Pineapple Cream Cheese Salad

I don't know whether to label this as fruit, dairy, salad, dessert or side dish... or just "weird." Is that a category in a recipe box?

Pineapple Cream Cheese Salad

1 small can crushed pineapple

1 cup nuts

2 pkg cream cheese

-mold above ingredients in a roll

-roll in graham cracker crumbs

-chill in refrigerator

-slice and serve on lettuce leaf

(What? Will somebody please try this and get back to me on it? I'm curious, but can't quite bring myself to do it...)

Strawberry Pie

We're back!

Sorry about that... volcano and all. Glad to be home. Here's a recipe that's perfect for spring:

Strawberry Pie

(from Nancy Chicoine)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup water

1 pkg wild strawberry jello

fresh strawberries, sliced

1 pie shell, baked

-Mix together the cornstarch, sugar and water.

-Boil and add strawberry jello. Boil until on the thick side.

-Arrange sliced strawberries in baked pie shell.

-While hot, pour jello mixture over sliced strawberries.

-Chill, and serve with cream.

Pardon the Volcanic Interruption...

Good afternoon from London - where I will be stranded for the next week or so due to the volcanic ash cloud. Seriously.

I cannot post Grammy Gertie's recipes from this location, so this blog is on hiatus until the planes start flying again. Apologies! We'll be back in a week or two.

Cheers, A

Happy Birthday, Grammy Gertie!

Grammy Gertie will be turning 91 in a few days, an accomplishment the rest of us can't touch. In her honor, we are posting a few of her more memorable recipes today (see the posts below).

I did an interview project with Grammy a few years ago. It seems like a fitting day to post some excerpts of that as well. In her own words:

"I was born on the grounds of the Burkey farm. It was a big house, with a big barn and lots of cows. The base of the house was built on a sort of hill. You could open the basement door from the ground level. In it there was big, white room with shelves, and wheel after wheel after wheel of Swiss cheese. It was curing itself. It smelled wonderful in there with all the Swiss cheese. We sold the cheese to different places. I remember the big room where they kept the cheese.

There was a big barn. I liked the animals. We had a few horses. They did maple syruping. There were lots of woods. They’d get a couple thousand gallons of syrup each year. They needed the horses to pull the sleighs or the wagons through to carry the sap back to the sugar house. Of course there were sheep and pigs, things you find in a normal barn.

I didn’t have brothers or sisters – I was the only one. They were big farms, with a lot of distance between the houses. I probably spent a lot of time in the barn, and just walking around.

I don’t remember ever celebrating my birthday at school. There was a boy who had the same birthday that I did, but we never celebrated at school. At home, my mom would make a cake. My favorite cake was white cake with whipped cream frosting. Each year I’d have one of those – she’d make one for me. When I was younger, we’d have two or three neighborhood kids come in and have a little party, but I guess that was about it."

Ohio Style Baked Beans

No summer barbecue was complete at the Treats without a pan of baked beans. Grammy says that she doesn't really have a recipe for this -- it's in her head.

My general understanding is that you simmer the beans in boiling water until tender (about 2 hrs), then bake them with the other ingredients at, oh, let's say 350 degrees for an hour.

Ohio Style Baked Beans

Pea beans or Navy beans

Bacon

Brown mustard

Maple syrup

Molasses

Ketchup

"water needed" - use about 2 cups of the boiling water in the baking dish with the other ingredients.

Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake

I have vague memories of this being served as a birthday cake for my sister Emily one year when we were little. It was received with a bit of skepticism from the Treat girls -- where's the frosting?

Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, undrained

1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filing

1 (18.25 oz) pkg yellow cake mix

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped pecans toasted

ice cream or whipped topping

-spread pineapple on bottom of 13 x 9" pan

-top with cherry pie filling

-sprinkle cake mix evenly over fruit

-drizzle butter over fruit and sprinkle with pecans

-bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 min, until golden & bubbly

Pickled Watermelon Rind

No meal at Grammy's was complete without a Ball canning jar of pickled watermelon rind. This recipe makes excellent use of the green and white bits of a watermelon slice. It used to shock us that our friends had never heard of this.

This recipe takes a long time to make. If nothing else, we can appreciate how much work used to go into those jars.

Pickled Watermelon Rind

7 lbs Watermelon Rind, cut in 1" size

-Cook until clear, pour off water

Syrup:

1 pint water

7 cups sugar

1/2 tsp oil of cinnamon

1/2 tsp oil of clove

pinch of salt

1 pint vinegar

-Bring to boil, and put rind in and let sit overnight

-In morning, remove rind.

-Reheat syrup + put back rind

-Do this for 3 more mornings.

-On 4th day, heat syrup and put in canning jars

-"I put in the pieces of rind then pour enough syrup to fill jar then seal.

-Let jars cool.

-Wash jars off.

-Let sit for 3 months before you eat it."

And refrigerate once you've reopened the jar.

Also, "If using pressure cooker, cook for 8 minutes."

And her final tip:

"A 17 lb melon gives about 7 lb rind."

Muriel's Dinner-In-A-Dish

No idea what magazine this came from, and no idea who Muriel might be... but this recipe reached recipe box card status. Let's give it a go:

Muriel's Dinner-In-A-Dish

6 TB butter

1 med onion, sliced

2 green peppers, sliced thin

1 lb ground beef

1 1/2 ts salt

1/4 ts black pepper

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups corn

4 med tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

-Melt 4TB butter in a skillet, saute the onion and green peppers for 5 min.

-Add beef, s&p, and cook on high heat for 3 minutes.

-Remove from heat for 5 min, then mix in eggs.

-In casserole dish, spread 1 cup corn, layer with half the meat mixture, then half the tomatoes.

-Repeat layers of corn, meat, tomatoes.

-Cover with bread crumbs and dot with 2 TB butter.

-Bake at 375 for 1 hour.

Creme Fraiche

Like whipped cream but less sweet, Creme Fraiche is used to top off desserts and baked goods. It comes up a lot on Top Chef.

Quick Creme Fraiche

1 cup heavy cream

8 oz nonfat sour cream

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted

-Beat ingredients together until soft peaks form in mixture.

-Refrigerate covered for several hours.

-Top your dessert, and enjoy!

Grapefruit Gelatin Salad

What brought me to a stop with this recipe was the "1 can undrained grapefruit" ingredient. Does grapefruit still come in a can? The answer is yes, yes it does.

"Grapefruit Gelatin Salad

Dissolve 1 packet of unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup boiling water.

Add 1/2 cup boiling water.

When thoroughly dissolved, add 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 can undrained grapefruit (2 cups).

Add 1 cup diced red skinned apples or 1 can peaches, drained.

(Candied maraschino cherries may be added) "

Carrot Cake

Happy Monday!

My coworker just ordered himself a giant slice of carrot cake for lunch. I'm showing a little restraint following Easter dinner, and instead am just posting the recipe for it:

Carrot Cake

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 ts baking soda

1 1/2 ts cinnamon

1 1/4 ts salt

2/3 cup oil

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 ts vanilla

18 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

4 1/2 oz strained carrots

2/3 cup coconut

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

-In a 9" square pan, mix dry ingredients.

-Add oil, carrots, eggs and vanilla - mix thoroughly.

-Stir in pineapple, coconut and walnuts.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 min.

Frosting

3oz pkg cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1/2 ts vanilla

2 cups confectionary sugar, sifted

-Beat ingredients until smooth.

"Enjoy!"