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Monday, 28 April 2008
Estee's Take: A Recipe for Disaster
Yesterday, Breuklyn and I made sugar cookies. I decided that it would be the perfect time to teach Breuklyn how to sift the dry ingredients. Yikes. I don’t think I thought that one all the way through. It only took about three seconds for me to realize that I had made a huge mistake, but at that point the damage was already done so I just let her carry on sifting the 4 cups of flour. Needless to say, once her task was completed my kitchen appeared to have been subjected to a very intense blizzard. Breuklyn was not in the least bothered by the storm of white that she had created, she was much more interested in leaving her footprints on the hardwood floors. Brad was slightly less than horrified as he wandered into the kitchen. “Hey girls! What are you bak-… What happened in here??” Oh, nothing dear. I’ve got it under control.
I really can’t complain about Breuklyn’s, um, lack of finesse in the kitchen because I was am the exact same way. As a child, my mom and I made hard candy every year, usually at Christmas. We would have a gazillion different flavors and it would take an entire day to create this amazing rainbow of colors and flavors. Mom was always content with cinnamon, peppermint and orange flavored candy, but I was always pushing for root beer, strawberry, lime and about a dozen more.
We would embark on our adventure with our candy thermometer at hand and a good supply of patience. The best part of making the candy was, naturally, eating the candy and that required that I break the huge slab that we had made into smallish pieces. My weapon of choice was the handle of one of our ridiculously large butter knives. I would go at the slab of candy like some kind of maniacal Willy Wonka. There would be shards of candy everywhere. Truly. Everywhere. My poor mom would be sweeping up those little pieces for weeks. Now when I make hard candy, I sweep up the pieces for weeks… and weeks afterwards.
Regardless of the outrageous mess that I always seem to make, I just can’t stay out of the kitchen. I love that I can turn a few ingredients into a meal that evokes such strong memories. Chicken Paprikas will always remind me of Nan. MaStelle’s Eggless Raisin Cake, with the plump raisins and the yummy cinnamon reminds me instantly of my brother’s birthday since that was his birthday cake of choice. Beef Stroganoff reminds me of cozy winter meals with my family in the house that I grew up in. I will never be able to make Swedish Meatballs like Anna, my roommate when I lived in Germany. I always smile when I make spaghetti, thinking of the meal that Elizabeth and I made for her parents. The sugar cookies that Breuklyn and I made yesterday were from a recipe that comes from my grandmother, Lenore. They remind me of spending the night at her house, watching cartoons and playing ping pong in the basement.
In my family, food makes us happy. This is probably why I weigh a gazillion pounds.
Since it is just mean to tease you, here is the recipe for Lenore’s Sugar Cookies. I hope that they bring you happy memories.
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup shortening
3 eggs
1 cup sour milk*
2 T. vanilla
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
Cream together sugar, butter and shortening. Add eggs, sour milk and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture gradually. Do not over mix. Dough will be very wet. Chill dough for at least an hour. Once dough is thoroughly chilled, drop by teaspoon-full onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Enjoy! Yum!
*Sour milk: 1 T. vinegar plus enough milk to equal 1 cup. Let stand five minutes.
That’s my take! Do you have a recipe that makes you happy? Do you have a food related memory or a kitchen catastrophe that makes you smile? Let’s hear it!! Leave a comment here and I will choose one winner who win a special RAK from me! Have a great week! Oh, and you will be here at Scrapbook.com for National Scrapbooking Day, right?? Saturday, May 3rd! Don’t forget!! It’s going to be fun!
28-Apr-2008 @ 10:16:39am
Estee, I am the same way...certain foods and recipes bring up very strong memories for me too!
Raw cauliflower reminds me of my best friend Amy, and the time we were snacking on it while singing and giggling our hearts out.
Homemade grape jelly or cherry preserves on white toast remind me of the times I spent at my Grandma's house and she spoiled us.
Beef and noodles remind me of my other grandma, and how she would always have them on the stove and her whole house would smell so yummy when we'd walk in.
Sausage stew reminds me of my dad's side of the family; all of us make it as early as we can every fall.
