AUBURN – Lyn Heath attributes her love for cooking to the two women who influenced her most. “My grandmother is the best cook I have ever known, and my mother is the second best cook,” she said.
Heath learned to cook while staying at her grandmother’s house on the weekends. “I learned how to measure the flour and level it with a knife, how to use the rolling pin and how to scrape every last bit of the ingredients with the spatula to make sure the recipe was made right.”
The mother of four, Heath has instilled her passion for cuisine in her children. “When my oldest daughter was out of college and got her own apartment, I bought her a KitchenAid stand mixer. Then when my second oldest got an apartment during college, I copied our favorite recipes and made each of them a recipe box.”
Heath has about 30 different cookbooks with her favorites, the “Betty Crocker Cookbook” and “The Joy of Cooking,” given to her by her mother. She also enjoys the many recipes her grandmother gave her. “When she moved and we went through all of her things, my grandmother said there was no one else she’d rather inherit her recipes than me,” said Heath.
She would like to learn how to make baked lobster tails the way her brother does, and berry season is her favorite time for baking.
When she’s not cooking, Heath is busy teaching sixth-grade at Pettingill School in Lewiston. She enjoys reading, attending her children’s sports events and doing crewelwork.
Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients:
4 pounds sweet potatoes
2 cups mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
8-10 hard-boiled eggs, diced
½ cup finely chopped celery
½ cup chopped sweet red pepper
½ cup chopped cucumber
2-3 green onions, sliced
2-3 finely chopped radishes
Method:
Place sweet potatoes, covered with water, in a large saucepan. Cover and bring to a full boil. Then lower the stove temperature and gently boil for about 20-25 minutes. Be careful not to cook the potatoes too long, because they will get mushy and you won’t be able to dice them. (If you can pierce them easily with a fork, they are done.) Drain. When potatoes are cool, peel and dice them. In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard and salt. Stir in eggs, celery, pepper, cucumber, green onions and radishes. Add potatoes; stir gently to mix. Cover and refrigerate 2-4 hours. Serves 8-10.
Crabbies
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 jar Old English cheese
1 ½ teaspoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1-7 ounce can crab meat
6 split English muffins
Method:
Soften butter and cheese at room temperature (can be microwaved on 30-percent power for 1 minute). Mix together with mayonnaise and garlic powder. Add drained crab meat. Spread on muffins. Broil until bubbly. Cut into quarters. Serve.
Plain doughnuts
Flour mixture ingredients:
6 cups flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Sugar mixture ingredients:
1½ cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups milk
Method: In large bowl, sift flour mixture ingredients together. In separate large bowl, combine the sugar mixture ingredients. Mix well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, alternately with milk (put in a little flour mixture, then a little milk and keep repeating). If necessary, add additional flour in small increments with your fingers. You’ll know to add flour if the dough is sticky. (Heath rolls the dough on a pastry board and adds flour with her fingers if it feels gooey.) Chill overnight in the refrigerator. The key to success with this recipe is to chill the dough for that long. (Heath chills the dough in a Tupperware container that she has sprayed with pure canola oil and sprinkled with flour.) Roll out the dough (Heath cuts it into quarters) and cut doughnuts with cutter. Deep fry at 370 degrees until brown, turning once. (May use electric fry pan.) Drain well. Sugar if desired. Makes about 60 doughnuts and 60 doughnut holes.
Variations:
Chocolate doughnuts: Add 6 tablespoons of cocoa to basic recipe.
Molasses doughnuts: Leave out nutmeg, reduce milk to 1½ cups. Add 3/4 cups molasses to basic recipe.
Squash or pumpkin doughnuts: Add 1 can of 1 Pie Squash or Pumpkin and reduce milk to 1¼ cups to basic recipe.
Comments are no longer available on this story