Cookbook Countdown #72 -- Haystacks

Cookbook #72!

In my own personal Cookbook Countdown

If for any reason at all, you want to take a look at all the cookbooks I've 'counted down' so far, 

just click on this link.

I have WAY too many cookbooks.  Any normal person would have a different collection that doesn't take up so much room!

But that's beside the point.

This week's cook book  is an old Mennonite one I've had for quite some time.

I went thru an Amish and Mennonite cook book phase in my cookbook collecting, because, let's face it:  it's good, simple, normal food.  Stuff like my grandma would make.

You can't go wrong.

Mennonite Country-Style Recipes & Kitchen Secrets 

by Esther H. Shank

(it's laying on top of my fav-Friday Friend Cookbook)

Funniest quote from this recipe/cookbook night?

My son  was here the night I made "Haystacks" from this book.  Truth? It was a strange little combination of ingredients.  Honestly I was in a rush to get  thru another cookbook and really just opened the book and thought, Hey, I have that stuff, I'm making this!  Check one more cookbook off the list!

So, in a confused manner, he says, ,  " you just open the book and make random stuff?"

I said, "yep, pretty much."

This was actually pretty good.

Rice, hamburger and toppings layered as a 'haystack', with a little cheese sauce on top.

(we make a holiday cookie called Haystacks too, so this dish is discombobulating to me somewhat.  I just wondered if I could write discombobulating without spell check, and I DID IT!)

(Little things like that make me happy)

Haystacks

Mennonite Cooking

2 tbsp margarine

1 1/4 cup rice

Fry dry rice in margarine in pan until lightly browned.

3 cups hot water

1 tsp salt

Add to rice and heat to boiling.  Cover tightly and simmer for 20 minutes.

********************************

1 lb hamburger

1 small chopped onion

2 tbsp chopped green pepper

Saute in skillet until browned. Drain.

************************

1 pkg taco seasoning mix

Add.  May add a little water to make mixture slightly juicy. Spoon over rice to serve.

*********************

Toppings:

 chopped lettuce

chopped mushrooms

slices tomatoes

bean sprouts

chopped green peppers

crushed corn chips

Use any or all toppings as desired

*****************

1 10oz can cheddar cheese soup, or 2 cups of your own cheese sauce.

Heat until hot through and spoon over top.

I didn't have bean sprouts or corn chips.

And I added shredded cheese and green onions to the toppings.

It you took away the rice and added a fried corn tortilla,

took away the cheese soup and added hot sauce,

You'd have a tostada! 

To be honest (it's the best policy, right?)

I prefer a tostada.

The rice was fine, but it was--white rice and while I like white rice, it seemed to blah for this.

In my humble opinion that is.

The Handyman's opinion:  That was good!!

My son's opinion:  I'm just gonna grab a tortilla.

And that's our story.

Cookbook Number 72 -- checked.  off.  the.   list!

I am linking up with these great bloggers -- 

Cook it Up

at

Love, Laughter (and a touch of) Insanity

Weekend Cooking

at

Beth Fish Reads

Cook-Your-Books

at

Kitchen Flavours

See Ya in the Gumbo

at

Ms. enPlace

Okay, one last look at my mid-western, Mennonite style 

Haystack/tostada! 

Mini Meat Loaves and Cookbook Countdown #71!

Cook Book #71!

in my own personal cookbook countdown

If for any reason you want to take a look at all the cookbooks I've 'counted down' so far, 

just click on this link.

I guess what you can say about me is that I am slow but steady.

It wins the race, right?

But the finish line gets further and further away, as I keep adding new cookbooks to my collection.

I was very excited to get this one in the mail,  "Come for Dinner, Memorable Meals to Share with  Family and Friends".

I love to cook for family and friends.  I love to have people over.  I love to entertain.

I would much rather have the setting of a home kitchen and living room than out in a restaurant -- most of the time.

I love this cookbook. It has tons of menu ideas for entertaining small groups.

It gave me tons of ideas for dinner at home with people I love (and like).

Nothing has to be fancy, just simple, like meatloaves.

Meatloaf is one of those things that you either love (I do) or you don't really like.

