Ramblingfamilymanager's Blog

I made up a recipe book for my relatives several years ago through a now-extinct website that would print them up for you. I was able to add a picture of my grandmother in the front with several of her great-grands, then recipes she wrote up for me. I added some of my own favorites to flesh it out a little. Since everything is on a word document on my computer, and my computer has been known to act up now and again, I’m posting everything here. Several of the recipes are duplicates of others already posted, but I wanted to post all of the cook book recipes together.

Cookbook Recipes

Deviled Eggs

Eggs
salt to taste
sweet pickle relish to taste
mayonnaise to moisten

Hard boil as many eggs as desired. Peel eggs and cut them in half. Remove yolks and place them in a bowl. Mash egg yolks with a fork, salt to taste, add sweet pickle relish and just enough mayo to mix well. Return yolks to egg white halves.

You can place the yolk mixture in a plastic baggie, snip off a corner, and pipe it back into the whites for a fancier presentation. Garnish with paprika and parsley, if desired.

Fruit Punch

2 cans fruit punch
1 can pineapple juice
1 large can frozen orange juice concentrate
2 large bottles of ginger ale
1 pint orange or lime sherbert

Mix together punch, pineapple juice, and frozen orange juice concentrate. Just before serving, add ginger ale and sherbert.

Optional: For a different look and taste, add a can of fruit cocktail or add 3 ripe crushed bananas.

Serves a group of 12 or more.

I can taste this punch as I type! It is the flavor of a party at Grandmother’s house, or perhaps at a church pot luck. It was always served at special occasions for “company”.

Monkey Bread

Great to make with children.

3 cans biscuits
1 and a half sticks of butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar

Cut each biscuit into quarters. Roll each fourth into a ball. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll each ball into sugar mixture one at a time. Drop balls into a buttered bundt pan. Combine the butter with the rest of the brown sugar and cinnamon in a sauce pan; cook until the butter and sugar melt together. Pour over the biscuits. Cook one hour at 350 degrees. Turn onto a plate while still hot so syrup in the bottom will run down over the biscuits.

Corn Bread

A major component of cornbread dressing!

Best cooked in a cast iron skillet. (Buy one if you don’t have one already!!)

Self rising corn meal mix, apx. 2 cups
2 eggs, well beaten
apx. 1.5 tablespoons baking powder
apx. 1 cup milk (if you use skim, cut the baking powder to 1 teaspoon)

Mix all of the ingredients together and bake in an oven proof fry pan (like a cast iron skillet) at 350 degrees for apx. 30 minutes until top is golden brown and sides pull away from the side of the pan.

You can follow the directions on the package of corn meal mix, which vary slightly from this. The batter should be soupy and wet, almost as wet as pancake batter.

1 – 2 – 3 Pound Cake

Everyone loves this cake!

1 cup Crisco
2 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 eggs
milk, if needed

Cream Crisco and sugar with an electric mixer.  Add vanilla. Add 2 eggs, mix well, then add one cup of flour. Alternate eggs and flour until all is used. If cake dough is too thick add a little milk until proper consistency. Pour into a well greased bundt or loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, at least one hour.

Grandmother wrote, in answer to the prompt ‘The person who loved this most’, “Sue, Donnie”, but I don’t think they like it more than Kim, Abi, and Livia!! She’s been making it in loaf pans lately since that shape freezes well, but we like it better in a bundt pan since there is more crust, Kim’s favorite part. This is a dense cake that works for 3-D pans.  Add mashed strawberries mixed with a little bit of sugar and some whipped topping for strawberry shortcake.

Coconut Cake with Foolproof White Frosting

Granddaddy’s Favorite!

3 layer cake
1.5 cups sugar
5 tablespoons water
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make any white cake recipe. Bake 3 layers. Frost each layer with white frosting. Spread coconut (canned is best) over each layer, on top and sides.

Foolproof white frosting:
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff and set aside. Mix sugar and water, boil for 3 minutes, then pour into egg whites all at once.  (Does not specify if the sugar/water mixture should cool first, but my guess is that it should, at least a little, although if it’s hot it might heat the egg whites enough to prevent salmonella poisoning.) Beat with an electric mixer 5 minutes, add vanilla.

Try to find pasturized egg whites! With today’s farming techniques salmonella could be a problem.

Santa’s Whiskers Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla or rum extract
2.5 cups sifted all purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped red and green candied cherries
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 cup flaked coconut

Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Blend in milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, candied cherries, and nuts. Form into logs about 2 inches in diameter. Roll each log over a mound of coconut poured onto wax paper. Wrap and chill several hours or overnight. Slice 1/4 inch thick and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in 375 degree oven for 12 minutes or just until edges are golden brown. Line a lidded cookie tin with foil and freeze or refrigerate until ready to use. Will keep frozen for months.

Pecan Pie

3 eggs, beaten well
1 cup sugar
9 inch pie shell
1/2 cup dark Karo syrup
1 cup pecans, chopped medium
3/4 stick butter or margarine, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat eggs in bowl with sugar and Karo. Next add butter and mix together. Mix in the pecans last. Pour into the unbaked pie shell. Bake 40 to 45 minutes.