Making homemade pumpkin pie reminds me of the time my mom was making one on Thanksgiving day, trying to get ready to host 70 people in her home, and she dropped the spatula into the running mixer and the pie filling went FLYING all over the kitchen and she just started crying...until we started cracking up and wiping down the kitchen together.
How cool that food can bring us these memories! I think I need to scrap some of them, huh?
28-Apr-2008 @ 2:54:12pm
Ooo...I love to make smores with the kids...it reminds me of my girlscout days sitting around the campfire, roasting marshmallow and singing songs...
Here is something simple:
Graham Crackers, Hershey's chocolate, Marshmallow fluff or creme. Spread the creme/fluff on each cracker, top with chocolate and enjoy! No need to melt the chocolate...or if you do just zap it in the microwave for 15 seconds!
28-Apr-2008 @ 3:53:53pm
Don't for get to take some pictures and scrap your great story.
Bake free in Colorado
28-Apr-2008 @ 6:59:17pm
I really enjoyed this blog!! I could just imagine the great white flour storm of '08!!!
My grandmother was the main cook of our home. Mom and I lived with her parents on their farm for all of my childhood. I was the first grandchild. My mom's brother is 10 years younger than her. She begged for a baby brother for 10 years and the night he arrived, she told my grandfather to send him back!!
Mama Campbell is what we called my grandmother and she started a family tradition of when a child turned one year old, she made a small cake for said child who was stripped down to their diaper and either sat in the high chair with a floor covering beneath the chair or they sat directly on the floor covering.
The cake was placed in front of the one year old baby and the baby could eat, play with, smear and in general have a blast with their very own cake!!
My mom was first, 11 years later it was my uncle's turn, and then 18 years after that it was my turn. I had a chocolate icing on a yellow cake. We have pictures of me covered in chocolate icing and grinning from ear to ear!
Twelve years after my turn came my first cousin Layton and four years after him came his brother Douglas. They two got Mama Campbell's yellow cake with chocolate icing and we have their photo graphs covered in cake and icing and grinning.
Then 9 years ago, my auntie got to be the grandmother who makes the cakes for the grandbabies when her first grandchild came along. Two years later, a second grandchild joined the tradition and a year and a half later, the final grandchild got to celebrate the same tradition. And of course we have the photos!
Aunt Judy's daughter-in-law is already talking about keeping the tradition alive when her kids are grown and become parents!! We will wait patiently for the next round of photos!!
I did a Mama Campbell Cooks recipe memory book (you can see pages from it in my gallery). I related this tradition and showed some of the pics we had of us as babies enjoying our cakes. I made a copy of the book for each of Mama Campbell's children and each of her grandchildren. This recipe book will be a part of the tradition of first year birthday cakes for a very long, long time.
28-Apr-2008 @ 7:22:11pm
Sniffffffffffffffffffffffff. Now you've made me cry.
My great-grandmother is the only person I've ever known who cooked with sour milk, made that way. I have scads of her recipes. Today, that reminded me...
28-Apr-2008 @ 8:32:17pm
just admitt it that you all had a blast though... you all will remeber this the rest of your alls lives!! i remeber my mom and my niece when she was little making peanut butter cookies and i also remeber helping my grandmother making cakes pies and all that good stuff at the holidays.. keep those memories cause you never know about some stuff :(
28-Apr-2008 @ 8:35:42pm
One food I will never forget is my Great Grandmother's biscuits. I remember watching her knead the dough and she would always let me have some of the scraps once she cut the biscuits out. Now I enjoy helping my grandmother make those same biscuits. I hope to some day teach my girls to create a memory for them too.
29-Apr-2008 @ 7:33:44am
One food that just screams tradition and love to me is my grandfather's gumbo. He makes an excellent seafood gumbo every Christmas Eve. Last year was our first year back in their house since Katrina did extensive damage to his home. We were so thrilled to be back in their house eating that gumbo. It made the whole holiday perfect.
You go girl for being BRAVE and letting her sift. LOL I'm not that brave. We make cookies from the tube here in our house (I know I'm terrible! LOL).
