Hamburger . Noodle . Crescent Roll Casserole*

Making something from what I already had-- that was my goal.   I had a pound of thawed ground beef, onion, creamed corn, tomato soup, Parmesan cheese, elbow macaroni, and a tube of crescent rolls.  This is quite a bit like what my mother would make during my young years.  I liked it then, and,... I like it now!  Since this was a recipe I'd "met" in the distant past, I was surprised to find an almost identical posting of it-- a posting by Dianne Clew in June of 2003.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 of 15-oz. can creamed corn
• 1 of 10-oz. can tomato soup, undiluted (you could probably use a different "favorite" soup)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 and 1/2 cups uncooked macaroni noodles, cooked according to directions
• Desired seasonings, according to your taste.
• 6 slices of American cheese
• 1 of 8-oz. tube of Crescent rolls  (or a 12-oz. tube of small-type refrigerated biscuits)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a heavy skillet, brown beef with onion.
2. Add creamed corn, the soup of your choice, and grated Parmesan cheese.
3. Simmer for about 15 minutes, while cooking macaroni.
4. Add cooked macaroni to the meat/onion/soup/cheese mixture.
5. Season to taste.
6. Pour into a greased or sprayed casserole dish.  (I used one that is considered to be 2.5 quart in size.  Check photos at the bottom to see this baked in a 9x13" dish.)
7. Top with slices of American cheese.
8. IF using Crescent rolls,  do not unroll them.  Instead, with a sharp knife, cut the UNrolled roll into about 14-15 slices like you would do for making a cinnamon roll. Place slices on top of the cheese slices.   (The reason I said to use a sharp knife for this is so that the roll won't be squashed down during the cutting process.  Sometimes, I've even used a thread for cutting things like this.)  IF you are using a tube of biscuits, just cut them in half to cover top of mixture.
9. Bake at 350-degrees F. until the Crescent rolls or biscuits are browned to your liking.   I think it took me about 20 minutes to get them as shown in the photos.  (Check your own oven to see how this time might vary for you.)  I took mine out of the oven when it looked like this...

The sauce mixture was lightly bubbling in 

the openings between the rolls...

This was well-liked...

* IF you prefer to bake this in a 9x13 pan or glass dish, go ahead and do it like I did the second time through.  To make this work, I just increased the amount of American cheese slices FROM six TO eight.  Also, I cut the unrolled tube of Crescent rolls into 24 of only 1/4" slices to end up with enough to make six rows of four on the top of this larger surface...just like this...

The baking time for the 9x13" was about 

18 minutes.   Bake according to YOUR oven.

Olive Cream Cheese Dip/Spread

IF you like olives, I think you will 

like this...  IF, that is!

I wouldn't need crackers, nor chips, nor veggie sticks to enjoy this dip because...Sh-h-h-h-h,... I could eat it off my FINGER, then lick the beaters, and lick the bowl!!!!  

About five years ago, I was in what was then the Country Store where they had a tray of crackers and little open containers of their "made in house" dips/spreads to sample.  I tried the creamy olive mixture and liked it... a lot!  I looked at the price on the container.  Oooooooh, I thought it was a bit pricey at $3.00 for quite a small amount, but ... I bought it... and wasn't sorry.  But,... since then, I hadn't had anything like it... until now!

Last week, I was looking through some recipes submitted by Kittencal* at http://www.kittencalskitchen.com/ and noticed that this one looked like it could be what I was hoping to find.  I made it up and "adjusted" it to take the olive part of it down just a tad bit by adding more cream cheese so that the rest of my family would like it better.  It worked!

This serves about 15 or more?

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 of 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened.
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or adjusted to taste.
• 2 tablespoons olive oil.
• 1 fresh clove of garlic, finely minced (or 1 tsp. minced garlic from a jar).
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I used bottled juice that was newly purchased).
• 1 of 4.25-ounce can black olives, well-drained and chopped.
• 1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed olives, well-drained and chopped.
• Fresh ground black pepper, if desired (I didn't add it).
• Crackers or pita chips or veggie sticks for dipping/spreading.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Stir together the first 5 ingredients until very smooth and well blended.
Mix in chopped olives, and then season with black pepper (if desired).
Serve with crackers or ????

* I do not know Kittencal, but,... I've liked her along with her writings and recipe postings for quite a few years, already.

Lemon Squares*

This is VERY ... LEMON'y!!!!

I love the strong "KICK of lemon" in here!

But,...I suggest that IF you want 

more sweet and LESS "tang",

try using only half as much lemon 

zest as the recipe calls for 

and see how that goes.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoons sugar
.....
2  of 8-oz. cream cheese, softened
2 of 14-oz. sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 cup lemon juice
....
1 and 1/2 cups thawed whipped cream or whipped topping.
Raspberries for garnishing, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

HEAT oven to only 325-degrees F.
LINE 9x13-inch baking dish or pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides.  Lightly spray the foil liner with non-stick spray.
MIX graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar until blended and press onto bottom of prepared dish or pan.  I like to use my off-set spatula for this-- It looks like this:
 

• BAKE the layer of pressed graham crackers for 10 minutes.
• MEANWHILE, beat cream cheese with mixer until smooth/creamy.  Gradually beat in the condensed milk.  Add egg yolks (one at a time) and mix well.  Blend in lemon zest and lemon juice.  Pour over crust.
• BAKE about 30 minutes or until center is set (since ovens vary, check after 25 minutes).  
• COOL completely.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  
• USE foil handles to remove dessert from pan before cutting into bars.  By having this OUT of the pan and then using a really long knife, you can make very clean cuts (but, do wipe knife edge off between each cut).
• SERVE topped with whipped cream or whipped topping.  Add raspberry(ies), if desired.

Because I only had FROZEN raspberries 

here, this isn't as pretty as it would 

be with a FRESH one!

Mm-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m....

* This recipe came from the Spring 2014 

edition of Kraft's Food & Family-- I  made 

the crust according to the original directions, 

but,................... my ingredient list shows 

everything else ALREADY doubled.

 (I wanted the lemon'y layer 

to be thicker like this!)