(Forgive another non-food for the most part post that trends toward marshmallow and mommy love rather than recipe)

At this point 14 years ago, I was in a hospital room across the hall from some construction being done in Eugene, Oregon. I had a new baby who was born big, 8 lbs 13 oz. (no gestational diabetes-just a big girl) She was a second child and absolutely a gift from before her first breath.

I was a scared new mom. How could a second child be so scary? How would her brother handle having a new sister? How would I wrangle two kids into a car? Would this one breastfeed successfully? Could she be as amazing as her older brother? Could I actually mother a girl child?

Her brother loved “baby back-up” in that not yet 2 year diction. He was alternatively annoyed and dazzled by her. He still is (don’t tell him I said so…it is a secret). I managed having two under two. She was (and is) a totally different child than her siblings, yet that mom of two (then three, then six) did work, does work. Our doctor-we shared a family practice doctor when she was tiny-said something about the benefits of benign neglect on second children-meaning that while they weren’t neglected, they didn’t have the amazing pressure of first borns. This is true in some ways. In others, there is more. So I managed to wrangle two, loved having a third. I found three more. But it isn’t their story or mine.

It is a story of a girl who was hungry from day one-for everything and after a rough start, we did get that nursing down. I discovered a singular child in this second born-one who is every bit as amazing as her brother, dazzling in fact. This daughter sparkles with energy, love and purpose. She is finding her way with that as everyone must but in the meantime, I really doubt there is a person who has met her who doesn’t know that yes, this one is a special one. She devours books. She listens. She gives.

And yes, she bakes. Wonderfully. She has learned fine ingredients and appreciation from her father. She loves a well-written recipe with a great picture. She is amazed at my incredible disregard for rules in cooking, easy substitutions and my dance through the kitchen.

I could ramble on about the incredible joy of having her in my life for these 14 years. The sweet baby moments turning to toddler, preschooler, school girl, middle school. I could even ramble about the angst moments. But as she turns 14, while I would bottle all that time to relive again, I find myself looking forward to seeing what tomorrow and each day brings for her and for us because we know her, we continue to know more about her as she does herself and because we love her.

I wish I had a recipe so you could each cook up your own-but she is a single reserve batch with a secret recipe all her own.

My 13 yo 14 yo (ok…she will be 14 in a day) has a thing for vampires.  She is after all…the AGE. So we have gone through Twilight, through Sookie Stackhouse, Vampire Academy, classic vampire fiction, and  through a number of the sketchy genre called paranormal romances. Yes, we. You see, I have this annoying habit of taking an interest in what my children enjoy. It has given me hours of Runescape joy, Animorphs pain, too much knowledge of Neopets, Jelly Car, Pirates, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and now vampires. (Not all the same children-though some overlap)

On September 22nd I sent the girl child this Cake Wreck

She emailed back and said OMG, I want that EXACT cake for my birthday.  I emailed back with “uh, you know it is a cake wreck right?” She wrote back with “What is a cake wreck?” Whereupon I emailed her and said she really should spend more time shoulder surfing with her siblings. (who are very into the joys of the cake wreck) In any case, she still wanted it for her birthday.

Last week, I said to Denise: We need to order that cake wreck for RJ’s birthday. “What cake wreck? Why?” “You know that one she wants for her birthday.” (Forgetting like the children that we do not share a brain.) So I sent her the picture thinking no problem. You probably can order ice cream cakes online for Twilight and be done with it. Fortunately, Denise didn’t think so and looked into it. Apparently the Twilight cakes are hard to get. She special ordered the printed sugar plastic thingy thinking ok, we will do it ourselves. It came in the mail. Then commenced the hunt for the cake.  Hunt was right. Apparently, sheet ice cream cakes are out of vogue. Four ice cream places scouted-no sheet cakes-all round. Finally, Jewel Osco had some rectangular ones but they were too small. Oh well. We will trim and fit.

Yesterday Denise did just that–but she definitely is not a cake decorator. So, there was a cake wreck of a cake wreck:

It was even better once children decided where to put candles…yeah…well…they are unusual children. Birthday girl loved it. Denise saved the day with her cake wreck and careful work of love.

