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By Laura Estes
Special to The Record 

Welcome to My Kitchen

 

Last updated 1/20/2021 at 12:33pm



Current times have drastically changed how we honor the passing of family members and friends. Teresa Stone, daughter of the late Mildred Deife included me in a recipe memorial to her friend Marie Hein of Riverside, Wash. Marie was a committed, from scratch, cook. Teresa asks all in her email address book to share a recipe.

Teresa, led off sharing a recipe she received from Marie for Potatoes Romanoff. The nice feature of this recipe is the baked potatoes called for, can be baked as extras and refrigerated for a few days until ready to use, a time and energy saver.

Potatoes Romanoff (from Marie Hein)

4 baked potatoes, peeled and chopped or shredded

1 cup sour cream

4 green onions, sliced

1 1/4 cups shredded, sharp cheddar cheese, divided

1 tsp salt

Dash each of ground black pepper and paprika

Combine potatoes, sour cream, 3/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper, mixing well to combine.


Turn mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and paprika.

Bake in a preheat 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

When I made this dish, I put it in the oven alongside a meat loaf, the last half of the meatloaf baking time. I like using the already heated oven to cook more than one dish. Or, to follow the dinner baking with a dessert to serve warm.

Halloween Cookies is a recipe I have shared several times, but new readers and cooks continue to ask for the recipe. This recipe uses left over Halloween candy.

Even varieties not favored by the kids will disappear rapidly baked in these rich cookies. Have the dough ready to bake in the already heated for a sweet ending to family meals.


Halloween Candy Cookies

3 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened slightly

1 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups chopped candy bits (such as Butterfingers, Baby Ruths, Heath Bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Twizzlers, jelly beans, M&Ms, Lifesavers)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined, 5-10 seconds. Stir in candy bits.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on baking pan 2 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: about 4 dozen large cookies.

Note: I use parchment paper when baking these cookies as some candies are sticky. Also, this cookie dough freezes well to bake later. Drop dough onto parchment lined pans. Freeze, package and label with baking instructions.

Easy Jalapeno Popper Bites is a recent recipe I tried from the website, Mom on Timeout. Having quite a few small jalapenos at the end of the season, this turned out as a great recipe to use the too-small-to-stuff, spicy peppers.

Easy Jalapeno Popper Bites

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 to 4 green onions, thinly sliced

2 jalapenos, seeded and finely diced

8 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

12 ounces shredded cheese, pepper jack, cheddar or Colby, or a mix.

48 tortilla scoops chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients except the chips. Spoon mixture by rounded teaspoons into the chips.

Place filled chips on prepared pans and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until filling is bubbly and cheese is melted. Serve immediately. Yield: 48 bites.

Note: even though the peppers were small, two made these quite spicy, so adjust amount according to your taste. Also, these reheat nicely in a skillet brought to temperature over medium low heat. Add the filled scoops to crisp and heat through, about 5 minutes.

Roasted Tomato Soup is a recipe I shared on the Welcome to My Kitchen Facebook page this past week. A Whole30 recipe, attributed to Ashley McCrary at the Healthy Little Peach website. The recipe called for coconut milk but I substituted whole milk.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

1 1/2 pounds plum or roma tomatoes

3 Tbsp olive oil

3 or 4 large garlic cloves

1 medium white onion

28 ounces canned, diced tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

3 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with heavy-duty foil. Spray with cooking spray.

Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and place on prepared baking sheet. Cut the onion in big chunks and scatter over tomatoes. Peel garlic cloves, slice and scatter over tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and season with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and begin to char.

In a large kettle, heat canned tomatoes with liquid, basil leaves and chicken broth over medium heat. Add roasted tomato mixture, reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.

When finished cooking, transfer mixture, in batches to blender and puree until smooth. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Return to kettle and add coconut milk and heat over medium heat to desired serving temperature.

Note: to freeze, omit the milk until thawing and reheating to serve.

I have several more recipes to share from the Marie Hein memorial in future columns, but I invite you readers to share recipes from your favorite past great cook. Those are the comfort foods in life and worth sharing with others.

- Send your recipes to Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Use the mulching feature on your mower to gather fallen leaves for mulch in your garden, or, create a composting cage from chicken wire and compost the leaves over winter.

 

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