{Ham Sams with Poppy Seed Dressing}

When I was a teenager, we had something at church called 'Prayer Breakfast'. Every Wednesday morning, before school, our youth group would go to church for a short devotional time. After devotions we would eat breakfast together. The ladies in the church took turn preparing it from week to week. We'd have everything from donuts and muffins, to sausage biscuits and gravy, to eggs, to pancakes and bacon  to everything in between.

My favorite thing though? A sweet lady named Ruth made totally delicious ham sandwiches. I knew if I saw Ruth in the church kitchen, it was going to be a good day!

They'd come out to us in foil. We'd unwrap them and breathe in the heavenly (ha, see what I did there? church? heavenly? yeah.) aroma. As a tiny teenage girl I could easy put away more than is totally proper. No shame, they are that good!


Recently my mom made them for a ladies group meeting. When I found out, I pestered her endlessly until she gave me the recipe. I'm a good daughter. I'm not really sure I ever outgrew my "pesty" stage. Finally, she gave it to me. Oh happy day!

I've mentioned in the past that Bean is quite the picky eater. When I made these up for the blog, I didn't figure he'd like them. Well, I was right, he didn't like them. He's obsessed with them! He even begged me to make him two slider sized after school yesterday. Here's the best thing about this recipe, it's SO EASY. He can make it himself.

As I mentioned, you can make these in slider sized. Or mini subs like I did for this post. Or regular sized. Or full sized subs. Any size will do, just make a lot!

For the sliders I made him, I simply sliced King's Hawaiian Rolls and made the sandwiches.

I've never known a name for these. We've just always called them Ruth's sandwiches. Bean has dubbed them Amazingly Delicious Ham Sams though. I'll stick with Ham Sams.

I can't say as I know the source of this recipe, only that Ruth made them a good 25 years ago. Delicious then. Delicious now. They have this almost honey mustard flavor to them. Here's the rub though, there's no honey in this mustard at all! Magic.


I'm pretty sure these are ingredients I'll need to have on hand full time now. Bean cannot get enough of these!

Good thing they are easy!


These are great for get togethers & parties too.

Tina


Ham Sams
with a mustard onion poppy seed dressing
makes 8  (3 1/2"-4" buns)
(or less depending on how much meat you like on your sandwiches)


1 lb ham, sliced or chipped (chipping is very thin slices, almost shredded. I use chipped for my sandwiches)
1/2 lb Swiss cheese, sliced
1/4 pound butter, melted
2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes (or fresh diced onion)
3 Tablespoons mustard
1 Tablespoons poppy seeds
Buns


Melt butter. Add in mustard and stir until mixed. Add onion and poppy seed. Stir.
Assemble sandwich with ham and a slice of swiss cheese.
Spread dressing onto the outside of the bun tops.

You can also spread it on the inside of the buns too, though you may need to mix up a bit more.

Wrap in foil and bake at 325 F for 15-20 minutes.

{Pizza Bites}

The Bean is turning 16 tomorrow!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In honor of that occasion, I'm posting one of his favorite things in the world. Pizza.

The kid would eat it every day if he could. He named off his perfect food day a couple days ago. What he would eat EVERY DAY if he could:



Breakfast:
Waffle Crisp Cereal

Lunch:
Pizza

Dinner:
Burgers

Snack:
Ranch Snackin' Crackers

Ah, such a health nut, I know, I know.

I'm sure you are all quite aware he does NOT eat that every day, much to his despair. Poor mistreated boy. I know you are all so very, very sad for him.

This is the latest pizza treat I've made to feed his addiction.

I'm sure you've seen Pizza Bites before. I've found lots of them made with biscuits & pizza dough. Mine are just a wee bit different. They are made with frozen roll dough. They are SO much better than the biscuit kind and SO much easier than the homemade pizza dough kind!

They are super simple, but take a while to prep because the rolls need to rise. I used the quick rise option on the back of the bag, but they still took over an hour to rise.

Once they've risen, you will take them out of the pan, and cut into pieces. You will get 2 for each roll. There are only 3 of us, so I only did 6 rolls (12 pizza bites). You can make this recipe in whatever size you like!

Let me apologize for the poor photos. We just wanted to EAT!!

Turn your risen dough out onto a floured surface and cut.

