Home Cooking

Easter Sunday dinner was never without Sawdust Salad for dessert. When we had summer picnics or family get-togethers, our cousins from Pittsburgh always requested that my mom, Catherine Johnson, make Sawdust Salad. When we were young, my sister, Trina, and I got to help with stirring, mixing or spreading the different layers. We also enjoyed licking the beaters from the mixer and "cleaning up" leftovers in the bowls. The "sawdust" of the salad's name comes from the appearance of the coconut on top. But Mom never used it, because we did not like coconut.

Hagerstown resident Donna Wagner said she doesn't cook much now, but she used to cook all the time. Nothing fancy, she added. "Plain American food - meat and potatoes, two vegetables," she said. Wagner said she is a self-taught cook, and gathered recipes from friends. This recipe, which Wagner got from a friend, Kerby Mumma, is a little fancy. "I made this just once for the Singer Society. It's a lot of work," she said. It might take a little advanced planning to find unsliced bread, Wagner said.

Christmas Carrots has been a family favorite at the Roney table for Christmas Eve get-togethers for many years. The family gathers, in Danish tradition, on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas. I usually make 3 to 4 pounds, enough to feed a large group, and the spices can be adjusted to preference. Try adding nutmeg, brown sugar or nuts, but always include ginger. Christmas Carrots might even be better when served as leftovers. - Clyde Roney Christmas Carrots 2 pounds sliced or baby carrots 4 tablespoons butter Zest and juice of one orange 1 cup dried cranberries 1 teaspoon fresh, grated ginger (see cook's note)

This recipe for steamed shrimp came from my paternal grandmother, Emma C. Potter Fitz Baker. Emma was born in 1890 and died in 1962, and our family loves her steamed shrimp recipe still today. This recipe can be adjusted for a small dinner or a large gathering. This recipe was created before Old Bay seasoning was in existence. In fact, I think this recipe is better than any Old Bay recipe. - Dawn Fitz Lowenhaupt is a member of the Otterbein United Methodist Church hand bell choir Steamed shrimp For each pound of uncooked shrimp add: 1 heaping tablespoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper 1 teaspoon celery seed 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 cans of beer Black pepper Uncooked shrimp Mix together all ingredients except shrimp in a pot. Add shrimp, stir and cover mixture with black pepper.

I watched Julia Child with my mom, even when I was as young as 8. I loved how beautiful the foods were garnished and presented, like works of art. That was right up my alley, as I enjoyed drawing and painting. I provide food for St. Ann Catholic Roman Church in Hagerstown — dishes for bereavement luncheons and decorated cakes for celebrations. I also cater events at St. Ann and present cooking and baking classes. This vegetarian dish is especially useful for Lent, the seven-week period of time before Easter.

Linda Tantillo of Hagerstown is a veteran of Herald-Mail baking contests. Her Apple Cranberry Holiday cookies were featured in our Home Cooking recipe series in December 2010. She is also active in the Hagerstown Lioness Club. Tantillo said her cooking career started when she was a child. "I started cooking at 12," she said. "My mother was sick. She had asthm, which always turned to pneumonia. I could cook a whole meal at age 12. " She likes to bake with yeast - coffee cakes, breads, cakes.

It takes careful balance to maintain favorite family culinary traditions while exploring new foods. But that's what Hagerstown resident Sally Poole has done. “My husband's family had gathered for oyster stew and ham sandwiches on Christmas Eve for at least 20 years before we were married,” Poole said in an email sent with her recipe. “When we moved into the family home, my husband and I decided to continue the tradition.” Now, 31 years later, Poole has maintained the family tradition.

Glenda McBee Bonfili is a member of Sons and Daughters of Italy. She is of Italian descent. She said this pork recipe has been handed down from her grandmother, Philomena Ferrari Billotti, who Bonfili called "Nona. " "My Italian grandmother grew up in San Genovera De Foria in southern Italy," Bonfili said by email. "She was married to my grandfather, Samuel, had one son and a second child on the way, when Samuel decided to move to America. " Samuel debarked in Boston, then moved to Clarksburg, W.Va., where he had relatives living.

Joseph Ash, of Martinsburg, W.Va., grew up in Oakland, Md., the sixth of eight children of Robert and Mary Ash. He grew up having to pitch in where needed, such as helping with dinner. Ash said he learned to cook on a wood-burning cook stove. Now he cooks in a more conventional kitchen. Ash has lived with an Italian roommate, Domenick Palmer, for more than 30 years. Ash and Palmer are members of the Dan DiMucci Lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Italy, and the two participate in many Italian traditions.

Mark Anthony's cooking career has run through some pretty high-profile terrain. He was named executive chef at the Las Vegas Sands resort complex when he was only 24 years old. He appears on national TV. He has catered or served as personal chef for rock bands, politicians and sports heroes. But Anthony got his start in cooking in another sort of high-profile terrain: Mount Rushmore. "I think I was 12 when I started cooking. That was in a restaurant in Keystone, right next to Mt. Rushmore (in South Dakota)

Mary Mallery is a member of the Friends of Washington County Free Library. She is also the possessor of a family cooking secret. "This (mixed seasoning for meat) is a recipe from my grandmother," Mallery wrote in an email. "She prepared supplies of this seasoning and freely gave it to others. She shared this recipe with me, but I was forbidden to share it with anyone else during her lifetime. "  Mallery said her grandmother was a superb natural cook. "She judged what she was preparing by deciding if it looked right, felt right, smelled right and so on," she said.

Joan Dawson lives in Smithsburg. She is a retired nurse and a Friend of the Washington County Free Library. She enjoys reading and makes frequent use of the library. On the WCFL website, www.washcolibrary.org, she researches books she wants to read. She requests books to be sent to her local branch, Smithsburg, where she can pick them up. “I often get brand-new books just published,” she said. Dawson also is a volunteer coordinator at her branch, which brings her in contact with many people at special events at the library.

Cathy Grantham is a former Washington County Public Schools teacher and has lived in Washington County for more than 30 years. Since November, she has been chairwoman of Friends of the Washington County Free Library. She said she has learned a lot about the library and how it functions. "As a Friend, I traveled to Annapolis to talk with some of our delegates and senators during Maryland Library Day on Feb. 13," Grantham said in an email. She praised volunteers and library staff who work hard to make WCFL a lively part of the community.

Boonsboro cook Marilyn Hembrock has years of experience in making chocolate candies, dating back to before her husband's tour as an Army chaplain in Germany in the 1970s. Hembrock said German chocolates are different from American chocolates. "They have (candy bars) like Toblerone, and they have lots of molded chocolates," she said. "They had molded rabbits and they also had molded pigs, which were for one of their celebrations. Different candies for different celebrations. " This month, Hembrock shared her chocolate-making experience with the youth group at Trinity Lutheran Church in Smithsburg.

Retired teacher Marilyn Hembrock worked with the youth group at Trinity Lutheran Church in Smithsburg to make chocolate candies for a fundraiser. One of the popular candies they produced was a version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. "We adapted them just through trial and error," Hembrock said. "We tried different things, because the kids love peanut butter cups. " Reese's comes in paper liners similar to those used for cupcakes, so Hembrock used those in her recipe. The kids also wanted to try different flavors, such as mint and chopped nuts.