Three New Testament Bible Study Guides from Grandma's Bible

People, who used Have You Got Mustard? study guide to grow their faith, have asked me when I might do another Bible Study.  This summer I put together three books to cover studying the New Testament (NT).  These guides are in a study series based on my Grandma's Bible.  Each book includes my Grandma’s notes and selected verses she highlighted for personal study.

Every Christian should know what the Holy Bible says for themselves.  Study guides help  Christians dive deeper into God’s Word. All Christians should study Acts and Revelation so they know what is there. Studying the Gospel is an excellent way for new Christians to learn who Jesus is. Some say the four Apostles writing the Gospels seem to report things differently or even contradict each other. Consider how a detective investigates and interviews multiple witnesses. Each witness give the detective information based on their viewpoint so he can form the full story of what actually happened.  So each Apostle shares the story of Jesus from their unique perspective.

Below are details on these books and the subtitles link to Amazon to purchase 5x8” paperback or Kindle ebook .  For group study, discussion questions are provided at the end of each Bible book covered.

1.      Grandma's Bible: Letters to the Body of Christ is on the letters to the seven churches from the Apostle Paul, published June 18, 2018.		The Bible books covered include: Romans I Corinthians II Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians I Thessalonians II Thessalonians
2.      Grandma's Bible: Letters to the Followers of Christ is on letters to Christians, published July 10, 2018.		Books covered include: I Timothy II Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James I Peter II Peter I John II John III John Jude
3.      Grandma's Bible: The Gospel and Signs of Christ is on the 4 Gospels, so Christians learn who Jesus is. It includes signs of Jesus in "The Acts of the Apostles" and of his second coming in "Revelation of Saint John the Divine", published July 24, 2018.		The Bible books covered include: Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Revelation

Why did I choose these cover colors?  Green is for spiritual Growth, which was the purpose of letters written to Christians.  Red represents Words (and Blood) of Christ, so the books of the Bible in that guide include lots of red-letter text for Jesus speaking.

All the above guides recommend studying the Bible using at least two versions and have lots of space for note-taking.  This can be done with versions of print Bibles or on-line.  Verses in these Bible Study guides to re-read are formatted so they may be easily copied from e-book version to paste into electronic Bibles.  Underlined verses are those that included a handwritten margin note by my Grandma, which shows in the image at beginning of personal study. 

BibleGateway.com is an excellent source of multiple Bible versions on-line.  Check out how to view multiple versions on one screen from their instructional blog post.   If you want to dive deeper for your notes, BibleGateway also has a few  FREE options under the Study link.  This link is to the right of the verses.  To find out about these options, check out how to use commentaries, study Bibles, and more on their blog.  

Interesting finds in the week following publication of last book in NT series when doing searches of my chosen series name. I found a few wonderful things to share.  On the Godly Women Blog,  I found examples of Christian grandmothers, each of which reminded me of parts of my own Grandma's character.  On Nona Kelley Carver's poetry site, I found a poem about her Grandma's Bible.  (You can find my poetry ebooks or my business books on my blogs.)  Also there was  that this old "Grandma's Bible" song from 2008 album recording by the Heritage Singers.  These song lyrics emphasize the importance of both Grandmas and the Holy Bible.  You can still buy the vintage CD on Amazon or on the singers website from the link above.  Lastly, I found this audio story regarding a lost/found Grandma's Bible on Guidelines International Ministry site.

Grandma's Apricot Fried Pies Recipe

Before the holiday season, I dig out my Grandma's handwriten recipe books and her recipe box of favorite clippings and recipes to share with friends and relatives on this blog.  Grandpa grew both apricot and peach trees, so Grandma had many recipes for both fruits.  Previously I shared her recipe for Apricot Nectar Cake. Recently I found her clipping for our other old family favorite of her apricot hand-held fired pies.  YEA!  

A plate of six of her pies often fetched the highest price at baked-good auctions held at Grandma's church to get money to send to missionaries.  My sweet Grandma found that both flattering and embarrassing, but mostly if caused her to giggle at those events.  Grandma loved it when people wanted her food, baked goods or meal-tiem favorites.

