Archive by Author

Let’s Eat! Tacos and Sopapillas

9 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I learned to eat Mexican food quite early.  I don’t remember my Mother making anything but enchiladas, but we ate out at Mexican restaurants quite often.  It took me a while to learn to eat guacamole and enjoy it, but now it’s one of my favorite foods!  I never try to make it myself, but our favorite Mexican restaurant in town makes the best!  I have a friend from Albuquerque who owned a health food store and eatery one time, and she just whipped up the best guacamole I’ve ever eaten!  Wish I’d gotten her recipe!

In any case, I had a sopapillas recipe from my Aunt Jessie, but was a bit difficult and time consuming to make, so didn’t do that too often.  I did make enchiladas quite often however.  While we were living in northern Maine for 13 months, we met a family across the court from us who had a Mexican heritage, and she made really good Mexican food.  She shared her recipe for tacos and sopapillas, which have been my family’s favorite for a long time. 

I don’t make the sopapillas that often, but they are a great compliment to the tacos.  They puff up nicely.  Bite off one corner of a sopapilla and pour warmed honey into it…and yummm!!  Lots of Mexican restaurants use sopapillas as a “dessert,” but that’s not what I use them for.  I could make a meal of them!  As a matter of fact, when our girls were growing up, they really didn’t like the tacos, so whenever I made that meal, their meal was the sopapillas!  However, they’ve both grown to love all kinds of Mexican foods.

TACOS

1 finely chopped onion, sautéed in 2 Tbsp butter (or olive oil)

Add and simmer until most of the juice has cooked out:

½ cup V-8 juice

3 peeled minced green chilies (one small can)

1 cup shredded cooked chicken

⅛ tsp thyme (or less, according to your taste)

½ – ¾ tsp salt

Dash of cayenne

Stand taco shells up in a 9”x13” pan; fill each shell with cooked mixture.  Top with chopped tomatoes (or not) and shredded cheddar cheese, and lettuce if you desire.

Bake in a 350º oven until cheese is melted.

(I doubled this recipe for 12 tacos shells)

Credit Google Search, Pixabay and Taco Time Again Taco

SOPAPILLAS

1¾ cup sifted all-purpose flour (unbleached is okay)

2 tsp baking powder (NOT BAKING SODA)

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp shortening (Crisco) – use the stick kind – easier to measure

⅔ cup cold water

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in mixing bowl.  Cut in shortening (I have a pastry blender that I use).  Mix with your hand to get the “feel” of all the shortening mixed in.  Add the water and mix thoroughly to make a stiff dough.  

Knead the dough lightly until it is smooth.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at least 10 minutes. Longer than 10 minutes is okay – it only makes the dough softer.

Roll the dough very thin (about ⅛” thick) into a rectangle.  Cut into 3” squares.

Heat the oil in a large pot until it is very hot (385º – 400º on a deep-fat-frying thermometer).  When hot enough, drop a few squares of dough into it.  Turn frequently so that the sopapillas will puff up evenly.  Remove and drain on paper towels.  

Serve hot with warmed honey.

Credit Google Search and isabeleats.com

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat! Chicken a La King

2 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Credit Google search and Taste of Home

This is a recipe that I found while living in Wiesbaden, West Germany, 1967-1970.  The Wives Club that I belonged to served this at a luncheon one time, and about three or four of us wives were tasked with making this.  That’s where I learned to cook up the pastry shells and serve this meal in them.  

Please notice that, as I said last time, that Fred just doesn’t eat some things – olives and pimentos are just two of them.  After the luncheon was finished, there was some of the chicken and sauce left over – enough for each of us to take some home.  I did so, and told Fred what was in it.  He picked out the olives and enjoyed the remainder of it.  However, the next time I made it, I purposely left out the olives/pimentos, since I knew he didn’t like them.  But at the end of the meal, he told me to add them back in the next time, as the flavor was just not the same without them.  So, believe it or not, when I do make this, he actually eats the olives/pimentos.   

