Subscribe
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Apts
Classifieds
Shop
Fall is LuAnn Ambriole’s favorite season. It’s the time of the year when she’s outside viewing the colorful foliage as she drives a tractor.
Ambriole, 50, her husband, Gary, 51, and son Andy, 21, run a farm northeast of Roanoke. In addition to the traditional farm, they sell worm castings for fertilizer. Her son also grows and sells organic tomatoes.
“I drive the combine. I shell corn. I till the bean ground. When one of the guys are cutting the beans, I’m right behind on the tractor ripping (tilling) the soil,” she says.
One thing Ambriole doesn’t like is the unwanted guests she occasionally has in the field.
“I don’t like it when the coyotes are with me,” she says. “I’ve had them follow me in the tractor.”
Besides her son, Ambriole has two daughters, Amy, 24, of Allen County, and Ashley, 18, at home. The youngest daughter is a senior at Huntington North High School.
During the farming season, Ambriole packs lunches for everyone. She also keeps her freezer stocked with meals she’s prepared in advance.
“It might be late, but we sit down as a family and eat together. Right now I have three pans of lasagna in the freezer. I have 30 or more pans of enchiladas in the freezer. I freeze them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. When they’re frozen, I slip them in a Ziploc bag,” she says.
Q. What’s your favorite cookbook?
A. I’ve never met one I didn’t like. Our church (Emmanuel Community Church) did one years ago and I like it. We did this when the church was very young. Also the Manchester High School Cookbook. Ashley got that as a gift.
Q. What do you do to keep meals healthy?
A. I guess we have Andy to thank for that – eating stuff out of the garden. (He) got a greenhouse at 16. Seven Sons (Meat Co.) are friends of ours. We get our eggs and meat from them. They have free-range chickens and grass-fed beef. We butcher a hog. Ashley raises two hogs for 4-H. She sells one, and we put the other in the freezer.
Q. Do you have any cost-saving tips for buying groceries?
A. I buy in quantity. I have a pretty good idea of what something costs. I pretty much know what’s in my pantry. When I do my big shop – baking supplies, condiments and spices– my list is organized.
When I see ads for cooked potatoes, I think, why couldn’t you peel potatoes? It would be cheaper to buy 20 pounds of potatoes and have the kids help peel them. It could be during (a) time of conversation instead of them being in their rooms.
Q. What’s your favorite food?
A. If you are what you eat, I’m a Krispy Kreme (doughnut). Recently I ate all but one piece of a rhubarb custard pie. It was good; I’d do it again. I like anything baked. Pies are my favorite things to bake. Last pie I baked? Strawberry. We love strawberry pies with a graham cracker crust.
Q. What one word describes your cooking style?
A. (Laughs) Oh my, is this a made-up word? One word? I’m debating between “simple,” but it has to be “good.” My (meals) have to travel between home and where the grain-drying system is down the road.”
Q. Finish this sentence: “I still can’t wait to …”
A. Organize my recipes. I mean, I know where most of them are, but that’s still a goal. Quilt and organize my recipes.
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
16-ounce can refried beans
10-ounce can enchilada sauce, divided
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
10 to 12 flour tortilla shells
Brown hamburger and onion. Drain. Stir in refried beans, 3/4 can enchilada sauce and 1 cup cheese. Mix together. Divide among tortilla shells. Roll and place in two 9-by-13-inch baking dishes sprayed with non-stick spray. Drizzle with remaining sauce.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Return to oven uncovered for 3 to 5 minutes to melt cheese. Can also be heated in microwave. Serve with chopped lettuce, sour cream and salsa. Double this recipe and freeze some for a handy quick meal later. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
4 whole eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup boiling milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat eggs. Add sugar and salt. Add flour and baking powder. Beat on low until creamy, not too much. Add boiling milk and vanilla. Mix until just smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Center will spring back when done.
Top with fresh or frozen fruit such as strawberries, peaches, or red or black raspberries. Freeze in serving-size pieces for a quick dessert with fresh berries. Makes 12 to 15 servings.
10 to 12 apples (cooking variety)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
Peel, core and slice apples into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Mix sugar, cinnamon and flour together. Sprinkle over apples. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until apples are cooked. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon butter
6 cups Kellogg’s Product 19 cereal
Bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and butter. Stir until creamy, then pour over cereal. Immediately spoon onto waxed paper in “globs” (about 1 tablespoon each). Makes 20 to 24 globs. Store in airtight container.
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 (9-inch) baked pie crust, cooled
5.1-ounce (large box) instant vanilla pudding
8-ounce container of non-dairy whipped topping
Using a fork, stir together powdered sugar and peanut butter just until crumbly. Place 3/4 of the mixture into prepared pie crust. Make pudding using pudding pie instructions. Pour over crumbs in crust. Top with whipped topping. Garnish with remaining crumbs. Refrigerate. Makes 8 servings.
