Out of Helen's Kitchen - A Town Goes Dry

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Published on Saturday, November 11, 2017

Rita Friesen
Neepawa Banner & Press

The Millennium did not bring about any major glitzes and life went on as before. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien caught his opponent’s off-guard by calling an early election.  A five-week campaign saw Chrétien win a third majority in the House of Commons, the first time this had happened in Canada since 1945. Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau passes away in September and is given a state funeral.

2001 - Manitoba had 21,071 farms with nearly all of them family-operated.

April 2002 –Headlines in the Press read “A town gone dry”. A malfunction at the water treatment plant left the town without water for most of the week.

2003 - Jean Chrétien retires as Prime Minister and is replaced by Paul Martin. Farmers income hits an all-time low with mad cow disease and drought.

2004 - The Canadian Alliance party merges with the Progressive Conservative and is led by Stephan Harper.

Roland, Manitoba is recognized as the birthplace of 4-H in Canada as it was the community in which the first organizational meeting for a Boys and Girls Club was held in 1913. The program’s original aims for the boys were to help learn and improve agriculture skills, and for the girls to help improve homemaking skills as well as leadership and citizenship training. The importance of public speaking skills was recognized and the Provincial Communications Competition, begun in 1947, remains a cornerstone of the 4-H program. There were beef, dairy, poultry, swine, garden, seed, sewing clubs, home economics, horse and woodworking clubs all dedicated to the advancement of new techniques. 4-H stood for Head, Heart, Hands and Health. 4-H rallies, achievement days, trips, fun, fellowship and hard work kept the young people busy. Neepawa has had various clubs over the past years, Belles, Beaux, and Builders, Silver Spurs and Neepawa and Area Beef Club to name a few. In 2002 the beef club published a cook book with recipes from past and present 4-H members. I am pleased to share some of their recipes.

Chicken and broccoli casserole

1 head of broccoli

almonds or cashews

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. curry powder

4-5 cups cubed cooked

chicken

1 can mushrooms

1 can cream of

mushroom soup

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 can cream of

chicken soup

Buttered bread crumbs

for topping

Mix all the ingredients together. Top with buttered bread crumbs and bake at 350° for 40 minutes.

Fiesta nacho pizza

Roll out 1 package Pillsbury jumbo crescent roll into jelly roll pan or 9x13” pan. Cook at 325° for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool.

Mix:

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp. taco seasoning

1 minced garlic clove

1 pkg. (250 g) cream

cheese

Mix together until smooth and then spread on top of cooled crescent roll.

Add 1/2 cup each chopped vegetables (ex. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers). Put on top of cream cheese mixture. Add 1 cup grated cheese. Add crushed nachos. Serve.

Crème de cacao cake

 Chocolate cake mix

6 crushed Skor bars

1 litre of whipping cream

1/3 cup crème de cacao

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

Bake cake as directed; let cool. Ct 2 layers into 4 pieces. (layers) Sprinkle gelatin over crème de cacao. Warm in microwave for 20 seconds. Let cool. Meanwhile, whip cream and add a bit of sugar to the same. Mix this well. Place first layer of cake; spread whipped mixture on top then sprinkle with Skor bar crumbles. Place next layer on and repeat with whipped cream mixture as before. Continue until all layers are used. Place in fridge overnight.