Warm Weather and some more recipes

Spring has finally arrived! (I hope!!) I've had the heat shut off during the day and the windows open airing the house out! It's been in the 50's and 60's!! There is mud everywhere--but after the cold, ice and snow, I'm not complaining!! Thankfully we don't have a major river or creek running through the county so we don't have to deal with the flooding they are predicting on the Big Sioux and James rivers.


We said goodbye to Uncle Frank Ogan today. His funeral was at our Presbyterian Church this morning. Uncle Frank was married to my dad's oldest sister, Esther, who passed away in 2004. They moved to Tyndall in 2002 after living in California for 48 years. I will always remember Uncle Frank with a camera in his hand when they came back to South Dakota to visit, and all the slide shows we had at Grandma Sutera's house. Rest in peace Uncle Frank--we'll miss you!


Needing to take something to the funeral for the lunch, I made poppyseed cake. It just isn't a "Bohemian" funeral lunch without at least one poppyseed cake!! I tried a different recipe this time instead of my "old faithful" recipe that requires separating eggs, etc., and I think I like this one better. I actually didn't get to try it, but it must have been good because I came home with one tiny corner piece in my pan!


Poppyseed Cake
1 white or yellow cake mix
1/2 cup poppyseed soaked in 1 cup water for 1/2 hour
3 eggs
1 cup mayonnaise
Soak poppyseed in water for 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 pan with non-stick spray. Combine cake mix, soaked poppyseed, eggs and mayonnaise. Mix well. I stirred it by hand with a wire whisk. Pour into prepared 9x13 pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Test with toothpick--may need to bake 5 minutes more.
Cool to room temperature and frost with cream cheese frosting.


Larry's aunt Rose made the best hotdish for the funeral lunch--Zane thought it was "the bomb" so I had to make a pan of it for supper tonight to go with the barbecued ribs that we had. Needless to say, between Becky, Zane and I, we cleaned the pan!


Corn Casserole
1 can whole kernel corn--juice and all
1 can cream style corn
1 cup dry elbow macaroni
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped onion 
1/4 cup melted butter
Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 inch square pan with non-stick spray. Stir together both cans of corn, the dry macaroni, grated cheese and melted butter in the pan. Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes before serving.


I also made coleslaw to go with the ribs--with the weather warming up it's time for the "summer salads"! I got this recipe from Sue Souhrada--her parents used to own the Czech Inn in Tabor when we were growing up.


Czech Inn Coleslaw
1 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 bottle Kraft coleslaw dressing
Salt to taste (I don't add any)
White pepper to taste
1 head cabbage shredded--not too fine
2 carrots, shredded
Note: Can use 1 bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix--that's what I usually end up doing if I don't have time to shred cabbage and carrots.
Mix vinegar, sugar, coleslaw dressing, salt and pepper. Let set in refrigerator about half an hour or longer so flavors blend. Then add the cabbage and carrots. Stir together and serve.