Food Gratitude

Trader's Village IBCA Barbeque Cookoff held in Grand Prairie, Texas

2011-10-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dominic from Houston, Texas

1st Place Junior Division

IBCA Trader's Village

Obie-que's Backyard Barbeque Championship

Supporting "Kash for Kids" October 8-9, 2011

Dominic cooked his winning Pork Chop

on his Old Smokey Grill

Bayli from Rhome, Texas
Special Award in the Young Junior Division

Bayli cooked her winning Pork Chop

on her New Cooker "Pigtails & Porkchops"

built by her Grandfather

Source
PHOTOGRAPHS:
Digital format and originals taken and belonging to Judith Richards Shubert, October 2011
You may click on photo to enlarge and save a copy. If you prefer you may contact me at bscrooge@charter.net.

Green Tomato Relishes from 1921 Cookbook

2010-09-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Pilgrim Cookbook

published by

The Ladies’ Aid Society

Pilgrim Ev. Lutheran Church

Cuyler Avenue and N. Lincoln Street

CHICAGO, ILL.

1921

Containing nearly 700 carefully tested recipes

This Book may be obtained from

Mrs. H. C. STEINHOFF,

1840 Cuyler Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

Price: 75 cents

Postage: 5 to 12 Cents, according to Zone

Picalilli.

One-half peck green tomatoes, ¼ peck onions, 6 stalks celery, 1 large cabbage (all chopped fine); 4 tablespoons salt. Let stand 24 hours, then drain. Add vinegar, sugar, mixed spices. Boil, but not long. ~ Mrs. Louise M. Lafrentz.

Picalilli.

One peck green tomatoes, 6 large onions, 1 large head celery, 3 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon each cinnamon, allspice, mustard, pepper (all ground); 3 pints vinegar, 2 tablespoons salt. Chop or grind and boil 2 hours. ~ Mrs. O’Rourke.

Relish.

One peck green tomatoes, 1 dozen large onions, 1 solid head of cabbage, 1 large bunch of celery, 1 dozen green peppers, 5 cents celery seed, 2 10 cent cans Coleman’s mustard, 1 gallon cider vinegar, 1 pound flour, 1 ½ pounds brown sugar. Chop coarse; make paste of sugar, mustard, flour, and add to boiling vinegar. Drop all ingredients into vinegar paste and boil a short time. Use turmeric coloring. ~ Mrs. Graser.

Tomato Relish.

Four medium size apples, 24 ripe tomatoes, 8 medium size onions, 6 green peppers, 3 stalks celery, 2 ½ tablespoons salt, 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup brown sugar. This makes 6 pints. Boil about 2 hours. ~ Flora Hemler.

Green Tomato Pickles – Sweet.

One peck green tomatoes sliced, sprinkle with salt sparingly and let stand over night, 1 dozen good sized onions sliced rather coarse, 6 red peppers chopped coarse, 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon ground allspice, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon mustard, 1 teaspoon cloves, 3 pints good vinegar or enough to cover. Boil until tender. ~ Mrs. G. H. Rausch.

Pickled Pear Sticks with Cinnamon Candy Red Hots

2010-09-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

Try this delicious and easy recipe for pickled pears. I love them any time of the year ~ especially eaten cold with a sandwich and potato chips!

8 - 10 medium ripe pears - sliced thin
1 tablespoon whole cloves
2 cups cider vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup red hot cinnamon candies

First, make syrup with vinegar, sugar, and red hots. Boil syrup 10 minutes. Drop pear slices and cloves into boiling syrup. Cook, gently boiling until pears are tender. Pack pears into hot, sterile jars. Add hot syrup to come within 1/4" of top, then seal. Process about 15 minutes in hot water bath.

Chill before serving.

Sights in my Viewfinder at the "Bedford Blues and BBQ 2010 Bluesfest" on Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Margaritavilla Car Club

The Margaritaville Car Club and cook team were in spot #18 next to my sister and brother-in-law, Gene and Angie Pruett, who cook under the name of "One Slice at a Time". Neat name don't you think? The Margaritaville Car Club family is from Colleyville, and although I don't remember their first names, I enjoyed talking to him about their travels and the fun they have cooking in these competitive cook-offs.

The Ice Wagon

One Slice at a Time
and Grillin Granny

Mizz Vi's Bar BQ'd Blues
from Dallas

Hard Wood BBQ

THE COSMIC COOKS
Randy Dunn of Flower Mound, Texas
and Dave Calverly of Carrolton, Texas

Just Smokin

Lining up at People's Choice Booths to taste their brand of BBQ!

Jeff & Lynn: Taste of Texas

SOURCES:

PHOTOGRAPHS:

Digital format and originals taken and owned by Judith Richards Shubert - 2010

Color in Surfside Beach

2010-07-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

Color found in Surfside Beach, Texas

Month of June 2010

"When Life Gives You Lemons. . . . "

2010-06-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

My neighbor, Carol, gave me the only lemon that her beautiful potted lemon tree produced this year. She said it might not be good because it was so large. It did have a thick rind with a lot of white pulp, but the lemon itself and the lemon juice was delicious. It had several seeds inside that had begun to sprout and I thought I might try to plant them! They are drying on my window sill ~ I probably should have planted them right away, but I don't know. I thought you were supposed to let seeds dry before you planted, so that's what I am doing.

I like iced tea with lemon and a little Splenda ~ before I might have said sugar, but that's an ugly word now in my case!

". . . . make lemonade."

Judy

My Little Cupcake!

2010-04-29T06:22:00.000-07:00

My Youngest Grandson

He is isn't a baby any longer - but he is still my sweet little cupcake! He reminds me of those sprinkles, sprinkles everywhere. As sweet as they are and as sweet as the frosting.

Using the "Pretty Love" Alpha by Rainys Alphas

and the QuickPage is by Spinky Dink Scraps

A Celtic Mother's Smile

2010-04-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

"Mother"

Irene Gailey Stone

79th Birthday - October 6, 2002

She was a wonderful mother to all of us who loved and adored her.
We miss her quick laughter and beautiful smile.

Using the Celtic Teal alphabet from

Rainy's Alphas

and a lovely QuickPage from Ivy's Inspirations

Addie's Plaid Easter

2010-04-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

Have a wonderful Easter, Addie!

Love you lots, Aunt Judy and Uncle Bob

I used this delightful Easter quick page from Dani
at Dani Salles Design

and the fun Plaid alphabet from Rainy
at Rainy's Alphas.

I think it is perfect for our Addie.

Using Nathan's Designs

2010-03-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Some of our precious nieces and nephews!

Using papers and elements from Nathan's brilliant designs! Don't you just LOVE that color of orange? It is in his Rainbow Collection found at his blog, Nathan Design.

All three of these little ones are growing by leaps and bounds and are now in school. These photos were made at a family reunion we had at my sister's house in 2004. My how time flies!

"Purple & Green" Challenge from Rainy

2010-02-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

"Purple & Green" Challenge from Rainy

Using Karen Perry's February On the House freebie at After Five Designs:
http://www.afterfiv edesigns. com/forum/ showthread. php?t=6196
and some of Kubivet's elements:
http://kubivet. blogspot. com/
and a pretty posie from The Vintage Moth
http://www.percyand bloom.com/ the-vintage- moth/?currentPag e=2
and frame from Scrapbrat Designs at Divine Digital
http://www.divinedi gital.com/

A Valentine for Caroline Valentine

2010-02-13T13:34:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine Birthday Girl is Caroline Valentine. She can be as sweet as these candied hearts and cupcakes! Happy 7th birthday and Happy Valentine's Day, Caroline.

I used a Tube tutorial and elements from Scrap and Tubes and Candy's Treats. I really enjoyed creating this confection!

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Scrap and Tubes and Candy's Treats, accessed February 5, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010.

Valentine for a Car Junky

2010-02-13T13:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know he seems a little young, but he loves those NASCARS! My sister's oldest has picked up his Papa's love of old trucks and fast cars. Thought the freebie QP from Soda Pop Shop and Divine Digital makes a "sweet" Valentine!

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Mary's Mixes and Creative Elegance Designs,accessed February 5, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010.

A Five-Year Old's Vision of a Valentine

2010-02-13T12:49:00.000-08:00

My sister's youngest ~ she helped me make her Valentine. She sat here and picked out all of the things she wanted on it. I think she did a great job, don't you?

We used pretty papers and elements from Meadorlady at Creative Elegance Designs and Mary of Mary's Mixes.

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Mary's Mixes and Creative Elegance Designs,accessed February 5, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010.

6th Valentine, Sweet Valentine!

2010-02-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

My youngest grandson, in fact, my youngest grandchild, is the perfect one to receive this sweet treat with teddy bear included from Scrap and Tube. Doesn't he look innocent with that scrape on his cheek?

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Candys Treats, Scrap and Tube, accessed February 11, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010.

5th Valentine, My Valentine!

2010-02-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

My oldest grandson loves creating things like paper airplanes and robots. I found a lot of these scrapbooking elements at Ptitesouris. His hugs and kisses Valentine reminds me of the fun we have together!

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Ptitesouris, accessed February 11, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010

4th Valentine, Sweet Valentine

2010-02-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

I loved Diane's creations on Candys Treats where I found all of the scrapbooking elements and papers used in this sweet red Valentine. I used her "Candied Hearts" freebie kit to create this next Valentine for another of my sweet, sweet granddaughters.

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Candys Treats, accessed February 11, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010.

3rd Valentine, My Valentine!

2010-02-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

This beautiful template is by Blanulak at Bohemian Art. I decided it was the perfect place for my oldest granddaughter's photograph. It makes a fabulous Valentine!

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Bohemian Art, accessed February 11, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010.

2nd Valentine, O Valentine!

2010-02-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

Using Rainy's beautiful papers and scrapping elements, I created this 2nd Valentine for another of my grandchildren. With only 4 more to go, I'm in a race to beat the cupid on the 14th!

Visit Rainy at her Sweetz Store and blog.

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Rainy's Sweetz Scrap Shoppe, accessed February 5, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010.

Valentine, Dear Valentine

2010-02-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

Thought I would work on some early Valentines for my grandchildren. Here is the first one. I loved working with Mary's Mixes and her Valentine scrapping elements. I have to admit mine looks a lot like hers, but I was intrigued with how she layered everything and had a blast working with them until I was able to duplicate some of it. I hope you will visit Mary's Mixes if you enjoy digital scrapbooking. She has some of the most beautiful kits out there!

