Sunday in Iowa...

The chair under the clothes line...
Probably for the clothes basket
Many folks still hang their laundry outside around here.

Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Bread Recipes



The Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Bread Recipes from 1979 is one of those thin, hard-backed cookbooks that are found in stacks at thrift shops and flea markets.  Many of those books may seem out-of-date, but they have the virtue of not using too many mixes and convenience foods.
I, of course, can’t resist a bread book, so I picked this one up for ½ off the $1 sticker on it at our local church thrift shop.  It was worth the investment – it had lots of reliable recipes for quick breads, including waffles, pancakes, biscuits, muffins, cornbread, and the not-so-usual-anymore doughnuts, fritters and popovers, yeast breads, sour dough recipes and some spreads for breads. 
I liked the step-by-step illustrations for beginners, and plenty of photos.  Even Myrna found a couple of recipes to share.

Here a few:



Three C Bread





Date Apple Coffee Bread



Pimiento Cheese Braids







Cheddar Cheese Biscuits







Eggnog Cherry Nut Loaf


Family Favorites...Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies


 I bought a large bag of lemons at Costco, they are always good quality, large, and much cheaper than I can buy locally. Then of course I had to use them up. This was the time to try some new recipes as I did not want to juice and freeze all of them.
 One of our favorites were these Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies from Martha Stewart. I find her recipes work well for us. I did however, not read this one carefully enough so didn’t follow it exactly. The changes I made, worked out so well that this is the way I will make these again. I am going to post the recipe with the changes and if you would like to see the original check on line with Martha for the cookie recipe.
 So here is the recipe the way I made it. Really good if you like a crisp cookie.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
Yield: about 3 dozen
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons grated lemon peel
8 ounces butter (2 sticks divided)
2 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sugar 
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon poppy seeds plus more for sprinkling
 DIRECTIONS:
 Preheat oven to 375°. Bring lemon juice to a simmer in small saucepan over medium heat; cook until reduced to ⅛ cup of juice. Add one stick of the butter and stir until melted. Set aside to cool.
 Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. 
 Cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar with electric mixer. Mix in egg and lemon butter, Beat until pale about 3 minutes. Mix in vanilla and lemon peel. Mix in flour mixture and poppy seeds.
 Chill dough for a few minutes. Roll 1 ½ inch balls of dough (I use a cookie scoop). Place on baking sheets, flatten balls to a ¼ inch thick with the flat end of a glass dipped in about ¼ cup of sugar and ½ teaspoon lemon peel. 
 Bake just until browned around the bottom edges 9 to 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Meatballs with Cottage Cheese and Ground Beef


Start to Finish
 After making a meatloaf combining ground beef and cottage cheese, I decided that I wanted to make meatballs from the same recipe. The recipe came from a reader of our blog and was in a comment. She/he didn’t post a name with it which is too bad as it is very, very, good. 
  The meatballs are even better than the meatloaf is. I made mine small size, about a tablespoon rounded up. I did use a tablespoon scoop to make them with. If you make them larger keep in mind they will need to bake longer than the time given in the recipe. I am suggesting some seasonings at the bottom of the recipe, feel free to use as many or all of them or use the seasonings from a recipe you already use and like.
 The cottage cheese keeps the meatballs moist and the small size makes them easy to handle. Don’t over mix as that will make them tough. I did drain the cottage cheese but not too dry as I wanted the balls to stay moist.
 Thanks again to our reader and hopefully they will see this and know we all liked them.
Ground Beef Cottage Cheese Meatballs
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 8oz container of cottage cheese (partly drained)
2 eggs
 Mix well with whatever seasonings you are using, if adding onion or celery, dice and sauté for a few minutes so they soften in the short time the meatballs bake. Drain the cottage cheese leaving it still creamy, just not as much liquid, add to meat mixture along with the eggs. 
 Make into 1 tablespoon size balls and place in a pan with sides, lined with greased aluminum foil. Bake at 350° for 16 minutes turning over and draining some of the extra liquid in the pan half way though. If freezing let cool on pan and freeze in a single layer. Once frozen they can be placed in a freezer bag or freezer container.

