Sunday in Iowa...

Beautiful old-fashioned "bridal wreath" spirea...still a common sight in Iowa yards

Cookbook Reviews...Land O Lakes Occasionally Vegetarian

Here's a Land O Lakes booklet Occasionally Vegetarian from 1996.  It has so many beautiful photos of vegetarian food; it’s hard to know where to start!  The book says there are 20 recipes with 7 ingredients or less, as well as chapters on snacks and sandwiches, entrees, soups and stews, salads and side dishes, and international recipes. 

Back cover

My husband and I love recipes like this…we eat meatless several times a week…not just for our health, but because we like plenty of fruits and vegetables – delicious, tasty and beautiful to look at.  

If you have a garden or like the Farmer’s Market, you’ll like this booklet just as much as I did.  Recipes are indexed by ingredient so it’s easy to find one that uses what you happen to have and as always, Land O Lakes delivers with recipes that work and taste good.

Ginger Chive Green Beans

Fettuccine with Carrots

Sweet Mandarin Rice

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Family Favorites...Classic Rich Bread

I bake bread regularly, and this is an old recipe from the "Red Star Yeast Centennial Bread Sampler 1981" that I have been making probably since the book came out.  It makes a nice, golden, fine-grained sandwich loaf that’s perfect for toast.  It's really just a "good white bread".  

When you can get farm eggs, like we do from my husband’s brother and sister-in-law Don and Bonnie, this bread is even better.   The directions for mixing are mine, not the original recipe.  If you use regular dry yeast, rising times are longer.  
             

Classic Rich Bread

  5 1/2    Cups  Bread Flour

  3           Teaspoons  Instant Yeast

     1/2    cup  Sugar

  1           Teaspoon  Salt

  1           cup  Whole Milk

     1/2    Cup  Water

     1/2    cup  Butter, softened

  2           Large  Eggs

Heat water to 120°-125° (I use my microwave).  Place flour (minus 1 cup), butter, sugar, salt, eggs and yeast in mixer bowl.  Using paddle attachment, turn on mixer to slow and add water.   Let mix 2 minutes.  Change to dough hook, add remaining flour and knead 6 minutes or knead by hand 8 minutes.  Let rise in warm place in covered mixer bowl 10 minutes.  Shape into 2 loaves, about 1# 13 oz. each, let rise in greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2" pans until center of loaf rounds above the rim of the pan about 1 inch, while preheating oven to 375 °.  Bake 25-30 minutes.

2017 Cost: $1.81 for the recipe or 91¢ per loaf

Ham Salad

 When you have a small amount of ham left over you might want to try this recipe from Cook’s Country for Ham Salad. I did some changing from the original recipe and all of us thought it was very tasty and I thought it was quite easy to make. 

 What I like was that by using the food processor I could control how coarsely chopped the ham was. I really didn’t want it to be the ham paste type of sandwich spread though that type is good also. I made these with salad dressing instead of mayonnaise as I rarely have mayo in the house. Also used Dijon mustard instead of a whole grain mustard and added a dash of salt as our ham wasn’t very salty. I would taste before adding salt though. You can make this early in the day and chill until ready to use.

Ham Salad

1 ½ cups diced ham

¼ cup salad dressing, or mayo 

3 tablespoons pickle relish (sweet or dill)

1 tablespoon Dijon or honey mustard 

¼ to ½ teaspoon of pepper

Salt to taste (if necessary, ham is salty)

 Pulse the ham in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Combine salad dressing, relish, mustard and pepper in medium bowl. Add the ham and mix, taste for salt. 

Serve chilled as a sandwich or a wrap. Makes 1 ¾ cup 

From the Garden...Iowa Corn Pasta Salad

Here’s a great pasta salad, made even better by the addition of the cooked dressing.   I had some campanelle from Barilla (they have a large manufacturing plant in Ames, Iowa), and it made a tasty and pretty salad.   We like it best with homemade Cooked Dressing, although you can use Miracle Whip or mayonnaise.   I used home canned black beans.               

