Make Your Own Seasonings

One of my fondest memories of life during my 30's was a cooking class I took once a week during the school year, for maybe 5 years. The class was taught by Frances Raboff, an artist and cook, and dear family friend. She and her partner Eleanor taught a unique cooking class at Westchester High School in Los Angeles. I signed up with two friends the first year, and several years later we had a group of six, who loved the class so much, several of them travelled from the San Fernando Valley, probably a 70 mile roundtrip every week. You know it had to be good. Each week the class had a theme. Dinner in Provence, Italian Night, Creole Night, Sunday Brunch, Thanksgiving, Holiday Gifts were just a few of the themes. We would break into groups of four, and each group would have a full mini kitchen to work in. Each group would make the entire meal, then we'd eat and clean up. Fran and Eleanor would spend some time at the beginning of the class teaching us a particular technique, like boning a chicken, or folding eggwhites into a souffle. I learned a lot. But the fun of the class was cooking the meal with friends. I can't put into words how much we all enjoyed the evening. We looked forward to it all week. One class was spent on making gifts to give for the holidays. One recipe Fran had was for a seasoned salt. I made this for years, and used it on everything from chicken to vegetables. I can't find the recipe now (I've moved so many times I may have lost it), but I did find recently some wonderful recipes for other seasonings that are great to keep on hand or give as gifts. The great thing about keeping these on hand is you no longer have to buy packaged ranch dressing or onion soup, something many of use alot. Here are two recipes I think you'll enjoy, and they're so easy. Dry Onion Soup Mix: 2/3 cup dried, minced onion 3 teaspoons parsley flakes 2 teaspoons onion powder 2 teaspoons turmeric 1 teaspoon celery salt 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper Mix all ingredients in a jar, then give the jar a good shake. I’d recommend shaking the jar to mix the ingredients well before each use. Use 4 tablespoons in a recipe in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix. Store this in a dry, cool place. Homemade Ranch Dressing: Dry Mix Recipe 1/2 cup powdered Buttermilk 3 tablespoons dried Parsley 1 tablespoon dried Dill Weed 1 tablespoon Onion Powder 1 tablespoon Salt 1 1/2 teaspoons Garlic Powder 3/4 teaspoons Pepper Combine in a food processor and blend into a powdery consistency. Store in a container of choice. To make ranch dressing: Combine 1 tablespoon mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 cup milk. (or use half mayo, half yogurt) Mix with wire whisk. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. Make several hours before using, to allow flavors to blend.