DIANNE BRAKKE RILEY
From comments made when Recipes for Living go on sale, it becomes apparent some buyers anticipate finding recipes for delicious foods rather than "recipes" for how people have lived and coped with their various trials. Here is an opportunity to have an honest-to-goodness recipe book, from Dianne Riley, an honest-to-goodness homemaker:
As I was growing up, I learned the basics of cooking from my mother, Amy Lovick-Brakke, and my grandmother, Tillie Brakke. Additionally, I am not afraid to experiment as I had always seen my mother, grandmothers, and aunts use the Big White Cup as well as a pinch of this and a little bit of that. You must remember that my parents were children in the Depression, and it made a great impact on my mother's cooking style. She was a meat and potatoes cook, which my father appreciated. She canned all kinds of fruit and pickles. Living on a farm, Mom kept two freezers full of our own meat, both pork and beef, chickens, and we had our own fresh eggs. For my husband and children, when they were younger, it was a treat to find a double yolker, when we were visiting the farm.
When I was a child, we had a big garden; however, for some reason no green beans. Consequently I have never learned to like them to this day. We did have potatoes, corn, beets, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and ground cherries. Mom and Dad milked cows so there was plenty of cream and milk As a child, I loved to drink warm milk and have it on my cereal in the morning. In my old age, I might not be so fond of that. As you can imagine, the food we raised on the farm and what we had access to determined what was prepared to eat. Grandma Tillie had a very large strawberry bed. Strawberry jam was a staple. She picked the berries and the excess ones I sold in town. It wasn't fair but I got to keep the money from the sales.
I grew up eating vegetable soup with dumplings, roast with potatoes and gravy, hamburgers, potato salad, angel food cake, deviled eggs, strawberries with cream, brownies and butterscotch pie. Butterscotch pie was the only pie my mother ever made. She was a wonderful cook, however she never made a real pie crust!
As a little girl, I remember every Sunday we went to Grandma Tillie's for dinner. My cousin Kenny and parents, Harvey and Irene, who just happen to be my parents's brother and sister, also Would come. Grandma Tillie lived with her brother, Gaylord, after my grandfather Halvor died \the day after my first birthday. Grandma Tillie would wring the rooster's neck the day before so we could have fresh fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and pie, usually apple. Grandma Tillie also made large white and brown cookies. The white, of course, were sugar and the brown a mild molasses. To this day, I have a fondness for molasses cookies and I believe I have successfully instilled that in my grandchildren!
Food, I believe, brings folks together to talk, laugh and relax. It is also a comfort when you don't feel well. My mom would always make milk toast when my tummy was out of sorts. She would toast a slice of bread, butter it, and sprinkle cinnamon, then pour warm milk over the top. Just thinking about it makes me feel better.
When Matt, Kristen and Kory were in grade school, we started to make menus on Sunday evening for the week to come. Naturally this sounds backwards since groceries had been bought on Saturday. However, I grew up in a home where you always had plenty of ingredients for everything. Remember, my parents grew up in the Great Depression. On Mom's stairs you could find at least 100 pounds of sugar and four to five three-pound tins of coffee. I may not have had 100 pounds of sugar, however we had plenty of everything for the menus.
On Sunday evening each of the five of us would choose a menu for one night of the week to come. It was much easier to try someone else's choice if they knew that one evening they would have their own selection. Their dad would often say something he knew they didn't like and the fun began! This was a way to encourage them to try different foods and develop a taste for a variety of foods. I must say that none of our children are picky eaters. Kristen is perhaps the bravest and will even eat wild game now that she fell in love with a hunter. Kory has learned to become quite an accomplished cook after he worked in a restaurant while attending college. He was to be the dishwasher and soon found himself as a cook. Matt is the one who likes to eat his food one thing at a time. I always tell him they mix together anyway after he has eaten. Because I worked with Head Start, I expected my children to at least take a Head Start bite. I know you must try a food 15-20 times before you know for sure whether you like it or not. I know there are many things I have grown to enjoy as an adult, one of them being Chinese food.
