Category Archives: Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Pumpkin Surprise Dessert

The pumpkin pie consistency of this dessert really is a surprise. It’s easy to make and a great alternative to pumpkin pie for your Thanksgiving meal.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Box yellow cake mix (without pudding)
  • 2 cups chopped walnuts
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) melted butter
  • 4 eggs slightly beaten
  • 1 large can (29oz.) of pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 can evaporated milk (12oz.)
  • 3-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix and beat all ingredients except the cake mix, walnuts & butter.
  3. Pour into 9 x 13 greased pan.
  4. Mix cake mix with the walnuts.
  5. Sprinkle this mix evenly on top of the mix already in the pan.
  6. Drizzle the melted butter on top of this mix.
  7. Bake 60 to 75 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
  8. Serve warm or cold topped with whip cream or ice cream.
  9. Serves 12-16

The original recipe called for 1-1/2 cups of sugar. I cut down the sugar to 1 cup and substituted brown sugar for the white. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice you could use 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon cloves.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Ellen B. is still away from her computer until next week but wanted to leave you with this recipe since we have entered pumpkin season.

My family has a favorite easy Spice Cake that I’ve made over the years and I decided to switch it up a bit for pumpkin season. Instead of using applesauce that the original recipe called for I used 100% pure canned pumpkin and pumpkin spice instead of nutmeg.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 pkg. yellow cake mix
  • 1 pkg. 4 serving size Jello instant vanilla pudding (3.4oz.)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup pure pumpkin filling (not sweetened)
  • 1/2 C. water
  • 1/4 C. oil
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. pumpkin spice

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl of electric mixer and blend then beat at medium for 4 minutes.
  3. Pour into well greased and floured 10 inch tube or fluted tube pan or angel food pan.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
  5. DO NOT UNDER BAKE.
  6. Cool in pan for 15 minutes then remove and cool on rack.
  7. When the cake has cooled and before serving give it a dusting of powdered sugar.
  8. It’s good by itself or served with vanilla ice cream.

Pear Crumble

On our previous property we had a pear tree that produced lots of pears and this is one of the recipes that I made to use some of the pears up.
 This is a simple to make recipe with the preparing of the pears taking the most time in the process.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2-1/2 cups quick oats
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (may be omitted)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 cups pears, peeled, cored and chopped (this was about 13 pears)
  • 1/3 cup white sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
  3. Mix together first 6 ingredients to make the crumble portion.
  4. Sprinkle the chopped pears evenly with the mixture of white sugar and cinnamon.
  5. Press half of the crumble mixture onto the bottom of the pan all the way to the edges.
  6. Top the crumble with all the prepared pears evenly.
  7. Sprinkle the remaining half of crumble mixture over the pears evenly. You can press down lightly.
  8. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes.
  9. Serve warm or cooled with ice cream or whip cream or just as it is.

You can cut this recipe in half and bake it in a 8 or 9 inch square pan.

Greg’s Birthday Hodgepodge

This year Wednesday Hodgepodge has landed on Greg’s Birthday. We will be celebrating simply today and more grandly on Friday in Spokane.

Our lovely hostess, Joyce, has another batch of Wednesday Hodgepodge questions mixed up for us. Thank You, Joyce!

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  On a scale of 1-10 how much of a fan are you? (10 is never miss a game and 1 is I’m just here for the snacks). Who’s your team? If you’re playing along today, but live outside the US feel free to sub your feelings about futbol for the more American sport of football. 

I like college football. We have 3 graduates of the University of Washington in our family so we are always ready to cheer the Huskies on. They beat their cross state rival on Sunday at the Apple Cup. My favorite sport is soccer/futbol. I keep up with English Premier league and of course I follow the Seattle Sounders. I’m a 10 for soccer and a 5 for football.

2. What’s something you currently have a game plan for managing? 

I am trying to clean up my blog, long story. I made great headway over Labor Day Weekend while I had the time. I don’t know how long it will take but I’m committed to getting the job done. Some of the posts on my blog from the past have disappeared and I’ll be reposting the ones that are more dear to me here and there under the heading of Blog Restoration.

3. Do you like chicken wings? Hot, mild, or some other flavor? What’s a must have food for you on a tailgate menu? I know tailgating isn’t as big of a thing outside the US of A as it is inside the US of A, but you can also answer the question this way-what’s a must have food for you at a sporting event viewing party? 

