for crackers or melba rounds or as a spread for sandwiches. Toast the bread, if desired, and then spread with a little butter or mayonnaise. Add lettuce leaves; spread a layer of the beef spread over the lettuce, then top with sliced red onion.
Makes enough for 6 to 8 sandwiches.