Laura's Pecan Pie

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with precious family and friends here in the Pacific Northwest. I'm not bragging, but I think we had a pretty spectacular meal(s) with a fresh free range turkey and all the fixings. I even used fresh sage and rosemary from my garden for the stuffing! One of our favorite menu items is always the pecan pie. Thanks to my dear Georgia friend Laura for the recipe!  

3 eggs

1/4 cup soft butter 

1 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup light Karo syrup

1/2 cup sugar

unbaked pie shell

Beat eggs slightly, add butter, sugar, syrup, nuts,

and vanilla.  Mix well. Pour into unbaked pie shell.

Bake in preheated 375 oven for 10 minutes, then turn

oven down to 350 and bake for 50 minutes.

I used the following crust recipe and made two pies -- one for my house and one for a neighbor! 

http://www.joyofbaking.com/PieCrust.html

Dilly Bread

I think bread baking should be done in the morning. I hadn't baked bread in quite some time, but want to get back into it. It can be the freshest, healthiest way to eat it. I decided to take an old family favorite and put a healthier spin on it. We've always loved my mom's dilly bread, so here it is followed by my healthier changes:

1 package yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup cottage cheese, heated to lukewarm

1 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 tablespoon dill seed

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 1/2 to 4 cups flour

Soften yeast in water. In mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, sugar, onion, dill seed, salt and egg. Add yeast. Add enought flour to form still dough. Knead about 15 minutes. Let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size (50 to 60 minutes). Sir down and let rise a second time. Grease and flour loaf pan or pans. Shape into loaf or loaves and place in pan(s). Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes until golden brown. Brush with soft butter.

So I used organic whole wheat flour and some organic milled flax seed and I brushed it with olive oil. It's not as light as the original recipe, but that is to be expected. It is yummy! I think it made a pretty, rustic loaf and I will do it again. I took some of the dough and made 2 hot dog buns for Jim and I to have for supper. So tonight slaw dogs on whole wheat dilly buns!

Cabbage Burgers aka Runza

This is my 92 year old mom's recipe -- healthier modifiacations can be made and it will still taste better than what Runza Drive Inn offers now. Driving through would be much easier(except if you are like me -- 1,000 plus miles from the nearest Runza Drive Inn). It's to hot to bake anything here today, so I'll just dream about it while throwing together a tuna salad.

Runza

Rolls: 1 pkg. yeast dissolved in
1/4 c. water
2 c. scalded milk cooled to lukewarm
 Combine yeast & milk
 Add:
1 beaten egg
8 T. melted bacon grease or shortening
1/3 c. sugar
2 t. salt
6 c. flour (or enough to make a stiff dough)
 Knead about 15 minutes. Grease top, cover with cloth and let rise until double. Knead down in bowl and let rise again. Roll out in small amounts for the buns.
Meat mix: 1 to 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 medium head cabbage
2 to 4 medium onions
 Simmer meat until pink is gone. Grate cabbage and onion and steam in a small amount of water until tender. Season to taste. you can combine meat and cabbage when beef is browned. Simmer until done.
 Place a spoonful of the meat mixture on roll squares and seal dough completely. (For cheese runza place a slice of cheese on the dough before adding meat mixture.) Grease, being careful not to get grease in the creases of dough. Let rise. Bake about 15 minutes at 350 F. Grease with bacon or margarine when done.

Linda L. O’Rourke