HERITAGE RECIPE : Old-Fashioned Pineapple Bars

While going through the heritage book to make something today, I was actually looking for something specific--something vegan. Yes, vegan! I'm not vegan, but I've recently started experimenting with a plant-based diet for a couple of reasons--I'll write about this tomorrow. For now, the reason I chose this was because 1) It sounded good, and 2) It doesn't contain any animal products.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Margaret Charlesworth. Margaret was born in 1924 and passed away at age 91 in 2016. She worked at the Rockwood Post Office until she married Robert in 1950 and became a "farm wife"--she cared for the cows, germinated seeds, and made sure Robert always knew the weather so he could predict how it would affect the crops. When they had children, she was a full-time homemaker and mother.

Margaret loved to sew and bake. She was actually known as "The Cookie Lady" in her town and was featured in the Monroe Evening News for her baking talent.

Her maiden name was Gay, and I knew I remembered writing about a couple (from a heritage recipe) who lived on a family farm with the last name Gay. After a search of my blog, I discovered that I shared a recipe for Devil's Food Cake from Betty Gay, who happened to be married to Margaret's brother, Samuel. So this recipe was submitted by Margaret, the sister-in-law of the woman who submitted the Devil's Food Cake recipe. (Like I said, Rockwood is a small town!)

I had high hopes for these pineapples bars, considering that they came from "The Cookie Lady!"

As always, I am writing this recipe here exactly as written in the cookbook; the "printer-friendly" version is rewritten by me to include any notes that may need to be in there for clarity. I always make these recipes exactly as they were submitted to the cookbook--no alterations or substitutions. Make sure you check my notes after the recipe.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Bars

Mix in Bowl:
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 c. brown sugar

Add:
1/2 c. Crisco
1 c. oatmeal
2/3 drained crushed pineapple
1 T. pineapple juice

Mix by hand until well blended. Spread in greased 7x11-inch pan. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Frost with 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of pineapple juice. Cut into squares.

My Notes:

The ingredients are very straight forward. Nothing to mention there.

I mixed the first four ingredients (by hand) in the bowl first, then added the rest. It was kind of hard to mix in (it was thick and and there were big clumps of Crisco). I kept mixing though until the clumps of Crisco were gone. I actually thought it resembled canned tuna fish! (The stringiness of the pineapple and the color of the oats made it look that way.

It was kind of hard to spread around the pan because it was very sticky. It felt like a very sticky cookie dough. You may want to oil your hands a bit first to keep it from sticking to your hands while you spread it around the bottom of the pan.

Don't forget to reserve the juice (a minimum of 2 Tbsp.) when you drain the pineapple! I wasn't really sure how well to drain the pineapple--with something like tuna, I squeeze it very hard to get as much liquid out as possible. With this, I didn't want to go overboard, but I didn't want it to be very watery, either, so I just lightly pressed on the pineapple in the strainer before measuring out 2/3 cup of the fruit for the recipe.

I baked it for exactly 25 minutes, as specified, and it looked great when it came out of the oven!

While it was in the oven, I made the frosting. I just added a tablespoon of the pineapple juice to the powdered sugar to make a glaze-like frosting. At first, I couldn't get all of the powdered sugar mixed in with such little liquid. I added about 1/2 tsp more and it worked. This is the texture it made--thicker than I thought (it wasn't pourable--it was thick and needed to be spread around)

I set the timer for 20 minutes when I pulled it out of the oven, and after 20 minutes, I spread the frosting all over it. It was actually the perfect amount of frosting/glaze!

I started to cut into it but it was really sticking to my knife, Then I realized I should probably wait until it was completely cool. So I set it into the fridge to allow it to cool quickly.

A couple of hours later, it cut MUCH more easily. I cut it into 12 squares.

At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about them. I thought they were a bit bland--I didn't get a pineapple flavor at all. The texture was pretty dry and somewhat crumbly. I only took one bite and just left it alone after that. However, a few hours later, I took another bite, this time at room temperature--and I really liked it that time. The flavor is very subtle-and definitely not too sweet--so if you're looking for a light dessert, this may be a good choice. The texture is kind of a cross between cake and oatmeal cookies.

My family reported the same thing when they ate them; they the bars weren't anything to rave about, but they were okay. I don't think I'd make them again. But for an unintentionally vegan recipe, I was surprised at how well they turned out!

If you're curious about the nutrition info: one square has 144 calories, 1 gram protein, 15.5 grams carbs, and 9 grams of fat.

