Country cooking Albany

from Country Acres - December 17, 2021

by Star Publications

Short days, long winter

COUNTRY COOKING COUNTRY COOKING

RECIPES SUBMITTED BY KENN BURR | Albany, Stearns County

Editor’s note: The following recipes are part of Kenn Burr’s Christmas menus. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie

• 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep-dish pie crust, in deep-dish pie plate • 1/2 cup white sugar • 1/4 cup brown sugar • 1/2 tsp. salt • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg • Dash of cloves • 2 eggs • 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin • 1 Tbsp. molasses • 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine sugars, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a small bowl. Beat egg lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin, molasses and sugar and spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for two hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve. Do not freeze, as it will make the crust separate from the fi lling.

Crab Spread

• 1 (8-ounce) package artifi cial crab meat, fl aked • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened • 1/4 cup mayonnaise • 1 rounded Tbsp. sour cream • 1/2 tsp. Beau Monde or Bone Appetite

Seasoning* • 3/4 tsp. dill weed • 1 Tbsp. parsley fl akes • 1/4 cup minced green onion • 3/4 tsp. cider vinegar

Mix all ingredients together except crab meat. Stir in crab meat. Chill for a couple of hours and serve with crackers of your choice. *Beau Monde or Bone Appetite Seasoning can be substituted with mix of 1/4 tsp. celery salt and 1/4 tsp. onion powder

Oven-Baked Caramel French Toast

• • 1 cup brown sugar, packed • 1/2 cup butter • 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup • 8 to 12 slices French bread • 6 eggs • 1-1/2 cups milk • 1 tsp. vanilla extract • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon • 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg (optional) • 1/4 tsp. salt

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until bubbling. Pour into a greased 13”x9” baking dish. Place slices of bread on top of the sauce, crowding if necessary. Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into blender. Pour evenly over bread. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours, or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dish 30 minutes prior to baking. Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 45 minutes or until puff y and light golden brown. To serve, invert slices of toast on serving plates.

Grandma Lydia’s Dinner Rolls

• 2 cups scalded milk • 1/2 cup sugar • 1/4 cup butter • 1 egg, beaten • 2 packets dry yeast • 1/2 cup warm water • 1 tsp. sugar • 1-1/2 tsp. salt • 5-1/2 to 6 cups of fl our

Combine sugar and butter with hot milk. Allow to cool. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Add 1 beaten egg to cooled milk mixture; mix egg into mixture when cool. Dissolve dry yeast and 1 tsp. sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. Mix milk mixture, yeast mixture, salt and 5-1/2 cups fl our. Dough should be slightly sticky. Add additional fl our if necessary. Let rise until doubled and punch down. Let rise again and shape into balls/ buns approximately the size of a purple plum. Let rise again. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Bleu Cheese / Black Olive Cheese Ball

• 2 (8-ounce) bricks cream cheese, softened • 1 (4- or 5-ounce) package bleu cheese, crumbled • 1/4 cup butter, softened • 3/4 cup black olives,

fi nely diced • 1 Tbsp. chives, chopped OR 1 heaping tsp. minced onion

Toppings:

• 3/4 cup walnuts – chopped, OR 1/2 cup parsley

Mix cheeses and butter well; stir in olives, chives or onion. Chill well and then shape into two balls. Roll balls in chopped walnuts or parsley; chill until ready to serve. Serve with favorite crackers. HINT: To roll cheese balls, chill mixture well and butter your hands heavily. The little extra added butter adds fl avor to the cheese balls too.

Southern Pecan Pie

• 2 Tbsp. butter, softened • 1 cup brown sugar • 2 Tbsp. fl our • 1/2 tsp. salt • 3/4 cup maple syrup

OR white syrup • 4 eggs • 2 tsp. vanilla • 1 cup pecan pieces or halves, more to taste • 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat butter in a bowl until creamy. Add brown sugar, fl our and salt. Mix well. Add syrup and eggs and beat until well mixed. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce head to 350 degrees and bake an additional 30 to 35 minutes, until fi lling is set and not runny. Allow to cool overnight; serve with Cool Whip or ice cream and for an extra treat, drizzle a little caramel sauce on top.