I still remember the first time my newly teenage son had one of her pies for dessert when we were visiting (as a kid he turned his nose up at any dessert that was not cookies).  He loved it and asked if he could have another one, Grandma said yes and he gobbled up his 2nd pie.  Then before we left he asked if he could have another to take home for his dad to try (I told him I was pretty sure his dad had already had them in the past).  Grandma was thrilled he like the pies so much, she said as long as there would be 4 pie left for her and Granpa to have or dessert that day and the next he could take home two pies for him as his dad.  He ate his pie as soon as he got home!  Then when his dad came home from work he insisted he try it right then as it was so delicious!  His wonderful dad offered to split it with him before I could let him know that the boy already had 3 of them that day! 

Easy Tips for Pie Filling! 

• I had asked my youngest aunt if she knew the secret to the pies. She told me that Grandma would often skip the reconstituting and mashing of the dried apricots in her recipe and use Apricot baby food instead.  This made it easier for her to keep the fruit on hand and save some time as well by just mixing the sugar into the apricots and then spreading that onto dough.
• Another way to shorten the process is to not make filling at all.  Instead, use prepared Apricot jam or preserves (not jelly) for the filling and do not add sugar.  Since Grandma canned fruit, I feel pretty sure she did this as a shortcut too when she had the fruit instead of spending grocery money on baby food. 

Short URL for sharing recipe = https://tinyurl.com/4az6388r 

Apricot Fried Pies 

Yield: About 5 dozen 

Crust Ingredients:

4 cups all-pupose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1 cup cold water

Steps:

1. Combine flour and salt in large bowl.
2. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Using a tablespoon, add in water  a little at a time but sprinkling evenly over mixture surface; stir with a fork until ingredients are moisteed.
4. Shape into a ball and chill.

Filling Ingredients:

1 - 6 oz. package of dried apricots (or see tips above) 
1/2 cup sugar

Steps:

1. Placed dried apricots in a medium saucepan; add water to cover them.  
2. Cover pan and cook over low heat 15 minutes or until tender. 
3. Mash apricots, add sugar; set aside.

Assembly Steps:  

1. Divide dough in half.  Roll  dough portion to 1/8th-inch thickness on a slightly floured surface,  
2. Cut rolled dough into 3 1/2 inch circles using a wide-mouth glass or jar, if you do not have a cookie cutter that size.
3. Spoon a eaping teaspoon of apricot filling on half of each circle.
4. Moisten edge of each circle with water.  Fold circles in half; press edges together with a fork dipped in flour.
5. Repeat with other portion of dough.

Cooking Steps:

1. Heat 1/2-inch of vegetable oil to 375 degrees in a large skillet.  
2. Fry pies until golden brown, turning once.  Watch that they do not burn!
3. Drain well on paper towels.
4. If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or garnish with dried apricots.

Grandma’s Chocolate Mud Pie Cookies or Vanilla Tea Cakes Recipe

Grandma P's Cookie Cutter

When I was a child, I along with my siblings and cousins loved a cookie my Grandmother made called Mud Pies.  Her daughters named the cookies that because they thought they looked just like the mud pies that they made when playing outdoors.  One of my cousins mentioned on Facebook that she wishes she had this recipe to make for her own grandchildren.  I knew I once had it so I thought I would try to find it for her.  I decided to post it here so any of my extended family can access it easily.

The recipe was actually placed in a 1979 Church cookbook by my mother.  I knew the Grandma’s basic recipe was called Tea Cakes so I looked for that.  To my pleasure, I found the recipe with notes I took from my Grandma about converting the recipe to make the chocolate version she called Mud Pies.  When she gave me the notes, she told me tablespoons for chocolate part so the first batch I made was so bitter I ended up tossing them.  When I told her about it, she laughed and said “Oh did it sound like tablespoon, it should be level teaspoons.”  Below is the basic vanilla recipe with Grandma’s prep notes, followed by notes to make the chocolate version correctly, and how to make the basic recipe into Grandma’s “company coming” and/or “bake sale” fancy version with fruit.

Helpful Hints: 

·         When my mother made the cookies, she made them small circles so that we did not eat them all up in a day.  When Grandma made them, hers were usually larger than our child-size hand.  Both women used cookie cutters for fancy shapes (Grandma’s was a metal 3” flower shape like the one pictured) and different sizes of drinking glasses to make round cookies.  Whether using cookie cutter or glass, each had a small hill of flour outside the rolling area to roll the edges in to keep dough from sticking to what they were using to cut with.