Sources:

Scrapbooking Elements: Mary's Mixes, accessed February 5, 2010.

Photograph, Digital Format belonging to Judy Shubert, January 2010.

Turkey Bingo Fundraiser

2009-10-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

Just sent a box of dolls and stuffed animals to the Pine Ridge Reservation for Our Lady of Lourdes School Turkey Bingo Fundraiser. The November 13th event is an annual fundraiser that the families look forward to all year long. The school puts together baskets of food for each family that includes a complete turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Donated items are needed for the Bingo games that can be used as prizes. There is a list of much needed items on the Pine Ridge website. Please check out the different donation drives and give a gift of love to a child.

Making Pear Butter and Honey

2009-10-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Anjou Pears from my Sister's Tree
October 2009

"A farm cook suggests: Pour coffee for drop in guests and let them spread spicy peach, grape or apricot butter on hot buttered toast. Grandmother made fruit butters for two important reasons that are just as valid today: (1) they taste exceptionally good and (2) they make use of the sound parts of windfalls or culls. Among the favorite fruits for butters are apples, apricots, grapes, peaches, pears, plums, quince, guavas and combinations of fruits."

To prepare pears: Remove stems, but do not core or peel. Quarter or slice. Cook in half as much water as fruit. Add 3 tablespoons lemon juice to each gallon fruit pulp.

Put cooked fruit through food mill or colander. For a superior, smooth butter, sieve the pulp to remove fibrous material.

Sugar: Use white or brown sugar. Brown sugar darkens the light fruits; it gives a pronounced flavor to bland ones. The amount of sugar to add depends on personal tastes, but the general rule is half as much sugar as fruit pulp.

Salt: Add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon for every gallon of fruit butter.

Spices: Usually ground spices are added, although some people prefer to omit them. About 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon each ginger and allspice to 1 gallon of butter is a good proportion.

Whole spices tied loosely in cheesecloth may be substituted for ground spices in making light-colored fruit butters. Ginger is an especially tasty spice with pears. Also, adding 3 tablespoons lemon juice to 1 gallon of fruit pulp steps up the flavor.

Additions to Fruit Pulp:
1. Measure the pulp and sugar into a large kettle; add the salt. Boil rapidly, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. As the butter becomes thick, lower heat to reduce spattering.
2. Add spices and lemon juice, if used.
3. Continue cooking until butter is thick enough almost to flake off the spoon, or as Grandma used to say: "Until it is thick enough to spread." Another test for consistency is to pour a tablespoon of the hot butter into a chilled plate - if no rim of liquid forms around the edge of the butter, it is ready for canning.
4. Pour into hot jars and seal. Or process pints and quarts in hot-water bath 10 minutes.

This September I made pear and orange honey/relish, pear and pineapple honey/relish, hot pepper pear preserves, and pear butter made with brown and white sugar.

For the pear butter I used the following:
12 cups chopped uncooked pear
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Cook pear and lemon juice following above suggestions. You should have about 8 cups pulp after forcing fruit through colander.

To the 8 cups pear pulp, add 4 cups brown sugar, 2 more tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
Can or process as suggested above.

Mildred's Pear Honey

My step-mother's pear honey is my favorite. This is her easy recipe:

4 cups peeled, cubed pears

3 cups white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine in a heavy pan and cook, stirring constantly for 25 minutes.

Makes 2 pints or 4 - 1/2 pt. jars.
I add bits the bits of pear that remain in the cooked honey to each jar. By the time I fill the last jar it is mostly honey ~ no pear pieces left!

(I double the recipe and cook for 45 minutes, even though the recipe books advise against it! I had way too many pears not to double recipe.)

Canning Pears 2009

SOURCES:

Photographs:
Canning Pears, Digital Photographs, 2009. Privately held by Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, Texas.

Books:
Nichols, Nell B., Farm Journal Freezing and Canning Cookbook, Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, New York 1963. Judith Richards Shubert Private Library.

Websites:
Produce Oasis, "Anjou Pear," (Online: Produce Oasis Web Site, 2009) http://www.produceoasis.com: accessed October 27, 2009.

Wordless Wednesday - Shuberts Deep Sea Fishing

2009-10-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

Buttery Company in Llano - Food or Hardware?

2009-10-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

Llano River Bridge
Texas Hwy. 16 North in heart of city of Llano

Llano is Spanish for "plains," and the double L is pronounced as a Y. However the common pronunciation of Llano by the locals is LAN-OH. The river's north and south forks join near Junction, and from there it flows a hundred miles southeast until draining into the Colorado River.

The City of Llano sits on either side of the Llano River in the heart of Llano County. The area is part of the 1.5 billion-acre Llano Uplift, a geologic phenomenon packed with a variety of mineral deposits that took more than a billion years to form.

Llano County Courthouse

Located in the center of Llano's historic square, the courthouse was built in 1893. It is one of 68 that remain of Texas Courthouses built before 1900. (Historical Marker)

Buttery Company was founded around the year 1900 in Llano, Texas, as "Buttery and Bogusch", a partnership between the original Henry Buttery and Mr. Bogusch. Since then, we have grown to service most of Texas as well as parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico and have diversified into a lumber business, a plumbing supply outlet (Abilene, TX), a power lawn equipment distributor, an electrical supplier, and an extensive farming and ranching supplier in addition to retaining its traditional hardware business.

Initially, Buttery and Bogusch flourished by selling stock on consignment from John Webb & Company, of Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, their practice of granting customers easy credit with long payout terms caused the partnership to run out of both money and goods. After surveying the situation, Mr. Webb declared that what little inventory was left was "not worth hauling back to Austin." Henry's oldest son, Frank, then agreed to accept the partnership's debt and began operations as "J. F. Buttery".

Sources:

Photographs:

Llano River Bridge, Llano, Texas, Texas Hwy. 16 N. Digital Photograph, 2009. Privately held by Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, Texas.

Llano County Courthouse, Llano, Llano County, Texas. Digital Photographs, 2009. Privately held by Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, Texas.

Buttery Company, Llano, Texas, on the Square. Digital Photograph, 2009. Privately held by Judith Richards Shubert, Fort Worth, Texas.

Websites:

Buttery Company - Llano, Texas, http://www.butterycompany.com: accessed October 13, 2009.

City of Llano, s.v. "Historic Landmarks and Tourism" http://www.llanotx.com/tourism.htm:accessed October 13, 2009.

Cactus Grill and the Meridian Chamber of Commerce

2009-08-04T15:19:00.001-07:00

Four of the Five Sisters Eating at The Cactus Grill

Fried Fish from The Cactus Grill

I was pleased to receive the following email from Kay Duke of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce a couple of weeks ago. I had contacted the Chamber to tell them about the nice time my sisters and I had eating at the Cactus Grill in downtown Meridian. Ms. Duke so graciously put part of my "critique" in one of their Chamber newsletters.

Here is the link to the Cactus Grill page that I did on the Chamber of Commerce website utilizing your testimonial:Cactus Grill Page.

Thank you again for your email.

Kay Duke
Office Manager
Meridian Chamber of Commerce

Thank you so much, Kay. I hope the Cactus Grill and Meridian have many visitors as a result!

Making Dill Pickles at Possum Kingdom

2009-07-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

Bob and I went to the lake for a few days to visit Linda Kay and Skip last week. Linda Kay called before we left and said, "Let's make some dill pickles!" So, as we were leaving the metroplex, Bob and I stopped at the Farmer's Market in Haltom City located at 5507 E. Belknap Street.

View Larger Map

They have wonderful fruits and vegetables, honey, jams and jellies, potted plants, and all sorts of goodies that I always enjoy looking at when I visit their family-owned and operated business located between my home and Fort Worth. But I'm getting off-track. I stopped by to purchase some cucumbers, dill, and garlic. They had just what I needed. Shubert ran in before I got off the cell-phone and I knew if I didn't follow him quickly I'd end up with regular size cucumbers instead of the pickling size.

I found him bagging up the wrong ones just in time! We bought about 10 pounds of cucumbers, a sleeve of 5 heads of garlic (it was a better buy but we only used one) and a handful of fresh dill. We stopped by a local Kroger grocery store and bought a gallon of apple cider vinegar. Luckily, I had 13 or 14 pint jars left from last October's pear preserves. I also had a brand new box of Mason lids and rings which we could use. We were all set.

Linda Kay and I didn't get started on our pickles until later in the day on Friday. After all, we had to watch Young and the Restless first!

We had a great time. We made 2 recipes and used all of the cucumbers and all of the jars I had taken to the lake. We put black peppercorns in the pickle strips to see if we liked the taste. I brought half of the pickles home with me and she kept half. Of course, we have to wait at least 7 days to let the flavors meld before trying our pickles! We used Mildred's Quick Dill Pickle recipe which I have posted here. Hope you will try them and let me know what you think.

Photographs by Judith Richards Shubert, July 2009 (c)

My Hen Collection

2009-07-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Colorful Brown Ceramic Hen on Basketweave Nest Covered Dish

Blue Carnival Glass Hen on Nest Covered Dish from Aunt Irene

Old Milk Glass Hen on Nest Covered Dish

Brown Ceramic Standing Hen with Handled Lid

Westmoreland Milk Glass Hen on Nest with Red Comb and Feathers Covered Dish

Clear Blue Glass Hen on Nest Covered Dish from Aunt Irene

Trying Live Writer on a Saturday

2009-06-13T07:03:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning trying to remember something I intended to do today. I’m sure it was important, like cleaning out the closet or dusting the bookshelves. But since the thought escaped me, I sat down at the computer to check my email, which, by the way, is not at all unusual for a Saturday morning.

One of the first that I opened was a feed from Today's Creative Blog extolling the beauty of Windows Live Writer and since I had nothing better to do and am always looking for an easier way to format a post here or there, I asked my husband to download it while I fixed another cup of coffee.

I may like this. It looks good so far. Now I need to play around with photos and new text, maps, tags, etc. Oh, I may be in trouble here. Surely, that closet can wait until next Saturday!

I call this little ATC “Cherish Mary Pickford” ~ I’ve been playing around with Photoshop this past week and have really enjoyed it. Just wish I had time and energy to do some scrapbooking.

