Notes:
*to make a light soft dough add enough liquid to make a slightly sticky dough.  I use a soft dough for all my recipes
**for foccacia and calzone dough use warm milk.

Preheat oven and pizza stone!!  Using a pizza stone will take 25-30 minutes to preheat.

Proof yeast in warm water (110 degrees) till foamy.  Combine dry ingredients and opt ingredients if using; add liquids and mix together till well combined.  Add additional water if needed to make a soft dough.  Let rest 20 mins. Or until double.

For Pizzas:
Using finger tips spread pizza dough after resting period on cookie sheets or form on a cornmealed wooden peel or cutting board; top with favorite toppings; if on a peel slip onto pizza stone.  Bake in preheated 475-500 degree oven for 10-15 minutes middle part of oven.

Makes one large pizza or 3-4 individual pizzas
Make real small ones as appetizers.
Use the pizza sauce recipe for pizzas.

PIZZA SAUCE:

• 2 large crushed cloves garlic
• lots of fresh ground pepper
• 1 tbls olive oil
• 28 oz can italian plum tomatoes with juice
  (reg can tomatoes can be used but not same)

In a good size heavy saucepan cook the garlic, pepper in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, for 2 mins.  Add tomatoes, squashing by hand (do not process).  Bring mixture to boil.  Turn heat down and cook until thickened, 20-30 mins. (until ready to use).

Can freeze any extra
This recipe is so good and easy to make up.
Gourmet Magazine December 1988

CALZONE:

Pizza dough can be used for calzones (see note with pizza dough).  Roll out dough and spread a filling and then roll up lengthwise.  Slash top to let out steam.  Wash the top with water, milk or egg wash.  Sprinkle salt, poppy seed, sesame seeds and/or cheese on top.  Let rest for 15-20 minutes.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.  If using a creamed filling make sure the sauce is thick.

Suggestions:

• Variety of cold cuts and provolone cheese
• Chopped meatballs and sauce
• Broccoli and cheddar cheese pieces
• You can also make individual sizes by separating dough into appropriate sizes  and form in a circle.  Spread filling on one half of circle allow an edge and folding over and crimping edges.

FOCCACIA:

To make a flavored foccacia kneed with additional flour cooled fresh ingredients into a very soft dough before resting.  Suggestion is caramelized red onion and garlic cloves (i use the garlic cloves i make garlic oil with.  When you make a new batch of garlic oil drain the old garlic cloves into a coverable container and save.).  Put into a preheated 500 degree oven, turning oven to 425 degrees for plain or dry foccacia; 400 degrees for moist seasoned foccacia.  Bake until nicely golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush with italian seasoned extra virgin olive oil mix or plain extra virgin olive oil and salt.

Foccacia may be used as a sandwich bread by splitting and filling.  Absolutely wonderful, warm of cooled.  Can be served as a warm bread substitute

Suggestions:

• Very thinly sliced geneo salami
• Very thinly sliced provolone cheese or spreadable goat cheese
• Roasted red peppers
• Cured olive slices
• Dressed mescalin salad greens
• All of these on the caramelized red onion and garlic foccacia
• Spread plain dough poke in scallion chunks, seeded and juiced tomato chunks, raw or cooked onion pieces. Let rise for 1/2 hour or so before baking.  When done remove from oven and coat with olive oil and salt.  Serve as warm bread.
• Use your imagination and create wonderful sandwiches by seasoning the dough and complimenting it with appropriate filling.

FRIED DOUGH:

Extra pizza dough can be used for fried dough.  Just tear of a piece of dough and flatten till real thin; fry in hot oil till brown; remove and drain; dust with confectionery sugar or cinnamon and sugar.

Mother and Lilly Noodle with Collaborations from The Grand Aunt.

Combine breadcrumbs and milk.  Add to beef, scallions, egg whites, dried herbs, mustard and mix until well combined.  Make into small meatballs.