·        The recipe calls for a dough board, but my Mom just placed two long pieces of wax paper overlapping the sides on her table to put flour on to roll out dough.

Basic Tea Cakes

Dough Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup Crisco
2 cups flour
½ cup sweet milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Grease cookie sheet(s).
2. Mix dough.
3a. (optional) This dough can be used immediately to make drop cookies. However, you need to pat the drops down flat with floured fingers.
3b. Or to make cookie-cutter cookies, chill dough for 1 hour.  Roll dough out on floured dough board with chilled floured roller.  Then cut-out cookies with cookie cutter.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes per sheet.

Mud Pies

Add the following ingredients to the basic tea cake dough recipe:

¼ cup flour
6 level teaspoons cocoa

Fancy Fruit Tea Cakes

1. Make and bake basic tea cake cookie cutter recipe.  When tea cakes are taken out of oven, immediately make a small valley in the middle using the back of a small spoon or melon baller.
2. After cookies cool, place fruit preserves in the valley. 

Notes: 

·        My Grandma used her homemade apricot or peach preserves in a flower-shaped cookie but I remember for Christmas she used red strawberry preserves. 

·        I think a heart-shaped cookie with red preserves would be cute for valentines, wedding showers, or anniversary parties.

Short URL for sharing = https://tinyurl.com/ydwsmcuk

Grandma’s Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe

Grandma's Vegtable Beef Soup cooking

With the cold weather we have been having lately, I have made my version Grandma Parrish’s soup.  Below I will give both my grandmother’s version and my quick-and-easy pantry version.  First I have to give a little history and math lessons. 

History included my mother making her own version of the soup, which stumped me because they did not seem the same to me.  So I asked grandma why at various times when she would serve her soup.  First, her soup broth seemed thicker and redder, why?  She said she included a can of store-bought condensed tomato soup for added flavor – the redness was just a bonus.  To make the soup thicker, about 10 minutes before serving she mashed a few of the potatoes on the side of the pan and stirred it back in.  Second, I thought her soup was neat because she used the pretty seashell style macaroni and mom used elbow.  Grandma said the pasta type did not matter; it was just a way to stretch the number of servings the soup made.  Then there was the beef.  I asked why Mom sometimes used chopped up stew meat instead of ground hamburger.  Grandma said she used that sometimes too, whichever she had on hand was what she was used.  However, she felt the benefit of using ground meat over cuts was that you get meat in almost every bite.

Now for the math lesson!  Grandma and grandpa had a large garden so she canned most of her own vegetables.  So her recipe says a pint since she either used a small canning jar, used half of a large quart (2 pints are in a quart).  A pint equals 16 ounces. Also, there are 8 ounces in a standard measuring cup.   So if you are buying from the store, look for cans close to the correct size. 

Grandma Parrish’s Vegetable Beef Soup

Ingredients:

1 pint tomatoes and juices
4 cups beef broth
1 cans 10-oz condensed tomato soup
2 cups carrots, peeled and sliced into ½ inch thick circles
2-3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into approximately 1-inch squares
1 pint green beans
1 cup celery cut into ½ inch thick moons
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup uncooked macaroni/pasta
1 lb. beef (browned in skillet and grease drained before adding to soup)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste when served

Steps:  Another secret Grandma shared was to prep and add vegetables to the broth and tomatoes according to cook time.  Carrots take the longest to cook, so they go in large stock pot first.  Then cut potatoes and add next. Then add the other veggies.  Add browned meat, cover and let all cook together for 20-30 minutes.  Bring to a boil, add the macaroni and let cook 10 minutes more than time listed on package.  Mash a few spoons of potatoes into soup, cover pot, and let set for 10 minutes before serving.

Shirley’s 30-minute Pantry Vegetable Beef Soup 

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef or stew meat (browned in skillet and grease drained before adding to soup)
1 14.5-oz can stewed or diced tomatoes with juices
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
2 14-oz cans beef broth (or make 4 cups using bouillon cubes and water)
2 15-oz cans mixed vegetables, drained
1 14.5-oz can green beans, drained (or corn or add your favorite vegetable instead)
¼ cup minced dried onions
1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup uncooked macaroni/pasta
Optional: ½ teaspoon ground oregano
Salt and pepper to taste when served

Steps:  Brown meat in bottom of pot and drain off all grease.  Add all canned items and dried herbs to pot.  Bring to a boil and then add macaroni.   Let cook 10 minutes more than time listed on macaroni package.  If you want to thicken broth, stir in 1 tablespoon instant mashed potato flakes and let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Hints for pantry version:

1. If creating my own broth from bullion, I use the water I drain from the canned vegetables as well as tap water to make the 4 cups. I feel like this helps to keep some of the vitamins that typically get lost when draining the canned vegetables.
2. If using hamburger, after draining the grease I put the hamburger meat on a cheap  unwaxed paper plate placed on top of a china plate.  This pulls more grease out of the meat and into the paper plate for easy disposal.  I then use a paper towel to wipe the warm pot free of grease before adding ingrediants for soup.