Home Made Ice Cream

1 can Carnation milk, chilled overnight
1.5 gallons milk
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Fresh fruit- peaches, strawberries, blueberries, etc. (chop larger fruit)

Ice
Rock or Ice Cream salt

Place Carnation milk in a mixer bowl and whip until thick. Add other milk, sugar, and vanilla and 1 kind of fruit. Place in ice cream freezer, leaving about 1.5 to 2 inches at the top for expansion. Freeze per freezer directions and enjoy!

Delicious served with peanut butter and crackers.

Thanksgiving Turkey

By Kim S.

Large turkey (I used an 11.4 pounder the first time I did this)
carrots, large sweet onion, celery, other root vegetables if you have them
fresh herbs (dill, parsley, sage, rosemary, or whatever your grocery sells)
salt, pepper
poultry seasoning (I like the PS from The Fresh Market, sold in bulk)
garlic powder (just a light dusting)
dill (dried)
softened butter, apx. half a stick
canned or homemade chicken broth

Prep: Cut the vegetables in large chunks and place in the bottom of the roasting pan. (They will be discarded later so size isn’t important.) Rinse the fresh herbs and pat dry.
Put salt and other seasonings in small bowls so that you can put them on the bird while your hands are yucky without worrying about contaminating the containers. (Put slightly more than you think you will need; discard what you do not use.)

Prep the bird:
~ Remove the giblets from the NECK and BODY cavities (look in 2 places!!)
~ Pat the bird dry with paper towels (rinsing is no longer recommended since splashing water can contaminate other areas of your kitchen)
~ Put the bird in the roasting pan on top of the veggies
~ Using your hands, rub the bird all over with the softened butter, even under the skin as far as you can reach and in the body cavities; don’t forget the underside.
~ Rub salt all over, even in the cavities; don’t forget the underside
~ Sprinkle on the other seasonings to taste (Kevin likes a lot of dill; only use a little bit of garlic powder; fairly heavy on the poultry seasoning)
~ Cram the fresh herbs into the neck and body cavities
~ Pour a few cups of chicken broth into the bottom of the roasting pan
~ Do not cover yet
Cook:
~ Put the prepped bird in a pre-heated 350 degree oven
~ Let it cook for about an hour at 350 then cut it down to 325
~ After you cut the temperature down, start basting- using a turkey baster, suck up broth from the bottom of the pan and squirt it all over the top of the bird and in the body cavity
~ Baste approximately every 15 to 20 minutes until done
~ When the top starts to look brown and delicious, cover (tent) the bird loosely with foil
~ Follow the cooking guides for the size bird you are making; start checking the temperature with a meat thermometer about 20 minutes before the recommended cooking time has passed.  Be careful that you are measuring the temperature of the bird and not the oven!
~ When the turkey reaches a temperature of 170 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh it’s done (although I’ve seen cooking shows that say you can take it out at 160 and it will “carry over cook” the last 10 degrees).
~ Take it out of the oven and let it sit 15 to 30 minutes before carving. This is an important step- don’t skip it! It lets the juices settle so the meat is tender and moist.
~ Make gravy with the pan drippings while the bird is resting.
~ Carve and enjoy- yum!

I heard recently that you can cook the turkey upside down for the first half hour to hour of cooking time, which lets the juices flow into the breast for moistness. You flip it back over for the rest of the cooking time so the skin gets nicely browned.

Cornbread Dressing with Chicken

This takes forever but it is WORTH THE WORK!!

1 fryer chicken, boiled, deboned, skinned, and chopped the night before
Strained liquid/broth from the fryer (ALL of it!)
1 recipe of corn bread
2 or more slices of white bread, torn up into small pieces
1 large chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon sage
black pepper to taste
1 can cream of chicken soup
Place cornbread into a large casserole dish and break up into small pieces. Add the broth from boiling the fryer, cream of chicken soup, onions, celery, sage, 2 slices of white bread (add more if the dressing is too grainy), pepper to taste, and the chopped chicken. Mix well.  This should be fairly soupy at this stage; add canned broth or milk if necessary.

(Tastes best if made to this point one day ahead, covered, and refrigerated over night. Make sure to use a dish that is safe to go from refrigerator to stove, like Corningware.)

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until light brown; may need longer if cold at start of cook time.

Ham with Brown Sugar and Crushed Pineapple

An Easter Sunday Favorite

Serves 10 to 12

8 to 10 pound cured ham
large can crushed pineapple
1 cup brown sugar
whole cloves

Score the ham all over top and sides, making little holes to stick the cloves in. Mix together brown sugar and crushed pineapple. Do NOT add salt or pepper!! Place 3 or 4 cloves in holes then completely cover ham with the brown sugar and pineapple mixture. Bake, covered, about 1.5 hours at 350 degrees. Remove cover and bake until brown.

Grillades and Grits

Southern Living, January 1999

1 1/2 pounds top round steak
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted and divided
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 cup water
4 cups hot cooked grits

Pound steak to 1/4-inch thickness with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Cut steak into 2-inch squares; set aside.

Combine flour and next 4 ingredients in a large heavy-duty, zip-top plastic bag. Add steak; seal bag, and shake to coat.