Here is the recipe.

QUICK CHICKEN A LA KING

Wiesbaden, West Germany

1969

1    10½ oz. can Cream of Mushroom soup – undiluted

5 oz can deboned chicken, shredded

2 oz jar green olives stuffed with pimento – or to taste – drained and sliced

½ cup chopped celery

Heat soup, stir in remaining ingredients.

Heat thoroughly and season to taste (salt, pepper)

Serve in cooked pastry shells or toast cups.

Serves 3

NOTE:  I purchase the Pepperidge Farm frozen pastry shells and cook them for this.  Makes a nice receptacle for the sauce.

Goes well with a salad and/or vegetable.

Credit Google Search and Pepperidge Farm website

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

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Let’s Eat! Old Time Welsh Rarebit

23 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Recently, Fred suggested I fix a meal that I haven’t done in quite a while – a recipe I got from his Mother all those years ago…Old Time Welsh Rarebit.  Some people call this “Welsh Rabbit” – but I’ve never called it that, nor did she.  Her handwriting has faded quite a bit, so I’m glad I transferred it to my computer.

Funny thing about this recipe – Fred thoroughly enjoys it, but it also contains mustard (although not very much of it ) and Worcestershire Sauce – another thing he doesn’t like to eat.  However, since it all mixed in together, and dominated by cheese, he doesn’t mind those two things in it.  As a matter of fact – it wouldn’t taste the same without those two condiments in the sauce.  So all is good.

In making up this dish, it reminded me that there are quite a few other main dishes that I make, or have made in the past, that I didn’t put in this series.  So this is one of those “other” main dishes I forgot to mention.

This is a good-tasting meal, and goes well with either a vegetable or salad.  It does make quite a bit, so there is usually enough left over for at least one more meal – at least for just the two of us eating it.

OLD TIME WELSH RAREBIT

(from Charlotte “Kitty” Wills)

3 Tbsp butter                                                            

¾ tsp Worcestershire Sauce

½ cup flour                                                                        

 3 cups milk

½ tsp salt                                                                          

 2 cups grated sharp Cheddar Cheese

⅛ tsp prepared mustard                         

 English muffins

Dash Cayenne Pepper

In a double boiler melt butter.  Stir in flour, salt, mustard, cayenne, then Worcestershire Sauce, then milk.

Cook , stirring, until thickened and smooth.

Add cheese, cook, stirring occasionally until melted.

Serve over English muffins.

Makes 6 servings

Photo credit Google Search and foodnetwork.com

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat! Beef Stroganoff

16 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Another of my favorites is Beef Stroganoff.  I got this recipe from a German friend while we were living in Wiesbaden, West Germany, 1967-1970, so it is an authentic German recipe.  I have searched for other stroganoff recipes, but haven’t found any that look to be as good as this one.

One thing I learned very early on in our relationship – is that Fred doesn’t like ANY condiments!  I mean….no mayo, mustard, ketchup, vinegar, pickles, olives…you get the picture.  So, since this recipe calls for sour cream (another thing he won’t eat), I make up the entire batch, then set some out into a separate dish for Fred, then add the sour cream to the rest of it, for me.  As he likes to say – “just leaves more for you!”  That works for me!

As with my recipe for Beef Tips, I again get a steak and cut it into chunks, as I don’t like stew meat.  

If you aren’t a person who likes fresh mushrooms – this recipe might not be for you.  You could try it without the mushrooms…but they really add to the flavor!

Here’s the recipe.

                                                            BEEF STROGANOFF

1 lb. beef (steak) cut in 1” cubes (sirloin is best)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp flour

Cream of Mushroom soup – undiluted – 1 10.5 oz. can

2 small onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup real butter

8 oz. sour cream

Sauté onions, garlic and mushrooms in butter.  Drain and remove to a plate.