Suggested Seasonings 
Use as many as you want or all of them
1 small minced onion
1 or more tablespoon chopped green pepper
½ teaspoon ground/powdered Mustard
½ to 1 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons ketchup
1 to 2 teaspoons horseradish
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce ©
1 teaspoon any herbs
½ teaspoon garlic salt or ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

In the Kitchen...Hand Egg Beater and Whisks

Top row:  3 Roux whisks, Danish dough whisk, OXO egg beater
Bottom row:  French whisk and large balloon whisk
When I first started keeping house, I never even owned a whisk, and I don’t think our mom or grandmother did either.  Times have changed for sure, and I keep several in my tool crock and on my tool rack. 
I also used to have a hand egg-beater, then discarded it because they tarnished and rusted easily, and portable hand mixers became more available and better quality.  Now I have this very nice OXO hand egg beater which I love and use frequently for small mixing jobs…easy to clean, it never rusts.
My favorite whisks are flat whisks also known as a roux whisk; I have several with silicone on the wires in a medium and large size, and they do a great job with gravies and sauces, no more lumps!  The smaller one I use to whip up eggs or small amounts of sauces right in a measuring cup.
Clockwise from top left:  Beating eggs, Making roux, Stirring mushroom gravy,
Making cooked dressing in double boiler, Making lard noodle dough
I don’t have any balloon or French whisks, but Myrna does.  I think electric mixers were made for beating egg whites, and I never, ever would do it with a whisk…just sayin’.
I do have this Danish dough whisk for thick batters; I especially use it for making noodle dough by hand and some quick breads.  It’s very efficient, and works much better than I thought it would.
Some recipes that are made for whisks or egg beaters:

Sunday in Iowa...


           A very nice weeping willow tree and pond in Newton Iowa
We remember when most farms had a weeping willow in the yard.

Do You Remember?



Do You Remember…?
Those convenient egg beaters in the mixing cup?
Those “ergonomic” tilted-handle egg beaters?
When your mom got one of those first electric mixers?  
When our mom got a Hamilton Beach like this one, she was thrilled!  She could remove the head and use it like a hand mixer to make 7 minute frosting at the stove, as well as make cakes with ease.  The small bowl was for whipped cream and egg whites.  The juicer was a popular attachment.

Family Favorites...Ham Loaf



 Ham loaf mixture was on sale today at our local Fareway store, so I tried this recipe for Ham Loaf I have been wanting to try for some time. The recipe calls for equal amounts of ground pork and ground ham, which is what the meat market in the store sells. They grind it themselves.
  I make ham balls and ham loaf which are similar to this, but this had far fewer ingredients and was very good. I did make the whole recipe, intending to have leftovers for lunches and maybe another meal. The recipe is from the More-with-less cookbook.
  I made two small changes to suit our tastes and will give you the recipe the way I made it. Keep in mind that that while this is baking, you can do other things and not be tied down. I served it with scalloped potatoes and fresh asparagus. 
  Though saving some for lunches was a good idea, there is not a lot left. My daughter stopped and she ate a piece, or two, and we managed to eat quite a bit of the rest. I have enough left for two lunches for Bettie to take to work.
Ham Loaf
1 pound fresh pork, ground
1 pound fully cooked ham, ground
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 egg
¾ cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
  Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Shape into a loaf and place into a 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour, pour off liquid if there is a lot in the pan. Pour the glaze over and bake ½ hour longer, basting with glaze occasionally 
GLAZE
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves (scant) (optional)
¼ cup water
¼  cup wine vinegar
  Mix together and bring to a boil before pouring on ham loaf.

