James Date Nut Cake

And, we're back!
I have a vague memory of eating this cake as a child. Cream cheese frosting... right?

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
-Mix with other ingredients, mix well
-Pour into buttered pans (two layer cake pans)
-Bake at 325 for 30 to 40 minutes

Cappadocia, Turkey

Pardon the delay in posts.
I (webmaster extraordinaire) got stranded in Turkey because all the flights from Europe to Boston were cancelled due to the Hurricane.







If you recall, I seem to have quite the knack for getting delayed overseas by natural disasters.

Meanwhile, I was able to visit Cappadocia, which is one of Grammy Gertie's favorite places in the world.

Cappadocia has these odd volcanic rock formations (see the far right of this picture), which almost look like giant outdoor stalagmites. The people there have carved them out and live(d) inside of them. There are also 10 km of underground cities, and plenty of cave houses. I stayed in a cave hotel.

If you have a chance, ask Grammy Gertie about her visit to Turkey -- it was her favorite trip.

I'll be back with more recipes next week!

Rice Pudding

Grammy likes, at the very least, collecting rice pudding recipes.
I arranged all 5 of these rice pudding recipes on my floor, unsure of which one to use. Below is the one in her handwriting:

RICE PUDDING

1 cup minute rice
6 TB sugar
3 eggs
1/4 ts vanilla
1/4 ts nutmeg
4 cups milk
salt to taste

-Boil rice in 1/2 of the milk, then reduce to simmer. Cook until tender.
-Take remaining milk, and stir together sugar, eggs, vanilla, nutmeg and salt.
-Stir egg mixture into boiled rice, and simmer until thick and creamy.

Sheila's Chicken Casserole

This is a recipe that Grammy Gertie got from one of her friends at the Red Cross. For a chicken casserole, it has quite a bit of non-chicken meat in it... perhaps this was the inspiration for the Turducken.





Sheila's Chicken Casserole

5 1/2 oz dried beef
chicken breasts
bacon, enough strips to cover
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream

-Rinse dried beef in cold water, drain, and then spread on bottom of baking dish
-Layer chicken breasts on top of beef, then top with slices of bacon
-Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
-Mix cream of mushroom with sour cream, then pour over the meat
-Bake an additional 30 minutes

Concord Grape Pie, updated per request

Due to reports of a recently undercooked pie, we are updating the cooking instructions for the Concord Grape Pie. Our apologies - the previous posting of the recipe was missing the instructions on the back of the card.

(Originally posted August 25, 2011)

Concord Grape Pie

Grammy Gertie told me recently that she and her friends in Pittsfield will be making Concord Grape Pie as a cooking demonstration. They're waiting for the Concord Grapes to come into season, which should be soon.

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.

-Top with upper crust.
-Pour mixture into pie crust, top, and bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees

Apple Bread

The apples are coming into season in Massachusetts, so it's a great time to play around with some of Grammy Gertie's apple recipes. Click here to see more apple recipes.

Apple Bread

2 cups flour, sifted
1 ts baking powder
1 ts salt
1 ts baking soda
1 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup of sugar
1 ts vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup applesauce
2 cups apples, peeled and chopped

-Mix all dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, salt, paking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg)
-Mix all wet ingredients together (mayo, sugar, vanilla, eggs, applesauce, apple)
-Mix the 2 mixes, and pour into a greased bread pan
-Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Fresh Relish

Now might be a good time to start thinking about pickling various things from the Farmer's Market. Here's a recipe that takes care of the peppers, lettuce and onions... Seemingly yields a 5 gallon bucket.
(kidding)

Fresh Relish

4 large green peppers
4 large red peppers
3 lb head of cabbage
5 or 6 onions "what you can hold in one hand"
4 cups sugar, white
1/2 cup salt
3 TB mustard seed
1 TB celery seed
Vinegar, full strength

- Grind peppers, cabbage and onions until fine.
- Mix with salt, and let sit overnight.
- Drain through sieve.
- Mix with sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, and enough vinegar to cover it.
- Let sit for 24 hours, mixing periodically.
- Can in 5 to 6 jars, store in a cool place.

"It's delicious and so easy to make!"