My mom says my quickie version reminds her of her mother’s soup. She loves eating it! Try both recipes and let me know which you like the best.

Faces in the Mirror

I was putting my hair up before going outside to do yard work.  After I was done, I glanced at the mirror and for a second I thought I saw my grandmother's face framed by streaks of grey.  It made me think about how people used to tell me I looked like my Momma or had my Grandma's disposition.  I thought how proud that used to make me and then I decided to pen the below poem.



Faces in the Mirror
by Shirley Fine Lee (Copyright 07/10/2020m all rights reserved.)


When I was a small child,
I look in the mirror to see
A shy and plain girl
Looking back at me.
Told I look like mom,
But she is so pretty.
Finding an old photo
I asked, "Momma,
Where was this picture of me?"
To which mom replied
"That is not you, sweetie.
It is five-year-old me."

As I grew to a teen,
In the mirror I see
I seem more pretty,
But not as beautiful
As old photos of mom.
I still hear people say
"You look just like your mother."
The this revelation,
We both have smiles on each face.
Secretly wishing I also reflect
Mom's inner beauty and grace,

After I become a mom.
I look in the mirror to see
A glimmer of my mom's face
Smiling back happily at me.
My mom is older now
A Grandma who plays,
Who is always willing
To talk and for awhile stay,
"You are just like me?"
Mom grins and says to me.

Over twenty years pass by,
In the mirror I see
A woman not changed much
By what has happened to me.
Stronger and more confident
In who I am and will be,
Yes, now I can see
There is my mom's face
Smiling back at me,
Mom a great grandma recently.
Mom still laughs and sings,
Wanting only to hold the baby.
Now in mom's face I see
Her grandmother looking at me.
Looks like my great grandma
With the same twinkle in her eyes.
Sometimes now mom talks about
Those loved gone and lost goodbyes.

Another twenty-plus years gone,
I look in the mirror to see
My hair greying and pulled back
My grandma is looking back at me.
My mom has joined her mother
and grandmother in Heaven.
I now embrace them in memory.
Yes, I have some wrinkles
From laughter - not worry.
Getting older does not bother me.
Hoping I also have grandma's
Wisdom, grace, and great faith.
For I grew with love as a legacy.

I believe in another twenty years,
I will look in the mirror and see
My great grandma's face
Will be the one smiling back at me.

Grandma’s Favorite Angel Biscuits Recipe

I have been on a quest to find the homemade biscuit recipe of my Grandmother and the yeast rolls my Mom made.  At holidays, grandma would always make up cookie sheets full of biscuits.  There would be one finished on top of the stove next to the coffee pot, another baking in the stove, and another waiting to go in when the 2^nd pan came out.  She had to make a lot because everyone wanted one when they went through our family’s makeshift buffet line. 

When grandma passed, my mom got some of her recipes books. I started by going through the Church cookbooks and found a recipe with the amounts changed to make 5 times the biscuits. I asked Mom if that was Grandma’s recipe. She said it was and we could fix it together. I got all the ingredients and took them to Mom’s. We made up the recipe with Mom doing her best to fill in the blanks left in the instructions and checking that the dough looked correct after each step. After the baking was done, I and two of my brothers each ate a biscuit just to be sure it was the right recipe. (We look for any excuse to eat a buttered biscuit in the south.) Everyone agreed it was indeed Grandma’s biscuits. So the original recipe for 4 dozen biscuits is below, along with Mom’s edits of the instructions.

