Category Archives: Breads

Our Aunt Wanda Belle Tacy/And Lemons. #lemons

Posted in Breads, Breakfast, Circleville, Cookies, Dessert, Dinner, Family Stories, French Desserts, Fruit by

imageI like lemons and put them in my water all the time. But I’ve never met anyone who liked lemons more than my Aunt Wanda. Through the years she put lemons in everything she made from  cookies, cakes, frosting, candies, puddings and tarts. She served lemonade  and lemon sherbet. She was a great cook and prepared many meals for everyone she knew and if you took the time while eating you’d probably taste a hint of lemon in most things she made. She said the secret ingredient in most things was lemon. Added to spaghetti sauce or chili brought out the flavors of all the other vegetables  It makes me sad to think that my sweet aunt passed away on August 31, 2016. But I can’t dwell on that for long because she was so ready to see her Living God as she would say and point to heaven while in her hospital bed. Still she fought hard to get rid of the pneumonia in her lungs. She would try to eat even when she wasn’t hungry. She’d sit up and cough and take small steps around the room. But in the end  she was really sick and very weak and she told me we have to trust God because He knows what’s best for us. 🙏

I have made lemon squares in her honor and I’m asking any of you to fix your favorite lemon recipe and send it to me and I will add it to this blog. She would have  liked this. Happy cooking! 🍋🍋🍋

image.jpegMix crust with 1/2 c butter, 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Place in the bottom of an 8×8 pan or tart pan like I did here. Bake 335 degrees for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking mix 2eggs, 1 cup sugar, 2 T flour, 2 T fresh lemon juice and the jest of I lemon.

When the crust is done pour the mixture on the hot crust. Put in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

PS  A special note of thanks to Lindsay’s Bakery for the delicious lemon coffee cake I took to Aunt Wanda at the hospital to help her and Uncle Bob celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. She liked it so much she ate two pieces and we still had plenty to pass out to all the nurses on her floor. 💕

Country Craft Fairs/Homemade Biscuits and Sausage

Posted in Breads, Breakfast, Family Stories, U.S. South by

imageRecently on Facebook I was reminded of how fun our country’s outside fairs are. All  over Georgia, Tennesse, Alabama, North and South Carolina I have enjoyed participating in southern outdoor craft fairs. From spring until fall these craft fairs bring people together with music, food and expert craftmenship from all over the country. I have made wreaths and baskets and different handcrafted items but my favorite has always been cooking. It started one year when I brought homemade biscuits and fried sausage to make for our breakfast before the fair opened. The other artists started early setting up their booths and when the smell of the fresh biscuits and the frying of the sausage filled the air, here they came. They were willing to pay whatever I asked. So the next day I prepared a little better with help from dear friends, Diane Corn, Bea Chadburn and Don Bright who stayed up late to help me make and bake biscuits. It seemed no matter how many biscuits we made, we always sold out. Here’s the recipe for biscuits from our sweet Mimi Short.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Add  2 cups self-rising flour to mixing bowl and rub in 3 heaping T of shorting or butter. Add 1 cup buttermilk and work it together. Pour onto surface and roll out the thickness you want for your biscuits. Cut with floured cutter and place not touching onto a greased pan. Bake about 10-12 minutes or ’til the color of brown you like. Add cooked sausages or bacon. I alway have mustard and jelly available!

 

California/ Blueberry Muffins

Posted in Breads, Breakfast, Fruit, U.S. west coast by

I love baking in Alycia’s kitchen. The view from her window is spectacular and since you don’t have to worry about flying bugs she leaves the glass double doors open. She lives up high in the hills of Santa Barbara and you can see all the way to the ocean. The wind is almost always blowing and yet the sun is warm. Since I had hidden some of these delicious blueberries we picked at the blueberry farm I had enough left to make blueberry muffins with pecans this morning.

