Across the Miles, an Heirloom Recipe From The Waters on Mayowood

Last night The Waters Restaurants served an Heirloom dessert, lemon meringue pie. The recipe came to us care of Doris MacCannon, a resident at The Waters on Mayowood. Doris, in turn, got the recipe from Lorene Radakovich, a St. Mary Corwin Hospital central pool volunteer in Pueblo, Colorado.

This recipe came to be noticed by the medical staff and volunteers, as well as the general public, when it was included in the hospital’s annual Thanksgiving bake sale. The sponsor of the event was the St. Mary-Corwin Volunteer Services Department staff, a group of 325 junior and adult volunteers ranging in age from 14 to 95.

Doris likes to serve this pie to guests because:

•             Ingredients are very inexpensive

•             It is easy to make and store

•             Preparation time is short

•             Visually beautiful

•             Great taste and texture

•             Can be served at room temperature

•             Can be stored frozen

•             Servings can be large of small

Tina Plant, PMP | Sr. Marketing Manager | The Waters Restaurant Group

Heirloom at The Waters

The Heirloom program has be such a hit throughout The Waters Communities that we’re still getting recipes from residents and featuring them at a monthly dinner. This month’s recipe is a delicious Wild Rice Casserole submitted by Lois Collings, who resides at The Waters of Edina. This easy hot dish is sheer comfort food as the weather tonight dips below freezing.

Pictured: Rhianna Huberty, Dining Director, Lois Collings, and Jeremy Thornhill, System Executive Chef. 
Tina Plant | Sr. Marketing Manager | The Waters Restaurant Group |

September Heirloom Resident Chef at HCMCF

September Heirloom Resident Chef at Huron Medical Care Facility

To close out our Heirloom program we featured Mary Orr as our chef for the month. Before coming to live here Mary was an avid baker and homemaker. She was known to all her family and friends for her cookie trays that she would give out as gifts for Christmas. Mary said she had over 19 different cookie recipes that she would use. She would have to start making cookies around Thanksgiving and freeze them so that she get them all done in time for Christmas. Even her husband had to lend a hand in the cookie making as it was his job to cut and place the pecans for her special Turtle cookies. Her daughter estimates that Mary would make thousands of cookies each Christmas!

The sugar cookie that Mary baked was referred to as an animal cookie because for many years she would make Rabbit cookies for her husband to take to work as his daily treat. He had an ulcer and the cookies were mild enough for him to enjoy. Her bunnies had to be made with her signature chocolate chip for the eye.

In addition to making cookies Mary also enjoyed baking many different types of breads. She especially enjoyed making croissants from scratch. Her daughter, Nancy, shared her recipe for Hot Cross buns.

As the residents enjoyed their bunny cookies and bread, Nancy and Mary shared stories of Mary working in her kitchen. One memory that Nancy shared was when Mary had dropped a full loaf of raw bread dough on the floor and before she could retrieve it, the family dog ate the whole thing. Mary was able to pass on her passion and love for cooking to her children and they fondly remember the wonderful meals Mary would prepare for them with love.

Animal Cookies (Mary’s sugar cookies)

Yield will depend on cookie cutter size. Usually 5 dozen.

·         1 cup butter or margarine

·         2 cups sugar

Cream these together

·         Add 3 eggs and beat well.

·         5 cups of flour (4 to add to recipe and one to use to roll out cookies)

Combine the following and add to above:

·         1 cup buttermilk

·         1teaspoon baking soda

·         1 teasp. Salt

·         2 teasp vanilla

Add enough flour so dough is still soft. Too much will make tough cookies. The cookies should be soft enough to have to be lifted from the board with a spatula.

Flour board well and top of dough lightly. Roll about 1/3” thick for soft cookies. Thinner for crisp. Either sprinkle the tops with colored sugar before baking at 350 for 10 minutes or frost afterwards.

Icing recipe (really good)

·         1 pound powdered sugar

·         ¼ pound margarine.

·         1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together and add milk until spreadable, about 3 Tablespoons or as needed of buttermilk.

 Andra Shier| Assistant Director of Dining Services | Huron County Medical Care Facility

The Waters August Heirloom Meal

Our August system-wide Heirloom recipe came from across the pond, via Northern Minnesota. Pat Scripture,  a resident at The Waters of Mayowood in Rochester, Minnesota, described how her family loved Cornish Pasties, a staple among the miners up on the Iron Range where her family settled back in 1892. Her grandfather, great grandfather and great-great grandfather were community leaders in Virginia, Minnesota, and Pat continued the tradition by serving on the City Council in New Prague, Minnesota.

Filled with pork, beef and root vegetables, pasties were something Pat’s mother and grandmother always made. There are many variation of the recipe. According to Pat, a good crust is the key. Her favorite recipe comes from Cornwall, England. Pat said, "We like them served with ketchup." Though they’re hard to find in many areas, they’re still easy to find in restaurants and grocery stores up on the Iron Range.