Angel Biscuits Recipe

Ingredients: 
5 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 and ½ package dry yeast
2 cups buttermilk
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup shortening
4 Tablespoons warm water

Instructions:

1.    Sift together dry ingredients (excluding yeast).
2.    Cut in shortening until it looks like coarse meal.
3.    Dissolve yeast in the warm water, Add it to dry ingredients and shortening mixture.
4.    Gently pour in buttermilk, working it into a nice dough.
5.    Roll dough out on floured board until about ¼ inch thick.
6.    Using biscuit cutter, cut into biscuit size/shape, then dip each in melted butter.
7.    Place on cookie sheets (we used parchment paper to prevent sticking/burning).
8.    Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes per pan.

Makes 4 dozen biscuits if using 2 ½ inch round biscuit/cookiecutter.

Notes:

Biscuit dough can be made in advance of baking date and refrigerated or frozen.  To freeze or refrigerate, stack biscuits together after the butter step #6 and place in freezer bags.  Or for baking latter in the day, refrigerate dough by placing biscuits on pans per step #7 and covering with foil. Cook pre-prep biscuits without thawing or rising.

Grandma's Recipe: Yeast Buns

In the past, I mentioned my quest to find family biscuit and roll recipes for us to make now.  I shared Grandma’s Favorite Biscuit recipe in another post.  For the upcoming holiday season, below is my Grandma’s Yeast Bun recipe from an old Church Cookbook.  I’m still looking for my Mom’s Yeast Roll recipe – I will know it when I see it.  Mom’s was a popular recipe she adapted as a school cafeteria recipe when she worked there so the portions should be marked for both large and small groups.

Grandma Parrish’s Yeast Buns

Ingredients

Wet Mix:

1 package Dry Yeast

1 and 1/3 cups warm water

Dry Mix:

3 cups flour

2/3 cup powdered milk

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons shortening

Butter or Margarine

Instructions:

1.     Prep Wet Mix: Put yeast powder in warm water.  Let set 5 minutes.  Stir to dissolve.

2.     Prep Dry Mix:  Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in shortening well.

3.     Combine Mixes: Pour liquid over dry mix.  Mix on low speed for 12 to 15 minutes.

4.     Dough Rising: Cover dough with warm towel; set bowl in unheated oven for 1 hour.   Remove dough from oven.  Place dough on floured bread board.  Knead with floured hands until firm (only few minutes). Roll out and cut with biscuit cutter.  Place on buttered cookie sheet. Put back in unheated oven for 20 minutes.

6.     Bake and Butter:  Do NOT open oven; turn thermostat to 425 degrees. Bake until lightly brown (about 20 minutes*).  Remove from oven.  Split each bun and fill with a pat of butter or margarine. Brush tops of buns with (melted) butter or margarine and serve hot.

Notes:  

-  Sorry, she did not mention the number of rolls this makes, so let me know how many you get and what size biscuit cutter you used so I can add that to this posting.

* Grandma had an old gas oven, so be sure to turn on your oven light and watch your baking time at about 15 minutes, so you don’t burn or under-cook yours if you are using electric or convection oven. 

Grandma’s Recipes: Chicken Livers and Tomato Gumbo

1985 Recipe Book cover 

I found several of my Grandma P’s recipes on an old church cookbook sold by the choir as a fundraiser in 1985.  I know my Grandpa and my brother Bobby loved fried chicken livers and gizzards. (I think my brother started eating them to ross out us other kids, but grew to like them.) Below is a casserole-type recipe my grandmother made to stretch the liver into a more substantial meal.   

I think everyone in my family loved my mom’s fried okra. Some even love okra anyway you fix it.  A popular way to fix okra is in gumbo.   Also below is Grandma’s tomato gumbo side dish, which I’m sure she made with stewed tomatoes she canned from her own garden.  I doubt she served the two together, but with my Grandpa’s love of lots a variety at a meal she might have.   (Grandpa liked veggies and bread with his meals unless he was eating  sandwiches, for which he only required a side of either dill or sweet pickles, usually canned by my Grandma,  and  fried potatoes or packaged chips.)

Except for any notes I added at the end, the recipes are typed as they appeared in the cookbook.

Chicken Livers 

1 lb. chicken livers (washed, salted, and rolled in flour)

Put 2 tablespoons Crisco in skillet, melt.  Then add livers and brown on both sides.  Remove from skillet and put n casserole dish. 

Mix together:

1 can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of chicken)

½ cup milk.

Pour mixture over the liver; then place frozen onion rings on top. Bake 30 minutes. 