Meat loaf with Cottage Cheese (Gluten Free)


 One of our readers who only commented as Anonymous gave a recipe for a meatloaf she makes with cottage cheese and no filler. Since as a Celiac I struggle with making things without filler of some kind I decided to try it. My daughter is moving and has a broken arm so wanted to fix supper for her and her family.
 We all thought it was excellent. I used onion and celery and some Italian seasoning. Next time I will add some Worcestershire sauce or maybe some soy sauce.
 What I did find is that without the filler it is more fragile and you need to let it stand for at least 10 minutes before cutting. I am thinking it would work better as meatballs, another option to try. If I am going to make it into meatballs I would bake them so they don't have to be turned as much. I am going to try that as they would also be easy to freeze and would get a crisper crust. Anonymous gave just a simple set of directions and amounts, I will try to list some amounts that I used. Thanks again to whomever posted that comment. If you let me know your name I can give you credit for the lovely recipe.

Meatloaf with Cottage Cheese
1 pound of ground beef
1 8 ounce container of cottage cheese Drain before adding
½ cup diced onion (optional)
½ cup diced celery or carrots (optional)
2 eggs
Salt
Pepper
Seasoning of your choice (I used ¼ tsp of Italian seasoning)
Directions
Mix well in a bowl, hands work well for this step. 
Place in a bread pan and then if you like it you can spread some chili sauce or ketchup on top. 
Bake in a 350° oven for 55 to 60 minutes
Drain and let stand for at least 10 minutes (15 would be better)

Slice and serve from the pan as it is too fragile to turn out. The meatballs would be easier to handle I think.

In The Kitchen Electric Mixers

The center mixer is like the first mixer I owned I now have the two on the left and yes mine is black..Sue has the two like the ones on the right
 Both of us own and use stand mixers. I guess I can’t think of my kitchen without one though I can remember when our Mother got her first one, she had so much fun with it and we sure ate a lot of cake and whipped cream for awhile. 
 My first mixer was a Sunbeam which in a lot of ways I like better than the nice Kitchen Aid I own now. The mixer came with two sizes of bowls and the bowl turned rather than the beater. It did not have as much power but as I rarely do bread dough in mine I could get along without that much power. It also had a detachable head so I could take it to the stove and use it as a hand held mixer without having to own two separate mixers. In a lot of ways updating something is not always making it better.
 The first mixer with a electric motor is thought to be the one invented by American Rufus Eastman in 1885. The Hobart Manufacturing Company was an early manufacturer of large commercial mixers, and they say a new model introduced in 1914 played a key role in the mixer part of their business. The Hobart Kitchen Aid and Sunbeam Mixmaster (first produced 1910) were two very early US brands of electric mixer. Domestic electric mixers were rarely used before the 1920s, when they were adopted more widely for home use.
 In 1908 Herbert Johnson, an engineer for the Hobart Manufacturing Company, invented an electric standing mixer. His inspiration came from observing a baker mixing bread dough with a metal spoon; soon he was toying with a mechanical counterpart. By 1915, his 20 gallon (80 l) mixer was standard equipment for most large bakeries. In 1919, Hobart introduced the Kitchen Aid Food Preparer (stand mixer) for the home. Many restaurants and bakeries use Hobart large stand mixers.
Older models of mixers originally listed each speed by name of operation (Beat-Whip would be high speed if it is a 3-speed mixer); they are now listed by number.

 If you are not going to be doing a lot of heavy mixing you could most likely get by with a hand held mixer though I sure would hate to give up my stand mixer.

Try these recipes:

Classic Yellow Cake

Whipped Cream Cake

Hawaiian Sweet Bread 

Cornmeal Yeast Bread

Buttermilk Pie

Meringue for Pie

Amaretti

Freezer Meat Balls

Sunday in Iowa...

Produce being delivered to a rural auction house 
by horse and wagon

Do You Remember?

Our sister Kay playing "dress up" in Grandma's shoes, purse and hat

Do you remember......

When you could play dress up from boxes of clothes and accessories in the attic??
When you could use a lace curtain for a dress-up bride's veil?
When peep-toe platform shoes were popular ?  That previous time, that is.

