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Readers' Best Recipes and the Stories Behind Them
November 12, 2021
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We love this cookbook! Sample three reader recipesâand hear the stories behind the recipes!
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All three recipes come courtesy of our brand-new cookbook, The Old Farmer’s Almanac Readersâ Best Recipes and the Stories Behind Themâwhich we created this year in honor of the special 225th anniversary of The Old Farmer’s Almanac!
We invited Almanac readers to share their best recipesâthe favorites served at family gatherings, potlucks, parties, and supper tables, the ones that keep folks coming back for more. Youâll love the heartwarming, humorous, and true stories that these cooks tell, too!
To give you a taste, here are three of our favorite recipes from the cookbookâand the readersâ stories.
1. Slow Cooker French Onion Soup
The Story:
I developed this recipe by tinkering with four French onion soup recipes that I found in my cookbook collection, using as a base the ingredients and directions that occurred most often in the various recipes. I made it first for a church soup luncheon, then again for my elderly parents in Vermont, after my mother said that it was a favorite soup of hers and she hadn’t had it in a long time. The joy of watching her eat that bowl of soup is with me to this day. It’s not your usual French onion soupâthere’s no gooey cheese broiled over topâbut it’s a flavorful, easy recipe, made conveniently in a slow cooker. It’s a keeper!
âDaphne Turner, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Ingredients:
1/2 cp (1 stick) butter or margarine
3 large onions, thinly sliced
4 cups hot water
2 tablespoons instant beef bouillon or 6 beef bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 slices toasted French bread
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Melt butter in a skillet over low heat. Add onions and cook slowly, up to 45 minutes to release maximum flavor, or until nicely browned, stirring frequently. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add water, bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
To serve, top each bowl with 1 slice of bread. Sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Recipe may be doubled and kept hot in slow cooker.
Makes 4 servings.
Photo Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner.
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â 193 Recipes â Full Color â Helpful Tips and Testersâ Comments
Readersâ Best Recipes $19.95
2. Grandma’s Meatballs
The Story:
All my life, I thought that these were my mother’s meatballs. One afternoon, when I was actually making the recipe in front of her, she said, âWhere did you learn how to make meatballs?â I said, âYou taught me.â She replied no, that it was not her recipe. âI don’t put vegetables in, nor do I fry,â she said. âI bake my meatballs.â When I gave her a meatball out of the frying pan, she tasted it and said, âThese are Grandma’s meatballs!ââand we laughed. Enjoy!
âJo Ann Gallo, Bloomsbury, New Jersey
Ingredients:
1/2 pound 85% lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
3 large eggs
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 baguette (or loaf of French or Italian bread, no seeds)
Olive oil, for frying
Directions:
In a bowl, combine all ingredients except bread and oil. Mix thoroughly.
Wet half of bread with water, then squeeze out excess water. Tear into small pieces and add to meat mixture. Mix with your hands. It should be sticky but hold together. If too wet (not holding together), wet remaining bread, squeeze out excess water, and add in pieces as necessary to make mixture sticky and hold together.
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Readersâ Best Recipes $19.95
3. Heavenly Plum Kuchen
Watch the video below to see how to make this Heavenly Plum Kuchen dessert by Linda Ruth from Peterborough, NH. Here’s the printable recipe, too.
Get cooking and make your own stories!
Order today â Readersâ Best Recipes and the stories behind them
Only $19.95
What Else is Inside the Readersâ Best Recipes Cookbook?
Oh, my! How about Mommaâs Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars, Aunt Barbâs Special Meatball Sauce, Graâs Barbecue Chicken, Philâs Chocolate Sauce, and so many more!
We cover mouth-watering recipes for breakfast, appetizers, sides, salads, soups, main dishes, breads, and desserts.
Our Almanac editors tell how to prepare, store, and substitute key ingredients.
We include handy charts ensure proper cooking times, pan sizes, and measurements.
And we offer helpful tips and testersâ comments, too!
Don’t these recipes look delicious? Purchase Readersâ Best Recipes and the Stories Behind Them online at the Almanac Store. With a purchase of this wonderful cookbook, you will also receive the fabulous Eats magazine-style cookbookâfor free! See recipes from Eats here.
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