Table Of ContentThe Poor Man’s Cookbook
by
Brenda and Cliff Roberts
ISBN: 1-931540-76-4
Copyright 2001 by Brenda Roberts
All Rights Reserved
Published by SynergEbooks
http://www.synergebooks.com
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Recipe for a Happy Home
Take 2 cups of love,
an armload of hugs;
Mix in a cup of trust.
Mix together with friends and family.
Sprinkle liberally with smiles.
Serve daily.
Feeds your soul heartily.
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The original handwritten copy of this book was dedicated to
James Elery “Jimbo” Beene at Christmas 1994. A limited
edition printing was published by Teresa Webber of Webber
Digital Imaging and Desktop Publishing of Sherman Texas in
1997. Jim is my nephew, Teresa is my cousin.
Jim asked for this book of family recipes because he is very
interested in family traditions, family memories and he loves
good food but really had never cooked even the simplest
things. He asked us to break it down very simple so even an
inexperienced or first time cook can follow the process
successfully.
This book is about family traditions. It is an ever-growing
collection of recipes and memories for and about the Beene
families, the Roberts family; and the various tree branches we
have climbed to reach this place.
In 1998, our personal tree branch was made stronger with the
grafting of the Brown family tree. Coke Reed Brown, Jr.
joined Cliff and Brenda Roberts out on a limb.
Bon Appetite!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Daddy's Favorite Menu
Red Beans
Fried Potatoes
Water Biscuits
Iced Tea
Sun Tea
Hot Peppers Sauce
Family Traditions
Breads and Salads
Soups, Stews, and Chilies
Casseroles and Meats
Vegetable Dishes
Beverages
Desserts
Glossary
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Daddy's Favorites Menu
Red Beans (pinto )
fried potatoes, onions,
hot pepper sauce
biscuits and iced tea
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Red Beans
by Ruby Horton Beene
Take a l or 2 pound package of dried pinto beans. Pick small
rocks, dirt clots and burrs out of bag.
Wash repeatedly until water is clear.
Drain beans. Place in a 5-quart saucepan. Cover with water and
cook until beans are tender, add bacon grease or ham hocks to
season.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stir frequently, adding water as necessary. Cook over low to
medium heat for thicker soup.
(May thicken with flour and water paste if prefer.)
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Fried Potatoes
by Ruby Horton Beene
2 medium potatoes per person.
Peel (if desired, may leave skin on) and slice. In a large frying
pan (skillet), place shortening* until pan is 1/4 full of oil.
While grease heats, rinse potatoes, sprinkle with salt and
pepper and pour into hot grease. Cover with lid and cook over
medium flame. Turn frequently to prevent burning or sticking
to pan. Remove lid to brown potatoes.
* My family prefers to use leftover bacon grease in place of the
shortening. It gives the potatoes a wonderful flavor and saves
money. I recommend keeping a can in your refrigerator to save
the fat that cooks off your bacon and my grandmother always
kept a second can for the grease off of her sausages. The
grease can be used to make gravy when food gets low, and
works for seasoning many vegetable and casserole type dishes.
“We children and our dad, L.D. Beene, enjoyed red beans, which was
one of our main dishes during that time (the 30's). The other being
potatoes, either fried or creamed. For breakfast, we usually had fried
dry salt meat (bacon), gravy (cream), biscuits, syrup and oleo
(margarine)-which looked like 1 pound of lard but came with a small
package of color which was mixed by hand after it was bought. Dad
paid 8 - 10 cents a pound for it (the oleo).” Frances McDonald.
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Water Biscuits
by Brenda Beene Roberts
2 cups warm water
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
Mix all ingredients together until firm dough ball is formed.
Pour out onto floured baking sheet. Knead, turning dough over
once or twice. Pat out to ½-inch thickness, cut with desired size
circular dough cutter. Place onto greased bread pan (deeper
than a cookie sheet, but wider than a loaf pan), turning once to
grease both sides.
Bake at 350-400 F degree oven until light brown and cooked to
desired texture inside (about 25 -30 minutes).
* My family was poor; we took a small can (tuna or soup), washed it
well and opened the bottom with a bottle open that had a pointed side.
That was our biscuit cutter.
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Iced Tea
Lewis D. (Grandpaw) Beene
8 small or 4 large tea bags 2 quarts boiling water
1 cup sugar or artificial sweetener specially made for using by
the cup.
If you want to use the individual packets, do not sweeten the
whole jar, just sweeten it one glass at a time.
Boil water. Remove from heat. Place tea bags in water to sit for
30 minutes.
Pour over sugar. Stir.
Pour over ice in a tall glass.
Serve with lemon or orange slice if desired.
*For a slightly different taste, use flavored tea added to regular
orange pekoe/black tea. Depending on the amount of flavor
you wish to add, substitute 2 small, flavored and 6 small,
regular, or replace one large with 2 small, flavored tea bags.
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