Natalie's Cheesecake



Memo and Natalie Christmas 1985



I couple of years ago, my niece, Natalie told me she loved to cook. I showed her how to make a pot roast, mashed potatoes etc. and for dessert she wanted cheesecake. I bought her a spring form pan for cheese cake and gave her my 5 ingredient recipe below. She has made it several times and just recently called me about a raspberry sauce for the topping. So today I decided to share my 5 ingredient cheesecake recipe with the world. Now I must admit...I could very easily gotten this recipe from a book, magazine or a friend but after all these years, I can't remember. It is just the recipe I can remember anywhere and do.

5 Ingredient Cheesecake Recipe:

3 package of cream cheese - room temperature

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 cups sour cream

1tps vanilla

Crust:

1 box graham cracker crumbs or 2 sleeves of graham crackers mashed in processor

(see below for other variations)

1 stick of melted butter

Oven: 350* for 45 minutes then turn down to 325* for another 15 minutes.



The Stroh Girls: Natalie and Naomi - 1991



Melt the butter in a large microwavable bowl, add graham cracker crumbs slowly and mix with a fork until the mixture is moist throughout. Now pour out into the Spring form pan. Using a short flat-bottomed cup, press down on the crumbs from the middle out leaving no thin spots or holes in the crust. Then push up against the pan sides at least 2-3 inches but NOT up to the top.

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar and eggs until smooth, add the vanilla then gently add the sour cream to the mixture. Now pour the cream mixture on top of the crust. Loosely cover with foil for the first 45 minutes then remove. Cool out of refrigerator for at least an hour, cover with foil and place into refrigerator until serving. Then pop the spring on the side of the pan remove the side place cheesecake on a serving platter. Serve with your favorite topping!

Crust variations:

1 box of Sandie Pecan Cookies in the processor - 1/2 stick of butter melted and do the rest of the recipe the same. Top with Carmel sauce.

2 sleeves of Galletas Marias in the processor - 1 stick of butter melted and do the rest of the recipe the same. Top with anything!

Add 1 tbsp of cinnamon to crust

Add 1/4 cup crushed pecans or walnuts to the crust

Toppings:

Any fruit sauce: Add 1/4 cup of water to a sauce pan along with 1/2 cup of sugar and bring to a boil. Now add 1 of the 2 cups of any fruit to the mixture and mash with a masher. When it comes to a boil add the remaining cup of fruit. Stir constantly as sauce will come to a boil again and get very thick. Remove quickly so as not to burn. Let cool. Put into a serving dish and refrigerate until ready to serve.

I could make this recipe weekly and NEVER run out of variations. Chocolate crust, Carmel and pecans on top. A turtle cheesecake!!!!! Tell me your variations!

Stephanie's Five Bean Chili

Dave getting ready for the Air Force Game at Falcon Stadium.

The original recipe came off a McCormick's package for White Chicken Chili. Someone at the store told me it was terrific. I bought a couple and discovered that it was delicious. Not as tomato-tangy as regular chili and definitely not as spicy. But it was a little bland. So one day while shopping down the canned bean aisle. I noticed there was a sale on canned beans. I had never really even noticed all the different varieties of beans. So during this "sale" I made it a point to buy two of each different canned bean offered. So I got Pinto, Black Bean, Red Bean, Red Kidney Bean, White Kidney Bean, Navy Bean, and Great Northern Bean. Once home I decided to add color to this otherwise "white" chili by adding the different beans. The results were terrific!

A couple of years ago, the whole Colorado Clan got tickets for the Air Force/Navy Game at the Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs. A friend pulled up his fifth wheel and we tailgated. There was a variety of foods brought by everyone. And a couple of chili dishes too! Mine was the one most complimented. My nephew Jeremy Waldschmidt, former Navy man and married to my niece Jenna, told me it was the best chili he had ever had. Navy won that day! But here is my award winning Five Bean Chili.



Chase, Jenna & Jeremy Waldschmidt



Stephanie's Five Bean Chili:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lb ground chicken or turkey (you can also use diced chicken or turkey instead)

1 lg onion diced

2 - 8 oz cans diced tomatoes with liquid

2 - 3 packages of McCormick's White Chicken Chili Mix

Chose 5 different varieties of beans: Pinto, Black Bean, Red Bean, Red Kidney Bean, White Kidney Bean, Navy Bean, or Great Northern Bean drain drain liquid.

4 cups of chicken broth - paste or powder mixed with water or actual broth from can.

