Cooking Without Photos: Mango Bread

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Ohhhhhh Hawaii! Maybe someday I’ll get to go to Hawaii, until then I’ll live vicariously thru the flavorful food that lands on my plate.

When I decided I was going to try to get a cookbook from every state, I figured Hawaii and Alaska would be the hardest. Surprisingly, they were probably two of the easiest. I figure it’s because both are hugely popular vacation spots.

At any rate, I didn’t visit Hawaii to pick up this cookbook, but after reading about the Temple that it came from, I would love to visit it one day. “Favorite Island Cookery” was compiled by Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, a Buddhist Temple located in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Buddhism was first brought to Hawaii in 1889 when Japanese sugarcane laborers arrived to the island. A smaller Temple was built in 1899 and the current Temple was built in 1918.

Construction of the Temple took place during the most critical years of World War I. In order to show respect and prove Japanese Immigrants in Hawaii were loyal Americans, and fulfill the hope of acceptance of Buddhism as an American faith tradition, wooden pews, a high wooden pulpit, pipe organ, hymnals and Sunday services were instituted. This was coupled with the traditional Japanese gold and brass altar decorations centered around the priceless, centuries old, image of Amida Buddha.

Still in use today, the Temple has been through two wars, uncertainties, and stood the test of time.

Onto the recipe! Starting with page one, there were ingredients I’ve never even heard of. Well that’s not helpful…normally, soup is my go to. Not this time. I flipped over to the breads and found a Mango Bread recipe that sounded doable. I gave it a whirl and it’s a winner!

Couple things:

  1. Mangos are in season right now and are tasting pretty fine. Caution, the riper they are, the stringer they are. Not really a problem until your husband takes a bite of the bread and is convinced there’s hair in it. You’ll win him over with the taste and he won’t care anyway.
  2. Frozen mangos are available all year. Not sure how they would work out but I’d probably try it.
  3. The batter is THICK! I’m talkin’ THICK! It’s going to be okay.
  4. It says to bake it 1 hour and I baked mine for 50 minutes. Just keep an eye on it.

That’s really it. Tastes great! Would make a great breakfast or brunch bread. Fab!

Cooking Without Photos – Hobo Onion Steaks

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They say the Devil went down to Georgia. I don’t know that for sure because I’ve never been there. I do like traveling the states via recipes though and this week we travel over to Georgia.

When I picked up “Oooh Vidalia Onions”, I knew it was going to be great! Little did I realize how hard it would be to find Vidalia onions in March. I’m saving some of the recipes in this small but mighty cookbook for a time when Vidalia onions are in season. Shouldn’t be too long though.

I tried to find some info about Folsom Farms, but they don’t have a website. Google had a 4.8 ⭐️ review and that’s all I needed to know. I’d totally go and have dinner there sometime, website or not. Just sounds like they are too busy making good food to keep up with a website. Nothing wrong with that.

Folsom Farms is today in the city of Glennville, GA. Glennville was founded in 1857 after several land swaps between several people and originally named Philadelphia Cross Roads. The first building in town was a church/school.

It was in 1888 that a man by the name of Glenn Thompson cam to town and became the teacher at their school. Mr. Anderson advocated for a post office and filed the proper paperwork to do so. His request was granted by the Post Office Department and a name needed to be selected because Philadelphia was already taken. The towns people chose Glennville after Glenn Anderson and all of his hard work. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Onto the recipe!
This week I chose Hobo Onion Steaks. It’s about to be camping time and this is a great one to cook outdoors or indoors.

Couple of things:

  1. It says to cook them 40-50 minutes. I went with an hour and some of the potatoes were still not completely done. Not a huge deal.
  2. I used salt, pepper and Cavenders seasoning. You could really use 1000 different combinations.
  3. When we finished eating, our youngest said this would be great with some mushrooms. No lies detected! Next time for sure!
  4. This is also something that kids can easily make.
  5. I had to use regular yellow onions. Still tasted fine.

It tastes great and is super fast!

Cooking Without Photos – Pig Pickin’ Cake

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Florida! The Sunshine State!

When I settled on this week’s selection, I noticed it was from Orlando, home of Disney World. I decided to look up info on Azalea Park Methodist Church and their website is down. They do have a Facebook page that is very much active, I took that as a good sign. I’ll have to make an update on this post when their page comes back up.

Onto the recipe! While flipping through, “Butter ‘N Love Recipes”, I stopped at a cake recipe I’ve never seen before. I decided to give the Pig Pickin’ Cake a whirl. It’s fab, y’all!

