My largest bunch of magic came this week from an unexpected source. I sent my column and some extra notes and family photos to a friend in Oslo, Norway. I sent it on Friday and on Saturday I had an answer back from her! Beats snail mail, doesn’t it? We have never met personally but I consider her a friend. My connection with her is almost magic. Back in 2007, when I wrote a column about the death of my older brother, my aunt (who has a long association with her and her grandfather) sent her a copy of the column. In recent years she lost contact with my aunt since she had to enter a nursing home and could no longer manage her cell phone. She still had the copy of this article which had the email address of the Edgerton Earth on it. She sent a note to that address looking for information about my aunt. The editor of the Earth graciously forwarded the email to me. Siri Anne was pleasantly surprised when she got an email from me. We have become long distance friends, and my international connections have increased 100%. Her mother insists that she forward it to her ! That makes 2 foreign contacts.
She suggested that I send her some suggestions for leftovers, or economy tips for cooking from my past. When I was cooking for eleven that would have been an easy task. Since for years I have been just meeting my own cooking needs, that will require more thinking. One thing that came to mind quickly was when we were all still at home, my mother cooked a lot at noon, so we could have leftovers for supper. Potatoes filled a requirement for almost every meal. When we had just plain boiled potatoes, which was often, she sliced the cold potatoes, browned cubes of stale bread in butter, added that to the potatoes in a skillet, with bacon grease and/or butter. Then break a couple of eggs over the top and stir as they heat. It was a favorite of mine when I was very young. My association with Siri Anne is a bit of magic. She does extremely well in her responses as she apologized that English is not her first language. I would rate her as an A-, since there are a few imperfections, but I always know what was intended.
Since we are talking about food and potatoes in particular, this would be a good place to give you a recipe for an enhancement of one of my favorite foods, scalloped potatoes. This is a short-cut I have never heard of nor tried, cooking the potatoes in the microwave before baking them in the oven. Sounds good to me.
ELEGANT SCALLOPED POTATOES
8 large baking potatoes
6 tablespoons butter, cubed
6 tablespoons flour
1 to 2 teaspoons garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
3 ½ cups milk
12 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed
1/3 cup crumbled cooked bacon
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup sliced green onions
Scrub and pierce potatoes. Place on microwave proof plate. Cook on high for 15 minutes.( 1100 watt) Cool slightly. Melt the butter, stir in flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil, cook and stir until thickened. Add the cheese and bacon. Stir until cheese is melted and remove from heat. Cut potatoes in ¼ inch slices. Place a layer of potatoes in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Cover with cheese mixture. Repeat layers. Top with cheddar cheese and onions. Bake uncovered for15 to 20 minutes.
We cannot leave out desserts, As I have to have my sugar professionally tested in two months, I am trying to ignore desserts, so I did not try this one. But with such tasty ingredients why wouldn’t it be fantastic?
ICE CREAM PIE
1 1/3 cups finely chopped peanuts
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
FILLING: ¼ cup peanut butter
¼ cup light corn syrup
¼ cup flaked coconut
3 tablespoons chopped peanuts
1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
Miniature chocolate bits or M&Ms/
Combine peanuts, butter and sugar. Press onto bottom and up the sides of a nine inch pie pan. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Combine peanut butter and corn syrup. Add coconut and chopped peanuts. Stir in ice cream just until combined. Spoon into crust. Cover and freeze until firm. Just before serving Sprinkle with M&Ms or chocolate bits..
Thanks to all of you faithful readers for your encouragement.
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