 

Outside Santa Barbara//Blueberries

Posted in Breads, Breakfast, Fruit, Siblings, U.S. west coast by

Besides eating all you want of these luscious blueberries we were able to bring enough home to make this wonderful blueberry buckle recipe from a grandmother of one of Alycia’s friends. I love recipes passed down through the generations. As you can tell from the picture Heather and her younger kids and I are visiting my sister and her family again in Southern California for our yearly reunion.image

Found a new recipe for Thanksgiving/Pumpkin Nut Casserole

Posted in Breads, Breakfast, Circleville, Lunch, sandwiches by

 

This is so good you need to put it with your Thanksgiving recipes. I was just making it because I’m going through these cook books to find 31 different ones to make and what a treat! It’s delicious and simple. What more do you need at holidays when you’re fixing so many things. And it would freeze well, if you can keep it from your family long enough. It’s better than the picture and you could do this instead of the sweet potato casserole. The glaze is the best part and could be used on other recipes as well. These next two recipes have dates, which I love, but you could use raisins or both, if you’d prefer. Again they freeze well.

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I think the typed recipes straight from the book are so adorable too! 

 

ELEANOR SPICER WAS MUCH MORE THAN A FIFTIES HOUSEWIFE / Zucchini Bread and Apple Crisp

Posted in Breads, Circleville, Dessert, Other Stories by

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They call her generation the “greatest generation” and with good reason. People who were born around the 1920’s to 1930’s have such pride in their country. They salute the flag and stand and sing when they hear The National Anthem. They’ve seen war and depression. They stood in lines for essentials like bread and ladies hose, which were very important to the women of that day. They had to work hard for everything they had. So therefore, they appreciated everything they earned. When the fifties came along and everyone could take a deep breath and enjoy life, they did.

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TV shows from then were The Donna Reed Show and Father Knows Best which showed mothers staying home and raising children and running the household. Mrs. Eleanor Spicer did this with ease. Even with keeping up with her children Stephen Craig and Anne Claire’s needs and washing and ironing before the iron free fabrics came out. She cooked every day and baked wonderful pies and cakes and cookies and breads. Depending on which day of the week you were there, you would see her counter fill up with the variety of her sugar creations. Friday was the day I often got to come over so I was lucky to get to sample many of her different baked things, that is if there were still some crumbs left!! One of my favorites is the zucchini nut bread. Here is her recipe written, of course, in her own handwriting.

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Although Mrs. Spicer was very good at running her household, she was very involved in many other projects as well. She was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church in Circleville, Ohio and prepared some of her finest foods for functions there. She also managed to play bridge and we all know that’s not the easiest of card games. Eleanor enjoyed writing for the Historical Society and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution ( DAR ). She worked at the polls during elections and belonged to The Republican Party. But I have a favorite memory of a position she held and that was of my Girl Scout leader. She took this unpaid job, as I’m sure she did all of her other unpaid positions, very seriously! For us girls to earn any of our badges we had to do exactly as the book stated. I can remember hiking in the parks around Circleville, like Old Mans Cave and Deer Creek. If the book said three miles we didn’t walk even a few steps short of that either. We learned the importance of following rules and felt the pride when we completed the task. There were no badges for trying, only in completion. And I feel sorry for the kids today that get unearned trophies. They will never feel the pride I do, even today, when I look at my badges with such a sense of earned accomplishment. Thank you Eleanor Spicer for taking the time!

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Here is another one of her family favorites, Apple Crisp.

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 Cinnamon Rolls Anyone?

Posted in Breads, Breakfast, Family Stories by

I selected my grandson, Austin, who is 13, to help me with these rolls. He likes cooking and eating so it’s a great combination. The recipe is found on most flour bags but here is a simple one I follow.

   Most of the time I measure out everything early, even the day before sometimes, then it’s easier to put together without all the other ingredients out. Mix up the dough and put on the coffee while it rises.

David Yaussy, my brother in law in West Virginia, makes these cinnamon rolls when the family gets together. When his sons went off to college one of the first questions they called and asked was “Hey, Dad, how do you make those cinnamon rolls?”  One by one, he has three, he has taught them how to fix them. So I guess this is it a Yaussy Family tradition and my grandson, Austin,  has always felt he was part Yaussy. He has always liked following in his big cousins foot prints. Here is Brandon Yaussy enjoying his Dad’s caramel rolls! Just another version of the same sweet roll recipe.