Family recipe Monday: holiday mornings

Part of the teacake shipment to Afghanistan

Dozens of teacakes are winging their way to a dear friend of the family who is in Afghanistan. I made two full-size batches and wound up sending 5 dozen to the war zone, 1 1/2 dozen to work, and the rest for us here at home. That was a major baking day. If you are interested in doing this, use the sturdiest peasant cookie recipes you have. Delicate doesn't cut it. I bagged the teacakes by the dozen just in case they do get broken during shipment, but am hoping that they make it there and make his day a little bit better. What I really want is an end to this war. For all sides. Next year, I want to give this man teacakes in person.

We are approaching the winter solstice very soon, and all our senses tell us that it is time to slow down, take a break, stay warm, and stay close to our loved ones. I associate holiday mornings with decadent sweetrolls and coffees, and we have some terrific recipes in the Simple Gifts files. They're even better if you eat them while you are still in your pajamas. Extra points if they have feet in them. Triple points if you actually wear the pink bunny outfit. Double-dog dare ya. By this time next week, the days will be getting just barely perceptibly longer and many of the holiday celebrations will be over. 

Cinnamon rolls and breads are worth taking a little time and trouble to bake from scratch, one recipe from each side of the family. Once you do, you'll understand why friends don't let friends buy refrigerator aisle cinnamon rolls. I would bake the rolls from the first recipe at ~350*. These are very rich and yeasty. You can refrigerate them after the first rise if you are baking ahead of schedule.

Cinnamon rolls

4 T shortening
3 T sugar
1 ½ tsp salt

Mix and add 1 cup boiling water. Cool. Add 1 egg and 2 cakes yeast which have been dissolved in ¼ cup tepid water. Add 4 cups of flour. Mix. When the dough is formed pour over it 3 T cooled and melted shortening. Let rise until double in bulk, roll out to ¼ ” thick and spread on it 1 stick butter which has been melted and cooled. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, chopped nuts or raisins. Roll and cut in slices and let rise again. Bake until done.

Glaze

¾ pkg. powdered sugar

½ stick butter

Enough milk to dissolve sugar

Heat until sugar is smooth and pour over rolls.

 --Vada Brooks Johnson

Quick cinnamon buns

Sift together 2 cups flour, 3 T baking powder, 1 tsp salt. Add 6 T soft shortening, cut in finely. Stir in to make soft dough 2/3 cup milk.

Roll into ¼” rectangle 7” x 16”. Spread with mixture of ¼ cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and raisins. Roll up tightly from wide side and seal edge. Cut into 1” slices. Place cut side down on greased cookie sheet or in muffin tins. Bake at 425* for 15 minutes.

--Dolly Shaffner Hess

Cinnamon loaf

 

1 pkg. active dry yeast

2 T warm water (105-115* F)

2/3 cup milk, scalded

½ cup sugar

2 eggs

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

6 T butter or margarine

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Melted butter or margarine

Sprinkle yeast into water. Let stand a few minutes, then stir until dissolved. Pout hot milk over ¼ cup sugar, salt, and 4 T butter. Cool to lukewarm. Add eggs, yeast, and half the flour. Beat with rotary beater or electric beater until smooth. Beat in remaining flour with spoon. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Punch down and knead lightly. Roll out on floured pastry cloth or board to a rectangle 18”x9”. Spread with 2 T butter. Sprinkle with ¼ cup sugar mixed with the cinnamon. Roll up tightly from the end and put in greased loaf pan. Brush with 2 T melted butter and let rise until doubled (about 45 minutes). Bake in moderate oven (350*F) about 30 minutes. Remove and cool.

This is another mix that is great to have on hand for visitors or lazy mornings.

Cinnamon coffee

1 tsp cinnamon

½ cup instant coffee granules

2/3 cup granulated sugar or equivalent sweetener

2/3 cup powdered milk or coffee creamer

Blend all ingredients in a blender until they form a fine powder, then store in a covered container at room temperature. To serve use 2 rounded tsp per cup of boiling water.

Variations

• To ½ cup instant coffee granules, add ¾ cup sugar, 1 cup powdered milk and ½ tsp dried orange peel. Blend in blender until powdered.
• To ½ cup instant coffee granules, add ½ cup sugar, 1 cup dry milk or coffee creamer, and 2 T cocoa.

