Family Heirloom Recipes

If there is one recipe that my family was known for during my childhood years, it was "Chocolate Gravy".  It was the central part of breakfast almost every morning of my life from my birth until I left home to live on my own.  The mere mention of "Chocolate Gravy" evoked an enormous range of reactions... from sheer delight to utter disgust.  Most of those whose reaction was on the "disgust" end of the spectrum had never tasted "Chocolate Gravy," and probably misunderstood it for a meat-fat-based-gravy to which chocolate had been added.  Not so.

The best way I can think to describe "Chocolate Gravy" is to compare it to the silky filling of a luxurious Chocolate Meringue Pie.  The gravy is served warm over homemade biscuits.  That is the only acceptable manner in which to eat "Chocolate Gravy."  Its ingredients are almost always on hand in most any kitchen in America.  Its preparation is simple.  Its nutritional value is... well... I can tell you that it doesn't qualify as "South Beach Diet" friendly... or any-kind-of-diet friendly.  But it is oh, so delicious.  I hope you'll give it a try.  Because this is our most famous family heirloom recipe, it is listed first on this page.  All other recipes will follow in alphabetical order.

To read my blog post about growing up with Chocolate Gravy, follow this link to that post in another of my blogs entitled "My Payne-ful Childhood."

Chocolate Gravy

4 heaping tablespoons granulated sugar

2 rounded tablespoons cocoa powder

2 heaping tablespoons all purpose flour

1 to 1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, cubed

Mix sugar, cocoa powder, flour and milk in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Cook mixture until it reaches the consistency of thin pudding; remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.  Serve over hot biscuits.

________________________________________

As I was growing up, we almost always had desserts or sweets at my house.  One of my Daddy's favorites was banana pudding.  Sometimes Mother would make her quick version with sliced bananas, vanilla wafers and instant vanilla pudding.  But sometimes she would make the really decadent version.

Creamy Banana Pudding

14-oz can Eagle Brand Milk
1 1/2 cups cold water
3 1/2 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups Cool Whip
Vanilla Wafers
3 medium bananas
1/4 cup lemon juice

Slice bananas and toss in lemon juice; set aside.  In large mixing bowl, combine Eagle Brand and water.  Add pudding mix and beat until well blended.  Chill 5 minutes.

Fold Cool Whip into pudding mixture and soon 1 cup of mixture into a 2 1/2-quart serving bowl or trifle bowl.  Top with a layer of Vanilla Wafers, then layer with one-third of the sliced bananas, then one-third of the remaining pudding mixture.  Repeat layering twice, ending with pudding mixture.  Chill thoroughly.

________________________________________

My paternal grandmother, Naomi "Pete" Payne, was the master of old-style, Southern cooking.  I was fortunate enough to have her write down her recipe for Chicken and Dressing, and walk me through the preparation of it as I followed her recipe.

Chicken & Dressing

2 pans of cornbread, prepared & cooled

8 to 10 slices of day-old white sandwich bread

2 to 3 eggs, beaten

6 stalks celery, diced

1 to 2 yellow onions, diced

1 quart chicken stock

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

4 tablespoons dried sage (or more to taste)

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

Cook chicken in large stockpot filled with water.  When chicken is completely cooked, remove from water and allow to cool, then remove from bones.  Set aside chicken and chicken stock.

In very large mixing bowl, crumble the cornbread and white bread and mix them well.  Add sage, salt, pepper, celery and onion and stir with large wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.  Add eggs.  Add chicken broth, adding a little at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Allow dressing mixture to set for about 5 minutes, then check for proper consistency.  Mixture should be sloppy, and when indentation is made with a spoon in the top, a small amount of liquid should puddle.  At this stage, taste to determine if the seasoning is correct.  More salt, pepper or sage may need to be added to suit your personal taste.  (Careful... too much sage will give your dressing a bitter flavor!)

When dressing mixture is seasoned to your liking, add the cooked chicken pieces and combine thoroughly.  Pour into a large baking pan or roaster and bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until the dressing is set in the center.  (You can test for this by gently sliding the pan back and forth. There should be no "jiggle" to the dressing mixture in the center of the pan.)

If you have large enough pans and mixing bowls, this recipe can easily be doubled.  It also freezes very well if you want to double the recipe and freeze half of it for later.  It can be frozen before baking it, or after.

