HARTFORD – Rosemary Henderson comes from a family of 14 children, and she was the oldest girl. “When you come from a big family,” she said, “you learn to cook.”
On Saturday nights, her mother always had homemade beans and pies. She not only learned to cook at home but also from her involvement in 4-H.
Henderson cans jars of all different kinds of vegetables that she grows in several gardens. “I canned over 600 cans of vegetables and pickles from my garden this summer,” she said. At Christmas, she makes 35 to 40 food baskets with all of her special canned goods and gives them to friends and family members.
When asked what her favorite dishes are to make Henderson says, “Most people always ask me to do the pies. We have our own berries, and I freeze them.” She likes to make mincemeat, too. Her sons like to hunt, so she says there is always a deer available for making mincemeat.
In the winter, Henderson enjoys cooking on her wood stove. Henderson, who cooks her deer mincemeat on the back burners of her old wood stove, said, “The smells of the kitchen when making this is so good. Then you know Thanksgiving and Christmas will be complete with a good homemade mince pie.”
Henderson said that her daughters are good cooks, and she enjoys cooking with her grandchildren, who call her “Grammy Rosie.”
“They like cooking because they like to eat. They learn quickly if you let them cook,” she said.
The best part of cooking is “knowing that somebody appreciates it.” Her husband, Ed, is one of Henderson’s biggest fans. He has been known to brag about her cooking. “I like everything you cook,” said Ed Henderson.
Henderson has two grown daughters, four sons, one stepson and 22 grandchildren. She is retired from her job as a store clerk at Canton Variety and Ralph’s Cash Market. In addition to gardening, she likes to read and enjoys “good family-oriented movies.”
Deer mincemeat
Ingredients:
1 quart ground, cooked deer meat
3 quarts ground apples
1 pound seedless raisins
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup molasses
½ cup cider vinegar
3 cups broth (juice meat was cooked in)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Method:
Cook the deer meat the day before so the meat is cold for grinding in a meat grinder the next day. The deer neck is good to use for this.
Put the ground deer meat and apples in a big six- to eight-quart kettle. Add the raisins, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, broth, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to mix and cook on low heat until apples are tender. A good old wood stove works well because this can simmer on the back burners. Watch closely as it can scorch very easily.
Put hot mincemeat into hot sterilized jars and hot water bath for 15 minutes to seal. Tighten lids before putting in canner. This mincemeat can also be cooled and put in freezer.
Venison stew
Ingredients:
2 cups cut up deer meat
1 large onion, chopped
1 envelope Lipton soup mix (beef or beef onion)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Approximately 1 quart cubed potatoes
1 quart cubed carrots
4 stalks of celery
1 pint cubed turnip
¼ cup flour
½ cup cold water
Method:
Cook cubed deer meat with onion, salt, pepper and Lipton soup mix in about 2 quarts of water. When cooked, add vegetables and cook until carrots and potatoes are done. Then take ¼ cup flour mixed with ½ cup cold water. Shake in a jar covered with a lid until smooth. Add this slowly to stew to thicken it a little. This stew is especially good in the cold weather with hot biscuits.
Biscuits
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup shortening
Approximately 2 cups milk
Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together dry ingredients and put in bowl. Work in shortening until well-mixed and work with hands or pastry blender. Add the two cups of milk or a little more until it forms a soft ball. Knead on a floured surface until it’s completely covered with flour and not sticky. Roll out and cut with a biscuit cutter. Put remaining dough in a ball again and cut until all dough is used up. Makes 12 large biscuits or 15 small ones. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
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