Our first 6 months!

Working on this blog has brought us so much satisfaction, stirring up memories and connecting us to our ancestors in a deep and tangible way. We’ve made so many posts and discoveries and wanted to give you some of the highlights all together in one place. Click through to the recipes if you wanna check them out again! Enjoy this look back at our first 6 months of the blog.

Deanna and Emily decorating cookies together circa 1993.

Our biggest surprise/discovery moment:

Deanna’s - Impossible pie - this pie vaguely reminded me of coconut cream pie - definitely more dense but I love that flavor. I truly had no idea that there was a “pie” that I could make without having to pre-make a crust. Pies can be so time intensive in that way but this one was not AND it was simple and tasty. I think this is a pie a person could make in a pinch. Which is not something I thought I would say about a pie...ever.

Impossible Pie

Emily - butterscotch pie- I had the most enjoyable journey working on this recipe. There was not much to go on, but  I had an idea in my mind of what a delicious butterscotch pie custard would taste like. I wasn’t impressed with what we came up with on the first round of baking, but when I found the right combination, it was a pie I fell in love with. 

Butterscotch Pie

Tastiest recipe:

Deanna - lasagne or crisp ginger cookies - Lasagne is my favorite food and I have made and remade this recipe so many times since finding it. It is so much better for me to eat as a red-sauce dish rather than a cheesy noodle dish. The oregano really makes this amazing too. 

I have also made the crisp ginger cookies a few times. I love a crispy cookie that is filled with spices and I really had not used molasses that much before diving into these old recipes. It’s an excellent sweetener - so full of flavor.

Lasagne

Crisp Ginger Cookies

Emily - lemon cheese bars or chocolate cream popcorn - Even though I don’t commonly use cake mixes these days, when I tasted the lemon cheese bars, it was just like something I might get at a bakery. They are very sweet, lemony, and they hold together well. The kids and I also really enjoyed the chocolate popcorn, it was like eating candy! Definitely not something we would make all the time, but for a treat, it was so good.

Lemon Cheese Bars

Chocolate Cream Popcorn

Will definitely make again (and why):

Deanna - tomato soup cake - This was a spice cake to rule them all. Simple and thrifty with the use of tomato soup. Moist and full of spiced flavors - this cake was a hit and it was hard to not eat it all at once. I really like to have an unusual and extra complex tasting cake recipe in my tool-belt in case an occasion arises that requires me to bring one!

Tomato Soup Cake

Emily - glazed gingerbread sconces - This scone recipe was so great, it was like a warm spiced coffee cake with a rich icing. The combination of spices and the moisture of the dough were just right. This was another one of Gramma’s recipes that was written in a way that left a lot to be figured out, so I thoroughly enjoyed unlocking the mystery. I could see making this over and over again as a Saturday morning with coffee treat. 

Glazed Gingerbread Scones

Most nostalgic moment:

Deanna - refrigerator pickles + chex mix - The smell and taste of chex mix brings me back to the cabin and the smell of everything at grandpa and grandma's house. Warm and nutty! Pickles make me think of grandma - she always had pickles in the house. Always. I’ve always thought of pickles as being a family food - if you liked them, you were one of the family (as they were always set out on the table to eat with meals or with crackers and cheese). This may be an imagined sentiment but I was proud to be a pickle liker. 

Chex Mix

Refrigerator Pickles

Emily- gumdrop bread- When I think of gumdrop bread, I think of the Christmas box grandma used to send to our family when we lived in North Carolina. It was just a half loaf or so, but we enjoyed and savored every taste we got.

Gumdrop Bread

I’m so glad we are using this platform to archive these beloved recipes so we can visit them whenever we need a taste of home.