As a seventh-grader our vocational class was cooking. Chefs and Cookettes was our “textbook”.  There are several recipes from that book I still make to this day. Walnut Oatmeal Patties is one of them. My mom nearly wore this recipe out. Last year we were visiting with a friend I went to grade school with and we got to talking about these Walnut Oatmeal Patties. He said he always loved my mom’s cooking. He asked me if I still make that recipe. Indeed, I do, in fact I had some patties in the freezer at that moment. I have posted my vegan version of the recipe.

There had been an evangelistic campaign in the area wide Seventh-day Adventist churches where I grew up and the final weekend of the meetings culminated in a consolidated church service at the school gymnasium followed by a fellowship dinner. My mother, of course, took her Walnut Oatmeal Patties in a sauce made from mushroom soup. During the dinner our friend, Sister P, came to Mom asking where she could throw “this” away, she thought maybe some of the non-Adventist visitors had brought some meat. Mom showed her where the garbage was, then asked her what dish it came from. Sister P pointed to Mom’s dish and said it tasted like “the real thing.” Mom said it was her Walnut Oatmeal Patties! They had a good laugh together, and my sister and I have referred to it as “The Real Thing” ever since!

Two or three years ago I took these patties as meatballs in a sweet and sour sauce to a community picnic where we were the only vegetarians. A couple at my table was commenting on how wonderful these meatballs were and wondered who brought them. I said I brought them. They knew I was vegetarian and couldn’t believe these would be vegetarian. “Are you sure there’s no meat in here?” they asked. Positive, just nuts, oats, seasonings, and a binder. I believe it was also the sauce that made it. At another table, the meatballs had been under discussion. “I wonder who brought these?” asked Grace. Mary said she thought Cindy brought them because she saw her bring a hot dish carrier. Grace said, “But Cindy’s a vegetarian!” About that time, I approached the table and was asked to confirm that I did make the meatballs in question.  Another time I served the meatballs in the same sweet and sour sauce at a different community picnic. The next day a die-hard meat eater looked around to be certain no one was around to hear him admit to me he really, really liked those meatballs. He couldn’t believe there was no meat in them.

Walnut Oatmeal Patties
Sour Supreme Potatoes
Sweet Kale Salad
Harvard or Plain Beets
Bestever Cobbler

Pre-Sabbath Prep:
   Patties: Make the patties and cover with the mushroom gravy. Put in casserole dish and refrigerate. Note: If making earlier than Friday, wait to add the gravy to the patties until Friday.
   Potatoes: Make and bake the potato dish.
   Salad: Make the salad.
   Beets: Make the Harvard Beets and put in small casserole dish.
   Cobbler: Make the cobbler

Sabbath Prep:
I have a gas oven, so I place in oven with the pilot light on and then turn the heat up to around 300° about an hour before I plan on serving. If you have a time-bake feature on your oven, this is a good time to use it.
   Patties and Potatoes: Place in oven.
   Beets: Put beets on back of stove to collect heat from the oven before putting in the oven the last half hour or so of the warming time.

Walnut Oatmeal Patties
3/4 cup ground nuts (walnuts / pecans)
1 small onion
1/4 cup non-dairy milk or creamer, unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick oats

Put everything but the oats in blender.  Whiz and pour into bowl and add oats.  Form into patties and fry or bake on greased cookie sheet for approximately 30 minutes in 350° oven. In my little propane oven, I turn my pan around halfway through the baking process. Then I turn the patties over and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Serve with favorite sauce

Quick Mushroom Sauce (1/2 recipe)
1/4 cup canned mushrooms
1 1/2 Tablespoon unbleached white or w/w pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon Chicken Seasoning
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup soymilk
1/2 teaspoon dry parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt

Blend briefly until mushrooms are cut in pieces, not smooth. Pour into saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened. Stir constantly.

Sour Supreme Potatoes (1/2 recipe, and this still serves us another day)
Boil 4 potatoes until not quite done
Cool the potatoes
Peel and grate potatoes
½ bunch of green onions, chopped
Add about 1 cup cheese sauce (see the M & C for recipe)
Or soy cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup or less Tofutti sour cream [sometimes I just eyeball it. Is that what we call “cooking by ear”? or “dump cook”?]
Salt to taste

Mix the sour cream and cheese sauce. Add salt. Add grated potatoes into the cheese sauce and mix together. Bake about 30 minutes at 350°

Note: I have successfully used frozen hash browns instead of the fresh cooked potatoes. Half of a 2-pound bag is sufficient for this half recipe.  When I used the frozen hash browns, I found it mixed better with the cheese sauce and sour cream if the potatoes were still frozen. It prevents them from getting gummy.

Harvard Beets
If you like beets, but don’t care for sweet and sour beets, just serve plain cooked beets, hot or cold, like pictured.
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup reserved beet liquid
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoon margarine
1 15-oz. can diced beets, drained

Drain beets, reserving 1/3 cup liquid. In saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in reserved beet liquid, lemon juice and butter. Cook and stir till mixture thickens and bubbles. Add beets and heat through or immediately put in casserole dish for Sabbath dinner. Serves 4 or 5.

Sweet Kale Salad
I usually purchase the salad in the packaged salad section. Kale is very high in Vitamin K and that is a vitamin I need to eat a very limited quantity of, so a full bundle of kale just to make a salad, would not be economical for me—too much would go to waste. Of course, the packaged salad comes with a salad dressing, but you can make your own. I have not yet perfected a dressing for this salad worthy of sharing.

Put salad together if not already done.

Bestever Cobbler
This recipe came from a dear friend many years ago. It has been my go-to cobbler recipe ever since. I have used peaches, apples, berries, and even my home canned apple pie filling. Today I’m using a combination of frozen berries.
1/4 cup soft vegan margarine (or oil)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Drained, canned fruit equal to about 2 1/2 cups
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 375°. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients, sifted together, alternatively with milk. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour into greased 8” x 8” casserole pan. Spoon drained fruit over batter. Sprinkle with sugar (optional).

Bake 45-50 minutes and enjoy.

Note: The original recipe said to pour 1 cup of reserved juice from the drained fruit over the cobbler before baking. However, I found that my cobbler was soggy, so I have skipped this step.