"Sticky" Rice

Here is me and my Gram.

The last conversation I had with my Gram was around on my birthday. She never forgot my birthday or anyones for that matter. We talked and talked. We talked about Pa, we talked about the kids, we talked about Christine's upcoming wedding, we talked about how much we missed each other. One thing I remember her saying was how proud she was of me moving out to Washington. I thought it was an odd thing to be proud of so I said "oh that's nothing to be proud of" and she said "oh but it is, you are very brave to leave the only home you've known, leaving behind family and friends but you are still always so happy and take such good care of your husband and kids, and that is what I am proud of" I loved hearing those words from her.

On to the recipe. This was such a signature Gram recipe. I vividly remember sneaking in front of line at the Thanksgiving spread to get a spoonful of Gram's sticky rice...yeah only a spoonful because Gram only made a little bit of this rice. We call it sticky rice because well...it sticks together. I think Gram was way ahead of her time with this one because now when you go to the grocery store there are tons of "flavored" rices to choose from, chicken, broccoli, Spanish, you know they come in the big envelopes. But leave it to Gram to have her own version. It reminds me of the time when microwave popcorn first came out. It was so expensive. But Gram made her own using regular popcorn a pat of butter and a paper lunch bag.

The sticky rice isn't a recipe that will be featured on the Food Network, or grace the cover of Martha Stewart, but to my family it is one of those recipes that will always remind of us Gram.

Ingredients:

2 chicken bullion cubes

Long Grain rice (NOT THE INSTANT)

Butter (I used 4 tablespoons)

Directions:

Boil 2 cups of water and the bullion cubes

once it comes to a boil and the cubes have dissolved add butter

Add 1 cup rice

reduce heat and cover (20-25 min)

the rice should be WELL cooked and "stick" together

This rice came out "pretty close" to Gram's. I can't tell you why I just know because I remember Gram's rice.

Gram's Simple Pie Crust Recipe

Per request a special post just for Gram's pie crust:

1/2 cup chilled shortening
3 TBS ice cold water
1 1/4 cups flour

Combine with fork until the mixture forms a ball. Key to Gram's perfect crust is not handling it too much. I form a ball and roll it out on a well floured surface right away.

"Little Rolls"

I love this picture of my mom and grandparents at her graduation! They look so proud. My mom is BEAUTIFUL!

This recipe is one my mom has made for me and my brothers and sisters before and she had it growing up as well. These are "cinnamon" rolls. But not the ones you are thinking. They are light and flakey. They are small and wonderful. I forgot just how wonderful they are.



As told to me by my mom:

As I child I loved these more than all the holiday pies. Another amazing treat is what we called the "little rolls". Using Gram's pie crust recipe, roll the dough very thin and spread with softed butter, sugar and cinnamon to all the edges. Start rolling the dough to form a long log. Cut into 1 inch pieces with sharp knife. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet until golden brown.(we bake them upright see pic)Cool completely. We sometimes add white frosting. Either way they are delectable and fill the house with an irresistible aroma of home made goodness! Every time I have served these everyone thinks I have worked in the kitchen all day, when in fact simple, simple, simple and so inexpensive!! Perfect for gifting.

So I did

3Tbs Butter softened and then just a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

We bake them up right...I don't know why but that's the way we do it.=)

Ok YUM...flaky and Delicious.

My Mom's Chicken

I absolutely love this picture. This is my mom, my BABY brother Andrew and my Gram. Andrew looks so proud standing in the middle of these "little women"!

Ok so this isn't a "Gram" recipe, but it's from my mom. And this is something I find so amazing. My Gram passed her recipes down, my mom cooked a lot of those. But she also came up with a few signature recipes herself. My Gram loved this recipe too. This chicken also made it's appearance at Pa day. Whenever there was a large group of family coming over this chicken fits the bill...quite literally too because chicken legs are cheap and when they are on sale they are "wicked" cheap. So you can feed a lot of people. So this chicken with a side of Gram's potato salad and maybe some baked beans...SO GOOD! I make this chicken A LOT, at least once every two weeks. And tonight I am bringing it over to two different families because I made so much.


Every time I make this chicken I think of my mom. WOW I miss her. We always talk about what a dream it would be to live closer to each other. And although it would be awesome, I can't think about it too much. It makes me too sad. I am so thankful for an amazing mom with whom I am so close to, even 3000 miles away.

