Bread Starter 3rd Generation Family Favorite

“You say I had a role in the wedding reception luncheon!  How can that be? “ I live in California and the wedding reception for 120 guests was held in Oregon. As a ninety year old I didn't travel hundreds of miles to attend my cousin’s grandson’s ceremony.

She went on to explain the light feathery bread rolls served with butter had made an impression on the diners.  “Remember you gave me the bread starter when we were in California in 1965.  I’ve used it almost every week since then.  I add a package of yeast once in awhile to liven it up, but it is still the original starter you gave me.” 

That telephone call stirred many memories of the delicious sourdough rolls, bread, and other bakery goods my mother baked in my childhood.  There was no treat greater than coming home from school and to be given a hot cinnamon roll and a glass of cold milk.

  

The quart jar with the yeasty mass was kept in the downstairs cellar where it was cool.  Many a time I was sent to bring it up for Mom to set the bread dough to rise overnight.  Next morning she would place a portion back in the jar to be used next bread making day.  For that day’s baking, the starter was mixed with flour, salt, sugar and water.  This was kneaded, let to rise, shaped into pans, let to rise again.  Then it was baked in our wood burning stove.

Later, I was sent to return the starter jar which was never washed to the cellar shelf.

This was our bread supply day after day, week after week, out on the farm twenty miles from a store.  A trip to town brought another treat with store bought bakery light bread eaten with delight.

This same Bakery Starter can be used today and here is the recipe.

3 ½ cups unsifted bread type flour

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water 

Combine flour, sugar and dissolved active dry yeast in a large bowl.  Gradually add warm water to dry ingredients and beat until smooth.  Cover with transparent wrap; let stand in warm place for 2 days.

To use in recipe:  Measure out amount called for in recipe and use as directed.
To replenish starter:  To remaining starter, add 1 ½ cups bread type flour and 1 cup warm water.  Beat until smooth.  Store, covered in warm place.  Stir before using.  If not used in one week, remove 1 ½ cups starter and follow directions for replenishing.

After moving to a different city in 1988, I had to begin a new batch and it was very cold outside.  My source for a warm place was on top of our water heater.  It worked just fine and my daughter-in-law is using that starter to this day!

General Recipes 3rd Generation

Corn Chowder

On the farm the canning and freezing season was one of the busiest times of the year for my Mom and I. One had to use every crock, pan, knife, ladle and all the canning equipment jars, lids, funnels, plastic bags, hot pot holders, and towels, hand and dish. Those green beans, peaches, pears, tomatoes, pickles, grape juice, corn and beets tasted mighty good served on a winter’s table. The tremendous satisfaction we had was seeing a row of jars sitting on the cabinet at the end of a long day canning.

For me the most dreaded canning process was handling the corn. The picking was done late evening by the men. Tubs of corn rested on the side porch. Early next morning, I would have to shuck the corn, then the silking all this done outside. The ears of corn were then taken inside to be sorted with the most perfect being set aside to freeze as roasting ears. On the wooden chopping board, I would slice the kernels from the cob to dry on cookie sheets placed in the sunshine.  More of the kernals were placed into plastic bags and cooked Into corn relish with other flavorful vegetables. The slicing was the stickiest chore of all. Just sharing this with you makes me weary and sends up memories of long gone days.In the cold winter days Mom would make Dad’s favorite dish of all, Corn Chowder. I still make this chowder in their memory back in Missouri. 

4 ears of corn

4 slices fried crumbled bacon

½ onion diced finely

1 medium potato diced

1 cup milk or half and half

2 cups chicken stock

Remove the kernels from the cob

In a medium sauce pan, saute the onion in bacon grease (or butter)

Add the diced potato, corn, milk, and chicken stock.

Bring to a simmer and cook partially covered for 30 minutes

Add dried potato flakes as needed to make a thicker chowder.

I sure remember Dad eating bowl after bowl at lunch time and then heading back out on the farm to do more harvesting.

  

As a busy teacher raising four kids, three teens and one preteen, I had little time to spend in cooking for hours and hours. My son, David’s, favorite dish was HAMBURGER STROGANOFF. So simple and yet so delicious.

In a 3 quart heavy duty skillet, brown 1 ½ pounds of hamburger

Add 1 onion chopped coarsely

Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper.

When hamburger is brown, add one can of mushroom soup

Stir in one pint of sour cream or imitation sour cream.

Serve over rice or noodles. This recipe yields four average servings.

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Artichokes

Living in Santa Cruz county area of California, my teenage sons found fun and reward in raiding the artichoke fields just like my brother raided the watermelon patches in the Midwest. Every so often I would come home from work and to find a quantity of artichokes to cook.

The easiest and fastest way to handle them was using my 4 quart pressure cooker. After washing the artichokes well and peeling away the first round of leaves, place them in the cooker with 1 cup of water and ¼ cup of vinegar. Put them on to cook for fifteen minutes. Cool cooker by running cold water over it in the sink.

Serve with melted butter with garlic or mayonaise.  Enjoy but please don’t raid any fields today as you may get caught!

No Bake Chocolate Cookies

Many times late in the evening one of my three school kids would announce “Hey Mom I have to take 2 dozen cookies to the party at school TOMORROW! I would laugh and say OK Let’s get busy making them. This is my way of sending the kid off with a container of freshly made cookies without turning on the oven.

