Stephanie says

Piquant aromas scented our Sitkum  kitchen when Mom made mincemeat; elk neck meat, onions, apples all run through a food mill, Michael and I trading places turning its handle.  Come winter she’d bake exceptional mincemeat pie so good even the bottom crust was flaky.      This is from her recipe, labeled "Wilson Mince Meat," likely from the Charles Wilson family who lived in Sitkum same time as us.  Note the unusual measuring method. Wilson Mince Meat 5 bowls apples, cored 3 bowls ground meat (elk if you can get it) 2 bowls white/yellow onions 1 bowl apple cider 1 bowl vinegar  2 bowls raisins 4 bowls sugar Spices 2 TBL nutmeg 2 TBL cinnamon 2 TBL cloves 1 TBL salt 2 TBL Allspice 1 1/2 pounds butter Run apples, meat and onions through food mill separately, (so you can achieve a similar size and grind,) add to large cooking pot set at medium heat.   Add the next four ingredients to the pot.  Add the spices to the pot.   Cook slowly, stirri...

 My friend Scott of The Dalles, brought me two bushels of apricots last summer.  The apricot orchards grow in semi-arid climate of The Dalles. The  fruit fresh off the trees have intense flavor.  I made fruit leather, a lot of fruit leather, and will remember to make twice as much as Clementine inhales the stuff. I made apricot jam - see the following link for Alice Water's recipe, which is my all-time favorite.   Apricot Jam Recipe And I made four jars apricot syrup.  I thought about baking a cake then soaking apricot syrup into the layers - imagining a decadently moist crumb as the result.  But one family member has gluten intolerance, so I've been aiming for gluten-free desserts.   For Easter I baked a hazelnut Dacquoise, Mary Berry's recipe, a gluten-free nut meringue.  Then inspiration struck!  Apricot curd made from syrup for the filling.  I tinkered around with a traditional curd recipe and came up with the followin...

  Corn Chip Pie Recipe from The Gluten-Free Cookbook, Cristian Broglia This is a homemade version of a rodeo food truck favorite:  Frito Pie. Just without any gluten! Prep time:  15 minutes Cook the:  40 minutes Serves 4 Ingredients: 4 TBL cooking oil, plus more for the baking dish 9 oz (250 g) lean ground beef 1/2 cup onion - diced 1 3/4 (300 g) canned ranch-style beans or pinto beans - drained 1 3/4 cup (14 fl oz) enchilada sauce 9 oz (250 g) grated cheddar cheese 1 lb (450 g) corn chips.  Frito Original recipe works for me. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 10-inch round baking dish with oil. Heat a frying pan over medium heat.  Add 4 TBL oil to pan.  Add the beef and onions.  Cook until meat is browned, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to the prepared baking dish.  Spread into an even layer. Top the met with layers:   1. Beans,  2. enchilada sauce,  3. cheddar cheese,  4. corn chips Bake 30 minutes in oven. G...

 This recipe is from cafedelites.com  - I made this recipe for Easter dinner - not a piece left over! Garlic Butter Smashed Sweet Potatoes With Parmesan Cheese Garlic Butter Smashed Sweet Potatoes With Parmesan Cheese are crispy and buttery on the outside, while soft and sweet on the inside, making way for one of the best ways to eat a sweet potato!   Servings: 12  pieces   Calories: 67 kcal   Author: https://cafedelites.com/ Ingredients Sweet Potatoes: ·         4 medium sweet potatoes (or 3 large sweet potatoes)* ·         A light spray of olive oil ·         3 tablespoons melted butter ·         4 cloves garlic , crushed ·         1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley ·         Kosher Salt an...

  Festive Spicy Christmas Cookie Cutouts (From Woman’s Day Food Department 12/23/1986 – I wasn’t kidding about how many years I’ve been baking these cookies!)   This recipe makes about 90 2-inch nicely spiced cookies.   3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 Tablespoon baking powder (For best results - buy a new can before Christmas baking) 1 ½ Tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 Tablespoon ground ginger ¾ teaspoon ground allspice ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground cloves 1 ½ cups butter, at room temperature 1 ¾ cups packed light-brown sugar 1 large egg Icing (recipe follows) For decoration:  sliced almonds, red cinnamon candies, silver dragees   Mix flour, baking powder and spices. In a large bowl beat butter and sugar with electric mixture until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended.     Divide dough in thirds.  Shape each into a ball; flatten to 1-inch thick rounds.  Wrap in...

I've made this recipe annually for 50 odd years to the delight of friends and family.  This buttery smooth candy gets a lot of requests. This past Christmas, the recipe went missing, as did my favorite rolled spice cookie recipe.  I looked EVERYWHERE and I have sooooo many recipes.  I checked this blog in hopes that I'd posted it here.  But, nope.  I searched the internet which had many recipes for mint candy, most of them involved cream cheese and no cooking.  The recipes I tried were met with disappointment from my test audience, my grandchildren.   Happily I stumbled across BOTH recipes recently.  I'm posting this now - just in case.    From top left:  Spice cookies; Pink mints; Pistachio Brittle; Blonde Fudge; Chocolate Crinkle Balls. Bottom left:  Brown Butter Sugar cookies Looking at this photo makes me long for Christmas. Mint Patties Ingredients: 1/3 cup butter 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1 lb sifted powdered sugar - divid...

 I stumbled across Lidia's Kitchen (Amazon Prime) during the pandemic.  This is a charming program filmed by Lidia's grandson with an occasional cameo of her mother.   I love, love Italian food. ”Adapted from Lidia’s Italian American Kitchen. Serves 12 This is a great way to use some of those winter share vegetables but it does take some time. Don’t let that or the list of ingredients deter you- this is an amazing soup, delicious, hearty and completely satisfying. The bean-based stock makes this a completely vegetarian soup- make sure to soak your beans and drain them thoroughly before cooking them. You should have plenty of soup to eat and to freeze.   You can use canned beans but I prefer using dried beans.   3 cups dried cannellini (white kidney) beans 8 cups cold water 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling over the soup 2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 cups) 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 pound kale, washed and cut into1/2-inch strips...