                         Iowa Corn Pasta Salad

  8           ounces  Campanelle -- or rotini

  1           Tablespoon Olive oil  

  1           Tablespoon cider vinegar

     1/2    Cup  Frozen Corn -- thawed

     1/2    Tablespoon  Red Bell Pepper -- finely chopped

     1/2    Tablespoon  Carrots -- finely chopped

     1/4    Cup  Onion -- finely chopped

  12         Cherry Tomatoes -- halved

    1/3     Cup  Cooked Dressing or Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise

     1/2    Cup  Canned Black Beans -- rinsed and drained (optional)

Cook pasta, drain. Mix with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon cider vinegar.  Chill 2-3 hours or overnight.

Add remaining ingredients and serve.

  "1 1/2 quarts"

                        
Cooked Dressing
  2        tablespoons  Sugar
  2        tablespoons  Flour, All-purpose (or Cook-type Clear Jel)
  1        teaspoon  Salt
  1        teaspoon  Dry Mustard
  2        large  Egg Yolks -- slightly beaten
     3/4 cup  Milk (I have used skim milk, whole milk and it’s really good with half and half)
  4        tablespoons  Vinegar – mild (we like cider vinegar)
   1/2 -1 Tablespoon  Butter  
Mix dry ingredients; gradually add egg yolks and milk; cook over hot (not boiling) water until thick, stirring constantly, only about 3-4 minutes.  Add vinegar and butter; mix well and cook until thick.  Cover with plastic wrap right on the top of the mixture while cooling it.  Chill; stir before using.
For fruit salads; increase sugar to 3 tablespoons, substitute 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice and 1/4 cup orange juice for milk. 
67¢ per cup   Only 25 Calories per tablespoon
  "Betty Crocker Good and Easy 1954 or Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book 1946 and 1968"
  "1 cup"

Per Tablespoon Serving made with milk: 25 Calories; 1g Fat (37.2% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 28mg Cholesterol; 144mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Fannie Farmer Ham Patties

This recipe is from my 1981 Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  It’s simple and delicious and a perfect way to use the not-so-pretty ends of your holiday ham.    I shaped mine into more, thinner patties, so they cook quickly…I froze the extra patties to cook another day.  A real nice thing about this recipe is that you can freeze your uncooked patties, and cook them from frozen, about 3 minutes on each side if you make 8 patties from this recipe.
I had a large slice of somewhat holey homemade bread I used for the crumbs; I whirled pieces of the bread in my mini-processor, then added the egg, cream and mustard, and poured it over the ham in the mixing bowl and combined lightly.  I pattied them in my hamburger press.  I have also made this with ham loaf mixture from the meat counter at our Fareway store, which is a combination of ham and ground fresh pork.

Our plate looks like Iowa – with mashed potatoes and creamed corn.  We enjoyed it with a cucumber salad and fruit for dessert.                 

Ham Patties

  2             Cups  Ham -- ground, cooked

  1             Large  Egg -- slightly beaten

     1/2      Cup  Bread Crumbs -- freshly made

  1             Tablespoon  Dry Mustard

  3             Tablespoons  Heavy Cream

  2             Tablespoons  Bacon Fat -- or lard or shortening

Mix the ham, egg, crumbs, mustard and cream until combined.  Shape the mixture into four to eight equal patties.  Melt the bacon fat or shortening in a large skillet and sauté the patties until well browned on each side.

The cookbook recommends serving with chilled cucumbers in sugar and vinegar dressing.

Use It Up...Fruit Crisps and Cobblers

Crisps, cobblers and the like are great ways to use excess fruit.  Whether it’s canned, frozen or fresh fruit, these are quick, easy recipes to get back that taste of summer all year round.  You can often combine smaller amounts of fruit to get enough for your recipe, as in two of the following suggestions.

Rhubarb Pineapple Crisp

Southern Peach Cobbler

Plum Crunch

Apricot Apple Crisp

Peaches and Cream Crisp

Sunday in Iowa...

The Methodist Church, in Lacey, Iowa

Built in 1880 and still active

Lacey is an unincorporated village between Oskaloosa and New Sharon, Iowa

Cookbook Reviews...Flavors of Spring 1998

Back Cover

The Land O Lakes recipe collection booklet Flavors of Spring 1998 is devoted to Spring-time get-togethers, picnics, barbeques, wedding showers, graduation open house, afternoon tea, deck parties, all kinds of Spring entertaining.

