corn patties

Recipe 22
Corn Patties
2 c. corn
2 c. rolled crackers- (fine)
1 t. baking powder in crackers
1 unbeaten egg
1 t. salt

Stir together. Fry in fat by tablespoon. Brown on both sides.
-Mrs. A L. Willson



As I look through the recipes, I like finding ones like this that I have never eaten and never really heard of before. Lately I have been trying to stay away from deep fried anything, but this sounds like a good side dish, easy and very little ingredients. Maybe serve it with fish or chicken.

When my Grandma had us over for dinner she made hamburgers or chicken or both. She raised a bit of a picky eater, my Dad, just like I have raised my picker eaters. Sometimes you get to the point where you just keep making the things that you know they like, then the meal does not go to waste, and its something that everyone likes.

love, krissy girl

recipe for a good marriage

Recipe 21

"The only thing that I can suggest is to keep him well fed. Have plenty to eat on hand at all times."

Mrs. Mellang

My Grandma has quite a few of these in her recipe boxes. Words of wisdom, marriage advice or ways to keep your man. They usually involve food, which seems appropriate to be written on a recipe card. I will include some of these every so often. I believe they were from "The Church Ladies".

love, krissy girl

caramel devil's food cake

Recipe 20

Caramel Devil's Food Cake

2 c. sifted Swans Down Cake flour

1 t. soda

1/2 c butter or shortening

1 1/4 c brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs beaten

3 squares bakers unsweetened chocolate, melted 

1 c. milk 

1 t. vanilla

Sift flour once, measure and add soda and sift together 3 times. Cream, add sugar, cream together. Add eggs. Add chocolate and blend. Add flour alternately with milk. Beat. Add vanilla. 

Topping

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

Sprinkle on top of cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.

How can you not like caramel...on anything! This cake looks really tasty. I remember my grandma loving caramel, especially caramel apples. Yes, it's her sweet tooth again. The walnuts remind me of her black walnut tree that she coveted in her yard. She talked about how valuable that tree was, and how we need to make sure someone takes care of it. 

Her house on the hill was the first house she owned, and she loved it so much. She had it built and made it her own. Even though my grandpa never lived in that house, you would have thought he had. She had a den dedicated to him. His clothes were in the closet, and his things were in the desk drawers. She wanted him to enjoy it with her, even if he was not there. 

love, krissy girl 

pinoche

Recipe 19
Pinoche
3 c. brown sugar
1 c. milk
2 T. butter
1 t. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts

Boil sugar and milk until it threads. Add butter, vanilla and walnuts. Stir until it begins to harden. Pour into
buttered pans and when cool, cut into squares. - Irma Johnson



I have never heard of Pinoche. Not a lot of information about it online. It appears to be like a candy, or fudge. This recipe is from one of the church lady's, but I can imagine my grandma liked it and made it. She loved sweets! I definitely get my sweet tooth from my father, who got it from my grandma.  It reminds me a little bit of a dark divinity, and we know how she loved that!

love, krissy girl

waffles

Recipe 18

Waffles

2 c. sifted flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3 egg yolks, well beaten

1 c. milk 

4 T. melted butter

3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt and sift again. Combine egg yolks and milk. Add to flour, beating until smooth. Add butter. Fold in whites. Bake in hot waffle iron. Serve with Log Cabin Syrup. Makes 4- 4 section waffles.

Oh how I love a homemade waffle!! It is my favorite breakfast food. I never understood my sister, she never liked syrup growing up. Are you kidding? I can't get enough syrup on it! So sissy, this picture is for you, a nice plain homemade waffle.

I think a recipe like this one is worth making homemade. Getting the flour sifted, eggs beaten, is something we don't make the time for anymore. We like instant Eggo waffles...in a hurry...gotta go... I am going to make these in December for Evan when he comes home from college. He likes them with chocolate chips. 

love, krissy girl

**feel asleep early last night....this is for Thursday, darn these blogs keep me honest, no way to change the date!

edith lee's baked chicken salad

Recipe 17

Edith Lee's Baked Chicken Salad

2 c. chicken

1 can creamed chicken soup

1/2 c. chopped celery

2 T. chopped onion

3/4 c. salad dressing

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

2 c. crushed potato chips

1 c. large macaroni shells -measure and cool

2 T. lemon juice

green pepper

Mix- Bake 20 mins at 450 degrees. Can be made ahead of time. 

This is a good old fashioned casserole! I am assuming you top the casserole with the potato chips like this picture before baking it. It sounds very hearty. Another recipe from Edith. I am kind of thinking that Edith invited them up to the Lake, and served all of these recipes, and Grandma had to have the recipe!

This is one of those recipes I can almost smell right out of the oven. One can never go wrong using cream of chicken soup...yum!

love, krissy girl

coconut cookies

Recipe 16

Coconut Cookies

1/2 c. shortening

2 c. brown sugar

2 or 3 eggs, beaten

1 c. coconut

nuts, chopped

2 cups, sifted flour

1 t. baking powder

1 t. vanilla

Drop from spoon unto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until brown.

