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 Cella's News

April 2011

http://cellascookbook.com

(Poem here in memory of Sarah Hannah Hanson)

The Other Side

This isn't death, it's glory!
It isn't dark, it's light.
It isn't stumbling, groping,
Or even faith, it's sight!

This isn't even praying,
It's speaking face to face.
It's listening, and it's glimpsing
The wonders of His Grace.

This is the end of pleading
For strength to bear my pain.
Not even pain's dark memory
Will ever live again.

How did I bear the earth life
Before I came up higher,
Before my soul was granted
It's every deep desire.

Before I knew this rapture
Of meeting face to face
That One who sought and saved me,
And kept me by his Grace!

(Martha Snell Nicholson)

Few Tips and a Few Good Recipes

I haven't put a dent in reading the huge stack of cookbooks one of my co-workers lent to me.  The Mafia Cookbook and the Robert E. Lee family cookbook were the first to catch my eye.  I read the first one through and tried a couple of good recipes from Joe Dogs.  He had to scream one day when he found a severed index finger in a pickle jar on his shelf - a reminder from his compare not to ever steal from him.  Thou Shalt Not Steal.  The women in Robert Lee's time made good use of cannon balls to crush their ingredients while publishers of Julia Child's earlier cookbook told her that she couldn't tell people to take a brick and wrap it in asbestos and put it in the oven.  So much for using what we have on hand.  I've been reading some survival magazines from Hoods Woods at survival.com.  They had a recipe in one for "Rat Soup."   I'm not planning on making that recipe any time soon.

My pressure canner and I haven't been seeing much of each other lately.  I did can a few jars of Sloppy Joes just to see if I could.  My brother Jerry stopped in for a visit one night when I was doing some canning.  I was trying to remove a rusted lid on an old canning jar so I could empty the contents and reuse the jar.  Even my big, burly brother couldn't get the jar ring off; then he remembered a trick - just boil some water, then turn it off and immerse the jar with the stuck lid in upside down.  Leave it sit for a couple of minutes, then use a towel to twist off the lid.  Worked great.

I froze some more applesauce, Cortlands this time.  Robert Church told me that he used to work in the apple orchards when he was a teenager.  He'd miss three months of school while the apples were being picked.  He said the restaurants liked to get the Cortlands because they didn't turn brown like the other apples when cut.

Easy Chicken and Biscuits
(Jack Gerber)

Note:  I made Jack's recipe and used drained canned mushrooms and diced pimentos instead of the carrots and peas.  When Jack makes his biscuits, he adds shredded Cheddar cheese.  Cella

In a saucepan, combine chicken, undiluted soup, and carrots and peas, cook until vegetables are cooked and mixture is hot.  Flavor with salt, pepper, and celery salt to taste  Serve over biscuits hot out of the oven.

Vanilla Custard
2 cups milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium-size saucepan over heat, scald milk (a film starts to cover top of milk (do not boil).  Whisk in cornstarch, sugar, and salt until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and add a little hot mixture to lightly beaten egg.  Quickly stir hot egg mixture into milk mixture.  Return to low heat and cook, stirring until thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  Top cake with warm custard and then toasted coconut.  Toast coconut in 350 oven until lightly brown, stirring often so coconut does not burn (5 minutes).

Stuffing Meatloaf

Note:  This recipe comes from a friend who doesn't like regular meatloaf, but loves this and makes it often.

1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 6-oz. box Stove Top Stuffing Mix
1/2 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce (more if desired)
ketchup, for top

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, Stove Top Stuffing Mix with seasoning, and ketchup or barbecue sauce .  Form into a loaf.  Pour ketchup on top and bake at 350 degrees until meat is cooked through (about 30 minutes).

Bronco Billy's Chili
(Helene Taylor from Ohio)

1 pound ground beef
28-oz. can of diced tomatoes (Red Gold Brand
28-oz. can crushed tomatoes (Red Gold Brand)
6-oz. can tomato paste
2 to 4 cups of water (depending how thick you want)
1 package Chili seasoning (any brand)
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 medium green pepper, diced
1 can black beans
1 can red kidney beans
Cheddar cheese for topping, if desired
Chopped onions for topping, if desired

Cook ground beef.  Drain fat.  Stir in diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, chili seasoning, chili powder, onions, green pepper, black beans, and kidney beans.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for at least one hour.  Sprinkle with sharp Cheddar cheese and/or onions.

Chorizo Meatballs
1 1/2 pounds hamburger
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, or sea salt
1 teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes, or more if desired
1 teaspoon oregano

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl.  Form into 1-inch balls and cook in a frying pan until no pink remains.  Eat plain or in spaghetti sauce.