One thing for sure! You have to start with an excellent marbled chuck roast.

I bake it in my small roaster of which I butter the sides and bottom. Place the chuck roast in.

Add 2 cups of beef broth made from hot water and 2 tsps beef bouillon. I add these seasonings sprinkling lightly on top: meat tenderizer, thyme, dill weed, garlic powder and add 1/2 in thick slices of vadalia or sweet onion across the top of the roast.

Place in 275 degree oven for 3 hours. Remove from oven and add around the side of the roast, several regular carrots and one, or better yet, 2 boxes of the little fresh white whole mushrooms and place back in the 325 degree oven for 2 hours.

An option for the mushrooms: you can slice fresh ones, brown them in a large skillet with lots of hot butter and add them with the butter to the top of the roast when you serve it. My neighbors like that way best!

When this is finished baking I take out the roast and vegetables, place them in a heating pan, cover with foil and sit over the warming area on my range.

Add a can of Campbell’s dark mushroom soup with the drippings from the roast in a small sauce pan to boil and make a gravy.

While my roast is still baking, I boil cut red potatoes with the skin on to make mashed potatoes, I add of course the salt, a lot of butter and sour cream and chives. I save the water I drain from the boiled potatoes to add some back in to get a good consistency to these delicious mashed potatoes.

Here you now have your delicious roast beef with onions, carrots, mushrooms, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Now just add a tossed salad of romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber slices and a couple red onion rings, choice of dressing and top it off with chocolate pie and coffee and you have every one at your table A VERY HAPPY CAMPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish to make a confession at this point: over my life from my teen age years I have learned a little here and a little there from many people that has helped me greatly along the way to continually make foods better.

To name a few: my father who taught me to cook T-bone steaks RARE, from his prize Hereford steers.

My sister Geneva to add sugar when making pie crust.

My sister Bobbie to never add flour but use crisco when rolling out yeast dough for cinnamon rolls.

To my husband’s cousin Mary Elizabeth for how to bake a delicious ham with brown sugar, mustard, pineapple slices and whole cloves.

To my sons-in-low Joey Wedding for adding mushrooms to my roast, and to Tracy Drake for tips too numerous to mention here along with a multitude of other people.

OOPS!! I forgot a big one: my mother-in-law Dale Shoup for adding oysters to the breaded turkey stuffing that makes the bests flavored turkey, stuffing and gravy you will ever put in your mouth. She was a first rate chef. Everything she made was delicious.

Again from my mother-in-law Dale Shoup, her family sugar cookie recipe that I use when making raisin filled cookies.

When I had my Century 21 office people to my home on DaVinci drive for a thanksgiving dinner one of the ladies said “Flo, I want your recipe, that is the most delicious stuffing I have ever eaten”.

I said “It’s oyster stuffing”. And I got back “I don’t like oysters!” Well, apparently, young lady, you do like oysters, you just were not aware of it!

This lady is Ann Hawkins who later became my best friend in the office. We are still good friends even though I live in northeastern Ohio and she still lives in Venice Florida.

My conclusion: I always figure…. if I can add what anyone else knows to what I know, I’m just that much smarter. So I have always learned from EVERYONE AROUND ME!!!!!!

THERE NOW……………I HAVE MADE MY SINCERE CONFESSION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FRF ♥