I have a go-to meatloaf recipe that I ALWAYS use (check it out here, but the blog post was 7 years ago. I was blogger young and dumb.  It's like watching old movies of yourself--no one really likes it.  I mean, I would have done a different post than that if I did it today.) and I am proud of that meatloaf, because it lives on in the daughter of a friend, who had it 25 years ago and will make it and write to me saying "I made your meatloaf last night"

I tore the recipe out of a Cook's Illustrated magazine about  25 years ago.

There you have it. My secret.

I got off track...

....oh yes,  even tho we have a favorite meat loat

(we do argue about the sides tho.  My mom made a baked potato and Waldorf salad, The Handyman's mom made mashed potatoes/gravy and a vegetable)

and even tho I do love this cookbook, the mini-meatloaves looked EASY, and I was in a hurry to do some cooking from my cook books for the countdown.

Guess what?

Truly, honestly, seriously...

THESE ARE THE BEST LITTLE MEAT LOAVES I've ever had!!

They were so moist and so flavorful  (chopped up bacon inside).

They are good for company, family, cold winter nights, whenever.

Great meatloaf!

I say you should give it a try.

And you can choose your own sides.

Mini Meat Loaves

1 1/2 pound ground beef chuck

2 1/2 T butter

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

2 slices of white bread, crusts removed

1/3 to 1/2 cup milk

1 egg

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup plus 2 T ketchup

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp dried thyme

3 thin strips of bacon halved lengthwise and cut crosswise in 1/4 inch wide pieces

1/2 cup chopped parsley

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 T soy sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 425F with a rack in the center.  set a medium heavy skillet over low heat with the butter.  When the butter has melted, cook the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until the onion is  light brown and slightly translucent, 3-5 minutes.

Let cool to room temp.

2. Meanwhile, tear the bread into small pieces into a small bowl. Mix in enough milk to thoroughly soak it and set aside to soften.

3. Break the egg into a large mixing bowl and whisk it lightly.  Whisk in the mustard, 3 T of the ketchup, the Worcestershire and the thyme.  A handful at a time, squeeze out the softened bread and add it to the bowl, tearing it into smaller pieces as you do so.  Amalgamate it with a whisk and stir in the bacon, separating the pieces if necessary.

4. Break the meat into small pieces as you add it to the bowl. Add the browned onion mixture, the chopped parsley and a generous amount of salt and pepper.  combine lightly but thoroughly -- hands do the best job -- and form a teaspoonful into a patty.  Set a small skillet over low heat with a few drops of oil and cook the patty.  Taste it and add more salt and pepper if it needs it.

5.  Divide the mixture into 4 parts ( about  9.5 oz in weight) and pat them into slightly  flattened loaves about  4 1/2 inches long and 1 inch high.  set them in a roasting pan or other oven-proofed pan, separated by 1 inch of space.  In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ketchup and soy sauce.  Spoon the mixture equally over the loaves and spread it to coat the tops.

6. Bake the meat loaves until just cooked thru, 20- 25 minutes. Transfer them to a warm platter or plates, garnish with parsley if you'd like, and serve hot.

 This is a review off of Goodreads for the Cookbook:

Make every meal a feast and every moment with loved ones an occasion with Come for Dinner 
"Before chefs became philosophers, trendsetters, and TV stars, there was Leslie Revsin, a cook whose instinct for flavor is matched only by her sense of nurture. She has never stopped cooking from the heart, and I have never stopped wishing I could cook just like she does every night of the week. Now that she's written a book, I can." 
-Molly O'Neill, host of the PBS series Great Food and author of the New York Cookbook 

I am going to link this post to

Cook-Your-Books

at

Kitchen Flavours

Cook it Up

at

Love, Laughter (and a touch of) Insanity

Weekend Cooking

at

Beth Fish Reads

See Ya in the Gumbo

at

Ms. enPlace

Friday Friend Recipe #27 -- Spaghetti Sauce #2

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

Friday Friend cookbook:   I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends.  At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 15 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions,  exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts,  had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND,  we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

Which brings me to this... recipe #27

Robbie Milton's

"Little" sauce

the 2nd in the FF spaghetti sauces

The only thing harder than taking a photograph of salad is taking one of spaghetti.  Well, actually, many spaghetti dinners--and making  them look different.

