Swedish Meatballs

Combine: ground beef, ground pork, crushed saltines, one egg, pepper, pinch of nutmeg. Form into meatballs. I placed them in the cast iron pan, then baked them in the oven. When done, put into slow cooker. Make gravy with drippings, add flour, chicken broth and cook until thickened. Pour over meatballs in cooker. Add half-n-half 30 minutes before serving (not pictured, I left to go to the music store to teach violin lessons, family ate before I got home).

Tomato Soup

Peel, seed, and dice tomatoes (drop into boiling water for 30 seconds, peel comes right off). Cook in butter or bacon fat (yep) with a small amount of diced onion, add a pinch of baking soda to cut acid. Add a bit of flour to make a tomato roux, cook a bit longer. Add milk, stir. Yep, I love pepper. Saltines provided the extra salt, I didn't add any during cooking (because of baking soda, too).

Apple Pie

Crust from the red and white checked cookbook, inside back cover. Used butter and a bit more water.
Filling: some apples that a friend found on a tree out in the wild (thanks, Christine!), peeled, cored, sliced and tossed in orange juice. Add brown sugar, some flour, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, butter.