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Feb 8, 2017 By Joe Carei for The 5 min read

When my mother passed away recently, my sister compared her to Mary Tyler Moore, who had died that same day. I had compared her to Carol Burnett. We were born nine years apart, and by the time I had come along, there were several others in the middle. I guess six kids turn you sarcastically funny in the span of nine years.

The kitchen was not the center of our home. We were always pushed outside. We were not allowed to hang out in the house. My mom, who on my dad’s first day of work after they got married, didn’t really think about making dinner. So he was surprised when he came home and there was no dinner. She was a self-proclaimed ‘party girl,’ so cooking was not in her wheel house. Plus she was Irish, and as she always said, “Irish gourmet cooking is an oxymoron.” But, she responded.

Teaching yourself how to cook in those days was not easy. No cooking shows, no internet, and just a handful of cookbooks and magazines. It would be a number of years before Julia Child would influence the housewife with “The French Chef” television show. Mom bought the Joy of Cooking, the consummate cooking Bible of the time. Julia Child called “a fundamental resource for any American cook.” She also consulted the recipes on the cans of Campbell soup. And away she went.

This did not make her enjoy cooking any more, but it gave her some variety. She had in her arsenal, what we called the Magnificent 7. This was seven dinners that we could count on a regular basis. There was some deviation to the arsenal, and holiday dinners were grand.

Once we were old enough, she had devised a plan that each of us would cook a night. As she was always pushing our independence, we accepted this whole heartedly. But, we realized later, she was done with the cooking game. This was ok with me as I thrived in the kitchen. She also convinced my sister Jane to do all the baking, which was fine with all of us. So in the end, it worked out great.

Once the house emptied, my father took over the cooking and she started her career as a restaurant officianado. The party girl was back. She still consulted the cans of soup, only to see the ingredients.

Here are few of the Magnificent 7 and a couple of her side dishes.

Beef stroganoff

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound beef sirloin or top round, cut into thin strips then cut into pieces

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup chopped onion

1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

½ cup milk

½ cup beef broth

½ cup sour cream

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Dash worchestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

1 pound egg noodles, cooked

Brown beef in oil. Set aside and drain oil. Add butter to pan and sweat onions until tender and then add mushrooms and garlic about ½ way through cooking onions. Whisk in soup, milk and broth and simmer until incorporated. Then add sour cream, worchestershire, beef and parsley. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Mrs. C’s Potato Salad

2 pounds red potatoes diced

2 green onions

¾ cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoons pepper

1 ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard.

Boil off and cool potatoes. Fold in rest of ingredients.

Stuffed Peppers

6-8 whole Bell Peppers

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 pound Ground Beef

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3-4 diced roma tomatoes

1 cup cooked rice

2 cups marinara sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella

2 tablespoons grated parmesan

Cut tops off peppers. Scoop out seeds, dice tops. Brown beef in skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil, drain and set aside. Add onions and peppers with rest of oil and saute, add garlic and cook a little more. Add tomatoes and cook down a few minutes Season with salt and pepper. Fold in beef and rice. Let cool. Fold in 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup marinara and parmesan cheese. Place peppers in baking dish. Fill with mixture. Put ½ cup water in bottom of bakeing dish, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and top with rest of sauce then cheese. Bake another 20 minutes.

Manhatten Clam Chowder

2-4 slices bacon chopped

2 carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 russet potatoes, diced

1 16-ounce can diced tomatoes

2 cups freshly steamed clams with broth (4 dozen steamers) or chopped clams in juice. More if you like.

1 quart clam stock or chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon of dry basil

1 teaspoon old bay

½ tsp pepper

1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

In pot, render bacon until a bit crispy. Add carrots, celery and onion; sweat until soft. Add stock, tomatoes, basil and potatoes. Simmer on medium for about 25 minutes. Add old bay, pepper and parsley. Serve with Italian bread.

Pineapple Souffle

slices of bread no crust

4 eggs slightly beaten

1 cup sugar

1 15-oz can crushed pineapple drained.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cube bread. Toss with rest of ingredients.

Bake in buttered cassarole dish for 50 minutes.