Mom's Pink Divenity

I'm sure this candy recipe has many variations , but if you were lucky enough to have
Mom make it for it almost always was PINK.

Butter and set aside a large cookie sheet.
Set two eggs out to come to room temperature.

In a 2 quart saucepan combine:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup (Karo)
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cook and stir till mixture dissolves and comes to a boil.
Lower heat to medium and cook without stirring to hard ball stage
(250 degrees on candy thermometer)
Remove from heat.

Separate the egg whites and beat till stiff.
Pour hot syrup SLOWLY over egg whites,
With electric mixer, at high speed , beat for 5 minutes.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla
Add a few drops red food coloring ...to make it PINK
Beat until mixture forms soft peaks and begins to lose its gloss.
* Variation- add 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, stir lightly.
Drop by spoonful onto buttered cookie sheet
* Mom's twist ..twirl to make a curly cue and add half a nut to top.

Mom's potato salad

Easter is almost here so it is time for potato salad. As with everything else Mom made I try hard to match her delicious potato salad. Some times I am really close but it's not perfect. I don't ever remember hers not being perfect. I think that her planning Easter "dinner" is what made it spring time for us. I know Truman the Easter bunny (you have to ask Trisha about Truman but not when Riley is around) came to our house first, just for the food! Mom tired to cook the potatoes the night before but usually she got them in the pot early Easter morning. It never was complete until Daddy had a taste or two and said " Momma, that is just right. Give me just another little bite"
Here goes, feel free to add to my recipe or change it in any way if you remember hers being different
Amounts vary depending on how much you want to make.

Potatoes boiled until just done. Let cool either over night or just enough to be able to handle. In the mean time cut up celery, onion, small sweet pickles. Peel and dice potatoes into a large bowl add a bunch of Kraft Miracle Whip (I was 20 years old before I knew there was "Mayonnaise"!) and add huge glob of mustard. Throw it all in the bowl with the potatoes and stir it up until you arm is tired. Salt and pepper to taste.
Taste it about 6 times to make sure you got it just right.
On Easter morning very early make sure you put a fresh carrot out for Truman the Easter Bunny and don't peek when he hides the colored eggs or he won't come back next year. HAPPY EASTER.

Corn Bread for Omlette Pan

This version of corn bread actually came from Daddy's mother and originated in Tennessee.Mom made it in a omelet pan which also came from Nano. Over the years we've all struggled to make it "Just like Mom's"Her special touch in everything she cooked and the original pan made it so wonderful. I am copying this off of a envelop which was mom's version of a recipe card.

2 cups Corn Meal ( Mom always used Aunt Jemima brand)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg 1/4 cup melted shortening
1 cup milk (room temperature)
vegtable oil

Add some oil to each side of omelet pan ,warm pan befor pouring batter.
Mix dry ingredients. add liquid, mix till smooth ( batter should constancy of thick pancake batter ,if too thick add more milk.)
Pour into greased omelet pan.Cook over medium heat. Do not turn until bubbles appear, turn quickly.
Brown on second side and carefully turn out of pan onto platter.
Slice and add gobs of butter.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

We're almost to St. Patrick's Day and Mom's traditional meal would be in her thoughts about now. Daddy was Scotch-Irish decent so we had to have the real thing.We all remember this meal well, I hope I can just come close to Mama's version.

Corned Beef and Cabbage(and other veggies too.)

4-5 lb. Corned Beef
3 tablespoon of pickling spices (if not included in meat package)
3 cups water
2 medium head of cabbage cut into 8 wedges
8-10 carrots
2 onions cut in fourths.
8-10 small red potatoes cut in wedges
white wine vinegar

I'm sure back in the day mom went to the butcher and ordered the corned beef.Today we cant do that,we only have packaged beef . So start with package of corned beef. and spices.A large tightly covered pan or a large crock pot.The corned beef, spices and 3 cups water cook over medium to low heat (tightly covered) for about 3 hours or in a crock pot on low heat over night. The spices usually come in the package of corned beef if not 3 tablespoons of pickling spices will substitute. After the meat is nice and tender add the cabbage,potatoes, carrots and onion.
Simmer for 20 minutes or till veggies are tender.

