Community Centre &
Greenwood, Nova Scotia
Reunion
Commemorative
Cookbook
This cookbook evolved from a Facebook page for a reunion planned for people who hung around the Greenwood Community Centre or who went to Dwight Ross or West Kings schools in Nova Scotia between the years 1963 to 1973. Well over 500 members joined the Facebook page in the months preceding the reunion and most checked in frequently, and many daily, to chat with friends, catch up on news and have a few chuckles.
The reunion became affectionately called “Greenwoodstock” which was apropos to the era we lived there, to the multitude of musicians in our large group and to the big party we expected would occur when we all got together again.
Military families move a lot and sometimes the concept of home town is blurred. Some of the group members still live in the Greenwood area or have returned, some live in other parts of Nova Scotia, but most are scattered across Canada. Still, we’re bound by a common thread—Greenwood still feels like “home” to most of us.
As often happens when friends and family gather, people began to share their beloved recipes. Digital technology has advanced to the point that even we, people mostly in our 50’s and 60’s, could manage to add pictures to our recipes on the reunion Facebook page. There were so many recipes and pictures that a cookbook seemed like a natural evolution.
All of the recipes in this cookbook first appeared on the Greenwoodstock Recipes or Greenwood and Community Centre Reunion 2012 Facebook pages. Some are original recipes, some are adaptions of recipes first found elsewhere, and many were handed down through family. All are tried and true and most are family favorites. We hope you enjoy the cookbook as much as we enjoyed compiling it.
Sections
Page
Appetizers, Accompaniments, and Snacks ...... 2
Soups ...... 8
Sides and Salads ...... 13
Breads and Buns ...... 16
Mains ...... 20
Sweets and Treats ...... 44
Drinks ...... 66
Appetizers, Accompaniments, and Snacks
Bacon & Cheese Melts
Gordon Boyd
4 slices of bread
2 cups grated cheese (I use a mozzarella and cheddar mix.)
4-6 slices of bacon, cooked almost crispy
Broil one side of 4 slices of bread. Flip the slices and cover with a good amount of grated cheese. Place 2 or 3 half slices of bacon on each piece of bread. Add rest of cheese. Broil until melted and brown. Cut into fingers with each piece having a strip of bacon.
Sliced process cheese also works well but, if you’re serving kids, note that the cheese gets very hot for little mouths.
Dill Pickles - One Jar at a Time
Marlene Saunders
Pickle size cucumbers
Dill (fresh or dill seed)
1 clove garlic – peeled
1 habanero pepper, optional -- if you want hot dills
Brine
1 ½ cups water
¾ cup white vinegar
1 tbsp. canning salt
Use wide mouth or regular jar. Wash and sterilize jar, lid and ring. Thoroughly wash cucumbers in cold water. Do not break stems off. Heat brine (water, vinegar, and canning salt).
Stuff one head of dill into the jar or 1 tbsp. dill seed. (For hot dills, drop in one marinated habanero pepper plus ½ tsp. of the liquid).
Tightly pack cucumbers upright into the jar pressing down firmly against the dill. Packs in as many as you can, and then squeeze in one more. Cover with the boiling brine. Place lid and ring on jar and tighten ring.
Place jar into a kettle large enough that you can completely cover the jar with hot water. Bring the water to a boil and then turn the burner off. Let the jar sit in the kettle until the water cools enough to enable you to take the jar out of the water bare handed. If the lid has not already sealed, you will soon hear it pop. Let the pickles cure for about 6 weeks before tasting them. Mmmm, mmmm good!
Mango, Peach, Pineapple Salsa
Gordon Boyd
1 mango, peeled and cubed
1 peach, peeled and cubed
1 fresh pineapple spear, cubed
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 cucumber peeled and diced.
1 jalapeno pepper, finely minced, include seeds
Juice from ½ lime
Fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
Coriander, spoonful
A little bit of red pepper adds nice color
Toss to mix. This goes great with chicken or fish. You can use leftovers another night to stuff pork tenderloin.
