Vera Calder was born on June 6, 1906 and was affectionately called “Sally” by her brother Dave as a child because she was as stubborn as a farm horse of the same name.  She majored in home economics while attending Utah State University and soon found her passion in life – cooking.  When she married Richard Stratford, she combined her love and skill for cooking with an acquired enthusiasm for entertaining.  

Sally would write down her favorite recipes on 3” by 5” cards in the most abbreviated form, almost like short hand.  She really didn’t need a recipe at all since she knew all her favorites by heart and because they were so much a part of her.  In later years she would type out her recipes on multiple cards to give out to friends.  Here are some recipes you might enjoy:

Chicken and Homemade Noodles

Chicken and homemade noodles was a recipe very particular to Mother.  Only she would take the time to make the noodles from scratch.  The chicken was tender, the noodles solid and you made sure you took an extra scoop of gravy because it tasted so good.

Prepare chicken:

Place whole cutup chicken, or breasts and legs/thighs in large pot.  Add 1-2 medium sized onions, quartered, 3-4 stocks of celery, salt and pepper, (sometimes added sherry to tender the meat).  Simmer for 2 hours until chicken is cooked.  Take chicken out, de-bone and put bones back into soup.  If you want chicken stock, simmer for 24 hours. 

Ingredients:

            2 cups flour

            1 egg

            4 egg yolks

            ¼ cups warm water

            ½ teaspoon vegetable oil 

            ½ teaspoon salt

Noodles – Old Fashioned Way:

Put flour in bowl.  Make a well and add eggs, olive oil and salt.  Blend w/ fork.  Knead with hands.  Wrap in plastic and let stand 30 minutes.  Then roll out thin.  Roll into jellyroll style and slice into noodles.  Mix with flour so noodles remain separated.    

Noodles – 21^st Century Mixing:

Put ingredients in Cusinart and blend.  Put out on cloth covered mixing board and work until even in texture.  If done in blender the dough is already even.  Roll out and cut into manageable pieces (2” x 5”).  Put through a hand-cranked noodle machine at desired thickness.  Roll up like a jellyroll (flour in between layers).  Slice thin or thick.  Mix in w/ more flour and set aside.

Make chicken broth for a couple of days and run through fine sieve.  Put in fridge overnight.  Skim off fat.  Put into large kettle and bring to a boil.  While broth is boiling add noodles, stirring as you add.  Then put in either scissor cut chicken pieces, or chunks of cooked chicken.  Let boil until a little thickened (or you can mix some flour and water and thicken yourself).

Sally’s Fried Chicken

This is the ultimate Sunday entrée and one of Mother’s most favorite recipes.  It was most often served with another meat dish.  No matter how often it was on the menu, there were never leftovers.  The consistent good taste and the steamed tenderness of the meat without mushiness, made this item a big winner.  Sally’s Fried Chicken became synonymous with her entertaining.  This recipe is simple to make but takes time for the slow cooking.  It was developed in Chicago while the folks were on their mission.  The touch of ketchup came as Mother and Elder Cook were preparing for a visiting authority.

Ingredients:

            2-½ – 5 pounds fresh chicken (or just breasts legs/thighs)

            1 can evaporated milk

            1 cup white flour

            butter/oil, salt, pepper, ketchup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Wash chicken, mix seasoning with flour, salt and pepper in a bag and shake chicken to coat each piece individually.  Put butter in a frying pan with a little oil to keep butter from burning and lightly brown chicken on both sides.  Put fried chicken in roasting pan, pour the undiluted evaporated milk around the chicken and let settle in the bottom of pan.  Squeeze ketchup on each piece and rub with your finger to cover the top of each piece. 

Cover pan with heavy duty tin foil.  Completely seal the top of the pan in order to “steam” the chicken.  Bake chicken at 325° F. for 1-3/4 hours or at 300º F. for 2-1/2 hours (church time) and serve. The Chicken is so tender it falls off the bone.

Sally’s Hot Rolls

You have downed so many of these rolls, it is hard to keep count.  Now, it is time to make them yourself.  This recipe was given to Mother by her cousin Afton Alder, and was a regular addition to each meal.  It was especially a good recipe for croissant-type hot rolls, because it had to be rolled out 5 hours before baking.  This gave mother lots of time to do other parts of her menu and not have to roll out the rolls at the last minute.  This is one of Mom’s most famous recipes.

Ingredients:

            1 yeast cake

            ¼ cup warm water

            1 cup canned milk 

            2 teaspoons salt

            ½ cup sugar

            3 tablespoon butter

            3 eggs (beaten)

            4 to 4 ½ cups flour

Put 1 yeast cake in ¼ cup warm water with 1 teaspoon sugar.  Let rise.  Mix 1 cup sweet milk, 2 teaspoons salt, the rest of the sugar and 3 T butter.  Bring this to a boil.  Cool.  Add yeast mixture.  Beat 3 eggs.  Add to cooled mixture.  Add in 4-4 ½ cups flour (do not make this too stiff as dough will thicken as it rises).  Mix all together.  Cover.  When ready to roll out, roll in a circle, spread w/ butter and cut into pie shape pieces.  Roll from large to small part, making it look like a small croissant.  Dip into melted butter and put on to cookie sheet to rise.  If this is to be served at noon the next day, set rolls the night before.  If this is to be served for dinner, set rolls early in the morning.  Bake at 425° F. until lightly brown.

Mother’s Apple Pie

No item appeared more often and with greater enthusiasm on the dessert table than Sally’s famous apple pie.  Although made from scratch, it came together almost as fast and easy as buying it from the store.  As a special flair Mom would cut an “S” on the top crust and a little candy-like apple syrup would show through when taken from the oven.

Ingredients:

            1 cup sugar

            1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice, canned

            6 medium Pippin apples

            2 teaspoons cornstarch

            1/8 teaspoon salt

            ½ teaspoon vanilla

            1 tablespoon (?) butter  

2 teaspoon lemon juice

Cream

Boil sugar and pineapple juices, then add peeled apples cored and cut in fourths.  Cook until almost tender and then lift out and carefully place in an unbaked pie shell.  Dissolve cornstarch in small amount of water and stir into syrup.  Cook several minutes until it thickens.  Add vanilla, lemon juice and butter and pour over apples.  Put on the top crust and brush with cream.  Bake in oven at 450º F. for 10 minutes and then reduce heat to 350º F. and bake for 35 minutes.