NOTE:  The original recipe did not have an oven temperature on it, so I assume she used the setting that was on the package of onion rings. 

Tomato Gumbo

 About 3 cups okra, cut-up

1 large onion, chopped

Fry in 2 tablespoons melted margarine about 15 minutes.  (Salt and pepper only – NO cornmeal.)

Pour in 1 pint stewed tomatoes.  Turn fire low and simmer about 30 minutes.

Grandma's Recipe Box: Strawberry Pie

My grandmother and my mother were both known as excellent cooks and avid recipe collectors.  Before my grandmother passed away in 2006, my mom and her sisters cleaned out her house.  Different ones wanted various memorabilia of the parents.  My mom wanted her mother's (my grandma) recipes and some of her Guardian Service cookware to add to her own.  One of the items she took home was a small metal treasure chest containing handwritten recipes.

When I was going through my mom's things after her death in 2015, I found the recipe box (pictured here).  I promised my cousins and my nieces I would some day compile the recipes on this blog.  I also promised, if possible, to publish a few of the recipes in her handwriting.  If you follow the blog, you will notice how her handwriting changes a little as grandma got older.  However, some recipes in the recipe box are in the handwriting of daughters, sisters, and friends who gave grandma the recipe.

I have already published some of the recipes my mother and grandmother have given me on this blog in the past.  I am still looking for some of their recipes I remember from old church cookbooks and my relatives.  So if you are reading this blog and have a recipe you do not see here, please send me a copy.  Thanks in advance.

Since I am starting the recipe series in the summer, I thought it made sense to start with something easy, cool, and short.  So I am sharing her recipe for the Strawberry Pie I used to enjoy when my family went to Furr's Cafeteria when I was young.

Strawberry Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 baked pie shell (cooled)
1 quart fresh strawberries (washed & green removed)
Filling:
  1 cup sugar
  3 Tablespoons corn starch
  3 Tablespoons strawberry jello
  1 cup hot water

Steps:

1. Mix together and cook filling ingredients until clear.
2. Place cleaned strawberries in cooked crust and pour cooked filling over them.
3. Refrigerate and add whipped topping (Cool Whip or real whipping cream) just before serving.

Grandma's Crispy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe

If you like oatmeal cookies, check out the recipe below.  It is for a cookie that is crispy on the bottom so it will be slightly crunchy yet as a drop it will soft at the same time.  Grandma did not say how many cookies this makes, so based on the amount of ingredients I am thinking between 3 and 3.5 dozen.  However, she did note that it is 81 calories per cookie. Most other cookie recipes will be 100-150 calories per cookie.  For a chewy version, see Grandma's Chewy Oatmeal Cookies.  

If you do not care about calories, you can try Grandma's Chewy version  or variations of Quaker's Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, which is my son's favorite substituting Craisins.  

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

  2 cups sifted flour
  1 cup sugar
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1 teaspoon cinnamon
  1 teaspoon nutmeg
  2 cups quick oats
  1 cup raisins
  2 eggs
  3/4 cup oil
  1/2 cup milk
  1 teaspoon vanilla

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease cookie sheet.
3. In large bowl, sift flour, sugar, soda, and spices together.
4. Add oats and raisins.  Mix well.
5. Beat eggs in small bowl; add oil, milk, and vanila.
6. Add liquid mix to dry ingredients and mix well.
7. Drop batter by rounded spoonfuls 1 & 1/2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden and crisp around edges.

Grandma's Sweet Potato Cake with Marshmallow Icing

  This recipe was labled " good cakes" by my grandma at the top.  It does sound pretty good to me too, but I must admit I have not tried it. Her cakes were often the first ones to be gobbled up at family gatherings and I sometimes missed out seeing it or getting a taste. Also, as a kid I would have turned my nose up at the thought of eating anything made with sweet potatoes.  Since I loved pumpkin bread, I probably would have liked this cake too - if only I had been willing to try it.  

I can not remember my Grandma ever making an elegant 4-layer cake (2 or 3 layers, but not 4) using an 8-inch pan.  I assume she more than likely made it as 2 shorter cakes, or did 3-layers with 9-inch pans, or did it as sheet cake.  As two cakes, it would go further for her large family gatherings or allow her to share it with someone needy at church or with her beloved pastor.  

