Jordan Junction

Smoked Salmon Dip

This is one of our Family Favorites - of course, we feel we have the best smoked salmon. Here's a picture of the smoked salmon up close.

• 2-8 oz containers of Laughing Cow Cheese (circle wedges)
• 2-8oz containers of Whipped Cream Cheese
• 1 Pkg Dry Onion Soup Mix
• 3-4 Cups Flaked Smoked Salmon (depending on taste)

Soften Laughing Cow and whipped cream cheese to room temp. Mix all ingredients together by hand or mixer on low. Serve with an assortment of crackers.

Food For Thought: Home is where you hang your memories.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are so soft and yummy. My oldest daughter has made them for school, and they got a A+, in fact the teacher asked for the recipe!

• 1/2 Cup Butter Flavor Crisco Shortening
• 1/2 Cup Margarine or Butter
• 2-1/2 Cup Flour
• 1 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar (spenda works too)
• 1/2 Cup White Sugar (Spenda works too)
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1-12 oz Pkg Chocolate Chips
• Optional 1 Cup Chopped Pecans

~In a mixing bowl beat shortening & margarine or butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup of the flour, both sugars, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda - beat until well combined. Beat in remaining flour. Stir in chocolate chips (and nuts if needed). Drop dough by rounded tsp 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet or baking stone. Bake in a 375 oven for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. *If using a baking stone let cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack or brown paper bag on kitchen counter.

Quick Meatballs

These meatballs are a weekly addition to Spaghetti. The recipe is so simple to memorize, and cook up a batch for dinner tonight!

• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 1
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs
• 1/4 Cup very finely chopped Onion
• 1 tsp. Salt & 1/2 tsp. Pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, onion, salt and pepper. Squish together with a fork or clean bare hands until well mixed. Form into 1-inch meatballs, rolling them between your hands so they're nice and round. Place meatballs in one layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, turning them over halfway through baking. Scoop the meatballs off the cookie sheet, leaving behind the fat that has drained out of them, and use in any recipe that calls for meatballs.

Hawaiian Sauce (Recipe from Onalaska Cook Book, 1975)

• 1 Cup Catsup
• 1 Cup Honey
• 1 Cup Soy Sauce
• 1 Clove Garlic

Add catsup, honey and soy sauce together, mix; add chopped garlic. Great for Hawaiian Meatballs (recipe above), simmer in crockpot for a couple hours.

Homemade Pizza

Pick out a family movie and mix up some homemade pizza. The recipe makes two large family sized pizza's, made to order your way. Get the kids to help with the dough and pizza toppings for more family time.

• 1 Cup warm (not hot) water
• 1 Envelope active dry yeast
• 3-1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbls olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt

Pour the warm water in a large bowl, and sprinkle in the dry yeast. Give it a stir, then wait 5 minutes. The yeast should bubble and go all weird in the bowl. (If nothing happens, toss out and start with a fresh yeast packet) Add 1 cup of the flour, the oil, and the salt to the yeast mixture, and stir until smooth. Add the rest of the flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough becomes too stiff to stir easily. When this happens, sprinkle about 1/2 cup of flour out onto a board (or the table), turn the dough out of the bowl, and begin kneading. It should be smooth, stretchy, and no longer sticky on the surface.

Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, turn it over so that all the surfaces are greased, and place the bowl on the top shelf of your oven. DO NOT TURN THE OVEN ON! Put a large pot of very hot water on the bottom of the oven, close the door, and let the dough rise in this warm, moist place for about 1-1/2 hours, until almost double in size.

Remove the dough from the oven, make a fist, and punch the dough once to deflate it. Divide the dough into 2 round balls, and roll each out into a 12-inch circle. Place on greased pizza pans (I also add a couple sprinkles of cornmeal on the pan for a crispy, tasty crust). Pinch up the edges of the dough slightly.

Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (or your favorite pizza sauce) on each dough. Add whatever toppings you'd like, along with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Slide your pizzas onto the lowest rack of the oven (did you remember to take out that bowl of water?) and back at 425 for 20 minutes, or until the crust is browned and crisp underneath, and the cheese is metled and gooey. Important Note: MIdway through baking time, you may have to transfer the pans to a higher oven rack to prevent the crust from burning before the topping is done.

Beer Batter (Recipe from Onalaska Cook Book, 1975)

Cut fish in thin strips.
Mix Together:

• 1/4 Cup Flour
• 1/4 Cup Corn Starch
• 1/4 Cup Beer

Beat and add 2 egg yolks. Season with salt and pepper. Beat egg whites stiff and fold into other ingredients. Dip pieces of fish into batter and deep fry in hot grease.

Food For Thought: Why is it those who can wait 3 hours for a fish to bite, can't wait 5 minutes for dinner?

Berry Cobbler (Recipe from Onalaska Cook Book, 1975)

• 1 Cup Flour
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 2 Tbls Baking Powder
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2-1/2 Cups Berries, drained, reserving 1 cup berry juice
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar, and add dry ingredients, alternately with milk; beat until smooth. Pour batter in greased pan, and put drained berries over batter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup sugar over berries. Pour 1 cup berry juice over all. Do not mix! Bake in 375 oven for at least 45 minutes.

Jello Dessert (Recipe from Onalaska Cook Book, 1975)

• 1 Pkg. (3 oz) Jello
• 1 Cup boiling water
• 1/2 Cup cold water
• 1 Cup Vanilla Ice Cream

First dissolve jello; remove 1/2 cup and put in bowl. Add 1/2 cup cold water to the jello in the pan, and put in freezer until it thickens.

Add 1 cup ice cream to the jello in the bowl. Remove thickened jello from the freezer. Put the ice-cream-jello on top of the thickened jello, chill 30 minutes, serve.

Dill Pickles

Thanks to Grandma Marie, we have this great dill pickle recipe. Last summer we canned over 30 quarts of dill pickles. Sealing them in oven for 1 hour at 250 makes this an easy-to-do-recipe!

• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 1/8 tsp. Turmeric
• 1/8 tsp. alum
• 1 qt. vinegar
• 3 qts. water
• 3/4 Cup pickling salt

Combine all ingredients in big pot on stove, bring to boil, turn off and cool down. Wash pickling cucumbers and put in ice water. Then fill jars with pickles, couple dill sprigs and cooled brine.

Heat lids, put on jars and tighten down with rings. Put jars on cookie sheet in center of oven at 250 for 1 hour. Open oven door for 10 minutes, then take out and finish cooling on counter top.

Easy Applesauce Snack Cake

• 1 pkg. yellow cake mix
• 1 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg and 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 3 loaf pans. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix, instant pudding mix, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the applesauce, oil, eggs, and water. Blend for 3-4 minutes using an electric mixer. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 50-55 minutes in teh preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Apple Pie Filling (This is the recipe we use for canning season)

• 4-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup cornstarch (I have used instant tapioca pudding instead)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 10 cups water

Stir and coook until thick and bubbly. Add 3 Tbls. lemon juice. Pack really tight (use a sppon to pack down in quart jar). Fill with the hot sugar mix, leaving 1/2' head space. Process 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts.

Chocolate Lush Dessert

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 pkg. (16 oz) Cool Whip, thawed
• 3 cups milk
• 2 small pkg. instant chocolate pudding

Combine flour, butter and walnuts, blend well. Pat into 13x9x2 pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350. Let cool. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 cup Cool Whip, blend well. Spread evenly onto cooled crust in pan. Combine instant pudding and milk, stirring until smooth. Spread over cream cheese layer in pan. Spread with remaining Cool Whip. Chill thoroughly before serving. Makes 12 servings.

Bacon Cheese Potatoes

• 8-10 medium potatoes (cook taters with peelings on, then peel)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 lb. processed American cheese, cubed
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 lb. sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3/4 cup sliced ripe olives (optional)
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• Paprika (optional)

Peel the potatoes and cube in a bowl. Mix potatoes with onion, cheese and mayo. Transfer to greased 13x9x2 pan. Sprinkle with bacon and olives. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until headed through. If desired sprinkle with parsley and paprika. VERY GOOD!

Hint: When making homemade cherry pie, mix a small package of cherry jello into the filling. It gives the pie better flavor and a rich, appetizing color that brings people back for a second slice. Use raspberry jello when making a berry pie.