Of course, any of the recipes are good to share with your family and friends even without an event to plan.  There are also suggestions for setting buffet tables and buying Spring produce.  I like the layout of the booklet, which starts with menus for the occasion and then gives the recipes, with lots of beautiful photos.  

If you see this booklet at a book sale, I would recommend it, as I do all Land O Lakes recipes.  They are our favorites for Midwestern cooking.

Here are a few recipes from the book...

Grilled Herb Turkey Breast

Ginger Glazed Fruit

Baked Fish with Peppers,Tomatoes and Beans

Cheese and Mushroom Oven Omelet

Rhubarb Sour Cream Crumb Cake

Family Favorites...Breakfast Cornbread

I liked the “Make it your own!” ideas in the "Midwest Living Comfort Food” and here’s one of them.  They used a basic corn bread recipe, giving you the option to choose any cornmeal desired; and to use 1 cup buttermilk, OR 1 cup of sour cream OR a 14 1/2 ounce can of creamed corn instead of the milk. You also can use a 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan or a 12 regular-size-cup muffin pan instead of a skillet.  I made mine in a skillet, because we like Texas-style crispy bottom crust cornbread, but simply greased it before heating it in the oven about 10 minutes; I melted my butter in the microwave.  I don’t like the idea of handling a hot skillet and trying to pour the butter into the liquids from it – do what you’re used to.

We liked one of their add-in ideas – using Italian sausage and onions, but we wanted the taste of breakfast pork sausage, so here is our version.  Delicious with traditional molasses, or honey.

Breakfast Cornbread

     ¾    Cup  Flour, All-purpose

  1        Cup  Yellow Corn Meal

  2        Tablespoons  Sugar

     ½    Teaspoon  Salt

  1        Cup  Milk

  2        Large  Eggs

     ¼     Cup  Butter

  6         Ounces  Cooked Breakfast Sausage

     ½     Cup  Onion -- chopped and cooked

Grease 9" cast iron skillet.  Place skillet with butter in preheated 425° oven.  When butter melts, swirl in pan to coat, and pour butter into liquid ingredients.

Stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium mixing bowl.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together milk, eggs and butter.

Add liquid mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined.  (Do not overmix).  Fold in sausage and onions.

Pour into hot skillet.  Bake at 425° for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm.

9 Servings

Yogurt Fruit Salad

Though this salad looks like a rich dessert salad it is just the opposite. Made with orange yogurt and mayo as the base it it on the tart and tangy side. Use unsweetened pineapple tidbits and Mandarin oranges and you have a creamy, tangy fruit salad to serve with a cold summer meal.

 We had it with cold sliced ham, turkey slices from the Deli and cottage cheese, tea rolls and sour dill pickles. Eat on paper plates and you have a easy to fix, very little cleanup meal. It took me about 10 minutes to put the salad together in the morning and we had it for a late afternoon supper. This is from one of my favorite Southern Living cookbooks I have had for years. No longer being printed they do show up on line and at used book sales. Those Southern gals do know how to cook!

Yogurt Fruit Salad

1 ½ cups orange yogurt (low fat works fine)

⅓ cup mayonnaise

1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges drained

1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks or tidbits drained

1 (17 ounce) can light, sweet cherries drained (I left them out)

1 cup miniature marshmallows.

 Combine yogurt and mayonnaise; stir in remaining ingredients. Chill at least 1 hour

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

From the Garden...Skillet Scalloped Corn

 Bettie and Lyle are both big fans of scalloped corn, which I rarely make. I don’t eat it and just don’t think to fix it. This recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Recipes 2011 was something Bettie asked for, so made it for supper tonight. 

  They might get it more often now. This was so easy to make and drew so many complements that I am going to have to make it more often.

  I liked the idea that it was made on the stove top in my skillet and only dirtied one pan. It was very easy to fix, took ingredients that I had on hand or were easy to get, (corn was on sale today) and outside of not having any fresh basil, I used dried, this was one of those dishes I can see myself making often.