Technorati Tags: ATC,Mary Pickford,Windows Live Writer

Tasty Brioche and Sally Lunn Bread

2009-06-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Several days ago I decided I wanted to try Terry Thornton's bread. Although I was not all that excited about dragging my large bread maker out of storage in the pantry, I was excited about trying Terry's recipe. Well, turns out I couldn't find my bread maker. Bob and I looked and looked. We poked into corners in this house and the attic that I forgot were there. But no bread maker to be found. I'm sure it's somewhere ~ surely I wouldn't have put it in a yard sale ~ would I?

No problem, I still have the dough hook that attaches to my counter-top Kitchen-Aid electric mixer, so I figured all is not lost. I should have tried Terry's recipe first, but instead I decided to get a little more adventuresome and picked a recipe out of my cookbook, A World of Breads, by Dolores Casella Ms. Casella had written in an introduction to Loaf Breads that "not many women make a yeast-raised Sally Lunn any more." So that's the one I decided to try. Just had to follow directions for making bread that came with my Kitchen-Aid and I should be alright. Right?

I placed it in one regular loaf pan and as the dough was rising, I realized it should have gone into two pans. It started coming over the sides and I had to cut some of the excess off before I actually baked it. The Sally Lunn was a little too sweet for me, but it was a good bread.
Here is Ms. Casella's recipe:

SALLY LUNN
(Yeast)

This is the yeast version of this famous English bread which has been popular for several hundred years. (The cookbook also has a baking-powder version.) Serve the bread for tea or afternoon coffee, with bowls of fresh fruit, or at breakfast with butter and plenty of homemade jam.

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup scalded and cooled rich milk
1 cake yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3 eggs, beaten
4 cups flour, sifted

Cream the butter, sugar, and salt. Add the cooled milk. Dissolve the yeast in the water and add to the creamed mixture along with the beaten eggs. Add the flour a little at a time, beating thoroughly between additions. Cover and let rise until doubled. Then punch down and pour into a well-greased loaf pan or small tube pan. Cover and let rise again. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until loaf is golden brown and tests done.

NOTE: To bake as buns pour the batter into well-greased muffin pans, cover and let rise. Brush with beaten egg and bake in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes, or until done.

In the Rolls section of this cookbook, Ms. Casella includes a recipe for Brioche with several variations. Two days after my Sally Lunn adventure, I decided to try Brioche. I must say, the results were great. I shared rolls with my neighbor and my granddaughter and both raved about them. I had enough dough to make 2 pans of rolls and 1 loaf of this very versatile bread.

Here is Ms. Casella's recipe:

BRIOCHE

Brioche is typically French. Some authorities believe that it was named for the town of Brie, where it supposedly originated, and that originally it was always made with Brie cheese. It is a rich basic dough with many uses. This recipe, my favorite, is based on the one given in Catherine Owen's Culture and Cooking, or Art in the Kitchen (1881 edition), which she said was from the Paris Jockey Club.

1 or 2 cakes or packages yeast
1/4 cup warm milk or water
3 tablespoons sugar
7 eggs, or 6 egg yolks and 4 whole eggs
4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups soft butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon cream

If dry yeast is used dissolve it in the warm milk or water along with the sugar. If fresh yeast is used, cream it with the sugar and add the milk or water. Add the 7 whole eggs, or the egg yolks and eggs, and stir well to blend. Add 2 cups flour, the salt, and the butter and beat thoroughly. Add the remaining flour, blend, and beat well. Beating Brioche dough is very important, as it is too soft to knead. Either beat it is a heavy-duty mixer, or else pick up the dough in your hands and slap it down on a breadboard. (This will become frustratingly sticky, which is why I beat the dough in a mixer, very thoroughly, before and after adding the last 2 cups flour.) When the dough has been well beaten, brush the top with melted butter, cover the bowl, and let it rise until doubled. Then punch it down, cover the bowl again, and place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly. This will take at least 12 hours, so it is best to made Brioche dough the day before it is needed. It will keep in the refrigerator for several days. When needed, remove from refrigerator. Handle it quickly, as it soon becomes too soft to use. Brioche dough can be shaped in various ways. You might braid small pieces of dough and place the braids in small, buttered loaf tins (these are fluted tins available in specialty shops). Or make small loaves, or regular-sized loaves, or buns to be baked in buttered muffin tins. In any case, let the shaped dough rise until doubled. Glaze with egg yolk and cream. Bake rolls or buns at 400-degrees for 20 minutes; large loaves at 375-degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.

NOTE: If desired add another 1/2 cup flour to the dough. Shape it into a crown or large round loaf and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Let rise until doubled and bake in a 375-degree oven until browned and done.

Next I'm going to buy some small loaf pans and try Terry's bread recipe. I'm just very afraid mine won't be as pretty as his turned out to be!

Sources:

Website:
Thornton, Terry. A Weblog: Hill Country of Monroe County Mississippi, "I'm Baking for the Sale at Itawamba Historical Society." http://hillcountryofmonroecountry.blogspot.com/ :accessed June 10, 2009.
Books:
Casella, Dolores. A World of Breads. NEW YORK:David White Company, 1966.
Photographs:
My Brioche, Digital Format. Privately held by Judith Richards Shubert, 2009.

Wordless Wednesday - Grandchildren & Geese

2009-06-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

The Virtual Dime Museum

2009-05-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn Caps and Mad Hatters

Reminded me of my post about the Fort Worth Cats!

Fun at Fort Worth Cats Baseball Game

2009-05-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 9th, 2009
Fort Worth Cats vs. Wichita Wingnuts
Exhibition Game at LaGrave Field

Dodger
the official Cats' Mascot

Can you find Bob, Peggy, Justin, Caroline, and Mac in the crowd?
I know where they are!

#21 - Kelley Gulledge
Catcher

#13 - Joel Kirsten
Pitcher

#11 - Dustin Cameron
Pitcher
Last played for Pensacola

#44 - Lee Gwaltney
Pitcher

#33 - Jae Jung
Pitcher
Last played for South Korea

Terry Thornton is Baking Bread

2009-05-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

Mr. Terry Thornton, author of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi, has written a great post in which he shares his bread baking techniques. Entitled "I'm Baking for the Sale at Itawamba Historical Society", he tells us "there is no big mystery about yeast bread - after all, your ancestors have for generations the world over, made risen breads with the most primitive of equipment." Terry shows us in a Photo-essay how to make this delicious and nutritious food.

Terry is a writer and the publisher of numerous genealogy and cemetery blogs. He is a member of: Itawamba Historical Society and Association for Gravestone Studies, the Founder of The Association of Graveyard Rabbits, and Columnist for MONROE JOURNAL.

He has succeeded in making me want to drag my bread machine out of the back of the pantry and get busy. I'm going to Sam's and bake some bread! How about you?

Pillsbury graphic from June at Art Freebies.

Surfside Beach, Texas - Postcard Friendship Friday

2009-04-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

Surfside, a Texas coastal city offering miles of unspoiled shoreline, coastal marsh, rivers and bays. It is a great place for a retreat such as my sisters and I had a couple of weeks ago. It is laid back and comfortable and is a favorite of beach lovers and bird watchers.

It is only an hour and a half from Houston. Towns named Angleton, Freeport, and Clute will point you in the right direction.

Participate in Postcard Friendship Friday
hosted by
Marie Reed
Cpaphil Vintage Postcards

And the winner is . . .me!

2009-04-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

I won the most fabulous earrings from Boutique By Bonnie April 16th! Her Tax Relief Giveaway ran from March 20th through April 15th (tax day) and I, as the winner, got to pick my prize from the two pairs of earrings pictured here. Bonnie chose the winner on April 16^th by random number generation.

The little package arrived in my mailbox Monday and I've barely taken them off since. They are perfect.

Bonnie lives in the foothills of the Rockies in the beautiful state of Colorado. Her passions include photography, making jewelry and writing. She is a very popular artisan who has combined all of her talents online. I hope you'll visit her blog and her Etsy store, BoutiqueByBonnie, often to see what's new.

Dale’s Spicy Beef Casserole

2009-04-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

2 ½ pounds boneless rump roast

¼ cup flour

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon all-spice

1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper

1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce

½ cup burgundy wine

½ cup beef broth (Campbell’s)

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

Cut the rump roast into 2-inch cubes. Combine flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and all-spice. Dredge or coat the meat with the flour mixture.

Place meat in a 2 quart casserole dish, or better yet, a crock pot.

Pour the remaining flour mixture, if any, over the meat.

Stir together the tomato sauce, wine, beef broth, vinegar, and Worcestershire Sauce. Pour this over the meat and stir it together. Cover and cook for 3 hours at 325 degrees – or all day on slow in the crock pot.

HINT:

If the meat is slightly frozen, it will be easier to cut into 2-inch cubes.

From Secrets of Better Cooking, published 1973 by The Reader's Digest

Cuts of Meat for Roasting

RUMP - a superb roast for flavor, this is a large even piece of meat, found just above the round. The whole rump weighs from 10 to 15 pounds. It is expensive as a whole roast unless many portions are required. It is generally cut into smaller roasts, and sold either with or without the bones. It is best when cooked by either of the following methods.

First method

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.; this will take about 15 minutes. Make sure there is a natural coating of fat on top of the roast. Add a thin layer of chopped fat if the meat is lean. Roast for exactly 15 minutes to seal the outside pores of the meat and preserve the natural juices. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees F. for the balance of required time.

Second method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and roast the meat at this temperature for the entire time. This is the easiest method. The shrinkage is less than the first; the meat is always tender and the top is crusty brown.

Graphic by June's Art Freebies

Girls' Weekend 2009 - Surfside Beach, Texas

2009-04-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, we had a great time at our annual Girls' Weekend! This year it was sister Peggy's turn to choose our destination. We usually put our names in a "hat" and draw for the privilege of deciding where our group of 5 Goddesses will venture to next.

Usually, we try to go in April or May. Because we don't really like the heat that seems like the best plan. Next time maybe we'll wait until the first "cold snap!"

Peggy lived in LaPorte near Houston for several years and said she missed the beach so much she chose Surfside and a neat beach house just steps from the water. We stayed at the beautiful Beach Retreat, at 215 Carlton Avenue owned by Tom Warren. It had all the modern amenities that we like to find in our home away from home, but with the beach atmosphere we were craving.

Ann, Sue, Linda Kay, Peggy and moi' packed our overnight bags and left North Texas behind as we climbed into Ann's large truck and headed south. Right through the hill country in the better part of bluebonnet and wildflower season. Well, actually, I guess we didn't go right through the Hill Country because we veered southeast after hitting Walnut Springs. But we saw plenty of bluebonnets none-the-less.

