From Our Family to Yours A cookbook celebrating 80 years of food, family, moments and memories. Table of Contents Appetizer ............................. 3 Side dish .............................. 8 Main course .......................... 14 Soup and stew ....................... 32 Bread................................. 37 Dessert............................... 40 Beverage ............................. 50 2 • From our family to yours | Table of Contents Crab Canopies Ingredients: “This recipe has been 1 package English muffins passed down from my ½ tsp garlic powder mother to me, and I 2-3 tbsp mayonnaise usually make these only 3 cans crab meat around Thanksgiving and 1-2 jars Kraft Cheez Whiz® Christmas. As children 2-3 tbsp butter growing up in the Midwest, we would prepare them Directions: at every major holiday. Cut each muffin into quarter pieces and then Even though this recipe separate muffin for a total of 8 individual pieces. came from the Midwest, Spread out muffin pieces onto cookie tray. with crab as the main ingredient, it is a regional Mix crab meat, garlic, mayo or butter, and recipe where I live on the cheddar cheese together. Place mixture on Northern Neck of Virginia.” individual muffin pieces. Place wax paper over top of muffin pieces. Place foil on top of wax Alison Weddle paper. (Avoid placing foil directly on top of Assistant Park Manager muffin pieces, as the foil will rip when you Belle Isle State Park try to remove appetizers from pan.) Freeze in freezer for 4-5 hours (or at least until muffins are frozen). Tip: Some people use butter, some use mayo, Broil for 3-4 minutes in oven or toaster oven and some use both. I until browned on top. use just mayonnaise, as I find using both makes Serves 5-6 mixture too runny. Use jarred Kraft Cheez Timing to prepare and cook the dish: Whiz®. I usually double 30-45 minutes prep; 4-5 hours to freeze; the recipe because these 3-4 minutes to broil are so tasty they get eaten quickly. Appetizer | From our family to yours • 3 Roasted Pumpkin Seeds “Roasting pumpkin seeds Ingredients: is not at all uncommon, 11/3 cups pumpkin seeds, especially in the cleaned, rinsed and dried Appalachian Region. 3 tbsp fresh creamed butter It has been done for 2 tsp garlic powder centuries. It’s an example 1 tsp salt of how people made use 1 tsp crushed red pepper of everything they had. ½ tsp black pepper After using the rest of the pumkin however they Directions: saw fit, they even used the Preheat the oven to 350°. seeds as a tasty and fairly Melt the butter in either a cast iron or iron skillet. healthy snack.” Combine the pumpkin seeds with the garlic powder, salt, crushed red pepper and black Darla Jean Hood pepper. Toss to combine. Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Association Fry for about 15 minutes or until seeds are crispy Blockhouse Cook and light golden brown. Stir constantly. Natural Tunnel State Park Remove from the skillet and stir with a wooden spoon to release any seeds that have stuck to the skillet. Cool completely before serving. Serves 2 Tip: Roasted seeds will keep in an airtight storage container for up to one week. Recipe may also be scaled up proportionately. 4 • From our family to yours | Appetizer Barbecued Meatballs Ingredients: “This favorite recipe has For meatballs: gained popularity at 1 lb ground beef our Festival of Trees VIP ½ cup milk reception. Some DCR-State 2 slices bread, for breadcrumbs Park employees have traveled many miles for For sauce: this event and to enjoy this 1 ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce meatball dish. 2015 marked ½ cup ketchup the 20th anniversary of ½ cup water the Southwest Virginia 1 tbsp vinegar Museum Historical 1 tbsp sugar State Park’s Festival of ½ onion, chopped Trees, which remains the ½ green pepper, chopped highlight event of the year.” Directions: Pam Smith Preheat oven to 375°. Office Manager Mix ground beef, milk and breadcrumbs and form into balls. Southwest Virginia Museum Historical Bake meatballs on a cookie sheet for 45 minutes State Park or until done. Mix sauce ingredients in large pot. Add cooked meatballs and simmer until ready to serve. Makes 2 dozen Timing to prepare and cook the dish: 1 ½ - 2 hours Tip: This recipe is easy to double or triple as desired. Simmering the sauce and meatballs enhances the flavor of the meatballs. Appetizer | From our family to yours • 5 Bob’s Silver Dollar Crab Cake Sliders “Though we lived in Southside Virginia, one Ingredients: of my fondest childhood 1 lb jumbo crab meat picked of shell memories was a succulent 1 tbsp good grain mustard diversion from traditional 