Monthly Themed Lunches A Tradition At Kellerman's
(Recipes at bottom) Once a month, the folks at Kellerman Insurance and Kellerman Real Estate in Holton get together for a potluck luncheon. It's an idea that started a couple of years ago with a "Green Food Day" to commemorate St. Patrick's Day. All of them enjoyed that luncheon so much that they decided to make it a regular event.
Roger and Cindy Hower are the owners of Kellerman's, and they have eight employees, which include two other married couples.
This small dual company has a very close-knit, family atmosphere. All of them work full time for Kellerman's, as well as participating in volunteer work. Each of them have very busy schedules and most have children or grandchildren.
All the employees agreed that they enjoy their montly luncheons because it's a way for them to sit down together in a relaxed setting to talk and catch up on each other's lives. It helps keep both companies connected, said Cindy Hower.
The group decided early on to always have a theme for their food day. Most all of them enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. Several in the group love to collect cookbooks so having a theme helps them to narrow their choices of "what to cook".
Themes over the years have included "Red Food Day" in February, "Picnic Food Day," "No-Theme Food Day," and of course all the holidays have their own food day. Diana Rieschick mentions a future theme of "Breakfast Food Day".
During the first year of potluck luncheons, Cindy Hower said she gave each employee a blank cookbook to fill with the recipes of each dish. All of the cooks bring copies of thier recipes for everyone to take home for their cookbook.
"The cookbooks are getting quite thick with so many different recipes, " said Sonja Parry. "People rarely bring the same dish twice."
Many in the group have specialties they have become know for. For example, Cindy's mother Pat Kellerman, makes wonderful salads and everyone raves about her delicious split pea soup.
Cindi Weilert has been dubbed the "cookie queen" of the office, and she often brings her special sugar cookies to the luncheons, but she has kept the recipe itself a secret.
It is interesting to note that not everyone brings a dish every month, but all are encouraged to eat and enjoy. Rieschick said their is always plenty of food, and they have never run out.
Even the men of the group regularly bring food. Occasionally, one of the men will forget to bring something and just claim a good-looking dish as one of their own, Rieschick said. Most of the employees know who the real cook is.
One year around Thanksgiving, Roger Hower and Jeremiah Huyett decided it would be fun to bring a turkey fryer and cook a turkey right outside the office. As they were preparing the turkey, someone noticed that the turkey was still frozen.
They hadn't realized it needed to be thawed so they scrambled trying to find a non-frozen turkey they could still cook. Huyett traveled to Topeka to find one, but their dinner turned out very well after all, the employees said.
The inspiration for September's food day was based on their busy schedules. Parry mentioned that sometimes they would all get so busy they would forget about the food day until the night before. She laughs her husband sometimes has to give her hints to remind her.
September's food day was labeled as "Quick and Easy with a Fall Flair." Some of the recipes were actually prepared in the tiny kitchen before lunch with ingredients picked up at the store on the way to work. Craig and Sara Fox's Four Cheese Lasagne can be prepared ahead of time and baked later.
So the next time you walk by the Kellerman's in Holton and smell something cooking in the air and hear the sounds of laughter, you can be sure it is just the employees enjoying each other's company at their montly potluck luncheon.
Courtesy of Kathy Richards, The Holton Recorder, County Kitchen, Wednesday, September 24, 2008.
GET COOKING WITH KELLERMAN INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE RECIPE CONTEST
Have fun with us by entering our recipe contest! Send in one or more of your favorite recipes to us no later than October 31, 2008. Be sure to tell us a little about your recipe, where it came from and why you like it.
You can drop them off at our office, mail them to 101 W. 4th St, PO Box 1025, Attn: Sonja Parry, Holton, KS 66436 or email them to sparry@kellermanrealestate.com. Don't forget to put your name and phone number on each recipe!
We will have a drawing of all our entries on October 31, 2008. The 5 winners will receive a "Get Cookin' with Kellerman Insurance and Real Estate" apron.
Enjoy OUR recipes and share YOUR favorites with us. Hope to hear from you soon!
RECIPES
Ranch Style Coleslaw - Cindi Weilert
1 16oz package Coleslaw blend
6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 Cup Ranch Dressing
1/4 Cup Sunflower Seeds
Toss all ingredients. Chill for one hour.