Now that I am retired, I have more time to cook, try out new recipes and prepare family favorites when the kids and grandkids come to visit. It pleases me when Ember and Dana, my
daughters-in-law request my recipes. I love to cook for them as well as for fiends and relatives
when they drop by. We were excited to have two of my mother's brothers and wives stop for a visit. It worked out that I prepared dinner for them. As we finished, my uncle James said, "I believe you can cook as good as your mom!" That was truly a compliment in my eyes.
I miss my mom and. dad. When we used to go to Forest City, especially in the wintertime, Mom would be fixing homemade soup on the cook stove in the kitchen. It had been simmering all day on the wood-burning stove. She had a big pot with beef stew meat, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, celery, onions, peas, corn, and barley. Always barley. When it was nearly ready to be finished, she would make dumplings. Matt especially loved these. You stir up an egg and add flour, salt, and pepper until it is pretty thick, then you drop a spoonful in the hot soup and they swell up. They stick to your ribs on a cold winter day. The soup was especially good because most of the ingredients were home grown with no preservatives.
Slices of homemade potato bread, warm from the oven melted in your mouth. This bread is made by starting with a cooked potato mashed in the hot water it was cooked in. Add lard or Crisco, salt, yeast, and flour. Knead and knead until your arms hurt and your frustrations are gone. The meal is topped off with an angel food cake made from scratch with 12 extra large eggs picked from beneath the chickens in mom's own chicken house. That cake was not full of air like the store bought ones. A trick I learned from Sophia Bennink to try and make a cake mix angel food taste like homemade is to add. 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter and one real egg white. It really does improve the taste.
I have included menus for five weeks and the recipes to go along with them. I hope you will enjoy and appreciate the stories as well as the recipes!
Thie original book is dated November 2004.
WEEK ONE
MENU Day One
Meat loaf, baked potatoes, baked beans
The recipe for meat loaf is my mother's with an addition of ketchup that I
learned on "Good Morning America" in 2003 after I retired and could watch
the program every day.
Meat Loaf
1# ground beef
1 slice bread, broken into pieces
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup milk
salt/pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup ketchup
Mix all ingredients together and place in a loaf pan. Cover top with additional ketchup.
Bake for 1 1/4 hour at 350 degrees.
Baked Beans
1 can pork & beans
1/2 cup ketchup
1 TBS. Molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
chopped onions, salt/pepper to taste
Bake slowly for 3-4 hours at 300 degccs‑
MENU Day Two
Chicken & Noodles, mashed potatoes, peas
The recipe for the noodles comes from Frank's Aunt Opal. They are the most delicious noodles I have ever eaten_ Whenever you went to Grandma Riley's house 'Frank's grandmother) she always made something that each of her grandsons (Maurice, Larry, Frank and Bob) liked. It was like a restaurant. Aunt Opal and Mary carried on that tradition after she passed away. When I make mashed potatoes I like to use a little extra milk so they are really creamy. After they are in the bowl you can add to their presentation by sprinkling some pepper and a dollop of real butter.
Noodles
2 eggs
1 tsp. butter
2 TBS cream or top milk (any milk will do, cream makes them taste richer)
I tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cup flour
Beat eggs with soft butter, cream, salt and baking powder. Then add flour. The amount of flour depends on the size of the eggs. More may be needed. Mix together and turn out on a floured surface. Roll as thin as you can. (I was told so thin that you could read a newspaper through the dough). You may need to put a little flour on the dough before you roll out. Do not be afraid to reroll the dough if necessary. Brush off any extra flour from both sides before cutting. Fold dough in half in half again and roll up so there is a point at one end. Start slicing thinly and gently pull apart so you have long strands of noodles. Place on a papered cookie sheet to dry. Cover with a towel. Let dry at least one day and can dry for three or four days. When you are ready to cook take out of plastic bag and drop into salted boiling water until the noodles are tender. Add the noodles to chicken broth and cooked chicken. The cooked chicken can either be canned chicken or a whole chicken or pieces of chicken that you have baked in the oven. The amount of noodles you have made requires about 2 pounds of chicken. The broth can be canned or broth from the chicken you have cooked. Once these are made you can finish them in a crock-pot.