Heat enamel covered cast iron pot until hot.  Add 1 tsp. of oil then fry meatballs until brown all over.  Remove from pan.  Deglaze pan with beef stock.  Whisk in tomato paste, paprika, and salt.  When all combined add onions, peppers and meatballs.   Cook covered over medium (simmer) for 10 minutes.  Uncover and cook for additional 10-15 minutes to allow meatballs to absorb flavor.  Add water if needed to compensate for evaporation.  Remove meatballs from pan, bring to boil and add slurry to thicken broth.  Bring to a slow simmer and whisk sour cream mixture into broth, cook for 3 minutes.  Add back meatballs and simmer for 5 minutes.  Thicken more if needed.

Can be made ahead and re-heated slowly.

() = Regular recipe with higher fat and cholesterol, flavor too but taste good low fat.

fat: 9g; cholesterol: 43mg; sodium: 409mg

Mother Noodle’s version of Great Taste-Low Fat page 181

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine oats, nuts, seeds, wheat germ and coconut in a very large mixing bowl and mix well.  Heat oil and honey together in small pan just enough to meld together (can use microwave)  pour over dry ingredients and mix well.

Spread mixture onto two 17×11 inch cookies sheets.  Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned, watching carefully toward the end.  Stir and turn with spatula every 7 minutes so granola will brown evenly.  Remove from oven and when cool stir in the raisins and currants.

Makes 14 cups

“Breezemere granola is kept in a large glass jar in the
dining-room at breakfast time.  It is so popular we have
had to put a small sign on the jar asking the guests to
‘please control yourself to three scoops’”

Breezemere Farm
South Brooksville, Maine

Modified by Mother Noodle from The Best Recipes From New England Inns.

• 1 1/2 cups of flour (Wondra)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbls of beef fat or oil

mix milk, eggs and fat, in a messuring cup.  Then add flour and salt and mix till smooth.

brush beef fat in the muffin tins

put into a cold oven then heat to 425 degrees F until golden brown (about 35 minutes).  Then turn oven off, prop door open and leave in as oven cools.

• 3 1/2 # Chuck Roast
• 2 Fat long carrots – cut into large chunks
• 2 Large Yellow Onions – peeled and quartered
• 4 Cloves of garlic – crushed
• 2 Ribs of Celery – sliced
• 6-8 baby potatoes
• 1/4 Pepper – diced
• 2 Bay Leafs
• some dried orange peel (opt)
• 2 Cans of College Inn low-fat, low salt chicken broth
• Beef base at end to enrich gravy if needed
• Pepper and Salt to taste – easy on the salt

Preheat oven to330-325 degrees.

Brown meat in canola oil, all over.  Remove meat to an oven-proof pot just big enough to hold all the ingredients.  (If you use a large pot you will need a lot of liquid to cook and cooking liquid will not be as flavorful).  Drain oil and wipe pan with paper towels (will get rid of burnt oil only not good bits).  Sauté onion, celery, pepper and garlic in a small of oil, add to pot.  Deglaze pan and add to pot.

Pour chicken stock,  fresh ground black pepper, dried orange peel (if using) (the meat should be just about covered) cover and bring to boil on top of stove.  Place in the preheated oven (pot should just simmer not boil in oven).

After two hours, check meat.  It should be a good way on its cooking.  Add potatoes and carrots and cook until tender, another 1 – 1 14 hours apx.  Remove from oven.

If using crockpot instead of cooking in oven put some stock in pot, place browned meat and deglazed pan drippings with stock.  Add veggies and cook on low while at work.  Finish recipe when you want to serve.  Done the day before is a real good idea.  Flavors meld and things taste better.

If making ahead stop here and cool and refrigerate if serving on another day. Remove from refrigerator and bring to room temp to lessen cooking time or go directly to top of stove and reheat.  When everything is hot continue with recipe.

Remove meat and whole vegetables to warm plate and cover.  Degrease liquid and thicken with a cornstarch and water slurry.  Add meat and vegetables back to pot and reheat.

Mother Noodle

~ Plagiarizing is Encouraged ~

Dear [People],

I would like to inform you all of something important that is happening in my life. Over the past several years I have been intensely exploring who I am.

