Lasagna Soup

Fall is the season of comfort food--warm, hearty fare to keep out the chill and help prepare you for Winter hibernation. This soup fits the bill and is pretty healthy too (Not counting the sausage!). The original recipe was in the December, 2005 issue of Cuisine At Home magazine, but I've modified it a bit to suit myself . The recipe can be made to suit both gluten-free and lactose-free diets.

Lasagna Soup

1 or 2 Tbs olive oil
1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Dried Italian seasoning, to taste
1 large sweet onion (usually Maui or Vidalia), chopped
2 medium carrots, shredded
2 cups mushrooms, sliced (I prefer Cremini)
2 Tbs garlic, finely minced (I usually just use the jarred stuff)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) petite-cut tomatoes
2 cans (14.5 oz) low-sodium chicken broth *
1 cup mini-farfalle or campanelle pasta (optional: omit if you want gluten-free)
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped (preferably baby spinach)
Optional: diced mozzarella and/or Parmesan cheese

This recipe makes almost a gallon of soup, so you'll need to use a Dutch oven or a very large saucepan. Brown the sausage in the olive oil over medium-high heat, seasoning with salt, pepper and dried Italian seasoning. Add the onions and carrots and continue to sauté for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and sauté for another 3 or 4 minutes.

Add all the canned ingredients and bring to a boil. Add pasta (if using), lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes (or amount of time required to cook pasta almost al dente, per package directions). Stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 or 2 minutes.

The original recipe says to ladle the soup over 1/4 cup of cubed mozzarella to give the soup that "gooey cheese element" of lasagna and further garnishes the top with grated Parmesan. I find stringy cheese in my soup unpleasant, so I leave it out—this is also a good idea for those who are lactose-intolerant. This is not a soup to be served with crushed crackers—I usually serve it with toasted slices of a crusty sourdough bread for dunking, or if I don't have any of that I top it with croutons.

*Note: leftovers are great, but if you have them and need to reheat the soup you should add some additional chicken broth, as the soup seems to get thicker when refrigerated.

Hijinks at Roads End, Lincoln City, Feb 1998
Cousin Terri, Mom, Aunt Peggy & Uncle Lee

Smoked Cheddar and Bacon Quiche

I adapted a classic Quiche Lorraine recipe to use the smoked cheddar cheese I had on hand. My brother Rick used the old "Real Men don't eat quiche" line, but then went ahead and had two pieces. Of course "Real Men" probably don't care what other people think about them, so can have all the quiche they want!

Rick with a Real Sturgeon

Smoked Cheddar and Bacon Quiche

8 to 10 slices bacon, cooked and coarsely crumbled

1-1/2 cups grated smoked cheddar cheese
  (of course I use Tillamook cheese!)

10 inch unbaked pie shell
  (I use a thawed Marie Callender’s ready-made)

Softened butter

4 eggs

Scant 2 cups cream (can substitute some milk)

3/4 tsp salt

Pinch of each: sugar, nutmeg, paprika, pepper

In a medium bowl beat together the eggs, cream and seasonings.

Sprinkle bacon over bottom of pie shell. Cover with the cheese and pour egg mixture over all.

Bake at 425° F. for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325° F and bake until custard is set, about 30 to 40 minutes longer.

Bacon, Leek and White Cheddar version: Same as above, but saute use only 5 slices of bacon, then saute cleaned and sliced leek half-moons in bacon grease until softened. Place about half the grated medium white cheddar cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, cover evenly with the bacon and leeks, then top with the remaining cheese and pour the cream mixture over and bake.

Sherrie’s Carrot Cake

This is the old fashioned favorite classic we sold at Ocean Park Crab and Seafood Market. We used the Cream Cheese frosting at the market, but I've included the recipe for a Buttermilk Glaze also (it uses up some of the remaining pint of buttermilk and is very good for a change from the frosted cake. It soaks in and gives the cake a dense moist texture).

Sherrie’s Carrot Cake



Aunt Peggy & Uncle Lee, Dec 24, 1958
(Carrot Cake would be good for a wedding cake!)



2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

3 eggs

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups grated carrots
   (about 4 med-lg)**

8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
   (about 2/3 cup)

3-1/2 oz (1-1/3 cup) flaked coconut

2 cups chopped walnuts

Stir dry ingredients together; set aside.  In large mixing bowl beat eggs.  Add oil, buttermilk, sugars and vanilla extract and mix well.  Mix in dry ingredients and blend thoroughly.  Stir in carrots, pineapple, coconut and nuts.  Pour into greased and floured 9x13 pan; bake at 350° F (dark pans 325° F) for 55 minutes.  You can make about 30 cupcakes instead—bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting--or if you prefer use the Buttermilk Glaze instead!

