Category: Recipes

Split Pea Soup Recipe

Split Pea Soup

1 large or 2 medium onions
5 stalks of celery
10 carrots
8 potatoes
16oz pkg. of dried split peas
1 lb ham
2 bay leaves
thyme
salt
black pepper
butter

This recipe works best if you soak the peas overnight in water, but I’ve made it without doing this and it comes out fine, but takes a lot longer to cook.

Dice the onions and celery, and slice the carrots into coins, set aside. Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite size cubes. Dice the ham into bite size pieces.

Put a small amount of butter in the bottom of a large stockpot and heat under a medium flame. When pan is suitably hot, add the onions, celery and carrots. (If you’re not sure, add a little onion and see if it sizzles.) Let the vegetables saute’ for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The vegetables will be ready when the onions are transluscent.

Add 1-1/2 quarts of water, peas, potatoes, and ham; reduce heat to a simmer. Stir every few minutes or so to prevent peas from sticking. This is especially important if peas were dry. Add bay leaves, 2 pinches of thyme, 2 pinches of pepper, a pinch of salt, and allow to simmer for 2 hours while continuing to stir every 10 minutes or so.

Keep the soup simmering until the peas have dissolved into a porridge like consistency. If soup is too thin, allow it to cook down; if it’s too thick, add water to thin.

Serves about 8. Goes great with a slice of dark pumpernickel bread on the side.

Greek Lemon Soup Recipe

Greek Lemon Soup

1/2 gallon chicken broth
1 cup uncooked rice
2 eggs
2 lemons, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped dill
salt to taste

Heat chicken broth to a simmer. Add rice and cook 20 minutes. While rice is cooking, whisk together lemon juice, egg, and parsley. Blend chicken broth and rice into lemon-egg mixture. Heat for 2 minutes. Stir in dill and serve. Garnish with thyme.

Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium onions
6 stalks of celery
8 carrots (10 if small)

1 lb chicken, pre-cooked
1 qt chicken broth (the natural broth from the chicken works best, otherwise canned broth or boullion can be substituted)
24 oz. egg noodles
1/4 cup soy sauce
ground thyme
black pepper
chopped parsley
salt
butter

Dice the onions and celery and slice the carrots into small coins.

Cut the chicken up into bite size pieces.

Add a small amount of butter to a large stockpot. Melt butter and let it get hot enough for veggies to sizzle. You can test the temperature by dropping a small amount of onion into the pot.

Add the veggies and stir every few minutes, until they’ve sweated down. The onions will look translucent when they are ready.

Add chicken broth, and water if necessary.

Add chicken, add pepper and thyme to taste. Add two pinches of salt. Allow to simmer for at least 1 hour.

Add soy sauce. (It should darken the color of the soup just a little.)

Add noodles and raise burner to a medium heat. Cook for 20 minutes.

Add parsley to taste and then serve.

Serves 6 to 8 people.

Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe

Twice Baked Potatoes

6 medium potatoes (russet or baking potatoes)
salt and pepper to taste
1 pt. sour cream
1/2 cup chives or chopped green onion, if desired
1 cup chedddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
Parmesan Cheese

Bake the potatoes until done, approximately 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Cut in half. Scoop out both halves. Reserve the skin. Whip the potatoes together in a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. When smooth, add sour cream, chives, or onion if desired, cheese and butter. Whip until blended. Scoop potato mixture back into the skins. Sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese. May be held in the refrigerator for 24 hours, or wrapped for freezing. To serve, place on cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Spaetzle Recipe

Spaetzle (German-style homemade noodles)

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons dried dillweed or mixed herbs
(like chives, parsley, basil)
4 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cups milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and dillweed. Make a well in the center and pour in the beaten eggs and milk; mix by hand just until smooth. Bring a large pot of water to a hard, rolling boil; add remaining 1 teaspoon salt.

Over the pot, with a wide slotted spoon, scoop out a spoonful of batter and shake it lightly until it breaks into strands that fall into the water. The pieces of batter will congeal to form spaetzle; when the spaetzle float to the top of the water, remove them with the slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat until no batter remains.

Makes about 4-6 servings, 8 cups cooked noodles.

Note: Add spaetzle to any soup, serve it with any meat or chicken dish, or simply serve warm spaetzle plain, with butter or gravy or topped with cheese.

Sausage Apple Stuffing Recipe

Sausage and Apple Stuffing

2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 cups water
2 large bags of your favorite cornbread stuff crumbs
1 pound pork sausage (no links)
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 medium apples, cored, sliced
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large pot melt 2 sticks butter in water. When melted add dry cornbread stuffing, stirring to incorporate liquid, set aside.

In a large saute pan set over medium high heat melt 1 tablespoon butter and add sausage. With a wooden spoon break up port and saute until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove sausage to paper towels to drain. In the same saute pan melt remaining butter and saute onions with a garlic and celery until onions are translucent and celery is crisp tender. Add walnuts and saute for 1 minute. Add apples and saute for one minute more. Remove from heat. Combine cornbread stuffing with sauteed ingredients and stuff turkey. Roast turkey as usual. Alternately: fill a 9x13x2 inch pan with stuffing and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven, covered with foil for 1/2 hour. Remove foil and bake for 15 minutes more.

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Pumpkin Pie

1 – 15 oz. can pumpkin filling
1 – 14 oz. can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinammon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Prepared, Refrigerated Pie Crust (only need one, but there are two in the box)

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Take one of the pie crusts out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Set the crust into the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan.

In large bowl, combine all ingredients and pour into the pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes at 425F. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees, bake 35-40 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream topping or with vanilla ice cream.

Refrigerator Mashed Potatoes

An oldie, but a goodie. My mother used to make these – always nice to be able to have mashed potatoes without all the work (beyond the first round of work, I mean – LOL)

Refrigerator Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs. potatoes, cooked until tender
2 pkgs. (3 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. onion salt
1 tsp. salt (in water)
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. butter

Mix all ingedients together. Will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Sweet and Sour Kielbasa Recipe

A recipe from our archives. Can substitute other kinds of sausage or meat as you like.

Sweet and Sour Kielbasa

1/2 green pepper (slices)
1/4-1/2 onion (chopped)
1 pound (or less) kielbasa (sliced into coins)

Saute’ these five ingredients for five minutes or until the onions become translucent.

1 T. cornstarch
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 c. apricot preserves

Combine these ingredients and add to sausage mixture. Heat to thicken. Add one can of drained pineapple chunks. Heat. Serve over one to two cups prepared rice. This make four to five servings

Saurbraten Recipe

This is the recipe my German-heritage mother always worked from.

Saurbraten Recipe

1 beef round roast
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 onions, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
4 whole cloves
4 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
4 cups red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
8 gingersnaps, crushed

Wipe roast with a damp cloth, season with salt and pepper, and then place in very large pot.

In a medium bowl, combine the onions, carrot, celery, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, vinegar, and 5 cups water and sugar. Pour mixture over meat – add water if mixture doesn’t cover meat completely. Cover and refrigerate for 4 days, turning daily. On the 5th day, remove meat with slotted spoons and reserve the marinade.

Brown meat in convection oven (fi you have one – if not, your regular oven will do).  (I think this is where the butter comes in, but the recipe never said. Rub it on the meat to encourage browning.) Then place in deep roasting pan with marinade and cook, covered, until done, about 3 hours.

Remove the meat from the oven and crush ginger snaps into marinade, thicken with flour. Pour gravy over saurbraten. (Or, slice saurbraten and then serve in gravy.)

Excellent served over fried egg noodles or mashed potatoes.