For the month of March, Lylan Kucharczyk was featured as the Heirloom Resident Chef. Lylan has a daughter who works in dining services at HCMCF and Lylan was a former restaurant owner for over 20 years.
Lylan and her daughter shared with the residents many stories about owning and operating her restaurant, Al’s. Lylan made all her desserts and salads from scratch. They were the first restaurant in the thumb area of Michigan to have a weekend All-you-can-eat fish fry and buffet. Lylan would start early Thursday morning making over 40 salads and desserts to have for the buffet. She would work through the night to get them all ready for the Friday buffet. Lylan and her husband were dedicated restaurant owners and spent many long hours working. Lylan’s daughter, Kathy, shared with the residents that family holidays were spent working at the restaurant because the only holiday Al’s was closed for was Christmas. The passion for food service was shared with their children and 3 of Lylan’s 6 children continue to work in food service and the business is still in operation and is owned by family members.
Many of the residents also had stories of their own dining experiences at Al’s and how much it was a part of the local community.
The recipes that Lylan’s family shared with everyone included her famous Hot Potato Salad and her grandchildren’s favorite Maple frosted Sugar cookies.
Lylan’s Hot Potato Salad
Ingredients:
6 slices Bacon ½ cup White Vinegar
1/3 cup Water 2 tsp Salt
6 Tbsp Sugar ¼ tsp Pepper
1 Tbsp Flour 1 Onion, chopped
3 Boiled Eggs, chopped 1 cup Celery, chopped
6 Tbsp Sugar ¼ tsp Pepper
1 Tbsp Flour 1 Onion, chopped
3 Boiled Eggs, chopped 1 cup Celery, chopped
6 cups Potatoes, sliced & cooked
Directions:
Fry bacon in skillet until crisp. Crumble & and add to potatoes. In same skillet add water, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to boil. Make a paste with the flour and a small amount of water. Add paste gradually to boiling mixture. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Pour hot liquid over potatoes & bacon. Add onion, celery and eggs to potatoes; mix well. Garnish with parsley and serve while warm.
Serves 8
Andra Shier| Assistant Director of Dining Services | Huron County Medical Care Facility