Family Recipes Equal Family Heritage
(Page 2 of 4)
July/August 2009
Jan Hasselman Bosman
Sometimes an old handwritten recipe will bring back a character who made our lives easier. Elsa Paxton, my first landlady when I was a 20-year-old new teacher, made warm, healthful breakfasts and dinners when I boarded in her home. We didn’t always agree on politics, but I got my first three handwritten recipes (written in green ink) from her. They saved me when I was a young bride preparing my own meals.
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Old recipes scribbled on random scraps of paper at Farm Bureau potlucks, American Legion dances or church socials offer us a look at our varied and special pasts. They transport us back to memories of people, places, foods and events that touched our lives. We need to preserve those unique recipes and the memories they evoke. If we do, like heirloom seeds, antique dolls, passed-down names and family trees, an important part of our family histories will live on through generations.
Pompadour Pudding
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 egg, beaten
2 cups milk, scalded
1 teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate Fluff
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
For pudding, combine sugar, flour, salt, egg yolks and whole egg. Slowly add small amount of milk and blend; stir mixture into remaining milk. Cook in double boiler until thick; cool. Add vanilla, blend well and pour into serving dish. Chill at least 1 hour.
For chocolate fluff, gradually add sugar to egg whites and beat until sugar is dissolved. Slowly add melted chocolate, vanilla and salt; blend well. Chill for at least 1 hour, then spoon over chilled pudding before serving. Yields 6 servings.
Elsa Paxton was a crusty woman with a bit of an English accent, borrowed from her late husband, George. She was more than three times my age when I rented a room from her in 1960. Her Apple Dessert is the very first recipe that I placed in my collection before I married. I still have it.
Apple Dessert
2 eggs well beaten
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour
1 cup sliced fresh apples
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup nut meats
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 8-by-8-inch pan; set aside.
In mixing bowl, combine ingredients in order given. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes.
Cut into squares. Serve with whipped or ice cream.
I didn’t realize at the time how lucky I was to have fresh ingredients in many of the dishes my mother prepared. Her Slumgullion used fresh or home-canned tomatoes and onions pulled from the garden in summer or retrieved gratefully from the fruit cellar in winter. The hamburger was ground from our own grass-fed, butchered beef. When I was a youngster on the farm, we knew where our food was coming from.