Slice 5 or 6 potatoes thinly and place in a two-quart casserole.

Add about a fourth of a cup of onion and a cup or more of cubed ham.

Pour the white sauce, which has been salted and peppered to taste, over the top and mix it gently.

If it doesn’t quite cover the potatoes, add a little extra milk.

Bake covered in a 350 oven until potatoes are almost tender, about an hour.

Remove the cover and let bake for another 15 minutes until the top begins to brown.

Another option is to omit the ham and place several slices of bacon on top, or top with thinly sliced pork chops.

I didn’t really know what this was when I saw it on the menus in fancy restaurants Then one day I found out that it was just basic white sauce, with parmesan cheese added, and poured over noodles.

To make it a little richer, use half-and-half instead of milk.

Cooked vegetables, cooked chicken, or any kind of seafood can be added.

I was amazed to learn that I had been making this fancy dish for years and didn’t even know it.

Brown a half pound of pork sausage and stir it into the basic white sauce.

Don’t add salt and pepper until you have added the sausage and tasted it for seasoning.

The sausage is usually spicy enough.

Good with toast or biscuits.

Making this is probably the only thing of value I learned in Home Ec in the 8th grade at Couch Grade School in Portland, Oregon.

I can still vividly remember the day old Mrs. LaMonte had us broil a tomato on top of a piece of toast, which immediately became soggy—and we had to eat what we cooked or flunk the class.

It looked as bad as it tasted.

It was years before I could eat a tomato in any shape or form.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter, stir in 4 tablespoons flour, then add 2 cups milk.

Stir with a wire whisk until the white sauce thickens.

Watch carefully and keep stirring because it sticks and burns easily.

This recipe will make about 2 cups of sauce. Salt and pepper (white pepper is best) to taste.

Making stuffing for the turkey used to be quite a job.

It called for drying the bread to make crumbs, grinding the giblets, onions, and celery, hoping you didn’t get too much seasoning in, and so forth.

Today I buy two packages of Stove Top Dressing and prepare it according to the directions on the package.

I do add a pound of pork sausage, some extra chopped onion, and sometimes some chopped mushrooms which have all been cooked together.

Don’t stuff the turkey until you are ready to put it in the oven.

It’s also important to remove the dressing from the turkey as soon as it is done cooking.

It’s o.k. to bake the dressing separately in a pan for about an hour; however, I like my stuffing cooked in the turkey because it adds flavor and moisture to the meat.

Jim’s mother added raisins to her stuffing which came as quite a shock to me the first time I ate it.

I have to admit it was good.

This recipe is pretty simple and works just as well with pork steak, chops, country ribs, or a small pork roast.

The recipe came from Lucille , an old friend.

We lived in the same apartment building on 12th Avenue in Helena when our kids (Barbara, Ted, David, Rose Marie, and Bobby) were small.

In the bottom of a dutch oven, place:
1 can or jar of sauerkraut
1 chopped onion
1 or more chopped apples

Place the meat on top, cover tightly with lid or foil, and bake at 350 for a couple of hours until meat is very tender.

I always cook mashed potatoes to go with pork and sauerkraut!

Buy a 2½ to 3 pound pot roast which is usually labeled as either chuck roast or 7-bone roast.

Try to find one that is not overly fat. Brown the roast on both sides in oil in a roaster or dutch oven.

Season with salt and pepper or a seasoning salt.

When it’s nice and brown, add a cup of water and cover with a lid.

Cook in the oven at 350 for about two hours.

I like my pot roast cooked to the point where it almost falls apart.

Add enough sliced onions, carrots, and potatoes to feed the family.

Add a couple of rutabagas or turnips if you like them.

Salt lightly and add a little water if the pan is dry.

I like to place the vegetables in the bottom of the pan and place the roast on top to finish cooking.

The juice in the pan will flavor the vegetables.

Continue cooking for another hour until vegetables are tender.

You can make gravy with the drippings in the pan.

Add enough water to make about two cups of liquid and thicken it with two tablespoons of flour.

Stir with a whisk to prevent lumps.

Recently on a cold and snowy day, I remembered how good this used to taste, and decided to fix it for dinner.

