How often those of us who are blessed with boys have heard these words:

"When do we eat?"

"Can I have a sandwich?" (1 hour after dinner)

Or we say: "Don't drink out of the carton"

"Don't eat out of the serving bowl"(as the stewed rhubarb container mysteriously drains when you leave the kitchen for a few minutes).

"Just two pieces of chicken each"(as they all reach at once!)

No dessert was served to those that did not finish their suppers. (but, they didn't have to finish…) So I inflicted torture by having a special dessert on the table when we had Liver and Lima Beans. Just recently I found out that they stuffed the Lima Beans in their pockets when I wasn't looking.

In "A Hole is to Dig" by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Maurice Sendak "A First Book of Definitions": from the nursery school: the first statement is: "Mashed Potatoes are to give everybody enough"

Following through:

"Boy's Casserole"

1 pound ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 can Cambells' undiluted tomato soup
1/4 cup ketchup
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
1 small package of frozen French-cut green beans
4-6 potatoes, cooked and mashed.

Break up ground meat in saucepan, add chopped onion, fry until onion is translucent, drain fat from pan if necessary. Add soup, ketchup, seasonings, simmer and taste. Cook Green beans as directed (not too long), drain, season and add to sauce. Place in casserole.

Pare and cut up potatoes: cover with salted water. Boil till tender. Drain, replace top of pan, and let steam a few minutes. Mash with a hand masher until almost creamy, without lumps (If you use a mixer, the potatoes can become gummy) Add softened butter (about 1-2 tablespoons per potato) add warmed whole milk till potatoes have soft mounds.

Note: some new recipes have you using some sour cream instead of milk, some add cheese or roasted garlic….do as you wish…

Cover casserole with mashed potato mixture, leaving a circle in the middle so that the tomato sauce can be seen. Bake in oven about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Can be doubled or tripled according to needs.

Chicken Tetrazzini: or (as the boys called it)

"Chicken Tetrachloride"

The definition of this is cooked chicken in a white sauce to which mushrooms and parmesan has been added, mixed with cooked spaghetti and baked. An alternate version which I have used more recently is to make the sauce completely, boil the spaghetti, pour the sauce over, sprinkle with more parmesan, and serve (eliminating the baking phase).

The Chicken: whole chickens are much more reasonable to buy than sections.

Cover whole rinsed chicken with water, add a stalk of celery with tops, one cut up onion, one cut up carrot, 1 clove garlic, 1 bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer about 40 minutes or until chicken is tender when tested with a fork.

Remove chicken from stock pot and place in a colander to partially cool. Remove chicken meat from the bone. This can be done the day before, just place pieces in a bowl, covered, in fridge

Simmer stock, and till reduced by half. Reserve for sauce and other uses.

Or: buy whole cooked chicken and bone it.

The Sauce:

4 Tablespoons butter
1/2 box of fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt,
Dash pepper
4 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 Cup whole milk
1/2 cup chicken stock, plus 1 bullion cube
2 Tablespoons Sherry
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup parmesan,
1 1/2 cups cut-up chicken
8 oz spaghetti

Sauté onions and mushrooms in butter, add seasonings

Add flour to mixture under low heat, and stir until completely absorbed.

Add: 1 1/2 cups whole milk, a 1/4 cup at a time, stirring to incorporate, over low heat. Stir till lumps disappear. Add 1/2 cup reserved stock, or chicken bullion, add Sherry, Worcestershire sauce. Add parmesan, simmer a few minutes, add chicken pieces, heat through and taste for seasoning. Sauce should be creamy but not thick. If you are adding it to spaghetti to serve in a baked casserole, the sauce should be quite thin. The gluten in the spaghetti tends to thicken sauces when baked together.

Break spaghetti into 4 inch lengths (if you are going to bake casserole..otherwise, leave whole.) Boil spaghetti till just tender in salted water. Drain.

Place in buttered casserole dish. Pour sauce over and mix gently. I use a lasagna pan so that it is not too deep.

Sprinkle with more grated parmesan and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Can be doubled as well.

Apple Pie

1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup flour mixed with sugars and seasonings
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
About 6 Apples, pared and sliced thin, Cortland or Granny Smith
Lemon juice
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in thin slices

Mix flour, sugar and spice together, combine with sliced apples, pile in bottom crust, sprinkle with lemon juice and dot with butter.

Prepare favorite pie crust. A two crust recipe or 1 crust if you are going to have a crumb topping. If using 2 crust, brush top of crust with slightly beaten egg white, sprinkle with a bit of sugar.

Top with other half of crust or:

Crumb topping for pies: Mixed together;
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. If edges of pie are becoming too brown, cover with aluminum foil.. The pie is done when you can see clear juices flow out the steam vents on top of crust.

Note: for a hungry crew: An eleven inch pie pan is the equivalent to 2-8 inch..just double everything, and it you may have a bit left over.