Skillet Scalloped Corn

3 tablespoons butter - ½ cup crushed rich round crackers

2  11-ounce cans whole kernel corn with sweet peppers, drained

2  7 to 8 ounce cans of whole kernel corn, yellow, or shoepeg (white) drained

4 slices of process Swiss cheese torn

⅔ cup milk

¼ teaspoon onion powder

Dash ground black pepper

⅔ cup crushed rich round crackers

Snipped fresh basil leaves or dried basil to garnish

  For crumb topping, in a large skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add the ½ cup of crumbs and cook and stir for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and save for topping.

  In same pan, combine corn, cheese, milk, onion powder, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes or until cheese melts and mixture is heated through. Stir in the 2/3 cup crushed crackers. Cook and stir about 5 minutes more or until corn mixture is hot and thickened. Transfer to a serving dish; sprinkle with the crumb topping. If desired sprinkle with basil.

PER SERVING: 215 cal; 12 g fat; 22 mg chol.; 666 mg sodium,; 24 g carb; 2 g fiber; 6 g protein

Imperial Scallop

I remember helping my grandmother do some “downsizing” and “uncluttering” when I was in high school, and she had a cabinet over her refrigerator full of old, old cookbooks and recipe leaflets dating from her early married years in the World War One era.  I sure wish I had been able to save them; but I am finding the internet is a bonanza of these old books.

"The Good Housekeeping Women’s Cook Book  1909" has some good recipes, you can download the free PDF at the link.  Here is one of them.  I did modify it by adding peas and a little onion for flavor, and I give a recipe for the cream sauce and bread crumbs, which the original didn’t show…you were supposed to know how to make those recipes.  They also give just wood stove baking directions; a moderate oven is usually 350°-375°.

We liked enough to make it whenever I have too many eggs or they are on a good sale, the last time I made this they were 50¢ a dozen on the best sale we had seen for several years.

Imperial Scallop

1          tablespoon chopped onion 

1          cup  ham – diced

1          cup peas, fresh or frozen

  1 ½    cups  cream sauce

  3        large  eggs -- hard cooked and sliced

     ½    cup  fresh bread crumbs

  2        teaspoons  melted butter

                             

                        Cream sauce

  1 ½    cups  milk

  3        tablespoons  butter

  3        tablespoons  flour

            Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°.

Toss melted butter and breadcrumbs and set aside.  Grease a 1-1 ¼ quart shallow casserole.

To prepare cream sauce; melt butter, set off heat and whisk in flour until smooth, heat over medium heat one minute, stirring constantly.  Set off heat and whisk in milk slowly.  Let cook 3-4 minutes until medium thick.

Stir the ham, onion and peas into the cream sauce, put half in a baking dish, add the sliced or chopped eggs, then the rest of the ham mixture, cover with bread crumbs, and bake until a very light brown.

Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and crumbs are brown.

4 servings

Use It Up...Fruit in Salads

One of my favorite ways to use up extra fruit is in salads…they are so pretty and tasty, and there is so much variety.  Canned, frozen or fresh fruits can all be incorporated into salads, in a multitude of variations.

Here are some we like:

Orange Chicken Salad

Pineapple Waldorf Salad with Old Fashioned Dressing

Buttermilk Salad

Frosted Fruit Mold

Cucumber and Melon Salad

Yogurt Fruit Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Yogurt Poppy Seed Dressing

Sunday in Iowa...

Happy Easter...from our homes to yours.

Do you remember those department store Easter fashion shows?

Often in the store's tea room?  You could eat lunch or have dessert and coffee and watch models display the latest easter dresses and hats.

Cookbook Reviews...Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks

These three cookbooks from the Barefoot Contessa are among my favorite cookbooks. As you know if you follow our blog, both of us have a lot of cookbooks. 

  Ina Garten has some of the best of the newer cookbooks out on the market today.  While I now own seven of her books, these recipes are from the first three I bought Barefoot contessa at home, Barefoot contessa back to basics  and Barefoot contessa family style. I can’t tell you which is my favorite, the one I am using at the time, I guess. 

