Noodleables

This is my very favorite food to eat at The Feast of the Hunter's Moon!   It looks like a lot of ingredients but it is really very easy to make.

The story they tell is "when pioneers traveled through the Midwest, they carried dried or salted pork and dried noodles with them as they didn't spoil.  They would forage or trade for vegetables to add to these items to make their meal".

At the Feast, they leave out the meat and make the dish vegetarian by using vegetable oil.  Also, they use Reames' frozen noodles which I also found to work best in the recipe if you are not using homemade dried noodles.

Since there are only two of us at home, I used about half as much of everything as it called for and I had plenty of leftovers for a meal the next day.

I cooked the entire package of frozen noodles at once but only needed half of them, so the remainder went into a covered dish in the refrigerator to be used for a recipe a few days later.  Also, one doesn't have to use every vegetable called for if you don't have it.

This is one of those recipes you can make your own using various vegetables and seasonings. To be honest, I don't exactly measure vegetables!

Read my Note about the seasonings before mixing them together.

Noodleables

• 2 cups carrots, sliced into 1/4" pieces
• 3 cups celery, sliced into 1/4" pieces
• 2 cups onion, cut into thin wedges (I chop them)
• 2 cups cut broccoli, flowers & stems
• 2 cups cut cauliflower pieces
• 1 cup chopped red cabbage (I don't use)
• 1 cup chopped green cabbage (I use 2 cups green cabbage)
• 3 cups homemade or frozen noodles, cooked
• 1/2 lb. diced bacon (they substitute 1/2 cup vegetable oil at the Feast)
• 3 Tablespoons mixed seasonings*

Mixed Seasonings (Mix and store in container)
Read my note below before mixing!

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup dill weed
• 1/8 cup paprika
• 1/8 cup course ground pepper
• 1/4 cup salt

Fry bacon until crisp or heat oil.  Add carrots and cook until slightly tender.

Add seasonings, celery, onions, cauliflower, and broccoli,  Stir and cook until broccoli is warm.

Add cabbage and cooked noodles.

Continue cooking, stirring once in awhile, until all the vegetables are cooked and the noodles are hot.  This makes a yummy one dish meal and we found leftovers warmed the next day were great.

Sprinkle with additional seasonings to taste, if desired.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

*REGARDING SEASONINGS:

After mixing the ingredients and then not using all of them a couple of times, I now sprinkle a little sugar and approximately 1/4th teaspoon dill weed, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper directly on the food as it cooks.

Adjust seasonings to your taste (for instance, my husband is not fond of dill so I don't use much of it).

If you decide to make the recipe in large amounts and more often, it is then worth mixing and storing the seasonings as they do for the Feast.

Breakfast Banana Bread

I've had this recipe since my daughter was born and it has been a family favorite ever since.  It is from the cookbook which was very popular at the time called Feed Me I'm Yours, which had a lot of good recipes for babies and toddlers... and for grownups!

Breakfast Banana Nut Bread

¼ C     Butter, room temp (sometimes I use 1/2 Cup, or one stick)

½ C     Brown Sugar

1          Egg, beaten

1 C      Oatmeal (uncooked)

4 – 5    Ripe Bananas

1 t        Vanilla

1 ½ C Flour

2 t        Baking Powder

½ t       Baking Soda

½ t       Salt

½ C     Nuts, chopped (optional)

Cream butter and sugar until light.  Add egg and mix well.  Then add oatmeal, bananas, and vanilla.  Mix well.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add to first ingredients and stir only long enough to moisten the batter.  Add nuts if necessary, stir gently.

Grease loaf pan, pour in batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until bread tests as done (I usually check after 45 minutes).

I often bake these in mini loaf pans and they take approx. 30 min. in my oven.

Cool before eating if you can wait... that doesn't always happen at our house.  It's actually better the next day.

Citrus Tea Cookies

Dough needs to be chilled before baking.

·        1 C    Sugar

·        ¾ C   Butter

·        1 Egg

·        2 T    Corn Syrup

·        2 C    Flour

·        1 t      Baking Soda

·        1 t      Baking Powder

·        1 t      Lemon or Orange Extract

·        lemon or orange zest (optional)

Cream butter with sugar until fluffy.  Beat in egg, corn syrup, and citrus extract.

Stir in flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

Cover and chill dough at least an hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Roll chilled dough into walnut sized balls*, then roll in sugar.

Place on baking sheet.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes (less baking time makes them chewier)

Recipe in original format was: :  Lemon Sugar Tea Cookies from CookieRecipe.com

*I doubled the recipe with no problem and I used the small end of a melon baller to "scoop" out the dough.  I would scoop out about fifteen to twenty at a time, then roll them, then place them in a wide bowl to coat with sugar.

The plate holding the cookies above is a small dessert plate so it gives you an idea of the size of the cookies.  If not making them for a buffet, I probably would scoop the dough with my usual cookie scoop.

I think they would also be good baked without rolling in sugar and then drizzled with a light glaze of confectioners sugar mixed with a little lemon juice after they cool.

Candied Cranberries

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Cups Fresh or frozen cranberries

Combine sugar and water in saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved.

Bring to a boil.. no stirring... to soft ball stage (235 degrees).

Sir in cranberries, cook four (4) minutes until coated with syrup.  Drain well.

Discard syrup and arrange in single layer.  Cool.

(Will show picture soon.)

Beverly Nye's "rich" brownies

This recipe makes a cake-like brownie that (when completely cooled) can easily be cut into small squares.  It is good to take to potlucks as it travels well, too.

Beverly Nye's Rich Chocolate Brownies

Melt 2 sticks butter and add 7 T. cocoa (I often use only 4).

Then add 2 Cups sugar and beat well (I often use 1 1/2).

