Jamaica's Chili Baked French Fries

potatoes, washed well
chili powder
cumin
dried rosemary
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut potatoes into thin rectangles. Leave on the skin. Coat with olive oil and season to taste (a little goes a long way). Bake on a cookie sheet or aluminum foil approximately 20-25 minutes, turning once.

Jamaica's Garlic Parmesan Kale

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 slices of bacon (optional)
1 bunch of kale, rinsed and torn off the stalks into bite size pieces
1/2 t crushed red pepper
shredded Parmesan cheese, to taste
olive oil
salt and pepper

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with olive oil and heat to medium low. Add garlic and bacon and mix until garlic is golden and bacon is crispy. Add kale, red pepper, salt and pepper and mix to coat with oil. Cook approximately five minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat and add shredded cheese to taste.

Grandma Jacobs Carrot Cake

1 1/4 Cups Oil (use vegetable or canola)
4 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Salt
3 Cups of Grated Carrots
2 Cups Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Cup chopped nuts (Grandma used Walnuts)

Using a mixer combine oil, eggs , sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix in remaining ingredients- pour into greased pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until springs back when touched. Let cool before frosting.

Frosting-
1/2 stick of Butter
2 -8OZ pkgs of Cream Cheese
Dash of Salt
2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Cream first 3 ingredients - gradually add powdered sugar. I like to beat it well and get it really fluffy and add a little cinnamon and nutmeg. You can add chopped nuts to the top of the cake after frosting.

Homemade Stock-Any kind

Take the biggest pan you have and fill with water- for chicken stock- add chicken pieces or whole chicken- we like white meat so I use bone in breasts for this. Sometimes I use legs or thighs and make the stock then give the meat to the puppies as a treat. Anyhoo, set the stove to medium and add a couple of celery stalks, a couple of carrots (clean but not peeled), onion (cut in half but not peeled) or you can use onion powder, garlic (to taste) or garlic powder, salt and pepper. Let simmer for several hours and then strain everything out. Remove the meat from the bones and discard and the veggies and bones. If you want vegetable stock just use the vegetables but more of them. So good and so easy. MUCH cheaper than buying canned or boxed stock.

Grandma Jacobs Chicken and Noodles- Yummmm

2 1/2 Cups Flour
1/3 Cup Water
3 Eggs
1 TBLS Oil (any kind, olive, vegetable, canola etc...0
1 Tsp. Salt

Combine flour and remaining ingredients and blend at low speed. Beat 2 minutes. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough out onto floured board or counter (Mom used an old tablecloth but I think that is messy and not necessary). Knead in enough flour until to make a soft dough-not too sticky but like a baby's bootyhind. Don't over work the dough - be gentle but firm. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Roll out and cut with pizza cutter. Mom liked the noodles as thin as possible- you can roll to your liking. Once rolled use a bench scraper and release any noodles that are sticking and keep them from sticking together by flouring as you go- be sure to be gentle with them. At this point you can cook them or freeze them. This recipe doubles well so while making the mess you might as well make a double batch. Mom would make a double batch and freeze one and cook the other. To cook- use either home made stock(recipe to follow) or buy boxed stock from the store- either way you gotta cook chicken if you want her authentic chicken and noodles. Get the stock to a rolling boil and drop the noodles gently into the liquid. Once you get all the noodles in reduce the heat and simmer gently. Low and slow is the process here- the longer you can cook the better. On average about 2-3 hours. At the end Mom always added a can or two of cream of chicken soup to add richness. I suspect she added a stick of butter also but she would not have admitted it- she did something to make them especially good- mine never turn out as good as hers were. Maybe it was LOVE!

Jamaica's Hummus

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 C olive oil (approximately)
1/2 t cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients in food processor on low. Add more olive oil (if needed) to achieve desired texture.

Jamaica's Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

2 medium onions, diced
1 large red pepper, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C olive oil
1 t dried rosemary
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t dried basil
5 large cans crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Coat the bottom of a large stock pot in olive oil and heat on medium-low. Add onions, pepper, garlic and spices. Cook until onions are clear and garlic is golden. Add tomatoes. Cook covered for 4-12 hours. Serve immediately. If freezing, cool the entire batch. Fill quart size freezer bags half full (to allow for expansion). To reheat, simply peel off freezer bag and cook covered over medium heat for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Pie

1 package cream cheese, softened
2 cans pumpkin
1/3 C sugar
1/4 t salt
2 eggs
3/4 C half and half
2 T butter, melted
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t nutmeg

Stir cream cheese with hand mixer or Kitchen Aid until smooth. Add pumpkin and stir until combined. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well mixed. Bake in pie crust (if desired) in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I highly recommend serving cold with whipped cream.

Note: I made this with one egg one time because I ran out. It doesn't work.