Pasties are popular in Calument where Daddy spent a lot of time growing up. He said that Petila’s taxi in Calumet would often take his family to McLain park and then come back at a prearranged time to take them home. His grandmother made them also. There are many recipes for pasties, but all are similar.
Feel free to experiment with the basic recipe. We often make the pasties with cubed meat instead of ground. Be careful not to over stuff the crust, it is much better to have leftover filling! If you can find it, replace part–or all– of the carrots with rutabaga for a more traditional taste.
When serving, I like them best with a little extra butter. Some people serve them with gravy. My mom eats them with ketchup.
I never had ginger beer until we lived in Swaziland. It was a great drink for hot days, but we did not make it often. The recipe our friend gave us was very good but required the mix to ferment a few days before drinking. We rarely planned far enough ahead, or we let it sit too long, so enjoying ginger beer was rare.
Then we discovered this recipe. We often make extra base to freeze. It defrosts quickly and is a nice beverage to enjoy on lazy summer days.
We prefer this with sugar, but it also tastes good with raw honey.
Another version that we enjoy is replace the water with very strong peppermint tea that has been cooled and strained.
I discovered some date sugar at a discount store and really wanted to try it. I had read that you could interchange it with brown sugar, but it did not mix in as well as regular sugar did.
We decided to start with our favorite cookies and experiment. The cookies are soft and cake like, but very good! I thought they were a little to sweet, so next time I will reduce the sugars. But everyone else thought they were perfect.
These cookies work well with regular flour if you do not want them gluten free.
Growing up, I can only remember eating strawberry rhubarb pie. I was happy to learn that plain rhubarb pie is so much better than strawberry rhubarb!
Allan and I were given this recipe many years ago when we were first married. This is the pie we make most often and will eat it often while the rhubarb lasts. We also try to freeze some rhubarb for a special treat later.
Andrea loves Saltine crackers. She was very happy to discover this easy candy recipe that uses the crackers to add a nice crunch.
These double easily, but Andrea recommends not making more than you want for the day because they are very addictive and you will easily eat more than you plan.
Grandma Bea would make pizzelles and store them in tin coffee containers. After she died, my parents bought a pizzelle maker and passed the recipe on to Andrea.
I can not remember the first time we bought the kids mango lassies at a restaurant. I think they were little and we were heading home from vacation. Everyone was tired and hungry and Allan decided to treat us to an Indian restaurant. The three (at the time) children loved Indian food, but because they were all so tired, they were only interested in the mango lassies Allan ordered for them.
The first time Andrea made this recipe, a few years later, she did not realize that she needed to peel the mangoes before blending. It was not the best lassi she has ever made, but it is the most remembered.
Since she first copied this recipe in Sept 2012, Andrea has experimented and changed it slightly depending on what ingredients we had and what flavor she wanted. This however, is still her favorite combination.
Whenever we go to Calumet, Michigan, Daddy stops to buy us saffron bread or saffron rolls. Often he buys extra and brings some home to freeze until Easter. My rolls are not quite as pretty as the ones he buys, but they sure taste great!
Pasties are popular in Calument where Daddy spent a lot of time growing up. He said that Petila’s taxi in Calumet would often take his family to McLain park and then come back at a prearranged time to take them home. His grandmother made them also. There are many recipes for pasties, but all are similar.
