Piggies In a Blanket

You haven’t lived until you’ve had Piggies in a blanket. The flip side of that is if you have Piggies in a blanket too much you may not live too long. Way before everyone was aware of the perils of fat, salt, cholesterol and nitrates, “Piggies” were in the regular rotation in my Mother’s supper arsenal.

To make Piggies you would start with a hot dog. Being in Lawrence, MA they where probably Essem franks. An excellent local brand with a natural crunchy casing. You slice the dog lengthwise about three quarters of the way through the dog. Now take a slice of Land O’ Lakes white American Cheese. Cut the slice in to quarter strips and stuff it in the length of the hot dog. Finish it off by wrapping a slice of bacon around the entire hot dog. Hold the bacon in place with tooth picks. Bake in the oven at 350 or so for about 20 minutes until it is all crispy and golden. Don’t worry about the melted crispy cheese all over the pan, that is just a bonus.

For a perfect side dish try Kraft Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese. After you prepare it almost to the directions, ( make sure the macaroni is very firm ) place in a casserole dish, sprinkle with a little bread crumbs and put in the oven along with the piggies. A big glass of milk and you are in heaven.

Piggies in a blanket are not something you want to eat to often but give them a try before they are banned by the food police.

Let us know how you like them.

TV Dinners

The phrase TV dinner was coined by Swanson’s in 1952. The first TV dinner consisted of a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, peas and sweet potatoes packaged in a segmented aluminum tray which could be heated directly from the box. It could then be served in the same tray without any extra dishes and it also fit nicely on a TV tray so you wouldn’t have to miss any of your favorite TV shows. Modern living at it’s best to say the least.

The concept was an instant hit and Swanson’s sold 10 million TV dinners the first year in production.Now if you want to put together your own version of a TV dinner check out our ceramic TV dinner trays. Great plate for serving all kinds of meals and just like the originals you can prepare ahead and freeze.

Growing up in an Italian family meant home cooked dinners on the table every night. Mom would spend most of the afternoon in the kitchen preparing great dishes. Meatballs, sauce and made from scratch raviolis. No jars of sauce graced those cabinets.

I was fortunate enough to have 2 very close friends growing up. One 2 doors down and the other 2 doors up. I remember being 2 doors up around meal time one afternoon. When asked to stay, I accepted. Whatever was in the oven smelled good to me so when we took our seats at the table I was intrigued with these silver trays with little compartments filled with food.

There was fried chicken, a vegetable medley, mashed potatoes and yes, even dessert!! Well I just thought this was the best thing. No table to set, no dishes to wash,(both chores which were delegated to me at home) and it was yummy.

When i returned home Mom asked…”how was dinner?” “Mom, it was delicious, we need to get some of these little packaged meals when we go shopping this week.”
Must have been the wrong thing to say…she stopped what she was doing and exclaimed…TV Dinners…Not In This House!!!

Now some 30 plus years later, as i stroll the frozen food aisle, I still stop and eye the Swanson’s dinners but realize that what I was most fascinated with was the trays they were served in.

On a trip to Stonewall Kitchen, lo and behold there sat the modern version of those TV dinner style plates. Heavy duty ceramic in pastel green, blue and white. Dishwasher, microwave and oven safe. Now I have my own TV dinners (with homemade food of course) and I swear it just tastes better!!