Elderbrook Family Shares Holiday Recipes on Cooking Show
Ruth Elderbrook, star of “Cooking With Ruth” on Marshfield Community Television, loves baking and preparing for the Christmas holidays. Working alongside husband Gary, Ruth operates a catering company out of her home. Called “A Slice of Heaven” in memory of their daughter, Melissa, the business is well-known for its cheesecakes and other desserts. For Ruth, the holiday season is an ideal time to celebrate the art of baking, something she has enjoyed since childhood.
“My favorite holiday was Christmas and I have always loved baking and preparing for this
holiday,” she said. “I grew up in a large family with a mother who cooked and baked everything from scratch! When I was little, my sisters and I would help my mother frost the cut-out cookies. I loved Christmas as my mother would bake special cookies and fudge that she only made for Christmas.”
As a child, Ruth’s family celebrations always involved huge amounts of food. Though still the case these days, the menu has evolved since her childhood.
“Our holiday traditions have changed from when I grew up from the traditional turkey,ham, and beef with all of the trimmings on Christmas Day to making a variety of appetizers and sweet treats that we eat on Christmas Eve,” she said. “They include creamy chipped beef spread with crackers, little smokies in a BBQ sauce, shrimp cocktail, a cheese ball, beer cheese soup, pickle roll-ups, buffalo chicken dip, shrimp tortellini dip, cheesy hash brown potatoes, and a variety of Christmas cookies and fudge.”
Now nearing 100 episodes of her popular cooking show, Ruth has enjoyed sharing many of these recipes on the program and loves bringing them out again for the holidays.
“We try to cram so many parties and gatherings into holidays as we often don’t see our family and friends throughout the year, so you like to bake and cook extra special foods to share,” said Ruth. “The holidays can also be a sad time as so many of us have lost a loved one and food and friends are a great comfort during what should be the ‘happiest time of the year’ as the song goes.”
Ruth loves walking into a family or friend’s house and breathing in the wonderful smells of food escaping from the kitchen. She also loves being able to create savory dishes to help people create a delicious holiday experience.
“I enjoy baking and cooking and making the holidays easy for people so they can enjoy their time with family and friends!” she said. “I make wonderful trays with a variety of holiday cookies, candies and fudge. If you like pies or cheesecake, I take orders to fit your holiday needs. Some of my customers ask for brunch items like egg bakes, cheesy hash brown potato dish, coffee cakes, muffins and mini breakfast breads.”
Check out some of Ruth’s (and Gary’s!) recipes on Marshfield Community Television, or on Youtube.