I do like chicken wings with moist towelettes handy. Hot dogs/brats and beans or mac and cheese sound like something good on a tailgate sturdy paper plate! For watching Fall or winter sporting events at home a big pot of chili, cornbread and chips and salsa is good and easy.

4. Teams typically have strict playbooks they follow. What is one unwritten rule or piece of advice in your ‘life playbook’ you think everyone should know?

Just one? I wrote this quote down from J.C. Ryle this week and it serves this question well.

“We must not pretend we are wiser than God.”

And from a recent sermon by our Pastor; “We don’t practice sin, we fight it!”

5. This is the week we remember and mourn all that was lost and changed on September 11, 2001. I always include a spot for bloggers to share anything they’d like to share about 9/11. Share as much or as little as you like. 

On 9-11-2001 We were living in Kenmore, Washington. We put this flag on the side of our home that faced the street. We really didn’t know what else to do.

It was so surreal, so shocking, so disturbing and it changed our world as we know it.

I have a full post set to publish on Friday in remembrance of this day 25 years ago.

6.Insert your own random thought here. 

Back to the birthday boy. Today he is 73. I like to think he’s catching up to me but come March I’ll still be a few years ahead of him.

Photo Above from a couple years ago and photo below several years ago with our middle son.

Today, on his birthday, he is with our middle son helping him to fell trees and loading those logs into the truck for firewood. They are in the Colville National Forest. Greg has the gift of service.

Yesterday I made this treat for him. It’s his favorite. It’s my recipe in the Mennonite Girls Can Cook, Celebrations Cookbook. We will enjoy that treat today at some point.

Looking forward to visiting and reading more answers to the questions or prompts.

Avocado Mango Salsa

To bloggers using blogger.com, for some unknown reason my comments will not publish. I’ve visited several of you and the same thing happens. Hopefully the issue will be fixed soon. I type my comment, hit publish and it stays in publish mode without doing anything. Bah Humbug. 
Update! Looks like blogger fixed the glitch. I’ll be around to catch-up!

This fresh salsa made from mangoes and avocado will add a different layer of flavor for your enjoyment. It is full of fresh ingredients that taste delicious with tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

  • 2 avocados peeled, pitted and chopped into bite size pieces
  • 1 ripe mango peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
  • 1 bunch of cilantro chopped
  • 2 tablespoons red onion minced
  • 1/2 jalapeno seeded and minced
  • Juice from 1 lime
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Gently mix all ingredients together and enjoy with tortilla chips. This served 6 people as an appetizer.

Mac and Cheese Salad

This macaroni salad can be served hot or cold and it can also be kicked up by adding cooked and seasoned ground beef to make a more hearty meal.

Ingredients:

  • 16 ounces of small elbow macaroni cooked in well salted water
  • 5 ounces of crumbled feta cheese
  • 4 ounces grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup or more of fresh baby spinach julienned
  • 3 green onions chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Bring a big pot of water to boil with a good amount of salt.
  2. Add the elbow macaroni and cook to a nice al dente stage.
  3. Drain water and add a little olive oil to slightly coat the elbow macaroni.
  4. Immediately add the feta and Parmesan cheese while macaroni is still hot.
  5. Add green onions and spinach.
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Toss and serve hot or you can refrigerate to serve cold at a later time.

If you want a more hearty meal instead of a nice side dish add some cooked seasoned ground beef to the salad and top with a little more Parmesan cheese. If you want the dish to be cheesier just add more feta and Parmesan cheese. You can also add more green onions or spinach. It’s up to you and your taste buds.

Easy Pasta Meal

In the carefree summertime it’s good to have a few no pressure, no fussing meals to fall back on.
This simple meal takes less then 20 minutes to prepare and can be served up with a simple green salad and some bread. Here’s my carefree pasta meal.

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounce package pasta of your choice
  • 24 ounce jar of Alfredo or other sauce of your choice
  • 1-2 cups ground turkey or chicken, cooked fully
  • 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup sliced green onions/scallions
  • 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
  • fresh grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Cook 12 ounces of pasta of your choice in salted water to al dente and drain.
  2. Leave in pot.
  3. Add a jar of Spaghetti Sauce or your favorite sauce to the noodles.
  4. Add the cooked ground chicken or turkey.
  5. Add fresh chopped tomatoes and chopped green onion.
  6. Add fresh sliced mushrooms.
  7. Cook all ingredients together until sufficiently heated through.
  8. Season to taste and serve with garlic bread.

