Friday's Favorite Farm Recipe

Iowa had it's 15 minutes of fame in December and January leading up to the Caucus.  Some of the media attention was good while some left a lot to be desired.  I'm here today to set the record straight - Iowans do not eat Jello at every meal.  I will admit that I slip a Jello salad into the lunch boxes every so often in the fall and my boys do know how to slurp jigglers with the best of them.  However, it is not considered another food group!  So, I'm starting what will hopefully be a weekly blog entry of favorite recipes from the farm.  Some of the best cooks I know are farm wives or farmers. 

The first recipe I'm highlighting is from my mom, Judy.  Some of my earliest memories are of riding on the floor of the combine coloring and taking naps while Mom combined.  Mom always said that combining was the easiest job in the fall.  It beat having to hook up and unhook grain wagons and take them to the bin site to unload. 

After Joe and I moved back to Iowa, Mom retired from the combine and Dad moved into the combine.  Now Mom is the chief cook and runner.  Mom knows where most John Deere and Case IH parts depots are from Minneapolis to Moline.  In the spring and the fall Mom is pretty much on call at all hours to get parts and necessities.  One spring she took off to get a part for our Hagie sprayer 9:30 at night and got back home at 2:00 am and the repair man had the sprayer running by 5:30am.  Judy had one very thankful son-in-law.  Another spring she did a 10 hour road trip for me to get more product to keep our soybean seed treater running over a weekend.  I consider Mom of the oil that keeps everything running smoothly in our family farming operation.  It may not be the most glamorous job but it is one of the most important.

Babushka and Grandpa with their grandsons

This recipe is one of Mom's fall comfort foods.  She takes this casserole to the field as it travels well over the corn stalks and the guys like it.

Chicken Rice Casserole
    5 cups cubed cooked chicken
    2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
    2 cans sliced Water Chestnuts
    2 cups cooked rice
    3 cups diced Celery
    1/2 cup Mayonnaise
    Dash of Lemon Juice
    1/4 cup melted Butter
    1 can sliced Mushrooms
    1 4 oz jar Pimento
    Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and put in a greased 9 X 13 inch pan and sprinkle with crushed buttered corn flakes.  Bake 1 hour at 325F or until heated through.