The Actual File…

I thought I would post a picture of Nana's file that she worked on for so long. I know we all have the mental picture of her sitting at her round table, on one of her green chairs in her corner of the living room going over her recipes. It just amazes me every time I look at it. She has so many recipes in it. So much information. I will try and be better about going through it for the tried and true favorites that were uniquely hers, but if you think of things you specifically want please contact me. It is available for all of us and is crazy fun to go through.


Then of course are the recipes she wrote out herself. I love her scrawl as she was thinking them through and jotting down the jist of it all. I still find little notes and lists here and there in the house. Gets me every time. I still miss you Nana.

Crazy Aunt Charleen

We called her that because she was. It is a term of endearment for us as she has a special place in our hearts. Talented, sweet, musical, and very much like her mother, Opal. It was always an adventure to visit her in Colorado. After college graduation Grumpy and I were stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver,Colorado for 6 months. We had quite the trip getting there with 3 small children in the car for 2 days. Not the most fun I ever had. Upon our arrival there Papa’s sister Charleen had dinner waiting for us. It was so very nice, and oh so appreciated. The casserole has come through the years with us and is now a favorite of our children and grandchildren. She also had fresh strawberries for us that night. We dipped them in sour cream and then into brown sugar. Also a family favorite. Thanks to Aunt Charleen, we have these good things on our tables still.


The Noodles…
Charleen’s Casserole
I especially like that it is meatless for lighter summer meals. Ingredients can be varied and encompass many left-overs for a new dish. Great for a side, or for the main course.

Extra wide egg noodles, or noodles of your choice. Quantities are for 9x13 pan. Cook noodles until tender and rinse. Set aside.


The Vegetables…
In a pan, sauté:

• 1 ea. Green, Red, Yellow Pepper (chopped)
  
• 1 Onion (chopped)
  
• 2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
  
• 3 Carrots (sliced about 1/8”)
  

Optional Vegetables to add or substitute: Corn, Green Beans, Broccoli, Zucchini, Fresh Spinach, mushrooms, it’s all good.

The Sauce…
In a large mixing bowl combine:

• 2 Regular Cans Cream of Chicken Soup (1 can if you like your sauce thicker, or if you want to thin with milk.)
  
• 1 Regular Can Cream of Celery Soup
  
• 1 8 oz. Can Tomato Sauce (or El Pato Sauce for a spicier taste).

Optional Cream Soups are Mushroom, Cheese, and any others your family likes.

Finishing…
When vegetables are tender, add to sauce and mix well. Fold in noodles and at least 8 ozs. of grated mild cheddar and 8 ozs. of another kind of cheese (sliced thin or grated). Pepper Jack, Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, whatever you like or have on hand. Toss in 1 1/2 C. Frozen Peas and mix well.


Spray casserole dish with PAM and pour mixture into it. Top with more cheese if desired, or even bread crumbs work fine. Bake uncovered at 350º for 30 - 45 minutes depending on how brown you like the top. Serve with Garlic Toast or any number of things.


This casserole has feed many a family that needed dinner brought in and I love for the summer. It is easy and fast and kids generally like it. There are lots of possibilities with it, so use your imagination and make your favorite things in it.

I have a PDF version of this if anyone is interested. Just leave a comment with your email address.

My Favorite Lasagna

This lasagna recipe has been with us since 1978.
As the story goes…
Grumpy and I were stationed in Okinawa, Japan and I had gone back to Arizona to have R.B. When it was time to return to Okinawa, R.B. was about 6 weeks old. It was the trip from hell. I had three little girls and a newborn to wrestle, the Air Force dependent travel policies to contend with and some major budget concerns. I won't go into the details, but by the time I got back to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa I had been traveling (or trying to) for 2 weeks. I was frustrated, tired, and “on the edge”. Grumpy had moved our things into a nice house in Awase and it was good to finally be somewhere. As we straggled in the door it was nearly dinner time and I wasn't sure what was in the house. Grumpy went in the kitchen and pulled this wonderful lasagna from the oven complete with garlic bread and a salad from the fridge. I was amazed. He said his new commanding officer's wife, Ellen Stellmar had provided the dinner for us. I started crying and I don't think she ever knew how deeply I appreciated her dinner. “Thank you” just didn't cover how nice it was. She was a wonderful woman. I am grateful for all the really great people we rubbed shoulders with in our Air Force experience. Very tender memories of them all. I've used this recipe all these years and it is a family favorite.

The Meat Sauce…
1# Italian Sausage or lean ground beef
1 clv Garlic (minced)
1 lg Onion (diced) (optional)
1 Tb. Basil
1 Tb. Parsley Flakes
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1-1# Can whole tomatoes (cut up)
2-6oz Cans (1 1/3 C.) tomato paste

The Cheese Mixture…

3 Cups Cream Style Cottage Cheese (or Ricotta, or a mix of the two)
2 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
2 Tb. Parsley Flakes
1/2 C. Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cooked Noodles…
10 oz. Lasagna noodles cooked al dente. Rinse in cold water and allow to drain. I always lay the uncooked noodles in the pan I'm using (x2 for 2 layers) to make sure I have enough noodles. I throw in a couple of extra just for fun.

