My Mother's Treasure Trove of Recipes

By R C MacDonald

Over 190 recipes, spanning 35 years, that my mom collected and kept in a photo album. She sadly passed away in 2012, but left behind this treasure trove. There are plenty for desserts, different types of fish, poultry, and more. As well as for family classics like sweet and sour stuffed cabbage and Passover popovers. There's even a recipe for my mom's favorite whiskey sours. Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: R C MacDonald
• Release date: Mar 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463080764

R C MacDonald

R C MacDonald is the author of Alliance, Alliance: Dawn, Sweet Endless Terror: An Anthology of Nightmares, and More Than Meets the Eye. They're a clarinetist, love to learn about cultures and languages, travels internationally through cooking, a blogger, amateur photographer, an animal lover, a lover of all things horror, mystery, humor, suspense; and more.

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My Mother's Treasure Trove of Recipes

By R C MacDonald

Copyright 2018 R C MacDonald

Smashwords Edition, 2020

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Dedication

To my mom, who loved to cook, and taught me so much.

Table of Contents

Preface

Drinks

Appetizers and Soup

Poultry

Fish

Meat

Cheese

Vegetables

Crepes, Pancakes, and Waffles

Passover and Hanukkah

Cakes

Muffins

Pies

Cookies

Candies

Fruit Desserts

Puddings and Mousses

Miscellaneous Desserts

Pizza and Snacks

Sauces and Toppings

Sources

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My Mother's Treasure Trove of Recipes

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Preface

My mom, Linda, kept a photo album full of recipes that she collected. Some are of her own recipes, some are from family members, some from friends, some from newspapers and magazines, etc. She, sadly, passed away in 2012. However, she left behind a treasure trove of these recipes. It's also a time capsule. According to the dates recorded, she started collecting them in 1966 and stopped in 2001. 35 years! Recipes and tastes have changed a lot during this period, let alone from 2001 to now. Some of these recipes are family classics. Since she was Jewish, I am, and that side of the family is; there are some holiday related recipes. My other parent, Jill, also contributed a couple of recipes to my mom's collection. I refer to her as Jill in this cookbook. There's a source list instead of a bibliography, because I felt that there wasn't enough info for most of the sources to make a proper one. I would like to think my mom would have loved her recipes turning into an actual cookbook. This could be a way for me to honor her memory. I hope people enjoy these, too. There are 191 recipes in total. So many to try!

Drinks

Non-alcoholic Drinks

Coffee (Boiled) Over Fire (Magazine of Forgotten Arts)

1 cup coffee

1 cup cold water

1 egg

6 cups boiling water

Beat the egg slightly. Dilute it with ½ cup cold water. Add crushed eggshell and mix with coffee. Pour into pot. Add boiling water and stir. Place the pot on hot coals and boil for 3 minutes. If only heated and not boiled, the coffee will be cloudy. If boiled too long, tannic acid will develop and make it bitter. If you are using a coffee pot rather than a saucepan, pour some coffee into a cup to make sure the spout is free from grounds. Return the coffee to the pot and repeat. Add the remaining cold water (to perfect clarification) and let the pot stand for 10 minutes on the hearth where it will stay hot but not boil.

Frosted Café Mocha (Served at La Cantina in Austin, Texas, 1980)

1 cup Nestle's Quik (it's now Nesquik)

⅓ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2½ cups milk

1¼ cups cold coffee

Ice

Fill blender with ice. Add mixture; blend till foamy and fairly smooth.

Fresh Start (Austin American Statesman, 1980)

Makes: 2 to 4 cups

1 ripe Bartlett pear, peeled and diced

1 tbsp lemon juice

¼ tsp lemon peel

½ cup crushed ice

2 eggs

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Dash ground nutmeg

3 oz frozen apple juice concentrate, defrosted but not diluted

¾ to 1 cup milk

Whirl diced pear, lemon juice, and peel in blender until smooth. Add crushed ice, eggs, spices, and apple juice concentrate and blend. While blender is running, add milk and blend until foamy.

Alcoholic Drinks

Joan and Marvin's Party Punch

Joan and Marvin were my mom's immediate family's friends.

1 can of pineapple juice

1 bottle ginger ale

1 pint sherbet (pineapple or orange)

⅓ or ¼ bottle liquor (gin or vodka)

Mix juice, ginger ale, and liquor well. Add sherbet.

Whiskey Sours

Small can of lemonade

¾ can rye

3 cans water

4 ice cubes

1 raw egg

It seems she uses a can of concentrated lemonade, and uses that can for the rye and water.

Blend in blender.

Appetizers and Soup

Fabulous Spread

Makes: 1 cup

3 cucumbers

3 sprigs parsley

3 small green onions

3 tbsp sour cream

Salt and pepper

Peel cucumbers, remove most of the seeds, cut into cubes and put into the blender, along with parsley and green onions which have been cut into 1-inch pieces. Blend until well blended. Drain excess water. Add sour cream, salt, and pepper. Blend thoroughly. To be used for open faced or party sandwiches.

I Can't Believe It's Not Chopped Liver (The Kitsap Sun, 1997)

This was one of my mom's go-to recipes for a few years. She loved chopped liver, and she said it was a nice vegetarian alternative. Tasted very similar. I hate chopped liver, and felt too uneasy to try this mock version when she made it. She'd make it for potlucks, parties at a couple's place who were family friends, or parties at home. It was a hit.

Makes: 2 cups

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: 2 hours

2 cups water

1 cup lentils

2 bouillon cubes, chicken or vegetable

1 tsp olive oil or margarine

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup walnuts

Salt and pepper, to taste

Parsley, for garnish

Cocktail rye bread

Crisp raw vegetables

In water, cook lentils with bouillon cubes, covered, in 2-quart saucepan, about 30 minutes, or until tender. More water can be added if necessary. Drain.

Heat oil in skillet. Sauté onions until translucent.

In a food processor, process lentils, onions and walnuts until desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill. Serve mounded on a platter and garnish with chopped parsley. Surround with bread and/or vegetables.

Note: I think she would just put it in a bowl without the garnish. Then, have crackers or other bread near it.

Tasty Onion Sticks

Makes: about 5 dozen sticks

½ cup Lipton onion butter:

Blend 1 envelope (a little over 1 oz.) Lipton onion soup mix thoroughly with ½ lb. butter or margarine. Makes 1¼ cups. Refrigerate unused portion. Use with baked potatoes or over vegetables.

12 slices white bread

Preheat oven to 375°F.

1. Trim crusts from bread. Spread Lipton onion butter on bread slices; cut each slice in 5 strips.

2. Place strips on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until golden.

Sausage-Polenta Soup (The Seattle Times, 1999)

Servings: 4

½ lb. smoked turkey sausage

2 cans (14½ oz each) Italian stewed tomatoes

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

¼ cup yellow cornmeal

2 cups frozen Italian vegetables

½ tsp dried oregano, crushed

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional: ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Place the sausage in a saucepan, cover with water and simmer 10 minutes, or until just cooked through. Remove from the liquid, cool slightly and slice.

2. Puree the tomatoes in a food processor. Pour into a saucepan with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring often.

3. Add the sausage, frozen vegetables, oregano, and pepper. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes, just until the vegetables are heated through. Garnish with parmesan if desired.

Poultry

Cornish Game Hens

Asian-Style Cornish Game Hens (Tyson)

Serves: 4

4 Cornish