Allan has always enjoyed custard and often used a mix to make it. However, with a little more work, we now make home made custard for desserts. This is not the pourable dessert custard (also called “creme anglaise”), but very similar to vanilla pudding. Only much better.
In the early summer, the kids often pick red blackberries. We enjoy them and occasionally have enough for a mixed berry jam. Oma told us the other day of a blackberry farm that had you pick berries for a very good price. We enjoyed picking around 30 pounds of blackberries and ate a pound or two also. They were very good.
Not wanting the berries to go to waste, we froze some, made fruit leather with some and Adrian made a pie. We used most of the berries for jam. It is wonderful on fresh sourdough bread! There are a lot of seeds in blackberries. If desired, strain part or all of the seeds.
This is a small batch jam recipe that uses very little sugar. For a sweeter jam, see notes.
Another recipe from Aunt Bonnie’s recipe box. We baked ours in a pie pan which worked very well also. The card did not included time to bake, but we just let our set up like a cookie.
One thing I really like about many of the recipes from Aunt Bonnie is the recipe makes a small amount. There was enough here for us, but no left overs. I am not sure when she copied this recipe, but when I looked it up, it looks like it was popular in the early 1960’s.
I am not sure where I originally found this recipe. I know that we made it a few times in our travels for potlucks so I have had it for all -most?- of the time I have been married. I never tell what the secret ingredient is until people have tried this recipe and say they like it. Most think it is coconut, so why ruin it for them?
The recipe says it makes 2 pies, but we usually bake it in a 9×13 casserole dish and cut it into squares. For a gluten free crust, see notes.
This is a good bread to have with chili or soup when you do not want plain cornbread. You can use yellow corn meal if you want, but we prefer to use white. It tastes great toasted and is a good base for BLT’s and other favorite sandwiches.
It is fun to play with bubbles all year. I enjoy them even more in the winter!
So, I never lose this recipe, I will share it here 🙂
Carol Ragsdale gave me this favorite muffin recipe in South Africa around 23 years ago. It is a great, basic recipe that can be changed in so many ways. Leave plain, add chocolate chips or blueberries, or reduce the milk slightly and make banana muffins. Experiment and see how many combinations you can come up with, but to get you started, check out the options at the end of the recipe.
Saffron bread is one of my favorite holiday breads. I think it is best warm with Thimbleberry jam, but raspberry is a good second choice.
This recipe calls for mixing the dough then letting it rise before kneading. We were not sure why, so we did an experiment. We made both dough “exactly” the same (used weights and did at same time) and we kneaded before rising on the one, and after kneading on the other. There is a difference in taste, but it was minimal. However, most everyone voted that kneading after the dough rose tasted better.
This bread drys out quickly. Be sure to cool it and wrap in an airtight bag or tin foil. It freezes well and tastes great toasted.
Thimbleberries are a raspberry like berry that Dad introduced us to many years ago in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I will happily eat as many as I can find.
But, since we are rarely in the UP when they are ripe, Daddy often buys jars of jam for us to enjoy at home. We have only made jam once, but it was the best jam ever (memories make things a lot better don’t they?)
We went on vacation with my parents and they were showing us around where Daddy spent summers and fun places we used to visit when my siblings and I were younger. One day Mom and Dad took the kids up Brockway Mountain and while they were gone, Allan and I surprised my parents with fresh jam with berries we had picked.
Mom really likes Red River Cereal and wanted me to try it. I agree. It is very good! However, it takes awhile to cook, so we decided to look for muffin recipes that use it. After cooling the muffins, we freeze them for an easy breakfast. Just remember to pull early so they can thaw out.
