By DEBORAH GERTZ HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Patty Vogel says any good salad must be crisp, colorful and cold.

Vogel's never forgotten the "three C's" of salad making learned in a high school home economics class, or the sewing skills honed in the same class, as she puts together favorite dishes in her Quincy kitchen.

Some of the basics of her signature salads and main dishes came from school, but "my love of cooking came from my mother," Vogel said. "My mom loved to cook. I do, too."

Vogel, the oldest girl of nine children, helped a lot in the kitchen while growing up in Hull, often seeing her mom cook with fresh-from-the-garden produce and can the summer bounty for the winter months.

"We ate lots of vegetables. Mom put in whatever she had, and it always tasted good," said Vogel, a Master Gardener interested in both flowers and vegetables. "I think it gets in your blood."

Vogel cooks the same way, relying on her own garden supplemented by stops at the farmers market for fresh ingredients to feed family and friends.

Herbs growing in an old basket on the kitchen counter and just outside the front and side doors "are just handy," she said, and using "whatever's in season, economically is the only way to go."

Early crops -- peas, potatoes, spinach and onion -- already are growing in her garden for springtime dishes.

"I grew up eating wilted lettuce," Vogel said. "It's still a favorite thing when my sisters and I get together. We have a big bowl of wilted lettuce and fresh potatoes and beans."

Vogel's own daughters encouraged her to write down the recipe for the Wilted Lettuce salad and dressing, but "you have to make it your own," Vogel said. "You might want more bacon crumbs or more onion."

Both Favorite Salad Dressing and the colorful Potato Salad with Herbs, Green Beans and Tomatoes can be made ahead of time for entertaining then added to a buffet.

"I'm all about doing it easier," Vogel said. "I like to spend time with people when they're here. I don't want to be stuck in the kitchen."

Vogel's husband, Gary, handles the grill, especially when pork chops are on the menu. Pork Marinade "is best on the thick Iowa chops," Vogel said. "He's a breakfast cook and on the grill. He leaves the rest of it to me."

The Vogels raised their four children, and now eight grandchildren with another on the way, on made-from-scratch standards like beef stew, meatloaf and spaghetti and meatballs.

"We even had it sometimes for Christmas," Vogel said. "It's really stuff you have on hand."

Another often-requested favorite, Roast Salmon with Capers and Tarragon, cooks while Vogel puts the finishing touches on a meal.

"The tarragon really comes out in this. It makes it taste like it came out of a nice restaurant," Vogel said.

Simple treats like the five ingredient Easy Hot Fudge Sauce add a sweet finish to a meal. The sauce "is wonderful over homemade ice cream," she said.

"I just cook. Some things I've done so many times I don't need to look at the recipe," she said, and there's always plenty to eat. "I don't know how to cook for two people."

-- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379