While overseas, we often could not get some of our favorite foods. Most of the time it did not matter, but occasionally we wanted comfort food from home. Not only are English muffins easy to make, but use ingredients that were found easily while we traveled.
They are good plain, but English muffins are much better toasted. They are good eaten in so many ways; with eggs and cheese, as hamburger rolls, smothered in butter, or as a base for peanut butter and jelly.
Once upon a time, before internet and being able to find restaurants easily on a phone, a small family was traveling late at night through a strange city. A pregnant wife told her husband that she REALLY wanted wonton soup.
Sweet husband found hungry wife a Chinese restaurant and came back with a huge container of soup. Wife happily ate most of the soup, remembering to share a little.
Wonton soup has always been a favorite comfort food. I suspect it probably was because my dad would often take us for Chinese food for super special occasions.
I am not sure where we found this recipe. I have played with it and adapted it some to our tastes.
Looking up how to make puff pastry, we found this recipe for “rough puff pastry”. It looked easy, so we decided to try it. It turned out wonderfully.
Just remember that the dough will need lots of time in the fridge. Be sure to put the cold dough in a hot oven so the pastry rises properly.
Many years ago, Andrea discovered “creamy puffs”. After her first taste she insisted that she wanted to learn how to make them. So, at the age of 9, Andrea learned how to make “French Profiteroles“.
Years later, Andrea still loves cream puffs and insisted that we make them to celebrate National Cream Puff Day (2 Jan).
Fill the puffs with vanilla ice cream for french profiteroles. Filling with whipped cream makes them cream puffs. Either way is wonderful!
If you want to make these gluten free, substitute the flour with your favorite gluten free flour*. They do not puff up as nicely, and they did not brown the same, but they taste great!
Before getting married, I worked as a third grade paraprofessional. My first year was wonderful. The teachers used me as an under teacher, working with different students and using my strengths to help the classes. Since I am right handed, I learned to write on a chalk board and I taught cursive that year.
Since I interacted with the students so much, they spoiled me often. At Christmas, Brianna brought me a batch of this candy. I liked it so much, I requested a recipe. I have made this recipe almost every year since. Now Andrea makes this recipe also.
We enjoy learning new recipes every winter. Adrian decided that marshmallows sounded good to try this year. He attempted them himself and discovered they were a lot easier to make than he thought.
We used mini chocolate chips, but most of them melted. The next time we make these, we plan to omit the chocolate chips, but cut the squares larger and dunk them in the chocolate.
These taste great alone, but are also wonderful in hot chocolate!
Home made noodles are much better than store bought. They take a little extra time but are easy and very good. We always use a noodle maker since we have one, but rolling the dough by hand does not take a lot of time.
While the recipe says to let the noodles dry, you can cook them right away if you want. They are excellent with butter and garlic, with your favorite sauce or in chicken broth.
For colorful variety, add some pumpkin puree or spinach to the dough. You will need to add extra flour, but the different colors and taste is fun.
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.
My girl friend Heather and I would often make these at her house. We almost always doubled the crust and would eat one batch of it as the second batch baked.
Now Adrian loves lemon desserts and this is one of his favorites.
