joesacher.com

The first step of fixing any problem is to admit it. I have a cooking problem. Me cooking, itself isn’t a problem. I have a problem following recipes. This is something I learned from my Mom. To make a dish, you need to look at a half dozen recipes on the subject, then go in the kitchen and cook.

My sister, Ruth, is the exact opposite. She prefers the nice guide of a recipe. Some of Mom’s recipes that I will post on this site were translated by Ruth from watching Mom make them. I’ve often told my Mom that she needs to keep a kitchen lab book. There are times that a dish is just superb. We enjoy it, because we know there is no chance of recreating it. Even Mom didn’t know exactly what she did.

I am going to attempt to keep track of my successful experiments on this site. It will be a lab notebook for all to see and an easy place that I can reference again when I want to make the same type of dish.  These experiments won’t be as detailed as a recipe.  Just a log of what I did to make the dish.

As a kid, we made sugar cookies with cookie cutters. These are the plastic type of cookie cutter that include both the outside shape and other details. For example, a snowman with facial features, a scarf, etc. Once they are baked, we used food coloring to paint on the cookies.

Years have gone by since we last did this. Our family decided to paint cookies with the kids, this year. Here is the sugar cookie recipe that we have use, originally from the old red family cookbook.
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This is the stuffing that Marilyn makes (my sisters’s mother in law.) Since Ruth is allergic to wheat, substitute spelt bread as needed.

Serves: 6
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My mom see recipes as suggestions. She will read various similar recipes, then throw them away and make something. Here is a good example of a recipe she came up with that eliminates some allergens those in my family had at one time.

Serves: 32
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This came from my sister’s Holly Hobbie Cookbook. I remember making it as a kid. it is probably like any other meatloaf recipe out there, but it is somewhat nostalgic for us.

Start 2 hours before serving time.
Serves: 5
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This pie is a family tradition, always present at Christmas and Thanksgiving. It is similar to a Pecan Pie, but with a little more body.
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