You will just have to bear (or is it bare?) with me, because I asked all of them, my 50 Friday Friends, how they made spaghetti and 24 of them answered me...so I have 24 spaghetti dinners to post for you.

This is number 2.

You can't really go wrong with any pasta, so I will just forgo the description of how good this tasted.  

For the record--it did.

I am probably the only person in the world who still makes red sauce from scratch and not out of a jar.

The jar tasted fine tho, AND it's about the memories I have when I make a friend's recipe from this book.

Little Sauce

(That's what Barb, the publisher named it---she was trying to name 24 red sauces. LOL)

by Robbin Milton via the FF Cookbook.

Brown and season hamburger

Add one jar of Ragu

Add some basil, garlic, and other seasonings.

Simmer and serve over pasta

There you have it. 

That's it.

see Robbie here:  (all of her recipes I mean)

Robbie is on the right in the photo below.

(my friend Jean on the left)

Robbie and her husband John are our Friday Night Friends.  The ones we have dinner with every Friday night, IF neither of us is doing anything else.

We've been doing it for years and years.

17 to be exact.

It is so comfortable and normal I can wear my slippers over there if I want to.

And sometimes I do.

Robbie will probably not like this picture below, as I caught her in the middle of eating a cracker.

BUT---if you notice she is looking at THE FRIDAY FRIEND COOKBOOK!

It was, of course,  Friday Night and we have wine and food, our husbands are playing cribbage.

I love our Friday Nights!

I am going to link up with 

See Ya in the Gumbo

I know it's not an original recipe or even something out of the ordinary, but

Michelle says:

When someone says "I'm making a gumbo," it means family and friends are invited.

And this cookbook, which my family and friends contributed to, is fun for me!

and 

Weekend Cooking.

Because.... this is  a food related post with random thoughts.

FF Appendix #3 -- Portuguese Soup

Sunday Soup

I think this is my favorite soup ever! 

Today anyway.

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook--

one recipe at a time.

But then I pull out an old notebook and remember years ago, when I made the Friday Friend Soup cookbook.

It's a whole different thing. (sigh)

I'm such a dork--I used the word 'blustery'.

Like I said, this was years ago about  30 years ago, the kids were little and they loved Winnie the Pooh and Pooh used the word 'blustery'.

Besides, I never thought I'd be this brave and put myself out there like this. At the time who knew about blogs, social networking, etc?

I could be as weird as I wanted, and no one would know.

I typed this up (many years ago) and sent it to the Friday Friends.

I am adding this as an appendix to the "official Friday Friend  Cookbook"

(much to the chagrin of the publisher/typer upper Barbara Brown)

(she's afraid I'm going to make her type up a whole new cookbook.  Volume #2! )

Cover page of the very old Soup Notebook:

I do love soup, as some of you may know.

Soup is the ultimate comfort food.

I love it.

I love it so much that I sometimes give it a party!

Click here to see SOUP'S PARTY.

I've had to bring the Handyman along slowly into the soup love affair.

Soup and I had to seduce him.

He has come a long way baby.

See here---what I wrote?

Rich Stone  aka The Handyman,  likes this soup.

I had not made it in YEARS.  Probably not since the last time I used blustery in a sentence. 

I challenge you to use blustery in conversation today!

So, he likes this soup.  I made it and

I loved it so much.

To be honest---I didn't remember ever making it. But I must have at least once.  I won't wait so long to do so again.

It was warm and filled with such good things, beans and corn and peas and kielbasa!

You should try it.

Portuguese Soup

by me

5-6 carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick  (I used 4 carrots, but they were big)

1 16oz can peas  (I used a bag of frozen peas)

1 16oz corn

1 16oz can kidney beans

1 1/2 pounds kielbasa, sliced 1/2 inch thick

1 16oz can tomato sauce

1 16oz can Mexican stewed tomatoes

1/4 to 1/2 each:  (HA I didn't put tsp or tbls--- just add to your taste)

garlic powder

basil

cumin

sage

chili powder

salt and  pepper

Put everything in a crockpot and cook on low for  4-5 hours.

Or all day.

I am linking up with 

Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish  Reads.

I love Weekend Cooking.  I love reading Beth Fish's cook book reviews, opinions and I really love when she just talks about her own cookbook and kitchen notebook collection.

