Cooking With Linda Ryan

My mom grew weary of us asking over and over again for her family recipes, so she bought all three of us girls a “My Favorite Recipes” fill-in-the-blank recipe book and gave us each the same 7 recipes. Her hope was that we would add our own recipes to the books and eventually have a complete collection.

She only gave us a few of the recipes we had clamored for, but left out many others. I tried to get her to give up the rest, thus saving me the trouble of having to come up with any of my own.

I must admit, however, when life got in the way, I lost interest in pursuing Mom for the recipes. Unfortunately my recipe book sat neglected in the kitchen. Recipes were never added, either from me or my mom. Occasionally I would dig it out, when Thanksgiving rolled around, to make sure I hadn’t forgotten any of the key ingredients to mom’s simple stuffing recipe.

It is now many years later since I received the “My Favorite Recipes” book, and although Mom is still with us, she can no longer pass along her recipes. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 3 years ago. Lost is the recipe for her healing chicken soup—the only thing that made my son feel better when he was sick. Also lost is her famous Christmas fudge recipe.

In the last years before her disease became evident, she had stopped making the Christmas fudge as well as the chicken soup, unless my son made a “special request for the latter.

The doctor told us, based on her brain scans, she had been suffering far longer, and the damage was greater than we had realized. She felt that Mom must have been compensating for quite some time. I’m sure it had become increasingly harder and harder for her to meet those “special requests.” Who knows how long it took her in the privacy of her kitchen to create her culinary masterpieces as her mind waned, but love prevailed and she never disappointed my son. Not until 3 years ago, when it became too much to do most of the ordinary tasks of life.

All of her recipes have gone the way of many other special life memories. She can no longer remember what ingredients to use, how to prepare them, or even how to write them on a page.

Today that cookbook with those seven original recipes has meaning and value beyond what I could have imagined. I wish I had appreciated it more.

Though I am grateful that we still have Mom with us, she will never be the same mom or grandmother. She still brings joy and laughter, she is still my inspiration and best friend.

So may you enjoy these seven simple recipes given by a loving mother to her daughters. And when you do, please remember, never take for granted the time you have with your loved ones and the special beauty they bring to your life.

*****

Salads

Orange Fruit Dream Salad (need to check copyright on this name…there is an Orange Fruit Dream copyright for an ice cream…not sure if it applies since this is a type of jello salad)

Ingredients:

1 Pkg. Orange JELLO
1 Container of Orange Yogurt (no fruit on the bottom)
1 Small can crushed pineapple
1 Small can mandarin oranges
1 Small carton of Cool Whip

Method:
Make Jell-O, refrigerate until set. Break up with fork. Add remaining ingredients and mix together.

*****

Meats

Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs. lean ground beef
2 eggs
about 10-12 saltines, crumbled
½ c. chopped onion
1/3 c. chopped celery
Few chopped celery leaves
Salt
Pepper
2/3 small can tomato sauce

Method:
Combine all ingredients & 1/3 can of tomato sauce. Pack firmly in meat loaf pan. Pour remaining tomato sauce on top. Bake at 350 about one hour.

*****

Pot Roast

Ingredients:

1 chuck roast (with or without bone)
steak sauce (A-1)
salt
pepper
garlic salt
onion salt
potatoes
carrots

(For gravy, shake flour and cold water in jar & add to boiling pan drippings – about 1 cup. Add small amount of “Kitchen Bouquet” to color & season)

Method:
Brown roast on both sides on top of stove. Sprinkle with seasonings & A-1 sauce. Cook slowly (325) about 1 ½ hours for 4 lbs roast. Add water to cover vegetables (not too much), then add vegetables & cook about 1 hr longer

*****

Poultry

Dressing for Turkey

Ingredients:

liver from turkey
onion
celery
celery leaves
2 eggs 1 t. poultry seasoning
½ t. sage
Salt
Pepper
Fresh bread
Butter

Method:
Remove crusts from bread, cube & brown in butter in frying pan. Chop liver, onion, celery & celery leaves as finely as possible. Add eggs. Mix with bread cubes and add seasoning.

*****

Seafood

Deep Fried Cod

Ingredients:

Pkg fresh or frozen cod fillets
flour
2 t. Baking powder
salt & pepper
water
oil for frying

Method:
Remove all, if any, bones from fish. Mix flour & baking powder & add water to make batter about the same consistency as for pancakes. Deep fry in oil at 350 or 375 about five minutes

*****

Vegetables

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

4-5 potatoes, pared & sliced thinly
cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
margerine (misspelling left in)
flour
milk
salt & pepper

Method:
Place 1/3 of potatoes in casserole, top with 1/3 c. grated cheese, sprinkle with flour & seasonings & dot with butter patties. Continue with other two layers same way. Pour in enough milk to cover about ½ of potato mixture. Bake at 350 for 1 hour in covered casserole. (Good with Pork Chops or Ham.)

*****

Foreign Foods

Nachos

Ingredients:

tortilla chips
cheddar cheese
Jack cheese
Can green Ortega chiles
(mild salsa or jar of chili sauce)

Method:
Arrange chips on baking pan. Grate cheeses & sprinkle on chips. Put Ortega chile slice on each chip. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted. Dip in salsa if desired. (You can also add fried chorizo, hamburger, etc.)