Potato Soup

Potato soup - with cheese, of course!

In ninth grade homemaking class, one of our first cooking lessons involved making white sauce; we added it to English peas to make creamed peas, which seemed pretty gross at the time.  Why on earth would someone need to know how to make white sauce?

I still don’t care for creamed peas, but knowing how to make white sauce has proven very useful over the years.  The proportions of fat and flour to liquid can be changed to suit your needs, but the prep method is the same: add flour to hot fat, stir until flour is coated with fat to make a roux.  Add liquid, cook and stir until the liquid is thickened.  Once the liquid boils, it is as thick as it will ever be; continuing to cook past this point can result in a thinner sauce.   The following formulas are pretty easy to remember:

·         Thin white sauce:  1 Tbsp. fat, 1 Tbsp. flour, 1 cup liquid

·         Medium white sauce:  2 Tbsp. fat, 2 Tbsp. flour, 1 cup liquid

My potato soup is based on a thin white sauce, resulting in a pretty dense soup because of the thickening effect of the potatoes.  If you prefer a thinner soup, add more liquid or fewer potatoes.  Go for real butter!  Add cooked celery if you must.

Potato Soup

2-1/2 lbs. potatoes

½ cup finely chopped onions

¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour

4 cups liquid (potato liquid and milk)

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and peel potatoes; cut into large cubes.  Boil until tender; I use about half as much water as potatoes.  When potatoes are cooked to desired tenderness, pour potato liquid into a large liquid measuring cup; add milk to make 4 cups, set aside.  Set potatoes aside.

Strive for more-or-less equal proportions of potatoes and liquid; I had a few more potatoes this time.

In a large saucepan, melt butter and sauté onions until they are translucent, taking care not to burn the butter. 

Saute onions in butter, yes, real butter.

Add flour and whisk until all the flour is coated in fat.  Add potato liquid/milk mixture to flour/butter mixture.  Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened; it should coat a metal spoon.   

Thickened sauce coats a spoon.

Add potatoes; using a potato masher, mash potatoes until they are at the consistency that you like.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  You may also add grated or cubed cheese of your choice at this point; I usually add cheese when serving. 

Old fashioned potato masher works just fine.

 

Oatmeal - Coconut Refrigerator Cookies

Once upon a time, you couldn’t go to the grocery store and buy slice-and-bake cookie dough or pre-shaped frozen cookie dough, ready to be baked.  Industrious individuals such as my mother, aunt, and grandmothers made their own slice-and-bake dough from scratch and stored it in the refrigerator or freezer for later use.  My mother made ice-box cookies for Vacation Bible School and elementary school parties and special occasions and for no occasion at all, except that everyone liked cookies.  My paternal grandmother always had ice-box cookies on hand at her house.  Before we knew about Salmonella and recognized that eating raw eggs was a bad idea, she always kept a bit of leftover dough for the grandkids to eat raw, straight from the refrigerator.  I have a pretty good stash of refrigerator cookie recipes from my mother, both grandmothers, and aunt.  This recipe, in my maternal grandmother’s handwriting, is attributed to my Aunt Mildred.  I tweaked a couple of things (cooking temperature, addition of mixing instructions, addition of cinnamon); the cookies are crispy and delicious!

My grandmother's handwritten recipe - a real treasure!

 

Oatmeal – Coconut Refrigerator Cookies

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

3 cups oatmeal

1-1/2 cups coconut

½ cup pecans

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and mix again until light and fluffy.  Stir in flour until well blended, then add oatmeal, coconut, and pecans.  Divide dough into three equal pieces and shape into rolls, about 1-1/4 inches in diameter.  Wrap each roll in waxed papeer and refrigerate or freeze for later use.  If the dough is to be frozen, overwrap the waxed paper with foil. 

To bake, preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease baking sheets with shortening or spray with non-stick spray.  Using a very sharp knife, slice dough into 3/8 inch thick slices and place on baking sheets.  Bake 12-14 minutes or until done. 

Personal experience with my oven and my baking sheets showed that 14 minutes baking time was needed with dark pans and 13 minutes baking time was needed with shiny pans. 

Cooked and cooling on paper towel.

Baked Fish and Spinach



The finished product.

6 fish filets (tilapia, halibut, etc.)

8 oz. fresh spinach

Juice from 1 lemon

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F.   Place fish in a 9x13 inch baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or lined with foil for easy clean-up. 

Top fish with sliced red onion, minced garlic, and lemon juice.  Place fresh spinach on top of fish and drizzle with olive oil.  Cover tightly with foil and bake 15 to 20 minutes; fish is safe to eat at an internal temperature of 145°F. 

 

This dish is super easy to prepare, and it works with any type of fish.

Served with baked potato and roasted beets - yum!