Brown half of steak in 1 tablespoon butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from Dutch oven; keep warm. Repeat procedure with 1 tablespoon butter and remaining steak. Remove from Dutch oven.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter, onion, and next 3 ingredients to Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add tomatoes and water; return steak to Dutch oven. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring once.

Spoon grillades over grits, and serve hot.

I ran across this recipe on the internet and it surprised me- I’d never heard of such a dish, and it’s supposed to be southern! Turns out it’s Louisiana southern, not Alabama southern, but it’s still yummy. It’s frequently served as brunch but we like it for dinner. Kevin makes it- he says “just don’t rush it”!

Carroty Burgers

By Kim and Kevin S.

Shredded carrot (experiment with the amount; Kevin likes a lot, so you need at least a cup or two per pound of meat, if not more)

1 egg per pound or pound and a half of meat
breadcrumbs to bind
LEAN, lean, lean ground beef (we like Maverick Ranch, available at Publix)

Whole wheat buns
Condiments of your choice

Mix together the beef, shredded carrots, egg, and breadcrumbs. Form patties. Grill or cook on a stove top grill pan until done.  Place on whole wheat buns and top with your choice of condiments.

This is a great make ahead meal. I like to “flash freeze” the patties in large quantities. I make them up then place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze them for a few hours until they are frozen. Once they are frozen, they can be placed in a ziploc bag in the freezer. You can use them easily- they won’t stick together so you can take out the exact amount you need.

It’s great for meat eaters- it makes the lean beef a lot more moist and you can’t taste the carrot at all.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

2 packs brown gravy mix
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 can crushed pineapple in syrup
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1.5 pounds ground hamburger meat
Italian breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg

Mix together the meat, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and egg; roll into balls and cook.

Place 2 cups cold water and gravy mix in a pan. Cook over low heat, stirring while you make the meat balls. When the gravy is thick, add crushed pineapple with syrup, brown sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce. Just before serving, add drained water chestnuts.

Serve over rice.

Fried Fish

Fish, cleaned and cut up into any size
Corn meal and salt for breading
Cooking Oil

Sprinkle salt over fish and roll in corn meal. Fry in deep cooking oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Ray (Granddaddy) loved this meal the most.

Serve with hush puppies.

Hush Puppies

1.5 cups self rising corn meal
Half a medium onion chopped finely
2 tablespoons self rising or all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
Cooking oil for frying (use the hot oil from cooking fried fish)

Mix together self rising corn meal, onions, flour, egg, and milk. (Can add additional water until you get the right consistency.) Drop into the hot oil by the tablespoon. They usually will turn over by themselves. Watch closely so they don’t burn. Drain over paper towels.

Turkey Gravy

Kim’s version

Turkey Drippings
butter, apx. one quarter cup
self rising or all purpose flour, apx. one quarter cup

Obtain the drippings:
Once you’ve cooked the turkey, pour off the drippings into a bowl, straining out the vegetables. Fill a de-fatting cup with some of the liquid. The roasting pan should be empty except for the brown bits left on the bottom. Put the roasting pan on the stove top on medium heat and add the roux. Scrape up the juicy bits left in the pan (deglaze it), stirring constantly. Add the de-fatted drippings by slowly pouring into the roux mixture, again stirring constantly. (If necessary, add chicken broth so you have at least a cup of liquid.) Stir, stir, stir. Pour your mixture back into the frying pan if necessary. Bring to a boil, while stirring, let boil for one minute, and it’s done!

Make a roux of equal parts butter and flour:
~ Mix the butter and flour in a frying pan on medium heat until the butter melts and mixes thoroughly with the flour. Continue cooking and stirring until it starts to brown slightly.

Did I mention the stirring? If you do not stir it constantly it will burn. Make sure to have the broth/turkey drippings de-fatted and ready to go before you start the roux. This cooks in just a few hectic minutes!!

Red Eye Gravy

2 ham slices
cooking oil
1 cup coffee

Fry ham in the cooking oil until brown and set aside. Pour the coffee into the fat frying in the pan, being careful as it boils up very high. Let boil for about one minute and pour into a bowl. Serve with biscuits, ham, and eggs, if you like.

Oh my gosh- this is unbelievably unhealthy!! Make it at your own risk.

White Sauce

1.5 cups cooking oil
dash of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
milk, apx. one cup

Combine all ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until brown. Add one cup of milk and stir thoroughly. If too thick, add more milk. If too thin, let boil until it thickens. Great over mashed potatoes or rice.

Let this brown for gravy.

Beef Stew

1.5 pounds lean stew beef
water to cover beef in the pan
5 white potatoes, peeled and chopped
6 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 large can of tomatoes
Optional: one medium chopped onion
salt to taste

Place beef and water in a boiler pan with a lid. Add one teaspoon salt, cook over medium heat 45 minutes to one hour. Add the rest of the ingredients, cook 30 minutes longer. Add more water as needed and more salt if needed after tasting.

