That' s The Fastest Turtle I've Ever Seen!

My grandmother has started to do her holiday baking this week she is making her date nut breads, next week it will either be the pizzelles, sesame cookies or some type of candy. My grandmother has to pace herself with her baking these days because she tires more quickly than she use to but still loves it because it keeps her busy.
I think for most of us this time of year can be quite tiring given the quantity of baking, cooking and candy making most of us will be doing. Probably with the economy the way it is it would be in all our best interests to give more gifts from the kitchen.
So over the next few weeks, I thought I would sneak in some really fun, quick and inexpensive holiday treat recipes that you can make a lot of with the least amount of effort and that have a pretty good shelf life. So even if you start making or baking now they’ll still be fresh for the serving, eating and gift giving later.

Easy Turtles Candies

What you will need:


1 bag of Rolo candies
1 bag of Snyder's of Hanover square shaped butter pretzels 1 bag of pecan halves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Unwrap Rolo candies and place in bowl for later.
2. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper.
3. Lay down the pretzels onto the cookie sheet. You can get approx. 50-60 to a cookie sheet.
4. Set a Rolo on each pretzel.
5. Place in oven to soften Rolo’s, approximately 3 minutes. Check occasionally, do not let them melt.
6. Take out of oven.
7. Push a pecan half on top of each Rolo
8. Set in a cool area or fridge to harden.
9. Remove from wax paper and store in bag or container, they stay at their best when kept cold.

Sage Advice

I love the color of sage; I actually just painted my kitchen a lovely shade of sage green. But I can’t say that I have always loved some of the foods that I have had that have been made using sage. Prime example; “Stuffing”, this thanksgiving the stuffing mix purchased from the store that was used to fill our holiday bird was actually medicinal. I’m not sure how much sage they put into those bread cubes but I can guarantee you that it was way too much.
My grandmother gave me a little sage advice on the usage of the powerful herb. My grandmother would say; “always use about a quarter less sage than what the recipe calls for and the taste should be perfect”. I have actually taken her advice and she was right. If a particular recipe calls for a teaspoon of sage I will cut that back to 3/4’s of a teaspoon. When it comes to using sage in a recipe less truly is more.

Sage Buttermilk Corn Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of butter, melted
3 tablespoons of minced fresh sage or 1 tablespoon of dried sage or my grandmother’s way….2 -3/4 tablespoons fresh or 3/4 of a tablespoon dried.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Make a hole in center. Mix buttermilk, eggs, butter and sage; add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened. Spoon into greased muffin pans and bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Yield 1 1/2 dozen.

Whatever You Call It Soup

This is such a comforting recipe at any time but especially now with the cold weather returning. The hot steamy broth and the soft chewy dumplings are just a match made in heaven. I am not sure how this recipe found its way into our family from what I understand this soup was a staple of Bavaria and a friend of mine said Germany as well.
I cannot pronounce these too well but liver dumpling soup is also called; “Leberklosse or leberknodel”, whatever your family calls it; it still feels good going down.

Liver Dumpling Soup

4 to 6 cups of homemade or canned chicken, vegetable or beef broth
Season to taste

Put in pot and set to a medium simmer

DUMPLINGS:

1 lb. liver, ground, (may use either chicken or beef liver, the chicken tends to be milder in flavor.

1 cup bread crumbs

2 tsp. minced onion, brown in 1/2 cup of butter

2 eggs

1 tbsp. flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients. Mold in balls the size of walnuts, using flour on the fingers. Drop into simmering broth and let simmer for 25-30 minutes then enjoy.

Add scallions or fresh parsley at the end for a little extra flavor.

Great Gift Find for Those With Noshtalgic Tastebuds

We just found the most amazing cookbook with so many of the comfort foods that we love and remember from our past, it is called “Endangered Recipes Cookbook”. You will not believe some of the recipes in here; “Macaroni and cheese, tomato soup, banana pudding, ginger bread” the list goes on and on and brings with it so many great memories. My grandmother is going to love adding this to her collection.