70th Birthday Video

This is personal and for my memory here on my blog. Our Daughter-in-love, Laura, put requests out to my friends and family to make a little video greeting for my 70th. She gathered them all and put them together in this 26 minute video and then surprised me with it after our family dinner in Spokane back in 2021. We all watched it together at Dan and Jamie’s house cast onto their TV. It is so meaningful to me and brings tears to my eyes as I recount the goodness of the Lord to me by giving me loving family and friends.

I’m finally adding it on my blog 5 years later!

Thank you, Laura and thank you to each one of you who took the time to deal with the internets and the recording and sending your clips to Laura!

My extended family will often sing when we are together and two of our favorites to sing are Great is Thy Faithfulness and Bless Thou the Lord. You’ll hear those songs at the beginning and at the end of the video.

But wait…that’s not all. This is another video put together from a very old reel to reel from Greg and my church wedding shower. My brother in law, Nick filmed it. It took place in 1974 at Bethany Baptist Church in Los Angeles. No one will love this video as much as I do. Our kids showed it to us at our Family 50th wedding anniversary weekend in Walla Walla in 2024. There is no sound and the quality is poor but the memories are priceless. Both my maternal and paternal grandmothers are in the footage and they both gave us their blessing and how I wish there was audio for those words. It was our little Russian Baptist church tradition to have this church shower with both the Bride and Groom present. This is where the wedding gifts were given, not brought to the wedding.  Greg’s parents and my parents were present along with Greg’s Brother and his family. A few other men were present like my uncle Paul because they were the chauffeurs. My brothers were there and brother in laws. You’ll see them in the kitchen helping with the dishes.

So many of the people in this footage have passed away. The church is still in existence in Los Angeles.

Note: It was so much fun to watch this with our kids and to fill in some commentary on our own. Hilarious with belly laughs. Thank you, Josh and Laura, for sending off the reel to get it in a visible format.

Here are some stills from our shower which aren’t the best quality either.

My paternal grandmother in the background with the pink and my maternal grandmother in the blue.

Thanks for going down this rabbit hole with me.

I’m working on my posts from our trip to California and will share them soon.

Potato Leek Gratin

This is a creamy tasty side dish to serve with a protein of your choice. Everyone in the family enjoyed it.

Potato Leek Gratin

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter and more for greasing the dish
  • 1-1/2 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced uniformly thin.
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
  • 2 large leeks, washed, green tops trimmed, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 2 thyme sprigs
  • 2 rosemary sprigs
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup cheese, grated (swiss or gruyere)

Method:

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Butter a 2 quart round dish.
  3. Toss the potatoes with 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.
  4. Layer the sliced potatoes in the dish.
  5. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
  6. Add leeks, garlic, remaining salt and pepper, thyme and rosemary.
  7. Cook, stirring, until leeks are tender and golden, 5-7 minutes.
  8. Add cream, scrapping up browned bits of leeks from the bottom of the pan.
  9. Simmer gently for 5 minutes.
  10. Remove thyme and rosemary sprigs and discard.
  11. Pour the cream mixture over potatoes and top with the cheese.
  12. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes, uncover and bake until the cheese is bubbling and golden, 10-15 minutes longer.
  13. Let cool slightly before serving.
  14. Serves 6-8 people as a side dish.

Rhubarb Pie Roll

This is a shortcut easy pie roll to make with a store bought refrigerator pie crust. I used a rhubarb walnut mixture to fill it but feel free to use other fruit and nut combinations to fill it. You can leave out the nuts if you desire. I’ve added some notes and steps for a better result.

Ingredients:

For the Roll:

  • 1 refrigerated pie crust (I used Pillsbury 15 ounce box)
  • 4 stalks of rhubarb, chopped (approx. 2 cups)
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped.
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened.
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar (icing sugar)
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 Tablespoon milk

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Lightly coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.
  3. Shred the rhubarb in a food processor. Drain as much of the liquid as you can from the mixture. Keep pressing the rhubarb in a sieve until you remove up to a cup of liquid.
  4. Mix together the cornstarch, walnuts, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Add the drained rhubarb and mix well.
  5. Place the pie crust on a lightly floured surface.
  6. Spread the rhubarb mixture lengthwise on one end and roll into a log, moisten and seal the ends.
  7. Place on baking sheet with the seam side down.
  8. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Glaze:
In small bowl mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to a drizzling consistency.

Remove roll from oven and let cool.
Drizzle the glaze on top.
Add sliced almonds if you desire.
Cut into slices and serve.
Yield: 6-8 slices

The roll is still not perfect in appearance but it is tasty and not overly sweet.