Country Chef Reader

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As a child, I had The World's Meanest Mother. She was real mean!

When other kids ate candy for breakfast, she made me eat cereal, or eggs and toast. When other kids had Coke and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my dinner, too, was different from other kids.

My mother insisted on knowing were we were at all times. You’d think we were in a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were – and what we were doing. She insisted that if we said we’d be gone for an hour - that we would be gone for one hour or less. She was really mean!

I am ashamed to admit it, but she actually had the nerve to break the child labor laws by making us work! We had to wash dishes, make all the beds, learn to cook, and all sorts of cruel things. I believe at night she lay awake thinking up things for us to do!

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time we were teenagers, she was much wiser, and our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting the car horn for us to come running. She embarrassed us to no end by making our dates come to the front door to get us. I forgot to mention it, but while my friends were dating at the mature age of 12 and 13, my old-fashioned mother refused to let me date until I was 15 or 16. She was really mean!

My mother was a complete failure as a mother.
But, none of us have ever been arrested, or beaten a mate. Each of my brothers spent time in the service of his country, willingly…no protesting. And whom do we have to blame for this terrible way we turned out? You’re right…our mean mother!

Look at all the things we missed. We never got to take part in a riot, never burned draft cards, or got to do a million things our friends did. Our mean mother made us grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults.

I am trying to use this as a background for raising my own children. So, I stand a little taller, and I am filled with pride when my children call me ‘mean.’ You see, I’m thankful God gave me the meanest mother in the world.

Signed,
Another Mother
(Anonymous)

I’d like to pass along to you my mother’s dinner roll recipe. These sweet, old-fashioned pull-apart dinner rolls are unforgettably delicious and I think you’ll agree that my mean mother could make a mean dinner roll! Happy Mother’s Day!

My Mean Mother’s Dinner Rolls
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
5 1/2 - 6 cups all-purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted

Melt butter; combine with water and heat to 110-120°. In a large mixing bowl combine warmed butter mixture, 3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs and milk. Gradually add
5 1/2 cups flour reserving 1/2 - 1 cup to flour board; knead about 4 minutes by hand or using a heavy duty automatic with dough hoops. Place in well-greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 1- 1 1/2 hours.

Lightly punch down dough and divide into 12 balls, place in an 11 x 13-inch baking pan. Lightly butter a piece of plastic wrap or coat with cooking spray and loosely cover rolls; place in a warm location to rise, about 1 hour. When rolls have raised almost level to top of pan, remove plastic wrap; bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until rolls are golden brown. Remove from the oven; brush tops with melted butter, if desired. Cool for 5 minutes; turn onto cooling rack.

Note: Recipe is for sea level, so adjustments for high altitude are recommended.

Yield: 12 dinner rolls

*****
Broiled Salmon with Pineapple Tomato Salsa
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
4-4 to 6 ounce salmon portions (skin removed)

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Spread mixture evenly over salmon fillets.

Broil 7-10 minutes or until fish easily flakes with a fork (no need to turn fillets).

Pineapple Tomato Salsa
1-16 ounce carton fresh Medium Deli Salsa (Rojo’s brand is my favorite)
1-8 ounce can pineapple tidbits, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Combine salsa and pineapple in a medium size bowl; garnish with cilantro. Serve over salmon fillets. Makes 4 servings

Note: Pineapple Tomato Salsa is equally delicious served over blackened salmon or grilled chicken breasts.

Recipe originates from the kitchen of Holly Robertson, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

*****