At 90, this mom still cooking her original recipes for family.

Byline: HOME COOKING By Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

Once a mom, always a mom.

Helen Meyer-Holland may be 90 - although she doesn't seem it - but she still puts a lifetime of cooking skills to frequent use for her family: son Alan and daughter-in-law Nancy, both educators, and, when they're around for meals, the couple's nearly grown children, Lauren and Andrew.

"That family is so busy - my goodness, they have so many things going on," Meyer-Holland says. "I often make my special soups and send them over in big glass jars."

Meyer-Holland says she misses cooking dinners for as many as 40 guests, as she did when she entertained in Seattle with her first husband, the late Bill Meyer, during their nearly 60-year marriage.

But time and age change many habits. These days, she cooks for herself - "but it's not the same" - and keeps the kettle steaming with favorites such as lentil or Mexican hominy soup or Saturday Night Beans.

She recently took a batch of the beans to a get-together, and since then, "three people have called to ask for the recipe," Meyer-Holland says.

She's happy to share, but it's not always easy.

"I don't have many of my recipes written down," she says. "I developed them myself, so I have it all in my head."

Specialty: Taking ordinary ingredients and turning them into original recipes that tickle the tastebuds of family and friends.

"It's lots of fun - I've always enjoyed developing my own recipes," she says. "Following instructions is easy. Doing it yourself is much more rewarding."

Cooking experience: More than 80 years' worth. Her father died when she was 15 months old, so her mother had to go to work to support her tiny daughter.

"I did all the cooking from the time I could peel a potato," Meyer-Holland says. "My mother never knew what we would have for dinner when she came home."

Biggest cooking success: Thinking of something she'd like to cook and successfully coming up with a recipe for it.

"There's no crystal ball or magic about it," Meyer-Holland says. "Sometimes it takes years to get it right."

For example, that's the way it was with her Turkish Chili - so-named not for the country but because it uses ground turkey - which pleases even people who think they don't like onions. Through experimentation, she hit on the solution of pureeing the onions, making them "invisible" in the dish but capturing their flavor.

"I hope my daughter-in-law doesn't decide now that she doesn't like it any more," Meyer-Holland says.

Biggest challenge: "Figuring out how to use herbs correctly," Meyer-Holland says. "They have to be the right ones, and they should be subtle - you need enough to make the food flavorful, but you shouldn't be able to identify what it is."

Favorite cookbooks: She doesn't use cookbooks or magazines much - "I would rather figure out what I want to do on my own," she says - but through the years she has relied on "The Joy of Cooking" and "The Betty Crocker Cookbook" when she needed a quick reference.

Why these recipes: These are family favorites, as well as ones that bring requests for recipes from friends.

Posada 

(Mexican Hominy Soup)

1 cup each dry lima beans, kidney beans, small white beans and small red beans

2 large chicken breasts with ribs

2 cans (15 ounces) hominy

1 can (15 ounces) niblet or other whole kernel corn

1 small can (6 ounces) tomato paste

1 large onion, grated

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic

3 carrots, sliced crosswise like coins

2 to 3 stalks celery, sliced crosswise on the diagonal

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons chili powder (adjust to taste)

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon each dried oregano and basil

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Sour cream (or imitation) for garnish, if desired

Wash all beans and place together in a large stock pot filled with water; add 1 tablespoon salt and boil the beans until tender but not falling apart. Drain and set aside.

While the beans cook, simmer chicken breasts in 6 cups water until chicken is cooked, about 20 minutes. Add 4 to 6 cups more water and simmer again for up to an hour until liquid becomes a concentrated chicken broth. Remove chicken from broth, cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Be sure no bones remain in the broth.

Combine the beans and all other ingredients except sour cream; simmer over low-medium heat until the carrots and celery are tender. Adjust seasonings so the soup is hot and has a bit of a bite.

Serve with a large dollop of sour cream, if desired. Serves 4 to 6.

Lentil Soup 

1 small eggplant 

2 cups dry lentils

6 to 8 cups chicken or turkey broth

2 large carrots

2 to 3 stalks celery

1 large onion

1 can (15-ounces) diced tomatoes 

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon herbs, such as basil, thyme, oregano and rosemary or Herbes de Provence 

Peel eggplant and cut into cubes. Cook lentils and eggplant in broth until tender; put through a colander to form a puree.

Slice carrots crosswise in thin slices; cut celery crosswise on the diagonal; grate onion. Cook all the vegetables including the tomatoes in 1 cup salted water until tender-crisp, not mushy. Add to the lentil-eggplant puree. Heat through, adding spices, Worcestershire sauce and herbs in combination to achieve pleasing flavor.

Do not cook very long; vegetables should retain identity and be tender-crisp.

Saturday Night Beans

1 pound small red beans, soaked and boiled until tender but not mushy

1 to 2 pounds ground meat, as desired

2 large onions, chopped fine

1 can mushroom stems and pieces

1/2 cup molasses 

1/2 cup ketchup

1 can (15-ounces) tomatoes

1 to 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon Fines Herbes or other mixed herb seasoning

1/2 cup bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp (optional)

Chili powder or other seasonings, as desired, for added spice

Boil the beans; drain and set aside.

Brown the meat and onions slowly; pour off and discard grease; combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.

Cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours. Serves 4 to 6.

Turkish Chili

2 cups small red dried beans

2 large onions

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

2 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes

1 cup water

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

Several drops of Tabasco sauce

2 teaspoons dried herbs (oregano or basil)

Cook the dried beans in a large pot of salted water until tender but not mushy. While cooking, put the onions in a food processor and process to a pulp.

Brown the ground turkey; combine with beans, onions and tomatoes. Add water and the rest of the ingredients; simmer over low heat for 30 minutes; add additional water as necessary to prevent dryness. Serves 6.

Cranberry-Apple Salad

2 small packages raspberry gelatin 

2 cups boiling water

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large, crisp apple, cored and cut into 1/2 -inch dice

1 1/2 cups celery, sliced crosswise

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, cooked with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar until tender

1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water; add cold water, vinegar and salt.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir; refrigerate until set. Serves 6.

To nominate a cook for this feature, send mail to Home Cooking, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440; contact Randi Bjornstad at 338-2321; or e-mail [e-mail].