I think frozen peas taste the best when made in the microwave. They are more like fresh?
MENU Day Three
Pizza, chips & dip, ice cream sundaes
I prefer homemade pizza and letting the kids make their own smaller pizza. I use the pizza dough you buy at the store, probably two packages. The kids can take a hunk and press out their own round pizza. Use Ragu traditional pizza sauce to spread on top. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and then cheddar cheese. Now add toppings such as ground pork, pepperoni, ground beef shrimp, peppers, onions, mushrooms, whatever you like. Top with mozzarella cheese. The kids can put a flag in theirs with their name on it to identify in the oven. Bake about 20-25 minutes for full size pizza at 400 degrees.
Hot Fudge Sauce
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup oleo, melt together first 2 ingredients
Add 1 can evaporated milk and 3 cups powdered sugar. Stir so no lumps. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and stir for 8 minutes until thick. Add 1 1/4 tsp. Vanilla. Will keep in refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
MENU Day Four
Steak, twice baked potato, lettuce salad
It is time to use the grill and grill any kind of steak to perfection! We love cheddar cheese on our shredded lettuce. My personal favorite is finely shredded lettuce like you use for tacos. Twice baked potatoes are an elegant extra.
Twice Baked Potato
Choose a nice baking potato for each person.
Bake until mostly done.
Slice the top 1/3 off and scoop out the insides of both pieces of potato trying not
to disturb the skin. Place the larger of the skins in a tinfoil boat.
Beat the potato with milk, butter, salt and pepper as if you were making mashed potatoes. Scoop the mashed potatoes back in the skin, piling high. Bake at 400 degrees for another 15 minutes.
MENU DAY FIVE
Fish, fresh fried potatoes, green beans
You can use any kind of fish that you like, whether it is fish sticks, battered or unbattered fish. It can be oven broiled, grilled or skillet fried. We especially like cod and catfish (whole). Naturally if you could catch your own, that would be better yet!
Fresh Fried Potatoes
You may peel or leave unpeeled 6-7 potatoes. Slice as Thinly as possible in an Iron skillet with 3 TBS of Crisco. Add sliced onion and salt and pepper. Fry for 20 minutes in an open skillet, turning often.
Even though I don't care for green beans, adding a little Bacon makes them tolerable!
WEEK TWO
MENUDay One
Roast Pork or Roast Beef, cooked potatoes, carrot casserole, applesauce
I believe the key to tender roast pork or beef is to cook it slow at a lower temperature (325 degrees) for 4-5 hours depending on the size of the roast. Place meat in a roaster and top with slices of raw onion, salt and pepper. With roast pork you can dress it up the last hour by adding apricot or peach jelly to the top—or even applesauce. I must say that Kory made a wonderful Pork loin for Kristen and Brent's rehearsal dinner.
Applesauce
Peel apples and cut into chunks. Put in a heavy pan with 2 inches of water. . Simmer until mushy, Take off of heat and add sugar to taste. Stir and place in containers to eat or freeze. The key is to add the sugar after the apples are taken off of the heat.
Carrot Casserole
Slice 1 package of baby carrots; cook until tender in water. Drain.
Saute 1/2 onion in 1/4 stick of oleo.
Layer carrots, onion mixture and chunks of Velveeta cheese.
Top with Wheaties or Total, not Bran Flakes.
Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes.
MENU Day Two
Burritos, cookies
Burritos were and still are the favorite dish of Matt and his guy friends from high school, Tae Kim especially. It was always requested and often made.
Burritos
# ground beef browned with onion flakes, salt, pepper. Drain.
Add one can refried beans and 1/3 bottle of taco sauce.