Family Favorites...Refrigerator Herb Drying


Thyme dried should be on the photo on the left not the right.
 I had a over abundance of herbs this year. The French Thyme especially has just grown and grown and I can’t keep up with it. The flat leafed parsley also has been great and Sue gave me her pot of basil so you can see we didn’t lack for fresh herbs.
 However, the need to dry some is one of the things I really hate to do. I tried several ways including deciding that I would just forget about drying and dump the pots when the cold weather came.
 Well, surfing the web one day, I lucked on to the web site of Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State Extension. What a find! There were the directions for drying herbs in the refrigerator and they were saying that they were better than any other way. Sounded good to me, so I tried some. Great idea and so good when dry. The color and aroma is marvelous and little to no work involved. What could be better.
 I bought some dried French Thyme from Penzey Spices and it is excellent but not cheap. Now I have a great supply of dried thyme, parsley and basil for this winter.
I am going to post the directions as well as the link to the web site and encourage you herb growers to try this.
All you need is: homegrown herbs, a clean brown paper lunch bag, a paper clip, a pen. and........a frost-free refrigerator/freezer
Pick herbs before 10 am so that the intense afternoon sun does not evaporate the natural oils in the leaves.  Make sure that herbs are clean (wash and then dry with untreated paper towels).  For large leafed herbs (basil, sage, etc.) remove the leaves from the stem, for small leaves (parsley, thyme, etc.) dry stem and all.   Place no more than 20-30 large leaves or 10-15 stems in each bag.  Fold the top down and place a paper clip to keep the bag closed.  Write name of herb and date on the bag.  Then simply place the bag into your refrigerator.

It should take approximately 2 weeks to dry.  To help the process along, whenever you get something from the refrigerator, shake the bag to separate herbs.  When the herbs are crisp dried (you can tell from the sound of the bag and by touch); take the bag out of the refrigerator and keep it at room temperature for approximately one week to insure that it is totally dry.  Then place the dried herbs into a glass container (preferably brown glass), label and date.  Store in a dark, cool place and the flavor will last for several years.

This process works extremely well for herbs that otherwise lose flavor or scent and color, such as, basil, tarragon, the fruit flavored sages, lemon or lime balm, parsley, rose petals, and scented geraniums.
Chives and rosemary will do better by using this method but placing them in a frost-free freezer instead.  In the freezer, the process will take 2 months rather than two weeks, but flavor and color retention are excellent.  Cut chives into small pieces and rosemary can be done with stems and leaves.  


Meat Loaf No. 3 Meta Givens

 This recipe for Meatloaf Number 3 (which is what the Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking calls it) makes a nice textured, light, very easy-to-slice-neatly meatloaf. We ate half sharing some with Bettie’s daughter and will make hot meatloaf sandwiches with the reminder. The meatloaf freezes well sliced and wrapped. Easy to pull out a few slices that way. 
 Fixed with baked potatoes, cottage cheese and garden fresh tomatoes it made for a easy supper on a cooler very late summer evening. 
 The recipe calls for baking powder in the loaf which Sue and I decided makes it lighter.  She puts baking powder in her salmon and tuna patties and I am now going to try that.
  I did add Chili sauce to the top of the meatloaf before baking because we like it that way. The binder is soda crackers and eggs so I can’t eat it but I filled up on fresh tomatoes so didn’t miss it. If you and your family like meatloaf you might want to give this a try.
Meat Loaf No. 3
2 eggs
½ cup milk
10 -  21/4 inch square soda crackers
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp fine chopped onion
⅓ cup fine chopped celery
1 ½ lbs. ground lean beef
½ lb ground lean pork
1 ¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon MSG (optional)  I did not use
1 teaspoon baking powder
 Set oven to moderate 350°F. Have a shallow 10 x 6 ¼ in glass baking pan ready. Beat eggs in mixing bowl/ Stir in the milk, then crushed crackers and let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile melt butter in skillet, add onion and celery and sauté until onion is soft but not browned. Add meat to the milk mixture, then the celery, onion, seasonings and baking powder. Mix thoroughly using a wooden spoon or hands. Turn into the baking pan and shape lightly into a loaf. Add chili sauce, ketchup, or BBQ sauce to top before baking if desired. Bake for about 60 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Serves 8 to 10