Place toppings you want. I just did 1 pepperoni and about a teaspoon of mozzarella. You could add another pepperoni, or a few diced veggies. They won't hold a lot though, of course.

Now, pull and tug, and twist and turn until your toppings are covered. 

Place into greased pan (this is only a 6" pan, so they probably look bigger than they actually are, though they are not tiny!).

Bake. With about 5 minutes left to bake, pull them out and wash with melted butter and spices. You can use garlic and parsley, or an Italian spice blend.

Serve with pizza sauce for dipping!

and... gooey goodness inside....

The Bean very much loved these and said maybe THESE could be his snack every night.

Yeah, I'm feeling a big ole NO on that too.

Happy Birthday to my one and only baby! Momma loves you, Bean.

Tina

*

Pizza Bites

By Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers
Makes 12 Pizza Bites

6 Frozen Rolls

12 teaspoons Mozzarella Cheese
12 Pepperoni Slices
1-2 Tablespoon(s) Butter, melted

Pizza Sauce for dipping
Other fillings, if desired

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder & 1/2 teaspoon parsley
OR
1/2 teaspoon Italian Spice blend

Allow rolls to rise.

Turn out risen rolls onto floured surface and work in a bit of flour. Cut into 12 pieces.

Preheat oven to 350* F

Stretch out your pieces a bit and add fillings. Just a little of each. Once filled, work the dough around the fillings to twist and close.

Place these with the seam side down into a greased pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (check at 15). With a few minutes left, take the rolls out and wash with melted butter & spices.

Return to oven until finished.

Serve piping hot with warm pizza sauce.

{ Reuben Dip }

 I know there are several different "lucky" foods for New Year's Day. Here in Ohio, however, the lucky foods are these:

Pork & sauerkraut

The tradition comes from Ohio (and surrounding areas) being historically rich in German immigrants.

Eating Sauerkraut on New Year's Eve is a long-standing tradition in Germany. It is believed that eating Sauerkraut will bring blessings and wealth for the new year. Before the meal, those seated at the table wish each other as much goodness and money as the number of shreds of cabbage in the pot of Sauerkraut.  (info from German Food Guide).

I know many people don't like sauerkraut. I, however, am not one of those.

I especially love a good Reuben Sandwich. Yum.

I was not always this way. When I was a kid, each year my mom would cook up a big pot of the foul smelling stuff on New Year's Day. Usually, she'd throw in some kiełbasa or some spare ribs.

Then, worst of all, she and my dad would... EAT IT.

Gag. 

As a kid, this was just nasty.

It wasn't until I was in my 20s that I began to appreciate the stuff.

Now, I love it. I don't eat it often, but I do really enjoy it. Like I said, especially as a Reuben Sandwich.

So, for New Year's Eve this year, I'm making up a mess of Reuben Dip.

It's easy, it's creamy, it's tasty.

Do like.

I realize this only gets me my kraut, and not my pork, as is called for in the German tradition.

I suppose I'll just have to eat some bacon for breakfast.

Oh, the tragedy!

There are many versions of Reuben Dip out there, however, this is mine.

Reuben Dip 

by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

1- 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened*

1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1 cup sauerkraut, well drained

1/2 cup sour cream*

1/4 cup thousand island dressing*

4 oz corned beef, chopped (I use the packaged corned beef, but you can get it from the deli as well)

*low fat/fat free work fine

Preheat oven to 350 F

Mix the cream cheese, sauerkraut, sour cream, dressing in a bowl. Stir until well blended. Work in the beef and cheese.

Pour into a well greased baking dish.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until the sides are bubbly and it it hot throughout.

You can also cook this in a crock pot on low for a couple hours. I prefer the baked though. 

 Serve with cubed rye bread or on cocktail rye. You can also hollow out a round loaf, like I did here.

*Please note this dip does not reheat well, if it won't all get eaten, you may want to 1/2 the recipe

 I put a bowl in mine, but you can spoon the dip right into the bread if you wish!

The Bean, of course, does NOT like this.

Darn kids. Maybe when he's in his 20s.

With him, I highly doubt it though!

*
 So, I'm calling curtains for SBB in 2012.
Thanks for reading this year!

I hope you have a wonderful, blessed, lucky, and prosperous 2013- sauerkraut or not!

Tina