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Duncan Armstrong
1 lb. cranberries
2 oranges, unpeeled, cut in quarters, remove whites and seeds.
2 cups white sugar
Chop coarsely in processor and remove to a separate bowl. Add sugar and stir well. Store the sauce in containers in refrigerator or freezer.
Fresh Vegetable Salsa
Ross Setter
8 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1.75 L (7 cups) coarsely chopped & peeled tomatoes
500 mL (2 cups) coarsely chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
250 mL (1 cup) coarsely chopped green bell pepper
25 mL (1/2 cup) loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro
175 mL (3/4 cup) white vinegar
2 mL (1/2 tsp.) ground cumin
1 can (156 mL) tomato paste
Fill boiling water canner with water and bring to boil. Place five 500 mL (one pint) mason jars in canner over high heat to sterilize.
In large stainless steel or enamel saucepan, combine all ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, until salsa reaches desired consistency.
Place snap lids for mason jars in a separate pot of boiling water, boil five minutes to soften sealing compound. Remove hot jars from water and ladle salsa into jar to within 1 cm of top rim (head space). Remove air bubbles by sliding rubber spatula between glass and food; readjust head space to 1 cm. Wipe jar rim, removing any stickiness. Centre snap lid on jar; apply screw band just until fingertip tight. Place jar in canner. Repeat for remaining salsa
Cover canner, return water to a boil; process jars for 20 minutes at altitudes up to 350 metres. Cool 24 hours. Check jar’s seals. Sealed lids curve downward and do not “pop” (flex) when pressed downward lightly. Remove screw bands. Wipe jars, label and store in a cool, dark place. Makes five 500 mL jars.
For hot salsa, prepare above recipe, add 5 mL (1 tsp.) ground cayenne to the ingredient mixture before cooking
Notes:
1. Use caution when handling hot peppers. Wash hands after handling and DO NOT rub your eyes. Residual oils can really hurt on sensitive skin/body parts.
2. This is a basic recipe only. Adjust to your taste, especially for hotness.
3. You can buy plastic screw on, washable and re-usable lids for canning jars in packages of 10. They're very handy once canning jars have been opened for use.
Jalapeno Poppers
Gordon Boyd
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tbs. bacon bits, artificial works fine
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
50 medium Jalapeno peppers cut in half and seeded (Wear gloves!!)
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 cups fine bread crumbs
Red and/or green peppers, very fine dice (optional—adds color)
Preheat deep fryer oil to 365°F (180°C).
Mix cream cheese, bacon bits and grated cheese. Spoon this mixture into the jalapeno halves. Put the milk, flour and bread crumbs in separate bowls. Add diced red/green peppers to bread crumbs, if using. Dip the stuffed jalapeno peppers into the milk and then flour. Place on a rack to dry for about 10 minutes. Repeat process using bread crumbs this time: milk, bread crumbs and 10 more minutes to dry. Repeat the last step a third time.
Deep fry for 2 minutes maximum--less if you see cheese seeping. Allow to drain on paper towel. Can also freeze in bags of 16-24 peppers and reheat from frozen at 425°F for about 6 to 8 minutes on a baking sheet.
Mouth-Watering Stuffed Mushrooms
Marlene Saunders
12 whole fresh mushrooms
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. ground cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.
When the garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.
Honey Ginger Sauce
Janet McLaughlin
Use over chicken or pork.
¼ cup oil
2 tbsp. chopped onion
1 tsp. garlic salt
¼ tsp. salt
2 tsp. soy sauce
¼ cup liquid honey
2 tsp. ginger
2 tbsp. lemon juice OR vinegar
½ cup orange or apple juice
Simmer 5 minutes in small saucepan. Pour over poultry or pork. I have purposely cut down the salt amount for both the garlic salt and the table salt.
Source: Compliments from a PEI ladies auxiliary cookbook.
Simple Maple Syrup
Marilyn Justice
For those living in an area where it is impossible to tap maple trees, I found this recipe. "We never had store bought syrup in the house, and when you taste this you'll know why. It's so simple and so good, anything else seems pointless."
