Red Cocktail Sauce for Shrimp ...p13

The only time I buy bottled Cocktail Sauce is when my husband grabs it in the grocery store....this recipe has never failed to be a pleaser and I'm pleased to say tonight, it was extra-special.  Reason being?  My husband made the added horseradish sauce from scratch!

If you've never tried, do!  It's so easy if you have a food processor.  One chunk of horseradish root, a bit of vinegar and salt make about a pint-sized jar.  Radically different from the store bought horseradish sauce that sometimes tastes "funny" - this tasted fresh and pungent.  We learned from the fantastic blog The Garden of Eating that once you blend it smooth, the longer you wait before adding the vinegar, which acts as a neutralizer, the hotter the horseradish.  We opted to wait the full 3 minutes before neutralizing....perfect to our taste!  And perfect when added fresh to this cocktail sauce.

The critic inherited her love of horseradish from her father,

remarking that this was a "generational blessing" as opposed to "curse," so she was the official taste tester:  "YUM YUM YUM," she exclaimed.....

Shrimp, onions, artichokes, and purple potatoes went into the pot along with some seasonings to combine for an "elegant" casual dinner, concocted so that we could comment on the red cocktail sauce.

Hardy Appetit!

Nana's Pigs in a Blanket ...p47

Perhaps to you, pigs in a blanket conjure up "Pigpen" from Peanuts...or little teeny sausages swaddled in biscuits, but that's not what I see.  I see a full kitchen table, populated with my lovely family - think the 1960s (yes, there was still a semblance of family in that decade - not everyone was drinking the Kool-Aid, and many of us didn't camp out at Woodstock, but on the family farms...in our dresses and pearls).

Think mom in her cigarette pants, hair done up in a bun, dad coming home from a hard day's work, and "cabbage rolls" waiting to be dished up on nine empty plates.  Happy times.

Simple ingredients.  Cabbage, beef (not pork as the name infers), rice and tomato sauce.

Mix beef, onions, egg, s&p together

Parboil a head of cabbage

Place beef mixture on leaf, fold sides over and roll up

I make any extra beef into meatballs

Cover with tomato sauce and extra leaves, then bake!

I've assembled pigs in a blanket countless times just by remembering what mom did, but this time I followed her recipe, and wished I was doing it in cigarette pants. 

I'm sure you know nana's opinion without even clicking on "recipe."  We all agree, these are wonderful. 

Hardy Appetit!