Tuna Helper a la Michael Ingredients

1 pk (8 oz.) egg noodles	2 tb Cornstarch
1 pk (10 oz.) frozen peas	2 tb Butter or margarine
1 cn (9-1/4 oz.) tuna packed in	Salt and ground black pepper
1 cn (13 oz.) evaporated milk	1/2 c Shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions for Tuna Helper a la Michael

In large saucepan, cook noodles as directed on package and the peas in with the them; drain well. In a small sauce pan, combine cornstarch with evaporated milk, reserved tuna water and additional water, if neces- sary, to make 2 cups liquid. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and tuna. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Combine cooked noodles and peas with tuna mixture in a two quart casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese over top. Cook in a preheated 350 degree F. oven 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through and cheese melts and begins to brown. Posted to TNT Recipes Digest by "Michael G. Sooter" on Feb 19, 1998

Homemade Tuna Helper:

Ingredients:

2 small cans of tuna, drained
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup flour
1 to 1½ cup milk
1 tablespoon parsley
Salt, pepper and Old Bay seasoning to taste

8 ounces or half of a package of uncooked macaroni, noodles or Rotini pasta
In a large saucepan, boil water to cook either the macaroni, noodles, or Rotini pasta. Cook until just done, drain and set aside. Once again all three work great, just as it does with the first hamburger helper type meal.


Wash mushrooms under cold water, remove stems, and slice. In another large skillet or even a stock pot, with heat of flame on low, sauté chopped onions and sliced mushrooms in two tablespoons of butter until done. Sprinkle the ¼ cup flour onto mushrooms and onions and gently blend in flour with whisk, slowly add the milk, continuing to blend, adding enough milk to desired thickness of "sauce". Add the parsley, salt, pepper and Old Bay Seasoning to taste. Once everything is blended well, add the tuna, and again blend in well, finally add the cooked noodles and blend so everything has an even coating of the sauce mixture.
Makes 4 Servings

Other options:
One can make a "cheesy" version of this, by adding a cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese at the making of the sauce stage...add more milk if sauce becomes to thick. Blend sauce and cheese mixture thoroughly with a whisk to remove any lumpiness.

Pres. Obama's Inaugural Luncheon Menu and Recipes

Today, Barrack Hussein Obama became our 44th President.  It would have been awesome to be in Washington D.C. to participate.  I was able to watch this with my parents in their home and my husband was able to watch it with his parents in their home by chance as he's there on business. What an historic day for our country!  We've recorded it to watch with our children. They have watched this process with us this last year or so.  

Although our nation didn't choose Mitt Romney as we'd hoped, today I watch two LDS politicians intimately involved in the inauguration, one Bob Bennett (R-UT) co-chairing the inauguration and Harry Reid (D-NV) toasting the President as the Senate Majority Leader. 

I just heard that the page that has gotten the most hits on the inauguration website is the one with menus and recipes for today's luncheon sharing what our new President and the First Lady and guests ate.  I would have enjoyed everything except the duck.  

A Recipe from Top Secret Recipes

Hello Maija-Liisa!
Brad has sent you a recipe from www.TopSecretRecipes.com! h askhaskdh akh ak hkahd ad ad a dad ad akd kad kas dhk

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipedetail.asp?id=93

Grandma's Chocolate Cake Pudding

Our Grandma served this often to her children.   It was passed on to the grandchildren who traded it with each other while young marrieds.   It has been prepared in dutch ovens and shared on the Creek at family reunions.   Enjoy!

Grandma's Chocolate Cake Pudding

Ingredients:
Bring the following to a boil in a large pan on top of the stove:
2 cups water
2 1/4 cups sugar (I use 1 1/4 cup white, 1 cup brown)

For Batter:
1 cube butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Mix the above together and then add:

2 cups flour
4 Tbsp. cocoa (powdered)
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
Pour or drop the batter by spoonful into the boiling mixture.   Cover tightly with the lid and simmer on low (without peeking) for 25-30 minutes. Yummy served with cream over it or vanilla ice cream.  It's best eaten as soon as it's ready. 

Number Of Servings: About 6

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Lemon Souffle

As I wonder what "ladylike" recipe to make,  I remember this lemon souffle recipe my Mother sent me when I lived far away from her and was not yet married.  I just dug out the recipe card she sent me, dusted it off, am entering it here for safer keeping and will give it a try for this week's Recipe Party.   