Add olive oil and onions to a frying pan cook about 2 minutes and then add the ground chicken or ground turkey along with one package of the McCormick's White Chicken Chili Mix. (If using cooked diced chicken or turkey wait until the end to add). Cook until the meat is brown and cooked. Transfer over to crock pot - turn on to high heat. Add both cans of diced tomatoes. Then add 5 varieties of beans to the crock pot after draining their liquid. Finally add 4 cups of chicken broth and the remaining 1 2 packages of  McCormick's White Chicken Chili Mix.  You can add one and after about 3 hours of cooking taste and add another if you think it needs more flavor. If adding already cooked meat like chicken, turkey or even pork, add now. Cook this on high heat for at least 4 hours then lower high. But the longer this cooks the more flavorful it gets. But 4 hours is the minimum.

Serve in bowls with any of the following garnishes: diced onion, cheese, sour cream, diced scallions, diced chives, avocado, and corn chips.

Tip: If you buy one of those new crock pots with the clamp on lid, it makes a great dish to transport for potluck, tailgating, football, picnic or BBQ.

Valerie's Potato Salad

Carrie Capon and Liz circa 1984

I lived in Mastic Beach & Shirley, NY for 17 years. While there, my daughter, Liz, met a girl named Carrie Capon. Her parents and Jorge and I became fast friends. Jorge and Bob shared the love of computers. While Valerie and I shared the loved of cooking and sharing time with our daughters. We were even Girl Scout leaders for our daughters' troop! While Bob and I shared the love of Star Trek. So much so that I went with he and his brothers and family friends to the Noon showing of each consequent Star Trek Movie that premiered. It was so great to share the love of that show with others. It was one of the contributing facts that attracted me to Dave Cates. He loved Star Trek too! While in the Air Force and living in Germany, he met his first wife Kim. It was also during the time that Star Trek: Next Generation aired, only once a week. He was such a fanatic, that he asked that his wedding to his first wife, Kim, be postponed a couple of hours in order to see an episode! No DVR back then!!!! So it was definitely love between he and I!!

The final frontier...these are the voyages of my life. My life-time mission: to explore wonderful new adventures, to seek out new people and ideas, to boldly go where no woman has gone before.

Anyway....you know when you meet someone and they make the BEST something EVER! So why would you EVER want anyone else to make that same thing because it will NEVER measure you! Well, Valerie made the BEST potato salad I have EVER tasted. So she was always designated potato salad maker for any outing, BBQ, picnic or dinner. She shared her recipe and I make it EXACTLY the way she does and NOW I am the person that is requested to bring my potato salad - thanks Valerie for the 17 years of friendship and wonderful potato salad recipe!

Clockwise from Liz: Jorge, some mom, Valerie and Stephanie
Girl Scout Troop event circa 1984

Valerie's Potato Salad:

5lb bag of medium to small red potatoes

Salt

4 cups Hellman's Mayonnaise or Best Mayonnaise (same company)

1lg finely diced onion

6 stalks finely diced celery

12 eggs boiled - dice 4 and slice two for garnish

2 tbsp dill weed

1 tbsp pepper 

Salt to taste

Paprika to sprinkle over top

This recipe is NOT about the ingredients but the preparation. Follow this recipe and you will see the difference. Place the bag of red potatoes into a large stock or soup pot cover the potatoes completely by at least one inch. TIP: make sure that the potatoes are about the same size. Cut one in half if much larger than the others. Bring potatoes to a boil, cook for 20 minutes and turn off and let sit until the water is cold. I usually do at night turn off and then make the next morning. Once cold, dice the potatoes into 1 inch cubes into a bowl and set aside. They do break slightly when mixing and serving so starting out with a bigger cube is preferable.

Boil at least 12 eggs in water. Again cover by at least an inch. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes and then turn off and let sit until water is cool. Peel and dice at least 8. Slice 4 for the garnish on top. Set these aside.

In a large mixing put the diced onion, celery, mayonnaise, dill weed, salt and pepper mix thoroughly. Then add the diced eggs and fold into the creamy mixture. Now gently add the potatoes into the creamy mixture. Folding with a large mixing spatula. Once completely mixed. Cover with plastic and place into the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. Remove and gently fold again - add more mayonnaise with dill weed, salt and pepper if necessary. Be careful NOT to over salt! Place is a serving bowl at this point. Strategically place the sliced eggs on top of the salad and sprinkle with paprika to garnish. Cover and sit in refrigerator for at least another 2 hours.