Potato Salad

5 pounds peeled, uniformly cubed/diced Idaho potatoes
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and mushed up with a fork
1 medium jar chopped pimento
1 red apple, peeled, cored, and chopped (leave out for Uncle Chipper)
1 medium sweet onion, chopped finely (leave out for Grandmother)
half cup of finely chopped celery
one half to three quarters of a cup sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
one half cup mayonnaise, or enough to coat ingredients

Cover potatoes in a large pot with cold water, add one tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until tender, anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. (Test before removing from the heat by jabbing a large chunk of potato with a fork, cool under running water, and eat it- if it’s tender, they are done.) Drain, place in salad bowl, add all other ingredients, and mix gently.  Add more relish or mayo to moisten if necessary. (Relish is healthier!!)

Sprinkle top with paprika to garnish.

One of Kim’s favorites.

Carrot Salad

Carrots
raisins (one cup per pound of carrots), regular or golden
Mayonnaise to moisten

Optional: Peeled, chopped apple or one half cup coconut

Peel and finely grate carrots (this is best done by hand- food processors just don’t do the job finely enough). Add raisins, more or less as desired. Add mayonnaise to mix well.

You can also add a dash of sugar if the carrots aren’t sweet enough.

“All of family” loves this recipe the most.

Waldorf Salad

By Kim S. (based on a dish served at a local organic restaurant)

2/3 container of plain yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoons of honey, to taste
1 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
1 pinch of salt

1 red apple (we like galas)
1 tart green apple (we like Granny Smith)
1 pear
2 bananas
1 stalk of celery
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins, regular or golden

Make the dressing:
Mix together the yogurt, honey, cinnamon, and the pinch of salt; set aside.

Core and chop the apples and pear into bite size pieces. Slice the bananas and celery. Mix together with the fruit, walnuts, and raisins. Mix in the dressing. Can add additional yogurt if needed to moisten.

I first had this at a little organic restaurant and liked it so much that I came up with my own version. It is delicious! It’s a great side dish for hamburgers.

Corn Pudding

2 cans creamed corn
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons self-rising flour
pepper to taste

Mix together corn, eggs, and milk.
In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients and stir to remove lumps, then stir into to wet ingredients. Add pepper to taste.  Pour into a heavily buttered casserole dish and cook at 325 for approximately one hour. Shake the casserole to test for doneness- look for a solid center.

No salt is called for because the creamed corn is already salted.

Black Eyed Peas

1 package of dry black eyed peas
salt
small chunk of ham or 1 large pork chop

Look peas over closely for bad ones and little stones. Wash at least 3 times. Place in a large boiler with lid. Cover with cold water, adding ham or pork chop and one tablespoon salt; cover with lid. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, adding more water as needed. Taste to see if more salt is needed. Cook until peas are all to pieces and the soup is thick.

If no ham or pork chop is available use bacon drippings instead. Judy loves this the most!

Green Beans

Fresh green beans
Ham slice or pork chop
salt to taste

Break ends off green beans, pull strings off if there are any, and break into small pieces. Wash well. Place in a covered boiler; add water, ham, or pork chop, 1 tablespoon salt.  Cook slowly, stirring often to break up the beans and adding more water if needed. Taste for salt. Cook until beans are all to pieces, about one hour.

“All of family” loves this recipe the most. Kim’s note: Lately I’ve preferred the healthier option of steaming my beans with just a little bit of salt. I cook them until they get soft without falling “all to pieces”, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on how full the steamer is. Grandmother fusses every time I make them my way!

Baked Beans

4^th of July Favorite.

1 large can Van de Camp’s Pork ‘n Beans
1/2 large onion, chopped finely
4 or 5 slices of bacon
3 tablespoons catsup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard

Saute onion in small amount of fat until soft. Remove from fat and drain. Gently mix together beans, catsup, mustard, sugar, and onions and place in a baking dish. Place strips of bacon on the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven until bacon is crisp and some of the liquid is cooked out, about 45 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This could also be a dessert it’s so good!

5 large sweet potatoes, baked until soft, peeled and mashed
2 well beaten eggs
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk, more if needed
cinnamon to taste
1 cup brown sugar
miniature marshmallows

To the mashed sweet potatoes, add butter, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, and milk. Mix well.  Bake in a 325 degree pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover with marshmallows and return to oven until marshmallows brown. Watch carefully so the marshmallows don’t burn.

You can make it ahead of time through the 20 minute cooking time, cover, and refrigerate until you need to finish it up. Heat it up again before putting on the marshmallows, which can take quite a bit of time.

You can make this healthier by switching out half the butter with applesauce, using fat free evaporated milk, and only using one egg. This can also be topped with pecans, but we purists like marshmallows the best. (Bryce is one of the purists- he LOVES this dish, mainly for the marshmallows!)

Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie

1 2.5 to 3 pound broiler/fryer chicken
3 stalks of celery, with leaves, cut up
1 small onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 of a 15 oz. package folded, refrigerated unbaked pie crust (one crust)
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large leek or onion, chopped
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup sweet red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup light cream or milk
chicken broth
1/2 cup loose pack frozen peas
1 beaten egg

Rinse chicken, place in a large pot and add 5 cups of water. Add celery with leaves, quartered onion, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer 45 to 60 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Remove chicken from the liquid and set aside.

