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Easter Memories at Grandmas with Angie

April 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

Many of us are preparing a menu for Easter Sunday, and I can tell you many of the dishes that I will be serving are those that have been served by my mother, grandmother and other wonderful cooks in our family. I love the featured dishes of course like potatoes, ham, rolls, and veggies but what I have always loved the most have been the delicious pudding salads that in my family are not considered dessert but part of the meal. At grandmas you could always tell the difference because you never got dessert before you ate your dinner.

One recipe I really enjoy making is Watergate Salad. Another is Orange Mandarin Salad and the recipe is shared here.

Orange Mandarin Salad Recipe

1 large package orange Jell-O
3 C. water
1 large package Cook and Serve Vanilla pudding mix
2 small cans or 1 large can mandarin oranges, drained
1 pint whipping cream, whipped or 1 8 oz. Cool Whip

Cook together in a saucepan the pudding mix and water. Add Jell-O and refrigerate until thickened, but not set. Add whipped cream or Cool Whip. Fold in mandarin oranges. Refrigerate until set.

imageHave you planned your dinner for Easter? Will you be eating out, going to visit at another home, or preparing the meal at home. When I was a child my parents always went to our grandparents for Easter dinner. We would attend church dressed in our Easter best and then after church we would head to the house of my moms mom. My mother would help prepare the meal for the crowd of individuals who would soon be there. My dad would most times take us to the park for an Easter egg hunt that the town community leaders hosted. So much fun.

I am sure that if you will be hosting the Easter dinner you will be making plans let me share with you a few tips that I hope will help you make your plans:

Planning a menu (this you may have did all ready) is something that is best done as soon as possible. Printing out the recipes for each dish you will prepare allows you to have all at hand and if others are interested in helping they can easily do so. My grandmother always had my mom, her sisters and even us older girls busy with dinner prep. I am like my granny in many ways, I like to delegate jobs to my teens, hubby and sometimes even friends that come for dinner. One thing that I remember our family always doing is bringing a dish to share with the dinner my mother did this often when we would eat at my Grandmothers house and she does it even when she comes to a dinner party that I plan at my house. I often take dishes when I go to eat at others homes as well. One great thing is that when you know what you have planned for dinner you can make suggestions of what dishes your friends and family to bring.

A day or two ahead of time make sure that you have all the dishes, utensils, serving tools, napkins, candles, and what ever else you will need for the dinner available. As far as where guest would sit there were no real rules. My grandmother only had one rule no kids in the dining room where there was carpet on the floor. Rather we could eat in the kitchen at the table and an adult would often sit with us. I always hated this as I wanted to know what the adults were talking about. Their conversation always seemed more important as if any news was going on it was discussed there. The announcements of new births, marriages, and upcoming surprises were announced at the adult table which was in another room away from us. Perhaps that is why in my house when I entertained I always had the adult table and the child’s table in the same room. That way there is no way to miss out on any juicy gossip or great news. It is best to plan how guest will sit at your table prior to guest arriving so if you have not thought about this may be a great time to do so.

Drinks are another thing that you must consider when planning a party. This is one area that I do not think that neither my grandmother, mom or me had a plan for. My mom and grandma were always individuals who liked to serve their guest. The guest never had to leave the table after dipping their plate as they would serve drinks, dessert and cleanup as well. As far as me these are areas delegated to my teens to make and serve drinks, dessert and cleanup is something I feel my guest can help with. One cute idea you may want to try if you do not like to serve or have others serve is to get a large tub and place ice and drinks in them for guest to serve their selves.

Dinners were always served banquet style at my grandmothers house with dishes prepared and set out in line to be dipped on the counter and table. There was always large amounts of everything and sometimes it seemed too much. At my mothers house the dishes were served family style with dishes being passed around for all to serve their selves. My home has been a bit of everything from cafeteria style where I dipped most plates, buffet style and at times but not as many family style like at my mothers. How will you serve your meal?

My hope is that you enjoying your Easter preparation and gain great memories while doing so.

thanks Angie,

Angie will be taking a break from bringing us her memories every week. She’s quite busy with her own successful blog, and working outside of the home. We will miss her and hope she returns soon.

About Angie:

Angie is going to be bringing us meals and memories as a weekly contributor here at Mom Start called Memories at Grandmas. She writes daily at Shop Annies, Annies Home where she constantly shares recipes, tips, and wonderful products she and her family of six children uses.

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Memories At Grandmas Enjoy a Spring Garden Recipe: Wilted Lettuce

April 10, 2011 By 2 Comments

Memories at Grandmas is a weekly collection of memories and recipes with Angie who blogs daily at Shop Annies.