2 cups white sugar
1 cup boiling water
½ tsp. maple flavored extract
In a saucepan, combine sugar and water. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in maple flavoring. Serve warm. Yield: 1 ½ cups.
Tuna Rolls
Sharon Lunn Snyder
1 can flaked tuna
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
2 tbsp. relish
2 tbsp. minced onion
½ cup mayonnaise
Diced Peppers, green, yellow, red (optional)
Mix all ingredients in order given. Place in rolls. Wrap in tin foil and heat in oven or wrap in waxed paper and heat in microwave. Very tasty!!!
Red Pepper Jelly
JoAnn Wilson Sylvester
2 sweet red peppers, finely chopped
1 bottle of Certo
5 ½ cups white sugar
¾ cup vinegar
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 cup lemon juice
Heat peppers, sugar, vinegar, and cayenne pepper in a pot. Bring to boil and let boil 3 to 4 minutes. Add lemon juice to Certo. Stir into the above and let sit for a min or until starts to jell. Put into jars. Makes 5-6 small jars. Serve as dip over cream cheese. Spread on crackers.
The Best Vegetable Dip
JoAnn Wilson Sylvester
1 ½ cups Hellman’s Mayo
¾ cup sour cream
¾ tsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. salt (less)
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. paprika
1/8 cup parsley
1 ½ tbsp. onion
1 ½ tbsp. chives
¾ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Mix together. Refrigerate and serve with fresh vegetables.
Green Tomato Mincemeat
Jo-Ann Heffern Ferguson
6 cups apples, chopped
6 cups green tomatoes, chopped
4 cups brown sugar
1 1/3 cups vinegar
3 cups seedless raisins
3 tsp. Ground cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground clove
¾ tsp. ground allspice
¾ tsp. ground mace
¾ tsp. ground pepper
2 tsp. Salt
1 cup rum, optional
¾ cup butter
Mix the apples with tomatoes and drain. Add remaining ingredients except for butter; gradually bring to boiling point, add rum if using. Boil until thick, stirring occasionally. Add butter and turn into sterilized jars. Process 20 minutes in a boiling water bath. Jars can also be sterilized in the dishwasher or washed and placed in a warm (100°C / 225°F) oven. Being warm when put into the boiling water helps seal the lids and reduces chances of the jars breaking.
Homemade Beef Jerky
Gordon Boyd
2 lbs. eye of round roast beef
½ cup apple juice (a kid's tetrapac 125 ml)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup teriyaki marinade & sauce (Kikkoman)
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. liquid smoke
1 tbsp. Molasses
2 tbsp. Garlic powder
1 tbsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. crushed jalapeno (a few drops of tabasco works)
2 tbsp. lime juice (½ lime squeezed)
With a sharp knife, cut the roast as thinly as possible across the grain, no thicker than ¼ inch. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and add the meat slices, allowing them to soak in this marinade at least 1 to 2 hours, stirring frequently. Remove and place on drying racks, adding salt and pepper liberally to both sides. Do not overlap the slices. Place drying racks on your dehydrator and turn it on, allowing the meat to dry overnight, usually 8 to 10 hours depending on thickness. I usually rotate the trays at least once through this process and remove the pieces that are done.
You can use this recipe and dry the meat in your oven if you don't have a dehydrator. Cover the bottom of the oven with aluminum foil. Turn the oven temperature to as low as it will go. Spread the meat slices onto wire racks and the put them into the oven to dry. This will take about 3 hours but you can check and turn the slices over in about 1 ½ hours. Just as tasty.
Measurements don't need to be exact but I tend to follow this one as close as I can now and every batch turns out consistent.
Pickled Peppers
Marlene Saunders
1 cup white vinegar
2 cups water
¼ cup coarse salt
Fill jars with peppers. Sterilize jars by boiling them in a large pot on stove or in the oven for about 5 minutes. Put lids into boiling water with jars. Fill jars with peppers. Bring vinegar, water and salt to a rolling boil. Pour into jars. Seal.