________________________________________

The recipe for which my paternal grandmother was most famous was probably her Chicken & Dumplings.  "Ma-Maw", as her grandchildren called her, didn't have a written recipe for her Chicken & Dumplings.  Fortunately, her daughter, my Aunt Wanda Todd, convinced her to show her how she made this recipe.  As "Ma-Maw" worked, Aunt Wanda measured and recorded what was done.

Chicken & Dumplings

2 cups self-rising flour

1 egg

whole milk (amount to be determined)

3 large chicken breasts, bone-in & skin-on

2 stalks celery

1 large onion, cut into large pieces

salt, to taste

2 cans cream of chicken soup

black pepper, to taste

2 teaspoons Cavender's Seasoning

Place chicken, celery, onion and salt in a large dutch oven (use one that a heavy lid will fit) with enough water to cover.  Place over medium-high heat.  Cover with lid and cook until chicken is done, them remove from heat.  Remove celery and onion and discard, but retain chicken stock.   Remove chicken from bones and tear into small pieces.

Bring chicken broth to a boil and drop frozen dumplings in to the broth, adding a few dumplings at a time to prevent them from sticking together.  Reduce heat to medium-low, then add cooked chicken, soup and Cavenders. Cover with a heavy lid and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes, until dumplings are done.  Stir once or twice during cooking to prevent sticking.

________________________________________

My maternal grandmother, Helen Moore, cooked many dishes that I grew to love as a child.  One of her specialties was Chicken Spaghetti.

Chicken Spaghetti

1 hen, cut into pieces

2 green bell peppers, diced

1 large onion, diced

6 stalks celery, diced

2 16-oz packages spaghetti noodles, cooked

1 16-ounce can English peas

1 16-ounce can stewed tomatoes

3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

1 pound mild Cheddar cheese, cubed

Cook the hen and remove all meat from the bones; set chicken aside and retain the chicken stock.  Place peppers, onion and celery in the bottom of a large casserole dish and add enough chicken stock to cover the vegetables.  Add all remaining ingredients and toss to combine thoroughly.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.

________________________________________

Aunt Wanda, my dad's sister, is the queen of chocolate pie-bakers.  Whenever our family has a gathering of any sort, we always assign her the task of bringing one of her famous Chocolate Meringue Pies.

(Wanda's) Chocolate Meringue Pie

3 tablespoons cocoa powder
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole milk, cold
2 cups whole milk, heated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 stick butter or margarine
deep-dish, 9-inch pie crust, baked

In a heavy saucepan, mix cold milk with dry ingredients, then mix with hot milk.  Add beaten egg yolks and cook over medium heat until mixture is thickened.  Remove from heat.

Add butter and vanilla, stirring until butter is melted and all ingredients are well-incorporated.  Pour into pie crust and top with meringue.  Bake in 350 degree oven until meringue is golden brown.

________________________________________

My grandfather, "Pa-Paw", worked for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, which make "Coke" the winner of the cola wars in our family.  We drank it with every snack, and Mother even used it as a key ingredient in one of the most delicious chocolate cakes ever.

Coca Cola Cake

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2 sticks butter or margarine

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup Coca-Cola (not diet!)

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs, well-beaten

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

6 tablespoons Coca-Cola

1 box confectioners sugar

1 cup toasted & chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9" x 13" cake pan.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and sugar.  In medium saucepan, heat butter or margarine and 1 cup Coke to boiling.  Pour Coke mixture over sugar and flour mixture and combine thoroughly.

Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and marshmallows; combine thoroughly, but do not beat.  Pour into prepared cake pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

During last few minutes of baking the cake, begin making the frosting for the cake.  Heat 1/2 cup butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 6 tablespoons Coke in medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add confectioners sugar and pecans.  Pour and spread over hot cake.  Allow cake to cool completely before slicing.

________________________________________

Ma-Maw was a great jelly-maker.  She had a grape arbor which produced grapes for delicious grape jelly, and she had a crab apple tree that yielded tons of crab apples.  These crab apples were hard as rocks, and were often used as ammunition in the wars between the armies of Kenneth (Todd) and Linda (my sister), and Kim (Todd) and me.  The crab apples that remained post-war became the main ingredient in the best, most unique-tasting, tart jelly I've ever eaten.

Crab Apple Jelly

3 to 4 pounds crab apples

3 cups water

7 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 pkg Certo liquid OR 1 pkg Sure Jell

1/2 teaspoon butter

Sort and wash crab apples; remove stem and blossom ends.  Cut in small pieces (do not peel.)  Place crab apples in large, heavy saucepan and add 3 cups water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Crush the cooked crab apples, then cover and simmer about 5 minutes more.  Extract the juice by straining through cheesecloth.