If you are REALLY feeling decadent and don't need to drive anywhere, and the occasion is really festive, try this. Shirley is a Bailey's fan and we need to make this for her soon.

Bailey’s Irish Cream eggnog

12 eggs, separated

1 ½ cups superfine sugar
1 quart milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 bottle Bailey’s Irish Cream
4 cups (1 quart) heavy cream
Freshly grated nutmeg

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and pale yellow in color. Gradually add sugar; mix with whisk or mixer. Beat in milk. Pour in 2 cups cream. Add Irish Cream, stirring constantly. Pour in large punch bowl. Just before serving, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into mixture. Whip remaining cream until stiff and fold in. Beat. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Serves 16.

Happy, merry, jolly, joyous, y'all!

Family recipe Monday: a Simple Gifts Thanksgiving

This is the dream-team Thanksgiving dinner from the Simple Gifts project. Collectively, these recipes span over a hundred years and a goodly part of the country. I wish I could bring all these cooks together--some of them never even met each other. Family cooking keeps us together across the generations--be sure to give your loved ones an extra hug from us.

Start out with these perfect nibbles.

The Shelton-Sommers family. Ralph is on the left.

I may now be disowned for publishing this, but I think it is a great picture.

Ralph’s East Texas parched pecans

Pecans

Worcestershire sauce

Butter

Melt butter in skillet. Add Worcestershire sauce and pecans. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until golden. Best paired with a single-malt Scotch.

--Ralph Shelton

Use the next two recipes to put together a world-class version of Texas Cornbread Dressing.

Corn kernel cornbread

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

¼ cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1 cup milk

3 T melted margarine

1 cup yellow cream-style corn

Preheat oven to 450* F. Brush 9” square baking pan or skillet with melted shortening. Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl, stirring to blend well. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, milk, margarine and corn. Add all at once to dry ingredients, mixing quickly and thoroughly. Pour batter into pan and bake about 30 minutes, or until bread tests done. Can also be baked as sticks or muffins. Serve hot.

Dipping biscuits

Whisk in bowl to blend:

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup unbleached flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp onion powder
½ tsp ground thyme
½ tsp ground sage (or substitute ¾ tsp Bell’s seasoning)

Add ½ stick butter cut in ½” cubes; blend in with pastry blender until coarse meal consistency. Blend in 1 cup buttermilk, 1 large egg, mix until moist. Turn onto floured surface, knead briefly until dough comes together. Gather into ball, roll out to ¾“, cut into rounds or squares. Bake in 400o preheated oven 20-22 minutes, or until biscuit tester* comes out clean! Dip in gravy and enjoy.
--Pat Monaco

*This is an in-joke. Our friend Pat actually found a snooty gourmet magazine recipe for biscuits that required the use of a biscuit tester to determine doneness. If you can’t tell when biscuits are done, a tester will not help you much. These are great crumbled into a cornbread-sage dressing.

For a soup course, try this Pennsylvania classic.

Shaffner-Hess wedding reception, 1954.

Potato soup

Sauté gently in 2 T butter:

1 T grated carrot
1 T scraped onions

Stir in:

1 tsp salt
¼ tsp celery salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 cups hot milk
1 cup mashed or boiled potatoes, put through a coarse sieve

Cook 20 minutes
--Dolly Shaffner Hess

For a variation on the standard cranberry jelly, try this.

Cranberry salad

1 lb. cranberries
1 whole apple

Grind in food chopper. Cover with 1 cup sugar. Add:

1 small can crushed pineapple
Pinch salt
1/2 cup nuts

Mix into 2 pkg. Jell-O (cherry or raspberry) in 3 cups water. Chill.
--Vada Brooks Johnson, Shirley Johnson Shelton

And here is a quartet of great side dishes:

Vada’s marinated carrots

2 lb. carrots, cut in 1” pieces

Cook until tender; drain and set aside. Bring to boil:

1 cup sugar
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1/3 cup oil
½ cup vinegar

When boiling, add 1 onion (sliced) and 1 green pepper (sliced). Bring back to good hard boil and pour over carrots.
--Vada Brooks Johnson

Rice-broccoli casserole

1 package chopped broccoli

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped celery

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 small jar Cheddar cheese spread

1 cup cooked rice

Cook broccoli according to package directions. Sauté onion and celery in small amount of oil. Mix with broccoli. Add soups and cheese spread. Line a casserole dish with rice. Pour broccoli mixture over rice and bake at 375* F for 10 minutes.