Melt in microwave chunks of Velveeta cheese (about 3/4#) and 1/2 cup milk. Scoop ground beef mixture into soft taco shells, about 3 T. and roll up. Place in a 9x13 glass pan. Pour melted. cheese sauce over burritos. Add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese to top. Microwave en high for 4-5 minutes. These can be refrigerated and cooked later either in oven or microwave.
Molasses Cookies
2 cups sugar
1 cup molasses 1 TBS vinegar
3 tsp. soda
1 cup shortening (oleo)
2 eggs
1 TBS ginger
Flour to make dough stiff, about 5 cups. Mix all ingredients together. Make walnut size balls and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. The key is to not overbake!
MENU Day Three
Barbecue Sandwiches, potato salad
I grew up being taught not to waste anything, especially food. Consequently we always ate leftovers and none of the kids seem to mind. I think that might have been something their spouses had to get used to. Using left over pork or beef roast shred meat and add any barbeque sauce. It can be put in the crock-pot for ease.
Potato Salad
Cook 6-8 potatoes and boil the same number of eggs. Cool.
Dice potatoes into small pieces, the smaller the better for flavor.
Chop boiled eggs.
Dressing: 2 cups miracle whip, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup
Sweet pickle juice, 2 Tbs mustard, salt and pepper
to taste. Stir into eggs and potatoes. Place in a bowl. If you save one boiled egg
you can thinly slice and layer on the top for affect.
MENU DAY FOUR.
Grilled chicken, potatoes and vegetables, chocolate pudding with ice cream.
This is a recipe that you can use your grill square pan for. Either lemon pepper chicken breasts from Schwan or regular chicken breast can be placed in the pan after you have sprayed or coated with oleo. Add chunks of raw potato, carrot slices, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, really whatever you like. I add salt, pepper and about 1/8# of butter in slices to the top. Stir often. It takes 30-45 minutes depending on size of items.
For pudding buy a box of cooked pudding mix and add 2 cups of milk, cook and pour warm over vanilla ice cream.
MENU DAY Five
Ham Balls, Macaroni and Corn Casserole
The ham ball recipe is actually two recipes, one for the meat mixture and one for the sauce mixture. I didn't care for the sauce that went with the meat mixture, which was Alverda Goeldner's.
Ham Balls Sauce
2# ham loaf (Fareway carries it) 1 cup brown
sugar
1 egg 1/2 cup
vinegar
3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup water
I cup crushed graham crackers 1 tsp dry mustard
Mix ingredients together and shape into balls, about the size of an egg. Pour sauce mixture over and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Macaroni and Corn Casserole
2 cans whole kernel corn (undrained)
I can cream style corn
1 cup raw macaroni
I stick oleo
salt/pepper
8 slices of American cheese.
Mix ingredients together and place cheese on top.
This can either be made in the oven, 350 degrees for one hour or in a crock-pot, medium
heat for about 4 hairs. Cracker crumbs can be added to the top when you bake in the
oven.
WEEK THREE
MENU DAY One
Spaghetti with meat balls, garlic bread, lettuce salad
Spaghetti was one of the meals that I used to lure Frank to my apartment before we were married. He ate out every day and so a home cooked meal was a real treat to him. What is it they say "The way to a man's heart is
through his stomach."
Meat balls
1/2# ground pork 1 slice bread torn into
small pieces
1/2# ground beef salt/pepper
1 egg 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup chopped onions
Mix all ingredients together and make small balls, brown and cook through. Add to sauce mixture. I use Ragu garden vegetable spaghetti sauce. Garlic Bread can be bought frozen in a box; very good and just needs to be heated.
MENU DAY Two
Hamburgers, French fries, corn, chocolate cake
If you like a little onion flavor to your burgers try adding a half package of dry onion soup mix. French fries can be homemade by slicing potatoes into strips and baking in the oven on a cookie sheet or deep fat fryer. They take 45 minutes in the oven.
