My Grandma's Rhubarb Pie

Today is my Grandma Czaplewski's birthday.  

She was such a delightful person, and I miss her all of the time.

I used to talk to her on the phone almost daily.  She passed when my oldest son, Spencer, was only one month old.  She was so excited to hold her first great grandchild, I hate that she didn't get to see him grow up to be the stellar person he has grown up to be.

I know that she is watching all of us from heaven.

I have mentioned in past posts, that I am definitely a "pie person" way before I would chose cake, pie is always my first choice.

Her rhubarb pie was my favorite.

A few weeks ago, my Mom's cousin, Shirley, (my grandma's niece) came for a visit from California.

She visited the town my grandma grew up in, and brought back some fresh rhubarb.

It only seemed right to make this pie in my grandma's honor.

My Aunt Edie had her recipe and I am sharing it with you today!

rhubarb pie and lilacs...two of my favorite memories of my Grandma

Grandma Czaplewski's Rhubarb Pie

6-8 cups chopped rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 cup raisins

3 Tablespoons flour

2 pie crusts

1 egg white, beaten

In a large bowl, mix rhubarb with sugar and flour. Next add beaten egg and raisins. Pour filling into pie plate lined with a crust.

So pretty!

Cover with top crust and brush with egg white.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 35 minutes.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!

xxoo

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

One of my favorite appetizers to get at a restaurant is "SpinArt" Dip.

My sister in law made a version of this recipe a whole lot of years ago and brought it to a family get together.

I have made it many times, and slowly changed some of the ingredients.  

Yesterday, I made it for a get together my friend, Gerry, was having at her house.

I took pictures of the "before" but she baked it and served it to her guests, 

I needed to wait to get her picture of the finished dip!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 - 14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained

1 - 12 ounce package frozen spinach (thawed and drained, patted dry)

3/4 teaspoon minced garlic

2/3 cup Parmesan, Romano & asiago cheese blend

1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup half and half

1/2 cup of sour cream (I use the one with chives)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend your artichokes, garlic and Parmesan cheese blend with a hand blender or food processor.

In another bowl, stir together your half and half with the sour cream.  Fold in the artichoke mixture, then the spinach.

Pour into shallow dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

I used a large deep dish pie plate, it fit perfectly.

Pour into dish, bake for 20-25 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips, crackers or baguette.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

One morning I was trying to come up with something to put in the crock pot. 

It was going to be a really busy day and I wasn't going to be home long enough to get anything on the table.

I love to throw chicken breasts in the crock pot, and then cook them low and slow and shred them up.

It's just a surprise what I throw in with them!! 

Rotel... BBQ ... ginger soy....

This time... it was Frank's Hot Wing Sauce.

LOVE Hot Wings!!

light and refreshing summer dinner!

I have to say I don't really have a "recipe" it really depends on how many chicken breasts you are preparing. But I will share with you the basics!

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

chicken breasts

Frank's hot wing sauce (or your favorite brand)

broccoli slaw

sunflower seeds

bib lettuce

Spray your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.

Place chicken breasts in the bottom. 

(I have even put them in frozen!)

Pour hot wing sauce over the top, I used about half the bottle for 6 chicken breasts, and reserved the rest for topping if you wanted to later.

If your chicken breasts aren't frozen, add a small amount of water, too.

Let cook on low all day.  Shred.

Peel back large pieces of lettuce, I used iceberg this night.

Top with chicken, broccoli slaw and sunflower seeds... or whatever your little heart desires!! :)

Enjoy a meal that is easy, low calorie, and doesn't heat up your kitchen on a hot summer day!!

Banana Bread Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

I had a little virtual birthday party on my facebook page a couple of weeks ago to celebrate not only my birthday, but 5,000 facebook fans of an affair from the heart!

I had other foodies share cakes and drink recipes with me.  

This was the first one I made!

WonkyWonderful shared this cake with me, and I knew I had to make it for my husband for Father's Day.

He is a banana nut!!

Banana Bread with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
from WonkyWonderful

Cake:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
4 smashed ripe bananas

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 T. milk
4 ounces cream cheese
sprinkle of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix butter, sugars eggs, sour cream and yogurt until smooth.
Add bananas and vanilla and stir in.

Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Combine.

Add nuts. (I omitted them because my husband HATES them!! I did sprinkle some on top of my piece! :)

Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes before topping with frosting.

Make the frosting while the cake is baking!!

For frosting, place butter in a small saucepan on medium heat.  Bring to a boil and let it boil for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.  Butter will turn a pretty amber color.  Remove from heat.
With a whisk, stir in the powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla milk and cinnamon. Whisk until nice and creamy.  Pour over warm cake and spread.

Cool.  Top with nuts if desired!

The top was so pretty and glossy, like a glazed donut!!

Chocolate Meringue Pie

When I was a kid, my Grandma Martin used to make me this pie for my birthday.

