Saturday, December 31, 2011
Happy New Year!
It would seem, from this card, that Grammy and Grampy probably spent several New Year's Eves counting down to midnight with Jean and John O'Brien. Grammy's recipe box included this card, which is extremely brand specific (we assure you, this is not product placement).
"Delicious Dips at Jean's New Year's Eve
Hickory Farm Crackers
Wisconsin Pride Cheese, room temperature
add sour cream and Hellmann's mayo
Mix all together until smooth."
May everyone have a safe and happy 2012!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
James' Date Nut Cake
James Date Nut Cake
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 TB milk
2/3 cup flour
2 ts baking powder
1/4 ts salt
2 cups dates, chopped
2 cups nuts, chopped
-Dredge nuts and dates in milk then mix all ingredients well.
-Pour into buttered pan.
-Bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Countdown to Thanksgiving
Two tips that Grammy would like to pass along, to make your pie even better:
1) Use 2 different varieties of apples for better flavor.
2) There is no shame in using the premade pie crust.
APPLE PIE
Pie crust
6 tart apples, cored and sliced
2 ts flour
1 cup sugar
1 ts lemon juice
1/2 ts cinnamon
1/4 ts nutmeg
2 TB butter
-Sprinkle flour over bottom of pie plate, place crust over and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.
-Arrange apples on pie crust and sprinkle with lemon juice.
-Mix remaining sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; sprinkle over apples.
-Dot with butter; cover with top pie crust.
-Bake at 425 degrees for 40 - 50 minutes.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Pumpkin Bread and Autumn Gold Cake
Pumpkin Bread
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 16 oz can (Del Monte) Pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
-Cream sugar and oil together. Add eggs and pumpkin, and mix well.
-Sift together dry ingredients, and mix in with water and wet ingredients.
-Pour into well greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 60 to 90 min.
Autumn Gold Cake
1 pkg orange flavored cake mix
1 16 oz can (Del Monte) Pumpkin
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
3 eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup whipped cream
dash of nutmeg
-Combine cake mix, pumpkin, sugar, water, eggs and pumpkin pie spice, and beat for 4 minutes.
-Pour into greased cake pan, bake at 350 for 45 min.
-Serve topped with whipped cream and a dash of nutmeg.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Baked Squash Pudding
It also calls for "top milk"... but I'll let you Google that one yourself.
Baked Squash Pudding
1 1/4 cups cooked Hubbard squash
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 ts salt
1/4 ts cinnamon
2 eggs
3/4 cup top milk
- Strain squash, then mix with sugar, molasses, salt and cinnamon.
- Beat in eggs, add milk and mix.
- Pour into greased baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 90 minutes.
We're back!
Admittedly, we've both looked better. I'm posting this because Grammy Gertie is a bit of a Stonehenge enthusiast, and I thought she's be amused.
We're getting into the fall harvest season, so it's time to post some new recipes. Onwards!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Who are these people?
Grammy Gertie, whenever she came across something delicious, would ask her friends for their recipes. I had asked about some reoccurring names that appear on the cards. Here are a few of those people:
In the immediate family, we have her children, Kit and James. James married Ellen (you see her name appear on some of the recipes).
More extended, we have Grandma Beal, Grammy's maternal grandmother (and my Great Great Grandmother). Grandma Beal taught Grammy how to make butter and weave on the rug loom. Grandma Beal also made coconut oatmeal cookies.
Edna Hall - was a librarian in Pittsfield, and her husband was an apprentice at GE at the same time as Grampy Chuck. Grammy met her in 1942.
Edna's Chicken recipe.
Edna's Seafood Casserole recipe.
Dorothy Politis - childhood and Smith College friend of Edna Hall. She taught school in Pittsfield and married a chiropractor named Alex.
Dot's Rhubarb Dump Cake recipe.
Dorcus Lamson - her husband worked at GE with Grampy Chuck.
Here is Dorcus's fruit and marshmallow salad recipe.
Jean O'Brien - her husband and Grampy were in rotary together. She and Grammy were foodies in the Berkshires together, visiting as many restaurants as they could. The O'Briens used to invite us grandkids over to swim in their pool.
Jean's Hot Chicken Salad recipe.
Jean's Punch recipe (contains alcohol).
