Recipe Economics For Hard Times

So will we all be eating boiled taters and bread due to America's economic downturn?

If they look like my wife's ham and taters then bring em on. At least the good eats just get better when times are tough in America, cause we all have a tendency to stay home a little more and put in some quality kitchen time. Local fresh food prices and deals can easily be had by the savvy coupon shopper and the rewards are DELICIOUS!

Local apple orchards, markets and farmers can keep your family eating like the rich and famous daily. I suspect many will give up the life of of fast food restaurants and dining out during our economic recession and turn to mom's homemade food of goodness and love, open 24 hrs with leftovers served nightly!

The kids make reservations at MOMS simply by calling and saying "when you gonna make your beef pepper steak and noodles again?" Soon I hope; then silence as they wait on the cellphone for the scheduled date to be given. I have to chuckle as I listen in intently hoping to add in my own "boy that sure would be good with some of your dutch apple pie"! Ha Dinner at moms is scheduled.

With the holiday season approaching the food recipe book gets pulled out and we are showered with moms favorites recipe's and Grandmas secret recipe's in all there yumminess at one time. Well gotta go for now seems I am drooling on the keyboard....

Till next time

Munchies

Amish Home Cooking and Hospitality

Hitch up the horses, and pile in the buggy...We are going out for some down home, Wisconsin style Amish Holiday Cooking! For us that means pile in the Ford F-150 and head out to Augusta, WI (about 30 minutes from Eau Claire) where several of our Amish neighbors live. Holiday time for the Amish is much more of a community devotional sharing time and despite the frigid Wisconsin air outside, warm greetings for all can be found within. Family gifts are handcrafted, homemade or hand me downs. Friends gifts are typically friendship and food which if you knew me, you would understand I am a connoisseur of both. This holiday season was no exception and it is always refreshing to visit with our simple neighbors although getting them a gift can be a challenge and requires some careful thought.

So we arrive and begin trading stories and another years worth of memories over some of the best homemade Blackberry pie I have ever tasted! I casually ask Mrs. Eicher for the recipe at which time she looks at me and says, "To you and your wife I will give my whole recipe library to share amongst your friends"; "To your lovely Child I will give the secret recipe of Preserving A Husband". and with a chuckle recited from memory:

How To Preserve A Husband
"Be careful of your selection; do not choose too young, and take only such men as have been reared in a good moral atmosphere. Some insist on keeping them in a pickle, while others keep them in hot water. This only makes them sour, hard, and sometimes bitter.
Even poor varieties may be made sweet, tender and good by garnishing them with patience, well sweetened with smiles, and flavored with kisses to taste; then wrap them in a mantel of charity, keep warm with a steady fire of domestic devotion and serve with peaches and cream.
When thus prepared they will keep for years."

The night ended far to soon and driving out of the driveway of that Amish farm seemed allot like a time machine warp from the early 1920's back into 2008. We have started sharing many of the free amish recipes with friends who seem to enjoy them as much as we do.

Free Recipe "Asparagus Clam Chowder" Yummy!

Greetings and Salivatations from a snow buried Wisconsin! As the photo to the right shows we have started winter early here in Eau Claire. The 6 to 8 inches caught everyone in the north woods by total surprise. City and County workers in Eau Claire county deserve a big hand for the quick response and fast cleanup of streets and highways around town.
Ok with that said I do not have any great food news to report since the weather has left me trapped indoors for much of the time so, I dug out the recipe books and whipped up some old time winter favorites. Along with the snow came some subzero temperatures so some good hot soup sounded fairly appealing. My asparagus clam chowder now that just sounds warm and scrumptious...And it was! Here is the recipe:

1-1/2 cups asparagus cuts and tips, (1lb bundle Fresh)
1 medium potato, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 sprig parsley, chopped
1 can 6 oz. minced clams with juice
2 cups milk
3 Tbsp. butter

Season and cook potato's with asparagus and onion until tender. Add chopped clams and juice, simmer for 5 minutes. Add milk and butter, heat to just below boiling point and serve. You can substitute chopped baby scallops for clams for a different taste, I like to add both.

This really hit the spot after coming in from the subzero temps outdoors. For more delicious food recipes check out the Free Recipe Library. The Amish recipes here are old time favorites of mine but the free holiday recipes are delicious as well. Till next time happy holidays!