You need:

• 2 cups white sugar
• ½ cup of milk
• 1 cube of butter

Boil for one minute and take off stove

Stir in ¾ cup of peanut butter

Add 2 cups of quick cooking oatmeal

• 3 Tablespoons cocoa
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix thoroughly

Drop batter by tablespoon onto either waxed paper or onto greased cookie or pizza pan. Leave until firm.

Package and send away with child in the morning.

Now, when putting this recipe article together, my daughter confessed that she remembers twice NEVER having a party but that she would share the cookies at lunch with her four best friends.

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For the best Strawberry Jam I ever ate and them began making for my family, I remember Ruth who gave me this terrific recipe. You see, Ruth and Carl had been married eighteen years when I met them. For their wedding present, they had been given a pair of goslings which by then had grown into a twosome of adult squabbling geese. She often gave me goose eggs which would equal 3 hen eggs and I used them for baking. But what an unusual wedding gift!

Back to the Strawberry Jam:

In a plated 4 quart pot mix 2 cups of cold water and 4 cups of sugar.

Cook until it spends a thread.

Add 4 cups strawberries, one strawberry at a time.

Cook ten minutes.

Add 4 cups sugar and

4 cups strawberries. Boil ten minutes stirring constantly.

Let stand overnight before putting into jars.

The family favorite using Strawberry Jam is adding two tablespoons to a dish of ice cream.  A treat for any time of the year!  Enjoy

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Getting Ready for the Holidays

With the Holiday seasons approaching, I am getting out my Turkey Dressing recipe. The following is for six people so adjust amounts accordingly for more or fewer guests. My story with this 3^rd generation recipe is my Mom always added eggs to bind the ingredients together. My husband’s family never used eggs and he had never heard of the idea. When he went to the garage on an errand, I added 6 eggs as fast as I could mixing them with the other ingredients.

 

Brown in a non-stick skillet 1 pound of pork sausage with one large coarsely choppe onion then add:

• one envelop of dried onion soup
• 1 ½ loaves of dry bread crumbs
• six eggs
• 2 tablespoons Sage
• 2 tablespoons Salt

Mix all of the above ingredients and take off heat.

Add about 1 cup turkey stock and mix thoroughly. (You can use water or milk.)

Mix until all ingredients are “moist” not wet.

Fill cavity of turkey and bake the last hour that they turkey requires

Bake remainder of the dressing in a casserole dish 350 degrees for one hour.

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Roasted Wild Duck  Absolutely the most hated kitchen chore I ever experienced was prepping Wild Duck for roasting. Several times after a long day of teaching 30 grade school youngsters, I came home to find four recently shot ducks at my door step. My friendly neighbor was so generous with his hunting! Naturally I could not dispose of this delicacy by way of the garbage can.

So the chore began: Pluck the feathers, dress the carcass, then place the four servings into a plastic bag to roast later. The method of roasting I used was one I learned growing up in the Midwest.

Insert ¼ of an apple inside each duck and then wrap strips of bacon around each. Place into a large pyrex baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees one to one and ½ hours.

Then serve with wild rice and a wonderful bottle of wine. Bon Apetit! 

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With each of my four children there were favorite foods in the making as well as in the eating. Steve’s favorite  dish is the Cranberry Salad that we made for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. We would make the salad a week before serving so that the ingredients would blend into the hearty flavor.

Steve’s role in the process would be to use the hand crank meat grinder as he loved watching the pieces of fruit being squished.

You will need:

• 12 apples washed, cored and quartered - do not peel.
• 2 pounds of packaged cranberries washed and drained
• 8 oranges washed quartered with peels on

Alternating the apples, berries, and oranges grind the fruit into a container. Be sure to place a pan under the grinder to catch any dripping juices.

 In a larger mixing bowl mix 4 cups of sugar with the chopped fruit.

Pack into closed containers and refrigerate until served.

I hope you enjoy this special salad as much as my family has for years and years.

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A very popular side dish for our special New Year’s buffets is Scalloped Oysters. My son, Steve, has since asked for this dish every time he visits from overseas. It is simple to make and yet so tasty you’d think it I’d been in the hot kitchen all afternoon.

Mix together in Pyrex mixing bowl

• 2 cans cove oysters
• 2 cups cracker crumbs
• ½ stick of melted butter
• ½ cup of milk or ½ & ½

Pour into a Pyrex casserole dish and spread to the sides evenly. Sprinkle paprika over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Serve with meal and get ready for compliments from those who are oyster fans.

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Creamy Cherry Cheese Pie

My eldest son dined out with friends in high school and came home describing the delicious cherry cream pie he had. Mom, can you make me one. He so loved my recipe that he began requesting it every month. I finally told him it was time he develop the culinary skill of making it himself. And he DID! He would go out and buy all the ingredients and make the pie on a whim to satisfy his craving.

The ingredients are:

1. One 8 ounce package of cream cheese (softened is best)
2. One 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
3. 1/3 cup of lemon juice
4. 1 can of cherry pie filling (chilled)
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium mixing bowl using an electric mixer beat the cheese until light and fluffy. Add condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla.

Pour evenly into graham cracker crust. Top the cheese with the cherries. Refrigerate at least one hour.

These are just some of my many family recipes. Enjoy and Happy Holidays

 

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