By SJWNY, a Trail Mix Contributor
Summer is the time for reunions, potlucks, picnics. Every family has particular food favorites, that special dish that has to be on the menu, recipes passed down & passed around. Safe to say we all have one (or two, or three) that qualify.
My maternal Grandmother had a sister, Dora, who was an amazing cook, baker & preserver. She had the “knack.” Her spotless white house in Coopers Plains, New York, always smelled of pickling spice & vinegar from July through September.
My family’s favorite Dora recipe is her Brown Bread. Don’t know when she started making it or where she got the recipe, but safe to say it goes back to World War One-ish. It remains my brother’s favorite & I make it for him as a treat & as a tribute to all those faces, long gone, from reunions past. A taste of this simple bread brings back memories. No one is truly gone if they are remembered.
What foods are special to you? More importantly, who were the loved ones behind these recipes? Share the food, share their stories.
Dora’s Brown Bread
- Mix together in a large bowl:
- 2 cups Graham Flour
- 1 cup unbleached White Flour
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- Then add:
- 1/2 cup Molasses (Light or Dark; your choice)
- 2 cups Buttermilk
- 2 Tablespoons Shortening (Cooking Oil works fine too)
Mix until just blended; pour into two greased 8″x 4″ bread pans. Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes or until center tests done. Cool about 10 minutes in the pans & then turn out onto rack to finish cooling. This tastes better if wrapped in foil overnight before serving; keeps several days.
A tasty addition is tossing in a handful of raisins when mixing in the wet ingredients.
More Posts by SJWNY
sjwny, guess that special cook would be mama, my maternal grandmother, and any comfort foods she made from a simple buttered hot milk and toast, the most scrumptious of potato salads, johnny cake (aka journey bread) all the way to luscious fresh coconut cakes. she cooked so well that at one time she even had a small café for workers during the boom years of early florida. on the other hand, my 5’2′ eyes of blue feisty mother born on the 4th of july flapper inherited none of that.
bet your aunt dora’s brown bread is wonderful toasted, slathered with butter and spicy apple butter.
patd,
Your grandmother sounds like a great lady.
Coconut Cake …. yum. Cream filling, lemon filling or fluffy white frosting filling? We had that cake in all three incarnations, depending on the mood.
heaps of fluffy white icing covered with fresh grated coconut
those cakes were always way too tall for the standard cake dish cover. no problem tho’ as they were eaten up immediately or sooner.
My grandmother’s signature creation was her divine almond crescents that she baked every Christmas holiday season. I have her recipe, in her beautiful hand, that she shared with me and that I, in turn, have shared with Sue.
all hope not lost yet. myrt is finally coming to his senses.
from wapo:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that if his party fails to muster 50 votes for its plan to rewrite the Affordable Care Act, it will have no choice but to draft a more modest bill with Democrats to support the law’s existing insurance markets.
The remarks, made at a Rotary Club lunch in Glasgow, Ky., represent a significant shift for the veteran legislator. While he had raised the idea last week that Republicans may have to turn to Democrats if they cannot pass their own bill, his words mark the first time he has explicitly raised the prospect of shoring up the ACA.
“If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur,” McConnell said. “No action is not an alternative. We’ve got the insurance markets imploding all over the country, including in this state.”
[….]
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday called McConnell’s statement “encouraging” and said his caucus is “eager to work with Republicans to stabilize the markets and improve the law. At the top of the list should be ensuring cost-sharing payments are permanent, which will protect health care for millions.”
Flatus,
Penmanship is a lost art. My Grandmother had lovely writing too. She could also do fractions, division & math better than her grandkids. (Will note she left school as a teenager. Her family was poor; kids were “farmed out.”) Something is lost in our modern day education – not meant as a diss on the importance of computers, but more a lacking in the effort & pride of learning.
in tribute to mama whose first name was ora lee named (tho spelled differently) after this civil war song
Published on Apr 13, 2011
The 97th Regimental String Band sings the Civil War love song, “Aura Lee.” The tune from “Aura Lee” was later used for the Elvis Presley song, “Love Me Tender” in the 20th century.
In the interest of group sanity, what is everybody reading?
