Creamy Cabbage Soup

front of the card:
Creamy Cabbage Soup
4 oz Kielbasa diced
1 cream of potato
1 soup can H2O
2 tbs oleo
2 cups chopped cabbage
1 med. onion
- in hot butter cook cabbage and onion until tender - add meat - cook 2 min.
Stir in soup and H2O
Garnish - shredded Swiss cheese or paprika or pretzel sticks or croutons.

I made this on a snow day because it looked so simple, but sounded so great. It turned out just fantastic - creamy, but not too heavy. I mostly followed the recipe except I made my own sort-of-can of cream of potato soup and added a dash of mustard and apple cider vinegar. I can't wait to try all the variations on the front and back of the card. Definitely Grandma Betty's handwriting.

Back of the card:
Meat 4 frank furters, 1 cup cooked ham, 4 slices bacon cooked crumbled
Soup cr. of potato, cr. of chicken, cr. of mushroom
Liquid 1 can H2O, 1 can milk, 1/2 cup evap milk 3/4 cup H2O
Garnish paprika, pretzel sticks, croutons

Marmalade Bran Muffins

A few years ago I got a serious craving for marmalade bran muffins that my mom and grandma made. I asked a few of  my aunts if they had the recipe, but no one knew what I was talking about. I went through the family recipe box, but the recipe wasn't there. Then I remembered that I'd first had these muffins up at Johns Island where everyone improvises from what's been left in the pantry. I looked back through the recipe box and found this bran muffin recipe that calls for dried fruit. I don't remember much dried fruit around, but Grandma always had a jar of marmalade. I gave it a test and, sure enough, these are the Marmalade Muffins I remember. They're very moist and addictive. I put them in the freezer when they're cool so I don't eat too many at once! Mom liked to cut them in half and put them under the broiler until the edges were brown, then spread on some butter and serve.

(Marmalade) Bran Muffins
makes 24 muffins

3 cups whole Bran
1 cup boiling water
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup salad oil (that means non-olive oil)
1 cup dry fruit (but I suggest King Kelly Orange Marmalade)
2 1/2 tea soda
1/2 tea salt
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cup Reg Flour

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Mix the boiling water and bran together in a large bowl.
• Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and marmalade to the bran and mix well.
• Mix the flour, sugar, soda, and salt together in a separate bowl.
• Combine the two bowls together.
• Line two 12-muffins tins with paper liners (I don't think this recipe would work will with just buttering the tins) and divide the batter between them. The batter doesn't rise much at all, so you can get close to the top of tins.
• Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool at least 15 minutes before eating or they will stick to the paper liners.

(Thank goodness for the back of the card with a) Buttermilk Substitute: 1 TB lemon or vinegar to 1 cup milk.

Apple Dumplings

I'm hoping someone can interpret this for me. I need a little more instructions. Also, is the second line of the ingredients H2O? I love that there is butter and shortening this.

24 Hour Wine & Cheese Omelet

24 Hour Wine & Cheese Omelet
serves 10 to 12

1 large day old French loaf* - broken into small pieces
1 1/2 c sour cream
6 T butter, melted
1 c Parmesan cheese
3/4 lb Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 lb Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
9 thin slices salami, chopped
16 eggs
1/2 c dry white wine
3 3/4 c milk
4 large whole green onions, optional
1 T german mustard
1/8 t ground red pepper
1 t white pepper

• Butter two 9 x 13 pans (or one really big roasting pan). 
• Spread bread over bottom of pan and drizzle with butter.
• Sprinkle with both cheeses and the salami.
• Beat eggs, milk, wine, green onion, mustard, pepper, and red pepper until foamy and then pour over cheese and bread. Mom taught me to press everything down with your hands to make sure the eggs are getting into all the cracks.
• Cover dish with foil, crimp edges, and try not to let the foil sit right on the cheese. Refrigerate over night or up to 24 hours.
• Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking.
• Preheat oven 325 and bake covered until set - about 1 hour.
• Uncover and spread with sour cream and Parmesan. Bake uncovered until crusty and lightly browned - about 10 more minutes.
• Serve with more sour cream and a couple of salsas to have it Sally style.

*From the first time I remember making this with Mom there was always trouble interpreting what was one large loaf of French bread. She tried baguettes and sourdoughs and artisan breads and sliced sandwich loaves. It all works. The best is a white loaf of unsliced bread that comes in a paper sleeve (not the artisan kind though) because it's fluffy, but a little dry. I always buy two in case mine isn't "large" enough and eat the leftovers. You pretty much just want the pans to be full to the top, but not so mounded that the cheese spills over and the liquid isn't enough to soak into everything. I've put too much bread in before and then I just mixed up an extra cup of milk and two eggs and poured that over (and ate delicious leftovers for a week).