Desserts and Sweets

Squamish Bars

Squamish is a community on the Pacific coast of Canada, just north of Vancouver, British Columbia, not far from the place of my birth. It is known as the “Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada.”  What’s there to do in Squamish? Hike, climb rocks, watch the bald eagles and other wildlife, go kayaking, and simply enjoy the incredible coastal landscapes.

Squamish bars are a variation on Nanaimo Bars, named after another west coast community.

  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup Rice Crispies cereal
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup Cornflakes cereal
  • 1/2 cup corn syrup
  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • 2 T light cream
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1-1/2 t vanilla
  • 3 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
  • 1 T butter

In a large pot over low heat, beat peanut butter, sugar, and corn syrup until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in cereals. Press into a lightly oiled square pan and let cool.

In a bowl, beat icing sugar and butter; beat in cream and vanilla. Spread over cereal base and chill for 1/2 hr.

In double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate and butter. Let cool and spread evenly over filling.

Chill for 20 minutes. Cut into squares. May freeze.

Vegetables and Salads

Scalloped Potatoes

Potatoes, layered with onions and milk, baked tender and crusty…

  • 4 cups potatoes, peeled and sliced
  • 2 cups onion, chopped or sliced
  • Salt, pepper, thyme, and paprika
  • Flour
  • Butter
  • 1-1/2 cups milk
  • 2 cups buttered bread crumbs

Grease a 2 quart casserole and place in a layer of sliced potatoes. Top with a layer of chopped onion. Season layer and sprinkle with a little flour and dot with a little butter. Repeat layers, ending with a layer of potatoes. Scald the milk and pour into casserole. Top with buttered bread crumbs. Bake, covered, for 50 minutes at 350F, then uncover and continue baking for another 20 minutes until golden.

Pickles, Salsas, and Miscellaneous

Carol’s Chile Powder

A homemade chile (chili) powder made from whole, dried, Mexican chiles.

  • 5 chiles ancho
  • 5 chiles guajillo
  • 1/2 cup paprika
  • 1/2 cup ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup garlic salt
  • 2 T ground allspice
  • 2 tsp powdered cloves
  • 1/4 cup ground oregano

Seed chiles. Place in blender and grind fine. Warning: Do not open lid and sniff until dust settles, unless you want your sinuses cleaned. Add rest of ingredients and blend well. Store in covered container in a dry place.

Desserts and Sweets

Grandma’s Cottage Cheesecake

This is such a special cheesecake, different from any other cheesecake I have ever eaten. The cottage cheese keeps its lumpy texture, so it doesn’t have the dense solidity of cheesecakes made with cream cheese. It’s like curd cake, and it’s almost a meal in itself. Even though I loved the sweeter cookies and other baked goods Grandma used to make, her cheesecake was ever so satisfying.

Ingredients for Grandma’s Cottage Cheesecake

  • 1 recipe baking powder biscuit base
  • 1 container creamy cottage cheese
  • 2 eggs, well beaten
  • 1/2 to 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 t vanilla
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Spread baking powder biscuit dough in large shallow pan, pinching up dough around edges for about 1/2 inch. Mix together rest of ingredients. Spread on dough base and bake at 350 F for 1/2 hour or until set.

Note: The original Grandma version calls for a yeast dough base rather than baking powder dough; however, baking powder dough is easier.

Cottage Cheese Cake
Cat at the Zoo
Eggs and Cheese

Sweet Strawberry Omelet

4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup yogurt
2 T sugar
1 T butter
1/4 cup whipped cream
3 T milk
2 t sugar
2 cups sliced strawberries

Beat egg whites until frothy; add 2 T water and 1/4 t salt. Beat stiff. Beat yolks until thick. Add 1/4 cup yogurt and 2 T sugar. Fold yolks into whites.

Melt the butter in a large pan. Pour in eggs, reduce heat and cook 8 minutes. Place in over until top is set (10-12 minutes). Slide onto a warm platter.

Combine rest of yogurt, whipped cream, milk and sugar and spoon on top of omelet. Top with some of the berries and serve the rest on the side.

Servings: 4

Soups and Stews

Avocado Soup

A refreshing chilled soup for hot afternoons.

