Recipes by Arlene

I’m testing a new WordPress iPhone app that can be used for creating new posts or for moderating comments. Amazing that many of the functions that used to be reserved for computers can now be mastered on smartphones!

I'm going to post something on Mom's blog about the importance of food in family history. Some of you may know that I am very active in researching my family history. Part of a family's history revolves around the special dishes that family members prepare, especially around the holidays. Mom makes her famous deviled eggs that we have tried (with some success) to emulate. My wife, Lisa, is trying to learn her mother's potato salad recipe. She makes her own lasagna recipe that will be handed down to her daughters. Most of these recipes exist either in scribbled notes or in the head of the preparer. It's easy to copy the ingredients; it's the nuances that are difficult to reproduce. This blog was created, in part, to have my mother share her special recipes. Almost all of the recipes posted so far came from some other source. Mom made them her own by making minor changes to them.

Mom collected cookbooks. She would receive them as gifts from her friends or she would buy them when she went on trips with my father. She has given many cookbooks away to her friends and to my sister, but still has literally hundreds of them here with us.

I have recently come across several genealogical sites that talk about food and its relation to family history. Here are just a few of them:

• Genwriters
• Your ancestor in the kitchen
• Old Cookbooks
• Vintage Cookbooks

Arlene will be enjoying Thanksgiving Day with her family and has already made her famous deviled eggs for an early afternoon appetizer! She wishes everyone a safe, happy and bountiful holiday.

I recently found this recipe in a kitchen drawer. These taste great, especially when the weather is warm!

• 1 oz. Vodka
• 4 oz. Fresh grapefruit juice
• 1 oz. Cranberry juice

In tall glass combine ingredients over ice; stir. The color should be light pink.

Arlene is taking a break for a few weeks and will be “on holiday” until sometime in October. While she is gone, I will look through the archives and post some of the more interesting recipes.

Classic Julia Child on making an omelet!

Note from Steve: This is a recipe from my grandmother, May Chamberlain Cornelius. The recipe was contained within a short family history written by my aunt, Sandra Fanning.

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 5 Tbsp. raisin juice
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup cooked raisins
• 2 cups flour
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp. allspice
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 cups oatmeal
• ½ cup chopped nuts

Cook raisins in water; save liquid. Cream shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and blend in. Stir in raisins, the 5 Tbsp. of raisin liquid and nuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Lifehacker.com has posted a list of the five best recipe managers. Paper remains the top option, but there are some internet and software options to consider.

• 6 – 8 country style pork ribs
• 16 oz. catsup
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup dark corn syrup
• 2 tbls peanut oil
• 1 tsp dry mustard

Slightly brown ribs under broiler, turning once. Combine all other ingredients to make sauce in small saucepan. Heat 3 minutes on med. Heat, stirring constantly. Put sauce and ribs in crock pot and cook on low for about 8 hours (can also be in a 275 degree oven).

Select a standing aged prime rib roast.  Roast needs to be at room temperature prior to cooking – can sit out up to an hour before roasting.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle roast with salt on top, bottom and sides. Season with pepper.  Place meat fat side up in shallow roasting pan. Roast beef in lower third of oven 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and roast beef less than 30 minutes per pound.

Roast until meat thermometer reads 115 degrees and remove from oven. Transfer to cutting board and let stand 20 minutes. Beef will continue to cook as it stands reaching 125 degrees (medium rare).