Cookingwithellie

Christmas is almost here!

Where-oh-where have all my Shortbread Cookies gone?

Here I stand in front of my shelves enjoying the neat rows of tins and plastic boxes containing the fruits of my labor.

Pinwheel Cookies, chocolate and vanilla flavors arranged in concentric rings; Aunt Helens Ginger Snaps, these take up two tins because I always make a double batch, they are my favorites. Next to that are the Butterscotch Dandies, perfect this year because last year I finally remembered to alter the recipe and cut the baking time to 12 minutes instead of the 15 minutes Grandma baked them. (I suspect mine are smaller)

Then there is the new Peanut Butter Chocolate Square Lorie tried, that is so good we have added it to our line up of Christmas goodies. Of course the Peanut Butter Spritz Cookies in the shape of Brown Eyed Susans a single chocolate chip centered on each one to represent the ‘eye’. Next we have Chocolate Chip Cookies with red and green cherries added for a festive look .

Oh, and Snowballs chocolate and white redolent with hazelnuts rolled in icing sugar. Vickie’s Caramel Streusel Bar so rich and delicious it calls to me right through the tin. All these festive goodies neatly lined up like toy soldiers, but wait, something’s missing! Where are the shortbreads?

Think, think, think. Has a horde of hungry elves discovered this treasure trove of gastronomic delights? Have crazed cookie cruncher crashed my cupboards? Am I an unwilling host of goody gobblers extraordinaire? Naaa…it can’t be, for only the Shortbread Cookies are missing and if it were any of the above surely most or all of the other cookies would have disappeared as well, not just my shortbreads.

Ah, now I remember! That delightful young woman was collecting cookies to sell at the 4H table at the local market and I gave her all my shortbread cookies.

Now that the mystery is solved I will make more using the recipe kindly given to me when I lived in Nova Scotia Canada. It is delicious right from the oven though like all short bread it improves with age. Today I offer for your enjoyment these quick and easy and oh so good cookies.

Last Minute Shortbread Cookies

1 pound butter

1 cup icing sugar

4 cups flour

1 cup corn starch

½ tsp. salt

Sift dry ingredients together

Cream butter until it is almost oil.

Add sifted dry ingredients ¼ at a time.

Knead for a few minutes.

Make rolls as for refrigerator cookies, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until ready to bake. Or shape into small balls, flatten between your palms, put a bit of baking gum in the center. (Not being a gum drop fan I use red and green cherries quartered)

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 11 minutes.

If you have made rolls slice ¼ inch thick, top with slices of baking gums and bake.

You can also shape the dough into small log shapes and dip each end in melted chocolate then in finely chopped nuts.

These cookies do not rise or spread very much so you can place them quite close together on the pans.

I wish you and your families A Very Merry Christmas and a wonderful, healthy, prosperous and happy New Year.

Ellie and Family

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I Hate Oatmeal Porridge!!!*

In a recent column while mentioning the health benefits of oats, I mentioned the fact that I hated oatmeal porridge. Expressing my dislike turned out to have both good and bad repercussions. Good because it sparked my readers to send a ton of suggestions to improve oat cereal and bad because I have had

to try all of the improvements suggested.

Okay, I do like some of them; in fact I almost enjoyed most of them. Just joking, I have learned to eat oat cereal, and with these wonderful suggestions I have even learned to enjoy it. (Why didn’t someone tell my mother? It might have changed my whole experience. I could have used my time in church praying for something besides the failure of that darn oat crop.) Here are the few that I have tried and at the end of this column, to make amends to those of you who wrote to agree that oatmeal had also been the bane of their childhood existence, Square Doughnuts with nary a trace of oats!

Note: Recipes based on ¾ cup quick cooking or instant oatmeal and

1½ cups water

Oat Cereal Improvements

1. Apricot Oatmeal

To cooked oats add about eight canned apricot halves. Fold in gently. Serve immediately with milk or cream and sugar if you like.

2. Marshmallow Oatmeal

Add to cooked oats 16 marshmallows cut in 4 or 64 miniatures. Serve with milk or cream.

3. Date Oatmeal

Just before serving add ½ cup chopped dates and 3 tablespoons brown sugar. Serve hot with milk or cream.

