HAPPY NEW YEAR! Today Ralph, JoAnn and I had a New Year's Day lunch at Diane & John's. They served ROAST STUFFED PORK WITH CIDER GRAVY, page 93 of the Maynard Cookbook - recipe contributed by Patti of the Washington Maynards. HMMMMMMM, really delicious! They also served APPLE PIE CAKE, (ala mode), page 144 - a recipe contributed by JoAnn. Very tasty. Great food. Great company and a great start to a new year. Hope 2012 is good to everyone! Polly

WOW! Aunt Ruth's Festive Cinnamon Buns were snapped up immediately at Mother's 95th Birthday Brunch today. Thanks Aunt Ruth! And Thanks Gail for making them. It was also great having Pop's Waffles with Mother's Blueberry Sauce made by JoAnn. We enjoyed some other wonderful dishes that should have been included in the cookbook. And Kim decorated 4 beautiful birthday cakes. Nice to have Roger here from Washington - it was a nice day. Polly P.S. Ralph made Grammie Maki's and Diane & John's Beef Stroganoff this week and it was excellent. Another time we probably would make our beef pieces thinner. JoAnn suggests using hamburger instead as does Kris Maynard Betts who has a beef stroganoff recipe in the cookbook too. Next time.

Tofu meatballs

I made the tofu meatball recipe with spinach in them as John suggested. It makes lots of meatballs.
The second day I chopped some of the meatballs up, added it to the penne and sauce, added xtra cheese, and made baked penne. It came out gooey and also good.

Boeuf Bourguignon for the Cookware Impaired

Last Sunday we undertook the great beef quest.  One last trip to the market to procure a nice piece of chuck and we were ready to begin.  Only to realize upon careful reading of the Boeuf Bouguignon recipe (pg. 72-73) that we needed a Dutch oven or other large oven-proof cookware, which we could not locate after our recent moves.  But we were not to be denied.  The ingredients were ready to go and so were we.  The crockpot became our slow cooker, and we believe the experiment was a success.  We followed the initial portions of the recipe, only transferring the meat and vegetables to the slow cooker as each batch was browned, added the seasonings, broth and wine.  We used a chianti - on special at the NH Liquor Store - I hope Julia (and Gail) forgives us for the wine selection.  The crockpot was set on high for about 3 hours.  We held back the mushrooms and frozen pearl onions, sauteing the mushrooms and warming the onions and adding them after 3 hours, and cooking for another hour or so.  Voila!  A complex and flavorful creation.  We so seldom have bacon that the rich bacon flavor was almost a shock to our tastebuds.  (We will probably use less bacon the next time - and there will be a next time - but that's us.)  We served it with noodles and winter squash. 

We had enough for Valentine's Day dinner the next night.  We made mashed potatoes and asparagus.  The mashed potatoes were an experiment.  Along with 3 large white spuds we added one sweet potato.  When mashed, the results had a soft orange color and the flavor had subtle sweet potato taste.  A recipe worth trying. 

We have to try at least two recipes each weekend, or at least it seems that way.  Saturday we made the Rosemary White Bean Soup (pg. 34).  I hate cleaning the blender and food processor, so I just mashed the beans with the potato masher.  It seemed to work just fine.  We also added some roast chicken breast that we had, and that worked out well.

Diane made the Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup (pg. 40) a few days ago.  She was cautious with the curry but probably could have used the full recipe amount.  Diane also dislikes cleaning the blender, so she used a fresh apple (ripe Mac), diced finely.  The soup was fine without using a blender or food processor.  It does make a very hearty and warming soup.  Excellent food for this long winter. 
John & Diane

Hi All,

I'd love to read about any recipes you all have tried.

Last week I tried the Rosemary White Bean Soup and loved it. Putting the rosemary branch in whole worked great and was so easy. I'll use that idea again in other recipes.
I also made a "white" version of the Spinach Meatball Minestrone using turkey meatballs. My apologies to the beef industry.
Thanks Gail and Stan for a couple of wonderful soups.
My next recipe try will be the tofu meatballs.

Have missed your cooking comments. Everyone must be on a cooking vacation. Me too, but yesterday I made Neopolitan Lasagna and Stuffed Mushrooms. They are just as good the second day warmed up. I have to come up with a "healthy" snack for Nick to take to school to celebrate his 6th birthday and share with the other kids for Monday. Besides fruit, what is a healthy snack that most kids will eat and is birthday worthy? Polly P.S Our friend Debbie says that Sarah's Banana Bread is the best ever banana bread recipe and she has tried a lot. Loved it!

Date Swirl Cookies

Shades of "Grandma Maynard" aka Susan or Grammie....
I made the beloved cookies that I remember were almost always in the cookie jar in her dining room. The recipe makes lots so I actually cooked about a quarter of them and saved the remainder uncooked in the freezer. I'll let you know how that works out.

I plan to make the jelly roll to take to the Ground Hog Day potluck.

JoAnn