EASY MICROWAVE RECIPES

I remember when we bought our first Microwave. It was sometime in the '80s. There was a big snowstorm and most of the roads were closed in our area. We had planned a New Year's Eve get-together at my parent's house but it was cancelled because of the snow and closed roads. We decided as a family to cross-country ski down the lane (about 1/4 mi.) to my parents house and surprise them on New Year's Eve. We enjoyed merry-making anyway on New Year's Eve. Later that weekend we skied to Blackers, a large furniture store near my parent's house and bought our first microwave oven. When we took it home, we didn't have experience using one so we warmed chocolate chip cookies and maevelled at its usefulness. Over the year's I have learned of its versatility and can't imagine living without one now. I have included two of my favorite recipes.

CRUSTLESS QUICHE LORRAINE
Brown about 8 slices of bacon cut into 1 inch pieces
Place in the bottom of a microwaveble dish (about 8x8) along with the following ingredients to make a "crust".
1 c. of swiss cheese ( or whatever you have, I usually use cheddar.)
1/2 c. minced onion (can be browned in bacon grease if desired)
Whip together and pour over "crust" mixture in dish:
4 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Cook uncovered in microwave on high for 10 minutes or until set. Stir every 3 min.

BEEFY ENCHILADAS

Brown and cook about 5 min.
1 lb. ground beef
2 small cans tomato sauce
1/2 can mild enchilada sauce ( We don't like things very spicy at our house but you can adjust to your taste.)
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. cumin
Heat 6-8 tortillas ( I like flour tortillas but I have used corn tortillas and they are good too.) Fill each tortilla with refried beans, gr. beef and tomato sauce mixture and grated cheese. Reserve some sauce and grated cheese to spread over the top. Cook on high for 9 min. or until heated through.

Carrot Cookies

Both Hailey and I were tired of sweets after Christmas but it only took a day or two to get over so we made cookies. These cookies are different than the usual cookie and the orange frosting is a good midwinter choice, though they don't taste like carrot cake.

Orange Carrot Cookies

1 c. shortening 1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. sugar 2 c. sifted flour
1 c. cooked, mashed carrots
1 egg 2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add carrots, egg and vanilla. Mix well. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to carrot mixture. Mix well. Drop by large teaspoonfuls on greased baking sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven about 20 minutes. While warm frost with Golden Glow frosting.

Golden Glow Frosting
Combine the juice of 1/2 orange, grated rind of 1 orange, 1 T. butter or margarine and 1 c. sifted confectioner's sugar.

These cookies don't taste like much without the frosting but I think they are delicious with the frosting.

Lasagne

This week Hailey and I are back to cooking. We made Lasagne. This recipe contains no ricotta cheese (which I don't care for) and was shown to me by Ralph's mom. It is an easy dish to serve company. You just have add a green salad and a baguette or frenvh bread and you have a delicious meal.

Grandma Kern's Lasagne

Brown two lbs. ground beef in large skillet. Saute diced onions and cekery with the ground beef. Add 1 jar of prego tomato sauce to ground beef mixture in skillet. (I like the kind with vegetables in it.) Heat through. Boil 12-15 Lasagne noodles according to package directions. Layer in 9x12 casserole dish as follows:

-A little Pam on pan to prevent sticking.

-cooked lasagne noodles in a single layer to cover bottom of pan

-a layer of ground beef and tomato sauce mixture

-spoonfuls of cottage cheese

-grated mozzarella cheese

Continue making 3-5 repetitons of layers. Cover top of casserole with plenty of mozzarella cheese and a little Paemesan cheese if desired.

Bake until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Ralph looked forward to this all day and enjoyed eating it. We had it with fresh oranges, sent to us from Craig Casgneto, a friend who lives in Nampa.

Christmas Leftovers

We had a wonderful Christmas at the cabin! There was not as much snow as usual (about 16 inches) and it was very cold. (about -16 degrees) - so much so that Emily and Chad had frozen water pipes and got water from our cabin.
Each family made a wonderful contribution. The highlight for me was when Emily got out her violin, Sara her cello, Josie played the piano and Ashtyn sang Christmas songs. It felt just like "the olden days" when we used to practice for programs. It was familiar right down to somebody yelling at everyone to be quiet so they could count. For me, it was wonderful.
Each of the son-in-laws contributed a specialty to the Christmas menu. Blake made crab and prime rib. Chad made a deep fried turkey. And Jay made Barbecued Ribs. The best part was all the leftovers. We have been dining on them since. They are even better than at Christmas because we can have them singly for a meal without confusing the palate or being too full.
Each of the families got a little snowmobiling in including one day when Jay's brother and family came up from St.Anthony with an armload of more Christmas goodies. Sara and Jay and brother Jeff and Jenny went out and celebrated dual wedding anniversaries while grandma and grandpa (mostly grandpa) babysat kids. The kids went together and got us a new flat-screen TV for the cabin. It came in handy to keep kids occupied.
We got a call from Ben Christmas Day. I have the best family ever!