Oh, around the first kid pick up from school this year, I learned that my children…at least some of them were clueless about Tang. How could that be? Astronauts drink it! Kids drink it! I was sure I had served it to them at some point. Maybe I had. I confidently added it to the grocery list. The girl child will drink buckets of Trop-50. Surely Tang will suit. Well, no one liked it when I finally made a pitcher. Not only that…they have artificial sweeteners in it now! (which means I won’t drink it because I have a nasty reaction to one of them so have sworn off all of them) Why do such a thing to my beloved Tang? I tried adding it to a pitcher of sweet tea but the kids grew instantly suspicious and wouldn’t drink it.

I haven’t tried making Hot Russian Tea with it. Who knows how crushed my heart will be to learn they hate it that way too? I mean my best friend Beth Carey and I would hot foot it up to the neighborhood holiday “craft sale” to purchase a 1/4 cup of the mix for 50 cents. I now realize that the neighborhood association cleaned up on our purchases of that and other goofy stuff.

Hot Russian Tea

1 7-oz jar of tang
1 cup Instant tea
1 1/4 cup sugar, granulated
1 tsp cloves, ground
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of salt

Blend ingredients together well. Use heaping teaspoon of blended ingredients per cup of boiling water. Garnish with slices of lemon.

I confess I haven’t cooked since Sunday. I probably shouldn’t have cooked then–but of course Funeral Potatoes with Ham were a big hit. Unfortunately, I made them through a cloud of fever. I have had a lingering cold since before BlogHer Food. It had reached the eh, cough a few times phase last week. This isn’t unusual for me and colds. Then on Saturday night I felt suddenly really bad. Sunday, I continued to feel bad. In the midst of that I started running a fever. I also felt like death warmed over. Monday had me realizing that I would have to go to the doctor.

Doctor pronounced sinus infection and probable H1N1. He ordered blood tests-because you see the scary part of me having a fever is I am on immune suppressing drugs which mean even when normal people run fevers, I do not. Luckily the blood tests didn’t say head to hospital forthwith. The blood tests said “oh she is on the low end of normal for WBC but still in the normal range” (note: when YOU have an infection your white blood count goes up) I am on antibiotics for the sinus infection. We decided against the antivirals. We are in that stage of waiting for the past three days. Bonus points: headache has gone away. Unfortunately, fever seems to come and go.

This means I have slept/lounged all day for a couple of days. I am getting nothing done around the house. (Yes, I thought “ooooo sick days-I can clean off my desk-before realizing-oh yuck. Sick day. I wear myself out walking to the other end of the house) McDonalds kindly provided dinner last night. Goode and Fresh is providing tonight’s dinner. (though I really don’t care since antibiotics hate my guts-literally) Leftover funeral potatoes and ham were dinner the night before. At one point yesterday I cursed that we didn’t have #bertollifrozen in the house and that Bertolli is all Italian food which definitely is wearing thin around this house, at least for me.

Tomorrow-fever or no I must work lest I go insane. I also need to change my mother’s sheets and mop her floor. I also need to figure out what I planned for meals this week. I did it on the fly and didn’t write it down though I know we got special ingredients.

I know it won’t involve this recipe. My family has rebelled against vegetables in gelatin. This one is even beyond me to think palatable. But it does come from a Knox Gelatine cookbooklet (1961) called Meal Planning for the Sick and Convalescent with Menus and Recipes. If you are into canned peas and shredded carrots as well as aspics-you could give it a try. I am very sure that offering this as required eating to any malingerer in your family will cause instant cure though.

Jellied Vegetable Salad

Mix 1 envelope Knox unflavored Gelatine, 1-2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt together thoroughly.

Add 1 3/4 cups very hot water and stir until gelatine is thoroughly dissolved.

Add 1/4 cup lemon juice. Chill to unbeaten egg white consistency.

Fold in 1 cup shredded carrots and 1/2 cup well-drained cooked or canned peas.

Turn into 3-4 cup mold or individual molds. Chill until firm.

Makes 6 servings.

If you are looking for a cold cider treat or a non-alcoholic punch for a Hallowe’en or Thanksgiving party-this one that uses yesterday’s base recipe for Hot Spiced Cider for a cold punch is perfect. The kids enjoyed this with dinner on Sunday night-as did I-even though I call Ginger Ale the worst beverage on the planet. Since we didn’t have a party’s worth of people-we made the cider/juice part in a pitcher and then poured half and half cider mixture and ginger ale.

