These recipes are from one of those church lady cookbooks, "Specialties of the House" by the Children's Home Society, located in Citrus Valley, California. It was printed in 1980, maybe before California went all bean sprout/tofu on us. Or maybe these weren't that sort of cooks.

The recipes in this book are written to start out listing the ingredients and then bury them in the instructions.

This first recipe is basically chili con carne, but there is rice baked in it, so maybe that's a magic thing and it will be special.

Beef, Bean, and Rice Casserole
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 green pepper, diced
1 teaspoon chili powder

Brown the above ingredients. Add 1 (6 oz) can tomato sauce, 1 can cooked tomatoes, 1 can kidney beans, 3/4 cup raw rice. Place in a 2 quart casserole and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Remove and sprinkle with grated cheese. Place back in oven long enough for the cheese to melt.

This next one - I wonder what good 10 minutes in a slow oven is going to do, but not my place to knock it until I've tried it.

Meat Balls in Sour Cream
2 slices bread, soaked in red wine
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Mix and shape into small balls. Chill a few minutes, then brown in butter. Put in baking dish. Put 1 cup sour cream in skillet; add 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 teaspoons dried dill weed. Stir until just bubbly, and pour over the meat balls. Place in a slow oven at 275 degrees for 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.

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This next one makes a lot, and should freeze well. You could add wine at some point if you want.

Italian Meat Sauce with Pork

Cut 2 to 3 pounds pork butt into 1 inch cubes. Brown in 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil. Remove the meat from the pan and add 4 medium onions, chopped fine, and cook until golden. Add 4 cloves chopped garlic, 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1 stalk chopped celery and cook for a few minutes longer, being careful not to get the garlic too brown. Add the meat, 1 can chicken broth, 3 small cans tomato sauce. Add at least 1/2 teaspoon oregano, sweet basil, thyme, and rosemary (or use Italian herb blend). Add a dash of salt and simmer, uncovered for 2 to 4 hours until meat falls apart. Serve over any type of pasta.

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Last night I made a cornbread with whole corn in it, topped with sauteed onions mixed with a little sour cream (was supposed to be nonfat yogurt), sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, then baked like that at 400 degrees. It was a low fat recipe, so the bread part came out dry, but the general idea was good - it tasted like stuffing, more on the basis of texture than the seasonings. For lunch today I zapped it in the microwave to warm it up and poured hot Chunky Sirloin Soup over it. It reminded me of soup with dumplings.