Rust Family Cookbook, A Year's Journey 2018

Hello Friends! It's Grandma Dorothy.   Today's favorite is Oyster Chowder. The complete recipe is listed at the bottom. This recipe came from a New Year's Party in 1974. We were invited to attend by best friends and enjoyed this rich, flavorful, and filling oyster chowder. Our hostess was kind enough to share the recipe and it has been a recipe we make several times a year for special occasions, mainly Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The pictures I've included are approximately a double recipe. Today we are celebrating a good friend's birthday! 3 or 4 potatoes - diced 3 carrots - diced 2 stalks celery - diced 1/2 cup chopped onion Begin by dicing the carrots, celery including tops, and onions.  Put on medium heat, cover, and begin to simmer. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes. Add diced potatoes to partially cooked vegetables. Cover and simmer until tender. Now you make a roux. Melt 2 tablespoons on butter (not margarine) and add 2 tablespo...

Creamed Hamburger on Toast is a super easy, four ingredient main dish that is quick to whip up and sure to make your comfort food's greatest hits list.  It's not pretty, and neither is this picture, but I tried. This is another of Grandma Betty's recipes.  The Noel and Betty Rust family farmed dairy cattle in Northwest Iowa, so this rich dairy dish has it's heart from the farm.. I fondly remember my own Mom making this growing up, sometimes with chopped dried beef instead of burger. I don't think I truly appreciated it as much as a kid as I do now.  Of course, back when I had the metabolism of a hummingbird was the time to really dig into a big plate of the creamy crunchy goodness, not now that I have the 40+and-given-birth-to-six-kids metabolism.  Go figure! This is one of Eddie's favorites, too, and it's growing on our kids.  As far as being a healthy dish, well, not so much.  At least I use whole wheat bread and lean ground beef.  One more...

As promised, here is the recipe for Grandma Betty's doughnuts.  Not doughnut holes, but doughnuts.  A lot of the recipe was left to memory, and lost to time.  This Mamma had to make it up using the best of my abilities, and feel like I mostly succeeded. There are actually two Doughnuts recipes in the cookbook, and both quite similar, but since I did have sour cream and no sour milk, I chose the 2nd recipe, which just required sour cream.  Here goes: 3 eggs beaten 1 cup sugar Salt (I used 1/4 tsp) 1 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon soda Mix these ingredients well.  Then add flour and flavor, as says the recipe.  I added about a teaspoon of almond extract and a teaspoon of cinnamon.  Any number of flavorings could be added, like lemon extract, strawberry, cocoa, use your imagination and try some different things for different batches. Then the flour.  I ended up using 3 1/2 cups.  I think I could have gotten away with 3 1/4, and maybe t...

It's been so cold here in Iowa this past week+, with temps dipping into the negative double digits, and wind chills in the negative 30's, that we can actually warm up with some ice cream !  Sounds crazy, huh? Despite the frigid weather we're having, Emerald has been campaigning for a batch of her Great Grandma Betty Rust's famous Burn Sugar Ice Cream. We traditionally make and serve this around the winter holidays, often times as just one batch, so when it's gone, it's gone until the next winter. GASP! Putting it together is easy enough, but my small ice cream maker takes 4 batches to get it all frozen. The thought did cross my mind to just stick the ice cream maker outside and let nature do it's work, but I worry about the motor not playing well with Jack Frost.  I'll just have to be patient and babysit the machine to get this put together.  After all, who can argue with ice cream and a 10 year old?! The name 'burnt sugar' can sound a ...

Grandma Betty Rust's Drop Doughnuts This recipe for Drop Doughnuts is very much loved family staple.  Just the mention of these crispy, sugary bites of sheer happiness brings everyone running to snatch them up.  Once I get started cooking, it is hard to keep up as they get eaten.  The fact I got a picture of the finished doughnuts at all is a small miracle.  Luckily, the recipe makes quite a few so there's more than enough for 5 hungry kids and their parents. This a relatively simple recipe, with ingredients you probably always have in your pantry and fridge.  The only bitty downside is the care and time needed to cook them properly, and it takes a while.  I didn't time the effort from beginning to end, so it will be a surprise, but maybe 45 mins, including help from a 6 year old and occasional help from the twins. When you are ready to begin, start heating up the oil. I used an 8 inch round saucepan filled with vegetable oil about 2 1/2 inches de...

If you are anywhere near Iowa, or the Midwest for that matter, you've been suffering with the deep freeze that is the outdoors.  Negative temperatures are upon us, and what better way to warm up than with a big bowl of delicious chili this weekend? This recipe is my Sister, Gretchen's, and it is sure to warm your bones.  Along side the recipe is a note about our Grandfather, Noel Rust, and his Chili and Cornbread.  It says, 'Noel made great chili, using different ingredients each time.  One time he added mushrooms, and none of the grand kids ate any (really?  we would do such a thing?).  A lot of the time he added sliced green olives (I do remember that!).  For chili and cornbread, prepare the chili recipe in a large roaster pan.  Prepare a box of cornbread mix according to package directions.  When the chili's ready, dollop the cornbread batter right on the hot chili.  Place the roaster in a 350 degree oven until the cornbread is ...