Kitchen Delights 3/14/19

Springtime plans are in the making. For some families, it’s planning for a wedding. Today’s weddings are so elaborate, and so very expensive. I don’t know how the expenses are shared with both sets of parents. Years ago, like when I got married, the bride’s parents paid for everything except for the wedding dance and the drinks. I don’t know if expenses are more shared today. I do know many brides and grooms share some of the expenses.

Oh, how different it was years ago. For my wedding (which was back in 1956), we had a church ceremony, dinner followed at the fellowship basement of the school. My mother’s neighbor ladies and aunts did the cooking, and it wasn’t a hot dish or sandwich lunch. Those six-seven ladies got up early on the morning of June 16, peeled potatoes, fried chickens (chickens my Mom and Dad raised on the farm), preparing the vegetables and salads, also, to go with the meal. Our wedding cake was from Rockford Bakery. In the evening, we had a wedding dance at Lake Sarah. Lake Sarah was a dance hall, where all my friends went to every Sunday night, except in Lent. You didn’t dance during Lent, the hall wasn’t open.

 


Pork Roast with Mushroom Gravy

6-7 lb. pork loin or pork butt roast

3 toes garlic, minced

3/4 c. chopped onion

2-3 shakes hot sauce, opt.

1 T. Creole seasoning

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 T. teriyaki sauce

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. paprika

1 c. water

1 c. chopped mushrooms

1 envelope pork gravy

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place large roast or several roasts in a large roaster. On top of roast,add garlic, onion, hot sauce, Creole seasoning, garlic powder, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce and sprinkle on paprika. Add water to the roaster. Cover and bake for 3 hours. Baste once or twice with juices. Add mushrooms in last basting. Add more water to pan if needed.

Mix gravy according to package directions, using some of the juices in the roaster.

Yield: 10 servings

 


Tasty Chicken Vegetable Casserole

2 c. cooked chicken, cubed

7 oz. can water chestnuts, sliced & drained

16 oz. pkg. frozen broccoli, cauliflower & carrot blend

10-3/4 oz. can cheddar cheese soup

10-3/4 oz. can cream of chicken or mushroom soup

6 oz. box chicken flavored stuffing mix

Toasted almonds

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x12 casserole dish. Place chicken in the bottom. Pre-cook veggies in lightly salted boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Add the veggies and the water chestnuts to the casserole. Combine the soups, spread  half over the veggies. Then mix the stuffing mix and add to casserole. Top with rest of the soup. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, top with almonds.

Yield: 6-8 servings

 


Delicious Pineapple Cake

1 yellow or white cake mix (prefer Duncan Hines®)

20 oz. can crushed pineapple

1 c. sugar

3 oz. pkg. instant French vanilla pudding mix

1-1/2 c. milk

8 oz. tub whipped topping, thawed

1 c. flake coconut, toasted

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is heating, place coconut on a baking pan in the oven; stir often while it is browning.

Prepare cake according to package directions. Transfer to a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake. Meanwhile, combine pineapple with juice and the sugar; cook over medium heat for 25 minutes, stirring often.

As soon as you take the cake out of the oven, pierce top of cake with a large fork. Spoon the pineapple mixture over the hot cake. Cool.

Whisk milk and pudding mix; whisk in half of the whipped topping. Spread over the layer of pineapple. Top with the rest of the whipped topping. Chill cake. Before serving, top with toasted coconut. To make it pretty, top with some maraschino cherries, cut in half.

Yield: 16 servings

 


Morning Glory Muffins

8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

1 lg. apple, shredded

1 lg. carrot, shredded

1-1/4 c. sugar

1c. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2-1/4 c. flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 c. raisins or dates

1 c. chopped walnuts

 

Drain pineapple. Shred or grate apple and carrot. In bowl, mix sugar, oil, salt and eggs; add the vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon and baking soda. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, add in the drained pineapple, apple and carrot, mix. Stir in the raisins and nuts.

Bake in muffin tins, or in paper muffin liners. Fill 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. If you don’t want to bake them all at once, refrigerate half the batter, bake another day.

Yield: 2-1/2 to 3 dozen

 


Quick Crescent Crispies

(popular name

Elephant Ears)

 

8 oz. tube refrig. crescent dinner rolls

2 T. soft butter

1/3 c. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 c. finely chopped pecans

1 tsp. orange zest, opt.

 

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll dough into 2 long rectangles, firmly press perforations to seal. Brush with butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half of the sugary mixture over, then sprinkle with pecans and zest. Pat into dough.

Starting at shorter side, roll up tightly, cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle with the rest of the sugar-cinnamon.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Yield: 8 rolls

 


Helpful Hints:

Restore the shine to your favorite jewelry pieces: Crush two aspirin into powder, add warm water. Use an old toothbrush to clean the scrub. The aspirin will break down the discoloration. Don’t use on metals, pearls or opals.

An easy way to get rid of a wart! Crush one aspirin into powder, rub it on the wart, wrap a piece of duct tape around. Do at night time. Repeat every night until it’s gone.

To keep your house plants healthy, dissolve two aspirin in a gallon of water (to a quart of water, one aspirin). the aspirin will dissolve in the water. Water your plants once a week. The cyclical acid in aspirin has been shown to help ward off pests and boost plants’ natural defenses against stubborn diseases and insects.

 

“Praise to a child is water to a thirsty plant.”

Publication: 

The Drummer and The Wright County Journal Press

PO Box 159
108 Central Ave.
Buffalo MN 55313

www.thedrummer.com

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