Souper Suppers  at Kahakai Kitchen

I don't need to explain why I love Souper Sundays, do I? 

I mean--I threw soup a party.

Enough said.

Pluse Kahakai Kitchen keeps up with  her food blogging challenges, commitments and goals.

I am so envious.

and

See Ya in the Gumbo at Ms. enPlace

I have come to love Louisiana by reading this blog,  and I feel as if I am part of the 'regional' party by participating in  

See Ya In the Gumbo!

(sigh)

Friday Friend Recipe #24 -- Chocolate Chip Cookies (the ONE) Ch chip cookie #13

This always has to be my disclaimer  (or explanation of what a Friday Friend is and what this is all about)

Friday Friend cookbook:   I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends.  At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 15 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions,  exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts,  had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND,  we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

Which brings me to this... recipe #24:

My mom's Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I have loved these cookies my whole life. 

I thought they were buttery  (I was wrong)

and crunchy yet chewy  (I was right)

and tasty and good  (I was right)

They are what I was looking for.

My search is over.

(but I'll keep on making CCC's ---just for fun!)

BUT I do have to say---I'm embarrassed!

This is what I said I wanted:

BUTTERY, crispy and chewy, just like my mom's used to be.

Well...there is no butter in my mom's recipe. 

YIKES.

My mom always had these in a big glass jar...and I don't mean a cookie jar, but rather a huge gallon glass jar with a screw on lid.  The kind that restaurants used to buy mayonnaise in or something.  Now everything is plastic.

After school, we always grabbed a handful.

When the Handyman and I were at our cabin by the lake, I made these...and we too, grabbed handfuls each time we walked by.  

My mom still has a big glass gallon jar there at the cabin!

Here is the original cookbook she used--which is now mine, so I can also cross this one off for my very own Cookbook Countdown ---and  she also submitted it to the Friday Friend Cookbook project.

2 birds with one Stone!  Yay

As you can see:  Very well used, very much loved.

Mom's Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

by my mom, Bev Hambelton

1 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

3/4  cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

1 tsp hot water

1 1/2 cups flour

2 cups quick oatmeal

1 cup chopped nuts (optional--and I didn't use)

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Cream  shortening, sugars and eggs. Dissolve soda in water. Add to sugar mixture. Add flour and salt; mix well.  Add oats, chips and nuts (if used),and vanilla.  Mix well.  

Bake at  350F for 10-15 minutes.

I decided I wanted to learn to make a pie crust when I was around 13 or 14.

I decided I wanted to learn to make a pie crust on a Saturday night at about 6pm--just when my parents were headed out to a fancy dinner.

My mom was getting ready and she was all dressed up in a fancy dress and her hair done up, perfume, etc.

I could not get my pie crust to roll and just as they were leaving the house I thru a fit and wanted her to stay and teach me her pie crust--JUST LIKE A GOOD MOM SHOULD!!

You know what?  She didn't stay.  

But she did teach me the next day, how to do a pie crust.

Besides the beans on the ceiling 

this is another cooking memory I have of my mom. (I mean, I was seriously crying over pie crust and wanting her to give up her evening out!  

Ahhhhh,  the emotions of a 13 year old girl  ~grins~)

Here is a photo taken of my mom about 5 years ago.

Today I am joining lots of friends with their weekly memes.

I so admire these bloggers.

They stay focused and are prompt and dependable.

Every----Single----Week.

(or month, as the case may be)

First,  Joyce at Kitchen Flavours, hosts

Cook-Your-Books each month.

Cook-Your-Books is all about cooking or baking from your many cookbooks or magazines that you have collected over the years.

I have many.

And I always like to link up to 

Weekend Cooking

at Beth Fish Reads.

Love her book reviews, her cookbook collection and her blog!!

I'm a big fan.

And again.....

Ms. enPlace at 

See Ya in the Gumbo!

She makes me LOVE Louisiana.

Then of course--my very own 

COOKBOOK COUNTDOWN!

and these cookies make it number 66!

24 in the Friday Friend Cookbook

13 in the Chocolate chip countdown.

To check out all the Friday Friend Recipes just click here.

And all my mom recipes, click here.

ONE DAY I'LL FINISH EVERYTHING!!