"He Man, Woman Hater!"

A much be-lated HELLO EVERYONE!!!  I apologize for such a long absence.  Many, many, many things have been going on here.  It seems like over the last couple of months the only time I've had to sit down and write to you I had the choice of writing to you or going to bed.  I have a DANG comfortable bed...Haha.

The seasons feel like they've officially changed out here on the prairie and with that a renewed promise to myself to write to you more often.  One of the things I/we have accomplished over my time away from you was to try several new recipes out. 

Yes Alfalfa!  We did get something accomplished while I was away from blog-land!  Many things actually but I'll start by sharing this one with you.

This recipe was given to me by my Grandma S. after she randomly tried it out of a cookbook that she hadn't opend in quite some time.  She had a point in the email with the recipe.  We get many new cookbooks over the years, but after you've tried everything you think you're going to like, how likely are you really to go back and relook at that cookbook and try something else?  Welp, like me she was in a cooking rut and wanted to try something new; only she opened a cookbook she hadn't in awhile. 

This Wednesday's recipe comes from the "Festival of Nations 50th Anniversary Edition Cookbook" that Grandma S. has in her kitchen. He Man Spanish Rice was a fairly quick and easy dish that did not overfill us when we ate it and we decided we'd try it again (as did the Grandparents!)!  I'm sure the boys in the He Man, Woman Hater's Club would agree with us and eat it as well!

He Man Spanish Rice

1 lb. Ground Beef or Buffalo

1/2 cup Chopped Onion

1/4 cup Chopped Green Pepper

2 or 3 Cloves Chopped Garlic

1 tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. Chili Powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

1 can Tomato Soup

1 can Water

1/3 cup Rice (Long Grain)

Cook the Meat, Onion, Green Pepper, Salt, Garlic and Chili Powder in a skillet until browned. 

Add remaining ingredients and cook for 30 minutes longer or until the rice is done.

Can lay shredded cheese on top and put in the oven to melt.

NOTES:  We did not have any long grain rice on hand so we used the Minute Rice we keep on hand and it turned out just fine.  We also did not put cheese on top and put in the oven; rather each person put their desired amount of cheese on top of their serving.

(Picture of my hometown borrow from

the Festival of Nations website.  It looks

to be around the early 1900's.?)

It's great when a town can get together and celebrate their heritage and where they've come from.  The Red Lodge Festival of Nations has been celebrated every year since 1950.  If you happen to be up in the area in early August this year (or any year) be sure and check it out!  It might seem kind of corny, but I can still hear old Joe Kosorok's accordian music (then again, he played that all year long...) and the festival theme song blaring out over the town speakers.  I never thought I'd miss it, but it does kind of have some nostalgic quality now. 

Anyway, I hope you find this recipe at least "O-Tay" in your book. 

Hope everyone has a "He Man" kind of Wednesday!

Christine