Recipe
Ingredients


Chicken Drumsticks REMOVE THE SKIN...do not skip this step. It's time consuming but it's worth it. My mom and I both use scissors.

Seasoned Bread Crumbs


Soul Seasoning (if you can't find it use Lawry's Season salt but the soul seasoning is best)


Cooking spray



Directions:


After you have taken all the skin off rinse with water.

Roll each drumstick in breadcrumbs, until they are coated completely and line a baking pan.

Sprinkle with Soul Seasoning

Liberally spray the chicken with the cooking spray (come on don't be shy

Bake low heat I usually do 250 degrees for 30 min then crank up the heat to 425,spray the chicken again with the cooking spray and bake for another 15-20 to get the outside super crispy

Let stand for a few min before serving on the tray (I use a stone, so it keeps the chicken nice and warm)

Your meat will just fall off the bone...way better than KFC in my opinion. OH PS if by any chance you have left overs it's so good the next day just cold out of the fridge.

Not to toot my own horn but this batch came out as close to mom's as I have ever gotten!!

Kind of a gross job but it's has to be done...no skin!

The Soul Seasoning!
Breaded, seasoned and sprayed...oven please!

The finished product...so good!

Corn "Chowdah"

I hounded my Aunt Prissy for this recipe. So it's only fair that I tell you a little about my Aunt. She is my mothers sister. She is married to my"Uncle Joe". They have 3 children Joey,Rachel and Matt. She is kind, giving, and really a pillar of strength. I have so many memories going over to her house, which was always decorated so cute. My Gram lived in the apartment above Aunt Prissy and Uncle Joe. I remember putting on plays with my cousins in the back yard. Playing in the beauty shop. Oh the beauty shop...we would play in there for hours. Doing our hair, organizing the nail polish, looking at magazines. Aunt Prissy was so amazing to let the 4 cousins (me, Elisha, Heather, and Melissa) alone in that shop. We LOVED it. I love you Aunt Prissy!

So like I said I got this recipe from her and it was one of Gram's best. (this and the fish' chowdah' that I'll do later) Nothing beat going to Grams for a bowl of hot corn chowdah on a cold Maine winter day, or now in my case on a cold North West rainy day. It's simple, and it's GOOD!

As given to me by my Aunt

Corn Chowder:In a 3 qt pan saute in margarine enough diced onions to cover bottom of pan. Once onions are soft add four or five cubed potatoes and add just enough water to cover over by about an inch. Stir in 1 tbs instant chicken bouillon (Herbox in the little jar is what Gram used) and 1 tsp of celery salt. Once potatoes are fork tender add two cans of Creamed Corn and one can of evaporated milk. Stir, warm and serve.Seasoning can be adjusted to taste. More or less potatoes can be added. We always made this using our own judgement on how much potatoes we wanted. You can use low sodium instant bouillon if you like.

I added some fresh ground pepper on top. It came out great.

Push and Lick Cookies aka Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my fondest memories of Gram was that she always had something baked on her kitchen counter. Even when she was over 90 she still made treats. We would go to visit and she would have chocolate chip cookies, or banana bread on the counter for us to help ourselves. My boys knew it well. "Meme do you have treats?" And she always did.

I asked the boys to tell me a memory about their Meme. And this is what they said "She always let me color at her kitchen table and she let me have candy from her candy bowl" -Elijah. This is so sweet because my Elijah loves to color, and draw, he always has. And when we visited Gram she pulled out crayons and paper for him and set him up at the kitchen table...to Elijah that was just perfect. "I remember she gave me a flashlight for Christmas, mine was red and I still have it" -Isaiah. And he does. That's another thing about Gram, she always got my kids something for Christmas, even if it was something small. The flashlights were such a big hit, just the right size and they loved them. I am so sad that my Hannah didn't get a chance to meet Gram. But she will know of her. The other when I was rolling out the dough for the tarts she was sitting playing and I was telling her about Gram. She may not understand but one day she will. I guess that's how we keep our loved ones who have passed in our lives. We talk about them, and share their lives with those around us.