Frozen Corn
Cut off raw corn enough for 20 cups. Place in a large roaster or two smaller ones. Add 1 pint of half-and-half and a pound of butter (chunked). Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Freeze in containers and eat some before freezing?
Chocolate Sheet Cake (Texas Cake)
Set aside 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups flour
In a saucepan bring to rapid boil 2 sticks oleo, 4 TBS cocoa, 1 cup water. Pour over sugar and flour and mix well. Add 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk and 2 beaten eggs. You can sour milk by adding a TBS of vinegar to milk and let stand about 10 min. Add 1 tsp. soda, 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Mix well. Bake 25 min. at 350 degrees in a cookie sheet pan.
Frosting
4 TBS cocoa 1 stick oleo 6 TBS milk
Bring to rolling boil. Take off heat and add 1/2 package powdered sugar, I tsp vanilla, stir until creamy and thick. Pour over cake.
MENU DAY Three
Pork Chops, scalloped corn, baked potato wedge
This is a recipe that I made up in order for the pork chops to be really tender. The scalloped corn keeps them moist and allows them to be very tender. Brown two or three pork chops on both sides. Place on top of scalloped corn to bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. The potato wedges take about 45 minutes.
Potato Wedges
Cut four potatoes lengthwise into 4-6 slices. Coat with Butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Spray pan Before placing potatoes in to bake.
Scalloped Corn
1 can cream style corn
1/2 cup milk
I beaten egg
1 1/2 cup crushed crackers
salt/pepper
Mix all ingredients and place in casserole dish.
Lay pork chops on top. Bake.
MENU DAY Four
Chicken Bacon Chowder Soup, Corn Bread
The Corn bread recipe is Senator Harkin's from Iowa. The soup recipe is Kristen's.
Corn Bread
2 cups buttermilk baking mix
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 cup butter or oleo (melted)
8 oz can cream style corn
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Combine first four ingredients, add remaining four and mix well, batter will be lumpy. Pour into 9 x 13 greased baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool before cutting.
Chicken Bacon Chowder Soup
4 cups sliced peeled potatoes'
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup diced celery (if no celery substitute one can cream of celery soup for one can cream of mushroom soup)
1/2 cups chopped onion
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken 8 slices cooked bacon
2 cups half and half
salt/pepper
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
You can either cook the vegetables until tender and then add rest of ingredients or put all in the crock-pot and cook for the day. It can be warmed up many times. I love the Hormel Precooked bacon. There is no mess. It also works great for BLT's.
MENU DAY Five
Macaroni & Cheese, Pups, fruit
I believe you can say that most everyone likes hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, especially on a tight budget!
The pups are just hot dogs wrapped in some type of refrigerator biscuit. Any kind works whether crescent or tubes. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
Macaroni & Cheese
I cup raw macaroni cooked until tender
Microwave 1/2 # Velveeta cheese with 1/3cup milk.
Salt to taste
Add melted cheese to cooked macaroni and microwave on high for three minutes. Let
stand a bit. There is nothing better than homemade macaroni and cheese!
WEEK FOUR
MENU DAY One
Tacos, Carmel brownies
You can use soft or hard shells, whatever your pleasure. Have sour cream, tomatoes, salsa, peppers, shredded cheese, lettuce or whatever else you like ready for the taco meat. The meat mixture I make comes from my mother although she never made tacos or ate them. She would however make a hamburger mixture for supper that was just browned and drained hamburger with lots of catsup on it. That made it really sweet. This is a variation of that.
Taco Meat
1# hamburger browned with chopped onions, salt and pepper to taste. Drain well. Add I cup ketsup and 1/2 bottle of taco sauce and a small amount of taco seasoning.
Carmel Brownies
I box of swiss chocolate cake mix
add I stick melted oleo and 1/3 cup evaporated milk
Stir together. It will be stiff. Pat 2/3 of the mixture in bottom of greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 6 minutes.