4. Cocoanut Oatmeal

Add to cooked oats ½ cup flaked cocoanut. Serve with milk and sugar.

(Editors note: Not being a oatmeal appreciator…except in some cookies, even I am tempted by this version. Although I might even go one step further and lightly toast the cocoanut before adding it to the cooked oats.)

5. Raisin Oatmeal

Add ½ cup raisins to 1½ cups salted water. Bring to a boil. Add ¾ cup oats and boil 2 minutes. Serve with cream.

6. Chocolate Fleck Oatmeal

To cooked oats add ¾ cup chocolate chips. Fold in gently and serve with milk or cream.

7. Pineapple Oatmeal (my personal favorite)

Substitute ½ of the amount of water with pineapple canned juice and cook according to recipe.

Square Doughnuts

¾ cup milk

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

¼ cup butter or shortening

¼ cup lukewarm water (110 to 115 degrees)

1 pkg. active dry yeast (or 1 dessert spoon)

1 egg beaten

3¼ to 3½ cups unsifted all purpose flour

½ tsp. nutmeg or cinnamon

Scald milk; stir in salt, sugar and butter. Cool to lukewarm.

Measure lukewarm water into a large warm bowl. (Warm bowl by rinsing with hot water. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir until yeast dissolves.

Add lukewarm milk mixture, egg and half the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.

For lightness add only enough flour to make dough you can handle.

Turn dough on a lightly floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes.

If the dough sticks to your hands grease them lightly with oil or shortening.

What do I mean by smooth and elastic?

Rub your thumb lightly over the dough ball separating just the thin upper layer, when bubbles appear in the layer beneath, it is smooth and elastic.)

Place dough in a greased bowl; turn it over once to grease the top.

Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about an hour).

Punch dough down and let rest about 10 min.

On a lightly floured board, roll dough to form a rectangle 12” x 10” and about ½” thick. With a sharp knife cut in 2 ½” squares. Cut holes in centers with a 1” biscuit cutter or bottle top.

Place doughnuts about 2” apart on greased baking sheets or waxed paper. Cover with a cloth and let rise again until doubled. (About an hour.)

About 15 minutes before the end of rising time heat oil in deep fryer or electric frying pan to 375 to 395 degrees. (Use of a deep fat thermometer is advisable since the readings on pans and deep fryers vary widely.)

Handling doughnuts as gently as possible so they will not fall, fry a few at a time in deep fat 2 or 3 minutes or until brown on both sides, turning them only once.

Dip while still warm in a glaze or granulated sugar. Makes about twenty doughnuts.

Tip: You can fry the cut out centers too to make your own *doughnut holes*!

Spicy Glaze:

Blend 2 cups icing/confectioners sugar with ½ tsp. cinnamon and ¼ tsp nutmeg. Add 1/3 cup milk and continue blending until thoroughly mixed and glaze consistancy. Dip warm doughnuts and drain them on a wire rack. Reuse the glaze that drips off.

To make raisin doughnuts double the amount of yeast and stir in one cup of chopped raisins. The rising time on these will need to be increased, again though, cover and let rise until double in size for both risings. If you’re a raisin lover, the added rising time will definitely sharpen your appetite for thiese tasty tidbits.

Do ahead: You can fry the doughnuts, package and freeze them, but if you do, sugar or glaze them just before serving. Like all fried foods the storage time in the freezer is relatively short in comparison to other baked goods. Maximum storage time is 2 months.

On serving day place a single layer on a large baking tray and warm in a slow oven, 300 degrees, for about 20 minutes or until hot. Glaze or sugar and serve.

Ellie

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How about that Oatmeal?!?!

New information about Oatmeal

(Imagine that!!!)

Recently oatmeal has been touted as

the new wonder tool in the reduction

of cholesterol. Porridge is a fine way to add oats to your diet, but porridge is not everyone’s favorite food. It certainly isn’t mine, as a matter of fact when I think of my early years porridge often appeared in my nightmares. Big bowls of hot cereal chased me through dark forests full of oatmeal trees. (My knowledge of grains was a little sparse back then.) You could say porridge was my nemesis. My mother made a good hot breakfast for us each morning and invariably it was oatmeal porridge. Sometimes when the month outlasted the money we had oatmeal as an entrée for dinner, fried for a change. Is it any wonder that none of my siblings has a problem with cholesterol?