29-Apr-2008 @ 6:23:36pm
The first thing that came to mind was my Grandfather's cheesecake. He made the BEST cheesecake I've ever tasted. It was similar to a New York style cheesecake. It had a hint of citrus from adding a little lemon and lime zest. Almost 20 years later, my cousin told me she had the recipe for it and so I was able to make it last summer. I was pretty proud of myself because it really tasted like my Grandfather's. I couldn't get over how it took me back to those days. It's funny how food can bring back certain memories and feelings. :)
29-Apr-2008 @ 7:11:54pm
My special dish is my lasagna - my grandma made it, my mom made it, and now I make it. It's not a really traditional lasagna, but since it's what I grew up with, it's my favorite!
1 lb ground beef
1 lb smoked sausage
1 lb mozarella or monterey jack cheese
1 jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz ricotta cheese
1 package no-cook lasagna noodles
parmesean cheese
brown the ground beef, drain the grease.
Add the spag sauce to the pan and mix well.
Slice the smoked sausage and cheese.
Add the smoked sausage to the meat sauce.
Add a bit of the meat sauce (w/out getting any of the sausage) to the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish.
Layer the following:
lasagna noodles
ricotta cheese
meat sauce
parmesean cheese
mozarella/MJ cheese
I usually squish about two layers in there, and that's it.
Bake for 45 min to 1 hour, or until top is brown and bubbly (I like a crispy cheese top - if you don't, bake with foil tent, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking).
It's a great dish to make ahead and throw in the oven the next day. And it's a big crowd pleaser. The smoked sausage gives it a different flavor than "traditional" lasagna - if you prefer italian sausage, go for it!
30-Apr-2008 @ 2:11:31am
Cream of Celery Soup. I just bought ingreds tonight to make this fond childhood memory. For years I remembered & sometimes craved this soup. My Mom didn't have recipes written down (reason I DO have recipe boxes of my tried & trues). Back in my 30s, thumbing through her Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook (a CLASSIC), I inherited, I saw a recipe for it. Could it be...? I made it--IT WAS much to my delight! This same cookbook has a portion of curly-edged pages because when I was 7 or 8, I got it wet looking through it while I was in the bathtub! I grew up to be a 'cookbookaholic' w/ a collection of about 300.
30-Apr-2008 @ 5:27:04am
I have certain recipes that remind me of my grandmother: hot chocolate made from real cocoa reminds me of early mornings in her house, oven roasted peanuts of afternoons after school, and sweet-n-sour meatballs was a dish she always made for church functions. Thanks for bringing back such wonderful memories!!
1-May-2008 @ 4:58:13pm
I have a lot of great memories baking cookies at holiday time with my mom and sister. My mother always had time to teach us how to roll dough and place our cookie cutters. The left over dough was always rolled flat, buttered, and sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon. Then she would roll it up, and let us cut off our mini cookies.
And...I did the same with our two daughters. They each had their own little wooden rolling pin and cookie cutters. As a matter of fact, those little wooden rolling pins and cookie cutters are still in a plastic container in the bottom of my cupboard, just waiting for them to come home and bake with me again. They are now 24 and 26 years old with homes of their own. I so miss those times with them. So, dear Estee, let those little girls make any kind of mess they want while they are there with you, because time goes way too quickly and before you know it, you will be in your mom's shoes!
1-May-2008 @ 9:30:40pm
This one had me sniffin' and drying my eyes too! What is it about baking with grandmas? My grandma was an excellent cook and spent many hours teaching me how to cook different things. Her chicken and dumplings were one of my all time favorite meals. The first time I tried to make it on my own, I made a big production about cooking for the family and felt so grown up and proud of myself. Unfortunately, I forgot she used bisquick and used flour instead....ended up with big old globs of glue! At the time I was devastated, but it's since become a favorite family tale to share when we all get together.
Because of all those special memories with MY grandma, I've had my two oldest grandchildren, Ryann Elizabeth & Joey whipping up eggs and milk for french toast since they were about two! We'd just pull chairs up to the counter, put a couple of big aprons on them, give them a bowl, whisk & eggs and let them have at it. For a couple of years there we had french toast EVERY morning! (WARNING! Little boys WILL put their fingers in to taste - GROSS! :0)
Thanks Estee, your blogs always brighten my week!