Add:
4 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups flour
Dash salt

Mix well.  Stir in nuts if desired.

Spread in greased 9 x 12" pan.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 min.

(I have let the butter-cocoa mixture cool and then just added everything else to the saucepan!)

For the thin layer of frosting I used today...

1/2 stick butter at room temperature
2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa

Blend together in mixer until smooth.  Add milk about a tablespoon at a time until you get the fluffy consistency you want.  Be patient or you will add too much and then you have to add more sugar and then more cocoa and well, it can get to be a mess.

My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe

Stephanie asked me to type this out for her so I thought I'd go ahead and put it here, too.  These cookies are delicious.  They filled many a cookie jar in our home.

I will post a picture the next time I make them.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick butter - soft
1 stick Crisco
2 1/2 C. brown sugar
4 T. milk
1 T. vanilla
2 eggs
3 1/2 C. flour
1 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 pkg. milk chocolate chips or mini choc. chips or 1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cream butter, Crisco, milk, and sugar.  Add eggs and then vanilla.

Combine flour, salt, soda.  Add to cream mixture just until mixed.

Add chocolate chips (and nuts if you are using them).

Drop onto baking sheet.  Bake 8 or 9 minutes.  Let cool about 5 minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack or let cool on paper bag.

Possum Pie

I will add a picture the next time I make this pie.  The original recipe is from the Taste of Home magazine.  Yummy!20

• 2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened*
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 graham cracker crust (9 inches)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional but good)
• 1-3/4 cups cold milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/3 cup instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped (or Cool Whip)

Directions

• In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Spoon into crust. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
• In a bowl, whisk the milk, vanilla and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Spoon over the pecans. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Top with whipped cream and if desired, more chopped pecans. Yield: 8 servings.

*I usually only have 8 oz. packages of cream cheese on hand so I use 6 oz. for this and then use the remaining 2 oz. for something else (like spreading on a bagel).

While the pecans add interesting texture and great flavor, I have made the pie without them to save on cost.

The boxes of pudding (vanilla and chocolate) will make two pies.  If I am just making the one pie, I  tuck the two boxes in my pantry to use for another pie later.


Don't you love the name of this pie?  It was one of their favorite restaurant recipes and the owner of the restaurant didn't know how it got its' name.  Had to be a story there...

Jerusalem Salad

I started doing a web search for the Jerusalem Salad recipes when the price at my son's favorite restaurant nearly doubled.  This is a wonderful recipe to use when tomatoes and cucumbers are in season.  In the winter, I use plum tomatoes.

Jerusalem Salad
1 English cucumber, sliced (if large, I take out the seeds)
6 firm plum tomatoes, seeds squeezed out and diced
1 cup (more or less to taste) of parsley, chopped
3 or 4 Tbs. tahini sauce (to taste)
Pepper
Salt if needed

Tahini Sauce*
5 Tbs. tahini (more or less to taste but start with 5)
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. vinegar
1 or 2 lemons (to taste)
zest of 1 lemon (both if you love lemon)
salt to taste

Blend ingredients until smooth.  If needed, add just a tablespoon of water at a time to thin from paste into a thick sauce.  You don't want it too thin.  Can be made ahead and chilled.

I found by taking the seeds out of cucumbers and tomatoes, it helps the salad to not become as watery.  Use any tomato or cucumber in season.

This is one of those recipes that you can definitely tweak to your liking by adding more or less of any of the ingredients, adding spices, etc.

*This sauce makes more than you would need for the listed vegetables.  You can reserve it in the frig for another time or double the amount of veggies, which you would have to for a larger family, anyway.

Note:  I prefer the Joyva brand of tahini, sold in a can.  I store in the frig once it has been opened in hot and humid weather.  Otherwise, I use it so quickly that I keep it on the pantry shelf.

Hummus

This is the recipe I've come up with after tweaking the original for months.  Although this recipe calls for canned garbanzo beans, I have found soaking the dry beans overnight and cooking them the next day provides a deeper flavor and for much less money if you are serving a large family (or a crowd coming over for snacks).

Any cooked beans you do not use can be frozen.

If you use an entire package of dry beans, you will need to increase the other ingredients "to taste".

My favorite Hummus
2- 15.5 cans garbanzo beans (reserve about 1/4th cup liquid from can)
juice from 2 lemons
zest of 1 lemon
1 Tbs. vinegar (optional but I have found it a great addition)
1 or 2 garlic cloves
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil*
4 or 5 Tbs. tahini
salt to taste (taste first, that much lemon may not require salt)
pepper (to taste)
cumin (optional... if I use it, I only put in 1/4th teaspoon)

Drain beans, reserving some of the liquid.  If using garbanzo beans you have cooked, reserve some of the cooking liquid.  (Water can be used if you forget.)  Place garbanzo beans in food processor along with the garlic clove(s), lemon zest, juice of the lemons, vinegar, tahini, and 1 tbs. of the olive oil.

Pulse food processor and then let it run about a minute or two, until the hummus is almost fluffy... you know what I mean.  Add remaining olve oil, salt, pepper, and any spices... pulse food processor.

If hummus is too pasty, add reserved liquid or water a few tablespoons at a time until you get a smooth consistency.  Let the processor run another minute or two.

This is definitely one of those recipes you tweak to make your own.  I like hummus very lemony but you may want only one lemon.  I have left out the garlic when I didn't have any at home and I have even left out the tahini when I was out of it but then it becomes a bean dip.  ;)

You can add roasted red pepper to make a red pepper hummus and any web search will offer all kinds of options.

* Hummus is traditionally served with a little extra virgin olive oil poured over the top.

 Note:  I prefer the Joyva brand of tahini, sold in a can.  I store it in the frig once it has been opened in hot and humid weather.  Otherwise, I use it so quickly that I keep it on the pantry shelf.