--Vada Brooks Johnson

Pennsylvania red cabbage

2 tbsp bacon drippings heated in skillet (oil may be substituted)

Stir into drippings or oil:

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup cider vinegar

½ tsp caraway seed

¼ cup water

1 ¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Stir in to coat:

4 cups shredded red cabbage

2 cups cubed unpeeled red apple

Cover and cook on low heat about 15 min until cooked but still crisp. Stir occasionally.

--Dolly Shaffner Hess

Perfect baked sweet potatoes

4 medium to large sweet potatoes

Safflower oil

Preheat oven to 400* F. Wash and scrub potatoes. Dry thoroughly. Coat potatoes lightly with oil. Prick surface with fork. Bake until tender (40-60 minutes, depending on size).

The best rolls of all time for the dinner are Bran Rolls and Potato Rolls. I'd serve these with Honey Jelly.

Honey jelly

3 cups honey

1 cup water

½ bottle liquid fruit pectin (Certo)

Measure honey and water into large saucepan and mix well. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. At once stir in pectin. Then bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim off foam with metal spoon, and pour quickly into glasses. Cover jelly at once with 1/8” hot paraffin wax. This will make five glasses.

Here are a couple of options for the main course, in addition to the Shrimp Creole we love for holidays. Because we just do, that's why.

Basic roast turkey

18 to 22-lb. turkey

2 oranges or 4 lemons, halved

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

Salt, pepper, paprika

Cheesecloth

4 T corn oil

Clean turkey with damp paper towels. Dry well inside and out. Squeeze orange or lemon juice over the inside and outside of cavity. Fill neck cavity with one stuffing and body cavity with another, if desired. Don’t pack too tightly. Close cavities by sewing or skewering. Rub 1½ sticks of butter over outside of turkey. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Drape cheesecloth over top of turkey. Place breast side up on rack in roasting pan. Bake 4½ to 5 ½ hours at 325* F or until turkey tests done. Baste every 30 minutes with corn oil which has been mixed with remaining butter (melted). Baste without lifting cheesecloth, but check periodically to make sure it is not stuck to skin. If it is, gently lift and baste under cheesecloth. If breast gets too dark, tent with a piece of foil.

The Brooks family. Vada is the taller of the two little girls.

For the poultry-averse:

Brisket

6 lb. brisket

3 T garlic salt

3 T onion salt

3 T celery salt

½ bottle dark smoke (liquid smoke), 3-oz bottle

Wrap in foil and marinate overnight. Cook 6 hours at 275* F.

--Vada Brooks Johnson

Finally, if you are still able to move, we recommend a nice selection of pies for dessert. You can never have too many of these. Some already-printed classics include Pumpkin-Chiffon Pie, Buttermilk Pie, Pecan Pie and Caramel Pie. Here are a few other dessert options:

Sour cream dried cherry pie

2 cups sour cream
3 egg yolks
½ cup brown sugar
3 T flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½--2 cups dried sour cherries
½ cup water

Put the cherries in a small saucepan with the water and plump them over low heat about 5 minutes. Cool and drain. Combine the flour and sugar. Add the beaten egg yolks, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Cook the custard in a double boiler until it just starts to thicken, stirring continuously. Mix in the cherries and divide between two pre-baked piecrusts. Bake at 350* until just golden, 10-12 minutes.
--Pat Monaco and Sally Shelton

Chocolate chip cheesecake

1 ½ cup finely crushed Oreo cookies
¼ cup oleo or butter, melted
3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 14-oz can Eagle Brand condensed milk (not evaporated)
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup mini-chocolate chips
1 tsp flour

Preheat oven to 300* F (important). Combine crumbs and oleo; pat firmly on bottom of 9” springform pan. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add Eagle Brand milk and beat well. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. In a small bowl, toss together ½ cup chocolate chips, 1 tsp flour to coat. Stir into cheese mixture. Pour into pan. Sprinkle ½ cup chocolate chips on top. Bake 1 hour or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool to room temperature. Chill and remove side of pan. Serves 10-12.
--Marcie Nelson

I'll post another pie recipe on Thanksgiving Day. Happy Monday.