High Noon, The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of An American Classic by Glenn Frankel.
my Aunt Ruby’s chocolate pie. she was chief cook at her own restaurant. will ask my cousin for the recipe.
no books right now Jamie, i’m on a kick of themed documentaries i find on Amazon and Netflix. Currently on my third Stanley Kubrick bio, this one features interviews with his chauffeur and personal assistant for 30 years. SK one of the greatest directors of our time
The cook in my family was my Aunt Ruth. She was the ultimate in house proud at the level of you could eat off the floor clean. Every birthday meant my made from scratch, hand beaten Angel Food Cake. I mean really the arm muscles required!!!
Every year for the holidays meant the fruitcake, cookies, divinity, and fudge to be shared with with all and sundry. The smell alone might have driven the mailman mad except for the fact he knew he would share in the haul.
SJ, just looking at the brown bread recipe, that has to be wonderful.
Both of my grandmothers were wonderful cooks – my paternal grandmother’s apple pie was to die for – plus she took the extra crust dough and made twists, covered with cinnamon and sugar. My maternal grandmother made the best fried chicken I’ve ever had – and luckily my mother was almost as adept at it. I really miss their cooking.
In honor of Sgt. Pepper’s 50th I’ve picked up and am reading a couple of accounts of the making of it and the influences on the Beatles that led to it and the influences of Sgt. Pepper’s on pop music after its release. They’re both in magazine format but it’s printed word and totals about 150 pages. Close enuff for gubmint work.
The recipe I am proudest of is the one for tofu that I found in book of Asian recipes. With it, while stationed in Panama, I was able to create that staple of Korean cooking using ingredients found on the Panamanian economy. Kumcho was thrilled.
Because of that accomplishment I was allowed to spend a horrendous amount of money (this was 1975) in the purchase of a Cuisinart stand mixer that we still have and use. As the need has risen, I’ve purchased all sorts of accessories for it–it is a wonderful machine.
I used to see my maternal grandmother every other summer when we drove up to New Brunswick Canada for my father’s yearly first 2 weeks of July vacation. She always made a strawberry pie (no rhubarb) just for me. I do have the recipe somewhere in my mother’s recipe box which I inherited when she passed.
I am currently reading Richard Ford’s “The Sportswriter” (which isn’t really about sports). When finished I will read the sequel “Independence Day” which won a Pulitzer.
Heat index is up to 90. Time to do the yard
Jamie,
Your aunt’s making fruit cake, and your description makes me think ofTruman Captoe’s short story A Christmas Memory. I’ll bet the fruitcakes were wonderful.?
Family reunions and my Aunt Vi’s sour cream chocolate cake. Heavenly
My aunt and uncle milked their own cows and separated the cream and continued to do so even after their kids were grown and left home. The cream became butter or was used in her cooking. Hard to go wrong with those ingredients.
She made coffee on the stove top. It was always fresh and strong. Nothing quite like a dollop of cream to complete the creation. Starbuck’s had nothing on her.?
Everything sounds wonderful.
Love RebelliousRenee’s “Strawberry Pie (no rhubarb)” – ha, my family had to have the rhubarb with the strawberries.
Jamie44,
Summer reading = Wars of the Roses for me as far as books. I have no idea why 😉 It’s a habit almost as old as I am. Just like to disappear into the exceedingly crazy world of the Plantagenets, Tudors, Beauforts, Stanleys. And we think we have it bad.
jace,
Fresh churned butter. We had a butter churn & used it. Mennonite family one farm up from ours provided the milk; we provided the muscle.
After much focus and dogged determination, I have settled into a patient posture toward the current state of this American political landscape. Whatever is going to happen is going to take time, and I’m now in a frame of mind to resist in the way that seems best to me while waiting out the efforts of special prosecutors and congressional committees.
I remember my grandpa taking me outside one day to his minimally used grill. “My boy,” said he. “Every man should know how to grill, whether he does it often or hardly at all. This is how it’s done.” Then he proceeded to do magic upon several several lovely pieces of meat. I’m not much of a cook, but I do recall that lesson with fondness. My Grandpa turned 93 this past June 6. He no longer calls me “my boy” because he doesn’t really remember who I am. I’ve come to peace with that. He’s happy and as healthy as a 93 year old man can be, other than the dementia.
I’m spending the summer visiting old friends on the page. I’ve finished my annual reading of Lord of the Rings. I spent a wonderful two weeks immersed in a 10 volume series by David and Leigh Eddings, The Belgariad and The Mallorean. Now I’m reading a sublime series by Dennis McKiernan, The Iron Call Trilogy. This will be followed by the Iron Call Duology. I’ve got some biographies and historical perspectives stacking up, but I just don’t have the mind for the serious right now.
