Party Fare

A party is coming up to introduce Barbie to the rest of the family that live here in Winnipeg.

For parties I like to make these two bite size meat buns. They are called Flieshpershki, a traditional Mennonite treat.

The bread dough is cut into little round pieces, the filling is placed inside and the edges of the dough are sealed together to make a little bun. I tend to put too much filling in them so they can be hard to seal.

Recipe for dough:

2 packages of yeast
1/2 cup of warm water
1 teaspoon of sugar
Mix & let rise

4 cups of scalded milk
1 cup of lard melted
1/2 cup margarine melted
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
Mix these together .

Place 2 cups of flour in a very large bowl and add all the liquid ingredients from above. A cup at a time, stir in more flour up to a total of 10 to 12 cups. Place on flat surface and knead. ( I have to do this in two parts).

Place dough in bowl to rise and keep in a warm place.




FILLING

3 pounds of lean ground beef - browned and crumbled
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Black pepper to taste
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Mix all of these together.
Let cool a while so that sauce isn't so runny.

Roll portions of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut in small circles about 1- 1/2 inches across. Place a small amount of filling in the center of the dough round and then fold over and seal. Place on greased cookie sheets. Let rise a little while. Bake at 375 F. for 15 -20 minutes.

If only one person is making these it takes several hours.

They may be frozen after baking to keep for a longer time. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Rainy Day Jobs

This is one very wet gloomy day in fall.

Working out doors is out of the question unless one feels like being a duck or fish.

This morning I quartered up all of these plums and lined them up on a tray to freeze. When they are nice and frozen I will transfer them to ZipLock bags for the freezer. You are wondering what I do with frozen quarter plums? One fine day they will be made into a very delicious plumb cake with buttery crumbs on top. A much sought after dessert at this house. Plums are hard to come-by except at this time of year so the last two years I have decided to freeze some for later use.

Here is the recipe:

Fruit Struzzel Cake (similar to Platz)

1/3 to 1/2 c. of butter
3/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together as for a cake. Add

2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder

Should make a medium stiff dough. Knead the dough until it sticks together then roll it out thin on a jelly roll pan or large cookie sheet with sides.

Top with plums placed very close together. Use fresh or frozen plums or any other fruit such as apricots, cherries, peaches, blue berries or apples ( which don't turn out so colorful).

Make struzzel of:

1/2 to 3/4 c. flour
1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. hard butter
Worked together with fingers until large crumbs form. Spread over the top evenly.

Bake at 350 F. until light brown about 15 - 20 minutes keep a close eye on it while baking.

Have a fun baking day on your next gloomy day.

Marinated Chicken

This post is for my sister but anyone else that wishes to try this recipe is welcome to do so.






Quick Zesty Marinate-

1/2 cup of Zesty Italian dressing
2 Tbs. Soy sauce

Mix well until blended. Pour over four pieces of skinless, boneless chicken breast and let stand for at least half an hour. The longer the meat stands in the marinate the stronger the flavor. I usually marinate it in a Ziplock bag but any glass or plastic bowl will work. May need more marinate sauce if the bowl is too large.

Heat frying pan on lower medium setting. Melt 1 Tbs. margarine add meat lifted directly from marinate sauce and place in fry pan. Cover and cook slowly turning at least once but perhaps several times. Check it often to prevent burning. Takes 15 to 20 minutes depending on thickness of chicken breasts. I sprinkled a little bit of a " No salt" steak spice on them. You may use a little more of the marinate sauce part way through the cooking process. Do not save excess marinate sauce that was on the chicken and is not cooked as it will spoil.

Enjoy!

P.S. Same marinate sauce may be used on beef steak or pork steaks and chops. Can grill meat on the BBQ also.

More Folks I Know

At the top we have T. eating the finished product ( except the photographer didn't aim well). then a view of the Ultimate Chippers. Third is T. helping R. make cookies.

The two little girls in the bottom two pictures helped to entertain us at our breakfast date in NE.

Cooking Class 101*

On Mon. Jan. 21 the first session of Cooking 101 began with one student who you see observing the hamburger patties that she has just produced.

The menu: Homemade hamburger patties; store bought buns; all the condiments - ketchup, mustard, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce & salad dressing; & green beans. Dessert was prepared ahead of time by the instructor - applesauce & cookies.

All the taste testers OK'd the resulting products of the class.

*In the high schools the "101" or any course ending in "01" denotes basic course.

CORNMEAL MUSH

I am decorating the recipes with flower pictures. This is my current amaryllis when it had its first two blooms. Now those two have wilted and the second two blooms are open. The blooms have two rows of petals which I don't recall seeing before on other plants.







CORNMEAL MUSH

4 cups of water
1 tsp. salt.
1 cup cornmeal

Bring water and salt to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan, slowly add the cornmeal while stirring. Cook it for about 5 minutes or until as thick as you desire it. stir it frequently.

Serve as a hot cereal or

Serve along with eggs or

Place in a greased loaf pan, cover and refrigerate until the next day. Cut into thin slices and fry them in a skillet with oil or fat of some sort at a low temperature until golden brown.
Serve like pan cakes with butter and syrup.

This can be a good substitute for pancakes for people who do not tolerate wheat.

Spooon Bread

1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup of water
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tbsp. butter (cut into bits)
3 large eggs, separated

In a large pan, combine milk , salt & water and bring to a simmer over low heat. Stir in cornmeal a little at a time and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until it is thickened. Put in a food processor and blend 30 seconds. ( I used the mixer in the same pot where I cooked it. You could also blend it vigorously with a wooden spoon.) Add the butter and egg yolks and blend until combined.

In a large bowl beat the egg whites until they just form stiff peaks. Use the electric or hand beater or a whisk and lots of elbow grease. Stir 1/4 of the cornmeal mixture into the egg whites and then gently fold in the remainder. Pour in to a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish that has been greased and bake at 375 F for 30 -40 minutes.
.
Serve with a gravy or stew of some sort.

Thanks goes to our neighbor, Peter Grant, for this recipe.

Aunt Mabel's Choco Chip Crunchy Bars

This has been a baking morning. As I was putting together the dough for Aunt Mabel's Crunchy Bars I was mulling over in my mind the title and ideas for a future series of posts on this blog. (Blogging is really additive with me). I have in mind to write about incidents of funny mistakes that have happened to me or others during the years of my camp cooking experience. So wouldn't you know I up and did something dumb with the bars. Instead of spreading the dough in the cake pan and placing the chips on the top I up and spooned the bough without the chips onto the cookie sheets and started baking the first 2 dozen. After realizing the mistake I put the rest of the dough in the cake pan with the chips on top and we now have one small pan of bars and two dozen plain oatmeal cookies.

I received this recipe from Aunt Mabel Rockhold 35 or more years ago. It has been a real hit with this family as well as many other folks. I don't know if A. Mabel developed it or received it from someone else.

Chocolate Chip Crunchy Bars

Cream together:
1 stick (1/2 C.) margarine
6 TBS. brown sugar
6 TBS. white sugar

Blend in :
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Add:
3/4 C. flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1/8 tsp. salt (optional)
1 C. uncooked oatmeal (any variety)

Spread this dough in an 8"x8" pan, cover with 6 oz. of chocolate chips.
Bake at 375 degrees F. for 2 to 3 minutes then cut through the melted chips and dough with a knife to marbleize (is this a new word?) bars and continue baking for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool in pan then cut into squares. Watch them disappear!

I usually double the recipe and bake it in a 9"x13" pan.


I have a very special "vacuum cleaner" son who demolishes fresh baking.

Keep your eyes opoen for more "dumb" incidents.