Family recipe Monday: baked goods

El horno Leona, hand-built wood-fired brick oven, courtesy of Nathaniel and Mary

Spring is in full force up here. I had a phenomenal time on the Nebraska crane watch and will be posting that saga soon. Among other high points, we watched sandhill cranes dancing, got a good long look at a whooping crane standing, feeding and flying, and witnessed the lek of a number of greater prairie chickens. We are by no means out of blizzard season, but the spring greening and migration has started, along with the bird dances. We were all so, so ready for it.

We'll press our luck to the limit this weekend and see if the weather gods will allow a third prairie trip for our paleontology students. Gene and I will provide chili and cornbread Friday night, if the blizzards stay north of us.

Spring means it's time to thaw out indoors with bread baking. For some reason, it's one thing that our family members seem to specialize in doing, as witnessed by the perfectly splendid oven above. Many of the recipes we have collected from family sources have little written down about them. Breadmaking was apparently supposed to be hard-wired in our genetic code.

Joan’s bran bread

3 cups water, warm
3 (cakes?) dry yeast
3/4 cup oil--Crisco
3/4 cup sugar
1 T salt
1 cup bran buds
Flour (8 to 9 cups)

Note in Vada’s handwriting: “4 loaves”
--Joan Austin

Another no-directions recipe, but easy enough to make if you know Bread 101. As you can see from the scan, this little slip of paper has received a real workout, sign of a wildly popular recipe. This makes a large amount of dough and lovely brown bread with a good crumb. I recommend mixing it as a large batch and then dividing it in two for kneading, rising and proofing. Bake at 325* for 30-40 minutes.

Sally Lunn bread

3½ to 4 cups unsifted flour, divided
1 pkg. dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ cup milk
½ cup water
½ cup softened margarine
3 eggs, room temperature

Combine 1 1/4  cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine milk, water, and margarine, and heat until warm (margarine does not have to melt). Add liquid gradually to dry ingredients. Beat. Add eggs and I cup flour. Beat (knead). Add enough flour for a stiff batter. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Stir batter down and beat well (1 to 2 minutes). Spoon into greased tubepan. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 325* F for 45 to 50 minutes.

This is a classic soft, sweet, egg bread, almost like a sponge cake, and a very old recipe dating back to Colonial times in the USA and older times than that in England, where Bath claims to be the home of the actual Sally Lunn, if she existed. I would not use margarine, but would substitute butter. There is a lot of lore about both the recipe and the name; check it out here. Our recipe here is different in that it calls for baking the bread in a tube pan rather than brioche-style on a baking sheet.

Tube-pan Sally Lunn bread as pictured at http://breadbaking.about.com/od/batterbreads/r/colsallunn.htm

Here are two dinner-roll classics.

Potato rolls

2 pkg. dry yeast
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup Crisco
1 cup scalded milk
½ cup sugar
1 cup mashed potatoes

Dissolve yeast in 1 cup potato water. Add 2 beaten eggs and salt. Melt Crisco in warm milk and add to the above mixture. Add sugar and mashed potatoes and 2 cups flours, then enough flour to make a thin dough. Let rise until double in size. Knead down again and make out in rolls. Let rise again. Bake at 400* F.
Mrs. J. D. Peters
Note on card: Mrs. J. D. Peters--Jewel--landlady and friend

That note alone dates the recipe in my family to the late 1930s, when the Johnsons moved from Altus, Oklahoma, to Lubbock, Texas.
 
Finally, the all-time dinner favorite.
 

Bran rolls

Mix:
½ cup Kellogg’s All-Bran
½ cup Crisco
1 beaten egg
½ cup hot water
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp salt

Dissolve one yeast cake or package of dry yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water. Mix into first mixture alternately with 3 cups flour. Can be put in icebox overnight and made into rolls or can be made into rolls immediately. Allow at least 1 hour to rise, longer if dough is chilled.
--Vada Brooks Johnson

Vada’s note on the card: “I always double this.” She had to. They went fast. Bake these on a greased baking sheet at 350* for 20 minutes or until done. They burn easily, so watch them closely. These are good with just about anything. Excellent with honey after dinner.

Happy Monday.