EXCHANGE: Warsaw woman says cooking makes people happy

WARSAW, Ill. (AP) - Diane Heisler focuses on country-style cooking with farm-fresh ingredients.

“I don’t do fancy things,” the Warsaw woman said. “I used what I got out of the garden or what we butchered, what I got at the local store.”

What turns up on the table mirrors the season.

“We have lettuce when it’s spring, then it’s peas, green beans. You always have something, it seems like, for at least close to six months out of the year,” Heisler said, and when fresh isn’t available, “it’s nice to have it on hand, just run downstairs and grab a jar of tomato juice or something.”

Simple, basic meals are favorites of the family — her husband Mike, their five children, 11 grandkids and five great-grandkids.

“Chilighetti is a combination of chili and spaghetti in a casserole,” Heisler said. “Mom’s Maid Rites have been a favorite of the kids. It’s good to freeze.”

Easy Lasagna uses items always found in the cupboard, and Pork Chop Supper makes a meal from three ingredients.

Barbecue Beef Burgers combine hamburger, beans and cheese into a favorite sandwich, and Hash Brown Casserole works equally well for church events or holiday breakfasts when the kids are home. Pork Balls, meatballs made from fresh pork, are topped with a tangy sauce made from simple ingredients.

Heisler learned to cook after she got married by paying attention to her mom and her mother-in-law. “She taught me a lot. We did canning together,” she said, and her mother-in-law’s Canned Pickled Beets remain a potluck favorite.

Apple Muffins make a sweet treat to complement a casserole meal, something she’d often take to the field during planting or harvest season. The couple retired from crop farming in the Warsaw bottoms after 39 years, but still has some cattle, and they both stay very busy with community activities, gardening and mowing lawn.

Desserts like Grandma Stevens’ Apple Cake, which doesn’t need any icing, to Peach Cobbler with fruit from the backyard tree cater to the family’s sweet tooth, and Heisler said Extraordinary Chocolate Chip Cookies live up to their name. “I’ve had all kind of chocolate chip cookie recipes, and this one I really like,” she said. “They’re chewy and moist. They just have good texture.”

Trying new recipes and collecting cookbooks, especially from churches or communities with simple, tasty dishes, only adds to the fun of cooking.

So does “a husband that goes along with mistakes. He likes the basics, but he doesn’t mind experimenting,” she said. “I like cooking for family. It’s an easy way to make people happy.”

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Source: The Quincy Herald-Whig, https://bit.ly/1geJNTr

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Information from: The Quincy Herald-Whig, https://www.whig.com