2012 P’ingredients Cookoff Winner Interview with Morgan

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Morgan won this year’s P’ingredients Cookoff with such great recipes as Silage and Ham Balls (which is made with something called Ham Loaf).  Of course,we have to know a little more about Morgan and her kitchen and she agreed to an interview!

...yummy roasted chicken, red potatoes and green beans. My family DEVOURED this meal! Not many leftovers with this one!

Morgan is a SAHM to two kiddos, Amelia age 7 and Eli age 3 and has been married to Laird for almost 14 years.  She enjoys knitting, reading, cooking and Pinning, of course!  A friend introduced her to cloth and she stumbled onto the Diaper Pin forum via a Google search and is SO glad she did because not only did she receive invaluable cloth diapering advice and tools, but she has made several friendships with other Pin mamas that she treasures greatly!

What kind of kitchen setup do you have?

My kitchen is a galley style, LOTS of cupboard space and a decent sized pantry.  I have a good amount of counter space as well and a nice, big island too!  We actually just replaced the original sink with a nice shiny stainless one!  So excited about that!  And it’s a single sink, so I have a HUGE area for soaking big pans and dishes and it was really nice for canning this summer.

Are you more of a cook or a baker? 

I am more of a cook definitely!  I can bake things like cookies, cakes, bars and such, but things like pies, bread, cheesecakes I tend to struggle.

This is my “famous” apple crisp. I melded a couple recipes to get just the right crunch for the topping, nothing worse than soggy apple crisp topping! And usually my mom and I will get together every fall and mix the apples, sugars, and spices for apple pies and then freeze the mixture, but sometimes I use it for apple crisps too! So easy!

What is your favorite thing to make for company (or fancy showoff thing or special occassion, etc.)?  

This is a tough one, but I would say either something comfort food-like, such as a yummy soup like Bacon Cheeseburger (have an AWESOME recipe I made up!), a loaf a fresh bread and apple crisp w/ice cream for dessert or something uber fancy like a roasted turkey breast, real mashed potatoes with gravy, fresh rolls, green beans with bacon, and a lettuce salad like that 7 layer salad, and then a dutch apple pie with ice cream for dessert.  Oooooo I’m getting hungry thinking about all that yummy goodness!  LOL

Here are some baked goods, Amish white bread, Dutch Apple Pie and buns made from the second half of the bread dough. I made these to take to my mom’s for Thanksgiving last year.

What is your favorite kitchen item (appliance or tool)?

Food processor!!!

Have you had any kitchen disasters or total misses?

Oooooh yeah!  My first big fail was during our first year of marriage and it was lemon bars. I totally messed up the crust part and it was hard as a rock. Well, I cried and threw them away…pan and all! LOL  And then my first year of canning I made a batch of cooked strawberry jam and it was runny, so it got re-purposed as strawberry ice cream topping!  And it tasted awesome, so it wasn’t a total loss.  But then I made grape jam that same year, like peel the grapes and take the seeds out-took me FOR.EVER.  My first batch was perfect!  And then the second batch…epic fail.  You could stand a knife up in the jam I could’ve cried.  Also, a couple years ago I got into baking bread…or at least TRYING to bake bread.  And I really wanted to master it, but I still haven’t LOL!  My first attempt had me throwing away 4 loaves and I did cry.  That was not a good day, but I didn’t give up and actually I have mastered it…well kind of, with a little help from my bread machine!  Hehehe.  I let the machine mix it up for me and then I take it out and put it in the pan and let it rise.  Hey, it works right?  Still homemade!  And then there’s the pie crust.  Oh the pie crust.  So I have a recipe called “The Never Fail Pie Crust”  Yeah, well I failed!  I got it into the pan and into the oven to bake it and it completely melted.  It was horrible!  Now I buy the premade ones and do my own filling, so it’s semi-homemade

Spicy dill pickles and strawberry jam (she mastered canning just fine!!)

What big ticket kitchen item is on your list? 

A complete Le Creuset cookware set

Do you have any smaller kitchen items that you want but have never gotten around to buying for yourself? 

A metal strainer LOL!  And a citrus press, a juicing machine and one of those fancy pressure cookers, you know the ones that you can put a roast and veggies in and have it cooked to perfection in an hour?  Yep, that’s the one!

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strawberry lemonade concentrate

What’s next on your list of things you haven’t made yet but want to try? 

I really want to try making/canning ketchup and BBQ sauce.

What is one of your guilty pleasures (food related, of course)? 

Fresh bread with homemade jam and a cup of coffee=LOVE

banana peppers and more pickles

Any words of wisdom to share to future aspiring cookoff winners?

Don’t.Give.Up.  Seriously, when my husband and I got married I did not have a C.L.U.E. and through trial and error…and necessity, I pulled it together because I really wanted to feed my man! I started out with my crockpot and did a lot of basic dishes and then got curious and started watching cooking shows and took off from there.  There were MANY times I cried in the kitchen because something failed, but I knew I had to master it so I just kept at it and the more you do it the better you get and then you challenge yourself, which sometimes results in awesomeness, but sometimes not.  And it’s okay!  You just keep swimming!!

a salad I made this summer, homegrown lettuce, homemade blue cheese dressing and bacon (not homegrown)

I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants the recipes that go along with these great pics!!  Morgan graciously provided us with the recipe for her famous Apple Crisp!   Thanks, Morgan!  My husband will be thrilled.

Apple Crisp

• 4 c. apples, sliced
• 1 c. sugar
• Cinnamon to taste and a little brown sugar sprinkled around
• 2 T. flour Butter-I use 1/2 T. pats and put them all around the dish on top of apples

Mix all ingredients together, top with butter then:

Mix together:

• 1 c. oats
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar-packed
• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 c. really soft butter

I use a fork to mix and incorporate butter until it forms crumbs, a couple minutes.  Then pour over apple mixture and bake until bubbly and topping is browned, about 45-60 minutes.  350*

 Enjoy!

Becky

Becky has been married for 12 years and is a SAHM to 3 girls ranging from 2-8 years old, all of whom were cloth diapered.

Tags: contests, interview, recipes