I really hated oatmeal porridge, but I was blessed with a brother named Bobby who loved the stuff and could gobble it at the speed of light. That was a very good thing because my eagle eyed mother missed very little that went on at her table. Every once in a while I was able to evade her keen eye and exchange my full bowl for sweet Bobby’s empty bowl; if I couldn’t manage that clever maneuver, the bowl was waiting for me when I arrived home for lunch and if I didn’t eat it then it was presented to me for dinner. Fortunately mom worked at night and Bobby enjoyed his porridge cold and aged as well as fresh and hot.

Every morning I attended mass at St. Josephs Parish Church, sat in the second row, (the first was reserved for the nuns) and fervently prayed that the oat crop throughout the world would perish or, failing that, would be sent to China to feed the starving children. In this way the major problems that plagued my young life would be solved. The children would be fed, I could keep the pennies I gave to feed Chinese children and I would never have to eat that noxious mess again. To my infant mind that was the ultimate solution. Fortunately the Almighty gave my pleas the attention they deserved.

Since then I have learned to incorporate, (read hide) oats into my diet in ways that even my infant self would not find objectionable. Meat loaf or hamburg patties are a perfect example. Cake mixes can be turned from ordinary to rich and moist by adding ¼ cup of cold cooked oatmeal during the final beating. Of course there is my favorite, date square/matrimony cake and Queen Elizabeth Cake that started life as Bake ‘N’ Take Cake is a cake that few can resist. Oatmeal cookies with or without dried fruit or chocolate chips are a perennial favorite, and an Apple Quick Brown Betty topped with an oatmeal mixture instead of breadcrumbs is a winning end to any meal.

Bake ‘N’ Take Cake or Queen Elizabeth Cake

(depending on who you want to impress)

Cake:

1 ¼ cup boiling water

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

½ tsp salt

1 1/3 cup cake flour

1 cup uncooked oatmeal

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp soda

1 tsp vanilla

Pour water over rolled oats and let cool. Cream sugars and shortening together; add eggs, one at a time and beat well. Add vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together and add alternately with oatmeal mixture to sugar mixture; blend well and then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Bake in a 9 x13 x 1 ½ inch pan at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes. Cover with topping:

Topping:

½ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks

1 cup coconut

½ cup walnuts chopped fine

1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar, then add beaten egg yolks and other ingredients, Blend well. Spread on top of hot cake and place in oven under broiler until it bubbles.

Pull up a chair and watch it carefully. There is one second between perfect and burnt.

Lunch Box Cookies

(A big batch, about 7 dozen)

½ cup butter

½ cup shortening

1 ½ cups brown sugar

1 ½ tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tblsp molasses

4 tblsp hot water

3 cups all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp nutmeg

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup raisons or chopped dates

¾ cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips

Cream butter and shortening, add brown sugar and salt. Beat well. Add unbeaten eggs. Beat well. Add vanilla, molasses and hot water, blending well. Sift dry ingredients, add to the first mixture. Mix. Add rolled oats, raisons and nuts. Mix well.

Drop by teaspoons onto greased baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake in moderate oven, 350 deg. F. about 10 minutes. Remove from sheet, cool on rack.

Hamburger Meat Loaf

1 ½ pound ground beef

1 cup quick cooking rolled oats

2 eggs

1 cup milk

¼ to ½ cup onion

2 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp prepared mustard

1 tblsp Worchester sauce

1 tblsp H P Sauce

Puree onion, eggs milk salt, pepper, mustard, and sauces in blender or food processor. Mix oatmeal and ground beef make. Mix in the pureed ingredients. Let stand in the refrigerator for a few hours to meld. Form into mound or loaf shape. Bake for 1 hour in a 375 degree F. oven for 1 hour. 20 minutes before loaf is done score the top lightly and run a line of catsup or chili sauce in each score line. Looks nice and tastes very good. If you are a green pepper aficionado, ¼ cup chopped green peppers and a few hot pepper flakes make an interesting flavor change.

