North/South American origins theme

JK: My idea was to select recipes that would include ingredients common to Native Americans, particularly from the Northeast Woodlands: corn, beans, squash, and wild rice. Cranberries and tomatoes are also native to the Americas (though tomatoes originated in south or central America.)

I found a book at the library with an interesting wild rice recipe.

Wild Rice and Corn Fritters - ingredients, besides wild rice, include: whole wheat flour, corn kernels, green onions, an egg, and beer. (Also includes freshly grated Parmesan cheese, but I left that out.)








Three Sisters Stew - *Based* on the online recipe found here. (scroll down a bit) My daughter doesn't care for bell peppers, so I left them out. Instead of pinto beans (in the photo), I used (small, green) Fordhook Lima beans. It's not yet fresh corn season, so I used frozen kernels. We have an Anaheim pepper (chili) plant, so I used one that was about 5 inches long. I scraped the seeds out, but could have left them in -- not very 'hot.' Instead of pumpkin, I used several small zucchini (courgettes), sliced in half lengthwise and then in about 1/2 inch "half moons."

Pumpkin Bread - I used a recipe from Native North American Foods & Recipes. I followed the recipe faithfully, but... I should have realized that 300 degrees is NOT enough heat to bake a "quick bread." It had been baking an hour when I finally looked in a regular cook book. Oops! 350 degrees! I moved the temperature up and cooked it about 25 mins longer. I was surprised that it ended up cooked throughout and not dry at all.

1. I shared extra wild rice fritters with my neighbors (also known as my daughter2 & family.) Fritters were well received & I'm to fix them again.

2. I would do the 3 Sisters Stew again, but I'd like to use pinto beans, but daughter1 says she liked the limas. Neither of us are big fans of corn. (Shhh! We live in Iowa - don't tell anyone.) But, we think hominy would be OK instead of yellow kernels.

3. I used dried cranberries in the pumpkin bread. Just a 1/2 cup as the recipe called for, but next time I would double that amount. AND... I'd use the regular cook book recipe.

But, over all the meal was a success.