Melt together 50 caramels with 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Hint: a small can of evaporated milk is 2/3 cup or just the right amount for this recipe. Pour the Carmel mixture over the cake. Sprinkle miniature or regular chocolate chips on the top. Place the remaining cake mixture on the brownies in globs here and there. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes. These are really yummy and a favorite of my kids. The recipe came from a Head Start Mom who passed away while only 29 years old. Her name was Dori Ballatik and her Head Start child had cerebal palsy.
MENU DAY Two
Chicken Casserole, fried cabbage, banana bread
Fried cabbage is something I learned to eat rather recently at Joan's house. In an iron skillet you melt a half stick of oleo with a cup of chopped onions. Fill the skillet with a half head of shredded cabbage. Medium heat and cover the skillet. Steam until the cabbage has shrunk down and is tender, 20 minutes or so.
Chicken Casserole
As I remember this was a recipe that Patience Barcus Cox really loved.
In a greased 9x13 pan place a bag of frozen hash browns. I prefer the shredded variety. Top with cooked chicken, about 1/2 chicken or 4 cups. Melt in the microwave 1 stick oleo, 1/2# velveeta cheese, 1/2 cup chopped onions, 1 can cream of chicken soup and pour over the chicken. Break small pieces of bread and drop here and there on the top. Drizzle 1/4 cup melted butter over the top of the bread cubes. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Banana Bread
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening creamed with the sugar
3 TBS milk
(now add the eggs)
3-4 bananas
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups of flour
Beat all ingredients together and pour into 2 small greased bread tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Use toothpick to determine when it is done.
MENU DAY Three
Barbecue Ribs, Bill Knapp's Restaurant Potatoes, Strawberry Shortcake
The ribs are a recipe from my mom that she got when she worked at the Winnebago County Home. The potatoes I read in the Des Moines paper. The strawberry shortcake recipe came from a Hopkins Christian Cookbook. All are tried and true recipes.
Barbecue Ribs
4# spare ribs; place in a roaster type pan. Pour sauce over and bake for 3-4 hours at 350 degrees, covered.
Sauce
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 TBS brown sugar
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1 TBS Worcestershire.sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
Mix all together.
Bill Knapp's Potatoes
1 bag frozen hash browns (shredded)
Place in a 9x13 greased pan.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup chopped onions over the top
Melt together 1 cup milk, 1/2# oleo, 1/2# velveeta cheese and 4 oz of cheddar cheese. Pour over the top. Let set for 30 minutes prior to baking. Bake uncovered for 60 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Mom's Shortcake
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oleo
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
Mix all ingredients together and spoon into a 9x9 cake pan, greased. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Insert toothpick in middle to be sure it is done. This is excellent for any type of berries. It is also good crumbled up in a glass of milk.
MENU DAY Four
Sherry Fry Casserole, Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Sherry Fry Casserole is named after the person who brought it to our house when I was recuperating from Gall Bladder surgery. Our family enjoyed it so much that it became a family favorite. The chocolate chip cookie recipe is another recipe from my mom when she worked at the Winnebago County Home. It makes about 8 dozen and they freeze really well. It is so nice to always be able to pull some cookies out of the deep freeze and impress your company or your husband and certainly please your children. Frank is the one who really wants a cookie after breakfast each day and he has come to expect cookies to always be available! I suppose you could say that I have spoiled him over the years!
Sherry Fry Casserole
1/2# ground pork
1/2# ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
Brown above ingredients together. Combine with 1 can tomato soup, 1/3 cup water and 2
cups of cooked wide noodles. Place in greased casserole dish. Around the edge add
shredded cheddar cheese or mozzarella, about 4 oz. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
or microwave. This seems to improve as you reheat it.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup criseo
1 cup oleo
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
Mix together.
Add four eggs, one at a time and continue mixing.
Mix 2 tsp of soda with 2 tsp of hot water, dissolve, add.
Add 2 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of vanilla.
Lastly 5 cups of flour. Stir well. Stir in I 1/2 large bags of chocolate chips. Bake 12-15
minutes at 350 degrees.