Candied Apples - Sonja Parry
8 cooking apples, peeled, cut in half, and cored
1 Cup BRACH’S® Cinnamon Imperials (red hots)
2 Cups boiling water
Place Cinnamon Imperials in 9x13 baking dish, pour boiling water over them and let sit while preparing apples. Candies should be partially dissolved by time you have apples ready to place into dish. Place prepared apples (cored side down) into dish over candy mixture, take a spoon to drizzle some of candy mixture over top of each apple. Cover dish with aluminum foil, place in 350º oven for 25-30 minutes or until fork tender. Serve warm.
Surprise Apple Salad - Diana Rieschick
4 to 5 Apples, cored and cut in to bite size pieces
3 )2.07) Snickers candy bars, cut into small pieces
12 oz Cool Whip (more or less)
20 oz. Can Pineapple tidbits, drained
1 Cup Spanish Peanuts
Mix all. Refrigerate until serving time.
Four Cheese Lasagna - Craig and Sara Fox
1 box Lasagna Noodles, cooked according to pkg. Directions
12 oz Cottage Cheese
15 oz. Ricotta Cheese
12 oz. Shredded Colby/Monterray Jack Cheese Blend
Oregano
26 oz. Favorite pasta sauce
Optional: frozen spinach, thawed, drained and pressed
Mix cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and half shredded cheeses with half pasta sauce in large bowl. Start layering with chilled lasagna noodles and alternate with cheese mixture and oregano. Top with remaining sauce and shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese melts and slightly browned. For a helathy kick, add spinach layers.
No Bake Bars - Kristy Wilson
4 Cups Cheerios
2 Cups Crisp Rice Cereal
2 Cups Dry Roasted Peanuts
2 Cups M&M's
1 Cup Light Corn Syrup
1 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Creamy Peanut Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
In large bowl, combine the first four indgredients and set aside. In saucepan, bring corn syrup and sugar to boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla extract. Pour over cereal mixture and toss to coat evenly. Spread into buttered 15 x 10 or 9 x 13 inch (depending on how thick you want them) Cool and cut into bars.
Banana Oatmeal Cookies - Cindy Weilert
3/4 Cup Solid Vegetable Shortening
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Cup Mashed Banana (2 bananas)
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
2 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix shortening, sugar, egg and mashed banana well. Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Yield: 4 dozen
Taco Soup - Rob Wilson
1 pound Ground Beef
1 Can Rotel Tomatoes
1 Can Red Kidney Beans
1 Can Pinto Beans
1 Can White Corn
1 Package Taco Seaoning
1 Package of Ranch Dressing Mix
Brown the ground beef and drain. Combine everything in a crock-pot and turn on high for 30 minutes or low eight hours.
Mexican Soup - Cindy Hower
2 15 oz. Cans fo Black Beans, rinsed and drained
16 oz. Diced Tomatoes
2 15 oz. Cans of Tomato Sauce
2 11 oz. Cans of Mexicorn
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Cilantro
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Large Onion, diced
1 1/2 pounds browned and drained hamburger
Combine all ingredients in crock-pot. Cook on low for eight hours.
Shrimp Creole - Roger Hower
1 pound medium Shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 Tablesppon Butter or Vegetable Oil
1 small Red Pepper
1 small Green Pepper
1 medium Onion
1/4 pound medium Mushrooms
1 stalk Celery
1 clove Garlic, pressed
1 14.5 oz. Can Whole Tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
3 Cups Cooked Rice
Rinse and drain shrimp. Heat half of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp and saute, stirring until pink. Remove. Wash, drain and thinly slice peppers, onion, mushrooms and celery. Add remaining butter to skillet along with sliced vegetables and garlic. Saute, stirring until onions and garlic have browned slightly.
Pour off 1/4 cup of juice from Tomatoes and set aside. Add remaining tomatoes and juice to sauteed vegetables and bring mixture to boiling over medium heat. Stir salt, sugar, thyme, chili powder and flour into reserved tomato juice. Stir into vegetable mixture.
Reduce heat and cook until thickened-about three to five minutes. Simmer until vegetables reach desired doneness-anywhere from three to five minutes. Add shrimp and heat through about one minute. Serve over rice.
Filed under: Announcements, Events, Kellerman Real Estate, Holton Kansas, Northeast Kansas, Lunches, Kellerman Insurance, Recipes, Banana Oatmeal Cookies, Mexican Soup, Contest, Candied Apples, No Bake Bars, Four Cheese Lasagna, Surprise Apple Salad, Ranch Style Coleslaw, Taco Soup, Shrimp Creole