  Her recipes are up to date, many are a new twist on a older recipe and give me a different way of fixing something I have made for years. They are recipes that are right on amounts, timing and results. The color photos are beautiful, the paper the book is printed on is lovely, and all in all they are a class act.

  Many of my families favorite meals and desserts come from these cookbooks. We hope that you will enjoy taking a look at some of them and that it will inspire you to buy one or more of these cookbooks and get creative with your own family meals.

Here are recipes from these books that we recommend, some of the best we make, although there are more we haven't tried yet!

Creamy Cheddar Grits

Barefoot Contessa Apple Tart

Homemade Granola Bars

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake

Summer Fruit Crostata

Honey White Bread

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Lemon Yogurt Poundcake

Tri-Berry Muffins

Orange Marmalade

Oven Fried Chicken

Herbal Iced Tea

Chive Biscuits

Gingerbread

Parmesan Chicken

Brown Rice, Tomatoes and Basil

Orange Poundcake

Raspberry Cheesecake

Chicken Noodle Soup

Orange Pecan Wild Rice

Family Favorites...Never-fail Rice Pudding

My husband says that his Mom made this kind of rice pudding often…and why not – they had 8 children and even today, I made 10 servings for $1.85!  They also had dairy cattle and chickens for fresh eggs – excellent nutrition and protein for much less than most desserts.  I did have fresh farm eggs from Don and Bonnie, that's why it's so yellow.  We liked this version that isn't overly sweet.  Save your egg whites for cake or macaroons. 

I thought I didn’t have enough rice when I started making this; I was wrong, the rice absorbed most of the liquid by the time the pudding was cool and it was thick and custardy.                    

Never Fail Rice Pudding

  2 1/4    Cups  Water

  1           Teaspoon  Salad Oil (I didn’t use this)

     2/3    Cup  Long-grain Rice -- uncooked

     1/2    Cup  Sugar

  2           Tablespoons  Flour, All-purpose

     1/4    Teaspoon  Salt

  2           Cups  Milk

     2/3    Cup  Evaporated Milk (I used cream)

  2          Tablespoons  Butter

  3           Large  Egg Yolks -- lightly beaten

  1           Teaspoon  Vanilla Extract

     1/2    Cup  Raisins -- optional

In a heavy, medium saucepan, bring the water and oil to boiling.  Stir in the uncooked rice.  Cover and cook over low heat 25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

In a small bowl, stir together sugar, flour and salt; set aside.

Add milk, evaporated milk and butter to rice in saucepan.  Bring to boiling.  Add sugar mixture and stir until combined.  Return to boiling.

Gradually stir about 1 cup of the hot rice mixture into the beaten egg yolks; return rice mixture to saucepan.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.  Stir in vanilla.  Stir in raisins, if desired.  Serve warm or chilled.  Sprinkle servings with nutmeg or cinnamon, if desired.

10 Servings or about 1 ½ quarts

2014 Cost:  $1.85 or 19¢ per serving

  "Midwest Living Comfort Food"

Per Serving: 207 Calories; 7g Fat (31.5% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 31g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 82mg Cholesterol; 124mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Buttermilk Raspberry Cake

 This cake recipe would work with any berry but we are all fans of raspberries so that is what I used. The texture is cake not a coffee cake. Light and still moist with a nice crisp sugar crust. Just perfect for a treat with your favorite cup of coffee or tea. It didn’t last past one day at our house. 

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

Yield one 9 inch cake

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons softened butter

⅔ cup plus 1 ½ tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk

1 ¼ cups berries

 Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly butter a 9 inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper.

 In small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In larger mixer bowl, beat the butter with the ⅔ cup of sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. At low speed, beat in the buttermilk and dry ingredients in three batches, starting and ending with dry ingredients, do not over beat. Pour into the butter pan and smooth the top. Scatter the berries over the batter; lightly pressing them in. Sprinkle the remaining 1 ½ tablespoons of sugar over the cake. Bake for about 30, minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 Transfer the cake to a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Turn cake out and remove the paper. Turn the cake right side up and let cool completely. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream or just plain with your favorite beverage.