Tangy Cider Punch

Omit spices and heating process in previous recipe. (Basically-start with 2 quarts cider) Combine chilled cider and 1/4 cup sugar with 1 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup lemon juice (it sounds like a lot but it worked out perfectly and wasn’t too sour) and 1 qt ginger ale. Pour over ice cubes or crushed ice in tall glasses.

(From The Holiday Cookbook, Culinary Arts Institute, 1954.

Last week while the 19 yo girl child was here to visit. (hmph-should be while the 19 yo was home-but she claims this home she has never lived in, in a state where she has never lived, is not home, darn big kids) we went to a lovely junk shop and coffee house. (fab combo-more places should do that)

They had a great selection of retro cookbooks and cookbooklets-once you found them on the bottom shelf in a back corner, behind stuff, under stuff, etc. One of the ones I picked up is “The Holiday Cookbook” from the Staff Home Economists at the Culinary Arts Institute, published by Culinary Arts Instituute, Chicago 1, IL. 1955.

I think we will have a lot of fun with this one as the year goes by, but since Halloween is nigh…let’s start there. First it is “Hallowe’en” in this lovely book. Second, well, some of the Hallowe’en Garnishes make me giggle….though the cheese pumpkins are on my list.

My scanner is not cooperating today but let me share the first recipe our family tried from this cookbooklet. It was a big hit at Sunday breakfast-and as my 13 yo said- “Like Starbucks, but not too sweet and just better”

Hot Spiced Cider

Combine in a large saucepan:
2 qts apple cider
1/4 cup sugar (you could probably skip this if you start with a sweet cider)
12 whole cloves
6 whole allspice (I substituted 1 tsp ground allspice)
4 3-in sticks cinnamon

Heat slowly to boiling. Boil 3 to 5 min. Remove spices. (I didn’t-my kids are accustomed to feel better tea so won’t flip out over a stray clove)

Serve hot garnished with orange slices or rings of unpeeled red apple with whole cloves forced through peel. 16 servings

(Ok, I didn’t garnish and 16 servings? We got 5 average sized mugs out of this recipe. Granted they were not punch glass sized. Of course, I guesstimated on the cider amount. I had a gallon and used half-ish but I didn’t measure. My Tupperware measuring cup that does well with large measures is MIA. )

Now syndicated on BlogHer.
A couple of weeks ago, I was startled by a cookbook among the books we picked up at the library. I don’t generally read new cookbooks and why on earth were we getting one from the library. It was too polished, too many pictures, too new. Cook’s Country Best Lost Suppers-Old-Fashioned, Home Cooked Recipes Too Good to Forget, 2009. I put it in the cold room to flip through while waiting for the dogs to come in.

I didn’t like it. First was the matter of the pictures (am not a fan). Then there was the matter of the “Notes from the Test Kitchen” at the end of each recipe. These were family favorite recipes from all over the country. How dare they change them? I read on though. And I thought. I considered. I craved.

Then I realized a couple of things, these are recipes that I would LIKE, do like, and uh, I tweak old recipes all the time. The people who submitted probably tweaked the originals as well. Ok, so maybe I love this cookbook, as new as it is and as much as it first rankled. I may even put it on my wish list. You see, there were a lot of recipes I want to try but it will be due back at the library soon. So, go see if your library has it. Give it a look. See what you think. The only thing I would have liked is the exact recipe pre-tweaking. For instance, one mentions that the original had used the crock pot but they preferred the oven to save time. I would nearly ALWAYS prefer a crock pot than the oven.

The one recipe I made already, Funeral Potatoes with Ham, got mixed reactions last night. Boy child and youngest objected to the mushrooms. (They both liked it well enough though-even if it had that horrible food included) Girl child-food snob-objected to the “casserole-ness” of the recipe. She also wasn’t impressed. But as she reflected on it, she said “You know, I didn’t think I liked this much, but now I want more.” Denise feared the ham and the “That looks like au gratin. I don’t like au gratin.” She had two servings. As for me-yum.

My notes-the peeling and shredding of the potatoes after cooking them was highly unpopular as a step. I think in the future, I will use pre-shredded potatoes-it won’t change the baking time and save a big step. We also didn’t butter the cornflake crumbs. I served with a dill cole slaw.