We drove through rain for the better part of the trip and Shubert kept calling us and telling us we were in a "tornado watch-box!" I guess he wanted us to get out and lie down in the ditch somewhere, but then my new Birkenstocks would get ruined! We had to stop for a little while in the little town of Brenham because Ann said she couldn't see through the wall of water. So we took a break with all of the other travelers and then carried on toward Bellville. As it turns out, Shubert called us as soon as we landed at the beach house to tell us the Houston news stations were reporting a tornado in Brenham with "trees down but no loss of life!" Whew! That was close.

Before Brenham and the worse part of the rain we stoppped for lunch in the little town of Meridian. The Cactus Grill at 120 North Main Street is a treat, to be sure. Raul y Vernonica Contreras, Chef and Owners, have created a wonderful little grill with lots of character and fantastic food! I ordered the Cheeseburger with fries and it was one of the best I've ever tasted. Everyone got something different. The portions were gigantic and the prices right. You'll have to stop in on your next trip through town ~ or why not make a special trip just to eat at the Cactus Grill?

After getting to the beach house and unwinding just a bit we decided on the Red Snapper Inn for dinner. It was indeed a seafood lover's paradise. The atmosphere was laid-back, casual and comfortable. We felt we could enjoy our meal and each other's company. Again, we each ordered a different entree with our love of fresh seafood uppermost in our minds. I remembered the east coast shrimp and oysters that I loved when living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and so I ordered Owner/Chef, Lin Biar's fried shrimp and oysters. I definitely was NOT disappointed. The Red Snapper Inn was only a mile from the beach house at 402 Blue Water Hwy.

The next morning Ann, Sue, and Peggy had breakfast ready for Linda Kay and me when we woke up. We are the two late risers of the group and they are the "early-birds."

After a trek to the beach with sunglasses, hats or sunscreen, and cameras in hand we thoroughly enjoyed the water, sand, and birds. Then we went back down the Blue Water Hwy. in search of Bingo. Bingo Boards is a little shop that has been renovated after Hurricane Ike's destruction and we found the owner and staff to be friendly and interesting. We enjoyed hamburgers and fries and a visit from the owner and creator of the colorful Bingo Boards! The surf-shop with beach apparel and knick-knacks is at 18 Fort Velasco in Freeport, Texas.

Needless to say, food is a big part of our Girls' Weekends. Peggy cooked a special dinner for us one night ~ a fantastic shrimp boil. It was absolutely the best thing ever. Ann prepared her famous Reuben Sandwiches for us the next evening. Served hot with sauerkraut and swiss cheese on rye. Yummy! I might be able to persuade them to share the recipes with us for the next post. I'll work on that!

Soups from "The Pilgrim Cookbook"

2009-04-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Pilgrim Cookbook

published by

The Ladies’ Aid Society

Pilgrim Ev. Lutheran Church

Cuyler Avenue and N. Lincoln Street

CHICAGO, ILL.

1921

Containing nearly 700 carefully tested recipes

This Book may be obtained from

Mrs. H. C. STEINHOFF,

1840 Cuyler Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

Price: 75 cents

Postage: 5 to 12 Cents, according to Zone

Cream of Green Bean Soup

Cook cut beans and 2 good-sized potatoes till tender; strain, saving water. Take out potatoes and mash them. Brown 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon lard, add a little flour, the water in which beans were cooked, potatoes, beans and 1 cup cream.—Mrs. A. Piepho.

Beef Soup

Take about 1 1/2 pounds lean chuck and 1 pound smoked butt, cover with water and boil about two hours. Then add 2 large carrots diced, 1 large German celery root or celeriac, 1 large German parsley root, 1 large stalk leek, and boil 1 hour more; salt to taste. Boil dried peas separately, flavor with sweet marjoram and add to soup just before serving. Navy beans may be used if preferred, or dumplings are also very good.—Mrs. W. H. Jacobs.

Beer Soup

Pour 1 pint water in a kettle and set over fire. When hot add 1/2 pint beer, a little salt, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 quart milk, a little flour to thicken and 3 to 4 egg yolks. Serve with toasted bread squares, and on top put the beaten egg whites to which has been added a little sugar and vanilla.—Mrs. H. G. Tischer.

Cherry Soup

One pint canned cherries, 1 quart water, little stick cinnamon, 1 tablespoon farina. Put in some dumplings. Sweeten to taste.—Mrs. A. Steging.

Cream of Tomato Soup

Press enough cooked tomatoes through a fine sieve to make 1 1/2 cups; let puree become very hot. Melt 1/4 cup butter, cook in it 1/4 cup flour, dash of pepper, and 1 scant teaspoon salt. When the mixture is frothy gradually stir in 1 1/2 cups cream diluted with 1/2 cup water. Stir and cook until the sauce boils vigorously, then add the hot tomato puree and remove from fire at once.—Olga T. Bohnsack.

Turnip Soup

Wash, pare and cut into small pieces 1/2 dozen medium sized white turnips. Boil them in unsalted water until tender, then rub through a fine sieve. Chop fine 1 small onion, put in a stew pan with 1 tablespoon butter, and cook slowly without browning for five minutes; then add 1 tablespoon flour and when blended, 1 quart of milk. Stir until boiling hot, add the turnip pulp and season well with salt and pepper. Cook slowly for 5 minutes ; serve at once and pass grated cheese with it. —Mrs. Albrecht.

Wine Soup

Boil 1/2 cup fine pearl tapioca in about 1 quart water till clear; then add a small piece of stick cinnamon, a little salt, 1 large glass wine (white or red), and finally 2 to 3 egg yolks and 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar. Serve also with toasted white bread squares and drop the beaten egg whites in little mounds on top.—Mrs. H. G. Tischer.

Cherry and Chocolate

2009-04-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

Cherry Fudge Cake

1 box fudge cake mix
1 can cherry pie filling
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla

Mix by hand. Bake in tube pan at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Icing

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
5 tablespoons oleo (margarine)
package chocolate chips

Bring to boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the stove and beat in chocolate chips with mixer. Spread on cake.

From Granny Marilee's Recipe Box

Inanimate Objects

2009-04-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Today as I puttered around in my kitchen I noticed the funnel that I use in canning season. It has a wide mouth that fits nicely down into the mouth of glass jars and has numerous dents and scratches on its shiny surface. It is made from aluminum, I believe, and is shiny with swirls made from cleaning it with a soapy SOS pad.

As my eyes fell on the funnel my mind drifted to my mother-in-law who used it for many years and I thought of all of the jars of applesauce laced with cinnamon and red hot candies that she had made with the help of that funnel. I remembered the taste of the applesauce and how my children had smiled when we opened a brand new jar. That memory led to another memory and then another.

That is the way it is so often around here when I glance at a picture, walk by and touch a chair, or snuggle under an afghan that once belonged to an older member of my family.

I found this short entry in a little book given to my mother-in-law by her co-workers when she had been out on sick-leave. It spoke so clearly about my thoughts this morning in the kitchen, I want to share it with you.

Inanimate Animate

"Have you ever noticed that older people tend to cling to the things that have surrounded them? We call it sentiment and scoff. Our mobile, semi-disposable society tends to treat our many possessions with little dignity. Somehow we have lost the beauty of associating an object with the things it has touched. Perhaps we need a little sentiment to give root to our lives.

A table is a
Living thing,
A part of all
It touches.

It is
A loving thing,
Caressed with
Polished pride.

A table
Senses things,
Remembers tears,
The hands of a child."

from Ironing Board Altars
Mary Ann Bohrs
Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee
Copyright 1969

Graphic by June at Art Freebies

Giveaway from the Boutique by Bonnie

2009-03-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today I found a terrific blog called Boutique by Bonnie which is authored by an artisan living in the beautiful Rockies of Colorado. She is having a fantastic giveaway! She writes:

"I think we can all use some relief this year, so I’m hosting another giveaway! This giveaway will run through April 15^th (tax day) and you get to pick your prize from the two pairs of earrings pictured here (ok, only one of each is shown). Please write the number in your comment for which pair you'd like to receive!" The post is found here.

Stop by her boutique and leave her a comment so you can get in on the fun!

Fresh Fruit Orange Dip

2009-03-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

An easy and delicious dip to serve with fresh fruit. Recipe found in Marilee's Recipe Box.

4 eggs

1/3 cup butter or oleo – room temperature

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice + 1 tablespoon

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 small pineapple, peeled and cut in fingers

2 medium apples, cored and cut in wedges

2 medium oranges, peeled and cut in slices

2 medium bananas, sliced

In the jar of an electric blender, combine the four eggs, 1/3 cup of butter, ¼ cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of orange rind and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Blend on medium for one minute. While the blender is running, add the specified amounts of orange juice and lemon juice.

Pour mixture into top of double boiler. Stir constantly over simmering water until the mixture thickens. This will take about 10 minutes.

Cover and chill. Makes approximately 8-10 servings. Serve with the cut up fruit.

This makes a beautiful and delicious light dessert or can be served as an appetizer.

My in-laws lived in Orlando for several years and had an abundance of fresh fruit. They had 2 orange trees, a grapefruit tree, and a lemon tree in the back yard. The lemons they picked from that tree were the biggest lemons I had ever seen. Much bigger than any I had ever seen in a grocery store.

My children loved to visit their grandparents and help them harvest this fruit. My oldest son would climb up on the ladder and hand the fruit down to the younger ones. They usually picked the fruit as they needed it until it became so ripe they had to gather it all. Those were times of good food and great memories.

Graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

Marilee's Pear Chess Pie

2009-03-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

My beautiful mother-in-law loved pears; really she loved fruit of any kind I believe. There is a recipe in her handwriting in a box I have with other recipes of hers. This looks like a winner.

1 29-ounce can Bartlett pear halves
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Line a deep 9-inch pie pan with pastry. Crimp edge for a high pastry. Prick with fork and bake at 425 degrees F. for 5 minutes.

Drain pears well. Reserve 2 pear halves for garnish. Chop remaining pears.

Cream butter with sugars and salt until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth. Stir in flour, vanilla, sour cream, pecans and chopped pears. Turn into the pie shell.

Slice reserved pear halves. Arrange them on top of filling and bake at 325 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes or until lightly browned.

Remove from oven. Cool thoroughly.

Enjoy!

