Lancaster Fdrfntrt'cj, Saturday, NcWefnbdr 9,' 2002
If you are looking for a recipe but can’t find it, send
your recipe request to Lou Ann Good, Cook’s Question
Comer, in care of Lancaster Farming, P.O. Box 609,
Ephrata, PA 17522. There’s no need to send a self-ad
dressed stamped envelope. If we receive an answer to
your question, we will publish it as soon as possible.
Check your recipe to make sure you copy the right
amounts and complete instructions for making the reci
pe. Sometimes we receive numerous answers to the
same request, but cannot print each one.
Answers to recipe requests should be sent to the same
address. You may also e-mail questions and answers to
LGOOD.EPH@LNPNEWS.COM
QUESTION An Ephrata reader wants a rec
ipe to make a honey and mustard pretzel either
as a sauce to pour on the pretzels or as a dip.
QUESTION An Ephrata reader would like a
recipe for raisin crumb pie that doesn’t include
milk in the ingredients.
QUESTION Nina Biddle, Tyrone, has identical
recipes for sugar cookies, one using Pillsbury
flour and the other Gold Medal. Why do they
taste differently if the identical ingredients are
used?
QUESTION Recipes for one-dish meals
and for using Thanksgiving leftovers are
needed.
QUESTION Mrs. Horst is looking for an old
recipe for marble cake, which she remembers
her mother had copied from this paper. The
recipe is lost, but Mrs. Horst remembers it was
a white cake batter. Part of the batter was sep
arated and cocoa added to it. The recipe made
a fluffy marble cake. She does not want a reci
pe with molasses, brown sugar or spices listed,
just a plain white and chocolate batter.
QUESTION A reader would like recipes to
make candy bars that taste similar to Snickers
and Nutrageous.
QUESTION A Lebanon reader would like a
recipe for peanut butter pudding.
QUESTION Cindy Smith, Tyrone, wants
recipe for a carrot salad she enjoyed as a child.
She recalled that it had shredded carrots, rai
sins, pineapples, and a dressing.
QUESTION S. Jones is trying to find a reci
pe to make black licorice coal candy like that
sold in miniature coal buckets with a little ham
mer to break it.
QUESTION Victor Chmura, Pottstown,
would like to know how to can white mush
rooms. He doesn’t want pickled mushrooms,
just plain mushrooms to can and use in recipes.
QUESTION Gloria Miller, Christiana, lost
the recipe for mini upside' down pineapple
cake, which is made in cupcake pans.
QUESTION A fairly new homemaker wants
recipes that are easy but taste wonderful to
serve to guests. She would also enjoy any
pointers to help entertain guests with ease.
QUESTION How about some recipes for
dried apple slices and other ways to use an
abundance of apples?
ANSWER For all those hunters who want
to know what to do with the meat, Alma Martin,
East Earl, should know. Last year, her family at
tained six deer. She sends in this recipe for
deer jerky. She writes that her family likes to
have plenty on hand to snack and chew on over
the holidays and during an afternoon of family
games. The men folks always want a bagful in
their lunch—for healthy chewing. It’s gone too
soon.
Deer Jerky
3-5 pounds thinly sliced deer or beef meat.
Lay on trays in a single layer. Make brine
with the following ingredients:
V 2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
1 cup warm water
Pour over meat until covered. Let stand to
soak one day. Turn meat, soak one more day.
Soak meat in refrigerator. Put in food dryer ap
proximately six hours or however you like it.
Keep in dry place.
ANSWER Eleanor Heinsey, Denver, mislaid
the recipe for Pineapple Carrot Cake that had
been printed in this column. Thanks to B.
Weaver, Stevens, for sending a recipe that she
says is delicious.
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
Vz teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
1 1 /2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups grated carrots
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup crushed, drained pineapple
1 cup coconut
Vi cup chopped nuts
Combine ingredients and beat until well
blended. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 min
utes. When cool, frost with the following:
Cream Cheese Frosting:
6-ounces cream cheese
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 tablespoons butter softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
Frost cooled cake and sprinkle with Vi cup
nuts.
ANSWER Pamela Hoy wanted to know
where to find hickory salt for sausage making.
Thanks to Mrs. A. Martin for writing that she
purchased hickory smoke salt from Isaac and
Elva Martin, 1178 Lebanon Rd., Manheim, PA
17545. Phone (717) 665-5013.
ANSWER Tami Baizanna, Fawn -Grove,
wanted to know how to keep the shell from
sticking to hardboiled eggs when trying to shell
them. Thanks to D. Newswanger, Carlisle, for
writing that she has had success with the fol
lowing method: Bring water to a boil, immerse
eggs in the water and continue boiling until
hard boiled.
Thanks to Joyce Stuff, Mercersburg, who
writes that eggs must be at least one week old.
Keep them at a cool temperature (not refriger
ated), and pour warm water over the eggs prior
to cooking. After cooking, cool by running cold
water over the eggs, drain, and cover slightly
with cold water. Let eggs cool. Crack eggs
around the “belly” until crumbly. Pick the shell
open with a fingernail, and start peeling while
dipping the egg frequently into the water to
keep egg moist. Do not worry if the eggs aren’t
perfect, just make sure they taste good.
Here’s another method from Shirley Orfanel
la, Quarryville.
Hardboiled Eggs
Place cold eggs in a single layer in a pan just
big enough to hold them. Add cold water to
cover by one inch. Cover pan and bring to a boil
over high heat. Remove from heat and let stand
17 minutes for medium eggs or 20 minutes for
large ones. Pour off water and rinse under cold
water.