May I Please Have Your Turkey Carcass?

When my friend Pamm was little her mother always made turkey carcass soup with the Thanksgiving Day dinner remains. This became one of Pamm’s favorite things and a tradition that she did not take lightly.
One thanksgiving Pamm’s father decided to give his wife a break from cooking and took her and Pamm out for thanksgiving dinner. This did not make Pamm happy, nothing tasted good at the restaurant, it just wasn’t like her mother’s especially when it came to the pumpkin chiffon pie that she was accustom to.
But it wasn’t until they got home that it hit her that because her mother hadn’t cooked a turkey that there was no carcass for her to make Pamm’s favorite turkey soup. Now poor Pamm who is in absolute panic mode did the only thing that a little girl could do in desperate times to keep a tradition alive………she got a brown paper bag and went door to door and asked her neighbors if they had any turkey carcasses and if so could she have them so her mother could make turkey soup. Four of these neighbors took pity on Pamm and gave up their dinners skeletal remains. Now happy and skipping back home with four turkey carcasses in her bag so pleased with her ingenuity all was right with her world again, until..... Apparently while Pamm was out telling her sad story and gathering her carcasses, people were calling her mother asking if they had fallen on hard times and was there anything that they could do. This highly embarrassed her mother and made her a little angry at first and Pamm did get sent to her room. But in the end she got her soup and all these years later Pamm is still getting her turkey carcass soup, the only thing that has changed is the person who prepares it (that would be me).

Turkey Carcass Soup
In Memory of Pamm's Mother

1 turkey carcass
2 onions, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
6 carrots, chopped
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup of rice or pasta
Salt & pepper to taste

In enough water to cover carcass boil carcass for 2 hours. Pick meat from bones. Strain broth and return broth and meat to pan. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 1 hour.

Noshtalgia Turns A Year Old Today!

I cannot believe a whole year has passed since publishing my first post.
I’ve had the best time traveling through this blogosphere and have met some truly wonderful and talented people along the way. I would love to thank each and every one of you who have visited and shared your stories and recipes. But I have to give a special thanks to a few people who at the very beginning believed in what Noshtalgia had to offer and began spreading the word to others. Because of their belief and generosity Noshtalgia has been able to grow into this wonderful keepsake of memories and recipes to be shared by all.

A special thanks to: Glenna from; “A Fridge Full of Food”
Mimi from; “A French Kitchen in America”
& Chef John from; “Foodwishes”

I will always be grateful and look forward to
another year down memory lane.

Sincerely, Julie

Sweet Roots

One thanksgiving many years ago we took a diversion from our traditional thanksgiving celebration and spent it with a group of cousins that we hadn’t seen in years. They had chosen to do a potluck type dinner. Our cousins provided the turkey and ham and a place for all of us to gather. The rest of us were in charge of bringing the sides, desserts and a wide array of family favorites. It was a good time had by all, many of us trying to figure out our connection to each other and what branch of the family tree we dangled from. The food always seemed to provide many of the answers to some of those questions. When those familiar tastes would melt over our tongues and all at once across the table all you could hear was a chorus full of sighs and ummmmmms and I remember this and didn’t aunt so and so or grandma so and so make that when we were children?
Everything was so delicious and each bite brought back the memories of those who had touched our lives so deeply.
I enjoyed the entire experience and one particular side dish that kept me going back for more was a dish that was actually made by a friend of one of my cousins. This was a recipe for a sweet potato casserole that was created by her aunt who had found a delicious use for cornflakes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

8 already baked sweet potatoes with skins removed (Just place whole sweet potatoes on a cookies sheet, prick with fork, lightly rub skins with oil and bake at 400 degrees for one hour).

1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of milk

Lightly smash the sweet potatoes and stir in the next four ingredients. Place all of this into a buttered 3 quart casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Sprinkle with topping mixture (below) and bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

TOPPING:
1 cup of brown sugar1 cup of pecans, chopped2/3 cup of crushed cornflakes
1/2 cup of butter, cut into pieces