Recipe page 26

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Holiday Stuffi ng

• 1 bag unseasoned, dried bread cubes

OR 24-ounce loaf of bread, cubed and dried • 1-1/2 pounds raw pork sausage • 1 large onion, diced • 2 cups celery, chopped • 1 tsp. thyme • 1 tsp. oregano • 3 eggs • 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add enough water or chicken broth to moisten the bread cubes; do not have the mix too dry or too wet/soupy. Mix remaining ingredients and place in casserole dish. Bake for 1-1/2 hours or until done.

Cranberry pinwheels

• 8 ounces whipped cream cheese • 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled • 1/4 cup green onion, diced, using most of

greens • 6 ounces dried cranberries • 4 (10-inch) fl our tortillas

Mix together cream cheese, feta cheese, green onion and dried cranberries. Using a butter knife, spread 1/4 of the mixture onto a 10-inch tortilla. If the fi lling is diffi cult to spread, dip your knife into water, then try spreading the fi lling. Tightly roll up the tortilla. Repeat with remaining three tortillas. Wrap each tortilla into a plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Can be made one day in advance. Slice off the ends, about one inch off each side. Cut each roll into about 10 slices. If you cut them too thinly, they will fall apart. Makes about 40 pinwheels.

Drop in Company Cold Bean Salad

This is a quick and easy cold salad that goes well with just about anything, as long as you like green beans and onions. This recipe came from my grandmother and was requested many times through the years for many occasions.

• 2 cans green beans, drained well OR cooked, cold, sliced beets • 1/4 cup minced onion • 1/8 cup Miracle Whip (may need a little more to coat well) • Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and serve.

Peach Salad

• 1 large can sliced peach slices, drained well, reserve juice • 1 small box orange

Jell-O • 1/3 cup mayonnaise • 1/2 cup celery, fi nely diced • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts • 1 (8-ounce) tub Cool

Whip, thawed

Albany, Stearns County

Gina’s Sweet Potatoes

• 2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes • 1 cup evaporated milk • 2 eggs, beaten • 1/2 cup sugar • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon • 3/4 stick butter or

margarine, melted Toppings: • 3/4 cup crushed cornfl akes or Rice Krispies • 1/2 cup brown sugar • 1/2 cup chopped pecans • 1/2 stick margarine Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and butter together with hand mixer. Pour into a round casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes until mostly set. Remove from oven and stir. Mix topping ingredients, sprinkle on sweet potatoes and bake for 1015 minutes, uncovered.

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“I fell way more in love with Milking Shorthorns,” Anna said. “It’s really fun understanding what goes into the care of a high-quality show animal. Cory and Kristen have been fabulous career mentors.”

Christianna, the cow that Anna owns in partnership with Cory and Kristen, showed to immense success at the State Fair but, surprisingly, not with Anna. On the eve of the fair, Anna was crowned as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, and assuming this role meant she would be watching Christianna’s big moment in an unexpected way – in a dress and crown.

“I was standing in the ring watching someone else show my cow,” Anna remembered. “I’m really the only one who’s ever shown her before that, since she was 2 months old, and now she’s a 3-year-old cow. I got to go out to her and give them the ribbon. I had a mask on, but Christianna recognized me and gave me a big kiss on the cheek!”

Christianna was champion of her breed, production, and reserve champion for merit for 4-H, and intermediate champion Milking Shorthorn in the open class. Anna’s 4-H friends and community stepped up to make sure that the cow Anna had worked so hard to care for would show her best, and she did.

Anna’s experience at the fair culminated a huge year, for herself as well as for Meeker County. Her head was sculpted in butter by Linda Christensen on the eve of Linda’s retirement, welcoming in Gerry Kulzer as the new butter sculptor, who happened to be from Litchfi eld. The Supreme Champion cow, Lulu, was from Meeker County, and the showcase herd was also incredibly involved in Meeker County dairy on the county level. Anna even won a butter sculpting contest as part of the agrilympics, which included competitions such as animal calling, wool-packing (in a dress!), and hand-milking.

