TURNER – JoAnne Badger says she didn’t “really learn” how to cook until she was married. “My husband is my biggest fan,” Badger said.
One of Badger’s first cooking experiences was making baked beans. She put the beans in a Pyrex bowl, put the water, sugar and molasses in and set it on her gas stove. She found out that Pyrex “isn’t that heat-resistant. It went down the burner and made a mess,” she said.
She’s come a long way since that messy experience. More than a year ago, Badger and her husband, Terry, sold their Pressey House Bed and Breakfast on one of the Belgrade Lakes in Oakland after nine years of operation.
“We did breakfasts and a lot of functions, like showers,” she said.
“Our recipe for garden medley quiche was in the Yankee Magazine Bed & Breakfast and Inn Directory for 2003. It was selected to be in “Best Garden Vegetable and Herb Recipes” in that directory,” she said.
The best part of cooking is, she said, “having something that looks good and tastes good,” Badger said.
Her advice to cooks is: “Don’t be afraid to try something that is a little beyond yourself.”
And she shared advice from her home economics teacher: “Always read the recipe before you start it.”
Badger enjoys many aspects of cooking. She likes to set a “pretty table” and the instant gratification of cooking, “knowing right away that somebody likes it.”
She has fond memories of the birthday cakes that she made for her three children. They are grown now, and she has three grandsons ranging in age from 6 weeks to 17 months.
When Badger and her husband travel, she likes to buy local cookbooks. She also enjoys recipes from “Taste of Home.”
Badger works part time at St. Mary’s Hospital as an X-ray technician. Besides cooking, she enjoys gardening, crocheting, snowmobiling, reading, playing bridge and games on the computer.
Caramel squares (easy and yummy!)
Ingredients:
1 package yellow-cake mix
1 egg
2/3 cup butter or margarine
1 14-ounce can regular or low-fat sweetened condensed milk
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
6 ounces Heath Bar Crunch or Bits O Brickle
1 egg
6 ounces chocolate chips
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix cake mix, 1 egg and butter together. Batter will be thick.
Spread in an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Mix remaining ingredients together. Pour and spread on top of cake batter. Bake 35-40 minutes. Cool. Cut into squares.
Stuffed mushrooms parmigiana
Ingredients:
12 to 15 large mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 ounces pepperoni, finely diced
¼ cup green pepper, finely chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
½ cup finely crushed Ritz crackers, about 12 crackers
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
½ teaspoon seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Dash of black pepper
1/3 cup chicken broth
Method:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash mushrooms and remove stems. Finely chop stems and reserve. Drain caps on paper towels. (I use my food processor to finely chop the stems, green pepper, onions and pepperoni.) In a large skillet, melt butter and cook onion, pepperoni, green pepper, garlic and mushroom stems until tender but not brown. Add crackers, cheese, parsley, salt, oregano, black pepper and mix well. Stir in broth. Spoon mixture into caps, heaping tops.
Place the mushrooms in a shallow baking pan with ¼ inch of water covering the bottom. Bake uncovered about 25 minutes until heated thoroughly.
JoAnne’s note:
Can be made the day before and baked the next day.
I usually double the recipe and use smaller mushrooms. They go so fast!
Stuffed french toast
Ingredients:
1 3-ounce package of cream cheese (I use half of an 8-ounce package), softened
3 tablespoons orange marmalade
16 slices cinnamon raisin bread
3 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon grated orange peel (can be omitted but does add extra flavor)
½ cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar or maple syrup, if desired
Method:
Mix cream cheese and marmalade. Spread about 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture between 2 slices of bread.
Mix eggs, sugar, orange peel, orange juice and vanilla together with a whisk.
Dip sandwiches one by one into egg mixture, coating both sides well. On a greased griddle over medium low heat, cook sandwiches about 1½ minutes on each side or until golden.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with syrup, if desired.
JoAnne’s note:
This french toast was a great hit at our B&B. People were surprised that the batter was made with orange juice, not milk.
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