Since March of 2020 we have all been living in various stages of quarantine, often separated from family, friends, neighbors, local businesses, and cherished restaurants. For some of us, the spread of COVID-19 has forced us to do more cooking at home, preparing menus based on “old reliables.” This web page provides an opportunity for the Buffalo congregation to share those tried-and-true recipes that have helped members find moments of joyful eating in these trying times. Feel free to submit your own favorite recipe by sending it to Bob Marrs at the email address [email protected]. Please include a few words explaining the history of the recipe and why it has brought notable pleasure in your own life.
Some Favorite Zucchini Recipes
We consume dozens of zucchini each year. Our most common practice is to fry an onion, sweet peppers, and a sliced garlic in olive oil. After a few minutes, we turn up the heat and fry thin zucchini slices or chunks (the higher heat helps to keep the zucchini from turning mushy). Seasonings might include Worcester sauce or basil pesto, topped with grated Parmesan. Here are a few other recipes we have used recently that produced pretty good results. You might also check the first posted recipe to this webpage, which is a long-time favorite zucchini recipe perfect for using frozen shredded zucchini in the winter months. ~Bob Marrs
Zucchini Quiche Ingredients: 3 cups zucchini grated 1 small onion grated 1 cup biscuit baking mix (e.g., Bisquick) 4 eggs ½ cup vegetable oil ½ cup cheese grated ½ teaspoon parsley flakes Salt & pepper
Directions: • Preheat over to 350 degrees. • Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 9" pie plate. • Bake for 30-40 minutes (until quiche sets)
Zucchini Cobbler Ingredients for Filling: 8 cups peeled, chopped zucchini 2/3 cup lemon juice 1 cup sugar 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon nutmeg
Ingredients for Crust/Topping: 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cut sugar ½ cup butter, softened 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions: • Cook zucchini and lemon juice for 15 minutes in a covered saucepan, stirring occasionally. This process will appear to turn the zucchini into sliced apples. • Remove zucchini from heat and add 1 cup of sugar, the cinnamon, and the nutmeg. • To make the crust/topping, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter in a separate bowl, producing a mixture of coarse crumbs. • Take 3/4 cup of the topping mixture and stir into your zucchini filling mixture. • Split the rest of the crust/topping mixture in half; press one half across the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan. • Pour the zucchini filling on top of the crust and cover with the remaining crust/topping mixture. • Bake Zucchini Cobbler at 357 degrees for 30-35 minutes–or until topping is slightly browned.
Serving suggestion: the warm cobbler is particularly delicious when served with vanilla ice cream.
Zucchini Pizza Casserole Ingredients 4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided 1 pound ground beef 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 can (15 ounces) Italian tomato sauce 1 medium green or sweet red pepper, chopped
Directions: • Preheat oven to 400°. Place zucchini in colander; sprinkle with salt. Let stand 10 minutes, then squeeze out moisture. • Combine zucchini with eggs, Parmesan and half the mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Press into a greased 13x9-in. or 3-qt. baking dish. Bake 20 minutes. • Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, breaking meat into crumbles; drain. • Add tomato sauce to beef/onion mixture and spoon over zucchini mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses and add green pepper. • Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.
Pumpkin-Zucchini Bread We have not yet tried this recipe but it comes highly recommended from a gardener friend. Ingredients: 3 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten 2 cups sugar 1 cup pureed pumpkin (use canned if you don’t have fresh pumpkin) 1 cup butter, melted 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1 cup shredded zucchini 1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions: • Combine dry ingredients, set aside. • Combine eggs and sugar. • Add pumpkin, butter and vanilla. • Gradually add dry ingredients and mix well. • Stir in zucchini and nuts. • Pour in to two greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans. • Bake 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until breads test done. Cool in pans 10 minutes then remove to wire rack
Mom's Blue Cheese Dressing and Nancy's Waffle Cookies submitted by Sheryl Arnett “I have been going to send you some of these recipes and keep forgetting until I just read the news letter. We use my Mom’s Blue Cheese Dressing for salads, baked potatoes, dips for wings. Absolutely delicious. Hope you enjoy it if you try it.”