1-May-2008 @ 11:39:42pm
As a child, I always admired my friends who had parent's who baked with them. Coming from a divorced home....I never had these experiences. Not to be gloom....I decided I could change this cycle...and this is exactly what I have done!! I have 6 children. Ages..26, 23, 21, 17, 12, and 7. (3 girls and 3 boys)We ALWAYS...ALWAYS make sugar cookies with frosting (for every holiday)...and I let them sprinkle to their hearts content. We bake for every school event that we can think of a reason for..and sometimes FOR.. No reason..wink~ My 12 year old will now say to me when I'm having a gloomy day..."come on Mom..lets do some baking and have a little laugh!!" How can you pass that up? I don't!! Love your article...you are wonderful!! Way to enjoy today!!!
Our all time favorite recipe(not trying to compete with yours by any means :) This recipe has brought more happiness to others than you will ever know!!
Mom's sugar cookies
1 cup shortening
2 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream (yes...true)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. soda
4 tsp. baking powder
4 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix all together...this will make a VERY soft dough. I like to refrigerate for about 2-6 hours..or overnight if you remember to make it the day before :)
Remove from fridge...add a little flour so you can handle the dough. Spoon onto floured counter. Roll out kinda thick..we like soft cookies. Cut with cookie cutters and bake @ 350 till lightly done. Remove when slightly brown on edges
Frost when cool with frosting:
I mix cream cheese..small amount
a little butter
a little vanilla
a little milk
powdered sugar
and of course let the kids pick the color of frosting..depending on the occasion!! Delish!!!
2-May-2008 @ 9:17:42am
When I was a kid, my grandma would make a TON of sugar cookies for Christmas. The grandkids would spend the day at Grandma's and help decorate the cookies. We each got one bowl of grandma's homemade frosting and the generic four bottles of food coloring. The first batch of cookies were always beautiful - blues, greens, purples. But after frosting several cookies with our original colors, we'd get bored and make new colors. We only got one bowl of frosting for the whole shebang, so we would add more food coloring to change the color. The second color was usually pretty. But the third, fourth, or even fifth time we added food coloring to our bowl, the colors would get . . . interesting. Ugly greens, browns, even blacks. As we got older, it was almost a challenge to see who could have the best transition from prettiest first color to ugliest last color. And the adults got a kick out of it too, trying to come up with names for the colors (we were not a politically correct family!!). And funny enough, during the week of Christmas, I think the ugly colors were eaten first, just because everyone thought they were so funny. I still love sugar cookies, but somehow, cookies with "normal" colored frosting just isn't the same.
5-May-2008 @ 12:58:54am
Mmmmmm!! Sugar Cookies! Your story reminds me of baking cookies with my son. The sink would be full of dishes and the kitchen a mess. My son would have peanut butter in his hair, chocolate on the back of his shirt, and you name it on the front of his shirt. He would be so proud of his cookies that it made it all worth it.
I have to choke back tears for this one. Growing up I spent alot of time with my grandmother. One of my fondest memories was my grandmother's fried chicken. She made it with corn flakes and it was delicious!! I knew everytime she made it it meant we were going to have a picnic. A few years ago I asked her for the recipe. She said to come over one day and we'll make it. Well, between work and taking care of my family that never happened. Now she has passed and to top it off my uncle throw away all her recipes. I'll never taste her chicken again and I'll never be able to share it with my family. But I'll never forget how it tasted and the time we spent together. Rest in peace Grandma. I love you.