Burgers: Reduce milk to ½ cup. Shape combined ingredients into 12 flat patties. Fry slowly in hot fat or cook on a grill. Serve on hamburger buns.

Happy cooking.

As always, if you have any questions or comments you can email me at cookingwithellie@yahoo.com . I will try to answer all of your questions in a timely manner and who knows, your question or comment may just spark a column.

Ellie

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Pumpkinfest 2007

Yep, its that time again!

Port Elgin, Ontario’s Pumpkinfest is coming! Mark the first weekend in October, the 6th and 7th to be exact, on your calendar and plan to attend. If you’ve never been to Pumpkinfest, you won’t want to miss it, if you have attended this festivity in the past, you’ll appreciate this reminder.

Prepare to be amazed by the grand affair this small town produces with something for everyone. From the giant pumpkins and vegetables that were the inspiration for the fest, to an incredible antique car show. There is also a street fair, an arts and crafts show, even elephant rides and a baking contest. Add to this meld a motorcycle show which is sponsored by the Grey-Bruce Motorcycle Touring Club (www.bmts.com/~offshoreadventures/gbmtc) that, along with the antique cars, transport some of us back a few years to the days our youth when, as we may well remember, our dreams were of owning wheels of our own. Whether two wheels or four wheels, our dreams were the same, to ride those wheels as far and as often as possible.

Along with gigantic vegetables and awesome and/or antique wheeled conveyances, Port Elgin Pumpkinfest has more than 45 events and attractions to give the whole family lasting memories. You can build a scarecrow, play in the Kiddie Karnival, visit the Artist Village and Craft Show , enter the Port Elgin Veterinary Clinic pet show or the Reid’s Heritage Homes Baking Contest, challenge your family at the Military Obstacle Course, show off your singing talent at the Bruce Telecom Harvest Star Search and much more!

With more than 1000 volunteers and 60 non profit groups involved, Port Elgin Pumpkinfest continues to be recognized as one of Ontario’s top events. For more information go to www.pumpkinfest.org.

I almost forgot to mention that my brother Tom is there with his toys and scale model cars and trucks. He occupies a tent just across from Tim Horton’s. Look him up and tell him Ellie sent you. Then demand a discount on your purchases, just kidding about the discount, although it never hurts to ask.

My recipe for you today was inspired by two things, first is Vickie’s love of all things pumpkin flavored. Second is the huge pumpkins seen at Port Elgin.

Presto Pumpkin Pleasure

(This fudge takes 10 minutes from start to tasting, could it get any better?)

2 cups white sugar

1/3

cup cream

1/3

cup canned pumpkin

cup butter or margarine

cup flour mixed with spices

teaspoon cloves

teaspoon cinnamon

teaspoon ginger

teaspoon vanilla

cup walnuts optional

Butter an 8X8 inch pan or any size you have handy. (I use a foil pie plate which can be reused or discarded. Vickie lines her pan with foil, butters it very well, she then lifts the fudge out of the pan and peels the foil off before cutting. She doesn’t have a pan to wash either.)

Mix sugar, pumpkin, cream and butter together in a large sauce pan. Bring to a rapid boil. Turn the heat down to maintain a steady boil. Stir constantly to prevent scorching. Boil for 5 minutes. Set the timer and do not shorten the boiling time.

Remove from the heat and add the flour/spice mix and vanilla. Stir well and quickly, add nuts if desired. Pour into buttered pan and cut into squares. It will set in moments so you can taste it right away, my kind of fudge.

NOTE: For a lighter spice flavor use just one spice, I would suggest cinnamon. 1 teaspoon is my choice, but do try different quantities of various spices or if you prefer substitute pumpkin pie spice, again use 1 teaspoon or less. On occasion I use whole wheat flour and omit the spice. (In this way I can kid myself into believing that fudge is healthy for me.)

Frozen Pumpkin Pie (a delicious make ahead dessert)

Crumb Crust:

9” pie plate

Mix

1 ½

cups graham cracker crumbs.

tblsp. sugar

1/3

cup melted butter or margarine

Press mixture firmly and evenly in a 9” pie pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Cool before filling.