Mom's Blue Cheese Dressing 2 cups mayo 1 cup sour cream One small container crumbled up blue cheese Onion flakes 3 tablespoons of lemon juice A photo of the handwritten directions for Mom's Blue Cheese Dressing, a priceless heirloom.
Waffle Cookies Sheryl identified these cookies as “Nancy’s Specialty” Ingredients 1 ½ cups sugar 1 cup butter 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 2 cup flour ½ cup cocoa dash salt
Directions • Cream butter • Add eggs one at a time • Add remaining ingredients • Drop onto HOT waffle iron, about 1 minute
A Strawberry Pie and Cinnamon Rolls submitted by Verna Cartano Verna copied down these recipes on two small pieces of red paper and placed in my church mail box a couple of years ago. I recently discovered the recipes while rummaging through a folder of Buffalo UMC papers looking for an old church newsletter. With the cinnamon rolls recipe, I have made two significant changes in the directions: I added information on greasing a cake pan and inserted my best guess on the times to allow for the dough mixture to rise. I suspect Verna assumed all of us would already know how long to wait before proceeding to the next step. ~Bob
Strawberry Pie Ingredients 1 cup sugar 1 cup water 2 Tbsp cornstarch 1 Tbsp white syrup 3 Tbsp dry strawberry gelatin 1 quart fresh strawberries Baked pie shell
Directions • Combine sugar, water, cornstarch, and syrup. • Boil until the mixture is clear. • Add dry gelatin and partially cool. • Pore gelatin mixture over strawberries in pie shell • Chill and serve.
Cinnamon Rolls Ingredients 1 box of yellow cake mix 2 ½ cups warm water 2 packages of dry yeast 4 ½ cups flour 1/4 cup butter Brown sugar and cinnamon
Directions • Grease bottom of cake pan. • In small bowl dissolve dry yeast in 2 ½ cups warm water (let stand for 5 minutes). • Mix in the yellow cake mix. • Add the 4 ½ cups flour (cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour). • Knead or shape into a ball (let it rise again). • In small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon. • Roll dough into large rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. • Roll dough into a log and cut into 12 rolls (cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 30 minutes). • Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Two Wisconsin (Norwegian) Recipes submitted by Marlene Himes Marlene says these were recipes “ we always had when I was growing up.” Her Grandma and Mom would make several batches every year. Marlene thinks it was her great-grandparents who came from Norway and brought these recipes with them. Marlene’s Grandma said they would make these because they “always had these few ingredients on hand and not much more sometimes.”
Rosettes Ingredients 1 cup sifted flour 1 cup milk 1 tsp sugar 1 egg 1 dash salt.
Directions • Mix together the ingredients. • Have grease (or oil, which we use today) hot at 350 degrees. • Put rosette iron in grease to get it hot and then dip it in a small dish of batter. • Fry until golden brown. • Remove the rosette from the iron (which can be tricky) without breaking them. You can gently use a fork to loosen. Note: “If anyone wants to try making rosettes but you don't have the irons, you can borrow mine. They are my Grandma's.”
Lemon (or Vanilla or Almond) Krumkake Ingredients 3 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted 1/2 cup flour 1 tsp lemon or other extract for flavoring
Directions • Combine beaten eggs and sugar and beat well. • Add melted butter, flour, and extract. • Bake on krumkake iron over burner of stove until light brown on both sides. Only takes 1 tsp. batter per krumkake. Turn the iron so it is 30 seconds per side. • Immediately remove the krumkake and roll on wooden cone that comes with the iron and cool. Note: “I have this iron and you can borrow it if you don't have one. But be sure and return it.”