I used to love going to stay with her in the summer, she was quite the baker!

She always made a pie while I was there,  and while she was making it, there was always "extra crust" that she would bake with cinnamon and sugar on it.

YUM!

isn't it pretty??

For the longest time I struggled with the meringue, until I got my Kitchen aid mixer.... that thing ROCKS!!

Put the ingredients in, and let it whip until the meringue peaks!

This past weekend, I baked myself one, since she is no longer with me, I was feeling sentimental.

love this place mat! 

This pie isn't too sweet, and has a yummy chocolate custard!

The recipes that have been with us for ages, are always the best aren't they?

She never really "followed" a "recipe" but my Aunt Sue and Aunt Carol helped me work through this, so I could mimic it!

Grandma Martin's Chocolate Meringue Pie

custard:

2./3 cup sugar

2 1/2 Tablespoons Cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 egg yolks (save whites)

2 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 Tablespoons cocoa

single pie crust

meringue:

3 egg whites

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Form pie crust into pie plate and pre-bake for about 15 minutes, or until crust is a light golden brown. Set aside.

Combine custard ingredients in saucepan on the stove, on medium heat. Whip with a whisk until thickened, will be a thick pudding consistency.  About 15 minutes.

Pour into pie crust.

In your mixer, combine meringue ingredients.  Whip until meringue forms stiff peaks.

7-10 minutes.

Spread over chocolate custard.

Bake in oven for 12-15 minutes, until meringue becomes a light golden brown, and is no longer watery.

Cool and enjoy.

Store in the refrigerator.

Easy Garlic Mushroom Burgers

I had a busy Monday, I wanted to make something quick, and my youngest son always suggests 

CHEESEBURGERS when I ask.  

I had a bunch of produce so I rigged these up!

Garlic Mushroom Cheeseburgers

2 cups fresh mushrooms

1-2 cloves garlic

1 Tablespoon of butter

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

sea salt

hamburgers 

(we buy ours already pattied from a meat locker we get our meat at, they are so great in a pinch!!)

cheese, Swiss or Monterrey Jack work great

buns

your favorite condiments

Saute the mushrooms in butter, oil and garlic, dusted with sea salt, until they are the desired tenderness. 

 You may have to vary the amount of oil and butter you use based on the amount mushrooms you make.

I left the garlic dripping in the pan, and pan fried our burgers.

Top with cheese, and mushrooms, melt cheese and place on bun.

Top with your favorite condiments.

I served it up with a side of fresh fruit.. dinner is served!!

Pasta Salad

Okay, so I am going to preface this blogpost with this, 

If you have followed me and cooked/baked from my recipes, 

chances are you might have made 

"the very last banana bread recipe you will ever need"

or

"Grandma Davis' Sugar Cookies"

Seriously, folks, this woman knows her stuff.

A couple of weeks ago my family attended the graduation party of my friend, Tonja's son.

My kids were each on their second helping of this pasta salad and "mmmming" with every bite.

When I asked Tonja what was in it, she giggled and told me the two "secret ingredients" that I will share with you in a second.

She then told me that her Mom had made it, but that it was Grandma Davis' recipe.

I was sold.

So, I decided to whip it up for our Memorial Day cookout.

Please don't  let the main secret ingredient detour you from making this wonderful salad!!  It is SO GOOD!!

Here are the two things that her family claims makes this salad what it is:

Spam and Dill Pickle Juice!

Tonja told me that her Grandma uses her own homemade pickle juice, but that the pickle juice doesn't change the flavor as much as leaving out the Spam.  She has tried it with ham and it "just isn't the same."

I ate Spam as a kid, but in my 20+ years of married life I don't ever remember buying it?

This salad is AH-Mazing!  You just have to try it!

My nieces

and nephews fought over the leftovers.

my plate from the cookout...SWOON!

When I called Tonja for the recipe she said "there isn't one, mix it up til it tastes right."

I had only eaten it once, so that made things a little tough.

She hung on the phone with me, like the good old days, and we worked through it to develop this recipe to share with you!

Below is the "recipe" we came up with!

Grandma Davis' Pasta Salad

15 ounces of mayonnaise, (Hellmans is her first choice, I used the light)

1/4 cup dill pickle juice

milk to thin sauce (optional, I didn't use it)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

8 ounces (more if you like) frozen peas

1 cucumber, diced (I left skins on mine)

red onion, chopped, to taste

2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 can Spam, diced

cubed American cheese (optional, I didn't use it)

1 package of small elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

Boil pasta, drain and set aside. Combine ingredients for the sauce. I didn't feel like I needed the milk in mine, I liked the creamy texture of the mayo and pickle juice, set this aside.

Chop all of the veggies and Spam, cheese if you desire.

Toss pasta and chopped ingredients in a large bowl, cover with sauce, and coat.

I made this a day early, the flavors had a chance to marry together nicely that way!

It was a BIG Hit!!