Here’s another method from Toni Kellers,
Bucks County. She writes that you must use
“old” supermarket eggs because fresh eggs
can’t be peeled after boiling. Refrigerate the
eggs for two weeks after purchasing before
hard boiling.
ANSWER Pollyanna Eby, Belleville, wanted
recipes and instructions for making ice cream
cakes such as that sold by Dairy Queen and
Carvel. Thanks to D. Newswanger, Carlisle, for
sending the following instructions for an Ice
cream cake that her family thinks is delicious.
Ice Cream Cake
Prepare and bake one package of brownie
mix in 9x13-inch pan according to directions on
box. Cool cake. Using V 2 gallon vanilla ice
cream, make a thick layer of ice cream on top
of brownies. Sprinkle 1 cup crushed Oreo cook
ies on top of ice cream. Drizzle chocolate syrup
over cookies. Top with whipped topping of your
favorite frosting. Garnish with a few cookie
crumbs or decorate with frosting. Store in
freezer. Allow to thaw slightly before serving.
ANSWER Cindy Smith, Tyrone, wanted
recipe for a cookie that tastes like the Little
Debbie oatmeal cookies with filling.
Little Debbie’s Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
3 cups flour
I V2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons vanilla .
AVi cups brown sugar
3 cups oatmeal
I V* teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons nutmeg
2V4 cups margarine
6 eggs
3 cups raisins or chocolate chips (optional)
Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl, add
margarine and eggs. Stir until moist. Add vanil
la, mix well, then add raisins or chocolate chips
(optional). Place by spoonful on cookie sheet.
Carrot Cake
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Do not
over bake. Makes 4-5 dozen. Use whoopie pie
icing for filling recipe.
ANSWER - Melba Sheffer, Glen Rock, mis
placed her sour dough starter recipe and has
been lost without it. Thanks to Fern Schlegel,
Dalmatia, for coming to her rescue with the fol
lowing recipe.
Amish Friendship Starter Dough
Va teaspoon dry yeast
1-ounce warm water
1 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
Va teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 cup milk, room temperature
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add all ingre
dients in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and
let stand in warm place for two days to ferment.
Mixture will become bubbly and have a sour
smell. After second day, start your bread recipe
using this starter.
ANSWER A steady reader is looking for an
onion soup recipe. Thanks to Shirley Orfanella,
Quarryville, for this recipe.
Best Onion Soup
6 large white onions, thinly sliced
V* cup butter
1 teaspoon sugar—twice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
6 cups good beef stock
Toasted French bread
Grated Gruyere cheese
Melt butter and saute onions until translu
cent. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and cook over low
heat. Stir in mustard and add second spoon of
sugar. Can add V « cup Cognac if desired. Add
stock and cook to a boil. Stir often. Lower heat
and simmer one hour. Ladle into bowls and top
with toast and cheese. Broil until lightly brown
ed watch closely.
ANSWER Ralph Nissly, Lancaster, wanted
a recipe to can pumpkin to make pies. Thanks
to Shirley Orfanella, Quarryville, who send a
recipe but also the comment: “Almost easier
and cheaper to buy (already canned pumpkin).
Canned Pumpkin
Cut two washed pumpkins into large pieces.
Discard seeds or keep separate. Steam or bake
pumpkin until tender. Scoop out pulp. Put
through food mill. Add boiling water to thin
slightly. Pour hot into Jars, leave one-inch
headspace. Add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart.
Process pints about 1 hour and quarts for 1
hour and 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
Getting To Root Of Yam
COLUMBUS, Ohio What is the official difference
between a yam and a sweet potato?
That depends. Are you talking about “true” yams, or
are you talking about what people across the United
States call yams?
First, let’s focus on true yams. These are very different
from sweet potatoes, and you don’t find them commonly
in this country. They come from a different botanical
family, from the genus Dioscorea, or “yam” family (sur
prisingly enough).
They have rough, scaly skin and are starchier than
sweet potatoes. They have a reddish-colored flesh. True
yams grow in tropical and subtropical climates, and aren’t
grown commercially in the United States.
Sweet potatoes are known by the scientific name Ipo
moea batatas and are a member of the morning glory
family. They are sweeter and moister than true yams.
More than likely, you’ve officially got sweet potatoes on
your Thanksgiving dinner table.
However, there are different kinds of sweet potatoes,
and the most common are called you guessed it
yams. And unlike true yams, these yams are sweeter and
moister than other sweet potatoes. Their flesh is a deeper
orange and, as you might guess, they have more beta car
otene. Other sweet potatoes, the Jersey type, have pale
yellow or light brown flesh.
Ironically, neither true yams nor sweet potatoes are
closely related to white potatoes, which come from the So
lanum family, same as the eggplant and tomato.
True yams and sweet potatoes are really enlarged roots.
White potatoes, on the other hand, are special types of
underground stems, similar to the atave-ground stems we
see.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Standard Nutrient Database, a baked, medium-sized
orange-fleshed sweet potato (a “yam,” about 5 inches
long) has about 120 calories, 3.5 grams of fiber, 400 milli
grams of potassium, 25,000 International Units of vitamin
A as beta carotene.
Adding a tablespoon of both butter and brown sugar
adds about 150 calories and 12 grams of fat. Or, one
2.5-inch by 2-inch portion of home-prepared candied
sweet potatoes contains about 600 calories and 3.5 grams
of fat of course, your family recipe may vary.
Chow Line is a service of Ohio State University Exten
sion and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Develop
ment Center.
Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021
Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1044, or
filipic.3@osu.edu.