In Memory....

My mom was the biggest influence on what is now my home kitchen. She taught me how to cook and bake from scratch, how to organize my kitchen setup, how to preserve foods by canning, and that the best seasoning was love.  She even encouraged me and joined me in taking a Wilton cake decorating class when I was 17.

My mom left this earth unexpectedly on September 6, 2019. One way that her legacy will live on is through "her" recipes.

(not my picture)

My mom's most used cookbook, the 1961 Betty Crocker New Picture Cook Book. It's full of from-scratch recipes, recipes that she taught me and that I still use and share today. One of my adult sons even searched for and bought his own copy to use for himself.

This is still one of my favorite meals from my childhood. Mom made it at least twice a month.

Family Beef Roast Dinner

3 to 4 lb. Beef roast

1 pkt. Onion soup mix (dry mix)

4 to 6 potatoes, peeled and cut in half if large potatoes

6 large carrots, peeled and cut into 4 to 6 inch lengths

Sear roast on all sides in hot butter. Place in electric skillet or crock pot and top with onion soup mix; add vegetables. Add water to electric skillet (not needed for crock pot) and cook 2 to 3 hours in electric skillet or 8 hours on low in crock pot. Keep an eye on the water level in the electric skillet and add more as needed.

I have no idea where Mom found this recipe, but it quickly became a family favorite. My kids can easily polish it off in one sitting.

PARTY CHEESE BALL

• 2 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
• 2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 Tbsp. chopped pimento
• 1 Tbsp. finely chopped green pepper
• 1 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

Beat together the cheeses until well blended. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. Shape into a ball or spoon into a small bowl. Store in refrigerator
You may also opt to roll the cheese ball in grated or finely chopped nuts!
Serve with Triscuits, Ritz crackers or any other appetizer cracker!

My mom claimed that she could barely boil water when she married my dad, but she had a couple of "secret" recipes that she learned quickly and they became Dad's favorites.

Dad's Favorite Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

• 1/2 c. cocoa
• 2 tsp. soda
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. white sugar
• 1/2 c. margarine or butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together cocoa, soda, and water and let stand. Cream together sugar and shortening and add eggs and beat well. Mix flour and salt and add the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Add the vanilla and the chocolate mixture and beat well with mixer. Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch cake pan or two 8 or 9 inch layer pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Let layers cool about 10 minutes before removing from pans.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting

• 1/3 c. margarine or butter
• 1/2 c. cocoa
• 1 lb. powdered sugar
• Warm coffee or milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Melt margarine or butter and add cocoa and powdered sugar. Then add enough warm coffee or milk to make it spreading consistency. Add the vanilla and mix well.

Mom's Apple Pie

• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 5 to 6 cups peeled, cored and sliced baking apples

Combine all ingredients and stir carefully. Put in an unbaked pie shell and dot with 2 Tbsp. butter cut into small pieces. Top with top crust, seal edges and cut slits in the top crust. Brush with milk and sprinkle with a bit of white sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Cover edges of the crust with foil if they begin to get too dark.

This is one of Mom's recipes, handed down to me. My kids absolutely LOVE this frugal yet tasty dessert! It is a bit time consuming but well worth the effort.

Raisin Rice Pudding (custard style)

• 1/2 c. long grain white rice
• 4 c. milk, divided
• 1/2 c. seedless raisins
• 1/3 c. butter
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• cinnamon or nutmeg

Mix rice with 2 c. milk in top of double boiler; cook over boiling water until tender, about 40 - 45 minutes. Add raisins and butter and stir until butter melts and is mixed in.

Combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and remaining 2 c. milk. Stir together with hot rice mixture and pour into a greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg.

Set baking dish in a pan half full of warm water. Bake in 325° (I have to use 350°) oven for 30 minutes or until set (knife inserted near middle comes out clean with no liquid custard on it.) Best to serve warm, not hot, but it's good cold, too.

A Christmas tradition that my mom started and that I carry on with my own family is Christmas morning cinnamon rolls.

60 MINUTE CINNAMON ROLLS

• 4 1/2 tsp (2 pkt) yeast
• 1/4 c. warm water
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 c. warm milk
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 6 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 c. warm water with sugar, in a small bowl. Pour warm milk over butter, sugar and salt. Cool a little. Add 6 cups flour and yeast mixture. Knead in bowl for 5 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes in a warm place. Roll out into large rectangle with rolling pin or your hands.
Mix: 1 1/2 c. sugar, 4 tsp. cinnamon and 1 c. raisins (optional) Brush dough with a bit of melted margarine and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Roll up, starting with long edge and seal edge. Using dental floss or a very sharp serrated bread knife, cut into slices. Place slices in greased pan(s) and let stand in warm place for 15 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. When done, top with powdered sugar glaze while still warm.

Powdered sugar glaze:

• 1 Tbsp. butter, soft
• 1 c. powdered sugar
• milk, a tsp. at a time

Work the powdered sugar into the butter. To be honest, it won't look like anything resembling a glaze yet. Add milk until spreading/drizzling consistency. You may have to add a bit more powdered sugar. Drizzle/spread over slightly warm cinnamon rolls.

Fork Cake

This will be a fond funny memory of my mom for as long as we live.

Mom lost her sight several years ago and the loss greatly affected her cooking and baking ability. However, she realized that she could still measure by feel, and a box cake was very easy to make. She could measure the few ingredients into a bowl by feel, add the mix, and beat with a fork (using the mixer while blind added a danger factor).

On one of her birthdays she made a strawberry cake using this method. She was fretting when we arrived for dinner because she couldn't find her favorite mixing fork and thought that dad had thrown it out by mistake when cleaning up. No luck finding it.

The first cut into the birthday cake revealed where the fork was hiding.

Fork Cake.