MENU DAY Five
Mary Raines' Casserole, Homemade Dinner Rolls
This casserole is another one that was brought to our house when I had surgery and it became a family favorite. Casseroles were usually big sellers at our house. They went a long way, were easy to fix and inexpensive meals in themselves. I am including a recipe for homemade dinner rolls, however ones from the grocery store in a tube work equally well when they are hot and covered with strawberry jam!
The butterhom dinner rolls are a favorite with the grandchildren and the big kids as well.
Mary Raines' Casserole
1-1 1/2# hamburger browned with salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups noodles cooked
1 10 oz package of broccoli
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 cup velveeta cheese
1 can mushroom soup
Mix all ingredients together and place in a greased casserole dish. Microwave on high for 7 minutes or bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. If in the microwave stir and microwave on high for another 3 minutes. Top with one small can of French fried onions and bake for another 5-10 minutes or 3 minutes in the microwave.
Basic Sweet Roll Dough
2 TBS dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
7 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup oil
Dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar and set aside for 10 minutes. Stir in 2 cups of flour and salt. Stir in beaten eggs. Mix in 2 more cups of flour. Add oil and mix well. Add remaining flour or enough to make a soft dough that will form into a ball. Knead well until smooth and elastic. Place in a bowl and cover. Let rise to double the size.
For butterhorns roll dough out into a circle. Spread with soft butter. Cut in half, in half again and then each quarter into 4-5 pie type slices. Roll up from the large end to the point. Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
You can make any shape of rolls you wish from cloverleafs, fold overs (cut a small circle with a glass, butter and fold over) or hamburger buns.
WEEK FIVE
MENU DAY One
Orange glazed pork chops, mashed potatoes, and broccoli
The pork chop recipe is from one of the Head Start cooks, Connie Moore.
Orange glazed.pork chops
4-6 center cut or boneless chops
2 cups orange juice
2 tsp. Salt
3/4 tsp. Pepper
1 1/2 tsp. Dry mustard
1 cup brown sugar
2 TBS. soy sauce
Place chops in a. shallow pan. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over chops. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/4 hours.
I like frozen broccoli cooked in the microwave and add slices of Ameriran cheese the last 45 seconds.
MENU DAY Two
Dianne's Delights, chips, fruit salad
This recipe is one I received from Brent's mom, Evonne. She said I could use the recipe as my own if I thought of a name for it that went with my own name; thus Dianne's Delight's.
Dianne s Delights
1# hamburger browned with onions, salt and pepper
Drain and add barbecue sauce.
Using a tube of refrigerator biscuits stretch them over a muffin tin, one for each hole. Fill with meat mixture. Add shredded cheddar cheese to the top. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Fruit Salad
1 can peach pie filling, diced
Add fresh fruit chopped or sliced such as strawberries, bananas, kiwi, apples, grapes, pears, oranges, pineapple. If fresh fruit is not available or too expensive use some canned. Make sure the peach pie filling covers the remaining fruit in order to keep it fresh_
MENU DAY Three
Turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie
Turkey
Place 10-12# turkey, after it is washed and salt/peppered, into a roaster. Add two inches of water to the bottom. Cover well with foil to seal. You may also use a plastic bag for a little moister turkey. Cook about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Uncover the last half-hour to brown the turkey.
Dressing
Dry 10 slices of bread or purchase bread crumbs. I na skillet sauté' 1 stick of oleo with 1/2 cup chopped onions and 1 TBS sage. Add to breadcrumbs. Beat 2 eggs and add to breadcrumbs. Add one can of chicken broth and enough boiling water to make the dressing soupy. Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees. It should puff up in.the pan. This is my own recipe, trial and error. I like moist dressing, not dry.
Pumpkin Pie
This is my Grandmother, Ida Lovick's recipe passed down to my mother
and then to me.
2 cups real pumpkin or one can pumpkin
2/3 cup sugar
I TBS flour
1 TBS molasses
1 tsp. Cinnamon sugar
1/2 tsp. Ginger
I/4 tsp. Nutmeg
2 eggs, slightly beaten
I cup milk
Mix all together and pour into a piecrust Bake at 350 degrees for about
50-55 minutes. It is done when a knife sliced through the middle comes out clean.