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Hurricanes & Peach Pie
I decided to test out Grammy's Peach Pie recipe. It came out delicious!
Here's the link to Grammy Gertie's Peach Pie recipe.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Concord Grape Pie
Here's the recipe so that the rest of us can cook along:
Concord Grape Pie
4 cups concord grapes
1 cup sugar
3 TB flour
1/8 tsp salt
pie crust
-Slip the skins off of grapes.
-Heat grape pulp to boiling, then press through a sieve/strainer to remove the seeds.
-Add grape skins back along with sugar, flour and salt... and...
(technically difficulties -- we're missing the other side of the card!)
-Pour mixture into pie crust, top, and bake for... I'm going to say 350 degrees for 60 min
(but let me confirm that with Grammy)
Monday, August 15, 2011
Quick Peanut Cookies
Quick Peanut Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 ts vanilla
2 cups flour
1 ts baking powder
3/4 ts salt
2 TB milk
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
-Cream together shortening and sugar. Beat egg with vanilla extract and mix in.
-Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet mix.
-Shape into 2 rolls in 2" diameter, and wrap in waxed paper.
-Chill until firm.
-Slice into rounds, place on greased baking sheet, brush with milk and sprinkle with nuts.
-Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Waldorf Salad
Waldorf Salad
apples, cubed
celery, sliced
dried cranberries
pineapple, cut into chunks
walnuts, chopped
mayonnaise
-Mix all of the above!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Scotch Scones
I'm assuming you can add raisins, blueberries or whatever you like (chocolate) to this recipe.
Scotch Scones
2 cups flour
2 TB sugar
3 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup light cream
1 egg white
-Sift together dry ingredients.
-Cut in shortening into dry mixture with 2 knives.
-Beat egg yolk, mix with cream, and add to dry ingredients.
-Roll out dough to 1/2" thick. Cut into triangles and place on baking sheet.
-Beat egg white, brush on triangles. Sprinkle with sugar.
-Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Spiced Green Tomatoes
Spiced Green Tomatoes
5 lbs green tomatoes, sliced
5 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups vinegar
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
1 TB white mustard seed
1 TB cinnamon
- Wash but don't peel the tomatoes.
- Combine all the ingredients and cook gently until tomatoes turn clear.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Peach Pie
Peach Pie
2 pie crusts, pre-made
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt
3 TB quick-cooking tapioca
1 ts lemon juice
4 cups sliced peaches
2 TB butter or margarine
1/4 ts nutmeg
-Mix peach slices with lemon juice
-Mix dry ingredients
-Butter pie plate, lay bottom crust in
-Arrange peaches over bottom crust
-Cover with dry mixture
-Add chunks of butter, top with tapioca
-Place top pie crust over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Grammy's Cookbook
As suggested by one of my siblings, we decided to photograph the recipes in the book. You'll be seeing a few recipes over the next few months that look like the above photograph.
We love, by the way, that Chapter 9 is called "Penny Stretchers"
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Ice Box Cookies
I feel cooler already.
Ice Box Cookies
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup oleo/butter
3 eggs
1/2 ts salt
1/2 ts cream of tarter
1/2 ts baking soda
1 ts vanilla
1 cup nuts
3 1/2 cup flour
- Mix wet ingredients; mix dry ingredients; mix everything together.
- Form dough into a log shape.
- Refrigerate or freeze dough log until needed.
- Slice cookie rounds from log and place on greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 5-8 minutes.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Cranberry Jello Mold
(Which reminds me, a belated acknowledgment and hello to our international readers! Grammy Gertie was an avid traveler in her day, and would love to say Hola, Olá, Vanakkam, and Привет to you all. Thanks for checking out GrammyGertie.com!)
If you're celebrating the 4th of July this weekend, the one thing your patriotic barbecue absolutely needs is a dish that is flaming red and deliciously chilled in the summer sun!
We proudly present another variation on the cranberry Jello mold -- you can see our previous ones here and here (and don't worry, there are yet more in the recipe box!).
Click on the image to enlarge. Happy 4th of July!!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Pickled Cole Slaw
Pickled Cole Slaw
1 head cabbage, sliced
1/2 spanish onion, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup vinegar
2 tsp mustard
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 cup salad oil
-Toss the cabbage, onion, salt and 1/2 cup of the sugar together.
