A few favorite recipes of Mr. and Mrs. William Zickfield

A family wedding is such a joyous occasion to unite the happy couple and two families. Our family is celebrating along with the Zickfield family as William and Christa are united in holy matrimony. Christa Bollinger is my niece, and she married her high school sweetheart, William Zickfield.

It has been so much fun over the past few years watching them both mature and grow into adults. Oh, they still love to have fun, and now they drag our two children along with them for great times at Cardinals baseball games and memorable outings.

Today I am sharing a few of their favorite recipes they enjoy and hope you will, too.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. William Zickfield, and may you have many long years of happiness and cooking together.

Christa's Favorite Salad

For this salad, there really is no recipe; use what you like and in the amounts you prefer. This is the way Christa likes it.

1 bag lettuce greens

Green onion tops, sliced thin

Grape tomatoes, left whole

Cheese tortellini, cooked and rinsed

Real bacon bits

Dried cranberries

Toasted pecans

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Good quality poppy seed salad dressing.

* Combine all salad ingredients together in a large bowl, again, using as much or as little of each ingredient as you wish, adjusting to the size of your group you are serving.

* Allow each person to add their own dressing at the time of serving.

Pasta Con Broccoli

1 (16-ounce) package large shells

4 tablespoons margarine or butter

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 cloves garlic

2 cups mushrooms

1 bunch fresh broccoli or 2 cups frozen

1 cup Parmesan cheese

1 pint half & half

4 tablespoons tomato sauce

* Boil pasta shells just until tender and drain. Cook broccoli in small amount of water until barely tender.

* Mix together half & half, tomato sauce, butter, garlic, pepper and salt. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down. Add mushrooms. Simmer 2-3 minutes.

* Remove from heat and add Parmesan cheese. Combine all in large bowl. Stir until well mixed. Serve with salad and hot bread.

Chicken Enchilada Ring

2 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken

1/4 cup chopped pitted ripe olives

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack/cheddar cheese blend

1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies, undrained

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Southwestern seasoning mix

2 plum tomatoes

1 lime

2/3 cup finely crushed tortilla chips, divided

2 refrigerated tubes crescent rolls

1 cup salsa

1 cup sour cream

* Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix chopped chicken, olives, cheese, green chilies, mayonnaise and seasoning mix in bowl. Seed and chop one tomato. Slice lime in half. Juice one half of lime to measure 1 teaspoon of juice. Reserve remaining lime for garnish. Add chopped tomato and lime juice to chicken mixture.

* Reserve 2 tablespoons crushed chips and add remaining chips to chicken mixture. Mix well. Sprinkle reserved crushed chips over flat side of a large cutting board. Place dough onto chips and press down so chips adhere to dough. Separate dough into triangles. Arrange triangles, chip side down, in a circle on a 13-inch baking stone. Wide ends should overlap in the center and points should be toward the outside. There should be a 5-inch diameter opening in the center.

* Scoop chicken mixture onto the wide ends of the triangles. Bring points of the triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends. Do not cover filling completely. It should show in between each triangle. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. For garnish, cut remaining tomato into 8 wedges. Cut remaining half of lime into 4 slices, cut in half. Arrange between openings of ring where filling is showing. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Corn Casserole

1 (17 ounce) can cream style corn

1 (16 ounce) can whole kernel corn, undrained

1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream

1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick), melted

1 (8 ounce) package Jiffy corn muffin mix, dry

* Combine all ingredients In a bowl. Mix well. Pour into greased 2-quart oblong baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Garden Chowder

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup butter

1 cup each diced potato, celery, cauliflower, carrot and broccoli

3 cups water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

3 cups (12 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

* In a Dutch oven sauté green pepper, and onion until tender. Add veggies water, bouillon, salt and pepper, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the veggies are tender.

* Combine flour and milk until smooth; stir into veggies. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir in the cheese until melted. Yields 6-8 servings.

Fluffy Lemonade Gelatin

5 (3 ounce) boxes lemon gelatin

6 cups boiling water

1 (12 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate, keep frozen

Zest of about 1/2 fresh lemon

1 (12 ounce) carton Cool Whip, thawed

* Dissolve gelatin in boiling water; stir in lemonade concentrate until thawed and dissolved, chopping and mashing as you go. Add lemon zest and stir all well.

* Chill in refrigerator, stirring often, until just partially set. Fold in whipped topping. Keep stirring and folding until all gelatin mixture is completely incorporated into the whipped topping.

* Pour into desired serving dish, such as a 9x13 or a bowl. Chill until firm.

Easy Beef Stroganoff

1 pound ground chuck

1 large package noodles

1 large onion, chopped

2 teaspoons Lawry's season salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

* Brown ground chuck, with chopped onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain when fully cooked.

* In a large pot cook noodles according to directions. Drain water from noodles. Add to drained noodles sour cream, 2 cans of soup just until blended.

* Add cooked ground chuck to noodle mix. Stir until well mixed. Serve hot.

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole

1 (4 pound) chicken, cooked and deboned

2 (6 ounce) boxes Uncle Ben's original long grain and wild rice mix

1 large onion, chopped

1 stick butter or margarine

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 large can sliced mushrooms, drained

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 pound longhorn cheese, grated

* Cook chicken until tender, debone and cut into small pieces. You may also choose to use a store purchased herb-flavored rotisserie chicken and debone. Cook rice according to package directions. Sauté onions in butter. Blend in flour, milk and soup. Add mushrooms and season to taste.

* In a large baking pan, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, alternate layers of chicken, rice, cheese and sauce. Bake at 350 degrees abut 40 minutes. This makes a large recipe, and it freezes very well. If frozen, it takes about 75 minutes to bake. It is best to allow the casserole to thaw before baking.

Brownie Delight

1 box family size brownie mix

1 small box instant chocolate pudding

1 can Eagle Brand milk

1 cup 2% milk

1 large container Cool Whip

* Prepare brownie mix as directed on the box. Pour into a 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake according to directions. Remove from oven and cool.

* When brownies are cool to touch; in a small mixing bowl combine box of pudding mix and 1 cup of milk. Mix until blended. Add can of Eagle Brand milk. Mix until blended. Pour over top of cooled brownies.

* Put into refrigerator to allow pudding to set. When you are ready to serve, spread container of Cool Whip to top and serve.

Have a great week, and until next time, congratulations Christa and William and happy cooking together.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at news@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.