One thing that I remember is the sweet little gardens that my parents, grandma H, and grandma S would have. Their gardens were all different and yet I loved to help in all of them. My parents had a garden where they would raise enough veggies to last the winter through as well as give us a fresh bit of goodness in the veggies that we raised through out the summer months. Here is where I would learn the gardening lessons that I retain now through work and experience. I would help till the soil, plant the seed, harvest the goodness of the vegetables, snap, pop, clean, and eat what we raised.

The thing I remember most about my mothers mom Grandma H. garden was the white picket fence that surrounded her garden

Found with in the old picket fence was a valuable resource of flowers as well as veggies that she would raise each year. The garden was not a place to play but one where she would spend many hours of work. If you were old enough to be trusted you may find yourself lucky enough to work side by side grandma in the garden. That for sure would give you bragging rights to share with your cousins and parents.

 

My dads mom Grandma S. had help in her garden as it was the first sort of community garden that I remember. They were large farmers but also had gardening area large enough to share with friends and relatives. Each had their favorite veggie to raise but it seemed tomatoes were the favorite of most. When I was young, finding a milk carton in the garden seemed a bit odd but as I learned how they helped tomatoes, it made sense and i was happy I learned the lesson.

One of my favorite recipes for early spring gardening is wilted lettuce.

Ingredients:

•1 head iceberg or romaine lettuce, washed, dried and torn coarsely into pieces
•1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
•1 large finely chopped onion
•1/4 cup water
•1/4 cup vinegar
•3 tablespoons sugar
•Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place lettuce in a heatproof bowl. In a large skillet, fry bacon until half cooked. Add onion and continue to fry bacon until crisp but not burned. Drain all but 4 tablespoons bacon grease from the skillet. Add water, vinegar and sugar, and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour hot vinaigrette over lettuce, add salt and pepper to taste and toss. Serve immediately.

 

Did you have a Gardner in your family or neighborhood? Were you able to help in the dark soil? Do you like gardening now?

 

About Angie:

Angie is going to be bringing us meals and memories as a weekly contributor here at Mom Start called Memories at Grandmas. She writes daily at Shop Annies, Annies Home where she constantly shares recipes, tips, and wonderful products she and her family of six children uses.

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Memories at Grandmas: Fish Marinated in Herbed Di Palo Selects Olive Oil Recipe

April 3, 2011 By 4 Comments

Memories at Grandmas is a weekly collection of memories and recipes with Angie who blogs daily at Shop Annies.

Hello!!!! Welcome to a beautiful Sunday. When I was a child the holidays and Sundays were always awesome because we would share great food and good times. This week I was able to review a product that in my opinion makes the food that is prepared with it sing. The product that I reviewed was from Di Palo Selects 

Di Palo Select Logo

You may be familiar with Di Palo’s name before reading this post today, as they are the makers of fine foods in Little Italy New York. Di Palo’s has been around for 4 generations making delicious food and have been rated the last 10 years running as the best cheese store by Zagat’s. If you are not familiar with it Zagat is a restaurant guide that offers online ratings for top restaurants. Now the same great taste that has been established is available online with their sale of award winning extra virgin olive oil which has been produced by "Azienda Agricola Galluffo" in Sicily’s Trapani Valley. It was on a trip to Italy that Lou Di Palo hand selected the olive oil and was so impressed by the quality and uniqueness that it was decided that the product should be brought to the US. There are three different varieties available Biancolilla, Cerasola and Nocellara del Belice.

di palo olive oil

My opinion:

The package from Di Palo Selects arrived securely wrapped and looked like a beautiful fine product that was only meant for special occasions. The truth is that the extra virgian olive oil that I received was perfect for everyday use, perfect to surprise your family with or perfect for that special occasion when you have company over. The flavor of the fine Biancolilla olive oil was described as a delicate oil that has a smooth flavorful taste. I prepared a delicious fish meal on a date night where I invited a few friends over to have supper with me and my hubby. We all enjoyed and delighted in the flavor of the olive oil that I believe helped pull off the delicious flavorful meal

Fish Marinated in Herbed Olive Oil Recipe

Ingredients:

4 whole Fish steaks or fillets (thick halibut or salmon)
4 Garlic cloves – crushed
1/2 cup Fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 cup Fresh oregano
1/2 cup Fresh parsley
2 cups Olive oil
Freshly-ground black pepper – to taste
Salt – to taste
Lemon wedges for garnish

Directions:

Place the garlic, rosemary, oregano, parsley and black pepper to taste in a food processor and chop coarsely. Rub the mixture on both sides of desired fish and place in a glass baking dish. (Do not add any salt or acids such as lemon juice or vinegar at this time.) Add the oil and turn the fish a couple of times.