Strain the broth by lining a sieve with several layers of cheese cloth, then set sieve over a large bowl and pour the broth through. Discard cheese cloth along with vegetables and bay leaf. Use a metal spoon to skim the fat that rises to the surface. Measure one and a half cups of the broth and save the rest for another use.  When chicken is cool enough to handle, pull meat from bones and cut into cubes. Discard skin and bones.

In a large saucepan, melt butter, add mushrooms, leek or onion, sliced celery, and red peppers. Cook about 3 minutes or until tender.  Stir in flour, poultry seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Add the reserved broth and cream all at once; cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Stir in chicken and peas then pour into a casserole dish.  Cut crust 2 inches larger than the top of the casserole and brush edge of crust with egg.  Place crust atop casserole, turn edges under, and flute them.  Cut a one inch slit in the crust to let the steam out.  Brush top of crust with egg.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until brown.

Norma’s Fruit Cake

By Norma E.

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
5 eggs
1 and 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 pound glazed cherries
1 pound glazed pineapple
4 cups pecans
1 cup sugar
1/2 oz. vanilla flavoring

Chop fruit and nuts into medium pieces. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add well beaten eggs.  Add flour and baking powder. Dust the nuts and fruit with some of the flour until dry; add flavorings. Add eggs and sugar mixture. If you are not using a non-stick pan, grease with shortening and line with wax paper.  Bake 3 hours at 250 degrees.

Lane Cake

Aunt Ann

3 cups sugar
1 and 1/2 sticks of butter
1 tablespoon white Karo syrup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a heavy saucepan, mix 2 and 1/2 cups sugar of the sugar with the butter, vanilla, milk, and whipping cream.  Bring to a boil. Put the remaining half cup of sugar in a heavy saucepan and brown, pour into boiling mixture and cook about 45 minutes until a firm ball forms in a cup of cold water. Set saucepan in sink with some cold water in it and start beating it until mixture gets thick enough to frost the cake.

(Make a 3 layer cake from the pound cake recipe.)

Mama’s Tea Cakes (as I remember them)

Susan Burnette P.

This is in narrative form; the ingredients are not listed separately.

She filled her large mixing bowl full of self-rising flour. She packed it down in the center, pushing the flour up the sides of the bowl.  In the cavity she put 2 eggs and 1 and 3/4 cups sugar, 1 cup Crisco, and 2 teaspoons vanilla.  She started mixing the ingredients by hand, working tiny bits of flour into mixture until it was all mixed together and enough flour had been added in to make a roll of dough.  She took out about 1/3 and put it on a floured surface, kneaded it until it was ready to cut.  She cut it with a glass top that she had floured the edges.  She baked them about 10 or 15 minutes in a wood stove.  Temp? Who knows?

Blondell’s Tea Cakes

(Old Fashioned Tea Cakes)

By Blondell M.

This is in narrative form as written in a letter from Blondell to Doris.

Cream one cup of Crisco and 1 and 3/4 cups sugar. Add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 3 cups of flour. I use self-rising so I don’t have to add soda or salt.  I use my mixer till I get to the last cup of flour and then I finish with a wooden spoon because it’s too thick for the mixer. I take out about 1/3 of the dough and knead it till it gets where I can roll it out and cut it. I bake it at 350 degrees 8 to 10 minutes.  The extra flour I use in kneading it really helps because the cookies are real sweet.  Use this with my love and best wished- this is not just like Mama’s but it tastes the same to me.

Blondell

Banana Bread

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt
1 cup ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Cream together sugar and shortening. Add beaten eggs. Add dry ingredients, alternating with milk. Add bananas and nuts.  Cook at 350 degrees 45 to 55 minutes.

Strawberry Jam

2 quarts fresh strawberries
7 cups of sugar
1/2 of a 6 oz. bottle liquid fruit pectin (if not available, use Sure Jell and follow directions)

Wash berries, remove stems, slice lengthwise to halve; quarter larger berries.  Measure 4 cups into a large saucepan; add 1 cup sugar. Mix carefully. Let stand 15 minutes. Add remaining sugar; mix well. Bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, stir in pectin. Stir and skim alternately for 5 minutes to prevent floating fruit.  Ladle into hot, scalded jars, seal at once.  Makes seven 1/2 pint jars.

Chicken Soup

Whole chicken
carrots, about 1/2 cup chopped
celery, about 1/2 cup chopped
salt to taste
thin egg noodles

Boil chicken and freeze for future use such as dressing, chicken divan, etc.  Freeze half of the broth for future use.  Place half of the broth into a boiler, add  more water, carrots, celery, and salt.  Cook over medium heat about 20 minutes. Add thin egg noodles and cook according to time on package.  During cooking add water as needed and taste for salt.

Kim’s Chicken Soup

By Kim and Kevin S.