5-May-2008 @ 8:20:16am
My special dish is my lasagna, taught to me by my great uncle, who immigrated here from Italy. Anyone can make it, there is actually no recipe...Uncle Joe always said real Italian women didn't use recipes, they used their eyes. Just make your usual lasagna, but keep in mind these points. Don't use ricotta or cottage cheese, unless your family absolutely loves it..mine doesn't. Use 2 or 3 different cheeses...mozzarella, cheddar, and parmesan are the cheeses of choice here. Use massive amounts of said cheeses...his theory was the noodles are only there to hold the cheese. Use ground beef, sausage if you like, but pepperoni is a necessity! And you don't have to make your own sauce, unless you really want to...any store-bought sauce that you love is fine. Everyone who's tasted my lasagna raves about it, and at some point, they inevitably ask..."hey, when are you having us over for some lasagna again". Many have tried on their own to duplicate it, but they always fail in the cheese and sauce area. Remember, use a sauce that you LOVE. And LAYER the cheese, don't just sprinkle it! It's easiest if you combine all your cheeses in a big bowl and mix them together really well...that way when you layer it, you have a fair mixture of all the cheeses in each layer. And Uncle Joe's last but most important tip...make every pan as if you're making it for the love of your life...if it's not made with love, it won't be good! Uncle Joe was a wonderful, kind-hearted man, and I do miss him terribly. Each time I make lasagna, I make it as though he is going to be joining us for dinner...I mean, you HAVE to wow the one who taught you, right? Thanks for the memories, Estee, and thank you, Uncle Joe, for taking the time so many years ago to teach a 12-year-old to make the perfect lasagna!
5-May-2008 @ 8:36:45am
My little one is still too young to help in the kitchen...although he does seem to always want mommy me right when I am elbow-deep in bread dough, or raw meat and can't get to him.
Here's a tried and true (& super easy) recipe that I made up b/c I couldn't find a good one from loaded potato soup:
1 can condensed cream of potato soup
2 cans condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
3 soup cans milk (as per directions on can)
1/2 stick butter
3-4 large potatoes, diced
Optional Toppings:
sour cream
chives
bacon bits
shredded cheese.
Prepare soups as directed. Once they are mixed together and creamy, add butter and the diced potatoes (I usually cook those seperately while the soups are getting warmed up and mixed together with the milk). Finally, add your optional toppings, and oila :) Super-easy, super-yummy potato soup :)
6-May-2008 @ 12:59:38pm
I never got the chance to cook with my Grandma since she lived in Winnipeg, but one of our favourite family recipes is her special chicken that she used to make whenever we came to visit. She would fry chicken, and then put it in a casserole dish and bake with a little bit of water and LOADS of sliced onions. Yum! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Another favourite dish that she used to make was her cheese and onion pie. I can't remember what all goes into it (it's been a while since we've made it) but it was cheese, onion and chopped bacon (possible mixed with beaten eggs and milk) baked on a bread crumb crust.
6-May-2008 @ 1:08:51pm
I love to improvise when it comes to cooking and baking. Being a mother to 6 kids I've had to learn how to make things stretch...or be different. So I would like to share my cupcake brownies with you. First make a brownie mix for a 13x9 pan size, sometimes called family size. After mixing together set aside. Whip out the cupcake tin. I use this because, 1) individual, same size brownies and 2) They seem to cook better than in an 13x9 pan. Place your cupcake liners into the pan, fill the cups about 3/4 of the way with the brownie mix. Then mix one 8oz. bar of cream cheese softened, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon off vanilla extract till well blended. Spoon cream cheese mixture over the brownie mixture. Dabble a few semi sweet chocolate morsels on top. Bake at 350 for about 30 to 37 minutes. You want the cream cheese to set and brown a little before you remove from oven. Let cool right in the cupcake tin, or remove carefully with a spoon slid down the edge of tin. And Enjoy!!! You can add walnuts to brownie mix or put on top with choc. morsels. Everyone loves these. My mother teaches a computer class at the Senoir Center here in town, they learned how to e-mail the recipe to all their friends, so everybody is addicted to them LOL !!
March 16 POD Mini Chall. Something I Do Wellby Jojo NoonsScrapbook.com
[url=http://www.scrapbook.com/gallery/image/photo/1357347.html][img]http://www.scrapbook.com/gallery/public/1357347_6_217405.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.scrapbook.com/gallery/image/photo/1357347.html]March 16 POD Mini Chall. Something I Do Well[/url]
By [url=http://www.scrapbook.com/gallery/image/photo/1357347.html]Jojo Noons[/url]
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