More recipes

I'm going take advantage of a few spare minutes at school to write another blog. (I hope I don't get in trouble for using this library research computer to do this--it says no chatting or MySpace allowed!) I have thought of a few more of my favorite Mama Marva recipes, most of which I'm sure she doesn't have in her recipe file because she just knew them by heart. I'll share some of them here with you all.

Mama Marva used to make quite a few things with white sauce (I'm sure she learned this from Grandma Painter). Since these first three recipes involve white sauce (it's just basically a milk gravy), I'm putting the basic recipe for it first:

Medium White Sauce
Melt 1/4 c. butter over medium heat in a skittle. Add 1/4 c. flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black or white pepper and stir to make a floury paste. Slowly add 2 cups milk while stirring constantly and continue to heat on medium (not high) heat. Continue stirring (to avoid lumpiness) while mixture thickens (about 5 to 10 minutes). Makes 2 cups. To make the white sauce thinner or thicker, add more or less milk.

Creamed Peas and Potatoes
(this was one of Grandma Painter's favorites)
Wash (but don't peel) and boil about 2 pounds new (little) red (russet) potatoes in salted water for about 10 minutes. (If the potatoes are larger in diameter than a quarter, cut them into smaller pieces. In another pan, boil 1-2 pounds fresh, shelled peas (if you don't have fresh, you can use frozen) for about 5 minutes. Drain the water off the peas and potatoes. (You can reserve the water to make homemade bread. It adds vitamins, flavor, and risability to the dough!) Add the peas and potatoes to 2 cups of thin to medium white sauce and heat through. Delicious!!

Creamed Tuna on Toast
(Mama Marva used to make this a lot when I was little, but she finally stopped making it when she found out after years of serving it to us that Papa Ken doesn't like it. I still like it, though.)
Make 1-2 cups of medium white sauce. Add 1 or 2 cans of drained tuna. Serve over hot toast or (even better) over hot baking powder biscuits (you can use Bisquick for this). This makes a quick and filling dinner.

Creamed Egg on Toast
Hard boil 1-2 dozen eggs. Triple or quadruple the White Sauce recipe. (Steve Adams also adds a couple of teaspoons of sugar to the white sauce.) Chop up and add the boiled eggs. Serve over buttered (or unbuttered) toast. It is the Adams' family tradition to have this every Easter and Christmas morning, and on some other special occasions as well (Pa A is the one who usually makes it).

Basic Potato Soup
Peel and cut about 6 good-sized potatoes into small pieces. Barely cover the potatoes with salted water (with about 1 tsp. salt) and boil for 10 to 15 minutes. In a separate skillet, sautee one chopped onion in 1/4 cup butter. Add the onion to the boiled potatoes (don't drain the potatoes!). Add about 2 cups milk or cream (this can be a combination of skim milk, powdered milk, whole milk, evaporated milk, or half and half--whatever you have on hand. Of course, the creamier, the tastier!) Cook on medium heat until slightly thickened (another 15-30 minutes). Season with salt, pepper, parsley, and/or dried dill weed. Good additions to this soup are celery (boil with the potatoes), corn or peas (canned or frozen), bacon (fried and crumbled), ham, and grated cheese. Serves about 6. Easy, economical, and yummy on a cold night!

Potato Chowder
(Here is a richer potato soup recipe I like from the Woodland 3rd Ward Relief Society recipe book)
4 cups (about 4 medium) potatoes, peeled and diced
2/3 cups celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. dried dill weed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can (16 oz.) cream-style corn (you can also use frozen)
1 cup diced cooked hamor curmbled fried bacon
Combine potatoes, celery, onion, water, and 1/4 cup butter in a large soup kettle. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and set aside. Do not drain. In a large, heavy skillet, melt remaining butter. Stir in flour salt and pepper. Gradually add milk; stir until thickened and smooth. Add dill. Stir sauce into potato mixture. Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir in corn. Add the ham or bacon. Heat through. Serves 8.

Well, I gotta go. I'll put on a few more recipes later.