Grandma's Book - 3 Ingredient Key Lime Pie

This is fantastic. So easy and so good. This only uses 6 ounces of limeade, so mix the other 4 with a can of water for a refreshing drink. 

KEY LIME PIE

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tub cool whip, thawed

6oz frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

1 graham cracker crust

Combine milk, whip, and limeade concentrate in a bowl. Stir. I added about 5 drops of green food coloring, this is optional. Pour into pie crust. Garnish with lime and chill until firm, 4 hours or overnight. 

Grandma's Book - Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I brought these to church this past Sunday, and my favorite thing happened: Someone took a bite, their eyes got big, and they looked around the room saying "Who made these?" with a mouth full of cookie. They flew off the plate! 

She wrote the measurements for a half recipe next to the whole recipe. I am giving you the whole one, which makes about 4 dozen.

OATMEAL COOKIES

1c softened butter

1c sugar

1c brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 1/4c flour

2c oats

12oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add salt, soda, powder, and flour, mix until combined. Add oats and chips, mix with a wooden spoon. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. 

Grandma's Book - Mashed Potato Salad

This is from Allrecipes, but she took the time to print it out and put it in the book. I used leftover mashed potatoes. It's good! She always puts vinegar in her regular potato salad, but this called for pickle juice so that's what I did. 

MASHED POTATO SALAD (from Allrecipes.com)

6 Yukon Gold potatoes, cooked

3 boiled eggs, chopped

1 sweet onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped pickles

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup pickle juice

1 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Mash potatoes with a potato masher. Stir in other ingredients and chill for a couple hours. 

Top with paprika and parsley if you wanna get fancy. :)

Grandma's Book - Blonde Brownies

Very easy and very good! Enjoy with cold milk. 

BLONDE BROWNIES

1/2 cup softened butter

1 egg

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder 

A pinch of baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips, or add-in of choice

Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 baking pan or dish.

In a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and egg. Stir in dry ingredients, then add vanilla and chocolate chips, stir to combine. Spread batter in prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Grandma's Book - Deluxe Mac and Cheese

We had this at several family gatherings. I always wanted the recipe. :)

Now when we say a dash, we mean a dash! Too much garlic salt and you'll be swimming in sodium but just a pinch is what makes this recipe perfect. It's easy, too! 

DELUXE MAC AND CHEESE

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

1 cup sour cream

2 cups cottage cheese

1 beaten egg

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 tsp salt 

Dash of pepper and garlic salt to taste

Parmesan and cheddar for topping

Cook and drain macaroni. While pasta cooks, grease a 9x13 baking dish and preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine sour cream, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, egg, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Add cooked macaroni and stir. Transfer to greased baking dish and top with parmesan and more cheddar as desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. 

Grandma's Book - Oven Swiss Steak

This is fantastic. It's a bit of work, and it's worth the effort. I suggest serving with plain mashed potatoes; the meat is very rich and flavorful! The tone of the recipe and the fact that it was typed on a typewriter means this is one of her older recipes. Those are the best kind. :)

OVEN SWISS STEAK

1 1/2 lbs. round steak, 3/4" thick

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes

1/2c chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped carrot

2T chopped onion

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cut meat into 4 portions. Mix flour and salt. Sprinkle 1/2-1 tsp worth of flour mixture onto each, and pound into flour mixture on both sides. Reserve remaining flour mixture. Brown meat in a small amount of fat, preferably shortening but I used butter. Place browned meat into a baking dish and set aside. 

Combine remaining flour with drippings in pan. Add vegetables and Worcestershire sauce. Cook mixture until it boils, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over meat. Cover, and cook at 350 for 2 hours. Add cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes.

*I have a very hot oven, so I did 325 for 2 hours. It was very tender and developed a lovely crust on the bottom; if you want them more even, turn them halfway through cooking. 

Enjoy. 

Grandma's Book - Snickerdoodles

Another recipe marked 'good!'.

Mine are flattish because I used all butter, as I had no shortening. 

These are very cinnamony. If you want them less spicy, use 1/2 Tbsp sugar. 

