Category: Curry

Cooking, Curry, Hospitality, Recipes, Sisters

Project S.T.I.R.

Dorothy Johnson
Although I’m not a Foodie, I’ve done lots of cooking for my family and occasionally share family recipes here. So when my Arkansas Women Blogger friend, Sarah Shotts, invited me to become an ambassador for Project S.T.I.R., I knew I could find one of Mother’s or Mo’s recipes worthy of sharing. 

Sarah’s on a mission to video cooks of one generation passing on a favorite family recipe to someone in the younger generation. Learn all about it at Project S.T.I.R. You may even want to become a supporter. I did.

My mother was a Foodie of sorts. Her first response to any upcoming occasion was what shall we serve? She loved to cook for people, so there was always room to scooch-in one more chair around our table. 

Mother with my sister-in-law, Martha, and
Terry’s brother, Jerry, way back when


She set a pretty table, using her best china and fresh flowers or berries from the yard. 




If you stopped by our house, Mother offered you something to drink, along with at least a cookie. Maybe that came from growing up on a farm when travelers often arrived hungry and in need of a drink of water.




Mother’s 3 older sisters–Mary, Dorothy & Betty
at Oak Dale Farm where they grew up


One of nine children and the youngest of four sisters, Mama was the one who stayed in Searcy.  Consequently, our home became the gathering place for her siblings and their offspring. 

Dorothy Dale & Betty Spencer

Dorothy and Betty were career women who lived in Washington D.C. Every summer, they came home for two weeks. 





Aunt Mary was a sweetheart.









Aunt Mary lived in Little Rock so it was easy for all four sisters to be together. 

When that happened, there was always food involved. And talk. Oh, my yes, lots of talk, cooking and laughter. They didn’t even seem to mind cleaning up. If sisters-in-law were present, they joined in the fun. I was there, too, basking in all the joyful doings.

Afterwards, someone would suggest a nap. They were big on naps.

Aunt Betty, the most adventurous cook, usually brought a new recipe to share. One year she made crepes, another bread pudding. But the dish that got the most mileage at our house was her Curried Spaghetti.


Mom & co-worker, Bev, enjoyed
a mutual admiration society.

Mother loved to cook up a big batch and invite her office crew in for lunch. She’d extend the dining table as far as it would go and set up card tables in the living room. My friend, Suanne, mentioned those gatherings just the other day.

In the late 1960s, curry was a bit exotic to our Arkansas branch of the family. But Mother completely embraced it and converted us. (I’m not sure it was ever Daddy’s favorite, but he never let on in front of company. He was well-trained like that.) 


 Curried Spaghetti, served with salad and
French bread, makes a great company dinner. 

Curried Spaghetti serves 12, so it’s great for a dinner party or pot luck. Or you can opt for what I did and invite neighbors over for dinner one evening and a couple of friends in for lunch another day. 

Mother’s go-to dish was a hit with my guests. Everyone wanted the recipe. I thought I’d share it with you, too.

Curried Spaghetti
3 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1-cup milk
1-lb. thin spaghetti
4 tsp. curry powder, dissolved in ¼ cup warm water
½ tsp. thyme
¼ tsp. basil
¼ tsp. oregano
1 Tb. scraped onion
1 6-oz. can whole mushrooms with liquid
2 cans solid-packed tuna (I used Albacore)
Combine first three ingredients and simmer over low heat ten minutes, stirring constantly.
Add curry-water blend to soup mixture, along with mushrooms, onion, basil, oregano and thyme. Simmer 10 more minutes, stirring. 
Add tuna. (If tuna makes you shiver, substitute chicken.) 
Cook the spaghetti. 
Mix sauce and spaghetti together. Turn into a large casserole dish and reheat in the oven it just before serving.  Fix it a day or two ahead. The flavor just gets better.)
 



Serve with condiments such as pineapple bits, diced tomato, chopped hard-cooked eggs, diced green onions, bacon bits, peanuts, chutney, coconut, or raisins. 

I passed around peanuts, raisins, bacon bits, and coconut. I especially like the flavor of peanuts and raisins on it.

I had forgotten how tasty this dish is. If you make a batch and invite friends over, they may just want the recipe, too. Let me know how they liked it.

And don’t forget to visit Sarah at Project S.T.I.R. 
She gets up while it is still night; 
she provides food for her family…
Proverbs 31:15a

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