Brown meat in vegetable juices.  Add salt and pepper.  Sprinkle flour over meat and cook about five (5) minutes.  Add Cream of Mushroom soup and stir well.  Return onion/garlic/mushroom mix to skillet, and mix together.  Cook about 10 minutes longer.  Add sour cream, stirring in completely.  Sprinkle ground nutmeg and dried parsley flakes over mixture

Heat thoroughly.

Serve over egg noodles.

Credit Google Search and allrecipes.com

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat!

9 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Beef TIPS

Well, I’ve exhausted my recipes for cakes, pies, cookies and breads.  But in going through my recipe file, I’ve found more main dishes that I like to make – and we like to eat.  So I’m adding them at the end of this series

One of my favorites is what I call Beef Tips.  Chunks of steak, cut into 1″ pieces, browned in oil, then smothered in Cream of Mushroom Soup mixed with milk and Lipton dry onion soup mix.  Yummmm.  Really hits the spot on a cold winter’s day…or anytime, for that matter.  I usually serve it over cooked egg noodles, but mashed potatoes works well, and possibly rice, although I’ve never done it that way.

Photo Credit: Word Press A.I.

I got this recipe from a lady who did the church suppers at our church in Virginia.  Of course, she made it for a crowd, but it works well with the recipe cut down.  I also like a lot of “sauce” so to make it as this recipe calls for, it’s just right.  Adjust the meat to just how much meat you want. 

It originally called for Stew Meat, but I learned a long time ago that I didn’t like all the “fat” in stew meat, or the lack of tenderness in stew meat.  So I purchase a good quality steak and cut it into chunks, and like it much better.  To each his own, I guess.  There are lots of cooks who will use stew meat for this recipe, and they are welcome to it.  I’ll stick to the steak…

Here’s the recipe.

Beef Tips

Judy Wills, 2016

2 pounds lean steak (sirloin is best)

2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup – undiluted

2 cans milk

2 envelopes dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Cut steak into 1″ pieces.  Roll in all-purpose flour and sauté in hot oil until brown on all sides.  Put into Crock Pot.

Mix Cream of  Mushroom Soup and milk in bowl.  Add the dry Onion Soup Mix and mix again.

Pour the soup mixture over the meat to cover; place cover on crock pot, and cook on low setting.  Can be cooked all day.

Serve over either mashed potatoes, rice, or small (narrow) cooked noodles (especially good).

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat! Breads and Dinner Rolls-Part 2

2 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

There was a time, growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that we would go to our church on Wednesday evenings for dinner.  We had some amazing cooks there, and  what they made was delicious.  But what I remember the most was the dinner rolls they made – absolutely amazing!!  I still remember that yeasty taste, and have tried to find a recipe that is even close to those.  There is one I found called “Schoolhouse Rolls” that comes as close as I can find to that taste.  Here’s the recipe:


School House Rolls

 (makes 24 rolls)


1/2 C. powdered milk 
2 pkgs. active yeast
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. shortening (do not use oil or butter, shortening only)
1 1/2 C. warm water
4 C. all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 C. water along with 1/2 tsp. sugar in a small bowl (smallest bowl of three nested bowls.  Allow to foam. 

 Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, add the shortening and blend. 

 Add the foamed yeast to the mixture.  Add the remaining water and blend well.

  Remove the dough from the bowl and turn it out onto a floured surface.  Kneading the dough a couple of minutes and form it into a ball.

Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double in size. 

 Punch down the dough, knead again for a couple of minutes and divide the dough in half. 

 Roll out each half to 1/2″ thickness.  Cut with a biscuit cutter and place on a greased baking sheet, or pull into small balls, place two in each greased muffin tin, to make Dolly Partons.  Let rise again until double in size.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown on top.  Around 10-12 minutes. Brush with melted butter.

There was another time when a friend gave me a recipe for rolls for breakfast.  The neat thing was, the rolls were frozen!  I could purchase them frozen from the store.  The night before I wanted to make them for breakfast, I would get out my Bundt Pan.  I would put together sugar and cinnamon, dip the rolls in melted butter, and roll them in the sugar and cinnamon mix.  Then place them, stacked, in the Bundt Pan.  When all the rolls were in place, I would spread the remainder of the sugar/cinnamon mixture over the rolls (if there was any left), then pour the remainder of the melted butter over it all.  Cover with a dish cloth and let it rise overnight, then bake in the morning!  Yummmm!  