Christmas Traditions

In our family we have a tradition of eating Clam Chowder on Christmas Eve. This year 3 of our 4 children and their families will be at the cabin for Christmas Eve in Island Park, ID. I suggested Clam Chowder from a can but was vetoed. This week Hailey helped me make our traditional Clam Chowder. I guess family traditions aren't traditions unless they are the same every year. The recipe for our traditional Clam Chowder follows. I got it from my visiting teaching companion who brought us a jar one Christmas. She was a wonderful lady who taught me many things.

Bratten's Famous Clam Chwder

2 cans (6 1/2 oz .) minced clams
1 c. finely chopped onions
1 c. finely diced celery
2 c. finely diced potatoes
* 1 cube butter
1/2 c. flour
*1 qurt half and half
1 1/2 t, salt
2 T. red wine vinegar (optional I leave it out and instead add a couple squirts of Louisiana hot sauce to enhance the flavor. It does not make it spicy hot, just makes more flavorful. I add it to many things for that reason - cream sauces, gravies, eggs, etc.)
a few grains of white pepper ( I usually leave this out too and just let people seson at the table.)
Saute onions and celery in a thump of butter. Drain juice from the
clams and pour over the vegetables (potato, celery and onions0 in a small saucepan. If necessary add enough water to barely cover vegtables. Simmer covered, over medium heat until barely tender.
In the meantime melt 3/4 cube of butter in large saucepan. Add flour and blend; Cook and stir for 2-3 min. Add half and half. Cook and stir with french whisk until thick and smooth. (about 7 min.), always stirring in the samd direction. Add undrained vegetables and clams and heat through. (Never boil after clams have been added as the clams will toughen.) Males 8 servings








* really necessary to bring out the flavor of the clams

Christmas Cookies

This week Hailey helped me make gingerbread cookies to take up to the cabin for Christmas. Three of our kids and their families will be there which surprises me because their families are getting older and hauling eveything up to the cabin becomes more and more complicated.
I love gingerbread so I have to admit this was a bit self-serving. I have some cookie cutters shaped like gingerbread houses so we used those. We shall see if grandkids are excited when I tell them that each one gets to decorate their own gingerbread house and eat it all if they want. I hope they won't be too disappointed when they find out it is just a 5"x5" gingerbread cookie. Here is the recipe we used:

Rolled Ginger Cookies

1 c. shortening
1 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 c. molasses
2 tbsp. vinegar
5 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2-3 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream shortening and sugar. Beat in egg, molasses and vinegar. Sift together dry ingredients and blend in. Chill dough 3 hours.
Roll dough 1/8 in. thick on slightly floured surface. Cut in shapes. Place 1 " apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 5-6 min. Cool before frosting. Makes about 5 dozen.

Another Christmas eve tradition is setting up the creche which we call the manger scene. Grandpa reads the Christmas Story from Luke in the Bible. As each character is introduced, the figure is set by or in the stable. This year at the cabin we are going to make the figures out of what we have up there which is construction paper.
Each grandchild will be assigned to draw a part of the manger scene and we will set it up as grandpa reads.

Party Mix

This past week Hailey helped me make Party Mix. I like this recipe because it is different than any I've seen and it makes a festive gift for neighbors or "home teaching" families. I got the recipe from my sister, Kerry. Besides, I think it tastes good.

White Chocolate Party Mix
10 oz. or 1 1/4 c. small, round pretzels
5 c. cheerios
5 c. corn chex
2 c. salted nuts
1 lb. m & ms
Mix the above ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside.
2 12 oz. packages white chocolate chips
3 T. vegetable
Microwave white choc. chips and oil for 2 min. on med. high. Remove and stir. Return to microwave and cook for 10 seconds. Remove and stir again until smooth.
Pour over dry mixture and mix well. Pour out onto waxed paper and let set up. After mix has set up store in plastic bags.

Merry Christmas!