The Plucky Housewives

My mother was a very inventive and resourceful cook.  With 7+ kids and usually a few dinner guests to boot, she had to be pretty ingenious and creative.  She too, loved a good cookout and last night, I made one of her more "regular" recipes.   She would buy Zesty Italian Dressing by the caseful.  Not cause she loved Italian dressing, in fact, I cant even remember having a salad ever in our house with Italian Dressing.  No, this was her marinade.   Now remember, this was back a few years ago....before any of the dressing companies got clever with their marketing their product as anything but what it was!  She would buy a family pack of chicken thighs, then throw them into several Ziploc bags (or before she used those, she would put the thighs into a large baking pan and pour the dressing over) and marinate for most the day.   There was nothing else you would need to do to it.  Nothing. So in tribute to Arlene and summer gri...

Yellow Morel Mushroom - Wisconsin photography by TAGilephotos  Morel season.  A friend called me up the other night and asked if I wanted a bucket of Morels.  I quickly said yes.  I have fond memories of escaping the house to the woods across the street and hunting for morels for my mother.  The forests near my childhood home were full of Elm and Ash trees and in the spring, she would send us out for a hunt.  (I don’t know if that is because she really wanted the mushrooms or if she wanted us out of the house?).  We would come home with a few buckets full of the mushrooms and she would fry them up.    My husband has similar memories of eating the great wild mushrooms also as a child.  For those of you in and near Wisconsin, this last weekend was  Morel Mushroom Festival in Muscoda WI , the morel capital of Wisconsin. Now my friend wanted to know how to cook them and I thought, what a great idea for the What is… for this wee...

Asparagus:  Yes, we all know its a spring vegetable, it can be cultivated or found growing wild, but did you know it was once classified in the same family as a lily?  AND that its considered a flowering perennial?  For all you vintage cookbook aficionados, did you know that there is a recipe for asparagus in the oldest book of recipes:  De re coquinaria Book III by Apicius - 3rd century.  They were mad about it in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, but it lost its favor during the European conquests until Louis XIV took a hankering to it and built some special greenhouses!! Asparagus is low in calories, low sodium and it a super source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium and zinc, let alone a good source of dietary fiber!  In fact, this special little stalk is loaded with almost all the most important vitamins and minerals, so you really cant go wrong. For additional nutritional data, click here.   For you gardeners, here's some growing tidbits! While ...

I love potato pancakes. My mother made the best potato pancakes and when I lived in New York in the early to mid 80s, I refined by potato pancake making abilities! My children (especially one daughter in particular) could love and could live off potato pancakes. My husband now loves potato pancakes. So here, try our potato pancakes! You can eat them alone, or with a meat (they go well with a brisket or a pork chop (for those that eat pork). They are good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! 8 medium Idaho potatoes, peeled 1 sweet (Vidalia) onion Lemon juice 1 c flour 1 c half and half (whole milk can be substituted) 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 T baking powder (or matzo added to the flour) 2 T melted butter Salt and pepper to taste Grate potatoes using a food processor or the large-hole side of a hand grater. Chop onion into a size similar to the grated potato. Combine onion and potatoes. Sprinkle with lemon juice and let drain. Mix flour, half and half, eggs baking...

We lived in California from 1981-1986.  During that time we had neighbors that we grew to love.  They were from Japan and had two children.  Tomaki was a fabulous cook.   She invited our family over and we had them to our house.  For one meal, she brought this salad.  It tasted so fresh and good.  We had it with hamburgers but anything you grill would be great with this salad. - Hawley Tomaki’s Bean Salad 1 pound beans, fresh, string beans 1 pkg Italian dressing (dry) 1 jar marinated mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 can Green Giant niblet corn (must have this kind) Cucumber (optional) cut into bite-sized pieces Salt and pepper Vinegar Snap beans in half and take of ends. Wash well.  Boil in salted water. (Salt keeps the bright green color) Boil until almost tender about 6-8 minutes. Check to see how long you need to cook them. When done, put immediately into ice water then in the refrigerator.  When beans are cooled, put in bowl...