Mennonite Monday - Apple Goodie

Mennonite Monday started because I wanted to make recipes from the Bethesda Mennonite Church Cookbooks (both the yellow and the white cookbook for those of you who own them). I also wanted to take pictures of each recipe that I made, so I would know for future reference what the recipe should look like. I am by no means a great cook, but I think it will be fun to try new and different recipes each week. Not all of these recipes are for ethnic Mennonite food, but the women from Henderson know how to cook, so I can safely say that these recipes will be good. Check back each Monday for a new recipe and feel free to leave a comment if you have a favorite recipe from these cookbooks, or if you have some tips on what I should make and how I should make it.

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I was going to use the Hamburger Potato Casserole recipe, which was voted on last week, but with a rain we had late this past week, harvest came to a halt and I wasn't able to serve the casserole yet.  I have it started and in the freezer and plan to serve it on Tuesday, so it should be posted next week.  This we I decided to make Apple Goodie (pg 97W) for my first harvest meal of the season. 

Apple Goodie

3 cups sliced apples

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup quick oatmeal

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup butter or oleo

Put sliced apples into a 9" square pan with salt, sugar and cinnamon.  Mix the oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, soda, baking powder and butter until crumbly and sprinkle over apples.  Bake at 350 degrees until apples are done.  

Mixing the oatmeal, flour brown sugar, soda, baking powder and butter. 

Mixing the sugar, salt and cinnamon for the apples.

 Adding the apples.  

 All mixed together. 

Adding the topping.

 

 Since the recipe did not say how long to bake this dessert, I started with 30 minutes.  In the time the apples were baked, but I like the crust a little browner, so I let it bake for another 10 minutes.  

I served this warm with cool whip on top, but you could serve it plain or with ice cream too. 

Weekend Getaway

As you may have guessed, Mike and I took a quick little trip to Green Bay WI to visit our friends Emily and Jordy.  We actually did this same trip last year and had so much fun that we wanted to go back this year.  Plus we were excited to meet their new baby Royal (okay he was born over seven months ago, so he isn't really new, but he was new to us).While we were in Green Bay we took in a Packers Football game and were lucky enough to be at a game where Jordy was one of the captains for the game, which was fun to watch.   Here are a few pictures from the game.

Thanks for a great weekend Emily, Jordy and Royal!  Someday we will return the favor. 

Mennonite Monday - Cream of Broccoli Soup

Mennonite Monday started because I wanted to make recipes from the Bethesda Mennonite Church Cookbooks (both the yellow and the white cookbook for those of you who own them). I also wanted to take pictures of each recipe that I made, so I would know for future reference what the recipe should look like. I am by no means a great cook, but I think it will be fun to try new and different recipes each week. Not all of these recipes are for ethnic Mennonite food, but the women from Henderson know how to cook, so I can safely say that these recipes will be good. Check back each Monday for a new recipe and feel free to leave a comment if you have a favorite recipe from these cookbooks, or if you have some tips on what I should make and how I should make it.

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Sorry for the delay in posting my Mennonite Monday this week, but Mike and I were on a mini vacation, which I will post later in the week.  Since fall is quickly approaching, it is a great time to think about different soups we can make on chilly days.  This week I decided on Cream of Broccoli Soup (pg 204 W).  I hope this recipe will warm  you up this fall.  

Cream of Broccoli Soup

10 oz frozen or fresh broccoli, chopped

2 cups chicken broth

1 soup can of water

3 Tbl butter

3 Tbl flour

1 can cream of chicken soup

6 slices Velveeta

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 tsp salt

Saute onion in butter, add flour and stir.  Add broth, water and cream of chicken soup, chopped broccoli and stir and simmer for 10 min.  Put into blender until broccoli is chopped.  Return to stove; add cheese and stir and simmer until cheese is melted.  Season with salt to taste if necessary.  Yield: 6 servings. 

 I always cut off the ends of my onions first so they are easier to peel  the skin off. 

Then I slice it the long way. 

 Then I chop the other direction. 

 Butter and onion. 

 While the onion was cooking I measured my other ingredients.  Since I didn't have chicken broth, I used chicken stock. 

 Since this recipe didn't use all of the container of chicken stock, I wrote the date on the container and put it in the refrigerator. 

 Browned onions

 Mixing in the flour. 

 Adding the broth, water and cream of chicken soup. 

 Adding the broccoli that I didn't chop.  I figured that it would get chopped up in the blender, so there was no need to chop it ahead of time. 