Prepare 6 or 7 half-pint jars.  Measure 5 cups of juice from crab apples into a 6-quart or 8-quart heavy saucepan or dutch oven.

Measure sugar into a separate bowl, then stir sugar into juice.  Combine well, then add butter.

Bring mixture to a full, rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.  Stir Certo or Sure-Jell into fruit mixture.  Bring back to full rolling boil and boil for 60 to 90 seconds (no more!), stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and skim off any foam.  Fill jars and seal as directed.

________________________________________

Kathryn Dorsey's Sauce is a white sauce that my mother served over green beans at almost every family gathering.  She got the recipe from Mrs. A.L. (Frances) Devereux, a long-time family friend, and it is also found in a Forrest City, Arkansas, La Petite Auxiliary cookbook from 1954.

Kathryn Dorsey's Sauce

2 cups mayonnaise

1 small onion, minced

1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 dash Tabasco Sauce

5 hard-boiled eggs, mashed

salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients well and serve at room temperature or chilled.  Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

________________________________________

I don't know the story about how this pie got it's name.  All I know is that my Mother's Kentucky Pie is one of my family's favorites.  It's rich and buttery and sweet, similar to a chess pie, but better.

Kentucky Pie

4 eggs, well-beaten

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 stick butter or margarine

3 level tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup whole milk

2 partially-baked pie shells

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine all ingredients and divide evenly between the two pie shells.  Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and continue baking until pie filling is firm (when it no longer "jiggles" in the center when the pie is gently slid back and forth.)

________________________________________

When it comes to desserts I am very much a chocolate lover.  There is one dessert, however, that I would have to list above all chocolate desserts in my list of all-time favorites, and that's my mother's Lemon Cake.  Its perfect combination of sweet and tart flavors, along with its incredible moistness, make it an ideal summertime dessert.

Lemon Cake

1 box lemon cake mix

1 box lemon jell-o

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 box confectioners sugar

Put cake mix, jell-o, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl and combine thoroughly.  Grease and flour a 9" x 13" cake pan.  Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake at 350 degrees as directed on the cake mix box.

As the cake bakes, combine lemon juice and confectioners sugar for the glaze.  When cake is done, remove from oven and pour glaze over hot cake.  Allow cake to cool completely before slicing.

________________________________________

It seems a little odd including one of my recipes in our "Family Heirloom Recipes" section, but this is a recipe that I discovered in the old red and white plaid "Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook" when I was about 11 or 12 years old.  I loved Lemon Meringue Pie, so I decided to try to bake it myself.  It was a huge success, and my Mother loved it so much that I often still bake her one in place of a birthday cake.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Filling:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pinch salt

1 1/2 cups hot water

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

9-inch pie shell, baked

Meringue:

3 egg whites

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

In heavy saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt.  Gradually stir in water.  Bring to boiling over high heat, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir 8 minutes more.  Remove from heat.

Stir small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks, return to hot mixture.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 4 minutes longer.  Remove from heat.

Add lemon zest and butter.  Gradually stir in 1/2 cup lemon juice.  Cover entire surface with clear plastic wrap, placing wrap directly on the surface of the filling; cool 10 minutes.  Pour into baked pie shell.  Cool to room temperature.

Meringue:  Beat egg whites with 1 teaspoon lemon juice until soft peaks form.  Gradually add 6 tablespoons sugar, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar is completely dissolved.  Spread meringue over pie filling, sealing to edges of pie shell.

Bake in 350 degree oven 12 to 15 minutes or until meringue is golden.  Cool thoroughly before serving.

________________________________________

My mother's "Meat & Beans" was the only casserole-type dish that my dad would ever eat.  As for my sister, Linda, and me... this one was one of our favorites.

Meat & Beans

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 16-ounce can pork & beans

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown ground beef and onions until meat is no longer pink.  Drain thoroughly.  Add remaining ingredients and pour mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.  Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

________________________________________

My maternal grandmother, whom we grandchildren called "Grandmother", had a love for sweets and snacks like no one else I've ever known... plus the ability to eat them without having them show up on her hips or mid-section.  Every Christmas Grandmother's kitchen brought forth several holiday stand-by's.  One of the family favorites, known by many these days as "Chex Mix" was Grandmother's "Party Mix".  This recipe has been around for so many years, and the sizes of boxes and other packaging has changed quite a bit.  I've tried to keep the quantities updated as much as possible.

