a Little House supper

**don't know what's up with the crazy formatting -- it shows up fine in the editor and the preview.

First of all, thanks for all the comments -- Jody, you are in big trouble for posting those chocolate covered potato chips! YUM!! I had my oldest daughter select a comment randomly (using the old scroll and point technique) and here's the lucky person:

Your canvas and that poem are just delightful and so meaningful, thanks for sharing!

Posted by: Jen Davis | February 17, 2009 at 09:32 AM

Jen, send me your mail address, and I'll send you a great little canvas tote bag similar to the one pictured yesterday in my post. Oh, and if you guys haven't stopped by Jen's blog, you should -- lots of great stuff!

I mentioned a few posts back that Cami and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods. Well, I was at the library the other day and came across The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook. Cami LOVES to help us in the kitchen, and since one of my monthly goals is to try a few new recipes, I thought this would be a great way to let Cami have some fun in the kitchen and try out a real Little House meal. I thought I'd share the recipes -- and our opinions -- here with you.

 

Golden Pork Chops

4 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup cracker crumbs, more or less
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups milk, more or less

1. Season pork chops with salt and pepper and dip in egg to moisten all over. Coat with cracker crumbs.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Heat olive oil in heavy skillet. Add the pork chops and brown slowly. When golden, add milk to almost cover meat and place in oven. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning meat once or twice until milk is almost cooked away.

4. Serve immediately, spooning any remaining juices over meat.

***What we thought: These pork chops were good -- very tender and great flavor (and that's a HUGE deal, coming from me, since I don't really care much for pork. We didn't have an iron skillet so we transferred them to a pyrex dish to bake in the oven, and that worked just fine.

Scalloped Corn Kansas

2 (12-15-ounce) cans whole-kernel corn
1 1/2 cups light cream
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain the corn, reserving juice in measuring cup. Add cream to the juice to make 2 cups of liquid.

2. Melt butter in small saucepan. Whisk in flour, salt, and pepper. Add corn-cream liquid and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Grease shallow 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine corn, eggs, and corn-cream liquid; pour into greased baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

4. Place baking dish in shallow pan of water in oven and back for 45 to 50 minutes or until center is firm when dish is shaken slightly.

***What we thought: This dish was a little bland, and we didn't quite get step #4 done the right way. We completely left out the shallow pan of water, so this dish probably wasn't as custardy as it was supposed to be. Ours was fairly dry. Still, it was okay -- just needed more seasoning of some type, I think.

Potato Pancakes

2 eggs, beaten
2-3 large potatoes, grated (about 3 cups)
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat heavy griddle or frying pan over low heat. A cast-iron pan is best for this job.

2. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl.

3. Grease pan generously with butter, lard, or oil. Ladle out potato mixture in pancake-size portions into frying pan. Cook over medium heat until golden brown and crispy; flip and cook second side.

***What we thought: We all liked these, especially the girls.