Oh – and last month I finished up treatments and got the word that I am now a 2-time cancer ass kicker. So there’s that great news for the summer. I’m starting to remember what feeling really good was like, and looking forward to feeling even better as the days go on.
Cheers to all!
My aunt was a great cook she made an appetizer with cold mussels and this sauce that was essentially whipped lemon juice and what else is gone forever as she and two other people who made it are now dead.
for those not aware, the ultimate recipe mystery was recently solved — KFC’s secret seasoning (it was found on the back of Col. Sanders’ wife’s will). The company won’t officially confirm it but the Chicago Tribune test kitchen found it to be a perfect match:
11 spices — mix with 2 cups white flour
2/3 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1/2 tablespoon basil
1/3 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried mustard
4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons garlic salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons white pepper
1 tablespoon Accent msg (the company did acknowledge adding this to the original)
Dew point just hit 90 here as well. I got up and mowed the yard at 7am yesterday – 76 degrees with 90% humidity – god awful. Like living in a rain forest. Our real estate guy is actually from Peru, and he told me the summers here are much worse than in the rain forest in Peru.
Grandma was the cook – and taught me a lot. I remember my favorite dish of hers was her chicken and dumplings.
Not reading, but rather doing the documentary thing as well. Finished a bunch this summer – mostly US History. I just finished the HBO John Adams series. About to start Oliver Stones “Untold History of the US”. Gonna see how far through it I can get before calling BS and throwing the remote at the tele.
TravisC,
Sounds like a rather extensive reading list.
Congrats on being a two time ass kicker.? Enjoy feeling good, you’ve damn well earned it!
I’ve never understood the dumpling thing — taste like cooked library paste to me
We never had them at home ….except for matzoh balls
In a week my mothers family’s annual reunion takes place, My sister volunteered so next Saturday I will be there with my big event grill creating new food memories. There were 7 siblings in my mothers family and they started the reunions back in the 60’s so everyone would stay in touch. This will be the first reunion where none of them will be there. The only one of them still living is Uncle Marshal, he turned 90 last March and the trip from northern New York to Missouri is too much for him and Aunt Pauline.
Foods I cherish and remember:
Maple syrup, my Uncle John inherited the family farm in western New York. He made and sold maple syrup. Every year he would give everybody a gallon of syrup. Not the good stuff but the grade B stuff that was strong flavored from late in the season when the trees were budding out.
Then there was Aunt Max’s baked beans, Aunt Bobby’s pineapple salad, mom’s fried chicken and blackberry cobbler.
Then there was the homemade ice cream, can’t have a get together without it. Even though my cousin Ginger keeps tradition alive it isn’t the same. Back then it seemed much more a communal endeavor. It started with the uncles gathered around the old crank icecream maker with large blocks of ice, gunny sacks and a sledge hammer. They put the ice in the gunny sack and we all got to take turns hitting it with the hammer. Then they would put the ice and salt in and we would take turns cranking it until we had icecream. As I think back on it I realize that my Uncle Francis who was in charge of the process, was a remarkably patient man ,
Jack
Not sure how I will do with it, as I much prefer reading history, but am going to tackle the The Rise ofThe Robots by Martin Ford. Perhaps Iwill come to understand economic disruption and dislocation in the 21st century. Guessing that I may learn how Trump voters came to be Trump voters. Not exactly gripping reading I fear, but perhaps timely.
For fun, My YoungYears, by Arthur Rubinstein. More my style.?
KGC,
Chicken and dumplings are quite possibly the ultimate comfort food.(Mac and cheese runs a close second, followed by Shepard’ pie)?
The dumplings come in two distinct forms, light, tender and fluffy, or doe balls that would sink a battleship. Obviously you have encountered the latter.
KC, LOL. I didn’t mention it, but my paternal grandmother, aside from the best Apple Pie I’ve ever had, made wonderful chicken and dumplings. When they were fresh and hot, just out of the kitchen, they were light and tasty and I could eat them until I was as stuffed as a tick (and her chicken was fall off the bone tender and absolutely delicious). I have never had any dumplings (at least not southern style dumplings) that I could stomach other than hers. My mom, bless her heart, tried making them on a few occasions – tasted like cooked library paste and had the weight and heft Jace mentioned.
Clearly I have been treated to dumplings in all the wrong places
Travis
Congratulations on the general Big C ass kicking
sjwny
If the heads won’t roll in present time, hit the 15th Century
Craig
Thanks for the KFC recipe. Wonder if the chicken got the overnight in buttermilk bath.