Couple of things:

  1. It doesn’t say to drain the mandarin oranges. I did.
  2. I went by box directions on the cooking time. I cooked it 5 minutes more than the suggested for a 9×13 pan. I wasn’t wrong. You’ll have a burnt cake if you cook it for an hour and your feelings will be sad.
  3. Let the cake cool before putting on the frosting.
  4. I put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. It was good, but not near as good as it was the next day.

That’s it! Try it and I know you’ll love it!

Cooking Without Photos – Corn Chowder

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Oh Delaware, here you are, waiting patiently for your chance in the spotlight

This week we travel to Claymont, Delaware. Claymont was originally occupied by aboriginal Indians of the Middle Wooand period who lived along Naamans Creek.

Dutch colonists arrived in tbe 17th century and named the area Naamans after the Chief of the Lenape Indians. The settlement grew rapidly. Before long, farms started popping up and the town had a gristmill.

Sitting along the Delaware River, Claymont has been a two-way thoroughfare for travel to and from Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., since colonial days.

In 1838, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad built a station in Claymont.
The area developed from a primarily agricultural community to a suburban resort area for wealthy Philadelphia families.

In 1856, Naamans was renamed as Claymont after the Reverend John B. Clemson, pastor of the Episcopal church. He relocated here with his family from their plantation, Claymont Court, in Charles Town, West Virginia.

Today, Claymont is a town of about 10,000 people and still full of rich history all the way back when our country was just being born.

Onto the recipe! When I started this “1 recipe per state journey”, I had some gaps in my own cookbook collection that needed to be filled. Luckily, I was able to use the Intrer-Library Loan service at my library to retrieve some states that I just couldn’t put my hands on otherwise.

By emailing the ILL department and telling them what I was doing, they helped me locate a book that was perfect for my project. “The Delaware Heritage Cookbook” dropped in my lap and it was absolutely full of great foods to try.

I settled on Corn Chowder. Yum!

Couple of things:

  1. I wasn’t sure what “salt pork” was so I used two pieces of bacon instead. Seemed to have worked fine.
  2. 1 cup of water wasn’t enough liquid it didn’t seem like. I added a bit more, but not cover the potatoes completely.
  3. I used red potatoes and left the skins on. I just think it looks pretty and it adds color.
  4. I threw in some thyme. I just love how it makes things taste. If you don’t want it in there, don’t put it in there. Simple!

This was great! We had it with cornbread, but crackers would also be wonderful!

Cooking Without Photos – Lemon Squares

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We head to Connecticut this week and talk postal history.

Now a historical landmark, the East Windsor Hill Post Office holds the crown for America’s longest continually operating post office.

In 1757, David Bissell Jr. sold a portion of his property to a well-known barber, Jeremiah Ballard, who constructed a shop on Old Main Street. In 1759, Bissell Jr. gifted the rest of his land to his son, David Bissell III, who attached a storehouse to Ballard’s shop. This building would soon become the first operating trading post in America.

The East Windsor Hill received its first government post rider in 1783. Today, the elementary schools within South Windsor each take a field trip to the East Windsor Hill Post office, educating the youth of South Windsor on the rich history of their town.

When I saw the cookbook, “Postal Platters: Connecticut Branch National League Of Postmasters” I knew it was going to be great!

I have so many memories writing letters to pen pals, family and friends. I used to trade stickers and bookmarks. We would send photos back and forth. We need to do that again, y’all. It just feels good to get something in the mail that’s not a bill or junk mail.

On to the recipe! This week I chose Lemon Squares.

Couple of things:

  1. It didn’t say what kind of flour so I used self rising. After I mixed the crust ingredients and baked it for the allotted time, I don’t think it would matter what kind you used. It isn’t going to rise.
  2. That’s really it. Baking time was perfect. You really don’t have to grease the pan. I almost panicked because I didn’t. Pops right out. No problem.
  3. I guess I should also point out that it didn’t say to dust in powdered sugar. I did though ❤️

Perfect sweet treat! Would be great with coffee too!

Cooking Without Photos – Hot Bacon Bean Dip

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This week we travel out west to Wellington, Colorado!

Wellington was founded in 1902, incorporated in 1905, and named for C. L. Wellington. Mr. Wellington was an employee of the Colorado and Southern Railroad. Even before incorporation, Wellington was a popular stopping location for wagon trains, travelers and military movement between Cheyenne, WY, and Fort Collins, CO.

In 2000, woolly mammoth remains were discovered by a construction crew while digging home foundations. Colorado State University sent a team to carefully excavate and preserve the bones of the extinct animals. Unfortunately ly, upon hoisting the remains out of the excavation site, the tusks crumbled inside of the protective forms that were previously built around them. The skull of the mammoth is housed at CSU. The subdivision where the bones were found named one of its streets in remembrance of the excitement.