I promise you will get MANY compliments about your terrific potato salad. But diverting from this recipe in any way, may make if different and not as good. Enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup - Liz & Delaney's Favorite Soup





Liz and Dave with Chase & Addington (niece and nephew)
Breckenridge, CO - February 2011



I have seen butternut squash in the store for years and had NO idea what one would do with it. One day, I asked a lady what she did with them. She said she split it down the middle lenghtwise and then scooped out the seeds. She then lathered it with her hands in olive oil and placed it face down on a large cookie sheet. Then roasted it on 400* for about 1 hour. She said to turn it at the 30 minute mark. Starting with face up first - in case it burned. She said her family likes it like mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes and served it with meat and vegetable for dinner.



So, I bought a large one thinking I might try making it mashed instead of my normal mashed potatoes. I did what she said and the arroma was sensational! So I started thinking about this in a soup instead of mashed butternut squash. And so was born my butternut squash soup recipe.

Butternut Squash Soup:

1 large or 2 small butternut squash - cut lengthwise and the seeds scooped out. (about 4 cups)

Olive oil

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1 lg garlic clove

1/4 medium onion chopped

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock - canned/made from powder or paste

1 cup milk/half & half or cream

1 tbsp Mrs. Dash

Salt and Pepper to taste



Delaney ( in the middle) with her soccer teammates - 2010



Cut the butternut squash lengthwise and scoop out all the seeds. Then pour a small amount of oil olive into the center of the butternut squash and slather (is this a word?) all over the butternut squash. Place them face up on a cookie sheet and into the over. Do not cover. Cook 30 minutes and then turn face down and cook another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with a clean dish towel for about 20 minutes. This allows the steam to dampen the skin and makes it easier to remove.



When it is not longer hot to the touch, use a pearing knife and peel off the outer skin. Chop up the butternut squash pulp into chunks. Place 2 cups into the blender with the chopped onion and garlic clove. Puree for about 30 seconds or until the garlic and onion are not longer! Use a soup pot that will suppport at least 10 cups of soup. Add the butter and melt. Add the pureed butternut squash and saute quickly. Then add the addition chunks of butternut squash. Heat up. Then add the 4 cups of stock. Bring this to a boil. Using an electric hand blender, blend the chunks of butternut squash and the stock until thick and smooth. Bring to a gentle boil and then add the cream/half&half or milk. Bring back to a gentle boil then turn off and serve.

PS - I love adding Curry Powder to this recipe. I just add 2 tbsp at the end after the Mrs. Dash and before the salt and pepper. If you like curried foods, you might really enjoy this twist for butternut squash soup.



You'll never look at a butternut squash the same again!

Dinner in Foil



Memo with Nana and my Daba (Mom's father) 1974.



My mom taught me this recipe back in 1982 when we first arrived back in the United States. Jorge, the kids and dogs were living in North Tonawanda, NY (between Buffalo and Niagara Falls). We would go to visit my parents a couple of weekends a month. It was nice for the kids to spend time with them since they had never had that opportunity before. Anyway, I told mom that my steaks were hard as rocks with I broiled them or they were rubbery. She suggested a recipe she got either from Campbell's Soup or Reynolds Foil Wrap called Dinner in Foil.

Dinner in Foil:

1-2 lbs London Broil steak or other similar steak with little to no fat or grizzle
1 medium onion sliced
2 cups carrots split into quarters
1 cup mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup of milk
1 package Onion Soup mix
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil

Line the bottom of a casserole dish with foil. Shiny side towards the meat. In a bowl mix the cream of mushroom & celery soup with 1 cup of milk and then add the dried package of Onion Soup Mix (I use Lipton). Mix together and then add the vegetables. Spread along the bottom of the foil lined pan and then all over the meat and along the sides using all the mixture. Make sure you have enough foil to fold the middle of the casserole dish over and the ends to seal in all the steam. Cook at 325* for 1 1/2 hours.
Pull out the meat a let stand for about 10 minutes and then slice thinly. Toss back into the vegetable mixture. Serve with rice, toss with noodles and a side dish of mashed potatoes.

This is an easy make ahead dish.

My Chicken and Dumplings



Dave with Katelyn the evening of her Senior Prom
2009



Dave and Katelyn absolutely LOVE to eat chicken and dumplings at the Cracker Barrel. It was a favorite stopping site as we traveled to Michigan, Wyoming, Arizona, and California. These restaurants are all over the US Highways and offer terrific comfort foods for their guests. So as I always do, I really wanted to try my hand at my own chicken and dumplings. So here goes!