1 box matzoh ball and soup mix (I like Manischewitz) (You can also use plain soup mix or use your own broth; the matzoh balls are optional)
1 large cube of chicken bouillon if you have a large pot
1 package chicken legs
several chicken tenderloins, depending on how much your family will eat
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 to 3 tablespoons dill (add more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon salt (add more or less to taste)
5 carrots, peeled and sliced (more or less, depending on how much your family will eat)
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 sweet onion, chopped into large, “rustic” chunks

One package soup noodles

For matzoh balls:
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 eggs

Fill a large soup pot (or dutch oven if you have one), about 3/4 full of water and place on the stove top at high heat. Add the soup mix, (don’t mix it up with the matzoh ball mix!), bouillon cube if needed, dill, olive oil, salt, and vegetables. When the water boils, reduce the heat to a strong simmer. Add the chicken and make the matzoh balls according to package directions.  (If your chicken is frozen, there is no need to defrost, just add it before starting the matzoh balls; if fresh, add after the matzoh balls go into the refrigerator to chill. It cooks quickly; if you over-cook the chicken it will become tough.)

To serve: spoon some of the noodles into each bowl and top with soup. This is a great comfort food when anyone has a cold.

Chicken Divan

1 fryer chicken, boiled, de-boned, skin and bones discarded, and chopped
1 medium block of cheddar cheese, grated
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 packages frozen chopped broccoli (or spears)

Bread crumbs for topping

Place a layer of 1/2 the cooked broccoli in a baking dish, add 1/2 of the cooked chicken, 1/2 the mushroom soup mix, and 1/2 the grated cheese.  Repeat with remaining ingredients ending with cheese. Top with breadcrumbs.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is a FULL FAT dish! (I wouldn’t recommend eating it very often.)

Crystallized Pecans

By unknown

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

2 cups pecan halves

In a pot on medium – high to high heat, mix together all ingredients except pecans. Let mixture boil one minute.  Add the pecans and stir until crystallized.  Turn out onto wax paper, separate, and let cool.

Someone gave this recipe to me (Kim) with a tin of the nuts as a gift years ago. I’ve made it frequently over the years- it’s been a great gift for mail carriers, co-workers, family members, etc.

Cinnamon Palmiers

Woman’s Day, 12/11/84

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package (17.25 ounces) frozen puff-pastry sheets, thawed
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Sprinkle pastry board or cloth with 1/4 cup sugar. Lay pastry sheets on board directly on top of one another.  Roll lightly, keeping rectangular shape, until sheets stick together.  Mix 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon; sprinkle over pastry.  Press sugar mixture lightly onto pastry with rolling pin.  Fold by rolling both ends to the middle. Wrap in waxed paper; chill 30 minutes.  Line baking sheet with foil, dull side up.  With a long sharp knife, cut pastry in 3/8 inch slices.  Spread the remaining 1/4 cup sugar on waxed paper; press cut sides of pastries into sugar.  Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.  Bake in top third of a pre-heated 375 degree oven 20 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom.  Turn pastries over; bake 4 to 5 minutes longer until golden brown.  Cool on rack.

Nutrition info: 58 calories, 0 g pro, 9 gr car,2 gr fat, 0 mg chol, 26 mg sodium

These are mini-“elephant ears”, the pastries you can get at almost any bakery. It’s a perfect “company” dessert.

Black Eyed Pea Salad

Kim and Kevin S.

1 can Bush’s black eyed peas (or your favorite brand)
1 diced tomato
1/4 diced sweet onion
1 diced bell pepper (optional)
Italian salad dressing, to taste (we like 7 Seas, the kind you get in the packet and mix up yourself)

Mix together all ingredients, stirring gently so you don’t break up the beans.  Put in enough salad dressing to make it moist but not soggy.  Good chilled.

This recipe started from a cookbook recipe I can’t find now, but we morphed it and made it our own.  The Bush’s black eyed peas are really tasty; they are great in this recipe since they are still firm enough to hold their shape.

Tea

This is how I remember Grandmother’s recipe

4 to 5 tea bags, Lipton or Luzianne
water
3/4 cup sugar or more/less to taste

Also needed:
tea kettle
tea pot
tea pitcher

Fill your kettle with water and bring to a boil.  Put the tea bags in the tea pot and fill almost to the top with the boiling water.  Let steep for at least 10 to 15 minutes.  Pour the steeped hot tea carefully into the tea pitcher and add the sugar; stir to dissolve. Add cold water to the top of the pitcher. Stir and serve over ice.

Updates: You can make a simple syrup with the sugar to make sure it all dissolves by boiling it in an equal amount of water and stirring until the sugar is dissolved before adding it to the pitcher.  To cool the tea more quickly, add a bunch of ice to the pitcher along with the cold water, but slowly so you don’t crack it! It will crack easily when adding hot and cold liquids, so be careful.

Grandmother doesn’t make her tea with sugar anymore and can’t remember how much she used to use. (Darn artificial sweeteners.) She didn’t measure because she had a scoop that dipped out the right amount; I have no idea how much the scoop would hold, or if she used one or several scoops. I must have watched her make this tea a million times. I’d never heard the term “sweet tea” until I was an adult, but that’s what this is- good old southern sweet tea.

