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to my way of thinking, this is the best section, or page, of the entire
cookbook. it's basically a dumping ground for whatever wouldn't quite fit
anywhere else. that includes a couple of oddball things, but also some of the
oldest and best from the webster sources, and that's pretty old and pretty best.
buckwheat cakes
grandma lynne
i remember grandma lynne making these on summer mornings at the lake on
blustery days, and serving them on the round table just inside the back porch.
mom made them often on weekends during the winter months, back again in
davenport. something about the smell of the yeast rising conveys a warmth and
sense of security, even with the wind whistling outside the windows and the snow
falling.
the original recipe called for cake yeast, which i haven�t seen in a good,
long while, although i do clearly recall them sitting in the fridge on the back
porch, waiting to be called to do their thing in batters or dough.
scald the milk, add salt, and cool to lukewarm. stir in the water, yeast and
molasses, then add the buckwheat and white flours gradually, beating until
smooth. cover and let raise overnight in a warm place free from drafts.
leftover batter can be refrigerated and reconstituted prior to using, just
like a sourdough starter. the evening before, take the batter from the fridge
and stir in flour, water and an additional tablespoon or two of molasses to the
proper consistency, then allow to sit out in a warm place overnight.
croutons
stevie, circa 1952
this was one of my first cooking exercises, in the big kitchen at the
pleasant valley house. kudos to my mother for not only putting up with my
incursions into the kitchen, but actually encouraging them. that kitchen became
my laboratory, and my mother, my mentor. with that grounding i became, over the
years, securely confident in the kitchen, and able to whip up a good feed with
the best of them. better than most. do i feel good about that? you bet! thanks,
mom. i love you.
this seems a lot harder when you have to stand on tip-toes to see into the
frying pan. melt the butter in a heavy skillet, add the bread cubes and a little
salt, crank up the heat a little, and stir the cubes until they are brown. serve
sprinkled in soup or on a salad or just eat them. you can add other seasonings, depending on
personal seasoning preferences or just what you plan to do with them.
mrs. dieterlin's crank freezer ice cream
sold at the little store on dodges point
by
mrs. dieterlin, circa 1930's
i sometimes think that the story of the dieterlin family would be the
story of clear lake. they had a truck farm mostly "across the road" from dodges
point. their home on dodges point was a big old farm house and was, for many
years, pretty much the "nerve center" of things in those parts.
during the winter they would haul a huge sled out onto the ice with a team
of horses and cut blocks of ice from the lake. these would then be stored in an
ice house next to the house until summer, when they would be loaded a few dozen
at a time into a horse-drawn wagon and delivered to the "summer people" who
populated the south shore of the lake then. i remember mr. dieterlin coming up
the walk twice a week with half a block for the ice box on the back porch of
granite lodge. as a special treat, we kids sometimes were allowed to ride
along in the wagon with him for a distance.
then, one or two other days a week, he would be around with the same horse
team and (i hope) another wagon to pick up the trash and garbage. what
entrepreneurs!
mrs. dieterlin tended the little store, also next to their house, and stocked
it with ice cream and candy. no surprise that our childhood excursion route across dodges
point ran right next to that store! during the '30's they had a five gallon
crank freezer hooked up to a power-take-off on a tractor and made their own ice
cream for the store.
this is her original recipe.
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1 pint milk, scalded
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4 eggs, beaten
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2 cups sugar
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2 tbsp corn starch
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1/2 cup white karo syrup
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2 tbsp vanilla (yes, tablespoons)
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1 1/2 qts. heavy cream (yes, quarts)
make a custard by mixing the cornstarch and sugar and adding the eggs and
milk, then cooking in a heavy pan, stirring "the while." add the syrup, vanilla
and cream. turn into the freezer container and crank until thick.
farm house doughnuts
lynne w. woodward
these were a sunday evening staple for many years and i remember them
fondly. mom would prepare the dough and later she and dad would huddle over the
big pot they used to fry them it, and drop them one by one into the hot
shortening. dad would fetch them out, drain them on paper toweling, then shake
them with sugar in a brown paper bag, prior to doling them out to his waiting
and very eager audience.
cream shortening and sugar thoroughly. blend in eggs. sift dry ingredients
together and add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. blend in vanilla.
chill dough 1 hour.
turn chilled dough out onto lightly floured pastry canvas. fold over 2 to 3
times to smooth up. roll out gently a little dough at a time about 1/3" thick.
cut with doughnut cutter.
have hot fat about 4" deep in heavy kettle. fat should be about 390� (or
when a cube of bread dropped in turns brown in 40 sec.) to start and 370� to
380� while doughnuts are
frying.
drop circles of dough into hot fat. fry only as many at a time as can be
turned easily. as soon as a doughnut rises to the surface and begins to show a
little color, turn it over. turn again as soon as the underside looks brown.
lift from fat when completely brown - about 3 min. use a long-handled two-tined
fork and handle carefully so as not to poke holes in the doughnuts. drain over
kettle before placing on absorbent paper in a warm place.
shake doughnuts in a paper sack with powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar.
makes about 30. serves 2 or 3 haywards.
egg noodles
lynne webster woodward
grandma lynne�s egg noodle recipe probably pre-dates even the floyd county
farm. i suspect they, or at least the recipe, came west on one of the covered
wagons that brought the websters from new england to the iowa prairies, and has
been handed down now through so many generations the origins are fuzzy, to say
the least.
if you've never had freshly made noodles, which is to say real noodles, or
have forgotten what fresh noodles are like in real chicken soup, do a nice thing
for yourself and someone close and fix these. the noodles have a body, texture
and flavor completely unlike anything you can buy in a store. these are real
pioneer type farm food and "you can't hardly get them that way no more."