To add bread to a supper meal, I would take those frozen rolls (I can’t find them here in Florida, much to my distress!), place two frozen rolls in each cup of a muffin tin, brush with melted butter, then let them thaw and rise together, and bake when they had sufficiently risen.  

To help them rise, I would heat the oven to about 250º, then turn off the oven when we put the muffin tin in the oven.  They would thaw and rise nicely! We called them “Dolly Parton” rolls – for obvious reasons!  But BOY were they good!

One lady in our church would always bring her squash casserole to church dinners.  I asked her one time if she would share her recipe.  Her comment was “I’ll give you that recipe if you will give me the one for your dinner rolls.  They taste just like the ones my mother used to make”  I was embarrassed to tell her they were frozen rolls!  But we shared recipes, just the same.

Credit Google Search and aseasyasapplepie.com

Long time ago, I was given a recipe for “Dilly Bread” that included Dill Weed in the dough as well as cottage cheese.  It was usually made in a round, squat loaf, rather than in a loaf pan.  I thought it was quite good – a bit different from normal.  Fred, of course, wouldn’t eat it because it had the cottage cheese in it.  So I didn’t make it very often – and haven’t done so in many years. But the memory is there, and I can almost taste it…  Here is the recipe:

DILLY BREAD

1 package yeast – dissolved in ¼ cup warm water

1½ cup cottage cheese – warmed

3 Tablespoons sugar

1½ Tbsp minced fresh onions

1½ Tbsp butter

2 teaspoons dill weed

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

1 egg beaten

2½ to 2¾ cups all-purpose flour

Mix all ingredients – add flour gradually until very stiff

Cover – let rise about one (1) hour

Punch down and place onto baking sheet, shaping into a round loaf

Let rise another 40-60 minutes

Bake at 325̊ for 40-50 minutes.  Cover with foil after 15-20 minutes

Brush with butter and salt

Credit Google search and Farmfreshforlife.com

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat!

26 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

BREADS AND DINNER ROLLS – PART 1

There was a time when I enjoyed making my own bread.  It brought back memories of my childhood when Mother would make her own bread – and the house would be filled with that wonderful aroma!  Bill (my brother) and I could hardly wait for the bread to come out of the oven, so we could slice it, slather it with butter, and eat it warm!  Mother would scold us, as she wouldn’t have enough to make sandwiches for the week, with all the bread we were eating!  

Credit Google Search and A Cup of Jo

When we (Fred and I) lived in San Jose, California, Fred was attending a one-year class at then-San Jose State College to become proficient in Meteorology.  That’s what the U.S. Air Force assigned him to do.  Next door to our apartment was another U.S.A.F. couple, the husband was also in the same class as Fred.  The wife had been a home economics school teacher before they married, and found a job doing the same in San Jose.

She wrote to Fleischmann’s Company, telling them she was a home-ec teacher in a relatively distressed part of San Jose, would like to teach those in her classes to make bread, and would they be so kind as to send her a recipe they could use.  They sent her DOZENS of copies of a bread recipe!  She generously shared one with me.  And until recently, that’s the recipe I used when I made bread.  It was a very good one.

However, in more recent years, if I wanted to make my own bread, I searched the internet for other recipes, and have found some that I like.  Now, please understand that I don’t make bread very often.  But every once in a while I’ll get the urge.  I know that all of the genetically-modified wheat and other foods are bad for us, so I am able to purchase Non-GMO flour that I use in my baking.  

I really enjoy the mixing, kneading, and rising that is involved with making bread.  I thoroughly enjoy seeing that bread dough “rise” in those glass loaf pans.  Makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something!  The only thing about making bread, is that there is no preservative in it, so it must be either eaten quickly (within a day or two) or frozen for later.  But that is doable.  I also love the yeasty smell from making my own bread.