I found online Bundt cake versions which baked about 50 minutes using grated sweet potatoes or 30 minutes using pre-cooked mashed sweet potatoes. Many of the easy recipes for frosting on-line used marshmallow fluff instead of mini marshmallows, but the other ingredients were different for Grandma's so you would need to do a search if you want to try that instead.  

Short URL for sharing recipe = https://tinyurl.com/2rzus2nd  

Sweet Potato Cake

Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 cups oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups [peeled] grated sweet potatoes
2 cups chopped pecans
3/4 cup buttermilk

Steps:

1. Grate sweet potatoes and chop pecans before prepping cake mix.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In large bowl, beat oil, sugar, and eggs about 5 minutes thoroughly.
4. Stir in sweet potatoes and nuts.
5. In another bowl, sift flour with spices and soda.
6. Combine sugar [wet] mixture with flour [dry] mxture, alternating with buttermilk.
7. Bake in 4 layer pans [greased and floured or coated with baking spray]. Bake a 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 300 degrees and bake until done [maybe a total of 40 minutes] or when toothpick put in center comes out clean.  
8. Allow to cool.

Marshmmallow Icing

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1 - 8 oz. package mini marshmallows
Optional: Chopped pecans for granishing top

Steps:

1. Cook sugar, cream, and maple flavoring to soft ball stage.
2. Add marshmallows and beat until spreading consistency.

Travel and Storing Tips:  

• If you are planning to take the cake somewhere, place it in the refrigerator until icing hardens so you can cover the cake without it sticking to wrap.
• If you want to freeze the cake whole, it may be best to not to frost it until it is thawed.  However, a frosted cake may be frozen in slices to bring out individually when desired.

Grandma's Old-Fashioned Impossible Coconut Pie Makes Its Own Crust

My Grandma's recipe for impossible pie becomes a custard pie with browned coconut topping and a crust.  However, she did not refer to it as "impossible" pie.  When she wrote out the recipe, she changed the title to "I'm Possible" pie which has a more positive sound for new bakers.  This is a quick and easy old-fashioned recipe would be a great addition to any family holiday gathering.

If you are looking for a similar easy pie using pumpkin for Autumn holidays, my personal recipe box contains this Bisquick Impossible Pumpkin Pie.  If you want to go with the traditional pumpkin pie, check out my Grandma's Magic Pumpkin Pie recipe.  

Grandma's I'm Possible Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 stick of margarine (sliced)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups milk
1 cup coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
Small sprinkle of salt

Steps:

1. Blend all ingredients together good.  (Melt margarine for hand mixing or blend all in blender.)
2. Pour into buttered 9-inch pie pan.
3. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Grandma's Magic Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Pumpkin pie is a traditional dessert for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays as that was when pumpkins were harvested.  With canned pumpkin, this pie can now be made at any time of the year.  Below is the pumpkin pie recipe my Grandma made  inside her pie crust recipe.  You may notice there is no sugar in the ingredients below because the pie is made with already sweetened Eagle Brand milk.  

Recipe short URL for sharing = https://tinyurl.com/45ycy4b8 

Spice notes:  

(1) Most similar recipes only call for 1 measuring teaspoon of cinnamon.  My Grandma' handwritten recipe was partially faded but it appeared to be 3 spoons,  so you may want to start with less cinnamon and then adjust recipe to your desired taste for cinnamon each time you make this.  My Grandpa really loved spices so that may be the reason hers had so much in it.  

(2) My son loves his pumpkin pie made with the intense flavor of cloves.  If you want to try adding that additional spice, then start by using 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves and only 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.  You can then up the cinnamon or cloves to 1 teaspoon the next time you make the pie, if you do not think it had enough spices.  Just be sure to only adjust one of the spices with each pie experiment until you get the flavor you like best.

If you do not want to spend time making crusts for pies, you can try an impossible pie which makes its own crust during the baking process or a sugar-free no-bake pie option using store-bought crust.  If you want a more old-fashioned recipe that makes more than one pie without having to double the ingredients, you may want to try Taste of Home traditional pumpkin pie.  Their recipe which includes crust, filling, and decorative ideas makes two pies.   

