Grandma's Whiskey Balls

Grandma made these every year just after Thanksgiving so they would be ready for Christmas. Once made, pack them in sealed containers -- aging makes them better. Even as kids, we ate these and, because they ship well, they were packed in care packages.

2 cups finely chopped walnuts
2 3/4 cups of vanilla wafer crumbs
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup whiskey (Jack Daniels, Jameson's or Maker's Mark work well)

Combine all ingredients. Roll into little balls, then roll in some extra confectioners sugar. Store in airtight container.

Turkey Tettrazini

A standard after-Thanksgiving use-up-the-leftovers meal. The base of this dish is a standard roux.

1 small onion, finely chopped
4 T butter
2 T turkey drippings
4 T flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups of cubed leftover turkey
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooked spaghetti

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add turkey drippings. Heat. Add onions and saute until translucent. Turn the heat to low. Add flour one tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition. Once all the flour has been, turn heat up a bit until flour/butter mixture bubbles, then slowly add chicken broth (amount of broth can be adjusted to make sauce thicker or thinner). Once all the broth has been added, allow to come to bubble and stir until any lumps disappear. Add turkey and heat on medium until turkey is heated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over cooked spaghetti.

Or, mix with spaghetti, pour into greased casserole, cover with bread crumbs and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Tapioca Pudding

A standard dessert and comfort food that both Mom and Grandma made was tapioca pudding. They both used the recipe that was right on the Minute Tapioca box -- usually the variation that used meringue to make it nice and fluffy. It was served warm or cold.

There was always a box of Minute Tapioca in the cabinet. Besides making pudding, tapioca works well as a thickener in pie fillings.

Mom's Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Hors d'Oeuvres
Clam Dip and Chips
Shrimp Puffs
Brie with Bremer Wafers

Soup
Vichysoisse

Salad
Tossed Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

Relish Tray
Sweet Gherkins
Olives
Pickled Watermelon Rind


Main Course
Roast Turkey with Giblet Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Sage Stuffing
Creamed Onions
Glazed Carrots
Green Beans Almondine
Candied Yams
Cranberry Sauce

Dessert
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Whipped Cream
Mints

Chicken Quarantine

This started out as a recipe called "Chicken Florentine" but one of my brothers misunderstood what my mother had said, and with great indignation exclaimed, "you are feeding us something called Chicken Quarantine??"

The name stuck.

This is not quite a true Florentine, since broccoli (more palatable to us when we were children but still a green vegetable) was used. This is a great way to use up leftover chicken. This was a favorite of all six kids.

Spread about 2 cups of diced cooked chicken and bag of frozen broccoli florets in a 9x13 baking dish.

In a separate bowl, mix 2 cans of Campbells soup (cream of chicken and/or cream of celery work well) with about one cup of mayonnaise or sour cream. Mix in 1-1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread soup mixture over chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

diet Coke Chicken

I got this recipe from my friend Dot years ago. She was born and raised in Mississippi and her "mama" made this for her. My mother met Dot on her trips to Hawaii, and Dot made this for her once. I think her mother probably used regular Coke, but Dot adjusted it to diet Coke because that's what she had on hand, and so that's how I make this too. This is good, ol' fashioned Southern white trash food at its finest... Diet Coke Chicken Spray a 8" square glass baking dish with Pam. Arrange boneless, skinless chicken breasts in pan (4 fit nicely, or use bigger dish for more). Squirt a blob of ketchup on each chicken breast, then top with a thin slice of onion. Pour about 1/2 can of diet Coke on top, about 1/2 inch in pan. Bake at about 350 for 30-40 minutes, basting with a spoon occasionally, until chicken is done and sauce is a little bubbly. Pour remainder of diet Coke over ice, splash with rum and garnish with lemon. Drink while waiting for chicken. Mmmm Mmmm Good.

Pasta Skillet with Ham and Broccoli

Mom made this dinner often -- it had all the food groups in one meal, and was great for making a little bit of meat stretch to feed a lot of people. She would ask for the "ham ends" at the deli, and get a great reduced price on those. Its a great mid-week dinner because it cooks up fast and requires very little prep work. Serve with a crusty bread and a salad if you wish.



Ingredients

2-3 T of oil

1 small onion, diced

1 box of pasta (such as rotini), prepared according to package directions

1 bag of frozen broccoli florets

1 cup of diced ham

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

In large skillet, heat the oil. Saute onions until translucent. Add ham and broccoli, then turn heat to low, cover, and let heat for about 10 minutes, or until broccoli is heated through. Add pasta and toss (you may need to add a little extra oil if needed.) Mix half the parmesan cheese into the pasta mixture, and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Rehoboth Beach Waldorf Salad

The summer before I started high school, Mom and her friend Ann rented a cottage at Rehoboth Beach, and the ladies and all us kids (six from our family and Ann's four) all spent the a very casual week at the beach while the dads stayed behind and worked. So that they would have to cook as little as possible during vacation, we roasted a big turkey on the first day. After that, variations of turkey leftovers were served. On the evening that Diana Spencer wed Prince Charles, we planned to visit the neighbors down the way, who had a small black and white television so we could watch the wedding. Before going, the moms put out a "wedding" buffet spread. That night, the turkey was made into a cool and summery Waldorf Salad:

Waldorf Salad
4 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1 cup of seedless grapes, cut in half
1/2 cup of walnuts -- toasted in the oven for about 10 minutes, then coarsely chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 cup cooked turkey (or chicken) diced
enough mayonnaise to hold it all together
salt and pepper to taste

Adjust ingredients to your liking. To serve, arrange some pretty lettuce leaves in a bowl, then add the Waldorf salad, and sprinkle with paprika.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

This was usually served on Fridays during lent, but also anytime Mom needed a quick, stick-to-your-ribs, inexpensive meal.