I'm going to look through the book and see if there are any of her cookie recipes!

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Perfect Dumplings

This is another of those recipes that does not look pretty at all--but I'll spoil the ending and say that this was delicious! SO much better than it looks.

I've been wanting to make this recipe for a while because the person who submitted it happens to be my elementary school bus driver. And let me say, the fact that I came from a very small town means that the bus driver could as much of a mom or grandma as could be before and after school.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Joyce Laura in memory of Elza Raymond. I was a little confused at first while googling, because Joyce's maiden name was Raymond; and she married Raymond Laura. Once I sorted that, it made sense ;) I'm assuming that Elza was Joyce's mom.

You know how you go through life and there are certain random people tucked into the back of you mind that bring a nostalgic smile to your face when you think of them? I don't mean the people that do these spectacular well-known things, but rather the everyday people that you encounter for one reason or another.

Joyce Laura is one of those people who is tucked into the back of my mind. I honestly can't say I remember much about her! She was my school bus driver all through elementary school, and all of us kids absolutely loved her. I do remember her giving us treats once in a while (cookies or something). But she treated us like her own grandchildren (of which she had many--she was born in 1927 and when she passed away in 2016, she had 14 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

The same kids would ride the bus together every year; we all lived in the same neighborhood, played together all summer, and even though there were certain kids we didn't like, we were a sort of family in a way. And I think Joyce thought of us like that, too. She liked seeing us grow each year and she took some pictures of us in front of or inside of the bus. (She actually did have a grandson who rode the bus with us!) She made each of us feel special in our own way.

I could still tell you all of their names and I am still friends with some of them today. I asked some of my childhood friends today what they remember about her, and they all said the same thing: "She was just so NICE. Even with some of the morons on the bus, she was so NICE to everyone."

I remember one specific incident when we were pulled over by the police. Apparently, a boy named Eric, who was known for being a troublemaker, threw his hat out the window at a cop car. So we were pulled over and the cop came on the bus to talk to him. Joyce was as calm as could be; I learned later in middle school, that most bus drivers are NOT like that!

Joyce submitted this recipe in memory of Elza Raymond--because Elza was her maiden name, I'm assuming that Elza was her mother, but I can't be sure. I cannot find that simple piece of info online!

Anyway, even though this recipe is simple, I just couldn't help but make it in memory of Joyce. An elementary school bus driver that sticks in the minds of kids 35 years later is a special bus driver indeed.

As always, I am typing out the recipe here exactly as it is in the book; the "printer-friendly version" was re-written by me to include any notes or clarifications. I did not make any modifications or substitutions while preparing this recipe.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Perfect Dumplings

1-1/4 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 well-beaten egg
1 c. milk

Mix well. Drop by spoonful into boiling liquid. Keep boiling continuously. Steam 15 minutes.

My Notes:

This recipe is super straight-forward. The only thing I wasn't sure about was the steaming. Steaming usually involves covering the pot to hold in the steam. So, here is how I read into it: I dropped the dumplings in as the liquid boiled continuously. Once all the dumplings were dropped in, I covered the pot and lowered the temp to medium, and let them steam for 15 minutes.

It says to cook in liquid, so I imagine you could use whatever liquid you like. I made them in French onion soup (just the powdered mix with water). 

These were definitely NOT pretty. The batter looked very thin when I was ready to drop it into the soup. Still, I took about a teaspoon or a little more at a time and dropped it in. I could see they were coming apart when they hit the boiling water. Look how bad they looked in the pot! (I probably should have used a wider pot as well.)

This was after steaming

I imagine that I was probably supposed to drop bigger spoonfuls. Or maybe if I lower the water to a simmer rather than a boil. I know they would stick better with more flour (a thicker dough) but I didn't want to alter the recipe at all. There are several things I could adjust a little to keep them from coming apart.

HOWEVER... despite how not-pretty this recipe is, it was absolutely delicious!! The onion broth was a great choice. And while my favorite part was the large dumplings, the smaller pieces really thickened up the broth. Next time, I think I'll try lowering the water to a simmer and trying everything else the same. If that doesn't work, I'll make bigger spoonfuls. As a last resort, I'll add more flour. Really, the flavor and texture of these dumplings is truly "perfect"!

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Sweetheart Coffee Cake

When looking for a heritage recipe this week, I found one that was called "Sweetheart Coffee Cake"--and since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought this would be a great recipe to try!

Now, I am the first to admit that I did a terrible job with the presentation! Hahaha, it's not nearly as pretty as I hoped it would be. But hey, if it tastes good, that's what matters most.

You'll see there are two different versions that I made, and I'll explain that in my notes after the recipe.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Peggy Laginess in memory of her mother-in-law, Helen Laginess.

Now, when I googled Peggy and Helen, I discovered something very interesting. I read Peggy's obituary which named one of my uncles (my mom's older brother) as a surviving relative. This is confusing, but here is what I learned:

Peggy (who submitted this recipe) was married to Robert (who has passed away).
Robert had a sister named Lorraine.
Lorraine is married to Dan--and Dan happens to be my mom's brother (my uncle).

I'm not sure how that makes me a relative to Peggy (through marriage), but I found that interesting! Anyway, Peggy submitted this recipe for Sweetheart Coffee Cake in memory of her husband Robert's mother, Helen. Helen was born in 1912 and passed away in 1997 at age 85.

As always, I'm copying the recipe here exactly as-written in the heritage book and I made it without modifying or substituting anything. If anything was unclear, I made my best judgment and I wrote about it in my notes. (The "printer-friendly" version below is re-written by me with my notes included.)

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Sweetheart Coffee Cake

3-1/2 to 4 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 pkg. RapidRise yeast
2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. butter
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. water
2 eggs

Set aside 1 cup flour. Mix flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Heat together water, butter and milk until hot to touch. Stir hot liquid into dry mixture. Mix in eggs. Mix in enough reserved flour as necessary to make a stiff batter. Knead on floured surface until smooth, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl and cover; rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half and roll out 1 portion to 15 x 10-inch. Brush with 1/4 cup melted butter. Combine filling and sprinkle 1/2 of it over dough. Roll up as jellyroll from long side. Place on greased baking sheet. Fold half of roll on top other half; seal ends together. Starting at folded end, cut lengthwise down center of roll with scissors to within 1-inch of sealed end. Turn cut halves outward, cut side up, to form a heart. Repeat with remaining dough for second loaf Cover and let rise until light and doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 F for 20 to 25 minutes; remove from baking sheet.

My Notes:

Okay, lots of notes here! The biggest issue I had with this recipe, which almost kept me from trying it, was the fact that there isn't any specification of what the "filling" should be. The recipe just states, "Combine filling and sprinkle 1/2 of it over dough..." but there is nothing anywhere stating what the filling is.

From what I know of coffee cake, the filling is usually a cinnamon + sugar mixture. So, I decided to go with that. However, since there were two loaves, I thought it might be fun to make one red (for Valentine's Day) by using strawberry jam for a filling. Jerry thought it was a good idea, until I prepped the loaf and he said it looked like I was making a vagina--hahaha!

In total, I probably ended up using 4 cups of flour (including the flour I spread on the counter to roll the dough).

I heated the water, butter, and milk in the microwave; I probably should have used the stove, considering this is such an old recipe, but I made sure to stir it often and make sure it didn't get boiling hot.

Rolling out the dough was very easy once I had enough flour mixed in. I made it as rectangular as I could.

It took a lot more jam than I thought it would--probably about 3/4 cup to 1 cup? (It looks like ketchup, I know!)

For the one with the cinnamon + sugar mixture, I melted 1/4 cup of butter as specified in the recipe, and then liberally sprinkled with a combination of the cinnamon and sugar. (I keep cinnamon and sugar mixed together in a shaker jar--probably a 4:1 sugar to cinnamon ratio?). I made sure to spread the butter and the cinnamon mixture all the way to all the edges.

To roll it, first, you start at the long edge. You roll it up tightly (which is kind of hard because it's slippery with the filling). 

Then I put the seam-side up, took one end of the roll and folded the roll in half (with the seam sandwiched in the middle) and I pinched the two short ends together. 

Then, starting at the fold, you use scissors to cut through both layers of the roll. The sides will just kind of fall into position, but it basically looks heart-shaped when you're done.

The recipe specified to cut to about an inch from the short (pinched) edge, and after taking the photo above, I ended up cutting it a little farther because it didn't seem like it was cut far enough.

I baked the one with jam for 22 minutes before deciding it was done, and then set the timer for 22 minutes for the cinnamon + sugar one. I think I baked that one too long--I should have only done 20 minutes. It didn't burn though.

I was very surprised to discover that I liked the one with jam better. I'm usually not a jam person, but I liked that it was more moist and I thought it had more flavor. The cinnamon + sugar one was pretty dry. It definitely needed some frosting! ;)

Overall, I wasn't crazy about these Sweetheart Coffee Cakes. I wouldn't make them again. (And I actually wasn't even tempted to eat more than a couple of bites to taste-test.) Maybe I'm just missing out on an amazing filling that I don't know about--I'm super bummed it wasn't in the book!--but everyone in the family thought they were just okay. And definitely not pretty enough for Instagram or Pinterest photos!

If you happen to make this and have better luck with the filling and/or the presentation, please email me a photo! I'd love to see.

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Scottish Shortbread

First, I have to admit that this is a total cop-out of a recipe. There are only four simple ingredients and not much work at all.

However, I am in a terrible mood today and I just don't feel like getting into a big mess with a recipe right now. 

I would like to thank Kroger Pharmacy for filling my prescriptions two days late; when you're on mood stabilizers and anti-anxiety meds and suddenly cut off from them, things can become a shit show after just one day. Just ask Jerry. I think he was excited to go to work today just to get away from me.

I understand that everything is slower right now, but I get the same meds every month and these were sent in with plenty of notice. Cutting someone off cold-turkey isn't cool.

Anyway, I feel terrible that this is how I am starting this heritage recipe! Heritage recipes are supposed to be light and fun. This recipe was submitted by Sharon Laura to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society. I promise that I will do her justice by finding another of her recipes and making up for it.

To make me feel even worse, Sharon is the daughter-in-law of my school bus driver that I had (and loved) all through elementary school! I would love to write a little about her, and I will do that in another post (she has submitted recipes as well, so I'll pick one of hers).

For today, though, I picked (what I thought was) a simple recipe. I almost managed to screw this up, though, because it started to crumble apart when I tried removing it from the pan (turns out I had to let it cool first)

As always, I made the recipe exactly as-written. I didn't make any substitutions or alterations. The "printer-friendly" version below is rewritten by me with any notes to clarify things.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Scottish Shortbread

1-1/4 c. flour
3 T. cornstarch
1/3 c. granulated sugar, divided
1/2 c. butter

Combine 1/4 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch and butter. Rub with fingers; press into ungreased 8-inch pan. Bake at 325 F for 40 minutes. Cut into wedges; sprinkle remaining sugar on top.

My Notes:

Simple enough, right? I mixed the ingredients in my mixer and then squished it all together with my fingers. The dough was REALLY dry and I never thought it would come together, but it did--barely. This is what it looked like before and after smushing it with my fingers.

And then after pressing it down to the bottom of the pan...

It looked pretty much the same after baking as it did before baking...

Getting it out of the pan was ridiculous. The whole thing just started crumbling apart. I wondered if I was supposed to let it cool first before removing it from the pan. So I tried to smush the crumbled part back in there, and then I let it cool. (You can see on the left where I started to try to lift it out and it crumbled apart on me.)

It worked out MUCH better after it cooled. In fact, it was absolutely delicious! It was very buttery tasting and not super sweet. It would be amazing served with some strawberries on top.

Anyway, I apologize to Sharon for my sour mood. I will try making this again when I am in a better mood and maybe I'll do better at it. I'm really looking forward to making one of Sharon's mother-in-law's recipes as well!

Don't let my bad mood stop you from trying this recipe--it really is delicious!  (And if you need a super fast, easy dessert for last-minute company or something, this is perfect. Just serve it with some fruit and it'd be really pretty!

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Meat and Cabbage Casserole (plus some humor about aging)

I've been making my grandma's version of cabbage casserole ever since Jerry and I got married. I LOVE cabbage casserole. You can find that recipe here. (I also call it "Unstuffed Cabbage", because it tastes like stuffed cabbage, only in casserole form.)

When I saw in the heritage cookbook this recipe for Meat and Cabbage Casserole that was submitted by Jeanette Laura, I saw that it was quite different from my grandma's recipe and I wanted to try it. Jeanette is SO sweet. I made her recipe for sloppy joes while working on the heritage series, and when I'd started "researching" for the recipe back then, I learned that her husband actually built the house that I grew up in (from the time I was born until I was 15 years old)! She and her husband and their children lived there.

I just thought that was so cool. Anyway, her daughter saw the recipe on my blog and showed it to Jeanette. Jeanette actually sent me the nicest thank you card in the mail. And then she sent me a family cookbook (recipes of hers and her daughters). She is 97(?) years old and still in good health. I would love to spend a few hours chatting with her one day to learn more about my old house, her large family growing up there, and just life in general from back then.

For today, though, I am sharing my attempt at her Meat and Cabbage Casserole. I LOVE cabbage, so I was excited to make this.

As always, I am copying this exactly as-written by Jeanette; I did not make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe. See my notes after the recipe for any clarifications. The "printer-friendly" version is rewritten by me with my notes included.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Meat and Cabbage Casserole

1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb. ground beef
1-1/2 cups cooked rice
1 small head of cabbage
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup beef bouillon
oleo or butter
salt and pepper
1 cup grated cheese
bread crumbs

Sauté onions and beef, brown slightly and add a little salt and pepper to taste. Mix with rice and set aside. Cut cabbage into cubes, brown in oleo about 5 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar over the cabbage while it is browning. Butter a casserole dish. Layer 1/2 of the cabbage, the meat mixture, and the rest of the cabbage. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg, milk and bouillon, then pour onto the top of the casserole. Spread the cheese then the bread crumbs on top. Bake @ 350 F for 45 minutes.

Comment from Jeanette: "This is good for a cool day when you want to heat the kitchen."

(That was partly what drew me to this recipe. My heating pad just wasn't doing the job and I was freezing!)

My Notes:

It didn't specify the fat content of the beef, so I just used what I had--90/10 ground sirloin.

A "small" head of cabbage is really just relative to the cook. Since I love cabbage, I was tempted to use the large head that I had in the fridge, but after a google search, I saw that a small head of cabbage is about 28 ounces. So, I just cut mine up and used 28 ounces. (I was surprised at just how much 28 ounces is, though. Here it is next to the beef and rice.)

I used 2 Tbsp. *packed* brown sugar; whenever brown sugar isn't specified packed or unpacked, I go with packed.

I chose to use oleo instead of butter, since that is what she mentioned in the directions.

I wasn't sure what kind of cheese to use. I ultimately decided on mozzarella because it's stringy and holds together well. It was the perfect choice!

Since I wasn't sure of the measurement of bread crumbs, I estimated 3/4 of a cup. Once I started sprinkling, however, I thought it was going to be way too much. I guessed 1/2 cup. STILL too much--so in the end, I used 1/3 cup.

I was a little nervous about browning the cabbage--I didn't know if I should just cook until soft or if I should actually caramelize it. I went with the directions that said "about 5 minutes" and that's how long I cooked it for. After tasting the recipe, I definitely wouldn't want it to be softer; next time, I might do just 4 minutes. Here is before and after cooking the cabbage down:

And here is before and after I put it in the oven...

Overall, it was a very simple recipe to make! Definitely a different flavor from my grandma's cabbage casserole, but that's what I was looking for--something different. It was delicious! Despite how much I love cabbage, I think that it was a good ratio to the other ingredients and I don't think I'd add more next time.

---

Tucked inside the recipe book from Jeanette was a note from 1996 at her 94th birthday party:

"To all of my family and friends,

Thank you for sharing the celebration of my 94th birthday. It is a joy and blessing to share my life with each and every one of you. You are all very much loved! God bless you!"

Also included with the note was the following. I'm not sure who it was written by, but it's pretty funny!

One thing I know is that every stage of life has its own unique set of challenges. Along with those challenges, each stage of life has its own set of benefits. May I share with you some of the benefits of "growing older?"

• In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
• No one expects you to run into a burning building.
• People call at 9 p.m. and ask, "Did I wake you?"
• There's nothing else left to learn "the hard way."
• Things you buy now won't wear out.
• You can eat dinner at 4:00 p.m.
• You can't remember the last time you laid on the floor to watch television.
• You can live without sex, but not without your glasses.
• You consider coffee one of the most important things in life.
• You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
• You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
• You have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.
• You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
• You quit trying to hold in your stomach no matter who walks into the room.
• You send money to PBS.
• You sing along with the elevator music.
• Your arms are almost too short to read the newspaper.
• Your back goes out more than you do.
• Your eyes won't get much worse.
• Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
• Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
• Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.

Hahaha! So much fun, and I can already identify with several of those.

Another great recipe from Jeanette; and definitely not the last!

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The Heritage Recipes I Made in 2021

I'll get back to my "regular"-type posts soon; with it being the first of the year, I love looking back over the previous year to to sum things up. And as you know, I love lists! So the end of December and beginning of January, I tend to make a lot of lists.

In 2021, I wanted to cook new-to-me recipes, and I made a goal to cook one new recipe per week (or just 52 overall). When I got the idea to make the recipes found in my hometown's heritage cookbooks, I wanted to try working on one per week. It doesn't sound like much, but a week goes by so fast! Sometimes I found myself flipping through the books at the last minute for a recipe that had simple, always-have-on-hand ingredients; but I didn't want to always make "safe" recipes--I wanted to pick things that looked interesting or that I'd never heard of.

It's been nearly a year since I started this project, and while I don't have 52 recipes done yet, I made some really great ones that I never would have discovered otherwise! Here is the full list (in reverse order; it was just easier when linking). Afterward, I'll write about a few favorites...

Gobby's Christmas Eve Tourtière (Meat Pie)
Grandma's Jumbles
Autumn Cheesecake
Pumpkin Bars
Sausage Upside-Down Pie
Grated Raw Sweet Potato Pudding
Popcorn Balls
Poached Egg on Toast
Apple Delight
Hattie's Icebox Rolls
Devil's Food Cake
Creamed Ham, Asparagus, & Mushrooms
Barbecued Beef (a.k.a. Sloppy Joes)
Peach Muffins
Maple Nut Cake
Fruit Cocktail Cake
Meat Loaf
Hermit Cookies
Blender Carrot Bread
Tender Crust Dinner Rolls
Oatmeal Cake
Drömtårta (Swedish Dream Cake)
Nan's Coffee Cake
Tourtière (Meat Pie)
Pumpkin Bread
Sweet Buns
Swedish Almond Cream Cake
Nut & Raisin Sandwiches on Graham Bread
Spread Cookies
Boy Cookies & Girl Cookies
Brown Dumplings
Poppy Seed Tea Bread
Smuckle Doodle Cake
Onions Stuffed with Sausage
Corn Oysters
Onion Shortcake
Viola's One-Course Meal
Beef Biscuit Casserole

Some of these recipes were delicious, some not so much. Some had great stories behind them or the person who submitted the recipe; and others, I just wasn't able to find any additional information.

Prior to starting this project, I was terrible at baking. I always seemed to screw something up. Cooking comes very natural to me because there is no real measuring or chemistry involved. However, a lot of the heritage recipes are for baked goods; and since this was an adventure, I just did my best.

I got a lot better at baking in 2021! Before posting the recipes, I would research things that I wasn't sure about (recipes from the 1800's have different wording than from the 2000's, for example; I wanted to make sure I was using the correct ingredients). I learned what "fast oven" and "slow oven" means; how sour milk differs from SOURED milk; that true graham flour is nearly impossible to find; how to make a noodle ring (and that there is a such thing as a noodle ring!); and that there are more recipes for meat pie than you could ever taste in a lifetime.

Some of these recipes REALLY surprised me in some way or another. Here are the ones that were notable:

Favorites We Tasted:

Poppy Seed Tea Bread - Jerry LOVED THIS and couldn't get enough of it! The extracts in it give it a very different flavor than you may expect, but it's really delicious. This is a quick bread, so it's very moist and dense, kind of like a pound cake. So good!

Fruit Cocktail Cake - I had no idea when I made this that it was actually a very common dessert back in the day, but wow, did it surprise me. This is one of the best cakes I've ever eaten!

MOST FAVORITE OF THE YEAR:

Pumpkin Bars - I am not normally a pumpkin spice type of girl. Pumpkin pie is okay, and pumpkin bread can be good. But for fall, I wanted to do something with pumpkin--so I made these pumpkin bars. And holysmokestheyarethebestdessertever--I don't believe I've ever made such a bold, 100% for-sure statement on my blog. You MUST make these! The texture (and the cream cheese frosting) is what makes these so amazing.

One that really surprised me with how much I liked it was the Creamed Ham, Asparagus, and Mushrooms. I love asparagus and mushrooms, but it was the "serve in a noodle ring" that really made this unique. I can't remember what I wrote about the noodle ring in the end, but I do remember thinking that I wanted to make the creamed ham, asparagus, and mushrooms into a chowder. I haven't done that yet, but this post reminded me of it--and I am going to put that in my planner.

And as you know, I like to write about the person who submitted the recipe whenever I can. It's hard to remember (without going through all of them individually) who made what recipe and what I wrote about them. But my favorite one to work on was the recipe for Oatmeal Cake. I read an amazing news article about my grandfather (which is in that blog post) and it prompted me to want to learn more about my family.

I got together with my mom and my Aunt Mickey and we went through old photos; I loved hearing stories about my grandparents, mostly. (My grandfather died when my mom was just 16, so I never met him; and my grandmother had Alzheimer's while I was growing up, so I--ironically?--don't have many memories of her prior to her illness.)

This has been such a fun blog project to work on and I definitely want to continue until I've tried most of them. I would definitely be up for trying ALL of them, but I'm not exactly a hunter and I don't believe they sell muskrat at Kroger ;)

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Gobby's Christmas Eve Tourtière (Meat Pie)

In May, I shared a heritage recipe for Tourtière (a.k.a. French-Canadian Meat Pie). I used my grandma's recipe for the crust and another woman's recipe for the filling. My family wasn't crazy about the filling at all--we just really didn't like the spices in it. I only found out later that my grandma ("Gobby") had both her crust and filling recipes in a cookbook filled with her recipes.

When I learned that Gobby made this every year for Christmas Eve--not just for the family, but also for the priest at church and close friends--I decided I really wanted to make it for Christmas Eve. Using her recipe.

I asked my Aunt Mickey about this recipe and she believes it came from my grandpa's grandmother. So that would make her my great-great-grandmother...? When I had a free trial of ancestry.com, I went as far a back as my great-great-great-grandmother. Interestingly, all of my grandparents back to that point lived within a 10-mile radius of where I live now. Mary Baron, who we believe this recipe came from, was born in 1856. I actually have a picture of her! (Which I found on Ancestry before my trial ended.)

I don't know any more about why the meat pie became "a thing" for my grandma to make every Christmas Eve, but it made me want to do the same.

I was completely unprepared to make it, however. I have had such a stressful month and nothing went as I hoped or planned. However, we had zero groceries in the house on Christmas Eve, so I braved the grocery store and went grocery shopping for a week's worth of food. Fun! (If you don't know by now, I despise grocery shopping, so I planned that terribly.) Anyway, I bought the ingredients for Gobby's Tourtière recipe.

I've already written about her a few times, but I figured I'd write something about Christmas with Gobby. Every year on the Sunday before Christmas, Gobby had a Christmas party for the whole family: her six children and all of the grandchildren and then great-grandchildren. My mom was the youngest of six kids, so my brother Nathan and I are the two youngest of our generation in the family. We were actually the same age as some of the great-grandchildren! We weren't part of the "cool cousins" because we were so much younger, haha ;)

Anyway, we gathered annually at Gobby's house for the Christmas party until it got too big and then we started doing it at the town firehall. My uncle was the fire chief and the whole volunteer fire department was basically family (literally and figuratively) in such a small town anyways, so it wasn't uncommon for parties in there. (I was young, but I do remember that there was a Playboy pinball machine in there! Hahaha).

The annual Christmas party was basically like a family reunion, even though most of my extended family lived pretty close to home. I loved going to Gobby's parties because I got to see my cool older cousins. Gobby gave everyone in the family a gift and later, we did white elephant gift exchanges, which were always fun.

Gobby got sick with Alzheimer's disease when I was in my teens (which you can read about on this post about my biggest fear) and ironically, she passed away on the Sunday before Christmas in 1999--the same day that her Christmas party/family reunion would have taken place. I can remember a moment that weekend where a lot of my aunts, uncles, and cousins packed into her bedroom and sang Christmas carols around her bed. For some reason, when they started singing Silent Night, I had to go sit on the front porch to get away. I still can't listen to that song and it's been 22 years.)

We kept the tradition of Gobby's Christmas Party going on for a several years after that, but fewer and fewer of the family members would show up, and eventually we just didn't do it anymore. It never felt the same. I really wish it was still a tradition because I rarely see my extended family anymore!

I can't remember the last time I was excited about Christmastime, but the loss of Gobby's Christmas parties definitely played a roll in it. Back then, Christmas was all about family; I loved getting to see all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins! Now that everything has become more modern, Christmas seems to be so commercialized and much more busy and stressful than simple family get-togethers. At some point, I turned into a Christmas Grinch and just wished I could go to sleep from Thanksgiving until the New Year.

Since I felt EXTRA Grinch-y this Christmas (between the issues with the cats and getting even less sleep than usual and my pain being really bad and just being completely unprepared and stressed out), I decided to try to make up for it on Christmas Eve (well, after a particularly bad morning). I spent quite a bit of time working on this Tourtière and I tried to be pleasant about Christmas music and wrapping gifts and all that. Jerry, the kids, and I all watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation that evening which was fun (I really do love that movie).

It was funny--when Clark Griswold starts losing it and grabs a chainsaw to take downstairs and cut down a tree, he notices that the knob on the top of the banister is loose. He just calmly uses the chainsaw to cut it off and move along. At that point in the movie, both of my kids said simultaneously, "That's totally you, Mama!" Hahaha!! I was thinking the same thing ;)

Here is the scene, in case you haven't seen it:

Anyways! Moving on to the meat pie...

I didn't turn this into an elaborate dinner or anything; I just made the meat pie. My Aunt Mickey told me that my grandma always served it with cranberry sauce, and I wish I had known earlier so I could have bought some to go with it. Instead, I just served it as-is.

Okay, as always, I copied and followed this recipe exactly as written by my grandma--no substitutions or alterations. Check my notes after the recipe for any clarifications. The printer-friendly version was rewritten by me with the clarifications included.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Tourtière Pie Crust

Combine in mixing bowl:

2 Cups sifted flour
1/3 tsp. salt

Cut in with pastry blender:

1/2 Cup butter
3 Tbs. Lard

Stir in:

1 egg, beaten
1/4 Cup milk

Blend thoroughly, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 1 hr.

Tourtière

4# lean ground pork
1 Tbs. sage
1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
4 tsp. salt
4 onions, chopped
4 pinches pepper

Barely cover ground pork with water. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1 hour. With slotted spoon, put meat into unbaked pie shell. Spoon a small amount of water over top. Sprinkle with 1 or 2 Tbs. water. Bake at 350 F 45 to 50 min. or until crust is browned.

My Notes:

These are obviously two different recipes; one for the crust and one for the filling.

I thought the amount of meat seemed like a LOT for one pie. Considering I'd made the crust before for another meat pie, I knew that the crust was enough for just one pie. I couldn't be sure, but I ended up making two batches of the pie crust just in case the filling was meant for two pies. (In the end, it turned out to be correct--there is absolutely NO way that the filling could fit in one pie. It is plenty for two!)

It's hard to tell in the photos, but this is the amount of pork and onions. My face was streaming with tears after cutting all those onions!

The crust recipe was pretty straight-forward. I made one ball of dough and then after realizing how much filling there would be, I made a second ball and put them both in the fridge to chill.

You'll need a very large skillet for the filling. I laid all of the pork out along the bottom and then after adding the water, I just layered the ingredients in order on top. It didn't say to stir it, so I didn't do that.

(After it cooked for a little while, though, I did break up the meat and give it a stir once in a while.)

After bringing it to a boil, I simmered it at a very low heat--my stove reads 1-10 and I had it on 2. It was cooked perfectly after an hour.

I pulled out a ball of the pie crust dough and broke it in half. I rolled out a bottom crust to line the plate and then a top crust to cover everything.

I was right about the filling; I could only fit half of it in the crust. So I pulled out the other ball of dough and made a second pie at the same time.

It said to spoon a small amount of water over the top--I had no idea how much that was! I probably spooned about 3 Tbsp. of water. Then it said to sprinkle with 1-2 Tbsp. flour, so I did 1-1/2.

Topped it with the top crust and pinched the edges closed (I can't do fancy edges; I can barely roll out a crust!). Brushed with the egg wash.

I baked them individually because I didn't want to mess up the baking times by doing both at the same time. I pulled each of them out after 50 minutes.

The verdict: Jerry and I loved this! (The kids ate it without complaint, but when I asked, they said, "yeah, it was okay".) My only complaint would be how loose the filling is. There is no binder; in the other recipes I've seen, most of them use mashed potatoes to bind the meat together. I thought maybe the flour sprinkled on top of the filling would do this, but it didn't.

Also, the bottom (of the pie plate) had a lot of liquid in it after I cut the first piece. When I pulled the piece of pie out of the plate, it was fine--the liquid stayed in the pie plate. But next time, I might add a mashed potato--just enough to bind the meat and keep it from falling out of the crust.

Other than that, though, it was REALLY good. Jerry and I each went back for a second piece. (I like these seasonings much better than the ones I tried in the previous heritage recipe post.) My only regret is that I didn't have cranberry sauce to go with it!

Maybe I'll turn this into a Christmas Eve thing at my own house. It was fun making something that I knew was a tradition of my grandma's.

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