We are trying not to eat much bread these days, so my bread-making days are limited, as well.  But that doesn’t always stop me from wanting.  

There was also a time when I was quite into sourdough bread.  I was never successful in making “bread” out of it, but it makes wonderful pancakes!  We did that a lot while living in Panama City, Florida (Tyndall AFB), and the girls and Fred and I looked forward to my making those pancakes – usually on a Saturday morning.  I alternated the Saturday morning menus of sourdough pancakes or French Toast.  Those are some good memories!

I’ve never tried to make my own “starter” but there now “kits” with dry starter that can be activated.  Or perhaps someone I know has a starter and will give me a cup to make my own starter.  That’s usually the best – it’s been around for a while, and already has the flour and sugar in it that helps it grow.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat-Desserts

19 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

PIES – PART 3

Another pie that I have made in the past, but not recently, is Pecan Pie.  I really do like a good Pecan Pie, and this recipe makes one of the best Pecan pies I’ve ever eaten.  It was given to me by a friend – another U.S. Air Force wife – while we were living in northern Maine (Loring AFB) in 1967-1968.  She is a good ole Mississippi girl, and knows her stuff when it comes to baking.

It’s definitely a good recipe for Pecan Pie; if that is your taste.  Give it a try:

PECAN PIE

Beat well:     3 eggs

Add:                    1 cup granulated sugar

                   ¾ cup dark Karo syrup

                   ¼ cup butter

                   1 tsp vanilla

                   1 Tbsp cold water

Beat well.

Add 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans.

Put in uncooked pie shell.

Bake at 370̊ for 45 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.

FOR DEEP DISH PIE OR 10″

Add:              1 extra egg

Then add:    ⅓ cup sugar

                   ¼ cup dark Karo

                   1 Tbsp butter

                   ⅓ tsp vanilla

                   ⅓ Tbsp water

Also add:      ¼ – ⅓ cup pecans

Bake at least one (1) hour 10 or 15 minutes.

Credit Google Search and chefscottcookbook.com

                                        ~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat-Desserts!

12 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

PIES – PART 2

Another pie that I love to make – and especially eat! – is what I have always called “Granny’s Chocolate Pie.”  I have the recipe in her handwriting, and have made it for years and years.  All the family love it, and have called it Granny’s Chocolate Pie, along with me.  Just for fun one day, I looked up chocolate cream pie on the internet – and there it was!  The same ingredients and directions as Granny’s!  Actually, I was a little miffed!  It’s MY Granny’s chocolate pie recipe – for all I know, she invented it in the 1940’s!!

Granny also had a recipe for butterscotch pie with meringue, and lemon meringue pie, but I never got those recipes before she died, much to my regret.

In any case, I wrote about my Aunt Jessie (Granny lived with her), and how she owned a small diner in downtown San Antonio, Texas back in the 1940’s.  Granny made the pies for that diner that were enjoyed by all who had a slice.  People would frequently purchase an entire pie, but it could be purchased by-the-slice, as well.

And so, I hereby present Granny’s Chocolate Pie recipe for your enjoyment:

GRANNY’S CHOCOLATE PIE

Filling:

2 cups sugar                                                 2 Tbsp cocoa, level

4 heaping Tbsp cornstarch                        ½ tsp salt

Mix the above ingredients together with a whisk in a large cooking pot.  Add and mix well:

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks beaten (save the egg whites for the meringue)

Cook this mixture over not too hot a fire (medium heat), stirring constantly. When thickened, remove from the heat and add 1 Tbsp butter (not margarine!) Add 1 tsp vanilla.  Mix and cook this first and allow to cool while baking the pie crust, stirring occasionally.  Put the filling into the baked crust, top with meringue and brown.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

¼ tsp cream of tarter

6 Tbsp granulated sugar (⅓ cup)

½ tsp vanilla (optional)

Beat the egg whites until frothy and stiff.  Gradually beat in the sugar, a little at a time.  Continue beating until stiff and glossy.

