I Haluski- You Haluski -We all Haluski- Yeah!

Dorky cheer aside (I am W.O.U.N.D. up right now) Haluski (hulooshki) is a favorite around here, and pretty doggone cheap for feeding a crowd of hungry people.

You can do this the hard way or the easy way. It tastes the same, just with thinner cabbage pieces, so I vote easy.

The hard way is to boil a head of cabbage for 5 minutes, drain and julienne.

The easy way is to grab a bag or two of slaw mix (cabbage and carrots shredded together).

Go with whichever of those options tickles your fancy.

4 oz. unsalted butter. Unsalted makes a BIG difference. Really, I've experimented.

1 large onion, sliced or more if you like onions.

2 Tbsp. (yes really 2, not a typo) garlic salt

1 lb. cooked and diced bacon OR to make it a bit more filling, sliced and diced kielbasa.

5 cups wide egg noodles, cooked al dente and rinsed in cold water

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 c. grated Romano cheese (I've also used Parmesan and a 3 cheese blend)

Melt butter in a (large) skillet on medium heat and add onions and half of the garlic salt and let sweat for 10 minutes, stirring often. (I like my dutch oven for this.) Stir in cabbage and cook until everything starts to caramelize, about 10 more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (not the cheese yet though) and cook another 5 minutes, or until kielbasa is heated through.

Just before serving, mix in cheese. Makes a lot.

Garlic Breath Dipping Oil

My kids would have licked the plate clean.

1 tsp. crushed red pepper (or less. I used less)

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup or as needed/desired olive oil

Combine all and dip warm bread, or just lick the plate clean.

Brownie Torte

Words darn near fail me here. Brownie, chocolate and butter, whipped cream. Sigh, it doesn't get a whole lot better than this folks.

Your favorite 9x13 brownie recipe OR a box (9x13 size) brownie mix- fudgy is suggested

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1/2 c. softened butter

2 cups whipped topping, or whipped sweetened whipping cream.

Prepare brownies per recipe or box, and bake in a greased and floured 9 inch round pan.

Pour in batter and bake 38-42 minutes or until they test done. Cool for 10 minutes, then perform a magicians act to get it centered on a plate and out of the pan.

Cool completely.

Mix together soft butter and warm melted chips until smooth. Go ahead and taste it. You know you want to.

Spread mixture over brownies to edges, and drip a little over the side to make it purty.

Chill until set. Just before serving mound the whipped topping in the center, but don't bring it quite to the edges. You want that chocolate to wink and flirt with the diners. Or maybe you don't so you can eat it yourself.

I have yet to do so, but I think a bit of mint flavoring, or orange zest, or raspberry jam would fancy this up even more. Let me know if you try any of those and how it turns out.

Serves 9-12.

Simple Fantastically Wonderful Lemonade

Sort of a cheater recipe, but so good, who cares!

1 c. lemon juice (I use our store brand of 100% lemon juice)

1 c. sugar

2 qts. water

Mix all of the above together and stir well. To take it up another notch to lemonade blissdom, add assorted sliced oranges,lemons, and limes. Drink it all.

Cheater Donuts

A truly happy Saturday Morning Breakfast, and actually, pretty easy!

~As many cans of refrigerator biscuits as you think you might like

~Oil for deep frying

~Cinnamon sugar

~Powdered sugar

Heat oil in a large skillet. I don't know how hot to tell you, when it seems like its been a while, drop in a donut, if the oil bubbles and the donut starts browning up right away, its good. If nothing seems to happen, fish out your donut, set it aside and wait a little longer. Our stove heats by numbers, and I usually have mine on 9, then turn it to about 7 once I begin frying.

Fry the donut for around 30-45 seconds flip, and do the same on the other. Watch they don't darken to quickly! Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels a few minutes. Roll while still warm in one of the sugars. Eat and be merry.

Cajun Chicken Sandwiches

I Forgot to put lettuce on this one. oops.

A bit of effort for these sandwiches, but well worth it.

Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts, (enough for everyone), banged- er- tenderized with a meat mallet, or, in my case, a frying pan. I then cut them in half. I used 3 breasts for 5 people.

Sprinkle with Cajun seasoning (I use Old bay, 'cuz that's what I have), and cook in pan over medium heat until juices run clear and they are cooked through.

Swiss cheese slices or cheese of your choice- when chicken is done, leave in the pan. Lay slices of cheese on the chicken, add a little water to the bottom of the pan and cover quickly. Perfectly melted cheese every time.

Sandwich buns, spread with mayo OR Parmesan creamy Italian dressing, which I never have, Parmesan Peppercorn ranch is good too. I never have that one either.

1-2 slices crisp bacon for each sandwich If my bacon is longer I use one and break it in half. If they are shorter pieces, I use 2.

Tomato slices if desired

lettuce

Layer in your choice of fashion.

Eat.

Venison Hash

We get a lot of venison ground. Steaks and roasts are delicious yes, but when it comes to it, you can feed a lot more people on a pound or two of ground venison than you can with unground.

I generally substitute venison for beef, or in this case, beef will be subbed for venison when I make this tonight (because beef was on sale cheep when we were out of venison, and I froze it in flat packs, so a flat of beef thaws a lot quicker than the lump of venison I forgot to thaw this morning)

This ones pretty good, but I suggest taming the peppers if you have kidlets.

1 lb. ground venison

3 Tbsp. oil or bacon fat (I will add that I have thrown some chopped bacon in here, well worth it)

3 large onions, chopped -Yeah that's a little crazy in my opinion, so I just add them until it looks right.

1 can of chopped tomatoes- roughly 2 cups. I use a 14.5 oz can.

2 jalapenos, chopped- Child friendly version: 1 4 oz. can chopped green chili's.

1 tsp. chili powder

2 medium potatoes *very* thinly sliced

1 1/2 c. grated cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

A clove or two of minced garlic, if you feel like it

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Brown meat in oil or fat. Add onions and cook until they are soft.

Stir in tomatoes, peppers, chili powder, salt and pepper, and minced garlic, cook for about 5 minutes. Spread in a flat oven dish, and layer the sliced potatoes on top.

3. Cover and bake 45 min.

4. Remove cover, sprinkle with cheese and bake another 15 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Serves around 6.