Pumpkin Filling:

pint pecan ice cream, softened

cup canned or cooked mashed pumpkin

cup sugar

tsp. salt

tsp. ground cinnamon

tsp. ground ginger

tsp. ground nutmeg

tsp. Vanilla

1 ½ cup miniature marshmallows

cup heavy cream whipped or whipped topping

Spoon ice cream into cooled pie shell, spread in an even layer.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices and vanilla. Fold in marshmallows and whipped cream.

Pour into crumb crust on top of ice cream. Cover with foil and freeze for several hours.

Let thaw at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Memories of Mother

My mother, Ella Wood, was a fabulous cook and an inveterate collector of recipes. She had a keen appreciation of good food. She was lavish with her praise when the food was excellent and equally as quick to criticize an experienced cook that served a bland or tasteless dish. Mom was always eager to help an inexperienced cook, especially a child. I have seen her taste and praise cookies prepared by one of her grandchildren, cookies that any self-respecting dog would reject.

When I read over my mother’s older recipes I am reminded that raisins and dates used to come with pits that had to be removed before baking could start. (Is this another good thing about the old days?) I know that if I had to pit dried fruit before using it, there would be a lot less of it in my kitchen. Fruit cake would be a distant memory. You will note that today’s recipe, an old one, is free of fruit. My mother was not a woman with time to waste.

Self Iced Spice Cake

Cake:

¾ cup shortening or butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks (save whites for topping)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1¼ cups sour milk

2½ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¾ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat the shortening and sugar until fluffy, add egg yolks and beat until mixed.

Sift flour, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon and salt.

Mix the baking soda with the sour milk, (if you do not have sour mild on hand add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the milk to sour it)

Add 1/3 of the flour mix and 1/3 of the milk mix and beat until blended. Repeat with the rest of the dry and wet ingredients.

Beat on high for another minute or so.

Spread in a 9x13 inch pan.

Turn the oven to 350 degrees F and make the topping.

Topping:

Beat the two egg whites until stiff, add one cup brown sugar. Mix and pour over the unbaked batter.

Bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes or until a cake tester/toothpick comes out clean.

This is one of my favorite cakes. I love the self icing part. You can spread a few chopped walnuts over the topping before baking, but in my humble opinion it doesn’t need it.

Ellie

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Insanity anyone?

Some years ago, during the ‘Back to the Land’ insanity movement, I became infected with a rampant form of that disease. While in the throws of this malady I moved from my beautiful split level house in an upscale neighborhood to a decrepit farm far from everything and everyone I knew. I wish I could tell you that all went well and that we prospered, but it didn’t and we didn’t. There may have been some small thing that we did right on that farm, but upon close reflection I cannot remember it. In my delusional state I thought that sheep, being placid animals, would be a good place to start embarking on my new close to nature lifestyle.

I soon learned why that device used in medieval times to storm the castle and flatten the gates was called a battering ‘ram’. While gaining this knowledge I also found out that a full grown woman, when hit behind the knees by a 200 pound sheep can fall onto the back of said sheep and be carried several yards before being deposited ignominiously on a steaming pile of manure, without adversely affecting or inconveniencing the beastly sheep in any way. It was determined that this same woman, when struck by the aforementioned ram can also be launched off the barn hill and become airborne. Until this event occurred, I did not realize I was an integral participant in an experiment in flight. Two very important lessons were learned during that unplanned flight.

1) The time spent airborne was not nearly sufficient to prepare for the abrupt and painful landing, and

2) Never turn your back on a ram!

If anything good came out of my foray into the hinter lands it was that I learned to cook and enjoy lamb. Lamb stew rapidly became a family favorite. I hope you will like it as much as we do. Remind me sometime to tell y’all why we enjoyed turkey dinners so much, but for now on with the lamb.

