Never Fail Pie Crust

 I don't know if this pie crust ever failed, since Mom almost always used frozen pie crusts (and this was back when frozen pie crusts were truly awful).  Mom was great with most things, but the two things she was unable to master were biscuits and pie crust.  However, the recipe is lightly stained, so she may have used it at least once.  It's in my handwriting. 

3 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold water

1 cup shortening

1 egg

1 tsp vinegar

Cut shortening into flour and salt. Beat egg adding water and vinegar. Add liquid to flour mixture. Roll onto lightly floured board. 

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On the reverse side of the card is this recipe, cut out from a a magazine or some other publication:

Cookie Crust Pastry:  Stir 1/4 cup margarine to soften; mix in 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg yolk. With pastry blender gradually mix in 1 cup flour until crumbs form. Press firmly into jbottom and sides of 9-inch pie plate.  Bake in 400F oven about 10 minutes or until edge is browned. Cool. 

Loretta's Peanut Butter Cookies

 This recipe says it was "from Hazel."  I'm hoping my sister remembers who Hazel was.  Unfortunately, I don't. This is another well-loved recipe card, with stains enough to show that we must have liked it.

Oven 350

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 c. sifted flour

3/4 tsp soda

salt

Cream butter peanut butter sugars egg & vanilla. Add sifted dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Shape into 1 inch balls. Mash w/ a fork. Bake 10-12 min.

Banana Bread

 The recipe card for this is just plain disgusting. You can literally feel the stains.  So, you know this recipe is seriously good.  The recipe is in my handwriting, but I don't recall ever making banana bread.  I'm sure all that recipe-love staining came from Mom.

1 Cup sugar

1/2 cup margarine

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas - 3 or 4

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 cups sifted flour

3 tsp b. powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chopped nuts

cream sugar w/ butter. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Beat well after each. Stir in bananas and lemon juice. Sift flour w/ b. powder + salt. Add + mix quickly. Stir in nuts. Bake in greased 9" X 5" X 3" pan at 350 1 hr or till tested done. Cool. 

Lemon Chiffon Pie

 This recipe is in my handwriting, but it includes mint, which sounds like something Mom would do.  So, maybe she saw it somewhere and had me write it down for her.  The card isn't stained at all, so it's possible that she was interested in the recipe, but never got around to making it. 

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/3 cup cold water

3 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp grated lemon peel

cornflake or graham cracker crumb pie shell

lemon slices

sprigs of fresh mint

Soften gelatin in cold water 5 min. Beat egg yolks. Combine w/ 1/2 cup of the sugar, lemon juice + salt in top of double boiler + cook, stirring constantly, until mixture coats a spoon. Remove from heat + stir in lemon peel. Cool until thickened, stirring occasionally. Beat egg whites till stiff not dry. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold lightly into lemon mixture. Spoon into pie shell + chill well. Garnish w/ lemon slices and mint or chocolate curls. 

Bettye's Famous Baked Dill Pickles

Back in the 70's, fresh herbs were not as readily available in stores as they are now.  I remember Mom having to search a bit to source the fresh dill and the grape leaves needed for the recipe.  The little sprigs of dill and the grape leaves looked so pretty in the jars.  

The pickling cucumbers are not really mentioned in the recipe.  I think they are just assumed. Also, the direction to punch a hole in the pickles comes at the end, but I suspect it's supposed to be the very first thing you do.

1 C salt

4 C w. vinegar

12 C water

2 cloves garlic

1/2 hot dry pepper

2 or 3 sprigs of dill

grape leaves

Pack in gars with 1 grape leaf. Pour in hot juice 1/2 inch from top. Put on lid. Place in oven at 225 for 1 hr on cookie sheet. Let cool + store.

Punch hole in each end of every pickle so they won't shrivel up. 

Apricot Bread

This recipe card is stained, so you know it was a good one. The apricot bread was made with Grape Nuts cereal, which gave it a lovely bit of texture.  It was especially good made with ripe, fresh-off-the-tree, Central Valley apricots. I've yet to find even a farmer's market apricot that has that intense apricot flavor that this recipe needs.  If you're lucky enough to have an apricot tree in your life, enjoy!  And send me a slice. 

1 3/4 C flour

3/4 C grape nuts cereal

1 C sugar

1 tsp salt

2/3 C chopped apricots

2 1/2 tsps b. powder

1 1/4 C milk

2 tbsps oil

1 egg, well beaten

Mix flour, b. powder, sugar, + salt.  Stir in cereal + apricots.  Blend milk, egg, + oil.  Add flour mixture. Stir till just moist.  Pour into greased loaf pan + bake at 350 for 1 hr or until done.  Cool in pan 10 mins.

Zucchini Pizza

Home gardeners in the 70's always had more zucchini than they knew what to do with.  Forget today's cauliflower pizza -- what I wouldn't give to walk in the door and see my mom's hot, savory zucchini pizza being pulled from the oven!

I'm not sure the source of this recipe. 

2 lbs zucchini

8 oz sharp cheddar

8 oz mozzarella

3 eggs, beaten

1 onion chopped 1 clove garlic, minced

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

salt & pepper

mushrooms, tomatoes + olives for topping

Grate zucchini + squeeze in towel to get rid of excess moisture. Shred both cheeses. Use half of each cheese + all of zucchini. Mix together + add to beaten eggs. Press mixture into pizza pan. Bake at 400 for 15 mins or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, sauté onion + garlic in oil. Add tom. sauce + spices, salt + pepper to taste. Simmer until egg-zucchini mix is ready. Pour on top of egg-zucchini mixture. Add rem. shredded cheeses + toppings of your choice. Bake at 350 15 mins or until hot + bubbly. 

Rhubarb Crumble

This is a recipe Mom got from Alice Euler.  Alice was the mom of one of my best friends, Rose.  And, Alice was a pillar of Central Baptist church.  Alice was a few years older than Mom, and, like Mom, Alice had lived through the Great Depression.  Like our backyard, Alice's was a wonderland of fruits and vegetables.  Among the edibles was a giant rhubarb plant -- the backbone of rhubarb crumble.

Mom changed it up and mixed strawberries in with the rhubarb, making a truly sublime dessert.  I think she might have also added chopped walnuts to the crumble mixture.  

Nowadays, both Rose and I would skip the red food color. 

1 C oats

1 C b. sugar

1/2 C butter

1 C flour

1 tsp cinnamon

Blend well & set aside.

Prepare 4 C diced rhubarb.

Mix 1 C w. sugar, 2 tbsp corn starch, 1 C water, 1 tsp vanilla + a few drops red food coloring. Bring to boil.

Place layer of oat mixture in bottom of greased baking dish. Add rhubarb & pour hot syrup mixture over rhubarb + add rem. oat mixture to top. Bake at 350 for apx 40 to 50 mins.

Serve w. vanilla ice cream. 

Serves apx 9