I have gender identity disorder meaning I was born with a male body, but I have a female gender identity. It’s something I’ve dealt with for as long as I can remember, mostly by trying to pretend it was not there. Growing up was hard enough, but I also had to deal with growing up in a way that felt completely and utterly wrong. I pretended that I really was a guy from skin to soul, and actually ended up doing a pretty good job of it, for the most part. I made some friends and even had a few girlfriends, granted one of them dumped me for not being enough of a boyfriend. But it all felt hollow to me. Every time I looked in the mirror I saw a strangers face and not my own. Whenever I tried to have a relationship my gender issues kept getting in the way. I felt like I was living a stunted existence.

Something had to break, and in April of 2006, I finally admitted to myself that continuing to run from the fact would only make things worse. Of course, by acknowledging that, I had just cast my entire future into doubt. How was being transgender going to affect my family? What about my friends? My job prospects? I didn’t have any answers at first, but after months of late night conversations with my friends, I finally laid most of my fears to rest. With their support I decided that the only way for me to be at peace with myself was to transition from male to female.

To understand transgender people, you need to understand the concept of gender identity. It is an unfamiliar term to most people because it’s something that the vast majority of people never have to think about. The gender between your ears is the same as the one on your birth certificate, and that’s that. For transpeople, things are not so simple. There’s a disconnect between the way that we see ourselves and the role we’re expected to play by society. When we inevitably end up acting in like ‘tomboys’ or ‘sissies,’ we end up getting ostracized by our peers. To make things even worse, during puberty we end up changing in ways that make us feel like our own body is betraying us.

Thankfully there is a way for a transpeople to live reasonably normal lives: transition. It’s a process that tends to get glossed over by the media as ‘getting a sex change,’ equating the surgery at the end to the process itself, but this not only trivializes the experience, it misses the point. Transpeople do not just go out and ‘get a sex change,’ as if they were getting a facelift or a boob job. Transition is an extremely long process, with a duration measured in years. Typically, transition begins with seeing a psychotherapist for an extended period followed by hormone replacement therapy, allowing the transitioner to gradually slip into the gender role they identify with. Think of it as a second puberty, only this time with professional supervision. It’s usually only after someone has been living in their desired gender role for a year or more that they opt for sex reassignment surgery. And even then, many people don’t get it done, either because they don’t see it as necessary, or because they can’t afford it.

I’ve been in transition since the spring of 2006. I have been to a therapist and have been taking female hormones since September of 2006. The physical changes that have occurred have been striking, to me anyways. My skin has softened, my body fat has shifted into more typically feminine locations, and my face has taken on a more feminine shape. But far more subtle and far more satisfying have been the psychological changes. I feel freer and much more relaxed now. For the first 21 years of my life, it was as if I had to filter out everything about me that was not masculine in order to fit in. It took a lot of the color and spontaneity out of life. But now I have shed the filter, and finally meet the world on my own terms.

So since I have transitioned to female I have also legally changed my name to Lilly [Last Name]. So, I would appreciate it if, from now on, you would call me Lilly and use feminine pronouns when referring to me. If you slip up, it’s no big deal; I will just give you a little reminder. The wrong pronoun can end up outing me in some instances, though, so I do ask that you make an effort. I know, it will be a little weird at first. I am still the same person, though. Just think of all this as a new take on an old friend.

And now it’s time for me to step off my soapbox. If you have any questions that I haven’t covered in this letter, please, don’t hesitate to ask. And one more thing: thank you. While not everyone was in the loop over the last few years, my relationships with all of you have still been a huge source of strength and support for me.

It really is amazing. Life is just so good now, and it gets better with each passing day.

The Following is a link to a great pamphlet better explaining everything, if you still have any questions after feel free to email me back, I will be glad to answer any and all serious questions you might have.

www.pflag.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/OTC_5thedition.pdf

• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup beer
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups flaked coconut
• 24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
• 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, preferably canola

For the garlic coulis:

• 1/3 cup roasted garlic, divided
• 2 beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the coconut shrimp:

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, beer, baking powder and 1/2 cup of the flour. Place remaining 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Place coconut in a separate shallow dish. Dredge shrimp in flour and shake off excess. Dunk shrimp in beer mixture and turn to coat. Roll shrimp in coconut until all sides are coated.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook 2 minutes per side, until cooked through or opaque.

