Eva's Spaghetti Dish

This recipe is so ridiculously easy to put together, and tastes so good! Any night mom wants me to make supper and I'm pressed for time, this is a stand-by that everyone loves. It comes from a local cook book; you know, one of those fund raiser cook books put together by a local church group of ladies. The thing about these cook books is that they are written by real people who use real every-day ingredients. So while it may not be a culinary masterpiece, full of expensive ingredients, requiring techniques that only a chose few can pull off with accuracy, it is delicious and satisfying.

Eva's Spaghetti Dish

6 slices bacon, chopped into 1" pieces or smaller
1 large onion, minced
1 quart tomatoes (stewed or whole, chopped, not sauce)
1 tbsp sugar
Pepper to taste
Cheese
(We prefer feta, but have used cubed cheddar. Anything sharp will do!)
Cooked spaghetti

Cook the bacon and onions together until brown and tender. Carefully add tomatoes, sugar and pepper. Heat through and let simmer just a minute to let the flavors blend. Serve over noodles, sprinkled with cheese.

New meaning for "Pizza Pie".

I've been making a lot of pies lately, so when mom asked me to make pizza one night, my hands automatically wanted to crimp the crust. I laughed to mom about it... and then I decided to go ahead and do it, to see what would happen. I wasn't sure the crust would hold the shape, but it did!

The color of cheese

I'd never given a moment's thought to the color of my cheddar before this summer. I just knew that cheddar is white... and once in a while some off-the-wall store has the orange stuff, which honestly didn't taste as good to me. (Some say there is no difference in flavor, but I strongly disagree!)

Then a friend, visiting from the mid-western part of the country, went grocery shopping with me and had a mini-breakdown. In selecting our cheese, she could find no orange cheddar.

"What is it with New York?" she asked. "All you have is white cheddar! I want my orange cheddar!"

I was taken aback! Now, I love cheese. At one point in life I would have said "If you are what you eat, I'm a block of cheese." But honestly...so what if there was no orange cheddar? The white is better anyway! Most of our cheddar comes from Cabot Vermont, and I like to buy food made in our area, so it didn't matter a bit to me if the mid-western states sell almost exclusively orange.

Then, a few weeks later I ended up taking a tour of Cabot Creamery (a little bit of heaven on earth), and someone asked about the color of cheese.

Here are the, um, facts?

According to the tour guide, back during the War for American Independence or thereabouts, the British were changing tax on all imported cheese, so the Americans started adding a bit of carrot juice to color their cheeses, thereby identifying them as their own and not paying taxes on them. The custom lingered, and orange cheese became the norm around the country, until cheese makers in Vermont and other North East locations decided not to bother any more, to just let cheese be cheese. So, white cheddar is now the norm in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, maybe Virginia. Southern and Western states, however, thought something was wrong with white cheese, so to appease them, Cabot makes an orange cheddar using coloring from Annato seed.

Now, I like the sounds of this tale, but on doing further research I never found this same idea from anyone else. There are various theories about why people use the unneeded coloring.

The point of them all is this:

CHEESE IS NOT ORANGE.

Dye is.

You may be wondering - WHO CARES?

Well, I do. And my friend who brought up the topic does, in a twisted way. I'm sure it matters to other people too, but they are to proud to admit it.

I still feel sorry for those people from the rest of the country who just can't handle the fact that cheese is white, they are the ones who are living with an illusion. Yummy, tasty, white cheddar. I have a block of Wicked Sharp cheddar straight from the creamery in the fridge... I think I'll go have a slice.

The Real Deal

NOTE: I do not mean to attack anyone who lives with and prefers orange cheese. This article and my point of view are meant in fun.

Perogies

Apparently, the world has yet to determine perogies' exact global origin. If you google them, you'll find them described as Polish or Ukrainian food, but also served in Russia and Hungary... all over that area off the world. The recipe I originally started with is Ukrainian. They can be filled with just about anything from savory to spicy to sweet. I've never had any but the (americanized, I'm sure) potato-filled perogie, and they are comfort food! Not something terribly quick to whip up for lunch, but if you have an extra pair of hands in the house to help you assemble them before boiling, the process isn't that bad. A good idea would be to make a huge batch at a time and trow the extra in the freezer for next time.

At some point I want to try other varieties, especially some fruit filled, sprinkled with sugar and served with apple sauce for dipping. I'm sure you'll hear about it when I do.



Ukrainian Perogies


Dough

2 C flour
1/2 C warm milk
1/2 C mashed potato
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs oil

Filling

1/2 C finely chopped onion
1/4 C butter
2 C mashed potato
1 C grated white* cheddar

Mix all dough ingredients, adding a little more milk if it's too dry. Knead on a lightly floured surface until it forms a ball. You want it to be just slightly sticky. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a towel to rest 30 minutes.

Sautee the onion in butter until well cooked and starting to brown. Mix with potato and cheese. If you use hot mashed potato, allow to cool before filling perogies.

Set a pot of water to boil (the wider it is the more you can cook at once).

Roll out dough very thin on lightly floured surface (0.125" to be precise! Yeah... measure that!) adding as little four as possible to keep it from sticking. Cut 3" circles with a wide glass/biscuit cutter.

Press scraps into a ball, and allow to rest again so they can be re-used. The dough relaxes significantly after 15 minutes or more.

Scoop 1 1/2- 2 tsp filling into each circle (you'll figure out how much is too much pretty quick, it'll gush out the corner!), fold and press closed. The dough sticks together very well compared to some other pastries. The first time I made these I thought they'd pop open, but they don't.


Place in boiling water to cook. Stir once to keep them from sticking to the bottom. They will float after about 2 minutes. Cook about a minute longer, then remove with a slotted spoon. Sprinkle cooked perogies with melted butter and toss. You can either eat them now as a ravioli-like dumpling, or....


.... fry them until golden, as we do. I actually like them either way, but most of my family only likes them fried.
I like to serve them as a main dish with veggies, for a hearty meatless meal.


* See my upcoming post on the thrilling topic of CHEESE coloring.

My Favorite Baked Potato Soup

Cold-weather comfort food.

The picture is not mine, but it's the same recipe with garnish. Mmm. Looks good.

2/3 C butter
2/3 C flour
7 C milk
4 large potatoes, baked, cooled, peeled and diced. (about 4 cups)
4 green onions, chopped
12 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/4 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 C sour cream
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In a large soup kettle, melt butter (I put the onions in here, I like them well cooked). Whisk in flour, heat and stir until smooth. Gradually add milk. Stir until thickened. Add potatoes, bring to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
Makes 2 1/2 quarts, 8-10 servings.