I hadn’t made it for so long, I had to go back to Betty Crocker to get the recipe.

In a large skillet, fry 6 slices of bacon, which have been cut into small pieces, until they are brown and crisp.

Remove from the pan and pour off all but a small amount of the bacon drippings.

Place ¼ cup of chopped onion and ¼ cup of chopped green pepper in the drippings and cook until the onion is tender.

Add to the onion and pepper in the skillet:
3 cups cooked rice
the bacon
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Mix it well and place in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Before placing in the oven, you can sprinkle it with a little grated cheese.

Option: Instead of using bacon, substitute one pound of pork sausage which has been cooked until no pink remains. If you use sausage, taste before adding additional salt.

Back in the days when I was a working mother, payday came only once a month, which meant a major trip to the grocery store for supplies to last the entire month.

Tuna, noodles, cheese, and canned soups were always high on the shopping list.

There were times when we ate better at the end of the month than we did at the beginning as we started using the things we had saved for “in case company came.”

Tuna and noodles, however, usually showed up early on the first-of-the-month menu.

Mix together in casserole dish:
8-oz. package of cooked noodles
1 or 2 cans of tuna, drained
(Now I use the new packaged tuna which is much better.)
1 ½ cups sour cream and ½ cup milk
OR 1 can mushroom soup and one can of milk
OR 1 cup sour cream, ½ cup mayonnaise, ½ cup milk (this is good)
Salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkle with bread crumbs, grated cheese, and a little melted butter.

If you have a food processor you can combine the bread, cheese, and butter and process until crumbly.

I sometimes make a bunch of this mixture and store in the freezer to use on top of casseroles.
Bake at 350 until topping is brown and filling is bubbly—probably about 45 minutes.

Alyssa says Gary is learning to use the barbecue, and this is one of the first things he learned to cook.
It has become one of their favorite dinners.

Combine soy sauce and the next five ingredients for the marinade:
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon. seasoned salt

Mix well, then divide marinade in half. Pour one half into a shallow glass dish, add ½ pound boneless sirloin cut into one-inch cubes, and turn to coat.

Cover, and refrigerate 4-8 hours, turning occasionally.
Refrigerate other half of marinade.

Drain the meat and skewer, alternating with the vegetables:
1 large green pepper, cut in inch pieces
1 large onion, cut in pieces
12 cherry tomatoes

Grill over medium heat, three minutes on each side, then baste with the reserved marinade, then grill until done to your liking.

Can be served over hot cooked rice, or on their own.

The English also have “bangers and mash” (sausage and mashed potatoes); “bubble and squeak” (a cabbage dish); and “spotted dick” (a dessert which appears on most restaurant menus, and is a bread pudding with custard and raisins).

Alyssa is getting quite a cooking education!

She breaks an egg, beats it up, whips the cream, cracks the nuts, chops the cabbage, pounds the steak, punches the dough, cuts the bread, scalds the milk, mashes the potatoes, shakes the lettuce, squeezes the lemon, and then slaps supper on the table.

(Elna Oleson Xan)

These are good when they are served with either mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles. I don’t usually use a recipe when I make these so I had to look, and found it in my copy of Scandinavian Home Cooking.

Mix together thoroughly, using your hands if necessary:
1 pound ground beef
½ pound pork sausage
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
½ cup milk
¼ cup grated onion
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Form into small balls and brown in a greased frying pan, turning to brown on all sides.

Place in an oven-safe casserole and add a can of mushroom soup and a soup can of water.

If you like browner gravy, add a few drops of “Kitchen Bouquet.”

Cover and bake for an hour at 350.

Grandma sometimes substituted oatmeal for the bread crumbs.

I also found the following in the same cookbook: (After all, what’s a book that doesn’t have a little violence in it?)

Someone in the family asked me for this recipe not too long ago.

Mix together:
1 pound ground beef
½ cup uncooked rice
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
Sprinkle of garlic salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Form in round balls—I use my ice cream scoop—and place in a baking dish.

Mix together and pour over the top:
1 medium-size can of tomato sauce
1 cup of water
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Cover tightly with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for an hour at 350.

Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes.