Posted in Baking, Chilled Desserts, Cooking, Cream, Dessert with Fruit, Desserts, Entrees, Fruit, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous, Muffins, Pies, Pork, Quick Bread, Quilting, Sewing, Small Items, Wall Hangings, tagged apple, casserole, crumble, dessert, Farmner's Wife, gingerbread muffin, ham tetrazzini, hankie, heart, patchwork, peach pie, pineapple cheesecake, pork, pork entree, Quick Bread, quilt, qulting, Robert Redford, sweet potato, tablecloth, vintage hanky, wall hanging on December 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It’s been another fun year of blogging and on this last day of 2010, I revisited the 10 most popular of the past year’s posts.
The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford Dessert
Irish Lemon Blackberry Sponge Pudding
Pork-Apple-Sweet Potato Casserole
Happy New Year to All!
Posted in Baking, Christmas, Cookies, Cooking, Other Cookies, Seasonal, tagged black walnut, brandy, cook, Cookies, Cooking, recipe, Recipes on December 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Since I’m the only one in the family who likes black walnuts, I make these occasionally just for myself. They are small, buttery and delicious with the flavor and crunch of black walnuts. The brandy doesn’t hurt either.
BLACK WALNUT BALLS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Cream butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in flour, brandy and nuts. Shape into 3/4-inch balls using about 1/2 tsp. dough. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, one inch apart. Bake @ 325 degrees F for approximately 20 minutes until golden brown.
Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
I have a note in my recipe binder: “From Better Homes & Gardens Cookies & Candies. First made October 22, 1986 – excellent.”
Over 20 years later, I still find them to be “excellent”.
Posted in Candy, Christmas, Cooking, Seasonal, tagged buttermilk, candy, cook, Cooking, pralines, recipe, Recipes on December 27, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Making candy, especially with a thermometer, is not one of my strong points, but these pralines always turn out well – buttery and full of toasted pecans. I first made them in 1986, using a recipe card from Saco Buttermilk Powder. I like this powder very much and use it a lot in lieu of having a quart of buttermilk in the refrigerator all the time.
BUTTERMILK PRALINES
Line a large cookie sheet with foil and butter the foil.
In a large heavy pot (like a Dutch oven), combine the sugar, soda, salt and buttermilk powder. Stir in the cup of water. Insert a candy thermometer and bring mixture to a boil over high heat (#9 on my gauge), stirring constantly until mixture reaches 210 degrees on the thermometer.
Reduce heat to medium (#6) and stir in butter and pecans. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture reaches 230 degrees on the thermometer. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Allow mixture to stand in pan for 5 minutes, then beat with a wooden spoon for 5 to 8 minutes until mixture loses its gloss and begins to thicken. Drop in mounds on the buttered foil and allow to cool.
Makes about 15 pralines, depending on size.
This candy is forgiving – even when it’s not perfect, it’s so delicious with its buttery caramelized sugar holding together big toasted pecans that no one notices any little flaws. Just the kind of candy for me to make.
Posted in Christmas, Family, Memories, Seasonal, tagged Christmas, Family, Memory, portrait, RIP, sister on December 25, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Shirley and Lillian, 1945
The lack of money during the depression and then the lack of cameras, film and flashbulbs during World War II meant that the childhood lives of my sister and me were recorded in a few snapshots or tiny dime-store photo booth pictures. In December of 1945, I was in the 8th grade and my sister, Shirley, was in the 5th grade. My father’s sister, Annie, had a coupon for a free sitting at a portrait studio and secretly took us downtown to have a Christmas picture made for my mother. I wore my favorite dress (a castoff from my Aunt Myrtle) – a brown gabardine with velvet Chesterfield collar. Shirley never wanted to wear anything but blue jeans at that time, but she did put on a nice blouse and red sweater.
I remember the photographer had Shirley straddle a bench beside me in the studio to get in the right position and he took a shot from the waist up to avoid showing her jeans. Annie had the 8×10 hand-tinted portrait framed and gave it to Mother on Christmas Eve. Mother considered it a special Christmas treasure and had it on display for as long as she lived.
My little sister, Shirley, passed away on December 7, 2010.
Posted in Christmas, Family, Seasonal, tagged Christmas, daughter, decoration, Family, German pyramid tree, gift on December 24, 2010 | 3 Comments »
When I came out to breakfast this morning, I found an early Christmas gift on the kitchen table. My oldest daughter had been up until 3:30 AM making this miniature pyramid tree for me. She had been inspired by a tree we saw at the Taft Museum (Cincinnati) which was similar to this one from 1883.
The original German trees were made of wood, but she made this one of flower pots painted a rustic red and gold. The tree stands 14 inches tall, so each figure is very tiny.
After all these years, she never fails to amaze me with her talent and creativity.
Posted in Candy, Christmas, Cooking, Memories, My Sketches, Seasonal, tagged candy, Christmas, cook, Cooking, Family, fudge, fudge with marshmallows, marshmallows, Memory, mother, recipe, Recipes, World War II on December 23, 2010 | 1 Comment »
During the rationing of World War II, we children craved sugar
As we watched Mother sprinkle carefully measured sp0onsful over our oatmeal.
We wanted more sweetness in our hot chocolate, in our pudding;
We longed for a bottomless sugar bowl.
But in the fall Mother stood in long lines that coiled around the city tenements
To get an extra bag of sugar allotted for canning and preserving.
She squirreled this away until Christmas
When it was transformed into the most glorious pecan studded fudge,
Sweet enough to make up for a whole year of rationing.
“Christmas Fudge”, by Lillian – 1997
My mother was famous in our family for her homemade fudge, made without benefit of a candy thermometer and cooked and beaten until it was perfect. Then, it was placed in a special rose-bedecked tin to be brought out on Christmas Eve, opened and squares of never-to-be-forgotten goodness placed on her fancy Christmas plate.
I was never able to duplicate her fudge and have had to rely on the easier candy since she passed away in 1991. I have several good recipes but my oldest daughter asked for some fudge made with marshmallows rather than marshmallow creme, so this is the version I made for her.
FUDGE MADE WITH MARSHMALLOWS
*20 large marshmallows = 2 cups mini-marshmallows. Cut large marshmallows into 8 pieces using kitchen shears that are dipped in water to prevent sticking.
Butter a large plate or platter
In a medium bowl, combine the marshmallows, chips and walnuts. Have ready and at hand before starting the fudge.
In a large, heavy bottomed pan, combine the sugar and milk. Cook over medium high heat (#6 on my gauge) until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally. When there are bubbles across the entire top surface of the mixture, set a timer for 5 minutes and cook at the same heat setting, stirring occasionally.
After 5 minutes, remove pan from heat and stir in the marshmallows, chips and nuts, stirring quickly until the marshmallows and chips are melted. Stir in the vanilla.
Immediately pour onto the buttered plate and let cool at room temperature.
This is a batch made with milk chocolate chips. I also made a batch with semi-sweet chips, resting on Mother’s World War II era platter.
Mother always cut her fudge in big squares.
The fudge does not need to be refrigerated. Should be stored in a container with a tight lid. My mother’s old rose tin is just the right size for a batch of fudge.
This is not even close to my Mother’s fudge, but brings back the memories of all the Christmas Eves when I enjoyed her wonderful candy.
Posted in Christmas, Collectibles, Friends, Scotties, Seasonal, tagged Christmas, friend, gift, package on December 22, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday, I found a package from my online friend, Darlene in Columbus, Ohio, setting by the front door. Inside were three beautifully wrapped gifts. The first one was this mini-quilt – she remembered I love scotties!
The next package contained a hand-crocheted bag for me to carry my books to the library.
The third gift was a delicious snack and an original Christmas card.
Christmas is so much fun with nice friends like Darlene.
Posted in Christmas, Miscellaneous, Pillows, Quilt Blocks, Quilting, Quilts, Seasonal, tagged Christmas, log cabin, pillow, quilt, quilt block, Quilting, sofa topper on December 18, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I wanted to make a sofa topper and footstool cover using Christmas colors, but not Christmas fabrics. I decided to make log cabin blocks to use up scraps and got out my jars of 1-1/4-inch-wide scraps – shades of red, green and off-white plus some yellow scraps in 2 inch blocks to represent the candle light in the log cabins.
I made 6-inch finished blocks – 32 for the topper (finished size – 49 inches long x 28 inches wide) and 4 blocks for the footstool cover.
I scanned and printed a recent picture of myself for the label because I think it’s nice to have an idea of what the quiltmaker looked like when the piece was made.
And my oldest daughter made a cute Christmas pillow to complete the project.
Posted in Baking, Christmas, Cooking, Dessert with Fruit, Desserts, Fruit, Pies, Seasonal, Winter, tagged Baking, Christmas, cook, Cooking, dessert, English, mince, mincemeat, pie, recipe, Recipes, snow, tart, tart cherry, Winter on December 12, 2010 | 3 Comments »
In 1987, my oldest daughter came up with an idea to add tart cherries to a dried fruit mincemeat that I made. We enjoyed it so much that it ended up replacing the regular mince pie on our holiday menu. This is a small English-style Christmas tart version. It was our dessert today on a snowy December afternoon.
CHRISTMAS CHERRY MINCE TARTS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Divide pastry dough into five portions. Use four portions to line small tart/pie pans (mine measure 4 inches diameter across the top). Set aside.
In a small pan, combine finely chopped apricots, chopped prunes and raisins along with the 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until liquid is absorbed – about 4 minutes – stirring occasionally and keeping a close watch so the mixture doesn’t burn.
Remove from heat and stir in frozen cherries (no need to defrost). Stir in cinnamon, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, chopped walnuts, salt and tapioca. Mix well and divide among the four unbaked tart shells.
Roll the remaining portion of pastry dough and with a 3-inch cutter, cut out a design and place one on each of the tarts. Brush with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Place tarts on a large sheet to catch spills and bake @ 400 degrees F
for approximately 25 minutes until the crust is brown and the filling is bubbling.
Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Makes four 4-inch tarts
A nice treat when it’s cold, windy and snowy outside.
Posted in Family, tagged Family, RIP, sister on December 8, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Kindergarten – Shirley Applegate, American
from a newspaper clipping
The rambunctious kid.
The working girl
The great-grandmother
Shirley Johanna Applegate Ritchie
January 28, 1935 – December 7, 2010