I didn’t get far when I opened the cookbook, “Home Cookin’ Wellington Assembly Of God”. Page one held my attention with Hot Bacon Bean Dip and it didn’t disappoint!

Couple of things:

  1. It didn’t say what to serve this dip with so I decided on pita crackers. I wasn’t wrong. Fab!
  2. This dip is also good leftover cold.

Try this! You won’t regret it!

Cooking Without Photos – Spicy Orange Pecan Muffins

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This week we travel all the way to the west coast and Santa Ana, California. Santa Ana first started out as a parcel of land that was given to Jose Antonio Yorba. The land changed hands a few times. In 1869, William H. Spurgeon purchased the land and founded Santa Ana.

In 1871, Santa Ana’s First Baptist Church was built. During a time when the country was still in uproar, the First Baptist Church began building a community of hope. Governed by California’s own set of Jim Crow laws, folks weren’t allowed to worship together and were made to stay seperated whites and blacks.

By 1923, members of First Baptist worked with members of Santa Ana’s black community to found the Second Baptist church. Today, the Second Baptist Church is the oldest black church in Orange County

Church Historian Milana Oyunga described:

“They helped them get started with the down payment of $150, a Bible, and the first pew, which we still have on our premises. … With that initial help they had given us, they have been a friend and support to us all these years, that culminated to today.”

During the Jim Crow era, First and Second Baptist often collaborated, fundraised together, and welcomed each other’s congregations.

With attendance declining in its later years, First Baptist found refuge in the home it helped found for others, spending its last three years of operation worshiping at Second Baptist. After 148 years of serving the community, First Baptist ceased operations in 2019.

When I discovered, “Cook Book” from First Baptist Church of Santa Ana, I knew it was special. Written in 1974, this book had been around the block a few times The cover was coming off, there were notes written throughout, and pages were stained with wear. It didn’t disappoint.

Flipping thru, I found the recipe for Spiced Orange Pecan Muffins. I picked this recipe even before I found out that Santa Ana was in Orange County. It was obviously meant to be.

Couple of things:

  1. Actually just one…to me, there is enough sugar in the muffin because there is so much sweet in the topping. You may decide you like a bit more sugar in yours.

That’s really all I would change. They bake up pretty. My crew liked them and went back for more.

Cooking Without Photos – Banana Cake

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Cooking Without Photos – Banana Cake

This week we arrive right back home to Arkansas. When I found, “The Best Of Times Ouachita Council: 70 Years of Girl Scouting 1927-1997 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”, I knew it was going to be great! I wasn’t wrong.

In the first few pages, it covers the history of the Ouachita Council which began in 1927 with two troops in the Little Rock area. In 1936, the first Girl Scout Cookie sale occurred. The cookies were made by the Little Rock Bakery and sold for .20 cents a box.

In 1937, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Hot Springs and attended the dedication of Perry County’s very own, Camp Ouachita Girl Scout Camp. The camp was built by the CCC while the WPA worked tirelessly to create Lake Sylvia Recreation Area.

1937 was also the very first year that Camp Ouachita opened. It ran for 5 weeks that year and served 100 girls from 16 towns. Over the years, it has changed hands a few times and was almost lost all together from disrepair and neglect.

Luckily, in the 1990’s, efforts began to save Camp Ouachita. Today, guests can stay in the renovated cabins and attend events at Ogden Hall. There is still a lot of work to be done at the camp to preserve it for future use, but with care and keeping, Camp Ouachita will be around many more generations, as it remains the only standing Girl Scout camp build by the CCC that is still in use today.

Onto the recipe! There are tons of great recipes in this cookbook! It was hard picking one, but I knew I had some bananas that needed to be used to I chose Banana Cake.

Couple of things:

  1. It took longer in my oven to cook the cakes. May just keep a watch on them. Everybody’s oven is different.
  2. For the frosting it says to melt the butter. That went against all things I’ve ever learned about frosting. I didn’t do that.
  3. This brings me to my next point. Maybe it was because I didn’t melt the butter, but this was a little too thick. When I make it again, I’ll either melt the butter, like it says, or use less powdered sugar.

Great flavor! It was a win at my house!

Cooking Without Photos – Pinto Bean Fudge

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This week’s recipe comes all the way from Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix was first inhabited by the Hohokam people. They lived in and around the area for about 2000 years. They created over 130 miles of irrigation canals. In doing this, it made the desert land arable and they had less problems growing crops. The Arizona Canal, Central Arizona Project Canal and the Hayden- Rhodes Aqueduct all used the path of these canals when building their own projects.

