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!

Thanksgiving

Hailey and I did not cook last week but Ralph and I had a wonderful vacation. I probably shouldn't speak for Ralph but both of us enjoyed being at the cabin. Ralph cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and we had delicious leftovers every meal afterward. I struggled with the "wonderful" symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis but I would rather do it in that beautiful environment than anywhere else. Ralph was able to work a little more on his "Homes of the Prophets" book and make some shutters for the back window so the deep snow doesn't break the glass. We both watched the Utah/BYU game on TV and enjoyed a slow pace over the holidays. Hope your Thanksgiving was as enjoyable. Now it is on to the Christmas Holidays!

Home-made Butter

Hailey and I made butter this week. This is something I used to do with my kindergarten kids the week of thanksgiving. It is easy and it brings back memories for me when I was a girl and had the assignment to churn butter every week from the cream urnished by our Jersey cow, using a paddle type butter churn with a glass bottom. For my kindergarten kids and Hailey all we needed was some clean baby food jars and a carton of whipping cream.
You just put about 1/2 in. of cream in the jar and screw the lid on tight. Then you start shaking the jar rhythmically making sure the cream hits the top (lid) and bottom of the jar alternately with each shake. Shaking does not have to be done fast but hitting the top and bottom of the jar causes the fat globules in the cream to turn into butter.
This takes about 15 minutes. while everyone was shaking and waiting for their cream to turn into butter we would take turns talking about Thanksgiving traditions.
After about 15 minutes a yellowish thump of butter should start to form and the leftover whey can be poured off. Sometimes I save it and use it in baking (such as cakes).
In kindergarten we made corn muffins (I just used the Jiffy brand corn muffin mix. I added a couple teaspoons of sugar since they were not served with honey or jam.) in a mini muffin pan. My mother added a little salt and yellow food coloring to our butter but in kindergarten we ate it without. It tasted a little like whipped cream on a cupcake.
Students were excited to make butter just like the pilgrims did and it might give your children something to do while they are waiting on the turkey.