COOK OF THE WEEK - SALLY REDENIUS

My name has changed but I’m still the same Cook of the Week Editor. I married Max Redenius on Dec. 12. So to re-introduce myself, Sally Redenius, I decid-ed to visit with Max’s sisters via the email and Facebook messag-ing to get some of Max’s moth-er’s recipes. They were all very helpful and it was fun reading their reminiscing back and forth as we all discussed the recipes. Several times when I have cooked something Max has said, “This is good but it isn’t quite like my mother made!” So I’m in search of those “just like my mom” recipes! Max’s sisters that were so helpful to me were Jackie (Vern) Schulze of Humboldt, Marge (Skip) Hubrich of St. Cloud, MN, and Linda (Fred) Det-mering of Fort Dodge. Each one of “my new sisters” was able to share several recipes that they remembered their mother cook-ing. I wonder if, as I try some of these, Max will recognize them as his mom’s or at least almost like what his mom made! And of course all three girls agreed that when their dear mother cooked, often she didn’t use a recipe, as so many older people never did back when they never used a box mix to make any-thing. All of these following recipes came from their mother original-ly, but I will name which sister shared it with us. Powdered Sugar CookieMarge Hubrich1 cup shortening1 cup salad oil1 cup powdered sugar2 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon soda4 cups plus 4 tablespoons flour Mix in order given, adding flour and soda last. Refrigerate one hour. Shape into balls, pressed down with a floured fork. Bake in a 350-degree oven until done.Peanut BrittleMarge Hubrich1/2 cup water2 cups sugar1 cup white syrup2 cups raw Spanish peanuts2 tablespoons butter1 teaspoon vanilla Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil. Add 2 cups sugar and 1 cup white syrup. Stir until dissolved and boil until it spins a thread. Add 2 cups raw Spanish peanuts and cook over low fire until golden brown. Remove from fire and add 2 tablespoons butter, 2 teaspoons soda and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir quickly. Spread on a buttered cookie sheet. Place in a cool area.Rosy Cinnamon ApplesMarge Hubrich1 cup red cinnamon candies2-2/3 cups boiling water8 small or medium baking apples, peeled and cored Dissolve candies in boiling water. Add apples. Cook slowly until tender, turning frequently. Remove apples to a shallow dish. Add sugar to cinnamon syrup and boil 3 minutes. Pour over apples turning carefully to glaze each apple. Cool.Cinnamon Rolls(makes 60 rolls)Marge Hubrich3 cups lukewarm water1 or 2 packages yeast1 stick margarine1 cup sugar2 eggs1 tablespoon salt10 to 12 cups flour Dissolve yeast in water. Add margarine, sugar and salt. Add well beaten eggs. Add flour. Mix well. (Add only enough flour to make soft dough.) Mix at 5 p.m. Knead down every hour until 10 p.m. At this time shape into rolls. Cover. Let raise until next morning. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.Topping for caramel rolls:1-1/2 sticks margarine3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar2 tablespoons Karo syruppecansMom’s Bean SoupMarge Hubrich Boil ham hock with onion. Add beans and potatoes, salt and pepper. Cook until potatoes and beans are done. That was it! (This is one of the recipes I was asking about because I put more stuff in mine and mine wasn’t like mom made!) I will keep trying! One of the girls added that they add carrots to this combo.Blarney StonesMarge Hubrich6 eggs2 cups sugar1 cup boiling water2-1/2 cups sifted flour3 teaspoons baking powder1/4 teaspoon salt Separate egg yolks from whites. Beat egg yolks and gradually add sugar and hot wa-ter. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat egg whites and fold into batter. Pour into 2 greased 9 x 13 inch pans or into a jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 de-grees 30 to 40 minutes. Cool. Cut into desired sized squares. Frost cake pieces on all sides. Roll in ground Spanish peanuts. Takes 1-1/2 cups of peanuts.Frosting:1-1/2 sticks soft margarine (not melted)3 cups powdered sugarRaisin Filled CookiesMarge Hubrich Max has been telling me about these and trying to de-scribe them. I will have to try and surprise him with some of these!1-3/4 cups sugar1 cup shortening2 eggs1 cup thick sour cream (may use commercial sour cream)1 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon vanilla4 cups flour Mix all together and chill.** Raisin filling – thicken as for pie. Roll out cookie dough. Cut circles. Place 1 tablespoon of raisin filling on one cut piece. Place another round piece on top. Press together. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. So for those who may wonder how to thicken raisins as for pie, which I’m also sitting here won-dering, I looked up a recipe and found the following:Chop:12 ounce box of raisins (use about 2/3 of the box)Combine with:1 tablespoon butter1/3 cup sugar1 teaspoon flourwater to cook, until consistency of jamRHUBARB MERINGUE PIESubmitted by both JackieSchulze and Marge Hubrich2 cups rhubarb, finely diced2 eggs, separated2 tablespoons soft margarine1-1/2 cups sugar2 tablespoons flour1 cup milk1 teaspoon lemon juice Place rhubarb in an unbaked pie shell. Beat egg yolks, flour and margarine together. Slowly stir in the milk. Add sugar and lemon juice and mix well. Beat the 2 egg whites until stiff and fold into above mixture. Pour over rhubarb. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40 to 45 minutes more.Mom’s Cream PuffsJackie SchulzeCream Puffs:1 cup water1/2 cup shortening1/4 teaspoon salt1 cup flour4 eggsFilling for Cream Puffs:1/2 cup sugar3 tablespoons flour1/4 teaspoon salt2 cups milk2 egg yolks, unbeaten1 tablespoon water1 teaspoon vanilla1/4 teaspoon almond extract Cream Puffs: Bring water, shortening and salt to a boil. Stir in flour and cook until dough forms a smooth dough. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add egg, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Drop by spoonsful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake 25 minutes more. Cool, then cut an opening into the cream puff and pick centers of the cream puffs. Fill with filling or whipped cream. Filling: Mix sugar, flour and salt together in saucepan. Add small amount of the milk and mix to form a smooth paste. Add unbeaten egg yolks and beat thoroughly, then add remaining milk and blend. Place over me-dium high heat and cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick. Add butter and blend. Cool and add vanilla and almond extract. Makes enough for 12 cream puffs. Mom always made a dou-ble batch and we each filled our own cream puff.GRANDMA WALTHER’S SUGAR COOKIESJackie Schulze1-3/4 cups sugar1 cup shortening (butter or margarine)2 eggs1 cup thick sour cream1 level teaspoon soda, put in sour cream1 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon vanilla4 cups flour Cream shortening and sugar, add eggs and sour cream with soda in it. Add flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Chill dough. Roll out. Cut in desired shapes. Bake in a 350 to 375 degree oven until golden brown.Date CakeJackie Schulze1 cup dates, cut fine1 teaspoon soda1 cup boiling water1/4 cup butter1 cup sugar2 eggs1-1/2 cups cake flour (I don’t think I used cake flour)1/4 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon vanilla1/2 cup nuts Dissolve soda in boiling wa-ter. Pour over dates and let cool. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and beat. Add sifted dry ingredients alternated with date and water mixture. Add nuts. Bake in a 9 inch square pan in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Cool and top with the Date Topping.Date Topping:1/2 cup dates, cut fine1/2 cup water1/2 cup sugar1/4 cup butter1/2 cup nuts Cook until thick and spread on cool cake. Cut in squares and top with whipped cream.Sponge CakeJackie Schulze8 egg yolks1/4 cup cold water1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon rind1 tablespoon lemon juice1 teaspoon vanilla3/4 cup sugar1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour8 egg whites1 teaspoon cream of tartar3/4 cup sugar In mixer bowl beat egg yolks at high speed for about 6 minutes or until they are thick and lemon colored. Combine water, lemon rind, lemon juice and vanilla. Pour this into egg yolks. Beat at low speed until blended. Turn mixer to medium speed until thick. Gradually add sugar and salt and beat until sugar dissolves. Sprinkle about 1/4 of flour over egg yolk mix-ture. Gently fold in flour just until blended. Repeat with the remainder of the flour, one-fourth at a time. Wash beaters thoroughly. In large mixer bowl beat egg whites with cream of tartar. Beat at medium speed about one mi-nute or until soft peaks form. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Stir about 1 cup of egg whites into yolk mixture. Thor-oughly, fold egg yolk mixture into remaining egg whites. Turn into an ungreased 10 inch tube pan. