Recipes and cookbooks, both new and old, hold an inexplicable fascination for me, and as a result, I have gathered quite an extensive collection over the years.
Many others join me in that fascination, whether it be to recall recipes that have been in the family for several generations, or to seek out new and interesting ideas for menu planning and special celebrations.
Over the 15 or so years that I have been writing a weekly recipe column, I have been the recipient of many generous donations of old and well-loved cookbooks and have been on the mailing list of publishing companies with cookbook divisions. As well, I have received numerous requests for help in locating recipes that have mysteriously disappeared from grandma’s cookbook.
I have been threatening for some time now to sit down and organize my own recipe boxes and books so I too can find one or two recipes that seem to have wandered into recipe oblivion.
While I was looking for a specific cake recipe (which I still haven’t found) I flipped through the cards and came up with some favourite recipes I’d like to share in this, my final recipe column in The Times-Herald. All of them have been tested in my kitchen and in the kitchens of family members and friends.
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Coleen’s Macaroni Salad
Sauce:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup oil
2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vinegar
Salad:
4-5 cups shell, bow ties and coloured salad macaroni
1/4 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
chopped onion, if desired
Mix the sauce ingredients in a large microwave dish and heat until sugar dissolves. Stir occasionally. Set aside to cool.
Cook the macaroni in boiling water, adding 1/4 tbsp. cooking oil so macaroni doesn’t stick together.
Remove from heat, drain and let cool, stirring occasionally so macaroni doesn’t stick together.
In a large, air-tight container, mix cooled macaroni with cooled sauce. Add vegetables and mix thoroughly. Place in refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Mix again before serving. Will keep several days.
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Mom’s Sweet & Sour Ribs
1 side spare ribs
1 tsp. cooking oil
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tbsp. soya sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 rings of pineapple, cut up
1/2 cup raisins
2 tbsps. cornstarch
2 tbsps. brown sugar
steamed rice
Brown ribs in oil. Pour off fat, add pineapple juice, water, vinegar, soya sauce and salt. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes until meat is tender.
Cut peppers in 1 inch squares. Cut pineapple into small pieces. Cut onions into small pieces. Add peppers, onion, pineapple and raisins to the ribs. Blend cornstarch and sugar and stir into mixture. Cook 10 minutes longer. Serve with rice.
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Salmon Pie
Pastry for a 9 inch shell
Filling:
3 cups drained pink salmon
1/2 cup Carnation milk
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup drained, sliced olives, optional
2 tbsps. lemon juice
1 tsp. each salt and pepper, or to taste
Sauce:
1 cup Carnation milk
10 oz. can celery soup
2 tsps. lemon juice
Combine filling ingredients, Spoon into pie crust. Make lattice crust. Bake at 425 degrees F for 45 minutes. Cover with foil for the last 20 minutes to avoid becoming too brown.
Mix sauce ingredients and heat but do not boil.
Cut pie into individual slices and top with sauce.
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Half Moon Cakes
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour milk
Measure and sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and soda.
Blend shortening and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until well-blended.
Add flour mixture alternately with sour milk and mix well after each addition.
Drop by tablespoons onto a lightly-greased sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. Do not let become too dark. Cool.
Turn cakes, flat side up, and ice one half with vanilla icing and the other half with chocolate icing.
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Ice Box Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups flour
1/ cup chopped nuts
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten egg. Beat until light. Sift flour, salt and soda and add with nuts to first mixture. Mix well.
Form dough into two round, oblong rolls. Wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator freezer overnight.
Use a sharp knife, dipped in hot water and slice thin slices off rolls. Bake on a cookie sheet in a 375 degrees F oven. Do not over bake. Cool on racks.
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Thank you to everyone who has shared recipes, found old cookbooks for me at garage sales and auctions, and engaged me in conversation here and there about what’s cooking. I appreciate everyone’s interest in this shared endeavour and value the friendships made through this process.
Please don’t hesitate to call me at home to continue this discourse.
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Thought for the day: “We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.” — Will Rogers
Joyce Walter can be reached at 692-7357 or at ronjoy@sasktel.net