Funeral Potatoes With Ham

4 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 lb white mushrooms, sliced thin (We used pre-sliced)
salt (oops-left that out)
1 onion, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
11/2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
11/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 pound ham steak, cut into 2-inch matchsticks
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups cornflakes crushed fine

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Set aside

2. (This is the step I would skip in the future) Bring the potatoes and 4 quarts of water to a simmer in a large pot and cook until just shy of tender (a paring knife should glide through the flesh with slight resistance), 10-15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them and then grate the flesh lengthwise on the large holes of a box grater. Return the grated potatoes to the pot.

3. While the potatoes cook, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. (a step we said “Huh?” to) Add the mushrooms and 3/4 teaspoon salt (yeah, that salt, forgot.) and cook until mushrooms have released their juices and are brown around the edges, 7-10 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.

4. Whisk in the milk, thyme, and pepper, bring to simmer, and cook, stirring frequently until thickened slightly, about 1 minutes. Stir in the cheese and 6 tablespoons of butter and cook until melted, about 1 minute.

5. Off the heat, stir in the ham and sour cream. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and toss to combine. (I think this could be done in the 9 x 13 pan in the future and save a second saucy pot to clean) Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a bowl in microwave. (skipped this) Stir in the cornflakes, then sprinkle evenly over the top of potato mixture.

6. Place the baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until potatoes are bubbling and the top is golden brown, 35-45 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

My family has a love/hate relationship with chili. Sometimes they will eat it…sometimes not. I was not a chili fan as a child. I am not as an adult-except that it is so easy, cheap and nutritious. I have found offering tortillas with my chili and turning it into chili burritos satisfies the non chili lovers in my family. No idea why that is different than a bowl of chili but whatever. Over fritos or tortilla chips also makes it a well loved item at my house.

Here is how I make it and the purists can shudder.

2-4 cans red beans (err kidney beans)
1 can tomatoes-with juice
1 bag soy crumbles
1 bag of the Six Gun Chili Mixins (it is a brown bag-and never in the same place in two different grocery stores-hunt it out)

Throw all together in a saucepan and heat until heated through or pop in the crockpot (though add a can of water if you do this and will be letting it perk all day. Serve with sour cream, onions (if worth cutting up for your family) and shredded cheese. Lettuce too if you go the burrito route.

I have a partner and a daughter who hate bacon. Really, really, really hate bacon. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the family loves bacon. The good part and the bad part is pre-cooked bacon. The lack of bacon smell makes the haters happy. The lack of true bacon taste makes the rest of us somewhat sad.

In any case, bacon is good for more than torturing the bacon haters-for instance this spread. I cut the mayonnaise down to 3/4 of a cup and the horseradish by half-I tend to wonder if the original meant creamy horseradish-not the straight up stuff. As for the 4 teaspoons salt? Who knows what Miss Rita Burnley was thinking. I leave that out or just add a touch.

From Atlanta Cooks for Company, 1968

Egg and Bacon Spread

16 hard cooked eggs, minced
12 slices crisp bacon, crumbled
4 teaspoons horseradish
4 teaspoons onion, minced
4 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup Mayonnaise
4 teaspoons salt

Combine all ingredients and chill until serving time. Serve with choice of crackers, etc. Yield: 1 1/2 cups

I have a weekend breakfast dilemma-one of my children absolutely hates eggs. The rest of us get tired of pancakes, waffles, and biscuits. This weekend we had a surplus of apples…a trip to the nursing home to visit my sister and take her fresh fruit was put off because of what is being called flamingohousebola or the horrid cold all the adults seem to have still, yet, again.

In addition, later this week our college girl will be coming home for a few days. She is the originator of Apple Pancakes in our home-from those months when she was in charge of menus, food budget and meal prep in high school. (Homeschooling Home Ec…)

We didn’t quite make it the Michelle way over the weekend, it still is roughly based on her recipe, but it turned out pretty darn good.

Baked Apple Pancake

1 T butter
3 eggs
1/4 c flour
1/2 c. milk
Cinnamon
4 apples, cored, cut into bite size chunks
1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 450. Spray pie plate with nonstick spray. Place 1 tablespoon butter in pie plate and place in oven until melted. Whisk flour, milk, eggs, and cinnamon together. Pour into pie plate. Bake 8 min at 450, reduce heat to 375-bake 8 more minutes. Meanwhile, saute apples in remaining butter, add brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook until softened. Remove pancake from oven…cut into 6 pieces, serve with apples on top. Serves 6.

In other news-on Retro-Food Reviews-I have a new post up You are Drop Dead Gorgeous