Serve on large platter top with plenty of vinegar.

Rice with Hamburger

This was one of Mom's inventions. we didn't know she struggled to feed us all sometimes, we thought she was the best cook in the world.This is quick and easy and so cheap!

Rice with Hamburger

1 cup white rice
1/4 lb. hamburger
1/4 onion chopped fine
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon beef broth
1/2 teaspoon salt

Brown rice in heavy skillet.
Lightly brown hamburger in separate pan
Add hamburger to rice, add onion. Cook lightly-just till onion is transparent.
Add water , beef broth and salt.
Return to boil, reduce heat to low and cover.
Cook 35 minutes or until rice is soft.

Sunday dinner

Okay first of all let's get this straight, lunch is for any other day of the week but Sunday. At least in Pearl's kitchen. Really, did you ever hear her say Saturday dinner and mean the noon meal? Nope it was only Sunday dinner! Not to long ago she asked me did I not ever fix Sunday dinners. Mom was with us during the summer and we cook out on weekends, so Sunday dinner was at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon with a salad and what every we grilled. It was tough trying to explain that one. Shamed me she did. Now "Sunday dinner" looms over me, starting Saturday afternoon. I guess if she could do it for all those years I can .... maybe!!!

So there was the most delicious smelling (and tasting) roast and gravy.....ummmm, also roasted potatoes, onions and carrots. Close your eyes, put yourself in her kitchen and you can smell it. Now don't cry! Usually green beans or asparagus were there too. Now what in the world did she do to a can of veggies that made them better than any I have ever fixed? Magic can opener or magic pans? Maybe just plain old bread and butter were on a plate to finish off the meal. Every thing was always hot when we sat down. Again magic? Daddy wouldn't let us even serve our plates until Momma sat down. No matter how hungry you were don't be a pig and serve to much, Daddy always saw! "My God, girl there's plenty for another serving" or "You are not leaving this table until you finish every bite" and if you really got his goat "Leave some for someone else" You shot back with your smallest voice "Yes, daddy" You only thought the mean things, you didn't ever mutter them. When the meal was over Daddy would say " you got a good scald on that one momma, thank you" and she would say "Thank you for providing it". Then came the long drawn out process of washing the dishes, partly long and drawn out because none of the beautiful princesses ever wanted to do dishes and then there was the fact that mom used almost every pot and pan in her kitchen. Soon after the battle of the dishes was over Daddy would say "Momma can you fix me a open face sandwich with the left overs" and it all started over again.
How did she do it? How did she do it?

Hillsboro ~ Grandma's Favorite Place in the Whole Wide World

Hillsboro’s history is a tale ripped from the pages of a western novel. Geronimo’s Apache tribe once roamed the rugged Black Range Mountains above where Hillsboro sits along the Percha Creek. The center of a thriving mining district that included Kingston and Lake Valley, in the 1880s the region’s rich silver strikes attracted thousands of treasure-seeking prospectors, who dug mines and tunnels with sweat and blood.


From hundreds of holes in the ground, miners produced millions of dollars worth of silver, attracting merchants, saloons, and madams seeking gold from another kind of digging. This pioneer community suffered from hunger, illness, Apache raids, and each other. Some did strike it rich. But these classic boom towns went bust, when in 1893 the price of silver took a permanent nose dive. People left in droves. From more than 10,000, fewer than 2,000 residents remained by the mid 1890s.




Hillsboro managed to survive, buoyed by gold mines in the area, and surrounded by area ranches that used the wild and rocky landscape for grazing cattle. The city served as the Sierra County seat of government from these territory days, until 1936.

Grandma was born in Hillsboro on July 20, 1917.

