Snacks
Grandma Joanie’s Baked Clams
Submitted by Barbara McAnulty
Ingredients
1 can minced clams
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c diced onions
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
2 tbs olive oil
Directions
Recipe makes 6. Sauté onions and garlic in 2 tbs olive oil. Transfer to a 2 quart bowl. Mix remaining ingredients except the clams. Then, mix in clams and the juice from the can. Spoon into clamshell-shaped aluminum (e.g. Royal brand) or large muffin tins for baking. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350F for 20-25 min.
About this recipe:
Covered in towels, sand, and a week’s worth of sunburn, my cousins and I would be called in from family reunion fun for hors d’ouerves. Flip flopping into the kitchen leaving a trail of saltwater, I’d be licking my chops hoping for the oven to open and show baked clams that I could eat from a shell with a tiny fork—the perfect size for me. After all day by the water, baked clams connected us further to the beach environment and to our Grandma’s cooking. They taste like my childhood favorite part of a salad, a crouton, but more moist and more like the sea!
Spinach-Feta Tarts
Submitted by Teresa Mankin
Active Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 20 minutes
Yields 60 tarts
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 Medium Onion, chopped
8 oz Feta Cheese
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 pkg. Frozen Chopped Spinach- Thaw & Squeeze Dry
2 T. Fresh Parsley, finely minced
4 boxes Athens frozen Phyllo Shells*
Directions:
Mix together Eggs, Cream Cheese, Feta Cheese, and Onions. Then, add Spinach & Parsley. Mix well. To Fill Tarts, put empty frozen tarts on a baking sheet and fill with mixture. You might have to bake in batches, as it will make 30 tarts. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. I do two batches. I also freeze half. Save the trays and boxes and pop the tarts you want to back in there and they will freeze beautifully.
*Athens pre-shaped Phyllo are wonderful. They are a part of why this is such a great recipe, it’s super easy and it looks fancy. And you can have 30 in your freezer at all times.
The dip
Submitted by Lida Coalter
Directions
1 each Red, Yellow, & Orange Bell Pepper, small diced
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 can white Shoepeg Corn, drained
1 8 oz pack crumbled Feta
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Splenda
Instructions
Combine all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Let sit the fridge for a few hours for the flavors to marry. Serve cold, with tortilla chips.
About this recipe:
This tastes like summer! Best served with Multi-grain tortilla chips.
There is no good substitute for the Shoepeg Canned Corn, no other canned corn even comes close. Some of my friends swap out sugar for the Splenda, for a little different taste, but sugar doesn't dissolve as well as Splenda.
Aunt Nellie's Baked Peaches
Submitted by Sally Morris
Ingredients:
1 dozen peach halves
1 cup brown sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP butter
water
Directions:
Lightly grease baking dish and arrange peach halves.
Stir butter, brown sugar and a little water (1 or 2 TBSP) in a pan over low heat.
Add cornstarch, cinnamon and vanilla.
Spoon mixture into halved peaches and pour remainder over all.
Aunt Nell said placing a few of the peach pits in the baking dish will add flavor.
Bake in a slow oven, 350 degrees, for one hour or until tender.
These are good alone or over vanilla ice cream.
About this recipe:
My great Aunt Nell made this wonderful baked peach dish, and later her nephew (my father) and my mother would make this every summer. I then enjoyed making it for my family and hope they will carry on the tradition. Her father was James Trittipo and her mother was Delphia (McCord) Trittipo, daughter of Elias and Elizabeth (Behymer) McCord, of McCordsville. Elias was a founder of McCordsville.
A fun story about James Trittipo:
On July 24, 1902, a man entered the Fortville Bank, where James Trittipo was working alone. The man asked for change for a quarter. As James prepared to give him the change, the man brandished a gun and demanded twenty-five hundred dollars. James refused, reached for a weapon and the robber fired at him. The shot glanced off one of the teller bars, which probably saved James from being wounded or killed. The robber then turned and fled from the bank, followed by a canceling machine thrown by James. He then sounded an alarm and soon there was a score of men and boys in pursuit of the fleeing man, who made his way out of town. He was closely followed by his pursuers, who shouted to him to stop and threatened to shoot. The robber went into the woods where he was confronted by one of the pursuers, John Bills, who had a shotgun. Several shots were fired, but still the robber refused to surrender. He flourished his revolver and appeared to be waiting a chance to get in a good shot at his is pursuers. At this juncture John Bills, who was about seventy-five yards from him, fired a load of bird-shot and the man dropped his revolver and held up his hands in surrender. James received a crystal inkwell from the bank as a reward, and perhaps his daughter Nellie baked him up a batch of peaches.