In the picture above my mother-in-law at a very young age of 18 at Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee with her roommate, Helen Adcock, in 1941. Helen is on the left, Marilee Davis Shubert is on the right.

Irene's or Baker's One-Bowl Brownies?

2009-03-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

As any of you who have read my blogs in the past knows, I am a total chocoholic! I could eat chocolate all day long; but alas, I fear I would get very, very sick by the time the sun went down.

Some days I can’t find a scrap or morsel of the smooth, velvety sweet that Hershey seemed to make famous. The other day I was digging in my pantry trying to find even a sweet tart, ANYTHING that had sugar in it. I was tired of eating a bowl of Special K with Splenda every day. Now don’t get me wrong, I do like Special K, and I prefer to sweeten cereals and iced drinks with Splenda. It’s much better than the “Pink” one or the “Blue” one!

Then I remembered my Aunt Irene’s brownies that she served sometimes when she didn’t have the famous Duncan Hines Brownie Mix in the house. They were just as good to me and better yet, she said they were so easy she stirred them up in a hurry.

That’s what I needed – something in a hurry. My sweet tooth was about to get the better of me.

I found that I did have a box of Baker’s chocolate squares in my pantry and there was the recipe for Irene’s One Bowl Brownies right inside the box! Why, the One Bowl Brownies must be a Baker’s recipe – you mean Aunt Irene didn’t just come up with it all by herself? Ah, well. It’s still chocolate, right?

BAKER’S ONE BOWL Brownies

4 squares BAKER’S Unsweetened Baking Chocolate

¾ cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup coarsely chopped PLANTERS Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending near sides of pan. Grease foil.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour and nuts; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake 30 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles. Cut into squares. Store in tightly covered container.

Makes 24 servings, 1 brownie each. Serve with a large glass of milk.

Cream Cheese Brownies: Prepare batter as directed, using 4 eggs; spread into prepared pan. Beat 1 pkg. (8 oz.) softened PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg and 2 Tbsp. Flour until well blended; drop by spoonfuls evenly over brownie batter. Swirl with knife several times to marbleize. Bake as directed, increasing baking time to 40 minutes.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies: Prepare batter as directed, reserving 1 Tbsp. of the butter and 2 Tbsp. of the sugar. Spread batter into prepared pan. Melt reserved butter. Add to reserved sugar along with 2/3 cup peanut butter, mix well. Spoon over batter in pan. Swirl with knife several times to marbleize. Bake as directed.

My only trouble with this delicious chocolate snack: I did not grease the foil well enough and they stuck. But, hey, I’m not above digging that chocolate out of that pan!

Thanks BAKER’s Chocolate!!

Graphic by June at Art Freebies

Mildred's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

2009-03-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

Our mother's delicious cookie starts with the following recipe. Several of the younger generation likes to make these into large chocolatey sweet and gooey treats they can share with their friends. A cousin, Brooke, has even entered cookies made from this recipe in the 4-H Club competition in her hometown.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup Texas pecan pieces

Instructions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine Crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer til creamy. Beat egg into mixture. Combine flour, salt and baking soda and mix into creamed mixture until blended. Stir in chocolate pieces and pecans. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes. Remove to foil on counter top. Place next batch on cold cookie sheet. Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Try your hand at this great cookie that will be the favorite of all the kids in the neighborhood!

Mildred Smith Hicks holding oldest son, Don Earl Hicks in circa 1943 photo found in scrapbook belonging to Sue Hicks Breakall

Maedelle's Chocolate Cake

2009-02-21T13:55:00.000-08:00

Some of you have read my posts on my genealogy blogs about my mother and her twin sister. They had the most fun when they were girls, confusing boyfriends, teachers, and even their parents. They often told of the time my mother turned the water hose on their daddy and he told her to stop. She wouldn't and so he gave chase. When they ran around the house, the poor innocent twin was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. She got the discipline ~ not my mother!

Maedelle cooked more often than mother and I'm sure she had a lot of recipes in her head. She didn't have many written down on paper. But I'm sure her son will attest to the fact that she could cook. When our family prepared the family cookbook, "One Slice at a Time," she gave us several recipes to include. I want to share this one that is so easy and so good ~ the ingredients will fool you!

Chocolate Cake

1 package chocolate cake mix (with pudding in the mix)
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
1 cup water
3 eggs

Mix above ingredients well and pour into two round 9-inch greased and floured cake pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until done.

NOTE:
If you are using cake mix without pudding, reduce the mayonnaise to 1/2 cup and increase water to 1 1/2 cups. Use your favorite frosting.

Enjoy and think of those twins when you make this delicious cake.

With Gratitude Fort Wolters Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

Photograph by Judith Richards Shubert 2009 (c)
Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto County, Texas

GeneaBloggers Cookbook Now in Living Color

2009-02-13T09:53:00.001-08:00

I had the distinct pleasure of participating in the creation of a great cookbook. I submitted a recipe that my grandmother, Edna Alice Puckett Gailey, made often for our family Christmas dinners. The Geneabloggers has published this first edition with the leadership of Coleen McHugh of Orations of McOhodoy!

The book has 35 recipes submitted by 18 fellow geneabloggers from around the world, and has step-by-step instructions, with many stories about the recipes and the families who enjoyed them through the years.

GeneaBloggers has posted an announcement of the Cookbook's release and you can read about it here. Thanks to all of the great editors and our own special "techie" guru, Thomas, for putting together a great cookbook.

Get your free copy today by clicking here and downloading in PDF format (file is approximately 5MB).

Judy

Irene's Funeral Cake

2009-02-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have a favorite pound cake. My dear, sweet uncle Raymond loved everything his wife cooked, but this cake was one of his favorites. He liked to call it "Irene's Funeral Cake" because she always baked it when there was a death in the church family.

They both said that the moist center you get when the cake is baked is an indication of a perfectly baked pound cake.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
4 eggs
1 cup Crisco shortening
3 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring
1/2 teaspoon orange flavoring

Directions:
Combine flour, salt, and soda and set aside. Cream sugar and Crisco shortening together; add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each. While continuing to mix, start adding flour mixture, then milk - a little of each at a time - ending with the flour mixture. Add lemon and orange flavoring. Batter will be thicker than a regular cake batter. Pour into a greased and floured tube or bundt pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Trying my Hand at Baked Macaroni and Cheese

2009-02-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

I remember my sister-in-law's homemade macaroni and cheese! It was delicious. She prepared it for one of our many family get-togethers in Nashville several years ago. I had never eaten any but the kind you make from a box. Now I'm not saying that the boxed version is not good ~ the kids won't eat anything BUT ~ but after tasting the "real deal" I never wanted anything but her Macaroni and Cheese.

I didn't get her recipe, but she would have given it to me. The other night when I decided to give it a try I didn't take the time to call. So mine didn't taste exactly like I remembered it, but it was good. At least the adults thought so. The kids at my table on this particular evening only picked at it.

I first went to the computer (as usual) and googled baked Macaroni and Cheese. Several versions popped up. I chose FoodNetwork.com and a recipe courtesy of Alton Brown. I altered it to fit the ingredients in my pantry and hoped for the best.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 large egg
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
6 ounces colby cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste

TOPPING:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the macaroni until almost done.

While the macaroni is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and pepper and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk and onion. Simmer for ten minutes.

Quickly whisk the egg into the hot liquid. Stir in 3/4 of the cheeses. Season with salt and black pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a buttered 9 x 14 oblong glass casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt butter in a sauce pan and toss the Ritz cracker crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the cracker crumbs. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for at least five minutes before serving.

Mr. Brown suggests you save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese! Now I've never tried that!

Graphic by June at Art Freebies

Marilee's Congealed Salad

2009-02-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

Left to right: Ray Allen Shubert, Marilee Davis Shubert,
Martha Conner Shubert, Bonnie Boles Shubert, R. H. Shubert

This was one of my favorite dishes. My mother-in-law, Marilee Shubert, made it for family gatherings and I'm sure the other women in the family made it as well. She is in the beautiful red dress in the picture above with two of those women, her mother-in-law, Martha, and sister-in-law, Bonnie.

This congealed dessert makes a very pretty sporting its pale green color.

1 box (3 oz.) lemon flavor gelatin
1 box (3 oz.) lime flavor gelatin
1 cup hot water
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 pint cottage cheese
1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 can (No. 2) crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped nuts

Dissolve gelatin in hot water. While still hot, stir in sweetened condensed milk. Cream together cottage cheese, cream cheese, and mayonnaise. When gelatin mixture begins to congeal, add cheese mixture, pineapple, and nuts. Put into mold and chill until firm. To serve, unmold and garnish as desired.

Makes 18-20 servings.

Grandma Gailey Made-Do

2009-01-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

Grandma Edna Puckett Gailey
with two of her six grandchildren
Linda Kay Stone and Judy Richards

As kids we used to always go to "Seven Mile Park" for picnics. I remember when I was just a little girl the entire family would pack up in the car and drive the few miles south of town for a picnic and an Easter egg hunt. It was a beautiful place-full of rocks to climb and places to hide. There was a view to die for. I remember when I came back home after being married and living away in other states I was disappointed that the view that we had enjoyed was marred by taller trees and bushes, obscuring the wonderful Texas rolling hills that are so beautiful. I thought the least the Texas Department of Highways could do was to preserve that view! Guess I was wrong. You still can't see for miles like you could when I was a child.

Grandma used to pack up boxes with fried chicken, deviled eggs, potato salad, cakes and cupcakes. I don't remember what the picnic basket looked like, but I imagine it was a cardboard box, not a fancy whicker basket.

She made wonderful potato salad and I make it the same way-with pickle relish, celery, onions, pimento, boiled eggs, mayonnaise and mustard mixed into potatoes that have been creamed with milk and butter. Yum!

I hope I expressed to Grandma my gratitude for the food she always prepared for us as kids. She always had something good to eat when we came home from school and on the weekends. She didn't have a lot of money - but neither did a lot of people back in the early 50s. I remember many times when she would send me up to the corner store to buy 1 onion, or a can of tomatoes so she could make her wonderful vegetable soup. She didn't use meat. The soup was a make-do meal that she served with fantastic cornbread. (I still can't make that cornbread like she did.)

Anyway, I was remembering Grandma this morning and how she "made-do" and how we as Americans are learning a little more about that in this particular time in history.

Show your gratitude. Tell your parents and grandparents thank you! I wish I had done that more often.