1 egg holiday foods – the crab ½ cup mayonnaise cake. Not being a native ¼ cup minced onion, optional food of the Piedmont, ¼ finely chopped green pepper, optional crab cakes held an exotic ½ cup of breadcrumbs or flavorful allure. The ground up Ritz Crackers® restricted availability made splash of heavy cream them a real treat and a favorite at the family table. Directions: So much so, they became Preheat oven to 400°. an appetizer too good to Mix mayo, mustard, egg, onions, peppers and save for a main course. bread crumbs into a mixing bowl with a splash They were prepared with of heavy cream. crab meat usually brought Gently fold in the crabmeat,careful not to home by an uncle traveling break up the lumps. from the Tidewater. Once Brush a glass dish, or pie pan lightly with combined with produce butter or olive oil. raised locally and an egg Form small patties and place into dish. from our chicken coop, Bake for 30 minutes. crab cakes were a fusion of Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. flavor from field and surf and uniquely Virginian.” Serves 4 to 6 Bob Flippen Education Specialist Timing to prepare and cook the dish: 45 minutes High Bridge Trail State Park Tip: Concerned about calories? Leave out the bread crumbs and use light mayo. Not worried about calories? Even better. Sprinkle with sharp cheddar cheese after baking and broil for another five minutes or so. 6 • From our family to yours | Appetizer Deer Jerky Ingredients: “In October of 2001, several 3 lbs of deer meat rangers were in Marion, 2 cups soy sauce Virginia, for firearms 1 cup water training, including me, 3 tbsp A1 Steak Sauce® Forrest Atwood. Eric 1 tbsp liquid smoke Hougland, who was then 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce working at New River Trail 1 tbsp black pepper State Park, brought deer 6 tbsp liquid garlic jerky and shared it with the ½ tbsp chili powder group. It was the best jerky I ½ tbsp paprika had ever eaten! I asked him for the recipe, so he faxed a Directions: handwritten copy to me. I Mix all ingredients together and pour over still have the original fax, thinly sliced deer meat. Marinate for 24-48 and that’s how I know what hours. Dry on a jerky rack in the oven at 200°F year and where Eric was for 1 hour and 20 minutes, longer if you like working at the time. I have drier jerky. You may also use a dehydrator. Just tried other recipes and even follow the directions for your particular unit. store-bought jerky mixes, but none come close to Eric’s Timing to prepare and cook the dish: recipe. My three daughters This is a two or three-day process and varies were raised on deer jerky. I with length of time you marinate and whether really think the only reason or not you prepare in the oven (1½ - 2 hrs) or in a they would go hunting dehydrator (5-10 hrs). with me was the prospect of getting some jerky. Now, whenever I make a batch, I Tip: I have used ground deer have to vacuum-seal and meat and a jerky gun with this mail them some. This recipe recipe as well. became one of my family’s comfort foods.” Eric Hougland District 4 Manager Appetizer | From our family to yours • 7 Pickled Beets “Pickling is a wonderful Ingredients: way to preserve food. Beets - enough to make 3 quarts Interpreters at the 2 cups sugar Blockhouse use pickling 1 stick of cinnamon as one example of how 1 tbsp whole allspice people would have 1 ½ tsp salt preserved food before 3 ½ cups vinegar refrigeration was 1 ½ cups water an option.” Directions: Darla Jean Hood Wash beets, cut stems to about 2 inches and Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail leave the tap root on. This will help keep the Association Blockhouse Cook color when you boil the beets to loosen the skins. Natural Tunnel State Park Sort the beets and cook those of similar size together. Loosening the skin will take longer with large ones. Cook beets in boiling water until the skin slips off. This will take a couple of minutes. It helps to scrape a spoon against the beets while cooking to see when the skins start to scrape off easily. Remove from water and cool in very cold water. When cool enough to handle, use your hands to slip the skins off. Use a knife for stubborn spots. Cut off the tops and tap roots. Slice or chop beets to the desired size. 8 • From our family to yours | Side Dish Prepare the pickling solution. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks. Pack prepared beets into hot canning jars, leaving 1 inch of head space. Cover beets in jars with hot vinegar solution leaving 1 inch of head space. Remove air bubbles with a plastic knife or other small tool.