Oatmeal Cookies

 I couldn't do all these posts without featuring the cutco knife!

These are my dad's favorite cookie and after making these it brought back so many memories.

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 beaten eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3 cups quick cooking oatmeal

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream shortening and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.  Add flour, salt, baking soda.  Add oatmeal. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes (not too long).

Also, form these into logs and freeze them.  Then cut them off and make the perfect icebox cookies.

 Grandma said she got this recipe from someone she worked with in Omaha.  She taught her how to roll the cookies in wax paper and freeze to cook at a later date.

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I love everything about these cookies.  I've actually made these twice in the past little bit (2 different recipes) and I liked Grandma's recipe the best.

 No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
6 tbls cocoa
3 cups oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla

Mix butter, milk, sugar and peanut butter in a pot over the stove until it boils.  Let it boil for 1 minute (keep stirring).  Take off stove and add vanilla, cocoa and oatmeal.  Drop in spoonfuls on wax paper.  Let them harden (they are the best a little cold in the refrigerator.

The reason I think I liked these so much is because the mixture was hot enough to cook the oats a little and so they were tastier than the others I made which put the pb in after the mixture boiled.

The photos with my hands and the spoon are taken by my oldest son!

Blender Pie

This is good.  It's basically a coconut custard.  And it is dang easy to make.

Blender Pie

recipe by Luann (Grandma's sister)

2 cups milk

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

5 1/3 tbls (or 1/3 cup) butter

1/2 cup flour

1 cup shredded coconut

Put all ingredients in blender and blend.  (I blended everything really well except the coconut then I put that in at the very end.)  Pour into a greased pie pan (very important.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until golden.  It took me more like 50-60 minutes (I used a glass pie pan.)  Just make sure the center is set with a very slight wiggle when you shake it.  Refrigerate before eating.

It filled my deep 9 inch pie dish almost to the top.

It has a fantastic crunchy top and for some reason, it makes it's own pie crust.  Pretty cool.

It does have an eggy flavor, but after you refrigerate it, it gets much better.

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie

recipe from Ethel (Grandma's friend from DC)

3 eggs 

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 tsp vanilla

1 - 9 inch unbaked pie crust

Beat eggs and brown sugar until blended and foamy.  Blend in corn syrup, pecans and vanilla.  Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until set (center should barely jiggle.)

Grandma said when she tried her friend Ethel's Pecan Pie, she had to have the recipe.  Ethel was her friend from Washington DC.  Sometimes Grandma would make this pie for Thanksgiving, but usually she would make her German Chocolate Pie.

When I made this, I forgot to chop the nuts, but it still turned out good.  The pie was good, but still felt like it was missing something, maybe salt?

Cheesecake

Strawberry Cheesecake
recipe from Judy Miller
2 graham cracker crusts
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
1 carton whip topping (like cool whip), 8 ounces
1 pint (16 oz) strawberry glaze (or mix 4 cups sliced strawberries with 2/3 cup sugar and cook on stove til it becomes thick)

Mix cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, vanilla and whip topping in a blender.  Pour 1/4 cream chesse mixture in crust, then 1/2 cup strawberry glaze.  Repeat.  Then do the same for the other crust.   Makes 2 pies.  Refrigerate.

Peanut Butter Pickle Sandwich

This is an easy one.

Peanut Butter Pickle Sandwich
2 slices of bread
pickles
peanut butter

Spread peanut butter on slice of bread.  Top with pickles and other slice of bread.  Enjoy!

Pea Salad

Pea Salad

recipe by LeeAnn Miller

1 package (32 oz) frozen peas 

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 tsp curry powder*

onion powder*

1 garlic clove

1 can smoked almonds (6 ounces)

Mix together all ingredients except the almonds.  Mix in almonds just before you serve.

*can omit these and salad is still delicious

 I've been making this one since college, it's good.

SCOTCHEROOS

As always, these are amazing!

SCOTCHEROOS
1 cup sugar
 1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups rice krispies
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Combine sugar and corn syrup in pot and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to bubble.  Remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter; mix well.  Add rice krispies; stir until well combined.  Press mixture into buttered 13x9 inch pan.
Melt chocolate and butterscotch chip in microwave until melted (careful they don't burn).  (if the rice krispie mixture is still hot, you can just put the chips on them and they should melt.) Spread evenly over rice krispie mixture.  Cool until firm.  Cut into bars.  Makes 48, 2x1 inch bars.

Pie Crust

Like most of Grandma's recipes, this pie crust recipe is really easy to make.

Pie Crust

yield 1 pie crust

1 cup flour

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 cup water

pinch of salt

Mix above ingredients together with a pie cutter or fork.  Form into a ball and roll out. Place in pie tin.  Not sure what to bake it at alone, as all of Grandma's recipes bake the pie with a raw pie crust.

 I pinched the edges, or you could fork them.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you know where this is?  Let me zoom out a little.

I have many good memories trying to find Grandma's keys to this freezer so we could get her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

I tried out one of her chocolate chip cookie recipes.  It wasn't as good as I remember them being as a kid, but they were still good.  I remember the cookies more flat and chewy.

I used this recipe above (same as the one I'm typing below.)

Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 cups oatmeal
3 cups chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet and only a bag full which is about 2 1/4 cups)

Cream shortening and sugars.  Mix in egg, water, vanilla.  Add flour, salt, baking soda.  Add in oatmeal and chocolate chips.  Drop cookie dough (about a big spoonful) on greased baking sheet.  Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 7-10 minutes.

Grandma said that she always under baked her cookie just a little to get them more chewy.  And she said she wasn't patient to wait, so she'd take them out.  Also, I think you could omit the baking soda and you might get a flatter cookie?  Let me know if you try this.

Here's another oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe of Grandma's that I haven't tried yet.

Cranberry Salad

Cranberry Salad

recipe from Grandma's Mom

2 cups cranberries

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup sugar

1 package cherry jello (3 ounce)

2 cups crushed pineapple, drained

2/3 cup celery

nuts

Boil cranberries, water and sugar for 5 minutes.  Add jello.  When partly chilled add pineapple, celery and nuts.

 This is the cranberry salad Grandma makes every Thanksgiving.

Pictures courtesy of Casi.