“I was ringside during the Supreme Champion presentation when Lulu won,” Anna remembered. “They shut off all the lights, and had someone on spotlight. So, the cow is in the spotlight. It’s really graceful and really slow. While they are leading in, they talk about the genetics and the accolades of that cow.”

Anna went with Cory and Kristen to attend the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, for the fi rst time in October this year. She described it as the Olympics of cow shows, with cows from around the country and even internationally gathered to compete over 10 days. Christianna came in top fi ve for Milking Shorthorns in her age division. Cory and Kristen’s cow, Lulu, was Reserve Grand Champion Milking Shorthorn.

There are many signifi cant events in Anna’s life, but even an everyday day is full of activity. Working in three barns, there were days where she’d get up, spray down the barn, go to work, go walk calves, and then come home and go to bed. Her family has been right there, encouraging her and also marveling at her tirelessness.

“We live it every day,” Joan remarked. “We never know if she’s coming or going.”

They trust she has it all under control.

“She knows what she’s doing,” Dorothy said with a laugh.

Anna is now graduating from Ridgewater College with her Associate’s degree in Agribusiness.

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Christianna, a champion Milking Shorthorn, kisses her owner, Anna Euerle, at the State Fair after winning a ribbon with handler Taylor Fester.

Euerle page 29

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PHOTOS SUBMITTED Anna Euerle poses with her butterhead carved at the Minnesota State Fair after she was crowned Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

Vaughn (from left), Anna and Joan Euerle are pictured with Anna’s butterhead carving at the Minnesota State Fair .

Euerle

from page 26

In January, she will work towards her Bachelors in Food Science and Technology at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. She will continue to be closely involved at home and at Corstar over the summer. She will also continue a busy schedule as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, serving as an ambassador for the Minnesota dairy community at events all over the state, from industry-related to meeting children at school, or even Christmas light shows. For Anna, this is a way of life that she thrives upon, and she jokes about the problem of what she’ll do when her reign as Princess Kay ends.

“I’m a little worried about next year,” she said. “Last year, I was an FFA State Offi cer. This year I’m Princess Kay. Next year ... What am I going to do? I’m going to have so much free time.”

All of these things have happened in the last two years of a pandemic. Joan noted their family did not really experience many disruptions, as their farming life continued largely as it always had. For someone with as many goals in the works as Anna, though, things were different. For example, her high school graduation occurred in 2020.

“She had a theoretical virtual graduation from high school,” Vaughn remarked with some humor.

If a princess has a throne, the living room rocking chair could potentially fi t the bill. Anna laughed, recounting all

Euerle page 30

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PHOTO SUBMITTED Anna Euerle (from left) is pictured with Cory and Kristen Salzl, along with their Reserve Grand Champion Milking Shorthorn, Lulu, in October at the World Fairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin.

Euerle

from page 29

that had happened from that chair. From that chair she had been named the FFA State Reporter, spent hundreds of hours at virtual events, and, yes, graduated.

“The actual ceremony was in that chair,” Anna pointed out. “I was named a Princess Kay fi nalist sitting in that chair. I don’t know if we can ever get rid of that chair, but it is on its last legs. It’s seen a lot of pretty cool things over the last two years of this pandemic.”

The Euerle family is fi lled with stories of gratitude, positivity and humor, along with challenges and hard work.

“It pushed her [Anna] to strive and reach her goals,” affi rmed Joan. “She reached her goals in a pandemic. She might have had to sit in the chair, but she reached her goals. You always make the best of it. We always have a watch party. She accomplished everything she dreamed of.”

It would seem that no bad turn cannot be turned to good for this family, and treated as though it were good all along. Certainly, the farm has been a good place during the pandemic and a good place for any trouble that

Euerle page 31

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PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE BEHNEN Anna Euerle displays some of her achievements earned in this very chair, including Princess Kay of the Milky Way fi nalist, high school graduation and FFA State Reporter.

Euerle from page 30

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has come along. There is no limit to the appreciation Vaughn and Joan hold for being able to raise Anna and their other children on the farm.

“It’s the best place ever,” Joan said. “If anyone wants to raise your family, to stay home and raise your kids on the farm, especially having your mother-in-law across the driveway. They got to raise their kids on the farm. We got to raise our kids on the farm. It’s the best thing ever!”