So why are they called "push and lick" do you really want to know?Well I had never heard that but when I asked for recipes my sister Christine said "push and lick cookies" I asked her "what are those" "well her chocolate chip cookies" So I dared to ask why she called them push and lick. So when Gram let them help (Christine and Mary) she would let them lick their fingers after they pushed the cookie dough from the spoon...hence push and lick. I did not use the push and lick method this time around since I am sharing these with a friend. But maybe next time =)

Chocolate chip cookies

3/4 cup combination of shortening and margarine/butter (more margarine/butter = crispier cookies; more shortening = softer cookies) I use butter flavored shortening and Gram liked mine

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tbsps milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 pkg of chocolate chips 6oz or more to taste

1 cup chopped nuts if desired; Gram did not use nuts

Directions:

Beat shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add milk vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda. Add chips and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon 2" apart on Ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375degrees 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.Gram always tried 3 cookies as a test batch to see if she needed more flour. This makes exactly 2 1/2 dozen!

As soon as these came out of the oven I knew they came out just like Grams. Golden, soft and perfect. Of course I had to try one and I know this sounds just silly but my eyes filled with tears and then a smile. Tears because I miss her so much and a smile because the cookie was so good just like I remembered.
A perfect plate of the perfect cookies....what could be better??......

A glass of milk and two awesome kids! "These are the best"

Tarts

This is a picture of my grandparents and all ten children. My mom is the hot little blond in the front! From Left to right back row: Pa, Uncle Pazu, Uncle Twee,Aunt Rose, Aunt Jack,Uncle Russel,Aunt Marlene From left to right front row Gram, Aunt Prissy, Mom (Paula) Uncle Mark, Aunt Janie
The amazing story here is that the 6 in the back row were not "technically" my Gram's. My Grandfather was married and his first wife passed away. When he met my Gram he had 6 kids! And she married him anyway. It makes me smile though because my Grandfather was an amazing man. He was so kind, and gentle, and he was funny. He was handsome, hardworking, and compassionate. My Gram must have fell head over heels for him. And knowing my Gram and her huge heart, he must have been smitten with her. I know she loved those kids as her own. I know this because I didn't know until I was an adult that they were not. My Grammie then had 4 of her own children. My mom being one of them.

So this recipe I remember from Thanksgiving dinners at my Aunt Prissy's. She owned her own "beauty shop" off of her house. We transformed it for thanksgiving and that's where we ate our feast, right there in the shop. I loved it! One of the things I remember are these tarts. I don't remember the apple ones like my mom does I remember the chocolate cream filled ones (hmmmm I wonder why) My sister Mary also reminded me of Gram's little jello cups. They are just that,jello with whipped cream but for a kid and individual jello cup is like a crisp $100 bill. So I added a few to go with the tarts. =)

From my Mom "One of my faves! We had at Christmas & Thanksgiving."

Tarts

Ingredients

Crust (Gram made her own from scratch) but pie crust in a box is good. Do not use the ready made pie crust.

Crust Recipe:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup chilled shortening ( Gram used lard back in the day)

3 TBS ice water

Mix into ball, handle as little as possible, roll out on floured surface

Apple Jelly

Whipped topping

Maraschino cherries

Directions (as told by my Mom)

Roll out pie crust very thin. The secret to a flaky crust is too use ice water, I put ice and the water. Put pie crust mix in a bowl and very sparingly add the ice water and mix with a fork. You want the dough moist enough to roll out on a floured counter. Cut out circles with the top of a large glass. Press each piece into an un greased cupcake tin pulling the dough up the sides.. It is ok if the do not all look the same that is part of the charm. Bake until golden brown and cool completely. Add a good rounded teaspoon of apple jelly to the bottom of each tart, top with whipped topping and chill right before serving top with half a maraschino cherry. These are so simple and very delicious. At Christmas we would also use the green cherries and put the tarts on a fancy serving tray very festive. As I child I loved these more than all the holiday pies.

Here are the crust inside the muffin pan. I was unsure how they would bake, if they would be like I remembered.

Modern baking tools....ha this glass worked perfect.

Exactly how I remembered them...golden and flakey. The crust recipe is simple but perfect.

These are the tarts filled with the apple jelly. About a teapoon for each tart. I also did chocolate just using a basic pudding filling.

We all ate one and said "YUM" They brought me back in time.

I am really enjoying gathering these recipes and making them. I thought it might be therapeutic for me to remember Gram this way. But can I be totally honest. It makes me miss her so much more. And my whole family for that matter. I am remembering all the fun times we have had over the years, celebrating holidays, birthdays, graduations, babies...it's hard being so far. I miss them so much.