Recipes for remembering
Yellowed treasures from times past bring memories to life
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igging through closets, drawers and hidey-holes in our family farmhouse, I’ve found a number of keepsakes. It makes me wonder if the person placing them knew at the time that these family pictures, embroidered hankies, and handmade quilts were being tucked away for a long sleep. The greatest treasure, however, has been a large, dusty wooden box of cookbooks and several tin boxes of meticulously handwritten recipe cards and handy household tips cut from the newspaper and attached with yellowed tape. For me (a cook who learned at her Aunt Mary’s knee), it was like finding a treasure beyond price — a warm, comforting connection to those I miss. The books, many of them fundraising efforts from churches and organizations, feature notes in the margins, and even an emphatic “NO” by one or two. Food stains on a particular page signal a favorite. From the looks of one book, some of the recipes were clearly used more than once.
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Carole Howell is an independent writer in Lincoln County. Learn more about her at walkerbranchwrites.com
By Carole Howell
Recipe Granny’s Egg Custard
With eggs and milk being plentiful on the farm, there’s no telling how many of these pies were baked and consumed. 4 eggs 1 cup sugar ¼ cup butter melted (half a stick) 2 cups milk Pinch of salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ½ cup all purpose flour Preheat oven to a moderate temperature (350 degrees). Whip all ingredients together, and pour into a buttered pie pan (9-inch standard size or deep dish). Bake for an hour or until center is firm. Makes its own crust. Serves 8
Recipe Mary’s Chicken and Dumplings
If there are eggs, there are chickens. If you’re hungry, does it really matter which came first? Today you can purchase pre-made frozen dumpling strips. I use a rotisserie chicken and prepared broth, and I sometimes add chopped onion and celery and even a can of cream of chicken. This one, however is my family’s basic recipe, and the baking powder makes the dumplings fluffy and filling. 1 hen 2 cups plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder Butter the size of a walnut (half a stick) ½ teaspoon salt Boiling broth (enough to create a dough) In a large pot, stew hen in enough water to cover until the meat is tender and falling away from the bones. Remove the hen and set aside to cool. Skim the broth and strain out any gristle or bone that may be at the bottom. While the chicken cooks, make your dumplings. Mix all of the dry ingredients and work in the butter to a consistency of coarse meal. Gradually add enough hot broth to make a ball of dough. Chill. Roll your dough thin and cut it in 1-inch strips. Bring broth to a rolling boil. Tear the dumpling strips into smaller pieces. Lay the dumpling pieces one at a time on top of the boiling broth. If you must stir, lift gently from the bottom of the pot. Once all the dumplings are cooking, reduce the heat to low and cook until the dumplings are puffy and tender. Add more water if necessary. Remove all meat from the hen and cut into smaller pieces. Add the chicken just before you’re ready to serve.
34 FEBRUary 2014 Carolina Country
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1/13/14 10:45 AM