In the Kitchen... Potato Mashers, Ricers and Pastry Blenders


 If you leave the world of instant mashed potatoes you will need a potato masher. I have and do use my mixer for this but if I have a small amount I will use a masher or often my ricer. 
 There are more than one style of each and each has it’s own merits. I like a ricer and own both styles. However my metal one is a older model and does not have the extra discs as shown with this one. The green and white one which I use the most works very well and is easy to clean and change discs in. I use it for more than potatoes as it does a good job of pureeing fruits and cooked vegetables. 
 Of the potato mashers I have both styles and prefer the wire one, really just a personal preference as they both work well. They will give you fluffy potatoes and do a good job with fruit and vegetables.  
Sue uses a Pastry Pro pastry blender sometimes to mash with. I haven’t tried that but she says it works well for her and she only needs one tool. Also, of course, you can use them for a pastry blender.  My blender is a simple model with a sturdy handle and sharp tines that works well with cold shortening or lard.  

 Here again you don’t need to buy the most expensive one out there unless maybe you are feeding a large group every day. Check the kitchen tool aisle in your local supermarket, hardware store or stores like Target or Walmart. I like to look for this type of thing at thrift stores as I find the older kitchen tools are better made and often are very inexpensive. 

Here are a variety of recipes that use pastry blenders or potato mashers:

Sweet Potato Pie

Mashed Potato Salad

Crispy Cheesy Potato Waffles

Chicken Stew with Dumplings

Pie Crusts for the Freezer

Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

Hot Cheese Drop Biscuits

Fig Bars  The best!



Sunday in Iowa...


This lovely apple tree in Lacey, Iowa has apples just waiting to be picked

Do You Remember?


Do you remember…?
When your Grandma and her friends swore by lard pie crusts?
When your mother started using shortening instead - like Crisco and Spry?
When you could buy pie crust mix in a box?  Just add water?
When pie crust sticks went a step farther and meant you only had to roll it out to get it right?
When, in 1963, Pet-Ritz introduced frozen pie crusts right in the pan?
Now, even magazines like "Southern Living" suggest frozen or refrigerated crusts instead of making your own.
They apparently don’t think anyone has “pie crust skills” anymore.
Try Myrna's pie crust or freezer pie crust to make your own - cheaper and much, much better.

Family Favorites...Sauerkraut Relish

I’m not excessively fond of sauerkraut…usually only if it’s baked under a nice ring of German or Pella Ring bologna, or some ribs or pork chops, or maybe a small amount on a brat.  But this recipe…I just love it!
My husband and I couldn't leave it alone after the first sample!  It’s that good!  Everyone who tries it wants the recipe too.  I can’t claim it for my own, it’s from the very nice blog Recipes from a German Grandma.
Don't just think you have to serve this with brats...it's a great addition to any plate simply as a vegetable or salad substitute.
Sauerkraut Relish
Ingredients:
2 cups sauerkraut (drained)
1 / 2 cup sugar
1 / 2 cup cider vinegar
1 / 2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 / 2 cup chopped red or yellow bell pepper
1 / 2 cup chopped onion
1 / 2 cup cup chopped celery 
1. Drain and rinse the sauerkraut.  Dice the peppers, onions, and celery in a small dice.
2. Mix the vinegar and sugar together and mix into the sauerkraut (We heated it in a measuring cup in the microwave 1 minute to dissolve the sugar.  Stir once or twice).
3. Add the vegetables and mix.
Serve as a salad or with Bratwurst or hot dogs.
Keeps in the fridge for quite a long time.
**We like Frank's canned sauerkraut if you don't make your own.