I realized I was missing a couple of favorite recipes, so I e-mailed Grandmother for them. This is what she wrote back:

SWEET POTATO PIE

 1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell                    1 cup light corn syrup

2 cups, cooked, mashed potatoes      1 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. butter                                              1/2 tsp ginger

2 eggs                                                           1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup evaporated milk                              1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg

3/4 cup brown sugar                                 Whipped cream for garnish

Whip butter into mashed potatoes.  Beat eggs and blend with potato and butter. Mix in evaporated milk, brown sugar, corn syrup. vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg. Pour mixture into pie shell and bake for 35 to 45 minutes in 375% oven.  Serve with whipped cream if desired.

                                                Pumpkin Pie

Buy can of pumpkin, not pie mix, and follow recipe on can.

Good luck with your pies.

Love, Grandmother

The Turkey

The bird turned out great this year (I wrote up the recipe after Thanksgiving 2006), so here’s what I did:
~11.4 pound fresh bird purchased 2 days in advance and placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator (put it on a platter so it doesn’t drip onto the food in the veggie bins). It still had ice crystals when I was ready to cook it, but it wasn’t frozen all the way through. (Make a 16 pounder next year, esp. if we’ll have co.)
~carrots, large sweet onion, celery, other root veggies if you have them (a few heads of garlic)
~fresh herbs from the produce section (dill, parsley, sage, rosemary, whatever they have)
~salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, garlic powder (just a light dusting- turkeys shouldn’t taste like garlic, but if you use just a little it adds something), dill (lay on the dill- Kevin likes it); I used McCormick’s Turkey Rub for 2006- it was fine.)
Prep:
~Before tackling the turkey, get the roasting pan ready by throwing veggies in the bottom; cut up 2 or 3 carrots, a large sweet onion, and some celery in large chunks and place it in the pan. These will be discarded later- they are just for flavoring the drippings.
(I also threw in a couple of heads of garlic for 2006.)
~Have fresh herbs ready to go- wash them off and lay them out by your workspace
~Have around half a stick of butter softened and ready
~Put salt and other seasonings premeasured in small plates or bowls so that you can put them onto the bird when your hands are yucky without worrying about contaminating the containers (put more than you think you’ll need and throw out what you don’t use)
Prep The Bird:
~Remove the giblet bags from the NECK and BODY cavities- look in 2 different places!!
~Put the bird in the big roasting pan on top of the veggies
~Using your hands, rub the turkey all over, even under the skin and in the body cavities, with butter; don’t forget the underside (I melted the butter and mixed in the seasonings for 2006 but the butter hardened on the cold turkey and clumped up- I think I like the 2005 method better.)
~Rub salt all over, even in the cavities; don’t forget the underside
~Sprinkle on the other seasonings
~Cram the fresh herbs into both body cavities; you can also put in some of the veggies and garlic. (I want to try some cut up oranges next year- I saw that on a cooking show and it looked good. I’ve tried it on chicken but Kevin didn’t especially like it, so maybe, maybe not.)
~Pour a few cups of chicken broth (canned or homemade- if making cornbread dressing you will have homemade available)
~Do not cover
Cook the Bird:
~Put the prepped bird in a preheated 350° oven
~Let it cook for about an hour at 350° then cut the temp down to 325°
~After you cut the temperature down, start basting- using a turkey baster, suck up broth from the bottom of the pan and squirt it all over the top of the bird and in the body cavity
~Turn the roasting pan around once or twice so it cooks evenly
~Baste approximately every 15 to 20 minutes until the bird is done
~When the top starts looking brown and delicious, cover (tent) the bird loosely with foil
~Follow the cooking guides for the size bird you are making; start checking the temperature of the turkey at least 30 minutes before the recommended cooking time has passed. Be careful that you are measuring the temperature of the bird and not the oven- our thermometer has a tendency to read really high when measuring in the oven.
~When the turkey reaches a temperature of 170° in the thickest part of the thigh, it’s done. Take it out of the oven and let it sit 20 to 30 minutes before carving. (This is an important step- it lets the juices settle so the meat is tender and moist.)
~Make gravy while the bird is resting. Yum, yum, yum!!!

So far, so good- we’ve had 2 years of really good, moist turkeys this way!

Turkey (or chicken) Gravy

Make a roux of equal parts butter and self rising or all purpose flour- use about a quarter cup of each. Melt the butter a little before adding the flour, then sauté until it starts to brown just a little bit. Make sure it starts to brown so the gravy doesn’t taste like flour.

Once you’ve taken the turkey out of the sturdy roasting pan you cooked it in and drained most of the drippings, putting some into a defatting cup, put the pan on the stove top and add the roux. Scrape up the juicy bits left in the pan (deglaze it), stirring constantly. Use the defatted drippings and slowly pour into the roux mixture, still stirring. (If necessary, add chicken broth so you have at least a cup of liquid.) Stir, stir, stir. Pour your mixture back into the sauté pan if necessary. Bring to a boil, while stirring, and let boil for one minute, and it’s done!

For 2006: I just made this in a Teflon frying pan and didn’t bother with the deglazing- it was awkward to cook in the big roasting pan on the stove top. I added a cup of de-alcoholized white wine and that gave the gravy an interesting flavor. I didn’t cook the roux long enough, though, and it was a little flour-y.

Easy as pie, but you have to watch and stir constantly. Make sure to have the broth defatted and ready to go before you start the roux. This cooks in just a few minutes.