Kevainen Sitruuna Kohokas 

From the Kitchen of My Mother

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour combine

dash of salt

2 Tablespoons melted margarine ----->*(I use squeeze PARKAY so I do not need to melt it.)

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 cups milk, scalded -- scald means to let it come just barely to a boil

3 well beaten egg yolks

3 stiffly beaten egg white

Combine the first 3 ingredients.  *Add melted margarine. Add grated lemon peel and the lemon juice.  Scald the milk in a small kettle.   Meanwhile beat egg yolks well.  Slowly stir milk with a whip (vispila) into the egg yolks.  Add this mixture into the flour-sugar mixture.  With electric beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff as if making merinque.  Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.  Then pour the batter into an ungreased dish.  Set in another bigger pan with about 1 inch of water in it.  I use a dripper pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.   Do not be alarmed, this does not raise any at all as souffles are supposed to.  It makes its own sauce on the bottom, somewhat like Grandma's Chocolate Cake Pudding.  

With spring coming, I think you will enjoy this.  We certainly do.  

Regular souffle dish looks like this . . .

I think you could use your blue-grey Arabia casserole dish for this purpose.

I love how my Mother gives me tips that will mean something to me and help me understand the recipe better like:

which casserole dish I have that will work, 

what other recipe it's like in consistency, 

what scald means, 

what brand of margarine to use, etc. 

I prefer black strap molasses

Today, on the 12th day of Christmas, I made Finnish Gingerbread cookies at my Mother's. We'd been too busy earlier in the season. I was out of dark karo syrup and had heard one could use molasses instead. I used black strap molasses and it gave them the dark color they need. The smells were incredible and although it's time to have the oldest man in the village come to our home and sweep out the straw (it's what they decorate with in Finland), it felt we should keep Christmas up awhile longer. A friend on facebook asked for the recipe today, so here it is again.

Title: Piparkakut (Finnish Christmas Gingerbread Cookies)

Ingredients:
3/4 c margarine or butter
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
2 T dark Karo syrup (or black strap molasses)
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves
1 t ground cardamom
1/2 t baking soda
2 1/2 c flour

Directions:
Cream margarine and sugar. Add egg, spices and syrup. Then add flour and soda sifted together. Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator. Roll out on floured surface very thin and cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. Bake on a very lightly greased cookie sheet about 5 min at 375 degrees. Do not overbake! Store in an airtight tin and they will keep "forever".

Allison's Chocolate Torte

http://spindyeknit.com/2008/07/torte-reform/

Alison Hyde’s chocolate torte–makes two

Snap out the bottoms of two 8″ springform pans (flat bottomed preferred). Cover bottoms with foil, snap them back in, butter the sides and the foil-covered bottoms.

CAKE:

Melt 1 lb. butter, beat with 3 c. sugar and 2 tsp bourbon vanilla
Add in 1/2 c. manufacturing cream, 6 egg yolks

Add in: 1 1/3 c. cocoa that has been mixed with 1 c. flour till smooth. Dutch process cocoa will give you a different flavor from that of Hershey cocoa; my favorite is Bergenfield’s Colonial Rosewood cocoa. The non-dutched cocoas are healthier.

Beat separately: 6 egg whites and 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar. Underbeating is better than overbeating.

Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture. Put in the two pans and bake at 350 for 42-45 minutes. Center will not be solid and cracking should appear. Run a knife carefully around outer edges; cake will fall, and you want the top to fall in one piece.

Cool at least an hour. Loosen springform sides and remove. Put a plate on bottom of cake and flip over. Peel off bottoms of pans, then the foil. Glaze when cool.

GLAZE:

Chop one Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Belgian bittersweet chocolate bar (500 g) and melt with 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 c. manufacturing cream. Double boiler or microwave. Try not to incorporate extra air in as you stir. Also, it is important that every edge of every piece of chocolate be fully dunked down in the cream before heating or that piece of chocolate could possibly seize into a hardened, unmeltable lump with the combination of liquid and heat.

When glazing, I make a backwards J from the center, turn the cake slightly, and repeat all the way around. If you use the smaller amount of cream it holds the indentations better.

Glazes two cakes.

Enjoy!