Three Great Holiday Drinks

2008-12-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

Mulled Punch

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cans cranberry sauce, jellied
4 cups pineapple juice, unsweetened
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3 cups water, additional

Combine brown sugar, 1 cup water, salt, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Beat in cranberry sauce, pineapple juice, and additional 3 cups of water.

Simmer until heated through and all ingredients are well blended. Serve punch hot, in mugs, with a cinnamon stick and a smidge of butter. You can add red wine or bourbon if you wish.

Wassail

1 large jar apple cider
2 cups orange juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 large can pineapple juice, unsweetened
1/4 cup honey

In large saucepan, combine ingredients and heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Ready to serve with a cinnamon stick and a slice of lemon.

Wonderful for Christmas parties!

Hot Chocolate Mix

1 25-ounce box instant milk
1 6-ounce jar powdered dairy creamer
1 box powdered sugar
1 16-ounce can instant chocolate drink mix (such as Quik)

Mix all ingredients in a Very Large container. Makes about 17 cups of drink mix - about 90 servings of hot chocolate. Add 3 heaping tablespoons of mix to 1 cup of hot water. Stir to dissolve. Add marshmallows, if you like. This is great!

The Stockings are
Hung from the chimney with care!
Have you prepared the Holiday Drinks?

Granny Shubert's Christmas Candies

2008-11-29T03:36:00.001-08:00

As the Thanksgiving feast fades into our memory of another year our memories of sweet treats rise to the surface. NOW is the time to start thinking of the desserts you want to serve your friends and family during the Christmas holidays. I enjoy making cookies and candies to have on hand during that time.

Everyone seems to like these sweets that Granny Shubert used to make during the month of December. I don’t know where she got the recipes, but I have a recipe card for each of them written by her. I have copied them just as she wrote them. Maybe you’d like to give them a try and see if your family and friends like them as much as mine do.

She always claimed, as her children did, that she didn’t cook much; but, she always seemed to have trays of these around when we came home for the holidays. Remember them?

ORANGE BALLS

1 box vanilla wafers, crushed

1 stick oleo or butter, melted

1 box powdered confectioners’ sugar

1 small can orange juice (not diluted)

1 cup nuts, chopped very fine

Coconut (optional)

Mix all together except coconut and form very small balls. Roll in crushed coconut. Makes approximately 6 dozen. If dough becomes too dry to handle, add a few drops of water.

Keep in refrigerator or freezer. No cooking needed!

CHOCOLATE BALLS

1 box powdered confectioners’ sugar

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

½ cup crunchy peanut butter

1 small can Angel Flake coconut

2 sticks margarine or butter

1 package chocolate chips

¼ block paraffin

Mix first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Melt 2 sticks of margarine, pour over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Shape into balls about ¾-inch in diameter. Melt margarine, chocolate chips and paraffin. Dip balls into chocolate mixture and place on waxed paper to harden.

BOURBON ROLL

1 box (1 pound 2 ounces) vanilla wafers, crushed

1 cup Eagle Brand milk

1 cup chopped candied cherries

1 cup chopped candied pineapple

1 cup coconut

1 pound chopped pecans

5 tablespoons bourbon

Mix all together and shape into 4 long rolls. Roll in powdered confectioners’ sugar and wrap in foil. Chill and cut or freeze.

Pictured in photo from left to right: Sue DeLozier Davis,

William Spence Davis, and Granny Marilee Davis Shubert

2008-11-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

I KNOW we all love Maxine and her antics!

Grandma's Peanut Butter Cookies

2008-11-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

A peanut butter cookie is one of the simple pleasures that all of us have enjoyed, either as a child or an adult. Whether Grandma used to make them for you or you discovered the sheer joy of making them yourself after you starting baking, they are addictive and super easy.

I remember my Grandma Gailey used to bake dozens of them for me and my siblings and cousins to take to school functions. She did this for many years. They were always a hit!

Here is her version.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Mix together with hands. (She said this was very important! However, I use a dough hook on my KitchenAid counter-top mixer.) Pinch off small amount; roll it into a ball and then flatten it.

Place on pan and make crisscross designs on top with fork. Bake in slow oven.

NOTE:
I think you should probably use an ungreased cookie sheet and place cookies 2-3 inches apart. Moisten fork with water each time you press tines into cookie dough. Cook at 325 degrees for approximately 10-12 minutes or until done.

Chili and Cheese Burgers

2008-11-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

There were lots of great food moments during my trip to North Carolina in October. My cousin, Linda Kay, and I flew to Raleigh-Durham where my daughter and two granddaughters picked us up, luggage in tow, and cheerfully listened to all of our complaints and tales of “high” adventure aboard American Flight 700.

It actually was a great flight. We had no complaints except for the fact that we felt confined and a little stiff and sore before the trip was over. The attendants were very nice and eager to make us comfortable; however, it was wasted effort as our 60+ legs were not cooperating!

Linda Kay, my daughter Gail, and I took off that Monday morning for the Outer Banks. The weather was gorgeous and we couldn’t wait to see the ocean spray!

We ate lunch at the “Country Kitchen” just outside of the little town of Bath, North Carolina on the Pamlico Sound. The food was as great as we had been told by a young woman working in the Traveler’s Center.

Linda Kay ordered Chicken Salad on Toast and she said it tasted wonderful. Gail and I ordered cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries. We had a laugh when I was asked by the waitress what I wanted on my burger. I said everything! That stumped her. Gail spoke up and said tomato, lettuce, onion, and mustard. I looked at her a little funny and she said (after the waitress left with our order) that in North Carolina when you say everything – they put everything on it, including chili. I said I didn’t want chili, but guess the waitress took me at my word. I got chili on my burger!

More on our adventures in North Carolina to come.

Cranberry Salad

2008-10-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

If you read the post about my cousin, Julie Martin, you will know that she sent me a surprise Christmas present last year – a box of canned Bing Cherries. This is my husband, Bob’s, favorite dessert. If I don’t have or can’t find Bing Cherries I will make the Cranberry Salad shown below. I think it is just as good. Maybe you will try them both and you decide!

I usually make this version of Cranberry Salad at Christmas because I can rarely find the sweet Bing cherries called for in the Coca Cola salad. This makes a FULL LARGE rectangular Pyrex dish 9 x 14 or something like that.

Ingredients:
3 regular packages cherry or strawberry Jell-O
3 cans whole berry cranberry sauce
1 #2 can crushed pineapple and juice

Dissolve Jell-O with 3 cups boiling water. Let cool. Do not let it get firm. Add cranberry sauce and drained pineapple. Divide mixture in 2 parts. Put half in large oblong Pyrex dish and congeal. After it has congealed, spread with mixture of the following:

12 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
½ cup pineapple juice

Add ½ cup chopped nuts to remaining half of cranberry mixture. Pour over cream cheese and place in refrigerator again to congeal.

Pretty and good!

Photo accessed from free images at http://www.sciencedaily.com/

Coca-Cola Salad

2008-10-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the Coca Cola salad Bob's mother used to make - very sketchy directions but you get the idea. This is also the recipe that uses the Bing Cherries that my cousin, Julie Martin, mailed to me at Christmas.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Raspberry Jell-O

1 pkg. Cherry Jell-O

2 cans Bing cherries, sweet (drained)

1 small can crushed pineapple (drained, saving some for cream cheese topping)

1 cup nuts

2 bottles coca cola (cold)
She used coke that was sold in individual glass bottles. I imagine they held about same amount as our canned drinks of today.

Congeal

Then mix one 4 oz. pkg. cream cheese with a small amount of pineapple juice.

Sprinkle walnut or pecan pieces to top.

Tastes great!

Enjoy!

at The Daily Grind Museum, Mineral Wells, Texas May 20, 2008

Trinity Valley Quilters' Guild Quiltfest 2008

2008-09-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

I attended a great quilt show today. It was my first exposure to the Trinity Valley Quilters' Guild of Fort Worth here in Texas. It was a 3 day event held at the Will Rogers' complex in the Amon Carter Exhibit Hall and they had some gorgeous quilts. I didn't take a camera because I didn't think you would be able to photograph the quilts but there were photographs being snapped left and right! Should have asked before I went. There were a lot of reproduction fabrics, scrappy quilts, and beautiful applique, all in every color and design. The Best of Show went to Janet S. Stuart for her quilt named "Banana Peel". My personal favorites were the Baltimore applique block quilts and the scrappy "Oak Alley", by Ann Monaker and Donna Akins which was one of the Judge's Choice award winners.

Just wanted to share a few of the delightful moments that I had today!

Julie Elizabeth Martin - Oct 7, 1956 - Aug 23, 2008

2008-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

She was so generous. I want to tell you about a gift she gave me last Christmas. One day during the holiday season the UPS truck pulled up to my house and left a fairly heavy box on my doorstep. It had a return address from Amazon.com and since Bob has occasionally ordered books from them I thought he had ordered something for Christmas. Then when I opened the box it further confused me because it was a Paula Deen appointment calendar and a dozen cans of Bing Cherries! I couldn’t imagine Bob ordering something like that. Later that day Julie contacted me asking if I had gotten her package! We had been having an on-going conversation about Coca-Cola and Cranberry Salad which is Bob’s favorite Christmas dish and I had casually mentioned that I didn’t make it very often any more because I had such a hard time finding the cherries.

She was a wonderful, sweet, interesting cousin and I'll miss our emails and conversations about food, family and our search for family links that will continue to bind us even in her absence.

A Word or Two about Knives

2008-07-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

KNIVES

I found this very useful information about knives in a 1973 edition of one of my favorite cookbooks, Secrets of Better Cooking, A Treasury of Time Tested Methods of Good Cooking. My copy belonged to my mother and she obviously used it often as the pages are dog-eared and some are even falling out. But I also enjoy using it and have found it very helpful in my quest for the perfect dish.

These are among the most neglected tools in the kitchen, although they are used constantly. They are often poor in quality, not well sharpened or not the proper type for the work they are expected to do. There is a knife for every job. The variety is endless, but you can get a perfect starter set of six knives. If you are not able to pay for a good-quality set, buy one good knife at a time as the need arises. Cheap knives are a waste of money.

A good-quality knife made of hard steel is expensive but, if well cares for, will last a lifetime. Wash and dry your steel knives promptly after use to prevent rust or stain.

Stainless-steel knives have become very popular in recent years. They are far easier to care for than the old-fashioned steel knives but will never keep as sharp an edge.

