Recipe Cards

Recipe cards – do you use them? This article explains the history of the 3X5 handwritten recipe card, & how the way we write & store recipes has changed in our digital age. I still have recipe cards written by my mom, and I love seeing her handwriting on the yellowed, smudged paper. I don’t use cards anymore myself, but I do have boxes full of them. I’ve collected them since before I was married.  I store most of my recipes here at the blog and/or on  a software program called MasterCook. Do you have family recipes on cards?

Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook. ~ Chinese Proverb

 

Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans (opt)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon water
2 cups flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter & flour a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. In another bowl, mix together the flour, water, baking soda and salt; stir.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

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I wanted to mention that my older sister Shirley always bakes her breads in clean soup cans.  Grease & flour them as you would the other way and fill them two thirds full. Place them on a cookie sheet to bake. Should bake in about 30 minutes, just keep checking on them.

She changes the way she does things every year. So if asked, she give you ten different ways to make the same thing. Sh… don’t tell her that I said that.

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Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

• Decide on a centerpiece, contact florist to order, or make one yourself.
• Purchase any needed supplies, such as table coverings, napkins, cups, etc.
• Plan your cooking timeline, so you know which dishes need to be cooked when on Thanksgiving Day.
• Take your non-perishable items shopping list to the grocery store and buy those items that won’t spoil.
• Make breads and rolls — freeze.
• Select the beverage/drinks to go with your meal.
• Involve your kids in helping to organize games for the younger guests.
• As you receive RSVPs, create place cards for each setting.
• Make Holiday hair & nail appointments.

To be desperate is to discover strength. We die of comfort and by conflict live. ~ May Sarton

 

Sunday Supper

You know that I love pork loin. Its so easy to make, you can put it on before you leave for work or shopping and it will be waiting on you when you get home. That’s one less thing to worry about.

MENU
Spinach Salad
Maple Glazed Pork Loin with Tomato & Pine Nut Relish
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Peas & Baby Carrots
Rolls and Butter
*Baked Apples
Beverages

Maple Glazed Pork Loin

INGREDIENTS
1 (5 pound) pork loin roast
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup light maple flavored pancake syrup
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
Place the roast into a large resealable bag. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, vinegar, pancake syrup, cornstarch and brown sugar. Pour into the bag with the roast. Seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Then bake the as per my Easy Pork Loin directions, making sure that the Butcher cuts the loin in half lengthwise for you.  Its done when its internal temperature is at least 150 degrees F (65 degrees C) when taken with a meat thermometer.

Pine Nut Relish

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup (generous) chopped dried apricots (about 3 ounces)
1/3 cup chopped white onion
3 tablespoons finely chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons chopped jalapeño chili with seeds

2/3 cup chopped seeded plum tomatoes
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS
Combine first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Add tomatoes, pine nuts and cilantro to apricot mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Serve along

*Baked Apples – stuffed with raisins, walnuts and brown sugar.

I do not regret one moment of my life. ~ Lillie Langtry

 

LAMB & PORK LOAF

INGREDIENTS
1 lb ground lamb
1/2 lb ground lean pork
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups course soft bread crumbs, firmly packed
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 eggs beaten
1 cup lamb broth* or milk
Pepper
1/4 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients except 1/2 cup bread crumbs and the butter. Mix thoroughly and press the mixture into a loaf pan (8 1/4 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches). Mix together the butter and the 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, and pat over the top of the loaf. Bake in a moderate oven (325 to 350 degrees F) for 1 1/2 hours. Before turning out, let loaf stand for 15 minutes to absorb meat juices. Garnish with parsley or mint.

Makes: 5 servings

The good is the greatest rival of the best. ~ Nellie L. McClung

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the Lamb make thee? ~ William Blake

* When purchasing lamb buy some extra bony pieces to prepare the broth.

 

Lemon Chicken

MENU

Lemon Chicken
Italian Eggplant & Zucchini Bake
Green Salad
Mineral water or tea

LEMON CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS
2 lg lemons, cut into wedges
3 lb chicken, washed and cut into pieces
salt & pepper, to taste
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp each thyme, marjoram, pepper
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS
Arrange chicken pieces in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the juice from the lemons. Lay juiced lemon wedges atop chicken pieces. In a separate bowl: Combine the last 5 ingredients. Pour this over the chicken pieces. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for several hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and allow the chicken to come to room temperature. Bake, covered for 1.5 hours.
Serves 4-6.

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A Psalm of Life,

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Hobo Pork Chops

CUT 4 12″ squares of aluminum foil
SPRAY lightly with non-stick cooking spray
CLEAN and CUT into pieces
2 carrots
2 small zucchini squash
1 cooking onion
1/2 head cauliflower
PLACE in the center of each square
1 pork chop, seasoned to taste (total of 4 needed)
TOP each with
2 tbsp cream of celery soup concentrate
1/4 of each kind of fresh vegetable
BRING corners of foil up to center and seal seams to make “tents.” Store in refrigerator until cooking time.
PLACE tents on cookie sheet and BAKE at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes.
Serves 4.

Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech. ~ Martin Farquhar Tupper