What's Cookin' At Mama's Cafe?

I love to cook. I always have. I can remember way, way back when...when I use to pretend I had a cooking show. I was suppose to be washing dishes but what more fun it was to pretend I was Julia Child. Me there with the red cabinets and the contact paper covered counter top talking to my audience, my fans and all who had tuned into my show. How famous I was.

I can remember looking through all my Mom's cookbooks to pick out recipes I could make. It was especially fun when my Grandma and Grandpa were coming over. My Grandma was my inspiration. She was a fabulous cook. I still haven't found anyone that can make a banana cream pie like she could.

I also remember making cookies alot. My Dad use to say, "You need more practice." I thought for years he didn't like them but when I was engaged to be married, he took my husband-to-be aside and explained to him his evil plan. It was then that the cat was let out of the bag and I found out that my Dad just wanted me to bake them more often. What a stinker!

I've come a long way since way back then. I don't have a show or an audience and perhaps I only have a couple fans who request my homemade applesauce now and then but I still really enjoy putzing around the kitchen. Challenging recipes come easy to me from all the practice I've had and I am not intimidated or held to the law of measuring. I continue to be very passionate about cooking. My motto is: Never trust a skinny cook :-)

I also love to make meals for friends and those who need one due to something going on in their lives. I believe that God gave me this gift and I most passionately want to use it to bless others.


I had a dear friend recently give me a jing-a-ling on the telephone wanting to give me some meat out of her freezer. What a blessing that was! In the gift was some cube steak. I haven't cooked cube steak in a long time. What do you do with it? It's a cheaper/tougher cut of meat and my children balk at anything they have to chew too much. So this is what I came up with.


I pounded the life out of it until it was tender. Then, cut it up into strips. Sauted it in a pan with some seasonings and onion. And tada, we have cheese steak sandwiches. It was a hit with some of the kids. Others were not so thrilled. The majority was won over. That is a very good thing....since we have more in the freezer.

An added bonus was that we had leftovers which made for absolutely wonderful steak nachos. My twelve year old son was ecstatic. He is very passionate about food himself and I aim to please.


As a side note: when one is pounding the life out of meat, wear an apron, a hat, a face covering and watch out for flying meat. It is also very therapeutic. It's amazing what a little banging can do for your frustrations. Kara didn't care for that too much as she kept running in the kitchen yelling at me to 'stoppee'. Oh well....what works for one, doesn't always for another.

Until later, friends, from Mama's Kitchen.