A new type of knife with a scalloped edge is fast gaining in popularity with practical cooks. Originally designed for slicing crumbly bread and cake, it is now made in many sizes and shapes for use in general work such as paring, cutting and even carving. Do not let anyone tell you, however, that these knives will last a lifetime without being sharpened. Although they stay sharp much longer than knives with straight-edged blades, the teeth that project beyond the cutting edge wear down. This knife requires occasional sharpening with a butcher’s steel on the flat side of the blade, and will eventually need regrinding by an expert.

It is a good idea to have a long butcher’s steel for sharpening knives. These are easy to find; any store that sells quality knives will have them. Keep your knives sharp by frequent honing on the steel. To do this, press the knife edge against the steel at a 20° angle. Starting with the heel of the blade at the top of the steel, draw the blade across and down to the bottom of the steel, in a swinging motion. Do this several times, then repeat on the other side.

The most important advice: store your knives in a knife rack or on a magnetic bar; do not jumble them carelessly with other kitchen tools. This will keep the blades keen longer, and you will never cut yourself when reaching for a kitchen tool.

Later I’ll give you their suggestions on a Starter Set of Knives.

10 Spiritual Lessons from NASCAR

2008-07-30T13:31:00.001-07:00

A good read for Nascar lovers.

read more | digg story

Our 4th of July Celebration

2008-07-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I’m only about 10 days late in giving you a rundown on our family 4^th of July get-together! But I figure better late than never – right?

My sister and her husband decided to have an old-fashioned potluck on Friday the 4^th for those in the family who could make it to Granbury for the weekend. There were 15 adults and 11 kiddos for most of the day on Friday and we enjoyed an impromptu birthday party for one of the 6-year olds, as well. After all of the eating – a wonderful meal, ice cream, cake, watermelon – we all crowded into various automobiles and drove to a great spot overlooking Lake Granbury to wait for the scheduled annual fireworks show that was slated to begin at 9:30 p.m. The hill was crowded with folks in their own pickups and SUVs with kids spilling out of the beds and windows of the vehicles parked on the grassy hill just south of the lake.

We all had a great time and the kids were so excited they could hardly stand still and wait on the show. But finally 9:30 rolled around and everyone “oohed” and “ahhed” with each burst of light and color filling the dark sky.

The next morning most of us drove the short distance just beyond the Granbury High School to wait for the annual Granbury 4^th of July Parade to begin. Again, we had kids spilling from every available seat in the cars and pickups we drove there. I used an umbrella to help shield me from the hot Texas sun and my hubby, Shubert, sat very still in the shade of the car. The parade was a hit by everyone’s standards as I heard several folks commenting on how much they enjoyed it and how much better they thought it was this year!

After the parade we all went back to my sister’s house and Shubert made another freezer of ice cream – peach this time. It was wonderful. And after several naps and a lot more playing by the children we headed home, each in different directions, to await and plan our next get-together.

Eat with Sincerity and Gratitude

2008-06-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

I found the most uplifting and interesting blog tonight. "This Ignatian Life | www.ignatianlife.org" came to my mailbox from a Google Alert on Food Gratitude and I'm so glad I decided to check it out. So often I glance at the list and delete without taking a few minutes to read further.

The last post entitled "Eating Like Ignatius?" was posted July 1 and the picture of the beautiful, plump blueberries drew me in so I just had to read it. Please go to their blog and read this well written piece on how food is such an important component of our spiritual well-being. The writer encourages us to increase our mindfulness about food. A couple of ways he suggests we do that is to "participate in your food production," "prepare your own food," and "learn about the best farming and gardening practices."

The writer ends the post by saying, "But probably the most important way to begin to cultivate mindfulness is to eat with sincerity and gratitude, 'conscious of the lives and the world from which food comes.' "

My Disaster making Sour Cream Pound Cake

2008-06-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

I don't know what happened to my pound cake! I have made Paula Deen's Grandmother's Sour Cream Pound Cake numerous times with success every time, but today something happened either in the oven or at the mixer.

About mid-way through the baking time I started smelling burned sugar - oh, no. I knew what I'd find when I peeked in the oven. Sure enough, the cake batter was spilling out over the sides of the bundt pan and down past the racks to the floor of my oven. A huge mess. But I left it to bake and eventually the timer went off and I removed the poor cake from the oven. It had obviously fallen in on itself. I quickly cleaned out the warm batter from the bottom of the oven and off of the racks while my "cake" cooled a little in the pan on the cutting board. When I finally got to the cake, I turned it out onto a cake plate and there were spots of teflon coating, of all things, in several places on the cake that had come off of my "old" bundt pan! Well, I cut that away - don't won't to poison anyone - and even cut away 1/4 of the cake and dumped that into the trash. I know, you're probably asking why I didn't just throw the whole thing away? Well, I have company coming this afternoon and my husband asked specifically for this cake. Any of you who know him will realize he doesn't do that very often, so I really wanted to please him. And I figure that since I have some sweetened strawberries and Cool Whip in the refrigerator, we can always disguise the cake, right?

Well, it's a poor excuse for a pound cake. I really don't know what happened. Like I said, I've made this very recipe several times. The humidity shouldn't be a problem. There isn't any! The only thing I can think of is the oven temperature was too low. The recipe calls for 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes and I honestly don't know if I've changed that to 350 degrees when I made the other cakes. I may have. I think it wasn't cooking fast enough. Does that sound logical? Also, maybe I beat the cake too much after adding the sour cream.

At any rate, we'll probably eat the cake smothered in strawberries and my husband and I won't say a word about our morning of disaster in the kitchen!

If you'd like a copy of Paula Deen's Sour Cream Pound Cake it is on her website here.
It's really a wonderful cake and I know you'll enjoy it. Maybe I was just having a really bad day. Sometimes we cooks have them, don't we?

Aunt Irene's Hot Cole Slaw

2008-06-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

This recipe is a favorite of mine. It's especially good for all of those 4th of July picnics or luncheons that will be enjoyed next week. I think all of our family likes our Aunt Irene's version of a classic salad.

You will need the following ingredients:

1 head cabbage, shredded

1 large onion, shredded

1/2 cup sugar

Sprinkle sugar over shredded cabbage and onion. Set aside.

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

3/4 cup vinegar

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup Wesson oil

Place sugar, celery seed, celery salt , mustard, vinegar and salt in pan; bring to boil. Then add Wesson oil and bring to a boil again. Pour over cabbage mixture.

Chill—the longer the better.

Baked Pork Chops – A Reminder of Home

2008-06-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

My Daddy and Step-Mother
Mildred Smith Hicks & Leon Fremont Richards
in their home in September 1964

Having grown up in a household where my father was a butcher for the local Safeway store and my mother worked in the same meat department, we had a variety of cuts of meat every day. Breakfast fare usually included thick slices of bacon, smoked, peppered, and honey cured. Occasionally a pork chop made its appearance on our breakfast plate beside the usual eggs and fried potatoes and onion. We didn't have that big of a breakfast every weekday because Mom spent long days at work and school was calling - we usually ran a little late with 4 teenagers and 2 elementary-aged kids to get ready. But the weekends found us all gathered in the country kitchen around the beautiful round oak table that my younger sister now has in her home.

Again on the weekends we enjoyed various cuts of meat that daddy patiently showed us how to prepare. Mom was usually in the garden or making biscuits.

Reminder of Home
I was reminded tonight of the thick pork chops that Daddy used to bring home and stuff with delicious dressing prepared just like you would for the Thanksgiving turkey. He would take a very sharp knife and cut a slit in the meat across from the bone and stuff it with cornbread dressing.

Request for Pork Chop
I had asked my hubby to please bring home some pork chops from the grocery (he usually does our shopping) because we hadn't eaten them for quite some time. He found some beautiful chops that were about 1-inch thick with the bone in. If you sometimes wonder how to cook pork chops that are that thick I find that baking them is probably the easiest thing to do.

Preparation of Meat
I rinsed the meat under running water and patted them dry. I had prepared a basil olive oil mixed with garlic salt and dry Italian seasonings that I placed in a shallow bowl. Then I rubbed this on all sides of each pork chop. I then wrapped them tightly in aluminum foil, placed them in a heavy cast iron skillet to bake in my 350º oven. I baked them for one hour.

They were delicious. And because I had wrapped them in foil I had no mess to clean up. Of course, they could just as easily be cooked in any ovenproof dish and if you chose to not use the foil, the chops would brown nicely. Mine were not as brown but tasted more like a pork roast.

You should try this method of cooking pork chops. I found I could not "fry" my pork chops all the time. Cooking them this way cuts down on the calories and fat.

Bon appétit.

Photos taken at the West BBQ Cookoff by Judy Shubert

2008-06-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

West Volunteer Fire Department's 15th Annual Barbeque Cook-Off

2008-06-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this article that I wrote on March 26th for the Associated Content website. I wanted to post more of the pictures that I took that day, so for those of you who have not read it, I hope you enjoy.

Last weekend my hubby and I spent a fun-filled, relaxing afternoon at the West Volunteer Fire Department's 15th annual Barbeque Cook-Off in the north central Texas town of West! We go occasionally to visit my sister and brother-in-law while they're cooking for various Barbeque Cook-Offs around the state. They were competing at the Volunteer Fire Department's Barbeque Cook-Off Saturday, March 15^th. They've also been to several Cook-Offs in Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri. They're great competitors and have two rooms FULL of awards. They usually compete in the Barbeque Brisket, Barbeque Ribs, and Barbeque Chicken categories with an occasional entry in a special category such as "Cook's Choice," Beans, Dessert, or Pulled Pork.

Backwoods Smoker
For a long time my sister only helped her husband prepare for the event. Since she wasn't the actual contestant she wasn't allowed to actually help him cook. Then she fell in love with a small, very unique cooker - the Backwoods Smoker. It was only the SECOND time she entered using her new Backwoods Smoker when she snagged the coveted Grand Champion award at a Cook-Off in Irving, Texas. She has been cooking ever since.

American Royal in Kansas City, Missouri
They were invited to cook in the American Royal in Kansas City, Missouri a couple of years ago. They came away with a check for 2^nd runner-up. My brother-in-law has also cooked in the Great American Cook-Off in Kansas City, Kansas, where he won 1^st place in the Invitational Pulled Pork category. The next day he cooked in the open contest with 182 other teams and won 1^st place in the chicken category. He has really had to watch his back, however, because my sister's awards are beginning to crowd out his in the office and the den!

