To be fair, I was not raised in the Midwest nor by Midwesterners. Nonetheless, I have been living with one for over 2 1/2 years now and have been studying him and his species quite closely. I have undertaken several excursions to the remote and isolated area from whence he hails and observed him and other members of his tribe go about their daily routine in their native habitat. Worry not about my objectivity, however, the extent to which I have taken part in their exotic rituals has been merely to satisfy my own anthropological curiousity and not to espouse one particular lifestyle over another.
Unless, of course, you’re talking about making 7-Layer Bars (thanks, Meagen Ryan!) a prerequisite for a birthday party. That is definitely a lifestyle change everyone should embrace.
The party was definitely Midwestern, all the way from the contributed food & drink – Steve Mandzik’s strawberry, almond leafy greens with vinaigrette, Jenn Bonsall’s homemade marshmallow fruit salad, the aforementioned 7-layer bars, chocolate and lemon cakes, countless sausages and hot/chicken/tofu dogs, buns, and condiments in addition to beer and vodka lemonade courtesy of Matt McNabb – to the the Midwestern cookbook our neighbors brought Wayne as a present.
In addition to literally bringing home the bacon (to wrap the hotdogs in, of course), I committed myself to four dishes: green bean casserole, potato salad, something involving Jello and Kool Whip, and Mac-N-Cheese cupcakes. Here’s my postprandial redux with recipes:
1. Green Bean Casserole
During the research phase, I spoke with a fair amount of Midwesterners and they all agreed that this is pretty standard party food. The basic ingredients – milk, one can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, and green beans – definitely didn’t stir up as much debate as the topping. When one of my choir mates suggested potato chips for the topping, another looked at her as if she had just suggested topping a California roll with peanut butter. I was intrigued but I do love me some fried onions.
Ingredients
- 1 can Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
- 4 cups of green beans
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 can of french-friend onions
- salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
- Cook the green beans and set aside in a strainer. Whisk the soup and milk together until smooth in 1 1/2 qt baking dish. Add the beans and 2/3 cup of the french-fried onions. Bake for 25 mins at 350°F.
- Sprinkle another 2/3 cup of the french-fried onions evenly over the top of the cooked mixture and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the onions are lightly browned. Best served warm.
2. Potato Salad
I’m kinda picky about my potato salad – I don’t like crunchy stuff in it (unless it’s bacon) and I’m not a huge fan of vinegar. I tend towards things involving dill and some mayo/lemon juice but I was committed to making something Midwestern. I started with this recipe because the author shares the same Germanic/Irish background that Wayne does and ended up modifying it as below.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs red potatoes
- 2 small onions
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 3 tbs mustard (from a jar, not the spice)
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Boil the potatoes until just done. Set aside to cool and drain. I leave the potato skins on (Cue the voice of my grandmother: “It’s where all the vitamins are!”) but you might feel otherwise. If you really can’t stand the idea of eating potato skins, it is much easier to slip them from their skins AFTER they’ve been cooked. Once cooled, place in a big bowl and break into chunks with a fork.
- Chop the onions finely. Saute in some oil (or my favorite, bacon grease). Once cooked, turn off the heat and mix thoroughly in a bowl with the mayo, vinegar, and mustard. Coat the potatoes evenly and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm. Also tastes great from the fridge
This was hands down my favorite recipe of the day (that I made). Since I expected a couple of vegetarians at the party, I left out bacon but I have plans to make this again with sauteed bacon and onions. Very definite plans.
3. Jello Molds
A couple of years ago, I found an Easter egg mold for Jello and Wayne and I made some striped Jello eggs for his parents one year. It must have left quite an impression because what should I find under the Christmas tree this year but 3 Halloween-themed Jello molds – an anatomically correct heart, brain, and a tray for Jello eyeballs. Spiffy!
Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait until Halloween to use them. I will confess that I didn’t oil the heart mold before pouring in the Jello and ended up completely ripping the first heart in half trying to get it out of the mold. The second one turned out just fine. Definitely go for the jiggler version of Jello instead of the straight up Jello – your body part will hold its shape much better.
The super cheesy part of making a heart and brain Jello mold for Wayne’s birthday was that I got to tell him I love him with all my heart and mind. Awwwww….
4. Mac-n-Cheese Cupcakes
When I went through a big cupcake phase last year, I spotted this this recipe for Mac-N-Cheese cupcakes on Bake and Destroy and filed it away for a rainy birthday. Or a sunny birthday, as it turned out to be. I cheesed out* and went the Jiffy corn muffin mix route due to my demanding pre-birthday preparation schedule but given the feedback, I’d definitely be up for trying them again with a nicer corn muffin base.
Disclaimer: Being allergic to milk, I didn’t have one of these myself. I will say, however, that they didn’t last very long.
*Yes, that was a deliberately bad pun.
2 Comments:
so much fun! i think i recognize that floral ‘wallpaper’ in that last photo :)
for those that are interested. Jenn’s marshmallow fruit salad recipe:
however many bananas, apples and grapes you want to cut up. stir in dressing which is just miracle whip, milk and sugar mixed together to taste. add however many marshmallows you want.
Posted by jimmiebean on 22 May 2010 @ 12:15pm
I figured someone would comment on that sooner or later – hey, it’s spring (finally!). Folks, give Jenn’s fruit salad a try – however daunted you may be by the combination of miracle whip and marshmallows, I assure you that it is tasty.
Posted by Christiana on 22 May 2010 @ 20:52pm
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