Grandma Koehler's Peanut Brittle
Submitted by Lisa Johnson
Ingredients:
1 ½ cup sugar
2/3 cup Karo syrup
2/3 cup water
1 ½ cup raw peanuts
½ tsp. baking soda (make sure it is fresh)
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup real butter
Directions:
Boil sugar, Karo and water to 275 on a candy thermometer. Remove thermometer and add peanuts and butter. Cook for 10 mins. while stirring. Remove from heat. Mix soda, salt and vanilla together and stir into peanut mixture. Stir quickly, this will foam up and make sure it is mixed in well. Pour onto a well-buttered slab. (I have an old-fashioned porcelain table top.) Butter hands and stretch and cut while hot.
Note:
If you make it on a rainy or humid day it does not work well, you will need to run the air-conditioning.
Mom’s Spinach Balls
Submitted by David O’Rourke
Ingredients:
2 pkg Frozen chopped spinach
1 1/2 Pepperidge farm herb stuffing mix
1 large onion
4 eggs
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup graded Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Directions:
Thaw and thoroughly drain the spinach. There are many way to drain the spinach but the best way is to just use your bare hands and squeeze the water out. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Form the mixture into a small balls a little bigger than the circumference of a quarter. *if mixture is still too moist to form into balls, add more stuffing mix and/or Parmesan.* Place spinach balls on cookie sheet and bake for 20min at 400 degrees or freeze for later.
About this recipe:
A few years ago, a coworker and I recently argued about who could make the best spinach balls. So, we started a new tradition with our work holiday party and called it “The Ball Off”! This cooking competition started with just spinach balls but is now open to any savory, bite-sized, ball-shaped food.
Parisian Crepe
Submitted by Tina Mahern
Active Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 1/8 C flour
4 1/2 Tbsp sugar
Pinch salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 C whole milk
1 Tbsp melted butter
**a little Cognac can be added for a more traditional flavor
Canola oil for cooking
Directions:
Sift together flour, sugar, salt in one bowl. In a second bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add milk. Stir liquid into flour with a whisk. Add melted butter and Cognac, if using. Let stand in fridge for 2 hours prior to cooking.
Heat medium skillet, add small amount of oil to coat pan. Using a ladle, scoop about 1/3 cup of batter into center of pan and with other hand swirl pan to fill the bottom with the batter. Look for edges to be done, flip, cook for a few seconds. Stack on a plate and cover with foil while cooking the rest of your batter.
Spread with a little butter and powdered sugar or other desired topping and enjoy!
About this recipe:
This was a traditional dish for our family to eat celebrating New Year's Eve.
Summer tomato pie
Submitted by Andrea Haydon (from the kitchen of Chef A.G., 9/6/88)
Active Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Time: 35 minutes
Yields: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
9” Pie Shell
8-10 Medium Tomatoes
3 Tbsp Chopped Scallions
¼ cup fresh Basil (or 2 teaspoons dried Basil)
1 cup mayo (or 1/2 cup mayo & 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt)
1 ½ cups sharp cheddar
1 tsp horseradish (optional)
Directions:
Bake pie shell 8 to 10 minutes at 375 °F. Slice tomatoes about 1/4” then place on a plate, sprinkle with salt and allow to drain excess liquid off (important). Arrange tomatoes in pie shell and sprinkle with Basil and Scallions. Mix together mayo/plain greek yogurt and cheese and spread over tomatoes. Bake approximately 35 minutes at 375 °F or until brown and bubbly.
About this recipe:
Growing up, my late father would make this dish whenever we had guests in town during the summers. Specifically with my mother’s homegrown tomatoes. He was a fantastic cook and now that he’s been gone for 20 years, I enjoy creating his recipes and making them my own in memory of him.