Jace
Yes it was very much a Capote style Christmas event. The fruit cake was to die for, light on the glace but lots of hand cut dried fruits. Lovely.
Lost the original Fruit Cake recipe, but this one comes as close as I can remember. Aunt Ruth would liberally “water” it with brandy from mid Nov to mid December and then ship out for the holidays.
Traditional British Fruitcake
1 cup butter, unsalted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons brandy plus extra for brushing the cake
Juice and zest from one orange
Zest from one lemon
3/4 cup ground almonds
1 cup hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, or almonds, chopped
1 1/2 pounds of an assortment of dried fruits (dried apricots, figs, prunes, etc.), candied and chopped mixed peel, and glace cherries (chopped into bite size pieces)
3/4 pound of an assortment of raisins, sultanas, currants, dried cranberries and/or cherries
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Grease an 8” spring form pan with removable bottom. Line the bottom of the pan with buttered parchment paper. Also butter sides of the pan. Preheat oven to 325°F.
Beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the brandy, juice and zest of the orange, and zest of the lemon. Then, fold in the ground almonds, chopped nuts and all the dried and candied fruits. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Fold this into the cake batter.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and, if desired, sprinkle the top of the cake with blanched almonds. Place the spring form pan on a larger baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F and bake for an additional 1 hour 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack to cool. With a skewer, poke holes in the top surface of the cake and brush with a little brandy. Wrap the cake thoroughly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and place in a cake tin or plastic bag. Brush the cake periodically (once or twice a week) with brandy until you’re ready to serve. This cake will keep several weeks or it can be frozen.
Chicken and dumplings just prove that it’s hard to screw up cooking a chicken. You really have to work at it.
Jamie,
They sound wonderful. Fruitcakes like dumplings have a very much undeserved reputation.
omg what a nightmare a dinner fo dumplings and fruitcake for dessert
Best news in a long time: Congrats, TravisC. All the best to you.
dvitale300,
Hope you get relief from the humidity soon.
whskyjack – Where was the family farm in western New York? I grew up in Allegany County; quite a few folks tap trees & boil syrup for extra $. Plus hot maple syrup steam just smells good.
my cousin sent the recipe, beyond my cooking skills but wow i remember it was delicious:
AUNT RUBY’S CHOCOLATE PIE
Filling:
1 c. sugar
6 Tbls. (self rising) flour
4 Tbls. Cocoa
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
3 c. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbls. Butter
Prepared pie crust
Prepare pie crust per instructions on package.
Mix sugar, flour and cocoa in a deep sauce pan. Add egg yolks and milk – over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened to pudding consistency. Off the heat mix in the vanilla and butter.
Pour into your baked pie crust.
Meringue:
4 egg whites
1/4 c. Sugar
Preheat oven to 325 F. Beat egg whites in a clean glass or metal bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar slowly and beat until peaks are stiff. Spread meringue over pie to edge. Bake until peaks are golden 15-20 minutes. Remove to cool.
Travis, I concur about biding time. Still plan to do plenty of griping, but trying not to obsess.
and congrats on kicking cancer twice, my Dad is also in that club
Congrats, Travis. My wife kicked cancer’s ass, too. We enjoyed doing her exercise regimen as a couple.
I make the best apple pie that I’ve yet sampled. It is really a major production. 10-inch double crust, five-pounds of tart apples, seasoning corrected to compliment natural flavor of the fruit, etc. Hand ground spices, sea salt, salt-free butter, every piece of carve apple carefully layered in the pan, minimal shrinkage, fruit beautifully done but still having a crisp texture. Serve with Jack’s home made ice-cream or Black Diamond Cheddar.
It is such a big deal that I make it only once every few years.
Thanks everybody.
And now for something completely silly…or perhaps totally stupid. A buddy sent this to me and I thought I’d pass it on. He saw it on Huffpo and it’s the link he sent me.
The twitterverse evidently is having quite the giggle.
Flatus
How do you achieve pie minimal shrinkage –especially apples
I’ve had some pies that have a lot of air space
Every year for a friend’s birthday I make him Indian pudding — basically corn pudding with molasses
In early years I tinkered with the recipe only to be met with a stony glare especially the year I used honey instead of molasses. His memory is the pudding of some distant past — allegedly his mother’s. This year I tried a different molasses and after 40 years he judged this one perfect I also kind of over cooked it so what does that tell us about his mother’s cooking.
Memories of food are connected to events, people and places. Some times the memory is way better than the food
SJ,
Cattaraugus county some where. I looked to see if I knew where but Uncle John passed away 20 years ago and the memory fails me. One of his grand daughters live in Sinclairville.
It was the New York farm, there was also the Kansas farm.
My great grand father decided to movefrom NY to Kansaas and bought a large farm along the OK Kansas border. He died and his widow moved back to New York where she turned her business interests over to her brother, an interesting story of fraud and neglect that probably created the strong women in our families. My grand father insisted that his wife and daughters understand the family business.
My grandfather had bought a farm in New York and intended to stay but upon the death of his mother someone had to go back to Kansas and deal with the property there. Then the depression hit and land was worthless and the family was stuck in Kansas where they were all raised. So my mothers family was raised on the family farm in Kansas but with deep roots back in New York
KGC
I don’t know. I’ll have Sue write down what I do the next time I make one. A fruit pie isn’t like most other types of baking i.e., it’s not strictly a formula. When I do something like this it’s like when I’m tending my potted plants–I talk to the ingredients and to the pie as I’m building it and it responds with guidance. Go figure.
A more satisfying response would probably be, I use all five-pounds of apples. There is virtually no airspace between the neatly sliced pieces. The only liquid I use is the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon. And the pats of butter neatly placed upon the layers, more on the upper than the lower. And the dredging of the apples with a combination of flour, sugar and spices. Once again, I have to see how it’s going to know the route to take.
KGC
My sister stayed a while an aunt while she went to college. She was telingl mom how heavy the dumplings in the chicken and dumplings were. Mom laugh and said”so she has finally learned how to make them the way her husband likes them” evidently soggy dumplings were home cooking for him.
Jack
Great-grandma was from Denmark. She made the best butter cookies; just enough dry ingredients to hold the butter molecules together.
Grandma & her sis were great cooks, but nothing they made tasted similar. Very different, for some reason.
A lot of pickling & canning, too. What I wouldn’t give for a spoonful of Grandma’s apple butter or a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie.
The only bad thing we ever had was lemon jello with pimentos, celery and cottage cheese in it, made from a recipe in the newspaper. Grandma slowly ate it over the course of several days, so as not to waste it.
All of your recipes look great! Where are we holding the pot luck dinner?
I don’t ever remember my mother making chicken and dumplings( there may be a reason for that) but she made some great chicken and noodles.
It was simple put a stewing hen in a pot with onion and celery cook until falling off the bones , remove the skin and meat from the bones add the meat back in and the noodles. cook the noodles until tender.
The noodle recipe was easy, cup of flour, a bit of salt, 1 egg and half an egg shell of water. mix roll out on floured board until 1/8 inch thick then cut into 1/2 inch strips. Let dry while the chicken is cooking.
Jack
Some times I think it is the modern ingredients we use that make some dishes seem inedible. The folks would make fried mush and I never liked it but it was from store bought corn meal. A few years ago I shelled some field corn and hand grind it. Then made mush and fried it. A totally different dish.
Jack
I made noodles once when I was a teen. Grandma told me that I needed to roll them out thinner. I didn’t listen. Oops.
I think Jack’s right about the ingredients. In part it is simply the freshness of making it at home.
Regardless of the quality if something has been sitting around for a while it loses something in the taste as well as picking up other flavors.
Corn meal is a great example and dried beans are another
Blanch ’em.
whoop-ee
cancer free
and 1st class ass kicker be
our travisC
Bink
the noodles, dumplings, corn meal or beans?
jack, noodles? those are just skinny southern dumplings. am more fond of the fat fluffy biscuit kind. also partial to their stuffed cousins like knishes, pasties, pierogi, empanada etc.
Dem apples.
ok thanks for the tip
Cheers
Patd – Love that pic and the rhyme!
TravisC… yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaw!! I love a good ass kicking!