Mary's Banana Dessert Submitted by Mary Fredericksen This is my "original " recipe that I made up for a potluck at church. Although I received rave reviews and teasing comments about "slaving for hours,” I have to admit, it is super easy!
Directions • Mix well graham cracker crumbs (enough for two 9" pies) with sugar and melted butter, following directions on the box. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9x13" pan. • Slice 3 to 4 bananas and arrange on top of crust mixture. • Prepare 3 boxes of Banana Creme instant pudding mix (pie measurements), pour over top of bananas, and refrigerate. • When ready to serve, spread with Cool Whip, sprinkle with Toffee bits (plain or with chocolate), and enjoy!
Noel Nibblers Submitted by Mary Fredericksen I got this recipe many years ago from a UMW friend from North Liberty. Her mom had won an award with it in a Gazette Recipe cook-off several years earlier. It has become a family favorite!
Ingredients • 1 pkg Little Smokies cocktail weiners • 1 lb. small meatballs (I use frozen, usually the Italian ones. You can make your own using ground beef with your preferred seasoning. I recommend a small cookie/ice cream scoop to get the right size. Then brown and drain them, not hard but time consuming. That's why I like the frozen ones, which thaw quickly when you are browning them.) • 1 cup barbecue sauce • 1 cup apricot preserves • 1 can crushed pineapple
Directions • Brown meatballs in a skillet and drain well. Put meatballs and Little Smokies into crockpot. • Mix sauce, apricot preserves, and pineapple well. • Add mixed ingredients to crockpot and heat on high for 30 to 45 minutes. Turn to low and serve.
Chocolate Pretzel Rings Submitted by Barb Crawford This recipe came from a 1998 issue of the Quick Cooking magazine, published by Reiman Publications in Greendale, Wisconsin–the same company that started the Taste of Home cooking magazine. Barb has their annual recipe books for the years 2001-2006 and would be glad to share.
Ingredients 48-50 round pretzels 1 pkg (8 oz) kisses, either dark or milk chocolate 1/4 cup red and green M & M 's
Directions • Place pretzels on greased baking sheet and a kiss in the center of each ring. • Bake at 275 degrees for 2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate is soft. • Remove from oven and immediately press an M & M into the center of each ring until the chocolate fills it. • Refrigerate 5 to 10 min and store at room temperature.
Cereal Candy Submitted by Barb Crawford This is another Christmas candy recipe that Barb informs us “my kids always loved. The recipe is on a card that I hand wrote many years ago, but I have no idea where it came from.”
Directions • Melt chocolate in large bowl • Add the cereals, marshmallows and peanuts. • Mix well and drop on wax paper.
Beef and Tater Casserole Submitted by Chris Gochenouer This quick and easy recipe (with few ingredients) is a favorite recipe of our family, especially our son. The recipe came from our neighbor Margaret, who was an excellent cook and like a grandmother to our son and daughter.
Ingredients 1 pound ground beef 1 can cream soup (chicken or cream of mushroom) 1 pound pkg of frozen potato nuggets
Directions • Spray 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish with cooking spray such as PAM. • Spread the crumbled, uncooked hamburger in the dish, and then add the potatoes and the soup. • Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours. Remove the lid/foil 10 minutes before the end of the baking time to let the casserole brown.
Date Nut Fruit Bread A second recipe submitted by Chris G. This is a hearty, tasty bread, good with soups or even with tea or cocoa for a snack. This family recipe came from a Wisconsin aunt and her daughter, both excellent cooks. This bread is better than fruit cake and freezes well.