Party Mix

one-pound pkg. pecan halves

one-pound pkg. unsalted peanuts

1/2 to 2/3 of a 15-oz box Cheerios

15.6-ounce box Rice Chex Cereal
15-ounce pkg. thin pretzel sticks
16-oz bottle plus 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 sticks butter or margarine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

 

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Heat oil and flavorings over medium-low heat in medium-sized saucepan.  Place all remaining ingredients in a 6-quart dutch oven, a large roasting pan, or any other large, oven-proof pan.  Pour heated oil and flavorings over mix.  Using a large wooden spoon, stir gently to coat nuts and cereals with oil mixture.  Place in oven and bake approximately 2 hours, stirring gently every 20 or 30 minutes.  Store in airtight containers.

________________________________________

Every Christmas, along with all the sweets and treats we had to eat, Grandmother would always make a special punch.  The container sizes have changed considerably, and some key ingredients in her original recipe, such as "Nu-Grape" can no longer be found.  This is the best adaptation I can come up with.

Party Punch

5 12-oz cans grape soda
2-liter bottle ginger ale
1 large can Hi-C Orange Drink (approx 64 oz)
12-oz can frozen concentrate yellow lemonade, mixed to directions
1 large can pineapple juice (approx 64 oz)

Combine all ingredients and chill.

________________________________________

One of the things we are blessed with each summer here in Eastern Arkansas is an abundance of peaches (barring a late-Spring frost.)  Forrest City used to have annual Peach Festivals, of which my mother was queen one year!  And one of my most vivid childhood memories is sitting on the porch and taking my turn at operating the hand-crank ice cream maker.  Most of the time we had vanilla ice cream, but if the peach crop were especially prolific, and we didn't use all the peaches in the cobblers that were Daddy's favorite... we would have Peach Ice Cream as a special treat.

Peach Cobbler

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup granulated sugar

scant 1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoons cinnamon

1 stick butter or margarine

1 quart sugared peaches*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place butter in 9" x 13" cake pan; place pan in oven until butter is melted, then remove from oven.  In medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, milk and cinnamon; pour into cake pan with melted butter.  Add peaches and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Grandmother's Peach Ice Cream

2 cans Eagle Brand Milk
1 pint whipping cream
4 or 5 cups whole milk
3 cups peaches, crushed & sugared *

Combine all ingredients well and freeze in ice cream freezer.

* When preparing peaches for the freezer, Mother always macerated the peach slices in sugar, until she had a nice amount of syrup to put with the peaches.  She used these peaches for both her ice cream and her cobblers.  We've always "eyeballed" the amount of sugar to use on the peaches, but I'm guessing for the amount in this recipe, you would use roughly 1/2 cup of sugar.  Let the peaches and the sugar set at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until the sugar produces a nice syrup.

________________________________________

Grandmother taught me to make her famous Peanut Butter Fudge when I was 9 years old.  She then helped me enter it in the youth division of the county fair, where I won a blue ribbon for it.  You can read my account of that experience when you follow this link to another of my blogs, entitled "My Payne-ful Childhood." 

Peanut Butter Fudge

3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Thoroughly butter an 9-inch square pan.  Combine all ingredients, except peanut butter, in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture reaches the Soft Ball stage on a candy thermometer.  Remove from heat and add peanut butter.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes, then beat well and pour into prepared pan.  Allow to cool before cutting into pieces.  Yields 3 pounds.

________________________________________

My mother makes the best pecan pie, hands down, of any that I have ever eaten.  This isn't one of those newfangled recipes with the chocolate or the caramel added in... it's just plain, old-fashioned, gooey, pecan goodness.

(Karo) Pecan Pie

3 eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1 cup Karo light (white) corn syrup

1 cup pecan halves

9-inch pie crust, unbaked

Beat eggs hard; add sugar and flour and beat well.  Add Karo syrup and nuts and combine well.  Pour into unbaked pie crust and bake at 325 degrees (Again, my family is terrible about omitting the length of baking time.  I'll check on this one and update as soon as I know something.)

________________________________________

Another of Grandmother's annual holiday sweet treats was a cake that her husband, Pa-Paw, dearly loved... her Prune Cake.  I must admit, it was always one of my favorites, too.  And for a cake that highlighted prunes as the star ingredient, it had to taste pretty darn good to get the attention of a child.

Prune Cake

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup chopped prunes, unsweetened
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour tube cake pan.  In a large mixing bowl, combine vegetable oil and sugar.  Add beaten eggs and prunes; do not beat!  Add baking soda to buttermilk and allow to sit for a few minutes.

