As with many many well-loved and often-made family dishes, ingredients and measurements in Mom’s stews changed every time she made them. There are no measurements given here, because you can make as much or as little as you need, depending on how many people you are feeding for dinner, or how expensive a particular cut of meat is this week. In other words, here is … Continue reading Mom’s Beef Stew
We love both of these versions; we often serve one or the other for family Sunday dinners. Ania’s Version Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Sauté bell pepper and onion in butter (or olive oil) until tender. Combine pepper, onion, chicken, and jalapeños in bowl and set aside. In the sauté pan, melt 3 tablespoons butter; blend in … Continue reading Chicken Enchiladas
Grammy and Granddaddy at their house in Fairway Lucille Lacaff Marshall, our maternal grandmother, was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. The second of five children (the others were Theodore – always called Bunce – Cordelia, Mortimer, and Frank, Jr.), she was the daughter and granddaughter of bankers and always was delighted to tell people she was descended from Revolutionary War veterans as well … Continue reading Grammy
Call it poached or call it boiled; if you can boil water, you can say bye-bye to paying through the beak for prepared grocery store or deli chicken. If you want to make chicken stock, buy a whole chicken and cut it up; if you just want to cook some chicken breasts for salads or entrees, that’s fine too. But for stock or dumplings, you … Continue reading Basic Chicken/Stock/Chicken Salad
This is the bread that made one of Carla’s roommates come running through the front door yelling, “What are you cooking? The whole house smells amazing!” Carla varies this recipe from time to time, adding cinnamon or nutmeg if she feels like it. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a tube or Bundt pan, or two loaf pans. Mix flour, sugar and baking … Continue reading Banana Sour Cream Pound Cake Bread
There are three kinds of people in this world – those who like cornbread savory, crumbly and dry, those who like a sweet, cake-like cornbread, and those who like a cornbread with the best attributes of both. This is for the third group. Heat oven to 400 degrees; generously butter a 9×9 pan. Mix dry ingredients together in bowl. Beat eggs until frothy, then add … Continue reading Millionaire Cornbread
I’m going to break one of the rules of the trade here. I’m going to tell you some of the secrets of improvisation. Just remember—it’s always a good idea to follow the directions exactly the first time you try a recipe. But from then on, you’re on your own. – James Beard Continue reading food quote for the new year
This recipe is a work in progress. Carla is still trying to get it close to tasting like the mousse served at Kansas City’s old Californos restaurant; the first time she and a friend ordered it, they wolfed it down until there were only smears of it left in the serving dish. When the waiter tried to take the dish away, they nearly rapped the waiter’s knuckles and made him leave it on the table; they ended up scraping the last of the mousse off the sides of the dish with their fingers. Continue reading Shrimp and Salmon Mousse
We’d forgotten about this dip, and were delighted to find the recipe when we were digging through old recipe boxes to find our favorites for this book. Wow, is it good. Continue reading Shrimp Dip
The vivid red and green layers make this great for the Christmas holidays, and also as an appetizer for an Italian dinner party. Continue reading Layered Red and Green Pesto with Cream Cheese
Around Our Table 