Mozzarella…

1# Mozzarella cheese (grated). Of course more cheese is never bad. I have used the fresh mozzarella sliced on one of the layers and it turned out really well.

Preparing the layers…

Brown meat with minced garlic and (optional) diced onion . Drain off excess fat. Add next five ingredients for the meat sauce and simmer uncovered until sauce is thick stirring occasionally (about 30 minutes). 

Combine the cheese mixture ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir well.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and layer:
half the cooked noodles
half the cottage cheese mixture
half the mozzarella cheese
half the meat sauce

Half the noodles, half the cheese mixture:


I used fresh mozzarella in the first cheese layer and it was good. I used regular grated mozzarella on the next cheese layer and it was a good combo. Just ignore the spots of meat sauce. I goofed and got a little meat sauce in before I realized it was the cheese layer. Oooops.


The last layer of meat sauce (good thing, cuz the dish was full)


As an option you can layer some fresh spinach leaves on top of the mozzarella and under the meat sauce. It is really good if you like a little spinach. 

Repeat layers and top with a layer of grated parmesan if desired.



Bake in moderate oven (350º) uncovered for 30-45 minutes.
Let stand 15 minutes to set before serving.

Serves 12

Picture is from our Mama's and Papa's dinner on my blog. I added a spinach layer to it this time and it was really good. A little more watery than usual, don't know if it was from the fresh mozzarella, or the spinach, or both. I didn't mind though as a little juicier is okay with me. (I'm a saucy gal)
Lots of fond memories with this Lasagna recipe. Thanks to a sweet woman who went out of her way to make life a little easier. She left quite an impact on our lives with her lasagna. You just never know…

Nana's Yummy Ice Creams

Nana was always happy to make a freezer of ice cream for us to share. She made plain vanilla for many years because it went so well with chocolate cake. Then she tried the heath bar kind and it became the new family favorite. I tried a batch of Rocky Road and loved it so I have included those recipes here as well as some options for fruit flavors that she had in her file. Enjoy and remember the many bowls of delicious ice cream at Nana’s.

–Sherry Kanaga Harmon

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream 
Quantities for a 6 Quart Freezer
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan combine:
6 Eggs
6 T. Flour
1 qt. Milk
1/2 C. Sugar
 
Directions
Stir above ingredients over medium heat until thickened. (about like a medium white sauce)
While mixture is still hot add:
2 C. Sugar
1 Can Eagle Brand Sweetened
Condensed Milk
2 T. Vanilla Flavoring
1 T. Lemon Flavoring (optional)
(You can substitute 3 more cups of sugar for the Eagle Brand if you don’t have any).
Allow to cool and even refrigerate overnight when possible.
 
Before freezing add:
2 Qts. Half and Half
(Or 1 qt. Cream and 1 qt. half and half).
Mixture should fill the canister to 3/4 full. If it doesn’t, add a little milk to bring it up to 3/4 full. Freeze, remove paddle and ripen in deep freezer.

Don't forget the chocolate cake to complete the experience.


Nana's Toffee Ice Cream
We've all enjoyed many a bowl of this wonderful stuff!



Make the Basic Vanilla Ice Cream recipe with these exceptions:
Use raw sugar in place of white sugar.
Use banana extract instead of Lemon.
Add 1 small box of French Vanilla instant pudding.
After freezing and paddle has been removed, add 8-10 crushed toffee bars and stir in well. Sometimes crushed toffee is available in bags like choc chips, in which case a 12 oz. bag would suffice. Of course if you’re like me, put in as much as you think you need to taste some in every bite. Ripen ice
cream in deep freezer.

Fresh Fruit Ice Creams
Puree or dice into small pieces the fruit of your choice. Let stand overnight in heavy syrup. Add the mixture of fruit and syrup to the freezer when ice cream is in a soft freeze state. Return to freezing until more hardened. Remove paddle and ripen ice cream in deep freezer.

Chocolate Ice Cream
Make the Basic Vanilla Ice Cream recipe with this addition to the cooked mixture:
1 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 C. Sugar


My new personal favorite (you can have more than one favorite you know…) Rocky Road. It doesn't get much better than this.
 Rocky Road Ice Cream
Make the Basic Vanilla Ice Cream recipe with this addition to the cooked mixture:
1 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 C. Sugar
3 1oz. squares of semi-sweet chocolate
1 Additional tablespoon of Vanilla flavoring
1/4 t. Salt
After freezing and paddle has been removed add:
3 C. Mini Marshmallows
1 1/2 C. Chopped almonds (or pecans)
Ripen ice cream in deep freezer.






There are Ice Cream Freezers at Sam's Club now for about $60.00 in the half gallon size with both an electric motor and an attachment to just hand crank it. Of course there are many kinds of freezers out there, they all work. I am wanting to try some of the strawberry jam with some fresh strawberries in a batch and maybe even some peach this year. I hope you will enjoy Nana's recipes and have as much fun with them as she did. She loved to make and freeze ice cream for all of us.