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Lynn's Tuna on Toast

Pearls kitchen was the center of our universe, not only as we were growing up but when we got married. Our kitchens were almost like clones of Mom's kitchen. We had our own style and newer stuff but there was always loaners from Mom, a grater, bowl, even a spoon. These loaners were treasures to us. We developed some of our own recipes and we always had to try them out in Pearl's kitchen when we got a chance. I remember one summer Lynn fixed us Tuna on Toast! Now something so simple was always a hit with mom (if she liked the taste) because almost everything she cooked was a "big" meal to please Daddy. Lynn shared this with us and I still make it with such wonderful memories of our childhood.

Lynn's Tuna on Toast

1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of chopped celery
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1 can of tuna (drained)
2 tbsp butter, or margarine

Saute onion and celery in butter until it smells like you want to eat it out of the pan right away. Add cream of chicken soup with about 1/2 can of water. Stir until there are no soup chunks left. Add tuna, break it up a little as you stir it in. Pour a Pepsi.

Make some toast with or without buttering it, your choice. Lynn cut the toast in 4ths, again your choice. On your favorite plate place toast and spoon hot tuna mix over it. Pile some Lay's potato chips on your plate. Now with your Mom and sisters laugh and eat and go "ummmm".

Grandma and Nanny

I took this picture Thanksgiving 2005. It was a memorable holiday because it was one of the few times we were all together. Me, Mom, Leah and Deborah, Aunt Lynn, Chicky and Danny, Aunt Janis, Trish, Warren and Brandon and of course Grandma and Nanny. I don't remember ever being at Grandma's for Thanksgiving before that, although I'm sure we must have been. We all sat around the dining room table and I'm sure some of us kids sat at the bar. The food was great as it always was. I took so many pictures that year but this was my absolute favorite.

Mom's Sopaipillas and Hot Chocolate

Growing up in Deming in the "50's" was a fond memory for most of us. Our neighborhood was safe and secure. We all played together and looked out for each other. Looking back now I realize that Mom made it such a special place. Daddy was out of town most weeks, so Mom managed on her own She had a playful spirit and made most things fun. (except cleaning our room!)
We used to spend hours dancing. Sometimes we were in our socks polishing the wood floor.
Mom made breakfast a treat when she could, her budget was slim.
I guess we were poor, but so was everyone we knew. One of my most memorable breakfasts was sopaipillas and hot chocolate, what a treat on a cold morning.

Sopaipillas
Makes 4 dozen medium sopaipillas

3 cups sifted flour
2 Tb. baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 Tb. lard Shortening (not oil) can be substituted
Approximately 1 cup warm water, more can be added if needed.
2 inches shortening in heavy skillet.

Mix all dry ingredients together till thoroughly combined. Cut in shortening.
you can use a pastry cutter. Mom used her hands.
Add warm water to dry ingredient and work into dough.
Knead for 10 minutes or until smooth
Divide into donut sized pieces. let dough rest.

Heat 2-inches of shortening in heavy skillet at medium to high heat.

Roll each ball out to 1/8 inch thickness on lightly floured surface.
Cut dough into four sections and make a small slit in the center of each.
Fry until golden brown on each side. (If shortening is sufficiently hot sopaipilla will puff and become hollow, forming the coveted big bubble, to fill with hot chocolate)!
Drain on paper towels.

Hot Chocolate
makes six servings

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
dash of salt
1/3 cup hot water
4 cups milk
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix sugar cocoa salt in saucepan.
Stir in water.
Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils.
Boil and stir 2 minutes.
Stir in milk and heat, DO NOT BOIL
Remove from heat.
Add vanilla.