It is believed that drought and severe flooding made the Hohokam people abandon the area. Several tribe settlements and the Mexican American War later, the Phoenix area was settled by a prospector named Jack Swilling.

In 1867, Mr. Swilling was riding thru the area and decided it had great potential for farmland. Swilling noticed the previous canal system that had been left behind by indigenous peoples, dug a new canal that brought in water from the Salt River, and created the Swilling Irrigation and Canal Company.

Other settlers soon arrived and it was suggested by one of them that the city be named Phoenix. This suggestion was made because the city was rising out of the ruins of a former civilization.

The railroad arrived in the 1880’s and with it Phoenix became a hub of activity and trading. The territorial capital moved to Phoenix in 1889 and Arizona received their statehood in 1912.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Onto the recipe!

The MINUTE I saw Pinto Bean Fudge, I knew I had to try it. Have you ever had a Pinto Bean Pie? I have and it tasted just like Pecan Pie. No lie!

Anyway, I didn’t get far into Arizona Cookbook before I saw the recipe for Pinto Bean Fudge.

From what I could gather, folks started using beans in sweet treats around the time of the Great Depression. Times were hard and this is an excellent way to stretch ingredients.

This recipe is super easy! Let’s get into it!

Couple of things:

  1. I couldn’t find “Rose” brand beans. I know of Rosarita beans. I googled “Rose” beans and it said that it refers to another brand of beans. I figured a bean was a bean, so I used Walmart brand. I also rinsed them. It just made sense.
  2. It doesn’t tell you to mash up your beans. I did because I thought it needed to be done that way.
  3. “Canned” milk = evaporated milk.
  4. You don’t have to cut up marshmallows if you use mini marshmallows.
  5. Double this recipe unless you have something else to use the 1/2 can of milk and 1/2 can of beans for later in the week.
  6. No mention of what size pan to put the mixture in, so I used an 8×8. Worked fine.

Take this to a family gathering! Everyone will love it and no one will ever know it has beans in it!

Cooking Without Photos – Spritz Cookies

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Burrrrr! This week we are traveling to Petersburg, Alaska aka Little Norway. It’s always amazing to me when I find community cookbooks in Arkansas that are from other states. I just stare at them and ask, “Well, how did you get here? I bet you have an awesome story to tell.”

I digress…Alaska. Located just off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, Petersburg, Alaska was first home to the Tlingit indigenous peoples for over 2000 years. A Norwegian pioneer named Peter Buschmann arrived in 1897. He immediately recognized the potential in fishing opportunities and worked right along side the Tlingit peoples to cultivate a lasting relationship even felt today.

Utilizing natural refrigeration with the LeConte Glacier, fishing boats could stay out longer and it was quickly decided that a cannery was needed. A sawmill and a dock soon followed and the birth of a thriving fishing community was born.

Around 1911 it was decided that lodge for Sons Of Norway needed to be built. Using volunteer labor, one of the largest structures in Petersburg was built and still stands today.

The Sons Of Norway hall was the social center for years. Along with lodge meetings, there were dances, conventions, card parties, and basketball games. In the spring, a farewell party was held for the fisherman before the start of fishing season.

Today, the Lodge stands as a monument to those immigrants who settled in Petersburg and began a new life.

This week’s recipe comes from the cookbook “Sons Of Norway Fedrelandet Lodge 23 Petersburg, Alaska”. Written in 1985, it celebrates the 75th anniversary of the lodge.

When I started deciding on a recipe, I found out quickly that I need to expand my pantry and add some cardamom. Lots of recipes in this book call for cardamom. I don’t believe I’ve ever had that before.

I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a sweet treat. I stopped at spritz cookies. I saw that it called for a “cooky” press. I had one of those! Have you ever gotten mad at cookie dough? Today was that day for me.

Couple of things:

  1. Cooky presses are the devil. There was probably a reason I never saw my mom use one. I love all things kitchen, but I may start drawing the line at cooky press.
  2. Maybe I need to try a different recipe for the cooky press.
  3. Maybe I need to try an up to date version of a cooky press.
  4. Anyway!
  5. Not a hard recipe to put together. My cookies just would not press. I got so sick of it, I rolled the last of the dough into balls and said that’s ENOUGH!
  6. I didn’t sift my flour. If you sift your flour, they are supposed to be smoother.
  7. Will I make them again, probably not. Am I getting rid of my cooky press…also probably not😆

I hope you like them. They have great flavor and could hold up to use for a dip. Pour a glass of milk, have a snack and try not to think about throwing your cooky press in the trash.