This is my mom’s recipe that she made often when I was growing up. Simple and tasty.

I have tried other dumping recipes, including Bisquick, but I always come back to this one.

Steak & Dumplings

• 1-1/2 lbs steak, sliced thin (1/8″ thick)
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
• 2/3 cup milk

Season meat with salt & pepper, and fry in oil until well browned. While meat is frying, blend remaining ingredients to form a wet but firm dough. Add enough water to barely cover the steak, and drop dumplings by spoonfuls onto meat. Cover tightly and cook for approximately 15 minutes, or until dumplings are done.

My Mom made this on a regular basis when I was growing up. It was one of my favorite dishes. For a very tasty dish, it’s amazingly simple to make.

Pork-In-The-Oven

• 8 pork chops
• 10-1/2 oz can chicken stock
• salt & ground black pepper
• flour

In a heavy skillet, brown the pork chops in oil, cooking both sides; season with salt & pepper during cooking. Pour 1/2 the chicken stock into a deep casserole dish. Dredge the pork chops in flour and place in casserole. Sift 1/4 cup additional flour on top of chops. Add remaining chicken stock to drippings in the skillet, and then pour over the pork. Cover and bake in a 350 F oven for 1 hour.

Notes

Mom always browned the pork well, as it make the gravy richer and the dish more flavorful. Yet sometimes it came out better than others — it was always good, sometimes it was great.

I couldn’t figure it out, as Mom deglazed the pan after browning the meat well, so all the flavor of the browned bits made it into the baking pan.

Recently, I tried something slightly different and it had a much larger effect than expected — instead of a baking dish, I use a covered, oven-safe skillet, so the meat is browned and baked in the same pan. I didn’t expect this to make much difference — my intention was from laziness, as 1 less pan needs cleaning. But it works consistently to produce a more flavorful dish, so I’m sticking with it.

I also vary the seasonings — I typically use seasoned salt and add 1/4 tsp of something else such as granulated garlic or paprika. The extra seasoning perks the dish and varies it from time to time.

But as a kid I wouldn’t touch the rice! Probably because of the color and chunks of onion. As an adult? Love the stuff!

Edith’s Paprika Chicken

• 3 lb fryer, cut up
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• salt & ground black pepper
• paprika
• cooked rice, enough for 4 to 6 servings

Brown chicken in oil, seasoning with salt & pepper. Dust with enough paprika to color the meat dark. Saute onion until clear. Add more paprika to color meat. Add 1/2 cup water and simmer until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to warm platter, & stir rice into drippings until well mixed.

All my siblings love it. Me? Can’t stand it, never did. Just not my taste. But given it’s overall popularity within the family I made sure I captured it. Nope — I’ll never make it. But my brother Kevin does.

Funny — last fall we compared notes. It looked like his version of this recipe was VERY different … until I realized that his recipe was half size (or mine is double size?) and some ingredients were listed in a different order.

Update: Spent Thanksgiving 2014 with my brother. Tried the dressing, turns out I like it.

Edith’s Poultry Stuffing

• chicken or turkey giblets
• 8 slices bread
• 1 large onion
• salt & ground black pepper
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup cooked potatoes, cooled & diced

Place giblets in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Skim the surface, then season w/salt. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, or until tender. If the water level drops too low, add only as much hot water as needed to keep the giblets covered.

Remove the giblets from the stock, reserving stock. Grind the giblets into a large mixing bowl. Grind the bread and onion into the same bowl. Mix well. Season with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Mix well. Add some reserved giblet stock to moisten the mixture. Mix in the egg and potato. Stuff the bird and roast as usual. As an alternate, place stuffing in a greased baking dish. Bake, covered, at 350 F for 30 minutes.

For a number of years we made it regularly, then stopped making it. I made it a few times as an adult, but it didn’t quite have the same “magic” that it did when I was a teenager.

Edith’s Barbecue Pork Chops

• 8 pork chops
• 1 cup ketchup or tomato sauce
• 1 Tbsp minced onion
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 4 to 6 drops Tabasco sauce
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat over to 350 F. Line meat in a casserole dish in one layer. Mix remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour over meat and bake for 1 hour.

Variation: Use chicken instead of pork.

Mom had done pie from scratch before I was born, but she and Dad didn’t think it tasted any better than the canned filling and it was a LOT more work!

Pumpkin Pie

• 1 large can pumpkin pie filling
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 2 uncooked pie crusts

Mix the first 7 ingredients together in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, then milk. Divide the pumpkin mixture between the two pie crusts. Bake at 375 F for 1 hour. Makes 2 pies.

Not so surprisingly, my first batch of wine was rhubarb, a noxious mixture that I’m surprised anyone choked down!

Rhubarb Pie

• 8″ pie (9″ pie, 10″ pie)
• 1-1/4 cups (1-2/3 cups, 2 cups) sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/3 cup, 1/2 cup) flour
• 1/4 tsp (1/2 tsp, 1/2 tsp) grated orange peel
• 3 cups (4 cups, 5 cups) rhubarb
• 1 Tbsp (2 Tbsp, 3 Tbsp) butter
• double pie crust (top & bottom)

Preheat oven to 425 F; prepare pie crust. Stir together sugar, flour, & orange peel. Turn half the rhubarb into pastry-lined pie pan; sprinkle with half the sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining rhubarb and sugar; dot with butter. Cover with a top crust which has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edge with 2″ to 3″ strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during the last 15 minutes of baking. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits in the crust.

Strawberry/Rhubarb Pie: Substitute sliced strawberries for half the rhubarb. Decrease sugar to 1 cup for the 8″ pie, 1-1/3 cup for the 9″ pie, or 1-3/4 cup for the 10″ pie.

Glorified Rice

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

Whip cream until stiff; add sugar & vanilla. Combine with rice & pineapple.

Note: To make a large batch, use 1 pint cream, 4 Tbsp sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 5 cups rice, & 4 cups pineapple.

THIS recipe was on the egg roll wrapper package. I have no recollection if this recipe is exactly what was on the package of if we changed it. Knowing me I’m guessing we changed it …

Sweet Apple Egg Rolls

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 4 cooking apples, peeled & sliced thin
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp juice (orange, apple, etc.)
• 3 Tbsp apricot preserves (or 3 Tbsp honey)
• 1 lb egg roll wrappers
• cornstarch, if necessary
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Sauté apple, raisins, and cinnamon until apples are tender but not soft. Add fruit juice and preserves; stir fry until apples are well coated. Let cool (hot filling will rip egg roll skins). Put 2 tablespoons of the filling in the middle of each egg roll skin & roll in the usual manner. If filling mixture has too much liquid, add cornstarch to thicken.

Fry in skillet over medium-high heat in oil. Oil should bubble immediately when egg rolls are put in. Brown on all sides (4 turns). Drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

Muffins

• 2 cups flour, sifted
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp shortening, melted
• 1 cup blueberries (optional)

In bowl, combine dry ingredients. Combine remaining ingredients. Add to dry ingredients, stirring quickly just until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour into muffin cups and bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes.