As I have said before many times, when my friend Janice and I go to estate sales I particularly look for Amish cookbooks and cookbooks from diners, restaurants, and cafes. I have been lucky over the last few months to find a number of each of these.
Today recipe comes from a 1930's diner that is still open today called Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, Maine. This cookbook, What's Cooking at Moody's Diner is more than a cookbook as it is filled with pictures, stories, floor plans, etc of this diner. All of the recipes are from the Moody's large family along with a few recipes from long-time employees. I don't know if I will ever get that far north, but if I do, I know I have to check this place out. Until then, I'm just going to have fun making some of their specialties. This recipe is contributed to Cynthia Hilton.
CROCKPOT MOCK LASAGNA
1 pkg (10 oz) lasagna noodles (I used 10 noodles from a 12 oz box)
1 lb ground beef
1 chopped onion
12 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
12 oz cottage cheese
1-1/2 tablespoons parsley
1 jar (32 oz) spaghetti sauce
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb Italian sausage
Break noodles into bite-size pieces,
cook, and drain.
Brown meat and drain.
Grease crock pot.
Combine all ingredients in crock pot and stir lightly.
Top with grated Parmesan cheese and cook for 7 - 9 hours on Low of 3 - 5 hours on High.
I grate my own cheese by buying the block cheese and then grating it myself. So much better this way. I measure it by the ounces and not cups though.
Last Saturday night was our monthly gathering for The Tasty Bunch. (We are currently 6 couples who get together once a month. The couple hosting finds a restaurant for us to eat dinner and then we go to the couple's house for dessert and further visiting.) Last Saturday was Carol and Keith's month. We enjoyed dinner at a new restaurant in nearby Smithville called Soiree's New Orleans' Bistro and then were off to their house for dessert.
I recognized the dessert when I saw it and asked Carol if it was from my blog. She said no it wasn't. She had made a copy of the recipe for me so I brought it home to compare the two recipes. Imagine my surprise when I searched my blog and discovered the recipe I had shared was none other than Carol's recipe. She made Apple Dumplings last year when we met at her house. The funny thing though? The recipes were different.
These Country Crescent Apple Dumplings were so good. I was sorry I had eaten three pieces of fried catfish and could only manage to eat one of the dumplings. (Carol prepared two for each person.) She used fresh apples from Friend Sue's apple tree. They are the best Fuji apples!
COUNTRY CRESCENT APPLE DUMPLINGS
2 large apples, peeled and cored
2 cans refrigerated crescent roll dough (Carol used Pillsbury Grand Crescent - Big & Flaky)
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (Carol used 1/4 cup brown sugar blend)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 12 oz can lemon/lime soda
caramel topping
cinnamon sugar
butter spray
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking dish.
Cut apples into 8 wedges. (Carol used an apple corer which makes 8 wedges.)
Separate roll dough into 8 triangles.
Spray each triangle with the spray butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place each apple wedge on the widest and of the triangle dough and then top it with 1/2 teaspoon caramel topping.
Roll each apple into the triangle starting with the opposite end from the point.
Pinch to seal and place in baking dish.
Melt the butter and add the sugars and cinnamon.
Pour over the dumplings.
Pour the soda around (NOT ON) the dumplings.
Carol sprinkled some additional cinnamon sugar on top of the dumplings just before baking.
Bake for 35 minutes.
Let the dumplings cool and then remove them from the pan and place in some covered containers.
Save the liquid from the pan and pour over each dumpling before serving.
Carol also served a little caramel coffee ice cream with the dumplings. (I just didn't take a picture of that.)
I've gotten to where I like eating my yogurt with a fruit muffin for breakfast each morning. When I ate the last Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffin, I started looking for something new to try. I didn't have to go far as I found this Ginger-Carrot-Nut Bread in the same little Betty Crocker fall baking booklet cookbook. A slice of it actually has less calories than the muffin did (it only has 180 calories/slice). I helped it out just a little by reducing the brown sugar a bit without reducing the taste. I also made it multi-grain by using half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat pastry flour.
The first slice was just perfect with a couple pieces of bacon and an egg. It had cooled slightly when I cut it. A little butter spread on it and I was in "Heaven". (Before I ate a slice the next day or so, I heated the slice in the microwave for 15 seconds then spread a little butter on it and it was just as good as the first slice I ate.)
GINGER-CARROT-NUT BREAD
2 eggs
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup milk (I used skim milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour (I used 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom only of an 8 x 4 - inch loaf pan with shortening; lightly flour. (I only had a loaf pan 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 - inches.)
In a large bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
Beat in oil, milk, and vanilla.
On low speed, beat in flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt until smooth. (I combined these ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk first.)
Stir in carrots and nuts.
Spread evenly in pan.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (I cooked mine 65 minutes.)
Cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Loosen sides of loaf from pan by running a knife around the inside edges.
Remove from pan to finish cooling on wire rack.
Serve slices with whipped cream cheese or butter.
Yesterday I shared some delicious Zucchini Muffins from The Dinner Horn Country Inn, a restaurant in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition, that was a favorite back in the late 80+ in Kansas City, MO. I haven't been able to discover when it closed, but I heard from several volunteers at Hillcrest Thrift Shop yesterday when I shared this Apple Cake recipe of the owner Bonnie Kellenberg who remembered eating there and raved about it and this cake.
Because of that interest I had to bump a post until next week so I could share the recipe sooner. The cake is awesome. I love the topping baked on the cake. I don't think I have ever eaten a cake of any kind that had this egg white mixture spread on top and baked with the cake.
I hope you will try this recipe and check back often with me as I explore more recipes from this restaurant. (You can read more about it in the post for the Zucchini Muffins they also served at the Inn.)
BONNIE'S APPLE CAKE
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups apples, peeled and diced
3 egg whites
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup nut meats, chopped (I used walnuts.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 - inch pan.
Cream together shortening and sugar.
Add egg yolks;
mix well.
Sift dry ingredients;
add to mixture.
Add apples and mix. (I found the easiest way to do this was with my fingers since the mixture is thick.)
Spread mixture into pan.
Beat egg whites until stiff.
Add brown sugar, nuts, and coconut.
Spread on top of cake.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Cool cake in pan on wire rack.
I love finding cookbooks at estate sales from restaurants and diners. I can't help but think about who went there to eat and liked the food so much that they bought a cookbook on their way out. This recipe for Zucchini Muffins came from a restaurant called The Dinner Horn Country Inn. Don't you just love that name?
Well, imagine my surprise when I opened up the cookbook (Recipes from the Dinner Horn Country Inn by Bonnie Kellenberg and Marge Hagerty) and saw the restaurant was practically in my back yard, less than half a mile away. The beautiful house (I can't really call it a building still stands but is no longer a restaurant. (I think it has been the "home" of several businesses since the restaurant closed.) I was unable to discover when the restaurant closed but it opened in 1979 when the area was just a wooded area 15 minutes from downtown Kansas City. The two-story house is in the Pennsylvania Dutch architectural tradition. The name Dinner Horn came from Winslow Homer's 1873 painting depicting the lady of the house standing on her porch blowing a trumpet-like horn to call her men in from the fields for lunch. The restaurant had three large dining rooms and the Country Tavern and living quarters upstairs for Bonnie Kellenberg and family.
This is what Bonnie had to say about the Inn, "Our menu is based on the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of seven sours and seven sweets at each meal. It takes about five courses to accomplish this. We have one price for dinner because if people ordered a la carte they might not get the seven sours and seven sweets." The Dutch relish cupboard, where customers help themselves, provides at least four of these sour and sweet tastes. The salad, hot muffins and choice of eight or nine entrees combined with dessert gives more than ample opportunity to complete the delicious task."
I would have loved to have experienced this dining pleasure. Every time I drive by there now, I think about what it once was.
I was attracted to this recipe because it didn't use much sugar. I love zucchini bread and cakes but it is hard to find a recipe that doesn't call for 2 cups of sugar. I just can't (knowingly) eat something with that much sugar anymore. If I did, I would probably not eat much of it because it would be too sweet for me. I considered using half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat pastry flour, but decided to go on and use all whole wheat pastry flour. (I prefer the pastry flour because it is ground more fine and doesn't have as strong a taste as just whole wheat flour.) I like this muffin so much I think I will find myself making it instead of bread or cake.
ZUCCHINI MUFFINS
1-1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil (I used canola oil)
1 beaten egg
2 tablespoons milk (I used skim milk)
1-1/2 cups grated zucchini
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 - cup regular sized muffin pan.
Sift the flour, spices, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
Combine sugar, oil, egg, milk, and zucchini in a large mixing bowl.
Add flour mixture and
mix only to moisten dry ingredients.
Spoon into muffin pan.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. (I baked mine for 25 but the pan I used takes a while to heat up.)
Cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Remove and finish cooling on wire rack.
You can heat a muffin in the microwave for 10 seconds to heat up if you want to enjoy it warm. Add a slab of butter and enjoy.
Break noodles into bite-size pieces, 
cook, and drain.
Brown meat and drain.
Combine all ingredients in crock pot and stir lightly.
Top with grated Parmesan cheese and cook for 7 - 9 hours on Low of 3 - 5 hours on High.
I grate my own cheese by buying the block cheese and then grating it myself. So much better this way. I measure it by the ounces and not cups though.