Grandma's Good Snickerdoodles (from cooks.com)

DOUGH

1/2 cup each butter and shortening, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 3/4 cups flour

Cream butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs. Add cream of tartar, soda, and salt; stir to combine. Add flour and mix well. Chill 2 hours or overnight.

COATING

3 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Roll chilled dough into balls by tablespoon, then roll dough balls in sugar mixture. 

Preheat oven to 375. Place balls on cookie sheets, 2 inches apart, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Grandma's Book - Beer Margaritas

For decades, my grandmother has been collecting recipes and saving them in binders. Unfortunately, in her old age she can no longer get around very well, let alone cook anything. 

I see her often, and we talk about everything, including cooking and recipes. Yesterday, she told me I could take her recipe binders home and keep them.

I am honored to have this privilege. 

I have flipped through them a few times, looking for things to try. When I saw the beer margaritas recipe, I smiled. I remember her being very excited about it; I think I was 18, and at 18 I was old enough to have a drink at family gatherings. Originally from Rachael Ray, this is an easy and delicious recipe that's perfect for Cinco de Mayo, taco night, or anytime. 

 

Beer Margaritas

4 12oz bottles of Mexican beer, like Corona

8oz tequila

1 12oz can frozen limeade concentrate

Lime wedges and salt to garnish

Combine beer, tequila, and limeade in a pitcher. Stir and serve with lime and salt.

Thanks Grandma. 

Homemade Imitation Crab

I really like mock crab and lobster. Since I couldn't find a recipe to make my own online, I made my own using facts I know about the mock crab I get at the grocery store:

1. It's made of whitefish.

2. It's firm, sweet, and buttery. 

3. Mock lobster and crab are interchangeable. 

I used cod, I suppose you could use just about any mild white fish. I used a little food coloring to give it 'the look':

It's not exactly the same, but it's great for recipes like crab rangoon or lobster mac n' cheese. You could probably even mix it with some mayo and throw it on a bun for a makeshift lobster roll. 

Mock Imitation Crab

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt 

1 Tbsp melted butter

1 Tbsp vinegar

3-5 drops red food coloring

6oz whitefish

Combine water, sugar, salt, butter, vinegar, and food coloring in a small baking dish. You should have enough liquid to cover the bottom of the dish, adjust as needed. Place fish in dish and cover. Bake at 300 for 45 minutes, 60 if frozen. Do not flip at any time -- you want the pink-to-white gradient. 

Transfer the cooked fish to a plate, discard liquid and allow fish to cool. Flake it with your hands into desired pieces. 

Must Have Hot Wings

I love a nice plate of chicken wings. Everyone has their preference; some like the whole wing, some like non traditional sauces, some bake, some fry, fresh, frozen, ranch, blue cheese...

I like wing parts. I like traditional buffalo sauce and lots of it. I like my wings crispy and thoroughly cooked. I don't want to do a lot of work, and I do want a lot of flavor. This is how I do mine. 

(Note: When you cook frozen wings for this length of time, they shrink a lot, about 50%. I like to cook them for a good long time so there's no greasy/gummy surprises. The butter in the sauce more than makes up for the lost fat.) 

Start with a bag of frozen wing sections. They're about $10 at the grocery store, and a bag holds 40-50, so it's a good deal.

You'll also need:

A baking sheet

Foil

Cooking spray

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

A microwave/oven safe dish, like Pyrex

Hot pepper sauce, like Frank's Red Hot

Butter

Celery and ranch or blue cheese, if desired

Preheat the oven to 400, maybe 425. My oven runs hot, so I set to 400. 

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Arrange desired amount of wings evenly, I can easily eat a dozen by myself... ;)

Spray the wings with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bake the frozen seasoned wings for 40 minutes.

While the wings are baking, microwave equal parts hot sauce and butter until the butter is melted. For a dozen wings, 1/4 cup each is a good amount. Stir and set aside. 

Transfer cooked wings to dish of sauce, stir to coat, and pop the dish in the oven for 10 minutes. If you have the patience, flip them and cook in the sauce for another ten minutes. Serve with celery and ranch or blue cheese if you like. 

And, lots of paper towels.

We're not fancy here. :)