Awards Ceremony at the West Cook-Off
When my husband and I stop by where my sister and brother-in-law are cooking we try to show up in time for the awards ceremony which is usually held on a Saturday afternoon about 5:00 p.m. Everyone is so friendly and they have so much fun together, we really enjoy the excitement of waiting to hear who won, who got on the final table and who won Grand Champion. The Grand Champion has to have the highest score of any other cook in that particular Cook-Off. The Cook-Off in West was no exception.

Kids Barbeque Pork Chop Cook-Off
My niece's 5-year-old daughter has been entering the Children's category with her special Barbeque Pork Chop. Last weekend at the West Barbeque Cook-Off she placed 2^nd in the Kids Barbeque Pork Chop Cook-Off for ages 5-10. She won a trophy that is nearly as tall as she is.

It was reported that last year there were 101 teams and I believe there were nearly as many this year. The Cook-Off is sanctioned by the International Barbeque Cookers Association (IBCA) and is judged by their rules.

The IBCA Mission Statement can be found on their website:

"International Barbeque Cookers Association's purpose is to develop and bolster equitable competitive Barbeque cooking internationally."

We give competitive cookers the peace of mind when their product is placed in the judging area. IBCA shall know no boundaries nationally or internationally.

The Cook-Off was held at the West Rodeo grounds where motor homes, rolling barbeque pits, pickups, and the wonderful smell of barbeque filled the air and the grassy parking area reserved last weekend for the cooks and their "followers." The West Volunteer Fire Department sold barbeque for $8 a pound and had a drawing for a $300 charcoal grill that was donated by the West True Value Hardware Store.

Everyone Wore a Different Hat!
I always try to have my camera with me and I especially loved taking pictures of all of the different "hats" found in West that day. Everyone was so friendly and very willing for me to snap away. I thought you'd enjoy seeing some of them. I have attached five of my favorites to this article.

Don Swift Photos
I also want to tell you about the pictures that Don Swift took at the Cook-Off.

Don is a great photographer who routinely has his work in the Waco Tribune-Herald and also online. Don takes great shots at high school sporting events and some of his best were taken at China Springs High School football games. Of course, I'm probably a little prejudiced since my niece and nephew are both involved with the football team and the marching band. Don Swift's photos of the West Barbeque Cook-Off are online at the Waco Tribune-Herald website.
As my husband and I drove away that evening headed back north towards Fort Worth we both agreed that we had one of the most enjoyable afternoons we'd had in quite a long time. We decided to try to go more often. Maybe my sister and bro-in-law will actually let us go in the motor home with them and stay all weekend some time soon!

29 Pints of Dill Pickles!

2008-06-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I made dill pickles yesterday. Had to search our local vegetable markets to find fresh dill, but my husband was finally successful. He found 3 large bags at a fruit and vegetable market on Hwy. 26 in Colleyville, just 20 minutes from us.

My neighbor and her husband gave me the cucumbers with a promise from me to supply the neighborhood with dill pickles! She gave me enough to make 29 pints. That's a pretty large batch of pickles! It took me about 8 hours from start to finish and my feet and back hurt like crazy when I finished. But all of those pretty little glass jars look great on the kitchen counter.

Remember, I posted the recipe here several days ago. This recipe is one of my favorites. Our Mom, Mildred, always had them on her pantry shelf and an opened jar in the refrigerator.

Come on by ~ I'll let you taste them ~ maybe even take a jar home with you.

Our Lifestyle Food Attitude with Gratitude

2008-06-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

My 4 sisters and I have decided to challenge each other to lose weight. While we were on our annual Girls' Weekend in April we weighed and decided how much weight we wanted to lose by Thanksgiving. We sat at the kitchen table in the little Bluebonnet Bed and Breakfast and shared our current weight and our individual goals. We did okay for a while but seem to have gotten off-track a little. But there are a few tricks to get back on course.

I have joined Beliefnet, a web community of inspiration, spirituality and faith. You can find in its pages some very encouraging, helpful articles. I read those by Norris J. Chumley under the section "Weight Loss with Norris" daily. They have been very helpful. I am able to forward the pages to my sisters giving them encouragement also. He has comments on such things as "Q&A: Is Peanut Butter Really Fattening?" "Eat More Fish", and "7 Diet Mistakes to Avoid". You can find a unique lifestyle plan, based on Norris Chumley's book "The Joy of Weight Loss" (Lantern Books 2001), that can help you drop unwanted pounds by encouraging you to connect to your spiritual source, eat balanced meals, and discover that fitness can be fun.

I also love reading the blog by Janice Taylor, Our Lady of Weight Loss whom Oprah called "a kooky genius". She is a Weight Loss Coach and Certified Hypnotist, author, artist and motivational speaker. She is the author of Our Lady of Weight Loss: Miraculous and Motivational Musings from the Patron Saint of Permanent Fat Removal and All Is Forgiven, Move On: Our Lady of Weight Loss's 101 Fat-Burning Steps on Your Journey to Sveltesville (publication date May 15, 2008). Janice is also the creator of the popular e-newsletter Kick in the Tush Club and a 50-pound big-time-loser.

You might want to get inspired reading her blog and working her puzzle here at the bottom of my page!

Quick Dill Pickles

2008-06-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Gardening season is upon us. Soon there will be enough cucumbers in the garden that I thought a good pickle recipe was in order.

3 quarts water
1 cup salt
1 quart cider vinegar
1 head dill for each jar
1 garlic clove for each jar
cucumbers

Bring water, salt and vinegar to boil in big pot. Cut and slice cucumbers into spears or rounds. Place in clean jars. Add dill and garlic to jars. Use some kind of dipper to scoop up enough liquid for each jar to pour over cucumbers, dill and garlic.

Jars and lids need to be heated in boiling water for a few minutes so you will get a good “seal” when closing. Jars must be proper canning jars such as Kerr or Ball brand. You may use these jars if left over from last pickling session, but you need to purchase new lids and rims.

After sealing, immediately cover the pickle jars with a towel so they will not cool off too quickly. You will be able to hear the lid pop. This means they have sealed properly.

Let the pickles set for at least seven days before eating.

This is one of Mildred's recipes. One summer Ann and I made so many quarts of these we thought we were dreaming about pickles. But they disappeared quickly. Everyone likes them (if they like dill pickles)! Try them. They are not as difficult to make as it sounds!

Grandma Mildred’s Orange Slice Cake

2008-06-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

Christmas and Thanksgiving have always been very popular holidays for the cooks in our family (and those who enjoy eating!), as I'm sure it is with most families. There is always a favorite dessert that someone requests and at our house Mom's Orange Slice Cake was one of those. I don't remember the grandchildren being especially fond of it, but for the adults it was one of those explode-in-your-mouth kind of tastes that you only experienced at that time of year. For one thing it's not something you would want to eat every Sunday afternoon! My goodness, how in the world would we ever get to our desired weight loss goal?

For the cake you will need:

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 lb. Dates, chopped

1 lb. Orange slice candy

2 cups chopped pecans

1 cup shredded coconut

3½ cups plain flour

1½ cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream together 1 cup butter with 2 cups sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. Mix chopped dates, chopped orange slice candy, pecans, and coconut with ½ cup of the flour; set aside.

Add ½ cup buttermilk to sugar mixture; beat well. Add baking soda to remaining buttermilk. Sift remaining flour and add to sugar mixture alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Fold in date mixture.

Turn into an oiled and floured tube pan. Bake in preheated 250º oven for 2 hours, 30 minutes.

Cool cake on rack for 10 minutes and then turn out of pan.

GLAZE:

1 cup orange juice

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons butter

Mix orange juice, confectioners’ sugar, and 2 tablespoons butter in saucepan. Heat, stirring until sugar and butter are melted. Pour over hot cake. Cool.

Enjoy this moist, delicious, beautiful cake next Thanksgiving or Christmas with Gratitude in your Heart and Praise to God on your lips.

Arthritis Formula

2008-06-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

Maedelle Carlyle

"Mother gave me this for arthritis."

1 cup Bur Rabbit Syrup (Blue label)

1 cup lemon juice

Mix and keep in "box".

Take 2 tablespoons 3 times a day.

As you feel better, take less.

Marilee's Chess Cake Squares - a Hit!

2008-06-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

I don't know how my sister-in-law's birthday celebration supper for her son turned out but I tried the recipe for Marilee's Chess Cake squares yesterday and they were a hit. I took them to my sister's house for supper. All four of us sisters got together with 5 of their grandkids in Rhome, Texas for Scrabble. We enjoyed the fun. Baby sister won again!

When I make the Chess Cake Squares the next time I believe I'll add another tablespoon of lemon juice. It was good with 1 tablespoon like the recipe indicated, but I like lemon and think a little more of it could only make it better!

Chess Cake Squares from Marilee

2008-06-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my sister-in-law in Nashville, Tennessee, called to ask if I had her Mom's recipe for Chess Cake Squares. It was her son's 37th birthday on June 4th and that is the cake he requested for his celebration dinner last night. I didn't remember the recipe or the cake but I have a lot of Mom's recipe cards in a box that I brought home from Nashville after she died on January 11, 2000. My intention then (and now) was to somehow devise a way to make copies of all of them for the grandchildren in the family. There are 8 of them and I would love to surprise them with a group of recipes in their grandmother's handwriting that they can use and cherish. My sis-in-law's request has placed this on the fore-burner of "my list of things to get done SOON!" If anyone out there has any good ideas I'd really, really like to hear from you.

I found the recipe in the first handful of cards I picked up and read it to her on the phone. I'm sure she made a delicious version of this cake and it was enjoyed by all of the family there last night. Sure wish Shubert and I could have been there to enjoy it, too, and wish our nephew a "Happy Birthday".

In case you'd like to try this easy cake I've copied the recipe here for you. Bon Appétit!

CHESS CAKE SQUARES

1 box Butter Cake Mix (Duncan Hines)
1 egg
1 stick oleo (I'd substitute butter)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Mix the above ingredients. Pat the fairly dry mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. (Do not melt butter.)

8 ounces cream cheese
3 eggs
1 box powdered confectioners' sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Place the above 4 ingredients in the same bowl, mixing well. Pour over top of dry mixture in pan.

Bake 38-40 minutes at 350 degrees for metal pan, 325 degrees for glass pan.

Don't over cook!

And, yes, I DO plan to give that box of original recipes to my sister-in-law as SOON as I get them scanned into my computer!