Family Dinner

I recently found one of my first cookbooks, given to me for Christmas in 1971 by my then future sister and brother-in-law. It was "Betty Crocker's New Good and Easy Cookbook." It is completely battered and bruised from all the use it has had in the 70's and 80's. I was sorry to see that the first inside page was missing so I don't know the year it was published.

I was recently planning a family dinner and I thought our grandsons might like Swiss Steak. It always turns out very tender and flavorful. I had to search a little to find my old cookbook that had the Swiss Steak recipe that I had made for my family for many years. It was buried behind my newer cookbooks. I took the time to look through it and I found so many pages that I had cooked from. Believe me, the pages are dirty, discolored, torn, etc. from many hands touching them through the years. I came across the recipe for Butter Dips and decided to make those for the boys also. Our kids loved them when they were young.

When I buy the round steak, if it hasn't been put through the tenderizer, I ask the butcher to do it for me. First I cut them into serving sized pieces and then I dredged in the seasoned flour. I heated olive oil in a dutch oven and pan-fried them until brown. I removed them and put them in a covered baking dish. I sliced an onion and put the onion around the meat and then poured the liquid over it. I covered it and put it in a 325 degree oven for 2 hours. I then turned the oven down to 200 degrees for a half hour and then I turned the oven off and left it in the oven until I was ready for it. It was super tender and very tasty. Our daughter said that it tasted just the way she remembered it when she was growing up. And the boys liked it too!

For the butter dips, I mixed up all of the dry ingredients and let it sit until I was ready to make them. I added the milk, stirred them and kneaded them a few times and rolled and cut them into strips. They bake for 15 to 20 minutes in a 425 degree oven. The boys really like those too!

I also served garlic mashed potatoes and spiced carrots. For dessert, I wanted to make something that was small and had berries, because the boys are crazy for all types of berries. I found this recipe for Fresh Berry Upside Down Cakes at the Tasty Kitchen website. They came together fairly fast and I baked them earlier in the afternoon. The recipe made a dozen so most of them were wrapped up and put into the freezer for another time.

No one left hungry so it was a successful dinner and we had lots of fun together!

Enjoy!