-Mix the vinegar, mustard, 1/4 cup sugar, celery seed and oil in a saucepan. Bring to boil.
-Pour liquid over cabbage mixture.
-Let stand overnight in sealed container in fridge.
-Stir and serve. Keeps for a week or more.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Beer Batter
The Treat grandkids had a chance to visit Grammy Gertie over the weekend. She's doing well and says hello to all!
Summer, being the season of clambakes and also sorts of beach shack grub, has a lot of fried food. It seems fitting to post another beer batter recipe. The first one can be found here.
Beer Batter
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 can beer
2 eggs, yolks beaten and whites whipped separately
- Mix flour and salt. Add beer and stir mixture until smooth.
- Add the egg yolks, then egg whites.
- Dip shrimp or fish (or onion rings) into batter and coat.
- Fry in hot oil.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Banana Chiffon Cake
This recipe, along with recipes for muffins and many other baked goods, requires making a "well" with the dry ingredients. You literally make a donut hole in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the wet mixture in.
Then, and this is essential, do not over-mix the batter! It's actually better to mix it until lumpy, then walk away and let it sit for 5 minutes.
(There should be a Treat cooking show on Food Network, right?)
On to the recipe!
Banana Chiffon Cake
Dry ingredients:
1 cup plus 2TB flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
Wet ingredients:
1/4 cup oil
2 egg yolks
3 TB cold water
1/2 cup mashed (very ripe bananas)
1/2 tsp vanilla or grated lemon rind
4 egg whites
1/4 ts cream of tarter
-Mix together dry ingredients and make a well in the center.
-Add wet ingredients in order, but hold on the egg whites and cream of tarter. Beat until smooth.
-Mix egg whites and cream of tarter until stiff.
-Fold other mixture into egg whites.
-Pour into ungreased 9" tube pan.
-Bake at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes, until it springs back when touched.
-Turn upside down and let cool.
-Serve covered with whipped cream.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Penuche Frosting
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Dot's Rhubarb Dump Cake
Dot's Rhubarb Dump Cake
4 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 cup brown sugar
3 oz strawberry jello packet
1 cup water
1/3 cup melted margarine
-In a 9x13 pan, spread the rhubarb.
-Spread sugar and jello over the rhubarb.
-Drizzle the water over everything, followed then by the margarine.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Jean's Spinach Souffle
Jean's Spinach Souffle
1 pkg frozen spinach, cooked and drained
3 eggs
chunk oleo
1 cup milk
1 pkg grated cheddar cheese
- Mix ingredients well, put into backing dish.
- Bake for 1 hr at 325 degrees.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Easy Chicken Casserole
Monday, April 25, 2011
Pepper Relish
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Happy Birthday, Grammy Gertie!
"I’m just an old farm girl at heart."
"When I was younger, my mother was a very good piano player. At that time they didn’t have sound in the theaters, so my mother played the piano. The people who played the piano would play fast when it was an exciting part, or use it to speak the parts of the movie, or something like that. She played the piano for quite a few years until sound started to come into the theaters.
And then of course she taught me how to play the piano. I know; no one’s heard me play. I was about 8 years old, and from there on she taught me and a few other people too. I kept on playing and when I was in high school I played for the high school glee clubs and the orchestra. I played for both the boys and girls glee clubs. The band was about half girls and half boys. I think there was about 125 in our orchestra. It was a good sized band.
At that time the music director said to me, "Why don’t you get interested in the percussion instruments?" He started me out with bells and chimes, snare drums, and all those. Then my folks bought me a marimba. It looked like a xylophone. It depends which hammers you use – you can make it sound like a xylophone or softer, which is like a marimba. And so I played that for quite a while.
Lots of groups like the PTA would ask me to come in as a guest and play for them. Either the marimba, or with the hard hammers to make it sound like a xylophone. I also learned to play the timpani, the kettle drums. They call them timpani or kettle drums. They’re the big drums you see in the back at the orchestra. I played those all the time in high school and the first couple of years after that. The music director had me come back and help him out as something special.
I kept trying music. My folks kept encouraging – more my mother with that. When I was playing marimba, my father had a truck at the time and we could take the marimba in that and take me around to different places to play it. Otherwise it would have been very hard to get around. There were quite a few meetings that asked me to come and play.