Tomato Salsa (for canning)

This is a less spicy recipe that does not use much cilantro. Adjust the seasonings and peppers to create a spicier salsa if preferred. Just remember that the total of all the combined peppers should be between 4-5 cups, no matter what type used. Also, if desired, add a little hot sauce or extra ground chipotle to spice it up a little more.

Depending on the tomatoes used, this can be a very sweet salsa. Add a little additional vinegar if too sweet. Lastly, feel free to use lemon or lime juice instead of the apple cider vinegar for variety.

Pekoura

Many years ago, we had a friend visit.  Morsal taught Mark how to make Pekoura.  These coated potato slices are wonderful.  You can serve as is, but they are best with plain yogurt or yogurt with cilantro added to it.  

Twice Baked Potato Salad

Allan bought some potato salad at the market one day and we really liked it. We bought it a few times before we realized it would be a lot cheaper to make it ourselves. While it is not exactly the same, we like it and make this recipe often.

Potatoes, Onions and Peppers

While these are not exactly like the potatoes at my favorite food vendor at the fair, they are inspired by them. Serve them with sausage or grilled beef.

Egg Rolls

Even though egg rolls seem to be difficult to make, they really are not. They come together pretty quickly also. Since they are treats that we rarely make, we fry them, but you can also bake them if you prefer.

If you prefer, substitute the pork for chicken or mini shrimp. They are great without meat also!

Purple Cabbage Salad

Roaming the grocery store one day, Andrea tried a sample of their purple cabbage salad. She liked it so much, that she asked if we could please buy some for lunch. We told her to get some.

Later, we attempted to duplicate the recipe. The dressing is the not the same, but we get many compliments on this very easy recipe.

The ingredient amounts are not exact. Adjust them to your liking. Adding warm honey mustard sauce is great too.

Daddy’s Pasties

Pasties are popular in Calument where Daddy spent a lot of time growing up.  He said that Petila’s taxi in Calumet would often take his family to McLain park and then come back at a prearranged time to take them home. His grandmother made them also. There are many recipes for pasties, but all are similar.

Feel free to experiment with the basic recipe. We often make the pasties with cubed meat instead of ground.  Be careful not to over stuff the crust, it is much better to have leftover filling! If you can find it, replace part–or all– of the carrots with rutabaga for a more traditional taste.

When serving, I like them best with a little extra butter. Some people serve them with gravy. My mom eats them with ketchup.

Venison Stew

I asked Mark what he wanted for dinner when he was home for Spring break.  He really wanted a good stew.  He gets it at school, but it is often salty and served with noodles.

Stew is a very flexible meal.  Add more or less vegetables or add other favorites.  Serve with a lettuce salad and maybe some bread, and you have an easy meal.

If you have frozen stew meat, you can still cook it in the crock pot. Skip browning the meat.  Start cooking the stew on high in the morning and cook for 8 hours.  We prefer to cook the frozen meat for 3 or 4 hours with pepper, garlic and onions, then add the remaining vegetables and spices for the last few hours of cooking.

 

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus


Simple, but very good!

While any asparagus works, the thinner, less woody stalks taste the best.