Pile high on pie filling, being very careful to seal meringue onto edge of crust.  Brown in a 400̊ oven for 8-10 minutes.  Serve when cool.

Crust for a 9″ single crust:

1⅓ cups sifted flour (I use unbleached)

½ tsp salt

½ cup Crisco solid shortening (use the stick kind – it’s easier to measure)

3 Tbsp water

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in the Crisco until the mixture is uniform and very fine.  Sprinkle water over this mixture, a little at a time, tossing lightly with a fork. Work dough in a firm ball.  On a lightly floured surface (or between two large sheets of wax paper), roll dough about ½” thick.  Place in the pie plate.  Trim ½” beyond the edge of the plate.  Fold edge under and flute.  Prick generously with a fork over the bottom and sides.  Bake at 425̊ for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.  

Cool before adding filling and meringue.

Photo credit Google search and pinterest.com

                                        ~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Lets Eat-Desserts

5 Jan

akingSUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills 

PIES – PART 1

Okay…I said pies, but I have one more cookie recipe that I want to share.  It’s a favorite of mine even if I don’t make it very often.  It is soooo easy!  Got the recipe from an old friend of my Mother’s from Dallas, Texas days.  I’ve just always known them to be called “White Cookies.”  There are probably other names for them, but that’s what I call them.  Here they are:

WHITE COOKIES

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

⅔ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

1 package butterscotch morsels

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350̊   Put aluminum foil on the oven rack.

Whip the egg whites until they are stiff and very dry

Add ⅔ cup sugar to the egg whites and whip

Add 1 tsp vanilla and whip

Fold in 1 cup chopped nuts

Fold in 1 package butterscotch morsels

Lightly spray the foil with PAM.  Drop the cookie mixture by teaspoon onto the foil covered rack

Turn off the oven heat as you put the rack in the oven.

DO NOT OPEN the oven until the oven is completely cool.  I frequently do this in the evening, and let them sit overnight.  Remove carefully – they are delicate!

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now on to some of our favorite desserts – PIES!!  

I guess my favorite pie to make – and eat – is cherry pie.  Fred especially loves cherry pie, so it’s a labor of love when I make one for him.  And the best part is that I get to eat it, as well!

A history of cherry pies in my family goes back quite a ways.  Bosque Farms…cherry picking…cherry pitting with the hand-cranked machine Mother had.  Made a mess, but those pits just popped out, seldom missing any of them.  If it did miss one, when we found it in the pie, we just said that it proved they were real cherries!  Mother would wash and pit the cherries and freeze them, so she could make the pie just any time she wanted.

One of our favorite things was to make the pie on a Sunday afternoon.  Stop by Fitzgeralds after church on Sunday night for some home-made ice cream.  Then have the cherry pie with ice cream as a treat when we got home.  WOW was that good!

Below is my recipe for cherry pie.  It’s not exactly like my Mother’s, since I add Almond extract to the mix.  Fred really loves it that way, and I’ve come to love it that way, as well.  Mother didn’t like the taste, so she didn’t add it.  But this is good!

CHERRY PIE

1 cup granulated sugar

1 Can red sour pitted cherries                                                       

¼ cup flour 

¼ teaspoon almond extract                                                                           

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon  

1 ½ Tablespoons butter                                         

Crust for double crust (9″) pie plate

In saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and juice of the can of cherries.  Sift the flour into the mixture, resulting in no lumps.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils (about 7 minutes).  Remove from heat.

Stir in extract.  Stir in cherries.  Pour into a 9″ pastry-lined pie plate.  Dot with butter.

Cover with top crust; seal edges and crimp/flute.  Cut vent design in top crust.

Bake at 425º for 30-to-35 minutes until nicely browned and juice bubbles through vents.

Serve warm with or without vanilla ice cream.

Makes 6-to-8 servings.                       

Pie and photo by Judy Wills

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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