My favorite recipes

Every family has holiday traditions, and many of those are wrapped around food. Aunt Cornelia’s strawberry salad still appears at many tables for the author’s extended family, although Aunt Cornelia has been gone for decades. Friends and family generously shared their family favorites for others to sample and enjoy over the holidays.

Many families serve salads that would be called dessert the rest of the year. Breakfast that bakes while the family opens presents is also popular. Here are some favorites, starting with breakfast on Christmas morning.

Recipes:

Bacon Strata by Julie Truesdell

1 package bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, drippings reserved

1 medium onion

1 cup shredded cheese

8 ounces fresh mushrooms

4 eggs

6 slices bread, cubed

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan. Sauté onion and mushrooms in some drippings until tender. Arrange bread cubes on bottom of baking dish. Top with mushroom-onion mixture, then cheese and bacon. Beat eggs, blending with milk and mustard. Pour over the bacon-cheese layer. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Serves 6.

May be prepared a day ahead, covered and refrigerated until ready to bake. Remove from refrigerator a few minutes before baking, and it may take a little longer to bake.

Huckleberry Salad by Barb McIntosh

The one salad the family requests

at every get-together is....

HUCKLEBERRY SALAD!

I don't know why other

berries couldn't be used.

Step 1:

1 quart huckleberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 large raspberry jello

Add 3 cups water to huckleberries and bring to almost a boil. Measure liquid without berries, add raspberry jello, dissolve the jello, then add berries back in. Place is refrigerator and let set.

Step 2:

1 envelope Knox gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1 cup cream

3/4 cup sugar

8 ounces cream cheese

coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Dissolve gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water; bring to almost a boil. Place cream cheese in food processor bowl, add hot gelatin mixture slowly while processing. Add cream, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla. Remove from processor and beat in cream cheese and optional nuts. Let this layer set before making third layer.

Step 3:

1 large raspberry jello

water

Prepare raspberry jello according to package directions. Let it cool a bit, but not set. Then gently pour it over to make the top layer. Refrigerate until all layers are firm.

Charles Hoofer's Baked Ham from Christina Thompson

Buy a bone-in ham about 15 — 18 pounds. Trim the fat and rind off and “line” a pan with aluminum foil 3 ways. (It is like making a cross with foil: first strip is the long way; 2nd strip is the arms of the cross; and the 3rd strip is going the long way, again. 3 strips are used so that once the ham is placed in the middle of the foil and the foil is wrapped around the ham — there is less chance of leakage.)

Place ham in the pan and stick whole cloves into the ham. Then spread on the ham about 1C of mustard and then about 2 C of brown sugar. Then pour about 2 C of red wine all over the ham.

Pull the aluminum foil up around the ham and seal. Marinate for a couple of days.

Then in a slow oven — about 180 — 200 degrees — (the slow oven makes it moist and tender) bake with the aluminum foil still around the ham for 7 to 8 hours.

Stick a knife through the foil to drain off the juices and let the ham sit undisturbed for about an hour. Carve.

It is very good and very tender.

Sauce for Baked Salmon by

Barb McIntosh

We are pretty traditional with meat at the holidays...usually ham, prime rib or salmon. If we do salmon,

I use an old family sauce on it:

1 cube butter

1/4 c. Soy sauce

1 tsp. dry mustard

1-4 T. Ketchup (depending on taste - part of the family thinks it is a crime to use more than 1 T)

If using a smaller salmon, I cut the recipe in half. Brush this on before grilling or baking.

Heat ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to almost a boil, stirring to blend ingredients.

Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes by Karen Hinnenkamp

3 pounds potatoes (about 9 medium), peeled and cubed

1 envelope dry ranch salad dressing mix

1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup butter softened

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

4 green onions, chopped

Place potatoes in a Dutch oven with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook 15 minutes or until tender. Drain. Mash potatoes with dressing mix, cream cheese, sour cream, butter and milk (add only a little milk at a time, depending upon texture of potatoes.) Stir in cheese, bacon and onions. Refrigerate overnight. Transfer to a greased 4 quart crock pot. Cover and cook on low 3-4 hours until heated through. Yield: 10 servings.

These are good with meats like ham since they do not need gravy. I have made 3 or 4 batches of these, over 10 pounds of potatoes, when all the Hinnenkamp’s gather. Nice because they can be made ahead.

Mushroom Gravy by Maggie Thompson

3 cups mushrooms, chopped as chunky or as small as you like

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 Tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped

1/3 cup porter or stout beer (the darker the better)

1/3 cup heavy cream

mushroom, vegetable, or chicken broth (optional)

Melt butter in a saucepan or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Sauté onions and mushrooms in butter, with a sprinkle of salt, until soft and browned. Stir in thyme. De glaze pan with beer. Add cream to taste. If consistency is too thick, you can add some broth and let it cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. If desired, use an immersion blender to give it a smoother consistency, or just leave it chunky. Season to taste with salt and fresh black pepper.

Lebkuchen by Karen Hinnenkamp

Lebkuchen is a chewy German Christmas cookie flavored with honey and spices. Kuchen means cake in German. This was very popular among the Streib, Buri and Hofer families. Uncle Charles Hofer always said my Mom’s was the best. I am sure mine does not compare to hers. My kids say mine is not the same because I do not store it in the green tin between layers of wax paper like my Mom, and keep it on the back porch!! My Mother got the recipe from Betty Dreifus, wife of Colfax business owner and former mayor Simon Dreifus, and mother of Sylvan Dreifus, famous for his Spokane and Lewiston furniture stores.

It MUST be cut into four sided diamond shaped pieces. Whenever lebkuchen is mentioned to anyone in the family, they ask, “You mean that diamond shaped stuff?” All agree it just would not taste the same in another shape.

2 cups flour plus 3 Tablespoons flour

3 Tablespoons baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

4 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup honey

1 cup apple butter

1/2 teaspoon soda

2 tablespoon hot water

1 cup cut up walnuts

Glaze:

3 cups powdered sugar

3 Tablespoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 10" x 15” jelly roll pans. Combine flour, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, and ground cloves in a bowl and whisk together.

In a mixing bowl beat eggs well, add brown sugar, honey, and apple butter, beat well. Dissolve soda in hot water. Add to egg mixture along with flour mixture. Mix well. Stir in walnuts.

Pour into the two prepared pans, spread out evenly. Bake about 20 minutes.

When cool frost with prepared glaze. Slice into long strips the length of the pan. Then cut crosswise at a 45 degree angle, making diamond shapes.

It would not be the traditional Lebkuchen if not diamond shaped. Remove from pan and store.

Creme de menthe Pie by Susan Huber McGregor

24 marshmallows

1/2 cup Milk

4 Tablespoons creme de menthe

2 Tablespoons white creme de cocoa

1/2 pint (1 cup) whipping cream, whipped

Chocolate pie crust (you can frequently find them ready-made in the supermarket this time of year.)

Or: line pan with 4 T butter & 19 crushed Hydrox

A couple Hydrox or Oreos (scraped of filling) and crushed with a rolling pin to sprinkle on top

Melt 24 marshmallows in milk. DO NOT DO THIS IN THE MICROWAVE, IT ALTERS THE TEXTURE.

Stir in creme de menthe and creme de cocoa. Let cool.

Fold in whipped cream. Pour in crust. Refrigerate 1/2 hour. Add cookie crumbs and freeze.

Remove from freezer 20 minutes before serving.