Ryaninjun Bread

This morning Gem did a presentation in class about food and etiquette during the late 1700's. She dressed up in her colonial outfit and pretended to invite everyone into her kitchen (the church where we meet has one). She explained different dishes that she was "making" and then talked about the bread that was commonly found in colonial stoves--ryaninjun bread.

We actually made the bread the night before, so Gem pulled it from the oven. Then she talked about tea etiquette and we served tea.

If you'd like to have an adventure, try making Ryaninjun Bread.

Three cups of conrn meal
One of rye flour
Three cups of sweet milk
One cup of sour
One cup of molasses
To render it sweet
Two teaspoons of soda
To make it complete

Mix dry ingredients then add liquid. Mix well but don't beat. Bake in a 9x13 pan at 200 degrees for 12 hours. Put a pan of water in the oven with the bread to retain moisture, or bake it along with baked beans (the traditional colonial way).

One recipe we found said that the bread was actually done within 4 hours, but that old timers swore that the longer you left it the better. After putting the bread in the oven at 9pm I awoke at 1:30 (no alarm) and yanked it out of the oven. Don't do what I did. The entire thing fell and was underdone. The flavor was there, but not the texture. Live and learn and don't panic.

Good Neighbor Pie Crust

When I got married my mom handed me a stack of recipe cards that she had painstakingly copied from her stash. They were all my favorites and some that were just basics. On the card titled "pie crust", she had written "Buy Them!". I've found her advice to be sound.

There is, however, one pie crust recipe that I don't mind throwing together--no ice water, no vinegar, no measuring. My mom and I were perusing the "Good Neighbors" section of my small town Indiana paper. In this section people swap questions and answers. Someone had asked for a good and easy pie crust recipe. There were a couple of answers. This was the one that caught my mom's eye:

5 lb. flour, 3 lb. Crisco, 2 (12 oz.) cans 7-up. Mix together. You need a very large pan. Makes about 22 single crusts. Bag dough in ball the size you need for your crust. Freeze. When you need to bake a pie, pull out however many bags you need. Thaw at room temperature. Roll out and you're on your way.
--A Syracuse neighbor

I used to bake pies in mass in the fall. This recipe came in handy. Today I'm having friends over for dinner and opted for a wonderful chicken pot pie--yep, for company--they're close friends. I'm making two pot pies--one in an 8x10 and one in a deep dish pie plate. The 8x10 (with top crust) requires four normal pie crusts and the other requires two, so I made half the recipe and froze the extra.

Try it! It makes great crusts and is so easy.

For the Love of Popcorn

I grew up in a home that considered popcorn Sunday dinner. I'm not joking--that's what we had for dinner on Sundays. My parents still do that. So does my cousin. Our family sometimes keeps the tradition too.



Your everyday microwave popcorn is good in a pinch, but here is how you have a real popcorn experience:

2T. Vegetable oil

2/3 C. "Tiny Tenders" popcorn,from the country store on the crooked road in Flora, Indiana (population: 2,000something) We bought 25 lbs. during our Christmas visit, but they also ship.

A sprinkling of Kirk's butter-flavored popcorn salt to compliment

At least one hungry person

Heat up your oil in the bottom of a well-seasoned Whirley Pop Popper. When the oil is nice and hot throw in your kernels and close the lid. Now get out your entire set of mixing bowls and set them right next to the stove. Turn the popper's handle every once in a while. When you hear the beautiful sound of popping along with sizzling, begin cranking continually. You'll hear the popcorn reach the top and cranking will be almost impossible. This is the moment! Dump it all into your largest mixing bowl and add some Kirk's to finish your masterpiece.

Popcorn etiquette: when eating popcorn, it is customary to cram a double handful into your mouth. Also, the tradition of eating with your mouth closed does not apply to popcorn. It is, however, polite to discretely pick up any stray pieces that inadvertently fall from your mouth when you laugh too hard. Also, hitting and scratching is not acceptable practice in capturing the wonderful half-popped kernels in the bottom of the bowl.

Little known fact about popcorn (according to Almonzo Wilder of the Little House series): If you pour a cup of milk to the brim then add one piece of popcorn at a time, you can fill the cup completely full of popcorn without spilling any milk. Popcorn is the only thing that can do that.

So, tomorrow night, break out the kernels and enjoy it while it's hot!

Not Your Campbell's Variety

There is a recipe that was handed down from my Great-grandma Vore. Grandma Mary says that great-grandma could whip out her dough from start to finish in 2 hours (including drying). I don't see how that's humanly possible--barring a high speed fan. Maybe it was the bread board. Regardless, she made the ultimate comfort food: chicken and noodles.



These are nothing like Campbell's ever imagined: rich chicken in a full broth with made-from-scratch noodles dripping from every spoonful.

These aren't for your gourmet. Grandma Mary calls it a poor man's meal and can't understand why we always request it. It's a plain Midwest dish that is considered dressed up if you add celery and carrots. But if you have build-a-fire type weather, this will beat a book and cup of tea any day.

It's only 6:30 in the morning and I have chicken in the slow cooker and egg noodles rolled out thin on my counter. I normally don't start until mid-morning. The noodles will dry all day, not in two hours, but I can hardly wait.

Just in case you'd like to try it:

Grandma Vore's Egg Noodles

Cook chicken pieces in slow cooker. Add a can of chicken broth if you want to. I also add lots of pepper and poultry seasoning. Cook until the chicken falls apart.

Noodles:

4 eggs at room temp. (Grandma tells me that the temp. is important)
2T. milk
2T. water
1/2t. salt
A few drops of yellow food coloring (optional).


Whip all that up with a fork.

Add about 3/4 C. of flour for every egg. I just use my 1 C. and scoop it almost full.

Roll out dough using plenty of flour. Roll as thin as you can.

Let dry out slightly (20 min.) before cutting into 2" wide, long strips. Let the strips dry thoroughly (4 hrs.)--until you can take a table knife and press along the short side of the noodle and chunk off a thin, short strip. Do this all the way across each 2" strip. With all the willpower you can muster, resist the urge to cut thick strips. They will balloon in size. Think spaghetti, not linguine. If you cut larger strips you will have more of a chicken dumpling soup. It will still taste wonderful, but a bit doughy.


Note: in drying the noodles on a counter top, you may have to turn the 2" strips to dry evenly. I use a metal spatula/turner to loosen them and to avoid too much stretching.

When your wrist recovers from all the chopping, take the broth from the slow cooker and transfer it to a dutch oven (big pot). Add enough water or more chicken broth to fill half full. Bring to a low boil, almost a simmer.


While the broth is heating, de-bone your chicken, letting the pieces fall apart. Cut up any larger chunks. Add some of the chicken and all the noodles (if you can) to the broth. Keep in mind that your noodles will soon take over the pot. Think Strega Nona.


Now is the time to add any of those fancy touches like celery and carrots.

Simmer/boil for about 30 min. Stir gently every once in a while. Add more chicken if you want.

Serve over, or at least with, mashed potatoes.

Enjoy. Really enjoy.