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 60 to 65 minutes. Invert cake pan and cool. Remove from pan. Frost with Fudge Frosting listed below.Mom’s Fudge FrostingJackie Schulze2 cups sugar3 tablespoons cocoa (more, if you like it darker)Half and Half cream (never measured, just enough to dissolve sugar) Stir until sugar is dissolved and while cooling over low heat until it makes a soft ball in cold water. Put in 2 tablespoons but-ter and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir into mixture. Cool in cold water in the kitchen sink for a while and then stir until thick enough to spread.Lemon PieJackie Schulze1 cup sugar1/4 cup corn starch1-1/2 cups boiling water2 egg yolks1/3 cup lemon juice1 tablespoon grated lemon rind1 teaspoon butter1 baked pie shell1 recipe of your favorite meringue Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add boiling water gradually and cook over boiling water until smooth and thick-ened. Stir constantly, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Beat egg yolks and pour hot mixture over them, gradually, stirring con-stantly. Cook five minutes long-er. Just before removing from heat add lemon juice, rind and butter. Mix well and cool. Pour into baked pie shell. Cover with meringue and bake.Almond Bark Rice Krispie TreatsLinda Detmering2 pounds almond bark (package plus 4 squares off of another package)1 cup peanut butter2 cups peanuts4 cups Rice Krispies2 cups marshmallows Melt almond bark. Add pea-nut butter. Blend. Take off of heat. Add next 3 ingredients. Mix well. Drop onto wax paper by spoonful. Sloppy JoesLinda Detmering2 pounds ground beef1 tablespoon butter1/2 cup chopped onion2/3 cup catsup1/2 cup water2 tablespoons lemon juice1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce1-1/2 teaspoons salt1 teaspoon vinegar1/4 teaspoon dry mustard In a large skillet, cook onion in butter until transparent. Add ground beef and brown. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and sim-mer for 15 minutes.No Peek Beef StewLinda Detmering2 pounds stew meat1 large can tomato juice (46 or 48 ounce)1 tablespoon tapioca1 tablespoon sugar1 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce2 cups cubed potatoes2 cups cubed carrots2 cups cubed celery2 small onions, chopped Place meat in 2-1/2 quart cas-serole. Mix juice, tapioca, sugar, salt and Worcestershire Sauce. Set aside. Prepare vegetables and put on top of meat. Pour liquid over meat and vegetables. Cover. Bake at 250 degrees for 5 hours. DON’T PEEK!Walnut WondersLinda Detmering1 cup butter1/2 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon vanilla2 cups flour2 cups ground English walnuts Cream butter, sugar, salt and vanilla; add flour, a little at a time. Work with your hands. Add nuts; blend. Roll into balls. Bake 12 to 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Cool slightly. Roll in powdered sugar.Chocolate CakeJackie Schulze1/2 cup shortening1 cup sugar2 eggs1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon vanilla1/2 cup milk1-1/2 cups flour1/2 cup cocoa1/2 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon soda1/2 cup hot water Cream shortening and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Com-bine flour, cocoa, baking pow-der, salt and soda. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Add water last and mix well. Jackie’s note: Mom used this to make chocolate cookies too and I always had to call and ask her what to leave out to make cookies. I can’t do that now but think it was the baking powder and the milk.MayonnaiseJackie Schulze Don’t make this recipe until next week when I send in the amount of vinegar needed. Mom always made her own mayonnaise.2 tablespoons flour1 cup sugar1 tablespoon yellow mustard1/2 cup milk2 eggs Mix dry ingredients, add vin-egar and then milk. Heat on stove until warm. Add well-beaten eggs and cook until thickened. I realize I’m missing the quantity of vinegar in this recipe. I will make a note or a correction of this whole recipe next week. Watch for it. My own mother used to make her own mayonnaise also so I know it is delicious. If you are reading this, then you probably enjoy new recipes. If you would like to share some of your recipes with the com-munity, YOU could be Cook of the Week. Please contact me, Sally Redenius, if you would like to be in this column some week. I can be reached by phone at 515-373-6346 or email me at sacuthbe@msn.com. I will be happy to email or send you my short questionnaire and set up a time to come and visit you at your convenience. I’m always looking for NEW Cooks of the Week. Also, if you are new in town, this is a good way to introduce yourself to the Humboldt community and sur-rounding communities. I look forward to visiting with you.