Pictured: Pat Scripture, The Waters on Mayowood, and Alisha, serving Heirloom Cornish Pasties at The Waters of Plymouth

Tina Plant, PMP | Sr. Marketing Manager | The Waters Restaurant Group |­

Heirloom feature from The Fountains at Franklin

Here at The Fountains at Franklin, we were so excited to find out that one of our residents, Annie McNeal was chosen to be July's Heirloom featured resident!  Annie was excited too, and was happy to share her Friday night tradition with all of Morrison Community Living.  Her three nieces came to the dinner, and were happy to find Chef Rhonda and her production staff had made the recipes just like Aunt Annie's!  One addition to her fried catfish and baked beans and Chess Pie that was not featured in the recipe packet was a Krab Cole Slaw that Ms. Annie told me about.  She said that it was a dish she would make for pot luck's and when the 'girls' would come over for lunch.  She said that she and her husband would travel down south every year to play golf and would always stop at this restaurant and she would have it.  She couldn't remember the name of the restaurant, but said to me 'they were cafeterias in the south'.  I replied, Miss Annie, was it a Morrison Cafeteria?  She said that was it, and I told her that was the same company that is now Morrison Community Living, to which she replied, 'That must be why I love your food so much!'  It was a great experience and honor for her, and she was very grateful to be recognized.

Cheryl Naftel, CDM| Director Dining Services | Morrison Community Living| The Fountains at Franklin

May’s Heirloom Resident Charlene Hickman at Huron County Medical Care Facility

HCMCF’s featured resident “chef” for the month of May was Charlene Hickman. Charlene is native to Oklahoma but recently moved to Michigan to be closer to her daughter, Andra Shier, who is the Assistant Dining Services Director at HCMCF.

With the help of her daughter, Charlene shared two of the recipes that she was famous for within her family, Apple Pandowdy and her Broccoli Cheesy Rice Casserole. The Pandowdy happens to be Andra’s favorite dessert. Charlene taught her daughter, Andra, all her cooking skills. She also shared the love and passion for creating in the kitchen, just as Charlene’s mother, Stella Hickman taught her. All the women in the Hickman family have shared many recipes in local cookbooks. Stella even cooked for “the seniors” at her local meal site up until the age of 85. It is because of this shared heritage that Andra enjoys working in the kitchen today and creating delicious desserts and decorated cakes.

 

While the residents sampled her recipes, Andra and Charlene shared family stories and keepsakes. A picture board filled with photos of Charlene was also shared. The keepsakes that Charlene brought included two Quilts handmade by Charlene’s mother, Stella and a family ring. Creative homemaking skills were passed down thru the family. Charlene’s mother, Stella was known for her quilting and knitting talent and she made many of the grandbabies and great grandbabies quilts and blankets. Charlene’s sewing skills were so impressive that most couldn’t tell whether it was designer or handmade.  Charlene sewed many outfits for her daughters including several prom and banquet dresses, FHA sweetheart gowns and Andra’s wedding dress. She could look at several different dress designs and create the dress that her girls dreamed of without any patterns needed. She had a knack for procrastination however, and was often finishing many outfits just in the nick of time. Andra even shared a wedding picture of her mother still sewing her bridal veil just before Andra walked down the aisle.

 The story behind the family heirloom ring was also shared. Charlene’s grandmother, Bessie, was given the ring in 1918 when she was 17 years old as a gift for tending to the family and farm while her parents were gone for a period of time. When Bessie had a daughter, Stella, she gave the ring to her when Stella turned 17. Stella had one daughter, Charlene to whom the ring was passed down to. Charlene ended up having two daughters and decided to have the ring split in two and gave half to each daughter when they turned 17. When it was time for Andra to pass the ring to her daughter she added birthstones of each of the women who have owned the ring, along with a handwritten story of the family ring.

The residents enjoyed hearing Charlene’s stories and seeing her keepsakes but the one who enjoyed walking down memory lane the most was Charlene herself!

Andra Shier| Assistant Director of Dining Services | Huron County Medical Care Facility

Heirloom at The Waters: Bob's Macaroni and Cheese

All eight of The Waters communities featured Bob’s Macaroni and Cheese as a side dish for this month’s Heirloom meal. Bob Wilkins lives at The Colony, a Waters Community, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Bob Wilkins and Executive Chef Jessica with Bob’s Macaroni and Cheese, our Heirloom recipe of the month.

Bob has shared many stories with his neighbors at The Colony. Bob Wilkins was a senior in high school in 1942. “Our destiny upon graduation was either enlistment or draft into the Armed Forces, compulsory at age 18,” said Bob. But before becoming infantry replacements in WWII, Bob took a Vocational Cooking class. Bob said, “My friend Howard and I took the course as a diversion.” It is where he acquired the recipe for macaroni and cheese.

Bob's Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups scalded milk

3/4 cup soft bread crumbs

3 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups cooked macaroni

1/2 teaspoon chopped onions

1/4 pound cheese, grated

2 eggs, well beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour milk over crumbs and butter. Add other ingredients in order given. Mix thoroughly. Place in greased casserole dish that has been set in a pan of hot water. Bake until set, about 40 minutes.