Lamb Stew with Mushroom Dumplings

3 lbs of lamb cut in piece

All purpose flour

Salt and pepper

1 tsp dried garlic flakes or garlic powder

About ½ cup Canola oil

2 cups boiling water

3 cups boiling water

3 medium carrots cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 medium onion halved and quartered

(If you decide not to make the dumplings coarse chop 4 or 5 medium scrubbed but not peeled red potatoes)

2 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tbsp chopped green peppers

Roll lamb in seasoned flour (flour mixed with salt pepper and garlic flakes) Brown in hot oil in oven proof pan. Drain off any extra oil add the boiling water and simmer for 1 hour

Partially cook the carrots, onions and potatoes if used, in the boiling water for about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat. After the stew has simmered for an hour add the par cooked vegetables with the water they were boiled in.

Now you have a choice. You can cover the pan and finish on top of the stove or cover the pan and bake it in a 375 degree F oven.

If you finish it on the stove top simmer at a slow boil for 1 hour longer or until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking.

If you opt for the oven method it will take 1 ½ hours more cooking time. (Is the convenience of not having to worry about it burning worth the extra time? I’ll leave that up to you.)

If you have used the potatoes, you now add the chopped parsley and the chopped green peppers, then mix the left over seasoned flour with water and use it to thicken the stew.

Serve with hearty bread and a green salad.

If you choose to go with the Mushroom Dumplings add the chopped parsley and chopped green peppers to the stew and return it to the oven while you prepare the dumplings.

Mushroom Dumplings

1 cup sifted all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tblsp shortening or lard

½ tsp salt

½ cup condensed mushroom soup

6 tblsp water

Sift dry ingredients, cut in shortening, add mushroom soup and water to make a soft dough

Drop by spoonful into simmering stew cover tightly and cook without removing the cover for;

Stove top, 10 to 12 minutes, use only enough heat to keep the stew simmering.

In the Oven 20 to 25 minutes

Note dumplings will thicken the stew.

This is a hearty meal.Wwhen I cooked on the farm where appetites were large, I used potatoes and the dumplings too.

My husband was not a fan of green peppers so if he was home I left them out, but in my opinion and that of my children they add a nice flavor and color.

Ellie

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Not Just Another Spice Cake

I searched my mother’s stacks of recipes for this cake. I remember it from when I was a very young child. I think mom made it for my 5th or 6th birthday. She topped it with a boiled frosting flavored with ground raisins. I was in heaven, but and there always is a ‘but’ it was a very sticky day. My poor mom had to grind the raisins (after removing the seeds by hand) This was long before food processors so grinding meant connecting the relish grinder to the table and turning the handle until the raisins got thoroughly stuck in the grinder blades. I think that may have been the day I discovered my mother knew all of the words that she’d often washed our mouths out with Palmolive soap for uttering.

Anyway, back to the cake and frosting. We were eight at the table in those days, mom, five boys and two girls. When the cake came to the table it was a regal sight. Raisin layer cake with a full five inches of beautiful Sea Foam frosting on top, complete with lighted candles. Candles a bunch of windy children gleefully blew out. The frosting hadn’t set and we had very strong lungs. I don’t think there ever was a stickier, happier, bunch of children. I do not remember if there were gifts, I suspect there were, but that gorgeous cake is emblazoned forever in my memory. My best gift was becoming aware of mom as a person who cried when frustrated and laughed at herself for shedding tears over sticky raisins.

My mom has been gone since 1994, but when I close my eyes I can see her as a young woman turning the handle on the egg beater, for goodness only knows how long, to get that frosting to peak. I love you Mom and I miss you every single day.

Mom’s Raisin Layer Cake with Boiled Frosting

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup butter

½ cup sour milk

1 egg and 1 egg yolk (save one egg white for the frosting.)

2 cups chopped raisins

1½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

I teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla

Beat brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy, beat the egg yolks with a fork and add to the milk. Add to the butter mixture.

Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the wet mixture, beat about 2 minutes add the vanilla and raisins. Beat on medium speed for a few moments until blended.

Divide batter evenly in two round layer cake pans.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes or until the top springs back when touched lightly with your finger. You can use a cake tester, but with a raisin cake it’s iffy. If you hit a pocket of moist delicious raisins the tester may not come out clean even though the cake is fully baked.

Cool completely before frosting with Sea Foam Frosting.