Jack… I too think there’s something lost in modern ingredients. I’m sure my grandmother used lard to make her piecrust. When you think about it… all this fat free and lean stuff just doesn’t taste very good. Even meat today isn’t what it used to be. I’m remembering my mother slowly cooking pork roasts that melted in my mouth. Today’s pork is so lean it just can’t be duplicated. Same thing with chicken. I’ve recently decided to go back to chicken with the skin on… what a difference in flavor.
things to think about while we’re not thinking about other things more important might be how the press is being played with (and as a result, the American people who rely on it for news). interesting perspective from Rachel in wapo today eric wemple op ed Rachel Maddow warns media about forged document on Trump-Russia: ‘Heads up, everybody’
No way this is the first time that a media organization has received a forgery or a bogus tip. It happens all the time, for all kinds of reasons. Maddow herself pointed to CBS News’s 2004 reporting on George W. Bush’s National Guard service, which stemmed from documents whose origin Maddow described as “murky.” Explaining that CBS News was “ripped to shreds” over its approach to the story, she noted, “that was a spike through the heart of the story of George W. Bush’s National Guard service keeping him out of Vietnam, which was a true and interesting story and which really might have been a serious ongoing political liability for candidate George W. Bush. But nobody was ever willing to touch it again during that campaign because of the way those documents purporting to prove out the worst aspects of that story blew up like a pipe bomb at CBS News.”
These are dangerous times for reporters — dangerous because they may be body-slammed; dangerous because their resignations may be very readily accepted over a story gone wrong; and dangerous because — yes — there’s misinformation out there. If there once was a stigma attached to spreading bogus tips for the purpose of discrediting the media, it’s receding, according to this comment from Maine Gov. Paul LePage to WGAN-AM: “I just love to sit in my office and make up ways so they’ll write these stupid stories because they are just so stupid, it’s awful,” said LePage. Any excuse to fling the accusation: “FAKE NEWS!”
Unfortunately, the humidity here NEVER goes away. It cools off starting in late October, but it can still get up to 80 or 85 on Christmas – and with Humidity it’s not good. I asked a few people, after I moved here, if they’ve gotten used to the humidity. They just look at me with a sad face and say “nope”!
My grandma used to make a large ball of dough, then roll it good and flat (1/3rd inch). Then she would cut the dumplings into strips about 3/4 inch thick and plunge into the broth. Lots of spices and things.
Growing up – we always talked of Fruitcakes as something you gave to someone you didn’t like. Of course, this was the Mid-West attitude and not that of ya’ll easterners ;o)
My mother-in-law lives in Southern Oregon, and they have these berries called Marion Berrys. She makes an awesome pie out of them! Better than blackberries.
dv, you talkin’ huckleberries? this from the wild huckleberry association
Wild Pacific Northwest: Huckleberries
As the seasons whines down in Montana and Idaho, the huckleberry season is going strong in parts Washington and Oregon.
Nope – Marion Berrys. First time up there I thought it was a joke about the old D.C. Mayor. But it’s really a berry called Marion. A lot like Blackberries but sweeter.
God, speaking of Southern Oregon, they are right on the Rogue river. The Salmon and Steelhead fishing is unbelievable. When you cut a fresh one open to grill, the flesh is dark red. Absolutely crazy!
Fruitcake suffers because of Claxton. All those damn Christmas fundraisers selling Claxton fruit cakes. My aunt made good ones. Claxton not so much IMHO.
Pogo, I remember for years Claxton would advertise all the famous people who bought their fruitcakes at Christmastime. The funniest mention had to be the Duke & Duchess of Windsor. David Rockefeller might have been on the list too.
dvitale300 is correct: Marionberries are delicious. Makes a great pie.
Must be time for Mark Knopfler to demonstrate how to use a guitar
Woo-hoo! Travis!
They have a fruitcake called a Yahoo cake here; just pecans & cherries. Always picked the green things (citron?) out of fruitcakes when I was a kid.
A pleasant day on the trail, sj. Thanks.
RR,
Its not just the modern ingredients, it’s the techniques as well.
Lard in pie crust, you bet. Delicious. Try frying chicken in lard and a bit of butter. No secret recipe required.
My grandmother used a ‘handful of this and a handful of that’ plus a pinch here and there.
My dad used to tell me that there was nothing quite like bread or a pie baked in a wood fired stove. Fried chicken cooked on the same stove. To die for.
I think that what has been lost or gained , depending on your perspective, is the need to hover over and create something special every time you prepared a meal.
There is science and there is art. Old fashioned food preparation involved more of the latter and less of the former. The results speak or should I say spoke for themselves.
Jace
You nudged one of my pet peeves. Watermelon are supposed to have seeds darn it! White ones, Black ones perched in bright red flesh just waiting to spit out as the juice runs down your arms while munching.
These “convenient” seedless semi pink things are NOT watermelon.