**Note: instead of grating the carrots, you can peel, cut off the ends, cut them into chunks and put them in the food processor with the oil and process until they are “grated.”

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

1 pound powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 to 1/2 tsp lemon juice

With mixer, cream butter and cream cheese together. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon juice and mix until creamy.

Buttermilk Glaze

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter

1 Tb white corn syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in saucepan; bring to boil.  Boil 5 to 6 minutes, until thick and syrupy.  Stir in vanilla. Pour over the warm cake.

Gramp’s Apple Cake

Don Chisty, ca 1922

Grandpa Don Christy was a really good cook, making hearty breakfasts for the family after a morning spent digging clams on the Long Beach Peninsula. This old-fashioned Apple Cake was one of his specialties.

Gramp’s Apple Cake

4 cups peeled and diced apples
2 cups sugar

1/2 cup oil
2 well-beaten eggs

1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour 

2 tsp soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit.  Generously grease a 9x13-inch pan. Combine flour with salt, soda and spices (sift or stir together in a bowl). In a large bowl, mix apples and sugar.  Stir in oil, eggs and vanilla then mix in dry ingredients. Fold in nuts .  Pour into pan and bake for 45 minutes.  Spread topping over cake while still warm. 

Topping: 

1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk

While cake is baking, combine  in medium saucepan.  Cook for 10 minutes; let cool.  Add 1/2 cup shredded coconut.

Slug Pie (aka Earthworm Casserole)



Treeva and Teena with friend Tarry Ray
near Willapa Bay, Nahcotta, WA



Actually this is just a Tuna Melt, but when my nieces were young and I fixed them lunch I'd ask "What would you like, Slug Pie or Earthworm Casserole?" (I also told them they'd never really met their "true" Aunt Sherrie, that I was from the planet Zeckarahr and we'd done a "cultural exchange" many years ago ... of course that was true.)

Tuna Melt

1 can good-quality tuna, drained (preferably solid, water-pack)*

1 celery stalk, diced

Salt, Pepper and/or Seafood Seasoning

Mayonnaise

English Muffins, split, toasted and lightly buttered

Medium Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

Mix Tuna, celery, seasonings and Mayonnaise. Spread on English Muffin halves and top with slices of cheese. Place on foil-lined pan under broiler (or in toaster oven set to broil) until heated through and cheese is bubbly. One can usually makes enough for 6 muffin halves.

*To make a "deluxe" Slug Pie, use canned Salmon

Banana Sour Cream Bread

The sour cream in this bread mellows out the banana flavor. I like slices of this toasted and spread with a little butter for a breakfast treat.

Banana Sour Cream Bread

Cousin Terri with husband Don
December, 1989

1-3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1-1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cups sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 very ripe med-large bananas, mashed

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease and flour a tube pan (or alternately two 5x7 inch loaf pans).

Place dry ingredients in large bowl. Shake to mix if you are using a bowl with a tight-fitting lid, otherwise whisk dry ingredients together.

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, sour cream, vanilla and mashed bananas and beat until combined. Add all but about 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Mix the walnuts with the remaining flour mixture and shake or stir until they are coated. Fold walnuts into mixture.

Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake for about 55 to 60 minutes for tube pan or 45 to 50 minutes for loaf pans.

Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake

This cake was so very popular in the 1960s. Since retro is "in" I think it is time to bring it back in to fashion. This is a fairly dense and moist cake and the broiled frosting is so good you may find it hard to resist pulling off bits and eating it like candy. I usually bake with butter, which would probably work just as well in the cake, but the original recipe calls for margarine.

Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake

2 1/4 cup boiling water

1-1/2 cup Quick Quaker oats

3/4 cup margarine

1-1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 cup brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

2 1/4 cup flour

1-1/2 tsp soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.  Grease and flour a 13 x 9 x 2 pan.  Pour boiling water over oats and let stand while preparing the rest of the cake.

Cream margarine, sugars and vanilla until smooth.  Add eggs and mix by hand until light and airy.  Sift flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix oatmeal into creamed mixture, then add sifted ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes.  Spread with Nutty Coconut Frosting.

Nutty Coconut Frosting

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

1 cup brown sugar

6 Tbs milk

1 cup chopped nuts

1-1/2 cup shredded coconut

Mix butter, brown sugar and milk in small saucepan; bring to boil.  Remove from heat, add nuts and coconut.  Spread over oatmeal cake while still hot, then broil until frosting is browned and bubbly.


Mom in Olympia, WA, ca 1949