The fish should be nearly or completely submerged in the oil. For best results the fish should be covered and refrigerated overnight. You may also marinate it for just a few hours. To cook, pat off excess oil and lightly salt to taste. Grill, broil or bake to your liking. Do not overcook. Serve with lemon wedges for garnish.

I believe that the food of yesterday was delicious because of the cooks of yesterday. The old saying "Italian food taste better from Italy" is correct in my beliefs as well. The lessons taught to those who prepare the ingredients and those that put them together are lessons that have been sent down from years of experience. The Di Palo Select Olive Oil Review I was able to participate in this week got me to thinking of delicious fine foods when I was a child as well.

When I was a kid my family would come together each year for the holidays. Christmas was one of my favorites because we would have a celebration at each of my grandparents house and the whole family would also come together at my uncle Tommy’s. When we would join together at Uncle Tommy’s it was not at his house but at his restaurant. Oh the fun that would be had that night. You see Uncle Tommy was my grandmothers brother and owned a restaurant but this was not just any restaurant, it was an uptown dress up look great sort of restaurant. It was located in Alton Illinois near the waterfront when the living there was good (not to say it is bad now)

At Uncle Tommy’s restaurant you could order anything your little heart desired. You could order a steak or anything on the menu. My favorite was the pasta and garlic bread. I loved being dressed up in my best and eating at my Uncles restaurant it seemed as if life could not get any better. The fun from those early days were awesome the time the family spent together talking, dressing up, the great food oh those days are some of my favorite memories.

Did you have somewhere that your family went for the holidays?

I Would love to hear about some of your memories? I can imagine it would be as much fun for you to share as it would be for me to read?

 

About Angie:

Angie is going to be bringing us meals and memories as a weekly contributor here at Mom Start called Memories at Grandmas. She writes daily at Shop Annies, Annies Home where she constantly shares recipes, tips, and wonderful products she and her family of six children uses.

Disclosure – The product featured in this review was provided to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

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Memories at Grandmas with Angie: Early Spring Spaghetti and Fried Morel Mushrooms Recipe

March 20, 2011 By 4 Comments

I grew up in a small town full of pride even to this day in the central part of Illinois. Tractors and the American flag were both popular during my childhood. Both my grandparent were farming families and even though my parents grew up in town I must say that it was a town that is very different than were I raise my own children. tractor

It was a town where everyone knew each other and the streets were safe to walk on. It was nothing for your mom to let you go up town to buy a loaf a bread or spend the change you had collected at the young age of eight or nine. Every summer in this small town we would spend time out in the country enjoying Grandmas cooking on Sundays, playing baseball in the pasture or taking a leisurely walk looking for mushrooms.

Morel mushrooms were what we were after and when the weather started getting warm and after a good spring rain we would head out to look for them. Have you ever had morel mushrooms? Recipes to prepare the mushrooms may vary but the one that we loved the most was:

How To Prepare Morel Mushrooms:

1 big haul of fresh morel mushrooms
2 lbs. real butter (or margarine)
1 dozen eggs
1 box saltine crackers

Mushroom Preparation – Wash and cut fresh mushrooms into quarters, slicing long way. Soak in large bowl of salt water to remove and kill all those little pesky critters. Leave soak in refrigerator for a couple hours.

Melt butter in the skillet dip mushrooms in egg and then roll in saltines that had been crushed. Fry to a light golden color and then all there is left to do but enjoy

Spring is also the time for softball and baseball. Most kids in this area play ball from the age of six years old till they graduate in high school. My grandmother and mom always believed in making a good meal with plenty of carbs for energy before playing the game. Whitey Herzog was the coach of the ST. Louis Cardinals when I was playing softball as the catcher of the team. In one interview that he gave he mentioned that spaghetti was the meal that many members of the team would have prior to playing ball. So guess what my mom went and did. yes, you guessed it she would make spaghetti dinner each night before playing a game of ball. Here is the recipe that she often used when I was a kid

Spaghetti Dinner

1/4 cup Crisco
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 pound lean ground bee
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 (4 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1/4 cup chopped parsley or 2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
2 cups (1 lb. can) tomatoes
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper
dash basil
bay leaf
1/2 pound thin spaghetti

In a large skillet melt Crisco, add onion and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in ground beef and garlic salt; brown. Add mushrooms, parsley, tomato sauce, tomatoes, salt, oregano, pepper, basil and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Uncover and cook for about 1/2 hour longer, until sauce is desired consistency. Cook spaghetti as directed on the package; drain. Spoon meat sauce over spaghetti on platter or on individual plates.

These are just a few of my memories from early spring when I was a kid. Depending on where you lived you may have your own memories and they may be very different from my own. What were your memories? Would love to hear about them. Be watching for upcoming post as I share more about my childhood and the recipes that my mom, grandmas and my favorite cooks prepared.

About Angie:

Angie is going to be bringing us meals and memories as a weekly contributor here at Mom Start called Memories at Grandmas. She writes daily at Shop Annies, Annies Home where she constantly shares recipes, tips, and wonderful products she and her family of six children uses.

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Memories at Grandmas with Angie: Betty Jean Hamburger Soup Recipe

March 6, 2011 By 2 Comments

By Angie,

I have been blessed to have many great women in my life. I have had my mother and three of my own grandmothers and then when I wed my husband 24 years ago his family became mine as well. Today I want to share a bit about one of my husbands grandmothers and a favorite recipe of hers.

grandma

Betty Jean was her name and let me tell you this bean pole of a lady stood nearly 6 foot and was a strong as they came She raised a handful of children (I believe 5) on her own and then took in any child that just needed some love. My husband was one of these individuals that she took in. Roy P was what she called him if you are a Dukes of Hazard fan it won’t take you long to figure out where that came from. It always seemed that Betty had something good on the stove cooking but also always had something in the fridge that she had just made or some makings for a sandwich of some sort. One of her favorite recipes was a hamburger soup that would fill you up quick.

Betty Jean Hamburger Soup

1 lb lean hamburger
2/3 cup diced celery
1 bay leaf, crushed
dash of cayenne pepper
1 cup diced onions
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2-quarts water
1/2 cup cubed raw potato
8-oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup sliced carrots
1/4 cup raw rice
2 beef bouillon cubes

Brown hamburger and onion in Pam sprayed soup pot. Brain off all fat. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, cabbage, water and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients, except peas. Cover and simmer 50 minutes. Add peas and cook another 5 to 10 minutes. Put into soup bowls and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

A similar recipe that we often have at our house is very close to this recipe Vintage Hamburger Goulash at food.com

About Angie:

Angie is going to be bringing us meals and memories as a weekly contributor here at Mom Start called Memories at Grandmas. She writes daily at Shop Annies, Annies Home where she constantly shares recipes, tips, and wonderful products she and her family of six children uses.

Filed Under: Angie, recipe Tagged With: ,

Sunday Meals at Grandma’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Fresh Green Beans & Mashed Potatoes

February 27, 2011 By 11 Comments

I remember going over to my grandmother’s house every Sunday, and if we weren’t at my Granny’s house we went to my sister’s grandmother’s house, Memaw! It may sound confusing, for me to say it that way, but my parents were divorced and remarried so yes I have a complicated family, but we all loved each other and no matter who’s grandmother’s house we were at it was always delicious. Knowing that I have fond memories of that time, helped me to connect with Angie, from Shop Annies, Annies Home. Angie is going to be bringing us meals and memories as a weekly contributor here at Mom Start called Memories at Grandmas.

For her first post: Angie shares a few recipes from grandmas house. We have Buttermilk Friend Chicken, fresh green beans, and home made mashed potatoes with Blackberry Cobbler and Ice Cream for dessert.

fried-chickenHow to make Buttermilk Friend Chicken

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
Buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Pound each piece slightly between wax paper. Slice in 5 sections on the diagonal. Then put chicken in a bowl and pour buttermilk to cover the chicken. Let sit for an hour to overnight. Heat some vegetable oil until it reaches 335 degrees in a cast iron skillet or Dutch Oven. Fill a large bag with all of the dry ingredients. Place 3 pieces of chicken in the bag and coat with the flour mixture. Drop carefully into the hot pan and fry about 4 minutes on each side. Do not overcrowd the pan. Then drain on crumpled paper towel.

 

green beansHow to cook Fresh Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans, about 4 cups
1 1/4 cups water
1 saucepan that will fit the beans and water comfortably
Paring knife and cutting board (optional)
Colander

Directions:

Wash the green beans thoroughly, making sure to rinse off all stray leaves and dirt. You can either slice off the ends of each bean, or just break them off. discard the ends. The beans can either be cooked whole, or you can slice them into pieces, depending on your preference.

mashed potatoesHow to make home made mashed potatoes

1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
3/4 cup low-fat milk
1 1/2 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. finely chopped chives
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg

Place potatoes in medium pot and cover with 1 inch water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain, and put potatoes through ricer or mash in medium bowl. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan until butter is melted. Stir into potatoes along with chives and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.

All served with Blackberry Cobbler and ice cream and you can find that recipe and Angie’s full post with her detailed memories at Memories at Grandmas!

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