  • 2 cups avocado. sliced
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 t onion juice
  • 1 cup light cream
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Chopped parsley, paprika, and green onions for garnish

Blend avocado, broth, onion. Mix cream and seasonings. Mix both together. Chill. Garnish with parsley, paprika and onion. Servings: 4

Meatless Main Dishes

Vegetable Marrow as Mom Made It

Vegetable marrow is a large squash, oval in shape.  It was a common summer and fall-time dish in our family, prepared simply with onion and sour cream.

Ingredients for Vegetable Marrow as Mom Made It

1/2 onion, chopped fine
2 T butter or oil
1 t paprika
2 lb. vegetable marrow, cubed
Salt and white pepper
1/2 to 1 cup sour cream

Cook marrow in salted water until very tender. Drain and mash well.

Saute onion in butter or oil until soft. Add paprika and stir a minute. Mix with marrow.

Combine with sour cream, season, and reheat before serving.

vegetable marrow

noun

1.

a cucurbitaceous plant, Cucurbita pepo, probably native to America but widely cultivated for its oblong green striped fruit, which is eaten as a vegetable
2.

Also called (US) marrow squash. the fruit of this plant
Often shortened to marrow
“vegetable marrow”. Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 12 Apr. 2016. <Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/vegetable-marrow>.

 

Desserts and Sweets

Turtle-Shaped Chocolates

These homemade chocolate candies are modeled after DeMet’s (formerly Johnston Candy Co.) Turtles® brand chocolates, which were candies fashioned into turtle shapes by combining pecans halves, caramel, and chocolate into the appropriate shape.

Here’s a recipe to which you can apply your artistic turtle-making abilities. Good luck.

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 6 oz. pecan halves
  • 2 bars (4 oz. each) German chocolate

Line an 8×8″ pan with foil. Butter lightly. In pot, combine all ingredients except vanilla, nuts, and chocolate. Cook, stirring with wooden spoon, over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking to firm ball stage (244ºF).

Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Turn into pan; let cool 30 minutes. With sharp knife, cut into 26 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball; place on buttered cookie sheet 1/2″ apart.

Press 5 pecan pieces into each side to form head and feet. Melt chocolate in double boiler. Spoon 1 t melted chocolate over each caramel. Refrigerate to set chocolate.

Desserts and Sweets

Linzer Schnitten Prune Bars

Ingredients for Linzer Schnitten: spiced prune bars

  • 2 eggs
  • 1-1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter or oil
  • 3-1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • rind and juice of 1 lemon
  • thick Hungarian-style plum (prune) jam
  • 1 egg beaten with 3/4 cup sugar

Preparation of Linzer Schnitten: spiced prune bars

Beat eggs until light. Beat in sugar. Melt and add butter. Sift together the dry ingredients. Blend with egg mix. Add lemon rind and juice. Turn onto a board and knead until smooth. Let stand for 1 hour.

Roll 1/2″ thick. Cut into strips 1-1/2″ x 10″. Mark a groove lengthwise down the center of each strip with the handle of a wooden spoon. Fill grooves with jam.

Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 F for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately brush tops with egg/sugar mixture to glaze. Cut diagonally into bars and cool.

Soups and Stews

Sausage and Lentil Soup

Lentils are classed as pulses or legumes, the seeds or dried fruits of which are edible by humans and/or livestock. Beans, peanuts, peas, and even tamarinds are all legumes.

Lentils can be yellow, red, green, brown, and black, and they figure largely in the cuisine of India, although Canada, apparently, is the largest exporter of lentils in the world (see Lentil, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lentil&oldid=706147808 (last visited Apr. 1, 2016).)

Ingredients for Sausage and Lentil Soup

  • 1/2 lb. Italian sausage, cooked
  • 1 large onion. chopped
  • 1 small green pepper. chopped
  • 1 small carrot, chopped
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 lb. tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup water
  • 3/4 cup lentils
  • 1/2 cup Dijon mustard

Preparing Sausage and Lentil Soup

In a 4-quart saucepan, combine all ingredients except mustard. Simmer for 1-1/2 hours. Mix in mustard and serve. Add additional broth or water if necessary.

Servings: 4

Vegan Version of Sausageless Lentil Soup:

Omit the sausage, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and you’re done!