Ingredients ½ cup chopped dates 5 cups of nuts (whole or chopped) 10 oz. Maraschino cherries 2 cups flour 1 ½ cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla 3 tsp melted butter 1 tsp baking powder Salt
Directions • Mix together in a large bowl: 1/2 cup chopped dates 5 cups nuts (suggested are Brazil nuts, almonds, pecans, & 2 cups walnuts; nuts can be chopped or left whole) 1 10 oz. Maraschino cherries (drain and reserve the juice for the bread batter) • Sift together (note from Chris: “I never sift”): 2 cups flour 1 ½ cup sugar ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp baking powder • Mix well: ½ cup cherry juice 1 tsp vanilla 3 tsp. melted butter • Add dry ingredients alternately with the egg mixture to the nut mixture. Fold in cherries last. • Spray pans with cooking spray (recipe makes 3 small bread pans or 2 large bread pans). • Bake in 300 degree F oven for 1 hour or longer, if needed. Let bread cool in pans before removing from pans.
Pride of Iowa Honey Cookies Submitted by Judy Hackney This is a recipe handed down from my mom that I have made for Buffalo events. My mom had it published in the Iowa Homecoming Cookbook in 1986. Two other people also submitted it, so we know it was a popular recipe. We like the hearty ingredients.
Ingredients 1/2 cup shortening or margarine 1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup honey 1 egg, well beaten 1 cup regular flour (or ½ cup regular flour and ½ cup whole wheat) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup rolled oats 1 cup flaked coconut 1/2 cup chopped nuts
Directions • Mix ingredients in order given. • Drop by teaspoonful onto lightly greased cookie sheet. • Bake @ 375 degrees for 8 to11 minutes. If you prefer to make bars, use the same recipe and put into greased 13 by 9 pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Pride of Iowa Cookies Submitted by Margie Marrs When I saw that Judy had submitted a Pride of Iowa cookie recipe, I remembered that my mother on our farm in north-central Kansas also made Pride of Iowa cookies. Looking in the box containing my mother’s recipes, I found a 3x5" typed recipe card (perhaps a card that I typed in my youth) and discovered that Judy’s recipe is quite different–and then noticed the word “Honey” in her recipe’s title. I suspect my recipe came from a Kitchen-Klatter newsletter, published in Shenandoah, Iowa. My mother was a faithful listener to the radio program, and many of her recipes came from the daily Kitchen-Klatter radio program and their publications. Their spiral-bound cookbook has been one of my most-trusted resources for over 50 years.
Ingredients (should make 5 dozen cookies) 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 1 cup shortening 2 eggs 2 cups flour ½ tsp salt 1 tsp soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp vanilla 1 cut coconut 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats ½ cup shopped nuts
Directions • Blend sugars and shortening, add beaten eggs. • Sift dry ingredients together and add to first mixture. • Stir in vanilla, coconut, oats, and nuts and mix well. • Drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheet and flatten with the bottom of a glass. • Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.
Zucchini Casserole Our vegetable garden annually produces innumerable piles of zucchini, and thus we are always looking for easy-to-prepare recipes that require large amounts of shredded zucchini–either fresh or frozen. One of the more attractive characteristics of summer squash is that it is so easy to freeze, requiring no steps beyond grating and packing in freezer bags. Our family’s absolute favorite zucchini recipe comes from the Entertaining Arts cookbook published by the University of Iowa almost forty years ago. The recipe, submitted by Cornelia Day, can be assembled in a few minutes (assuming the zucchini and onions are already prepared) and is near foolproof. I once left the dish in the oven almost an hour after it was supposed to come out and it was still quite edible. ~Bob Marrs
Ingredients 2 eggs, beaten ½ cup grated Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese 2 cups grated zucchini ½ teaspoon salt 1 onion, grated ½ cup vegetable oil ½ cup Parmesan cheese (save a little for the top) ½ cup biscuit mix
Directions • Mix ingredients together, saving some Parmesan cheese for topping. • Place in 1-quart casserole and top with remaining cheese. • Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes [with our oven, 45-50 minutes is usually more accurate]
Special Notes • Everything except biscuit mix can be mixed ahead. • This recipe works well with a gluten-free biscuit mix. • This recipe is intended to serve 4; to double, use 3 ½ cups zucchini and ½ cup oil while doubling other ingredients.