MENU DAY Four
Pizza Burgers, Cold Slaw, Sugar cookies
Pizza Burgers
1 # hamburger browned with onion, salt and pepper
Drain and mix with spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce.
Place a large spoonful on top of a half hamburger bun.
Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.
Cold Slaw
1/2 head of cabbage shredded
You may add shredded carrots and peppers for color if you like. Mix dressing together and stir into the cabbage.
Dressing
2 cups miracle whip
1/4 cup milk
14 cup sweet pickle juice
May store in refrigerator for several days
Sugar Cookies
1 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup heated milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda.
2 tsp. cream of tarter
6 1/2 cups of flour, may need more
Mix all ingredients together in this order. Chill the dough. Add enough flour to be able to easily roll out the dough. This dough can be rolled and rerolled many times and the cookies are not tough. Cut out designs for the season or use a glass to make round cookies. Bake until the cookie is not shiny. It doesn't take very long, 7-8 minutes at 350 degrees. The thicker you roll the more dough like the cookie is. Thin makes crispy. Frost with 1 stick of oleo and I package of powered sugar plus milk to be able to stir and have the right consistency.
This recipe came from a Head Start cook at Leon. Her name was Opal and these are still Opal's Sugar Cookies even though she is no longer with us, Opal was a wonderful cook, who never wasted anything.
MENU DAY Five
Potato Soup, Crackers, Monster Cookies
The recipe for potato soup I made up as I ate other folk's soup. The Monster Cookies are ones I usually only make at Christmas time. I know Frank and all the kids really like them.
Potato Soup
Peel and dice 6-8 potatoes, Cook until tender with a half bag of sliced baby carrots and a chopped onion, salt and pepper. Add 1 quart warm milk. Use warm milk so it doesn't curdle. Add 2 TBS butter, 8 slices of bacon crumbled and a cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Simmer until cheese has melted.
The recipes I have included are all favorites of our family. I hope you will enjoy them and the stories that are attached. As we grow older we appreciate even more our childhood memories, the blending of families in marriage, the raising of children and the joy of grandchildren. There are many things I have said I would never do in my life and of course I have indeed done them. I have listened to people say that grandparents spoil grandchildren and it is true. We are so fortunate to be able to do so.
Our family includes our blood relatives and also the family we have surrounded ourselves with in the community in which we live. Frank and I have been so fortunate to be a part of "Supper Club" in Osceola. The Bachmans, Kelsos, Petersons, Redferns, Tokheims, and now some of their children, the Lunquists and Spaldings. These folks have taken the place of blood relatives who do not live near us. We love southern Iowa where it is all right to drop in on someone for a cup of coffee without calling ahead. My mom and dad always had the coffeepot on at home and their house was a place for the neighbors to gather for lunch or a full meal. Mom always had plenty and Dad insisted everyone should be fed, especially those who worked for him. We took care of each other, as we still need to do. I believe we have instilled that value in our children, as well as the love of the Lord.
Growing up in a Scandinavian home, Norwegian and Swedish, taught me the customs of eating many times during the day. Of course we first had breakfast, then lunch midmorning, dinner, lunch mid- to late-afternoon, supper and lunch before we went to bed. The meals we refer to as lunch were usually sweet things in the morning with our coffee. The "big" meal was at dinnertime. The afternoon lunch included sandwiches as well as sweet items. Supper was the lighter meal at our house. Usually before he went to bed Dad would eat ice cream and share with the dogs he loved so much. If company came in the evening or we went visiting, a lunch was always served before the visitors traveled home. Food was a big part of our lives, for nourishment and socializing. Many issues can be resolved over a cup of coffee and a homettnade cinnamon roll!
Return to main page for Recipes for Living 2007 by Fern Underwood
Last Revised March 22, 2014