LEWISTON – Anne Laplante loves to cook and can usually be found hosting up to 29 people for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
The oldest of four sisters, she said, “My mother cooked everything from scratch. She’d go through 50 pounds of flour a week. She made all the bread from scratch.”
“I love to cook. I cook all the time,” says Laplante. At the holidays, “we don’t care about the presents – just the desserts and food,” she remarked. One of her favorite appliances is a rotisserie – she owns two big ones. She said it can cook an 18-pound turkey. For the holidays, she puts a ham in one and a turkey in the other.
Laplante not only cooks large meals for the holidays, she also cooked for her son’s wedding and for some of his friends’ weddings.
One of the best parts of cooking for Laplante is that she knows what goes into the dishes. “I don’t salt, and I use a little bit of pepper,” Laplante said. She also likes to use celery flakes in a lot of her cooking. “It jazzes it up … especially in meatloaf, meatballs and beef stew,” said Laplante.
Laplante also enjoys her nonstick pots and pans and her mixer. “I go through mixers like crazy. I think I am on my third or fourth mixer.” She uses a lot of Italian bread crumbs and olive oil in her cooking. “It (the olive oil) gives a good taste.”
A secretary at the Merrill Hill School in Auburn, Laplante and her husband, Roger, have two grown children and a 19-month-old grandson. She loves to camp; she and her husband camp all summer long in a motor home. The South Arm Campground in Andover on the Richardson Lake is one of their favorite places. She also enjoys taking photographs. “I am called the camera lady no matter where I go,” she said. Laplante also was the chairperson of her recent 40th high school reunion for Lewiston High School.
Baked macaroni, cheese and tomatoes
Ingredients:
1-pound box macaroni
2 large cans crushed tomatoes in sauce
3 cups sharp cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon olive oil
Method:
In a 6- to 8-quart pot, bring water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil so no sticking occurs. Stir the macaroni a few times and test a few pieces. When it is almost cooked, put it in a colander and rinse well with cold water to stop the macaroni from cooking more. Now put the cold macaroni in a 9-by-12-inch pan or in a 6-quart casserole dish, pour the cans of tomatoes over the macaroni and mix well. Sprinkle the cheese all over the macaroni and mix together.
Place pan or dish in the oven set at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Serve with a nice fresh garden salad.
Anne’s campers’ leftovers goulash
Ingredients:
½ cup margarine
1 large green, red, orange or yellow pepper, sliced into strips
3 large onions, sliced into strips
8 to 10 large potatoes, peeled and cubed, ready to cook
1 to 1½ pounds cooked hamburger (or 4 to 6 hamburger patties)
1 to 2 pieces of cooked chicken, all pulled apart into clear meat
1 Polish kielbasa, cut into half slices
1 beef kielbasa, cut into half slices
1 piece of cooked steak, cut up into small pieces
1 or 2 pieces of cooked pork, cut up into small pieces
3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons celery flakes
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
A couple dashes of pepper
A couple dashes of garlic powder
Method:
Prepare all the meat before cooking.
In a 12-inch fry pan with cover, preferably a nonstick pan, put ½ cup of margarine in pan until melted. Add peppers and simmer for 15 minutes with the cover on. Next, put potatoes in a 6- or 8-quart pot and boil them; when done, drain into a large colander and let them cool off. Add the onions to the fry pan with peppers and simmer for 10 more minutes with cover on. Now add bouillon cubes, all the spices and the meat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Stir around a few times so the meat will get all the flavors.
Put potatoes back in big pot and add all the meat mixture to the big pot. Stir, and serve hot.
Anne’s notes:
While meal is cooking, I make a pan of biscuits or garlic bread to go with the meal. This is a way to get rid of all leftovers. You do not have to use all these meats if you do not want to. If for some reason you never have leftovers, you can use fresh meat and add 20 more minutes to the simmering in order to cook the meat.
Apple cake
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/3 cup white sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup walnuts or pecans chopped, golden or brown raisins (all are optional )
6 to 8 large apples, peeled and cut into cubes
Method:
Use a mixing spoon to blend the ingredients, no electric mixer. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine eggs, oil, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. Mix well. Batter will be very soupy. Add flour and mix well; batter will become thicker. Fold in the nuts and raisins, if using, and mix well. Add apple cubes and fold in well.
Pour into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan or two 8-by-8-inch pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes. Use a knife to check for doneness; make sure no batter is left on knife tip.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or Cool Whip. Also wonderful cold with these toppings. Store in a container for freshness.
Anne’s notes:
My favorite apples for this are Cortlands or Macs.
Comments are no longer available on this story