Tina Plant | Sr. Marketing Manager | The Waters Restaurant Group |­ Morrison Community Living

RMS Titanic Celebration

Last week, we honored the extravagance and splendor of the ship, the RMS Titanic. To celebrate, our residents were treated to a special dinner that the guests enjoyed on the grand voyage. Chef Emily prepared Chicken Lyonnaise and Roast Sirloin of Beef Forestiére accompanied with Creamed Carrots and Duchesse Potatoes. 

One of our residents, Richard is huge fan on the history of the steamliner. He was actively involved in assisting us with the setup and display of some memorabilia he has collected over the years. We featured these items during our Heirloom dinner. The residents had a great time during the meal and even got to learn interesting facts about the ship and listen to music that was played on the ship. Community Life was involved with the events last week, showing the 1997 epic film, 'Titanic'.

DavidAnsel | Assistant Director of Dining Services | Morrison Community Living| Fountains at Bronson Place

March Heirloom Chef at Huron County Medical Care

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 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

The Waters on 50th Celebrates One of Their Own with March Heirloom Recipe

Our March Heirloom recipe “Uncle Mac’s Turkey Wild Rice Casserole” was submitted by Arminta Miller. She admits that she didn’t know how to cook when she married Ron. “I was the only girl in my family and my mother had no patience; she never taught me to cook.” Since Ron’s mother was a magnificent cook who ultimately opened a small restaurant, her lack of culinary skill worried Arminta. Some days he’d come home and she’d be crying, because something hadn’t worked out. Ron would say, “It’s OK, Honey. I don’t like that anyway.” Arminta knew if he stayed with her the first six months, he would stay with her forever. Arminta learned how to cook from family and friends. She and Ron have been married 57 years.

Director of Dining Randee Douglas and Chef Mitchell Gill II enjoyed lavishing attention on Arminta and Ron and their family during the meal. Said Arminta, “I feel like a star.”

 

Tina Plant | Sr. Marketing Manager | The Waters Restaurant Group

Resident Heirloom Chef of Huron County Medical Care Facility

HCMCF dining services celebrates our own Heirloom residents each month. A resident is selected to share some of their special family recipes and the stories that go with them.

For the month of February our “Resident Heirloom Chef” was Pauline Burdett. She is a native of England, born and raised in Liverpool. Although she lived in Liverpool, she never saw any of the Beatles group but her mother was a huge fan. She shared stories with the residents about what it was like coming here and the changes she experienced.

Before coming to the U.S., she worked as a personal assistant to the president of a large family owned candy (she called it “sweet”) factory. Pauline shared stories of growing up in war-torn England after World War 2. Many of the buildings in her city were turned to rubble and as a child she remembers seeing bombed buildings that had been turned to rubble. She met and married a man from the Rochester Hills, MI area. Her wedding was actually held in an English castle! She moved to the Detroit, MI area in 1985 when she was 34 years old.

 She worked in Troy, MI for the auto industry in human resources. She said that even though she is English she had to learn how to actually MIS-spell words because the American spelling of words was totally different in the states! Pauline hasn’t been able to go back for a visit to England in many years but she plans to someday.

Some of her favorite foods from England were Scotch Eggs and Sausage Rolls. She has prepared them for every special occasion. She even served them for a special “Charles and Dianna wedding watching party” with a few American friends. Another popular food item from England that has made become famous in Michigan is the Cornish Pasty. She shared how these hand-held pies were made for the miners in Cornwall so they could eat their meals down in the mines. The Cornish Pasty has a specific “pinch” to the crust and that thick crust is what the miners held with dirty hands to eat the pies and then toss the crusts. Each pie was large enough for a miners hearty meal and dessert all wrapped in one pie. One side of the pasty would have the meat and potatoes and the other side held the fruit.

Dining Services made a healthier version of both the scotch eggs and sausage rolls by baking them instead of frying. An apple pasty was also shared with the residents. Later in the month, in honor of “Chef Pauline” a traditional English Trifle was served on the menu. Pauline never uses a formal recipe for her scotch eggs or sausage rolls as they are easily assembled. Dining Services developed a recipe for Scotch Eggs based on her directions:

Baked Scotch Eggs

Yield: 6 Scotch Eggs

Ingredients

• 6 hard boiled eggs
• 1 lb ground pork sausage, preferably sage seasoned
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ c flour
• 1 egg raw
• ½ c breadcrumbs

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and set them aside.
3. Place the ground pork into a large bowl add salt and pepper; mix well with your hands until combined. Divide meat into 6 equal portions.
4. Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
5. Crack the raw egg into a second shallow bowl. Beat it slightly and set aside.
6. Place the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Set aside.

To Assemble the Eggs

1. Flour your hands to roll sausage into balls then flatten it into a patty. Wrap the pork around one egg, pinching it together to seal any seams.
2. Roll the pork covered egg first in flour. Then, dip it in the beaten egg. Finally, coat it in bread crumbs.
3. Set the coated eggs on a well-greased parchment lined baking sheet.
4. Once all the eggs have been coated, spray them generously with cooking spray and place them into the preheated oven.
5. Bake the eggs for 20 minutes, until they are golden and the pork is cooked.
6. To serve the Scotch eggs, slice and then serve while warm, cold, or at room temperature.

Andra Shier| Assistant Director of Dining Services | Huron County Medical Care Facility