Sea Foam Frosting

1 ¼ cups brown sugar

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

1 egg white unbeaten

¼ cup boiling water

½ cup raisins chopped or ground

½ teaspoon vanilla

Place sugar, boiling water, cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. Place over boiling water, add unbeaten egg white. Beat mixture with an electric beater or a rotory beater until thick and smooth. Fold in chopped raisins and vanilla. Spread between layers, place one layer on top of the other and finish frosting as usual.

Note: This delicious cake is too good to save for special occasions so for a more informal dessert you can bake this cake in a 9x13 inch pan and frost it with white icing.

Ellie

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Pumpkinfest 2006

Originally printed October 2006, we are reprinting this Pumpkinfest article by popular request.

Last weekend I attended ‘Pumpkinfest’ in Port Elgin Ontario Canada. While staring in amazement at the enormous 1355.50 pound winning pumpkin my mind flashed back to the year my husband Jack and I grew Manitoba mammoth squash. We had to use a wheel barrow to bring them to the house and the largest of them weighed in at only 120lbs. That was the year squash took the place of pumpkin in all my recipes and in many cases the stronger flavor was preferred. That was also the year I learned how to process the giants using the easy oven method. I simply washed the squash to remove the soil then if it was too big to fit in the oven I cut it in half turned it cut side down on a cookie sheet or if even half a squash overlapped the cookie sheet I used heavy duty foil folding the edges to form a rim. Cook in a 300 degree F oven for about 3 hours or until you can pierce it with a fork. If your pumpkin or squash is small enough to fit your oven then put it on a cookie sheet and follow the same directions. When the cooking is complete scoop out the seeds and start your cooking or cool, bag and freeze the pulp for later use.

Save the seeds which will now separate easily from the slimy stuff. Process them for eating or dry them for the children to use in craft projects.

Holly Wood’s Stuffed Pumpkin

1 to 1 1/2 lbs hamburger

1 large onion chopped

1 T. oil

½ cup rice

1 tsp. kitchen bouquet

Salt and pepper

½ cup diced green pepper (optional)

Unsalted stock, chicken or beef

Or diced canned tomatoes

Or tomato juice

Fry the onions in the oil until transparent, remove from pan to bowl

Fry the hamburger until brown mix in the kitchen bouquet and add to the onions

Using the same pan add the rinsed rice cook until light brown

Mix into the onion/hamburger bowl, add diced green pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash a pie pumpkin; remove the top, scoop out the seeds and pulp. Place on a pie plate or cookie sheet. Stuff with the hamburger mix, pour stock or tomatoes until filled. Cover the top with foil, reserve the pumpkin top. It cooks much faster and will overcook before the rest is finished.

Bake in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours and 40 minutes; remove the foil and replace with the pumpkin top complete with stem. Bake 20 min. more or it until the pumpkin is soft.

Ellie

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50's Moms

What did the 1950’s stay at home wife and mother do with all that spare time?

I’m often asked that question by today’s working wives and mothers. I might add that it is a question I’m never asked by single mothers.

At times I am hard pressed to answer. Usually I simply say that we kept busy with coffee klatches and children; however a recently acquired Woman’s Day magazine circa 1953 told a story of just how women used their time back then. (By the way the price on this issue is 7 cents.)

A few tasks the fifty’s wife was expected to execute in her spare time while keeping a spotless home, tending a garden, keeping fit and immaculate for her husband and raising perfectly behaved children were:

From the home workshop section:

*Care and repair of your husband’s suit, (detailed instructions included)

*New Awnings for Old Frames, (detailed instructions included)

*Ways to Mount Medals, (detailed instructions included)

*And last but not least;

Make a Modern Room from Old Pieces.

This small job in a few words, involved two overblown floral chairs becoming a strait back pair covered in yellow denim and a sectional bookcase that becomes a unit to run under the window wall. If this wonder woman had a little spare time she could transform an old door, a dresser and an old mattress (cut in three) into a couch plus an end table. The author kindly suggests that throw pillows across the back against the wall would be great for stretching out. We know that she will not have time for that stretching activity because as the book suggests, she will be busy exercising to keep her figure attractive for her husband.