Memories of Grandma's house

My happiest memories of being a child all have Grandma in them. I wish that I could re-create the summer nights at Grandma's house for my children. It was such a treat to be out in the beautiful yard on the grass playing Mother May I? and Red Light Green Light with all of my cousins and my Grandma. After we were all worn out she would bring out the blankets so that we could lay down and count the stars. On the really good nights we got her wonderful pop corn and fresh lemonade along with stories of her childhood.
The "grown up" recipes that we share on here are great but it's the memories of the "kid" food that Grandma made for us that make me smile the most. One of my favorites was (and still is) her special hot dogs. Nothing complicated, just a weenie (yes a weenie-what else are you going to call it?) sliced almost all of the way through (long ways of course) seared in a very hot pan until it was almost black then put on a piece of brown bread. No mustard, ketchup (pronounced cats up by Grandma and she hated it) or relish. Those were the BEST hot dogs that I have ever had! Maybe it was the fact that the last time I remember her fixing those I was a teenager and it was just her and I sitting in the kitchen eating and talking. I still remember that day so well. We ate so many of those silly hot dogs! She was explaining to me the very important fact that women need to wear a bra EVERY day ALL day or suffer the consequences of sagginess later on in life. I know, I know I should have listened to that advice a lot better!
Another of my favorites that I cannot duplicate no matter what I try is her macaroni and cheese with tomatos and black pepper. I can have come close but it's never quite the same. Maybe I can do it right one day when I am making it for my grandbabies.

Grandma's Spanish Rice

2 Cups of long grain white rice
1 can of crushed or chopped tomatoes
1 bell pepper
1 medium white or yellow onion
4 tablespoons of oil

In a large frying pan (with a tight fitting lid) or an electric skillet heat oil. Add chopped onions and bell pepper. Saute until onions are just starting to turn clear and add rice. Stirring constantly, continue to saute until rice is browned. (this is one of the best smells in the world by the way) When rice is browned (you all know the color it should be) add one can of chopped or crushed tomatos and two cans (yep same can) of water. Salt. (you are on your own on how much salt-just be sure to add it with the water). Very important-----DO NOT STIR AFTER YOU ADD THE WATER!!!!!!!! Grandma's rule!!!!! Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to a simmer. Put the lid tightly on the pan and let it cook until all of the water is cooked out and the rice is tender. THEN and ONLY then fluff with a fork.

Now for the rice story. Just a very few months ago Uncle Roger brought Grandma out to my house for Sunday lunch. I was making enchiladas, beans and Spanish rice. While I was cooking Grandma was keeping me company from the dining room. There are three steps up to my kitchen so she had to stay down in the other room but we could still talk and she could still supervise! I had heated the oil for the rice in an electric skillet. When I added the rice to the hot oil it blew up like I had thrown fire crackers in the pan!!! From the hot oil burning the back of my hand and the POP of the rice I jumped and threw rice all over my kitchen. While I was cussing and crying our dear sweet little Grandma Pearl was laughing like I hadn't seen her laugh in years! Even though she was in a wheel chair about 12 feet away and 3 feet lower than I was she saw me throw that rice everywhere! Oh how she laughed and clapped her hands at my mistake. She was still snickering when we sat down to eat and she saw the rice on her plate! That day she cleaned her entire plate! Enchiladas, beans and rice! Even though my hand was fried we had such a wonderful day! I ended up with a scar on the back of my hand that makes me smile every time I look at it now!

Chili Con Carne

This picture of mom was taken in Hillsboro on the steps of "Tom Ling's cafe where she worked. She was so thrilled to sit on those steps again.
One of the wonderful unique recipes Mom taught me was her very delicious Chili Con Carne. She would use only Gebhardt's chili powder, any chili powder is okay, but just okay not perfect and just like the Butterball turkey any other brand was not acceptable for HER cooking.


She told me a story of when she was working in a cafe in Hillsboro for Tom Ling. She and one of the Cunningham girls were making chili con carne for their own lunch one day when the owner Tom Ling came in. Tom Ling had a small command of the English language is seems so when he found them cooking in his kitchen. Mom said he told them "You G**damn girls get out my kitchen. I show you G**damn girls how cook chiwe con cowny" any way that's how mom said he talked! So I don't know if the recipe was from Tom Ling or a "Pearl Original"


Chili Con Carne:

