Between the pages of your favorite cookbook
- Michelle Wood: SWCD
- January 4, 2010
- 621
All 680 pages remain bound together, but the cover hangs on only by a three-inch connection of paper. I could go out and buy a new copy, but the beauty of nice, clean, crisp pages would lack substance and favoritism; remnants of hours in my kitchen stirring and baking, mixing and cooking.
Last Christmas, I did buy my daughter her own new copy of my favorite cookbook; she has referred to it many times, but she has no kitchen of her own, yet. It is an excellent cookbook, we do both agree, in fact, I call Mrs. Shank’s cookbook, My Kitchen Bible.
If you examine your own favorite cookbook, does it, too, need a little TLC repair? When you leaf through its pages do small pieces of paper and clippings fall onto the floor? If your cookbook fell apart, would you, could you, throw it away? I couldn’t do it. But I would do this; when the pages begin to fall away, I will glue my favorite pages onto card stock paper, drop them into page protectors, and store them in a three-ring binder.
As I sit at my desk and go through my cookbook page-by-page I find not abuse of its pages but use of its pages. How can any good cook keep her cookbook clean and unmarked? Many recipe titles have been highlighted, some pencil dated as to when they were prepared. There are margin comments on family reactions, doodles of smiles or frowns rating the outcomes.
The most food stains I find are on pages in the pastry and pies chapter. Math calculations are figured in scribbles on the kitchen measurements page. A couple pages in the casseroles chapter are stuck together by ingredient DNA. The two pages of listed substitutions appear to have been quite handy, over and over again.
Tell me about your favorite cookbook, and please, let me know if a Country Cupboard clipping falls out from between the cookbook pages.
What good things fell out of your cookbook this past busy baking season? Send your recipes to: Country Cupboard, c/o Daphne Ross, 5973 Blachleyville Road, Wooster 44691. E-mails are always welcome at thewrite cook@sssnet.com.
Cinnamon Baked Carrots
2 pounds carrots
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup water
Wash and peel carrots; cut into 4-inch sticks. Place in deep baking dish. Melt butter and sugar together, stirring to combine. Add water and stir. Add salt and cinnamon; heat until bubbly. Pour over carrots. Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.
Chicken Noodle Casserole
(Rhea Hoover)
2 pounds deboned chicken
8 ounce package noodles, cooked
8 ounce package cream cheese
1/2 pint sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 medium onion, diced
Dash garlic salt
Combine last 5 ingredients and cook until cheese is melted and well blended. Add noodles and chicken; top with buttered bread crumbs. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Pistachio Nut Snack Cake
2 boxes sugar-free pistachio pudding (4-serving size)
8 egg whites
1 box super moist yellow cake mix with pudding in mix
1 cup applesauce
1 cup water
Beat applesauce, egg whites and water on high for 30 seconds. Add pudding and cake mix. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spray three, 8-inch cake pans with nonfat cooking spray. Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve plain or with non-fat whipped topping.
Mini-Meat Loaves
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound pork sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 can chicken rice soup, undiluted
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
4 cups cornflake crumbs, divided
1 can mushroom soup, undiluted
In a large deep bowl, break up beef and sausage. Add chopped onion, eggs, chicken rice soup, salt, poultry seasoning and 2 cups of the cornflake crumbs. Mix thoroughly. Shape into 18 rolls, approximately 1/3 cup mix each, about 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick. Then roll in remaining cornflake crumbs, coating all sides. Place in 9-by-13 inch pan, slightly separated so they brown on all sides. Spread mushroom soup on the rolls; bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
Blueberry Dessert
(Marcie Walrath)
1 package raspberry gelatin dessert
1 can blueberry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple
Whipped topping
Dissolve gelatin dessert in 2 cups boiling water. Add 1 can blueberry pie filling, crushed pineapple, including juice; let set. Layer whipped topping over top. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.
Old-Fashioned Banana Bread (Debbie Miller)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup nuts
Mix together sugar and butter; add eggs and mix well. Add bananas and then mix well. Add water, mix again. Sift in all dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in nuts. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 65 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 1 large, very moist loaf.
Battered Onion Rings (Ellen Cleary)
3 large red onions
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
Salt
Oil for frying
Slice the onions thinly, soak in cold water. Beat remaining ingredients until well blended. Dip onions, several at a time in batter, letting excess drip into bowl. Fry rings in oil heated to 375 degrees, turning once, until golden. Drain on brown paper. They keep well in 220 degree oven while you finish frying.
Vegetable Dip (Cheryl Slone, Willard)
2 cups mayonnaise
1 tablespoon dill weed
3 tablespoons chopped onion
1 tablespoon flavor enhancer
3 tablespoons parsley flakes
2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
Mix all ingredients. Chill and serve with vegetables. Also delicious with pretzels and potato chips.
Poppy Seed Cake (Donna Marty)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup poppy seed
Mix all ingredients together. Pour into ungreased bundt or angel food cake pan; bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while still warm.