Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus

Dinner was very good, if not a touch bit spicy. The wee ones got leftover oven friend chicken as the Italian beef was that spicy. We started dinner off with a salad with my grandmother’s tomato vinaigrette salad dressing. Dinner was Italian beef sandwiches on Italian bread with some mozzarella cheese. Dessert, quite possible the best part was Chunky Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. Yum. I am going to share the recipes with you all as it was that good.

Salad Dressing:

1 cup oil
1 can tomato soup
1 cup vinegar
1 large onion – chopped
1/2 cup sugar (I only used 1/4 cup)

1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp mustard
1 1/2 tsp worchestire sauce

Place all ingredients in a jar. Seal and shake.

Italian Beef (from Anne)

3 lb round or shoulder roast
8 oz jar of pepperoncini with juice – no stems (uh, make sure they aren’t TOO spicy)

3 cloves garlic
2 t oregano
1 can beef broth
1 can beer (optional)
S&P to taste

Place in slow cooker until done. This was about 6 hours for me on med high.

Apple Cake

12 to 15 servings

• 1/2  cup  butter, melted
• 2  cups  sugar
• 2  large eggs
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 4  Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
• 1  cup  chopped walnuts, toasted
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)

Preparation:Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl until blended.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in apple slices and 1 cup walnuts. Spread into a greased 13- x 9-inch pan.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Spread with Cream Cheese Frosting; sprinkle with walnuts, if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

•   (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3  tablespoons  butter or margarine, softened
• 1 1/2  cups  powdered sugar
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Preparation

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar and salt, beating until blended. Stir in vanilla.