My Chicken and Dumplings:

2 lbs of chicken breasts - boneless, skinless cut into 1 inch chunks

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp Mrs. Dash

1 large onion sliced

1 lb of carrots diced

4 stalks of celery thinly sliced

4 cups of chicken stock (4 cups of water and 2 tbsp of Knorr Chicken broth in powder)

Gravy Thickener: 1/2 flour mixed with 1 cup of water - shaken until there are no lumps

Dumplings:

2 cups Bisquick

1 cup milk

Add olive oil to dutch oven or pressure cooker or large stew pot. Heat up 1/2 the olive oil and add chunked chicken and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash (original) and garlic powder over raw meat in pot. Saute until lightly brown and turn until all sides have been browned. Remove and place into a bowl add the remaining olive oil to the heated pot and add the sliced onions, celery and carrots. Saute until onions are transparent. Return the chicken to the pot and cover with stock. Cover the pressure cooker, dutch oven or stew pot and cook for at least 30 minutes in the pressure cooker and 45 minutes in dutch oven or stew pot.

Using a Chinese wire mesh skimmer, remove the chicken and vegetables from the liquid and set aside. Make the dumplings mixture and set next to the stew pot. Bring the liquid in the pot up to a boil and add the gravy thickener stirring constantly until thick. Allow the gravy to gently boil for about 1 minute. Take a deep spoon or a cookie scoop and scoop out the dumpling mixture into the boiling gravy. Each ball will float to the top of the gently boiling gravy. Keep adding until all have be placed into the gravy pot. Cover for about 3-5 minutes until the balls are light and fluffy. Again, use the Chinese wire mesh skimmer to gently remove the dumplings onto a plate.

I make mashed potatoes for this dish. So to assemble place the chicken and mashed potatoes on the plate and ladle with gravy. Then place 2-4 dumplings on top of the chicken mixture and place another small amount of gravy of that and serve hot.

Cream of Corn Soup

Christmas 2010 at Delaney and Morgan's house. Jeff Carter in the background!

I have been wanting to make a cream of corn soup ever since I had the Corn Soup Chowder at Mimi's Cafe. It is very tasty but as many of you know, I have an issue with the corn shells. No matter how much they cook them, they get stuck in the lap band and I cannot eat them. So I tried to come up with a recipe that would do away with the shells of the corn without sacrificing the taste. Much of this recipe was trial and error.

I first wanted to get fresh corn and cut off the kernels, cook that up and make the recipe that way. I was OK but by the time you cut off the fresh kernels off the husk and cooked it....there is not much there for taste. Next I used canned Niblets - a tasty sweet corn. However I found here that the corn kernels were very hard and I had to cook up the corn longer than I wanted to and the taste of the soup was incipid. While at King Soopers last week, I saw they had frozen vegetables on sale for $1 each! I got spinach for spinach soup or creamed spinach, pearl onions for stews or alone with a white sause and corn.

Today I made the best sweet corn cream soup I have ever tasted!!!

Cream of Corn Soup:

2 bags frozen corn

1 tbps butter

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock (can also be made by adding 2 tbsp of powder to hot water)

2 cups half & half

To thicken mixture: 1/4 cup flour and 1 cup water - shaken well till there are no clumps

Pepper to taste

I put both bags of FROZEN corn into a microwaveable bowl along with the butter. Covered it and cooked for 10 mins. In the meantime I boiled 2 cups of water and added the chicken stock (vegetable stock can also be used). I transferred over the corn and stock into the blender the mixture for about 2 minutes stopping every 30 seconds. Place a sieve over the soup pot and start pouring the mixture through the collander. (I used a whisk inside the sieve to help stir the liquid through quicker.) I threw away the corn shells only keeping the corn pulp liquid for the soup. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil then add the 2 cups half & half. If you want the mixture to be thicker, mix the roux (recipe above) and add to the soup and bring back to a boil. Make sure you stir constantly as the corn will stick quickly.

I served this immediately and sprinkled fresh ground pepper on top. Dave said this was one of the tastiest soups I have ever made. Now most of you don't have a lap band inside of you and might enjoy the corn shells so if they do not bother you, leave them or take out only some of them. It's up to you and what you like. Enjoy!!

PS Mimi's Cafe adds chunks of potato, some chopped chives to their mixture. Be creative and see what you might like to add to yours. Or just leave it sweet, creamy and tasty as I did.