Now back to the index:

Under needlework we find instructions for a bias tape quilt and, in case quilting is not enough sewing, directions for a three pattern wardrobe for her self, patterns included. Then when she finished those little tasks she could make cookies for the church bazaar and just to add a little guilt to her life, under the heading, Korean Civilians Need Warm Clothes, we find: If you don’t knit, then crochet warm clothing for Korea. (No excuses accepted)

By now I am sure you get the idea. I admit that it was fun perusing the magazine as well as wondering how the heck they did it all.

Anyway now you know the whole story and should have a new respect for mom or grandma.

(Keep in mind that this was pre pill days so she probably did all this while pregnant.) Makes you wonder why people speak longingly of the good old days doesn’t it?

Today’s recipe is my adaptation of a recipe from that era.

Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding

1 cup sifted flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2/3 cup granulated sugar

6 tblsp. cocoa

½ cup milk

2 tblsp. melted shortening

1 tsp. vanilla

½ cup chopped pecans

(Walnuts may be substituted)

1 cup brown sugar, packed

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of cocoa.

Add milk, shortening and vanilla; mix only until smooth.

Add pecans.

Put in greased, shallow1 quart baking dish.

Mix brown sugar with remaining 4 tablespoons cocoa, sprinkle over mixture in baking dish.

Pour 1 ½ cups boiling water over the top (this pudding when baked has a chocolate sauce on bottom and cake on top)

Bake in moderate oven 350 degree F oven for 40 minutes.

Serve warm or cold, with cream if desired.

This is definitely a must make pudding, for chocolate lovers everywhere.

Ellie

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Congratulations Collingwood Ontario Canada!

All the signs say ‘Welcome Elvis Fans’ and welcoming is what Collingwood Ontario Canada does best. Collingwood, a town of 35,000 inhabitants, works hard to produce a memorable experience for anyone wise enough to partake of the ‘Live the Dream!’ festival commemorating Elvis Presley’s music.

I admit that I was a total skeptic when it came to ‘tribute’ or ‘performance’ artists or what, in my uneducated days, I called imitators. Why then you may ask did I go to an Elvis festival?

For the last few years I have heard my friends Karen and Brenda rave about the show, the performers and indeed the whole Elvis experience, and being a curious critter I felt the need to understand the source of their enthusiasm. I invited myself along, and the ladies joined by Alice graciously acquiesced. After spending a weekend observing the artists and the fans at the ‘Live The Dream’ Elvis festival in Collingwood, I stand in awe of the respect shown to those that honor Mr. Presley by keeping his memory alive and by the audience who applaud and encourage every performer regardless of their level of expertise. They made a believer out of a dedicated skeptic.

I would encourage those of you looking for an affordable family vacation to visit www.collingwoodelvisfestival.com. to learn more about the festival and of the plethora of activities offered there.

Kudos to the staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this event not only a memorable one, but a pleasurable experience worth repeating.

To eat like the king or perhaps simply to satisfy your curiosity, follow this link to

http://elvis-lives.8m.com/kingsfood.html

I don’t know if Elvis would have enjoyed today’s recipe, but I think you all will.

Autumn is upon us and busy lives need quick, simple and delicious casseroles. This was Vickie’s favorite before her allergy to tomatoes worsened to the point that she must avoid all tomato products, poor girl.

Hamburg Biscuit Casserole

1 tbsp. shortening

1 lb. hamburger

1 small onion chopped

Salt & pepper

1 can tomato soup

Water

2 cups canned green beans

Biscuits/home made/mix/canned your choice

Method: Heat shortening in skillet, add ground beef and onion brown. Season with salt and pepper. Add the soup and ½ can water Mix in 2 cps canned green beans drained. Pour into an 8 inch square casserole and top with biscuits.

Bake in preheated 425%F. oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

A thought regarding the tribute to Elvis Presley:

My regard for those artists who took time with the mentally challenged individuals dancing in front of the stage rose exponentially with each artist. I may have been a little irritated if I found myself in a similar situation, but not this group of ‘Performance Artists’ both professional and non-professional competitors were gracious and kind.

While enjoying an Anthony Vaugn performance I met a fellow writer, Linda Gerow. We swapped stories and I learned that she writes for several papers in her area.

Ellie