 Simmering. 

 I didn't know what 6 slices of Velveeta was, so I just used all the Velveeta I had, which was about a cup.

 Before it was blended. 

 After it was blended. 

 After adding the Velveeta. 

 After you add the Velveeta make sure you stir it, otherwise it will burn to the bottom of the pan and you will have to pick out the brown spots. 

Last Year at this Time

We were chanting GO PACK GO!

Its a Delicacy in some Places

This is what Mike told we while we were eating his latest hunted game. 

When your married to a hunter, you get to eat a variety of meat.  Any guess about what we ate?

It was duck.

I will almost always try the hunted game that Mike brings home and some taste better than others.  The duck was actually pretty good.  There were only a few pieces that tasted wild. 

New Bedroom

 By painting the room a lighter color, changing the carpet to lighter color, changing the bed from a queen to a double and removing the foot board made the room feel much larger.

Before

Mennonite Monday - Spinach Dip

Mennonite Monday started because I wanted to make recipes from the Bethesda Mennonite Church Cookbooks (both the yellow and the white cookbook for those of you who own them). I also wanted to take pictures of each recipe that I made, so I would know for future reference what the recipe should look like. I am by no means a great cook, but I think it will be fun to try new and different recipes each week. Not all of these recipes are for ethnic Mennonite food, but the women from Henderson know how to cook, so I can safely say that these recipes will be good. Check back each Monday for a new recipe and feel free to leave a comment if you have a favorite recipe from these cookbooks, or if you have some tips on what I should make and how I should make it.

~

Since football season is underway and tailgating goes hand in hand with football games, I thought it would be good to make a recipe that could be used at a tailgate this week.  I decided on Spinach Dip (pg 9W Evelyn Hunnell Bergen style).  Since this recipe came from Mikes family I figured he would like it and it was a simple throw together recipe.

Unfortunately, I made this recipe while I was doing several other things, so my pictures are kind of lacking.  On the other hand, this is a pretty simple dump and stir recipe, so I'm confident you will be successful in making it of you try.  

Spinach Dip

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1 pkg Knorr vegetable soup mix

3 green onions, chopped or 1 to 2 tsp minced onion

1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed

8 oz can water chestnuts, diced

Mix all ingredients together.  Refrigerate 3 hours to season.  Very attractive served in a hollowed out round loaf of whole wheat or rye bread with bread cubes and crackers for "dippers."

I put my water chestnuts in the food processor, because it was quicker than chopping them by hand. 

After they were chopped for 10-15 seconds. 

 I found Knorr vegetable recipe mix instead of the soup mix, but I think it is the same or a similar product.  On the back of this envelope a similar spinach dip recipe was printed, so I figured that it would work.

Just finish by adding the rest of the ingredients and stirring. I pressed all the liquid out of the spinach, so the dip didn't turn out runny.   I did not put my dip in a fancy bread bowl.  Instead I put it in a disposable container because Mike took the dip to a tailgate at the Husker game and I wasn't sure that it would make it back. 

 

August Faves

1.  Natures Seasoning

Natures seasoning is a staple of summer for me.  I use it on cucumbers and tomatoes in the summer and pretty much anything else that needs salt.  It is basically a glorified salt, but it adds a little extra flavor and tastes so good.

2. Nebraska State Fair

As you read in last years posts about the state fair, I really enjoy the Nebraska State Fair, which may be due to the fact that I spent countless hours at the state fair as a child.  This year was the first year that the Nebraska State Fair was in Grand Island and I think the change was a good thing.  I will admit that it didn't really feel like the State Fair this year, but I'm sure that will changes over time.  Stay tuned in the next week for more about the new Nebraska State Fair and what the old fairgrounds look like now. 

3. Carmel Bugles

If you are in the mood for something that is salty and sweet, you must try Caramel Bugles.  I will give this disclaimer. If you are trying to watch what you eat, you may want to avoid these bad boys because you will need to eat the entire bag.

4. Cleaning Brush

I bought this on a whim at Bed Bath and Beyond and I love it.  Cleaning dishes is not my favorite thing to do, but seeing a face smiling at me makes it a little bit more pleasant.
 
5. U

Hopefully the few guys who read this blog have checked out by now, and I promise to not talk about feminine products again, but this is another cheery product that brightens a not wonderful time of the month.  I have always gotten caught up in the packaging of products and this one is no different.  You can't say that the blue, red, green and yellow won't brighten up your day.