In a big pot, bring some water to boil. Add some salt, then cook a package of Muellers wide egg noodles to the water. Bring back to boil and cook for another 8 minutes or so.

Drain noodles and set aside in the collander.

Make a roux: In the now empty pot, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Once hot, add one small finely chopped onion in the butter until transparent. Drain one big can of tuna (Mom used chunk light; I prefer albacore). Chop up the tuna a little and then add to the butter and onion and heat through. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of flour. You could also add a cup of green peas here.

Little by little, each time allowing the mixture to heat, add 2 cups of milk to the roux mixture. As the mixture heats, it will begin to thicken and bubble. When its the perfect thickness for your tuna noodle casserole, remove from heat and stir in cooked noodles.

Take about 2 cups of potato chips and crunch them up into crumbs (the odds and ends at the bottom of the bags are good for this purpose.) Stir half of the potato chip crumbs into the noodle mixture., then poor into an ovenproof casserole. Cover the top with the remaining potato chips and dot with butter.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with a salad and some good bread with butter.

Carrot Pineapple Salad

This gelatin mold was a staple at our summer get-togethers. It was easy to make, it was cool, the kids all loved it, it is chock full of fruit and vegetables, and adds a pretty color to any picnic table.

Make a small box of lemon Jell-o as per package directions (orange would also work)
When its just about set, stir in the following:
1 cup grated carrots
1 can of pineapple chunks (drained)

Refrigerate a few more hours until set.

Pickled Watermelon Rind

We ate watermelon at Grandma's house in the summer. She even carved "baskets" out of the shell of the watermelon, scooped out all the juicy, red middle, and filled the basket with wonderful fruit salads. One time, when I was very young, maybe 3 (I remember it being at her old kitchen in the house my mother grew up in) she carved a whale with big teeth to hold the fruit salad. That whale scared me and I ran from the kitchen!

Nothing went to waste at Grandma's house. Like many thrifty Polish cooks, she took the rinds from the watermelon and pickled it. She would serve it all fall and winter at various family and holiday meals on relish trays that also included such treats as green olives, cocktail onions, celery hearts, sweet baby gherkins, and bread and butter chips.

I have yet to find Grandma's recipe, but in the meantime ran across this recipe which seems similar:

Pickled Watermelon Rind
(from Lynn's Country Kitchen)

INGREDIENTS
3 pounds watermelon rind
Salted water (use 3 tablespoons salt for each quart of water)
2 pounds sugar
3 cups distilled white vinegar
6 pieces stick cinnamon (3 inches each)
2 tablespoons whole allspice
2 tablespoons whole cloves
2 tablespoons whole mustard seed

Cut rind into 1-inch cubes; trim off outer green skin and bright pink flesh. Soak overnight in enough salted water to cover. Drain.

Heat sugar and vinegar to boiling. Tie spices in cheesecloth bag.

Add spice bag and melon rind to vinegar mixture. Cook, uncovered, until melon is transparent, about 45 minutes. Discard spice bag.

If desired, add a few drops of red or green food coloring to the rind.

Pack watermelon rind tightly into hot, sterilized jars.

Pour boiling syrup over watermelon to with 1/8-inch of top, making sure vinegar solution covers rind.

Seal each jar at once.

3 pints

Impossible Pie

These were fairly common in the 70's. The one I remember Mom making most was Impossible Lasagna Pie.

Corn Meal Mush and Bacon

Grandma would sometimes make corn meal mush as a hearty breakfast for us kids.

The night before serving, cook corn meal in boiling water (should be the consistency of Cream of Wheat) and poor into greased loaf pan. Cover with wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, cook up a pound of bacon. Remove bacon and place on paper towels to drain. Slice the corn meal mush and fry in bacon drippings. Serve with plenty of butter and maple syrup.

David Eyre's Pancake

Mom used to make this for brunch. Its sort of like a popover, with a hint of lemon and nutmeg. Very yummy.

I'm copying the recipe here:

David Eyres Pancake
(Originally published in the New York Times by Craig Claiborne)

2 eggs
½ cup flour
½ cup milk
Pinch of ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Juice of half a lemon
Fig or blackberry jam, pear butter or any kind of marmalade, for serving (optional).

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the flour, milk and nutmeg and lightly beat until blended but still slightly lumpy.

2. Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet with a heatproof handle over medium-high heat. When very hot but not brown, pour in the batter. Bake in the oven until the pancake is billowing on the edges and golden brown, about 15 minutes.

3. Working quickly, remove the pan from the oven and, using a fine-meshed sieve, sprinkle with the sugar. Return to the oven for 1 to 2 minutes more. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve with jam, pear butter or marmalade. Serves 2 to 4.