Fresh Since 1923

Who doesn't love a homemade pastry on a Saturday morning? Not from your local Krispy Kreme but Schmidt's Bakery in St. James, Minnesota. Schmidt's is one of those places that takes you back to a simplier time when you might find a bakery like Schmidt's in your home town.

From their homemade candies at Christmas time, cream horns, cinnamon rolls and hamburger buns, everything is wonderful! If your travels ever take you to Southwestern Minnesota, Schmidt's is worth a stop!

Baby Carrots with Dill Butter

This past weekend, Nebraska was treated to a Spring blizzard. The ground was so warm here that we didn't really have much accumulation but just to the north of us, they received 11 inches. I am ready for warmer weather so I can plant my herbs. For my birthday this year, my husband gave me an AeroGarden. It's a nice treat to be able to pick herbs even when there is snow on the ground. I've never done a lot of cooking with dill, so I was anxious to try Baby Carrots with Dill Butter. In addition to being pleasing to the eyes, the flavors were yummy!


Baby Carrots with Dill Butter

Adapted from All Recipes

1 (16 ounce) package baby carrots
4 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Place carrots in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook 20 minutes, until tender. Remove from heat, and drain. Gently toss with margarine, dill, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Gooey Butter Cake

My friend Trudy used make this cake for birthdays when we worked together years ago. Trudy always called it South Saint Louis Gooey Butter Cake. As I think back, it was at least 25 years ago when I first tasted this cake. Trudy now lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three children. I wonder if she still makes this cake?

For some reason, I never asked Trudy for her recipe. A couple of years ago, I purchased Paula Deen's, The Lady and Sons Just Desserts cookbook. Gooey Butter Cake is one of the many delicious dessert recipes in this cookbook. In addition to the traditional Gooey Butter Cake, Paula has recipes for variations of Gooey Butter Cake. Some of these variations are Lemon, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip and Banana. I tried the chocolate chip and Banana recipes. With the banana recipe, I felt like the bananas overpowered the flavor of the cake. The chocolate chip was okay but I think I am a Gooey Butter cake purist, I like the original recipe.


Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake

Cake
1 yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 stick butter, melted

Filling
1 8 oz package cream cheese (softened)
2 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 16 oz box confectioners sugar
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 13x9x2 baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioner's sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well. Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't overbake, cake should be a little gooey in the center.

Remove from oven and cool completely. Cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Snicker Salad

If you were to attend a family gathering with my husband's family, you would find Snicker salad being served. Until I met my husband, I had never heard of this recipe. Everytime I make this, I question my husband on whether or not it really is a salad.



Snicker Salad
2 snickers candy bars
2 apples
8 ounces Cool Whip

Chop apples and snickers bars and put into serving bowl. Add cool whip. Stir.
This quantity serves 4. For family gatherings, the recipe can be doubled or tripled.

Hamburger Casserole

As I thumb through recipes and cookbooks contemplating what to blog about, I find myself drawn to recipes that remind me of someone or something special. This is a recipe I remember making in high school. I don't know it's origin. My father is one of those people that likes his meat, potatoes and veggies to be in their separate place on his dinner plate. He's not much for casseroles. This Hamburger Casserole is the one casserole that my Dad eats and actually loves. My Dad turns 90 in a few weeks, I think I will make this for his birthday dinner.



Hamburger Casserole
Into a well buttered casserole dish, place layers in order . Season each layer with salt and pepper.
2 -3 medium potatoes, sliced
2 -3 carrots, sliced
Can of peas (drained, saving liquid)
1 onion, sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
Over top of vegetables, placed 1 pound of ground beef, browned and drained.
Combine liquid from peas with can of tomato soup and pour over the top of ground beef.
Cover. Bake at 325 for 2 hours.

Commericials Aren't Just on TV

A few months ago my husband, his family and I had dinner at The Lamplighter in New Ulm, MN. The waitress announced the Friday night special as the Pork Commercial. Everyone else at the table was quite excited. I seemed to be the only one who only knew a commercial as something you watched on T.V. I inquired as to what was a commercial. As a non Minnesota native, it seemed I'd run across another term that was indicative of this area. Just like the hot dish, the commercial is a well known term in the Gopher state. After getting the definition of a commercial, I realized I had eaten one before. In my case it was a beef commercial and we called it an open faced roast beef sandwich.

Foods We Can't Live Without #3

Have you ever had the discussion about the foods you would want if you were stranded on a desert island or if you could only have one or two foods what foods would it be? For me one of them would be pizza. Is there a pattern here in "Foods We Can't Live Without"? Potatoes, Chocolate, Pizza...no items from the four food groups here. Although, they are now saying dark chocolate is good for you, especially as you age. Thank goodness there's something I really love that is good for me. Okay, I know, in moderation!

Pizza made it's first appearance in the United States in the late 19th Century. Pizza, as we know it today, originated in the Midwest. In 1943, Pizzaria Uno originated in Chicago and the original pizza delivery company Dominos, in Detroit in 1960.


My first memory of eating pizza out was at one of the early pizza chains, Shakey's. It was an occasional Friday night treat to go to Shakey's. I remember watching them make the pizzas and singing along with the player piano.

Everyone has their favorite type of pizza, deep dish, thin crust, thick crust, lots of sauce, a little sauce , lots of cheese and so on. Crust, it's all about the crust for me, no thin crust pizza for me.

What's your favorite kind of pizza?