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3 egg yolks
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1 whole egg
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6 - 8 tbsp h2o (water)
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2 tsp nacl (salt)
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2 cups flour
beat the egg and yolks in a large mixing bowl, then add 6 tbsp. of the water
and the salt and stir it in. next add the flour and mix. add a bit more water as
needed, sprinkling it in from your fingers, until the dough is workable.
divide this dough into three parts and roll out thinly on a floured canvas
with a stocking covered rolling pin. spread flour over rolled out dough, roll it
up, and slice it off. straighten out the little rolls on a floured surface and
let dry awhile. cook about 18 minutes in soup.
old fashion' fritter batter
lynne adele webster
these old fashioned fritters are another �soul food� of the prairies.
they�re good just as is, or try dipping cut up chunks of apples or whatever else
catches your fancy in the batter and frying it up.
sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. combine egg, milk and
shortening. add to dry ingredients and mix until batter is smooth and satiny.
fold yellow whole kernel corn into batter and drop by spoonfuls (soup size) into
deep hot fat at 375� f. when browned slightly, remove from hot fat and sprinkle
with powdered sugar or serve with maple syrup. "apples are good, too, cut up
bite size."
party mints
ruth sears
most of you remember ruth. she was mom's twice-a-week, need-it-or-not
cleaning lady and friend for years at clear lake. a truly nice person and a good
friend to all of us. this was her recipe for mints that we all liked.
mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until stiff, adding
flavoring such as mint, lemon or almond. roll into balls or press into forms and
roll in granulated sugar. chill.
popcorn turkey stuffing
a holiday tradition shared with us by
dr. phillip arthur woodward
it had to be a urologist that figured this one out. i can just see a dozen
or so woodwards gathered 'round, waiting for the signal, when, with a mighty
eruption, the overburdened bird spews forth a great arch of expanding corn. what
a dinner call!
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1 cup bread crumbs
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4 onions, chopped
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1 cup popcorn, un-popped
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1 cup h2o
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1 tsp sage
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1 tsp salt
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1 tsp pepper
"stuff turkey," says our contributor.
"bake at 350�. will be done when the popcorn blows the ass out of the turkey!!!"
popcorn milkshake
a suave and debonair creation of
mr. john v. hayward
here it is, sunday evening, and we're all nibbling popcorn and watching
what's my line, or something, and there dad is, with his popcorn stuffed
into a glass of milk, nonchalantly sucking it up. but, again, maybe i shouldn�t
make fun of it without having really tried it. it might be really good. just
looked sort of strange.
pop corn over fire on range or in air popper, or whatever. add plenty of
salt and butter, enough to create a noticeable oil slick in the milk and make it
salty. fill a tall glass two-thirds full of cold milk, than add popcorn to top.
suck the popcorn out. when you can no longer reach the kernels with your tongue,
use an iced tea spoon. replenish milk and popcorn as necessary.
seafood sauce
traditional
i've been using this for so long i've forgotten where it came from, although
i think maybe greg used to make this. i use it always with boiled shrimp or
breaded and fried oysters. makes a good basic seafood cocktail sauce.
just mix the ingredients together and chill for a while in the fridge to
develop the flavor. serve as a dip for whatever seafood you're having.
mayo - dill sauce
northwest traditional
this makes a hearty dip type sauce for seafood or veggies. or spread it over
a salmon or halibut filet prior to baking. especially good spread on leftover
cold poached salmon.
mix the ingredients together and chill for a while in the fridge to develop
the flavor.
suzie's waffle topper
suzanne lynne hayward
this recipe started out as leftover pie filling when sue and willie and
libby and bob got together for christmas dinner, 1990. sue brought the stuff
along for a pie for dessert (see her strawberry � kiwi fruit pie in the
dessert section) and there was a whole bunch of filling left over. sue set about
figuring out what to do with it and came up with this waffle topping. it's
about as good on fresh, hot buttered waffles
as it is in a pie, which is pretty darn good!
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1 - 16 oz pkg. frozen strawberries, thawed
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6 - 7 kiwi fruits,
peeled & cut into bite-sized pieces
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1/2 cup sugar
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1/3 cup flour
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1 tbsp margarine
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1/2 tsp cinnamon
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1/4 tsp ground cloves
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1/4 tsp nutmeg
combine ingredients in a medium-sized sauce pan and mix well. cook over
medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and is bubbly. cool
10 minutes and spoon over waffles. or it can be frozen in freezer jars and
heated in the microwave just prior to serving.
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