These are 2 of my very first “go to” recipes. I’ve made them more times than I can count! The pecan recipe was included with a gift basket from a vendor when I was working in an office; I’ve also used the recipe as a gift. I have no idea when I found the Palmier recipe; I don’t know if I cut it out of the magazine it was in originally or if someone gave it to me later, I only know it’s delicious!

Crystallized Pecans
By unknown

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

2 cups pecan halves

In a pot on medium – high to high heat, mix together all ingredients except pecans. Let mixture boil one minute. Add the pecans and stir until crystallized. Turn out onto wax paper, separate, and let cool.

Someone gave this recipe to me (Kim) with a tin of the nuts as a gift years ago. I’ve made it frequently over the years- it’s been a great gift for mail carriers, co-workers, family members, etc.

Cinnamon Palmiers
Woman’s Day, 12/11/84

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package (17.25 ounces) frozen puff-pastry sheets, thawed
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Sprinkle pastry board or cloth with 1/4 cup sugar. Lay pastry sheets on board directly on top of one another. Roll lightly, keeping rectangular shape, until sheets stick together. Mix 1/4 cup sugar with the cinnamon; sprinkle over pastry. Press sugar mixture lightly onto pastry with rolling pin. Fold by rolling both ends to the middle. Wrap in waxed paper; chill 30 minutes. Line baking sheet with foil, dull side up. With a long sharp knife, cut pastry in 3/8 inch slices. Spread the remaining 1/4 cup sugar on waxed paper; press cut sides of pastries into sugar. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake in top third of a pre-heated 375 degree oven 20 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Turn pastries over; bake 4 to 5 minutes longer until golden brown. Cool on rack.

Nutrition info: 58 calories, 0 g pro, 9 gr car,2 gr fat, 0 mg chol, 26 mg sodium

These are mini-“elephant ears”, the pastries you can get at almost any bakery. It’s a perfect “company” dessert.

A day ahead:
Make chicken and chicken broth-
Cut up a fryer chicken and boil for apx. one hour until done. Season with generous amount of salt, pepper, chunks of carrot, celery, onion, and a bouquet garni (fresh herbs tied in cheese cloth and thrown in the pot). Set aside chicken and strain the broth, discarding the vegetables and bouquet garni. (Or save for another use.) Store both chicken and broth in the refrigerator; pick the chicken when it has cooled and chop into small pieces. Discard bones and skin.

Make cornbread:
Buy self rising cornmeal and follow the directions on the label to make one skillet of cornbread.
Leave the cornbread and a few pieces of loaf bread out to get stale overnight.

The Dressing:
1 Onion, diced
1 Carrot, diced (optional- Grandmother doesn’t use them, but it is common in French
cooking)
1 Celery stalk, diced (optional- Meemaw says Grandmother didn’t always use celery and
she doesn’t like it; neither does Kevin)
Butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
Poultry seasoning (optional- Grandmother’s recipe doesn’t call for this)
1 tablespoon sage
1 tablespoon black pepper
Salt to taste

Sauté the mirepoix (diced onion, carrot, and celery) in butter until softened (this step is optional- Grandmother just throws her onion and celery right in).

Crumble the cornbread and 2 slices of loaf bread. Put the cornbread and bread, the cut up chicken, the cream of chicken soup, the mirepoix, and the seasonings in a large casserole dish adding enough broth to make it slushy. (It has to be really wet- don’t be shy with the broth!) Use another slice or two of loaf bread if needed. Taste for seasoning and add as needed. Let this mixture sit in the refrigerator overnight or for as long as possible. Bake in a 350° oven for 15 minutes and “rake it through”, using a fork to pull the edges to the center (kind of like making an omelet), then continue baking until brown, about 45 minutes longer. Serves 10 to 12.

*When I made this for Thanksgiving, 2005 (my third attempt) I mixed up the recipe and put 2 eggs and one cup of milk in the dressing. (These were items from the cornbread recipe that I mixed up with the dressing part of the recipe.) The only drawback to putting in the milk and raw egg was that I couldn’t taste the dressing to check the seasonings before cooking. Turned out OK, but not like Grandmother’s! Oh, and I forgot to add the chicken- argh. I’ll get it right eventually!

Here’s my grandmother’s recipe for pound cake, my favorite dessert:

1 cup Crisco

2 cups sugar

3 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 eggs

Milk, if needed

Cream Crisco and sugar with an electric mixer. Add vanilla. Add 2 eggs, mix well, then add one cup of flour. Alternate eggs and flour until all is used. If cake dough is too thick add a little milk until proper consistency. Pour into a well greased bundt or loaf pan. Bake at 325° until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, at least one hour.

Add mashed strawberries mixed with a little bit of sugar and some whipped topping for strawberry shortcake.

I still plan to type in all of my grandmother’s recipes at some point but life has gotten in the way. The urgency to get them all typed in passed when I made copies of all of her recipes so I could give her recipe box back to my aunt. I have the copies set aside for the day I get back to finishing this project. I’m also going to have additional copies made and have them bound to give to my relatives.

I’m hoping to have a chance over the summer but you never know what life is going to throw at you.