Grandma's Magic Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Filling:
  2 cups (or 15-16 ounce can) of pumpkin
  1 (14 ounce) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
  1 large egg
  1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  1 to 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (to your taste preference, see spice notes above)*
  Sprinkle of salt

Steps:

1. Mix together all ingredients of filling.
2. Pour filling mixture into pie shell.
3. Bake at 375 degree oven until sharp knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes.
4. Cool, then refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Grandma's Recipe Box: Pecan Cookies - Gluten Free

These cookies are not made with wheat flour instead using nut meal, so they should be gluten free but not okay for those with nut-allergies.    If you can not find pecan meal or do not wish to make your own, you might want to try another nut meal to see how the recipe turns out.

My grandma's recipe calls for pecan meal since she had plenty  with more than one pecan tree on her property.  When the pecans were ready to pick up off the ground, my grandfather would be the one to pick them up.  Grandma and great-grandma would help if none of their grandchildren or children were around at the time.   Any grandchild, on hand, got the fun of going under the shade and helping grandpa find perfect looking pecans while he told us stories and jokes.  If kids grew tired of the pecan hunt and they were under the tree by the creek (that was not near the street), we could climb the tree or play on the swing hanging from it until grandpa was ready to move on.

Sugar-free Version:  I made this recipe substituting granulated for baking - zero calorie sweetener with sucralose for the regular sugar, using sugar-free strawberry preserves instead of jam, and skipping the cherry on top.  They were delicious!  Each cookie is about 350 calories, 4 grams carbs/sugars.  If you make plain cookie (without preserves) calories go down to 120 and carbs/sugar to .5 (1/2).  I will definitely do this again!

Pecan Cookies

(makes approximately 2-3 dozen "bitesize" cookies)

Short URL for sharing recipes = https://tinyurl.com/4rerd9w3 

Ingredients:

2 cups ground pecans (or pecan meal)
2/3 cup sugar
2 unbeaten egg whites
1/3 cup strawberry preserves
18 candied or maraschino cherries, cut in half

Steps:

1. Combine pecans and sugar.
2. Add egg whites and mix until mixture is completely damp.
3. Form into small balls (mixture will be moist),
4. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Press a small hole (not all the way through) in center of each ball with fingertip.
6. Fill hole with strawberry preserves.
7. Top preserves with cherry halves (out-side down).
8. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 15 minutes.
9. Remove from cookie sheet at once to prevent sticking.

Nell's Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe with Nut-Date Filling

In a previous post, Grandma's 4-layer fruit cake was shared.  This time we will share a Christmas cake recipe from one of her friends.  This recipe was in one of Grandma's handwritten recipes  from the 70's and had a note about her friend's experience "She's been making this for 30 years."  This was likely her family tradition, as my decorated Christmas Cookies and my friends various flavored Fudges were ours. My Grandma loved switching-up holiday dessert recipes so if you wanted something in particular, you needed to let he know in advance.  Her traditional foods I remember were the rolls she made on winter holidays and her biscuits for spring holidays. 

Unfortunately, Nell's recipe does not state how many layers for this moist fruity cake.  Judging from the ingredients, I would guess 3 thick 9" layers (pan sizes to use by cups of batter) or 4 thin 8" layers similar to Grandma's cake. Both fruity recipes are for delicious cakes rather than elegant ones.  For some fancy Christmas cake recipes, check out 20 Stunning Christmas Layer Cakes on Food Storage Moms blog.  

Short link for sharing recipe = https://tinyurl.com/yeymdea3

Nell's Christmas Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 cup sweet milk (AKA: regular whole milk) 
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mashed potatoes (already cooked, drained, and mashed)
1 cup jam (your choice of flavor or whichever you have on hand)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped dates
2 cups chopped nuts
2 small delicious apples, (peeled, cored, and chopped fine)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs one at a time - beating well.
4. In another bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
5. Add dry mix alternately with milks, blending well.
6. Blend in mashed potatoes.
7. Stir in jam, all fruits, and nuts.
8. Pour into greased and floured layer pans.
9. Bake at 300 degrees until they test done.  (Time depends on pan size, start about 30-40 minutes, if toothpick inserted in middle does not comes out clean, add 5-10 minutes)
10. Spread filling over layers and assemble cake.  If desired, decorate top with candied cherries.

Filling (& Topping)

Ingredients:

4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
Butter (size of an egg)
1 cup chopped dates
2 cups chopped nuts
Optional: 1/2 cup coconut flakes 

Steps:

1. In double boiler, cook sugar and milk to a medium boil.
2. Add butter and stir to melt.
3. Cool.  Then add dates and nuts (and coconut if desired).