Mennonite girls can cook

My friend Brenda brought a potato dish to our care group potluck recently that I just had to try making myself. I've substituted a homemade dressing for the Ranch dressing she used, so feel free to use bottled dressing if you haven't the time or inclination to make the Buttermilk dressing I used. A recipe to please all potato lovers. potatoes (1-2 per person) Buttermilk Dressing (recipe follows) bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces, fried until crisp and drained on paper towel Cheddar, Mozzarella…

20 years ago our youngest daughter sang in the Pacific Mennonite Children's Choir. She brought this recipe home after having it at one of the other choir members homes. Her note on the hand written recipe said, VERY GOOD LIGHT CAKE. She was right. Here I have used blackberries, but you could also use, blueberries, plums, apricots or peaches. Ingredients - for cake 2 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup Crisco shortening 1/4 cup milk 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 cup flour…

Mennonite Scrambled Eggs. Rührei is what we called them when I was a kid. This was never a breakfast meal at our place, but rather a quick lunch or supper. I'd all but forgotten about them until yesterday when I was looking through the fridge to see what I could fix in no time flat, and rührei came to mind. This is a creamy version of scrambled eggs...rather like a cross between an omelet and a pancake. It pairs well with ham or sausage...sprinkled with freshly ground pepper and served with…

Okay these pumpkin sweet rolls were amazing, especially with all that glaze on them. Just so you know if you want to use this much glaze for each roll you will have to make more than I have stated. You only need to drizzle the glaze over the rolls and not pour like I did, but it sure tasted good. Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups warm milk 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup pumpkin puree 1 egg, whisked 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon instant yeast 6 cups flour Method: In a large bowl, combine…

Another family favourite, it is the soup I often take to families when they need a loving touch. 1/2 ring smoked farmer sausage or 3 cups cubed smoked ham 1 large onion, diced 2 - 3 stalks celery, diced. 2 diced bell peppers 5 medium potatoes, peeled if not white thin skinned and then diced 3 sliced carrots 2 -3 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper Saute the sausage or ham in a soup pot. Add the onions and celery and fry until the veggies are…

I have a book recommendation for you. If you love to bake bread but don't enjoy the kneading process, but do have patience, this cookbook appears to have many wonderful recipes. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Herztberg and Zoe Francois. Check out the link to find out more about them and their discovery of no Knead Bread. No Knead Cinnamon Buns 1 3/4 cup warm water 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 4 large farm fresh eggs 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup unsalted butter…

Before Christmas I love sitting down with my mom's book of hand written recipes to decide which ones I'll be making.Every year without fail I make these butter tarts.Each pretty pastry shell is filled

Kringle is a Scandinavian pastry which developed over the years into several kinds of sweet, salty or filled pastries. My Tante Lena makes her Kringle with a buttery Zwieback (yeast) dough and I still hope to one day get together with her to see her make them. For now - I have her recipe and two methods of rolling and shaping them. This first method pictured is closer to the way she shapes them and since I was using one hand to hold the camera, I hope my explanation makes sense. I started…

I was trying to think of ideas for someone who cooks for a large group regularly and, in talking, found out that doing a lemon pie on a cookie sheet was a new idea to her. Growing up with all sorts of cakes and pies done on cookie sheets to serve large groups, I did not realize that this really is thinking outside the box. So, this is not really a recipe, as much as it is an idea to serve a larger group. It is easier to cut up and serve small squares than large pieces of pie. Ingredients…