For the garlic coulis:

In a food processor, combine 1/2 of the roasted garlic cloves (about 1/3 cup), tomatoes, lime juice, and curry powder. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Serve shrimp with the coulis on the side. Reserve second 1/2 of garlic (about 1/3 cup) for another recipe.

Prep Time: 20 min               Cook Time: 4 min                     Serves: 4 servings

Show: Quick Fix Meals with Robin MillerEpisode: Dinner PDQ

• 3 1/2# corned beef brisket (i use the point cut you can use the flat cut but it will not be as tender or flavorful
• 2 12-oz bottles lager beer-good beer necessary (i use sam adams regular beer)
• 2 cups water or enough to just cover
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 2 tbs. Olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic and sliced no need to peal
• 2 cups chopped and rinsed leeks
• 1 medium yellow onion, quartered no need to peel
• or all yellow onion
• 2 stalks of celery cut into large pieces
• 3/4# large carrots, cut into large pieces
• 3/4# small red potatoes or reg potatoes
• 1# turnips peeled and quartered (opt)
• 2# green cabbage cut into sixths (secure with toothpicks or tie with cotton string)

Place and 8-10 qt stove-top covered casserole on the burner and add the beef, beer, water, bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley, some carrots.  Heat a frying pan and add the olive oil.  Sauté the garlic, leeks and yellow onion for a few minutes and add to casserole.  Cover the pot and simmer gently for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until the meat is very tender.  Last 25 minutes of cooking, add the carrots and red potatoes.  In the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the turnips, cabbage.

If the vegetables are not done to your liking, cook them longer, but do not overcook.

Remove the toothpicks from the cabbage before serving.

This can be started in the morning and when meat is done shut off and let sit.  One and half hours before ready to eat reheat and when simmering add potatoes and cook for 1/2 hour then add the rest of the vegies and cook until vegetables are done.

Serves 4-6 people

Mother Noodle’s adaptation of the frugal gourmet on our immigrant ancestor

Corned beef Hash

With cold left over dinner chunk corned beef and place in cuisinart and chop beef a little; add potatoes and vegetable to taste and finished chopping.  Do not leave motor on for long mixture will be mushy if you do.  Make sure food is cold when chopping! Place in hot frying pan and cook.

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. Dry Mustard
• Juice one small lemon
• Pepper and salt to taste*
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• A squeeze of anchovy paste

Easy on salt parmesan cheese can be salty

In Culinary place eggs and mix till frothy; add remaining ingredients and mix till well combined (being careful not to make mayo)

If you do not have a Cusinart use a blender carefully or a wire whisk.

Mother Noodle

• 2 tbs sugar
• 1/2 cup crisco-type shortening
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbs dry milk
• 1 1/4 cups water (1 cups water 1/4 cup milk if not dry milk)
• 2 eggs
• 2 pkgs dry yeast, proofed
• 5 plus cups bread flour

A three rise recipe.

Cream the sugar, shortening, salt, and dry milk together.  Mix in the other ingredients.  This dough will have to be beaten to make it come together like other bread doughs.  If necessary, add flour a very little bit at a time until is just balls up in the bowl.   Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise until doubled, punch it down, and let it rise again.  Now divide the dough into three equal pieces and roll them out on the table in three long worms.

Grease and lightly flour a cookie sheet (or use parchment liners).  Cut each worm into a dozen equal pieces, roll them into tight mini-loaves, and place them side-by-side so they touch in three rows on the cookie sheet.  Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and let them rise until they are plump.

Preheat oven to 350.  Put a little cut lengthwise on each roll, then bake them for 20-25 minutes.  They will turn a lovely tan.  Brush them with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven, and they will just smile.  This same dough can be made into a very pretty, golden loaf bread.

Makes apx 36 rolls  1.5 ounce balls makes 25 rolls

The Harlow’s Bread & Cracker Cookbook w/ bracketed changes by Mother Noodle