Add flour, salt and spices to oil and sugar mixture.  Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.  Pour into prepared cake pan and bake until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean (Sorry, but there is really no baking time listed in this old recipe of Grandmother's.  The next time I bake it, I'll try to remember the time and record it here.)

_____________________________

Daddy was a farmer, and one of the main crops produced on our farm was Arkansas rice.  But for the most part, Daddy refused to eat rice because of what it looked like (a certain stage of an insect that isn't particularly appetizing to think about.)  He would, however, consent to eat rice if it was in his favorite Rice Pudding recipe.

Daddy's Favorite Rice Pudding


1 cup cooked white rice
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk *

Combine all ingredients in a greased 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish and bake at 300 degrees until mixture thickens; but don't overcook!  (Sorry, but this is another recipe that I don't have a cooking time for - you'll just have to keep an eye on it until I try it again and record the time it normally takes.)

* Regular whole milk can be substituted, but one or two tablespoons of butter should be added if this substitution is made.

________________________________________

Mother's "Salmon Croquettes" were always a treat.  Although she didn't make them very often, she had to make a lot when she did, because my sister and I ate so many of them.  Considering the terrible experience Linda and I gave Mother when we were small children, it's a wonder she ever cooked any fish dish at all.  Read about it by following this link to my story "Gone Fishing".

Salmon Croquettes

3 1-pound cans salmon

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons grated onion

1 cup dried, seasoned bread crumbs, divided

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Flake fish and remove bones.  Add seasoning, 1 egg and 1/4 cup bread crumbs.  Mix well.  Shape into croquettes.

Beat two eggs slightly with two tablespoons water and place in a shallow bowl.  Place remaining 3/4 cup bread crumbs in separate shallow bowl.    Dip croquettes in bread crumbs, then egg mixture, them again in bread crumbs.

Place croquettes in a single layer on a large platter and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.

Pour vegetable oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add a few croquettes at a time and cook, turning to brown all sides, until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and keep warm in oven while cooking remaining croquettes. 

________________________________________

 

If there is one dish we have at almost every family gathering, it's Mother's "Sinful Potatoes."  She says she hates to make them every time, but it's probably the only time the rest of the family get to eat them.

Sinful Potatoes

2-pound pkg. frozen hash browns (diced, not shredded)

1-lb box Velveeta

1 pint mayonnaise (Hellman's preferred)

1 jar bacon bits (optional, and not normally used by my family)

Thaw hash browns.  While potatoes are thawing, melt Velveeta in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine thawed hash browns, melted Velveeta and mayonnaise and spoon into prepared casserole dish.  Top with bacon bits, if desired.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

 

________________________________________

I don't remember Mother having baked a lot of cookies, except for the holidays.  But one cookie I do remember her baking, and sometimes loading up with the food that we would take to the horse shows that filled every Saturday of our lives from April through September, was Snickerdoodles.

Snickerdoodles

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Combine all ingredients until thoroughly incorporated; chill dough.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll chilled dough into balls about the size of walnuts, then roll in a mixture of 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and transfer to rack to cool.

________________________________________

 

During the summer, Mother did a lot of canning, pickling and preserving.  One of my all-time favorites during the times she dragged out the canning and freezing tools was her Freezer Strawberry Jam.

Freezer Strawberry Jam

2 10-oz pkgs frozen strawberries, sliced

3 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3-oz foil pouch of liquid fruit pectin

Thaw strawberries and mash well with a potato masher.  Stir in sugar; combining well.  Allow strawberry mixture to stand for 20 minutes at room temperature.

Add fruit pectin and stir for 3 minutes.  Ladle into clean freezer containers or jelly jars.  Cover each container with top or lid; let stand 24 hours at room temperature.  Label and freeze.

Jam will store up to one year in freezer, and will last up to 6 weeks in refrigerator.  Yield:  5 half-pints

 

 

 

________________________________________

No matter what the special "ladies" event was, there was always one punch Mother served.  At every shower, every bridge party, every event that called for finger foods and a pretty cake... we had Yellow Punch. 

Yellow Punch

2-liter bottle ginger ale

half-gallon pineapple sherbert

12-oz can frozen concentrate yellow lemonade

Chill punch bowl well in advance.  Set lemonade and sherbert out to that for 45 minutes to an hour.  Combine all ingredients in chilled bowl and serve.

 

________________________________________