• a couple of pounds of lean ground beef chopped onions (more for my family less for others)
• a Tbsp of flour
• a clove or two minced garlic (again more for me)
• 1 can whole of crushed tomatoes (mom hated stewed tomatoes)
• a couple of tablespoons of Gebhardt chili powder ( taste it to figure out how much)
• salt
• cumin and oregano

Brown meat with onion and garlic. Add flour to browned meat, if you don't have any fat cooked out of the meat add some oil, just enough to absorb flour. Stir in flour and brown just a little more. Add tomatoes, (if whole smash them with your fingers like mom did). Add about a cup of water, you might need more if it thickens too much. In a cup mix chili powder slowly with water to make about half a cup. Add this mixture to the meat mixture. Salt and spices to your taste. Cook as fast or as slow as you desire or depending on time you have until Daddy comes home for supper! Measurements are not precise, you gotta figure it out for yourself. Practice makes perfect!!

Mom's Magic Enchiladas

Mom's Enchiladas were truly Magic.

Whenever any one of us came home

with troubles, Mom would whip up some

enchiladas and the world would be right again!
Oh what comfort she gave us all with her magic enchiladas!

PREPARE RED CHILE

*12 Mild dried red chile pods-cut tops off, and take seeds out

*Roast chile in oven at 350 10 minutes

*Wash chile throughly under cold water

*Boil chile 20 minutes in 4 cups cold water or until plumps

*Blend throughly, Strain,set aside

MAKE SAUCE

* In skillet brown 5 tabl. flour in 1/4 cup oil

*Add prepared chile and 2 cups water

*Add 2 cloves crushed garlic,salt to taste

*Simmer until chile starts to thicken

ASSEMBLE ENCHILADAS

*Grate 1 lb. sharp cheddar cheese

*Finely chop 1/2 onion

*Fry gently 2 dozen corn tortillas

Slowly add fried tortillas to chile sauce 2 at a time , just to coat. Carefully remove tortillas, sprinkling generously with cheese and onion . Enchiladas can be layered or rolled. Pour extra chile sauce over top. Add extra cheese, serve and feel the MAGIC!

Recipe for a perfect 'Tea Party'

So, this isn't really an official 'recipe' but it's a great memory of how Grandma always went out of her way to make sure that us grandkids had fun. 

I remember when I was little and wanted to have a Tea Party with my dolls. Grandma would make me a little plate of gingersnaps (with butter on them, of course!) and take me outside to the little, round black wrought iron table. We would set up my dolls around the table and enjoy the cookies with milk. It was hours of fun. Who would have thought you could make a gingersnap taste any better?

Salsa Recipe

The genius of their salsa:

I remember sitting in Nanny's tiny kitchen watching her make salsa in her worn wooden bowl with her incredibly efficient and worn chopper (officially known in the culinary world as a mezzaluna). I remember grandma would sometimes use the coveted silver aluminum cup to chop her chili...whoever won the fight to use that cup for their ice tea always had a tingling sensation from the lingering chili.

• fire roasted green chili (peeled and seeded)
  
• garlic cloves
• fresh tomatoes, peeled (fire-roasted or boiled, mom help??)
• salt to taste
• fresh lime juice (deb and i added this i think)

add garlic to wooden bowl and chop fine, add green chili and tomatoes and roughly chop, season with salt and lime juice.

The other picture

Of the thirty or so photos I took that evening this photo and the one below are the only ones with that interesting glow...personally I think Aunt Lynn was there...what do you all think?

One of my favorite pictures

I took this picture of Grandma and Trisha up at Aunt Janis' house Thanksgiving 2004. To me it is a beautiful and magical picture. The steadfast pride and regal air that Grandma always exhibited in photographs is completely softened by Trish's arm's around her. And then there is the ghostlike image above their heads. Believe me, if you look at all my photo's taken that night there are only two pictures with that ghostlike image above them...

Hello Everyone

Mom and Aunt Janis decided we need a place to all come together to start gathering recipes, stories and anything you'd like to add about Grandma Pearl. Eventually, we could put together a book dedicated to all those wonderful recipes sprinkled with little "Pearls" of wisdom that we all remember so well.