Cashew Chicken


 I am a fan of American Chinese Cooking and have been since I was a teenager and ate it for the first time in Minneapolis. The rest will put up with eating it so I can have some and here is a take on Cashew Chicken that everyone liked. Bettie likes hers spicer than me so she added some Hoisin sauce to hers. I use the tubes of grated ginger as it keeps so much better than ginger root. In the refrigerator section of our local store with the salad ingredients is where I find it.
 I started out with a basic recipe so I would have the amounts and then changed ingredients to what I had on hand and that we like. I almost always have cooked chicken breasts in the freezer and also cooked mushrooms frozen. I used thinly sliced baby carrots and celery and canned sliced water chestnuts. The most time for this dish is cooking the rice and if you have some rice frozen you are really going to get a meal fast. Add the vegetables you have on hand though this combination was excellent. Just remember to slice the carrots thinly so they cook in a short time but still stay crisp.
Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
½ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh ginger or ½ teaspoon ground ginger 
½ teaspoon red pepper sauce (or chinese red chili sauce)
1 teaspoon molasses
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound of boneless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces 
1 cup thinly diagonally sliced celery
½ cup thinly sliced carrots
1 can sliced water chestnuts
4 ounces or half of a 8 ounce package of fresh mushrooms sliced
1 cup cashews (whole and pieces are less expensive and work fine)
Directions
 Mix broth, cornstarch, soy sauce, ginger, pepper sauce and molasses. Set aside.
 If using fresh raw chicken heat large skillet. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, add chicken and stir fry till done Remove chicken and keep warm. If using already cooked chicken skip this step.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet add the celery and carrots, stir fry 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, water chestnuts, cashews and the cooked chicken, cook and stir fry 4 to 5 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture to vegetables and cook about 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Serve with hot rice if desired.

In the Kitchen... Pie Plates


 Every kitchen should have at least one pie plate. They can be used for much more than pie, breading fish and meat or chicken, nacho stacks to heat in oven, I have baked cornbread in mine and coffee cakes. Also some cheesecake recipes work well in one. They work well for small craft supplies and as any man would tell you to keep nails and nuts and bolts in one place. In the photo the pink Pyrex and glass plates are Sue's as is the Corningware. Hers are 6", 7" a very old Glassbake shallow 8" that is her favorite, and the Flamingo Pyrex is 9".  I never did have one of the 10" Corningware ones but Sue says they work well and bake evenly. The plate with the cookbook is 11 inches and shallow. 
 In my kitchen, at the last count I had 12 pie plates, before you gasp I want to say that they are not all mine just have ended up at my house. I do sort them out, but they seem to come back to haunt me. I have my Grandmothers ceramic plate and one of the three ceramic plates I had given to me. I use them some, but really prefer glass plates. 
Both Sue and I have given away or no longer use metal pie pans. I feel that the crusts either burn or don’t get crisp. The glass pie pan lets me see how that bottom crust is doing and I find I can control the heat better. However, use what you have and what you are comfortable with.  The 10 inch deep is what I mostly use and now that the family is smaller the 8 inch regular pie plate get used more. You can no longer buy a new 10 inch deep pie plate, they are now all 9 1/2 inch. Not sure why that has happened, but I take good care of my two 10 inch deep pans as I can't replace them.
 “A round baking dish with shallow slanted sides that are 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep. The pie plate is available in several sizes. The most common sizes being 8, 9 and 10 inch diameters. They can be found made from many different materials, such as aluminum, glass, stoneware, ceramic, and tinned steel. Pie plates are used to bake single crust and double crust pies. They are also available in a deep-dish variety that has slanted sides that are 2 to 2 1/2 inches deep and range from 9 to 11 inches in diameter. A pie plate is also referred to as a pie tin.” This information is from the internet. I don’t believe that tinned steel is readily available in the US though. 
 Many times you can find pie plates cheaply at thrift stores. They may have some brands other than Pyrex but if they are not too scratched it is a good and inexpensive way to add more than one to your kitchen supplies. Have fun baking that next pie.