I love coconut, a lot of people I know do not. I have no idea why...it's sweet and crunchy and so good in cookies. I would probably use chopped almonds in this recipe, the almonds and the coconut would taste really good together.

My grandma has a few cards in her recipes boxes that are covered in saran wrap, this is one of them. I imagine that these were special to her, she wanted them to "live" on. On the back of this card she had written Mother Galena Amanda Hanson Wigdahl.  I don't know if I have talked much about my Grandma's passion for history yet. She loved to share her stories...over and over and over again. She told us the same stories a lot. But I realize, she doesn't want us to forget her and her "history", if she doesn't tell it, who will?

love, krissy girl

chopped suey

Recipe 15
Chopped Suey
1 lb. cubed veal
1/2 lb. cubed pork steak
2 onions
bunch celery
green pepper
1 can mushrooms
1 T. molasses
1 T. flour

Fry veal and pork, add water. Boil rest of the ingredients for 1 1/2 hrs, add flour for thickening.  Serve with Chow Mein noodles.




Definition: Chop Suey is a dish in American Chinese cuisine, consisting of meat and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetable such as bean sprouts, cabbage and celery bound in a starch-thickening sauce.

I am including the definition because this is a dish I am not that familiar with. I have heard of it, but would call it stir fry. I have also come across a few recipes using molasses, which must have been a popular ingredient back then, because I never rarely see it new recipes.

Sometimes I feel like I am going back in time with each recipe. It brings me back to a different time and place. Back then you could only find a recipe in the newspaper, or in a magazine. You had to write it down or cut it out, you could not pull it up on your laptop. We have 1000's and 1000's of recipes at our fingertips, why do I never know what to make for dinner??

love, krissy girl

chocolate pudding

Recipe 14

Chocolate Pudding

4 c. milk

1 1/2 c. sugar

10 T. flour

2 squares chocolate

Heat milk, mix gradually in sugar and flour and chocolate. Cook in boiler beaten constantly and top with whipped cream.

Is there anything better than warm chocolate pudding....answer, no. My family loves chocolate pudding, but I have never made it by scratch. I always buy the boxes of cooked pudding, serve it warm with whipped cream. It is truly heavenly. 

This recipe is actually stained which looks like to be pudding, which I think is perfect. This too is a very simple recipe, I like that. I like what I see so far in her recipe boxes, simple but good recipes. Recipes anyone can make. Recipes that make people happy.

love, krissy girl

p.s.- I have missed both Saturday's blogs- always too busy....so you get 2 on Sundays :)

apple crisp

Recipe 13

Apple Crisp

4 apples

1/2 to 3/4 c. brown sugar

1 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

Slice thin place in buttered baking dish. Cover with sugar. Make dough, brown sugar, butter and flour. Place on top. Serve with cream.

Tis' the season for apples! Get them fast and make an apple pie or apple crisp. This recipe is very simple, maybe a little too simple. I think it could use some cinnamon and oats, but I am going to try it as is. My husband loves apple crisp, this would make his day. 

Our family was very fond of apples in apple pies, apples squares and apple crisp. My Dad practically begged my Grandma Veronica every chance he could for her apple squares. No one has attempted to make it since she has passed, it just wouldn't be the same. I bet my Grandma Bea made this recipe for her family often. Besides the apples, the ingredients were probably all on hand and easy to throw together.

love, krissy girl

ginger creams

Recipe 12

Ginger Creams

1 c. white sugar

1 c. shortening

1 c, dark molasses

1 c. boiling water

1 T. ginger

1 t. salt

1 heaping t. soda

Flour to make soft dough. When done sprinkle with powdered sugar.

This recipe does not call for an egg, but I may add one. It would make the cookies "fluffier" like these. Bake at 350 degrees also. My husband loves gingerbread anything. This recipe will be tried around the holidays, it's very festive and the fumes from the oven are heavenly!

My grandma loved the holidays. She decorated her little house on the hill to its best! Every shelf and table was filled with mementos and trinkets. She went through a phase of buying shelf units. I bet she had 6 crammed into her living room. "She needed a place to put things", she would say. Even if it was hard to walk around, it didn't matter, she needed to show her things. Make something this holiday season you have never made before, it could be a new tradition!

love, krissy girl

rhubarb jam

Recipe 11

Rhubarb Jam

5 c. rhubarb- cut in small pieces

3. sugar

Let stand until it makes it's own juice.

Boil until quite thick over slow heat. Then add  pkg. strawberry jello. Stir until it dissolves. Pour into glasses or jars. Seal with melted paraffin. Put ion covers and seal. 

Mrs. Wigdahl

This recipe is from my Grandma Bea's Mother Galena Wigdahl. My Grandma once told me she learned a lot from her Mother and Grandmother; sewing, canning and the piano. Her father Oliver was a Lutheran Pastor and she had 3 sisters and 1 brother, who are all now gone. We had a lot of fun with her family over the years, such wonderful people that are so missed.

This recipe is easy and I bet very yummy! I have never canned anything, but maybe this winter I will give it a try. I love mason jars for other uses, and these little ones are so cute. I could see making jam or caramel and giving them as gifts with homemade bread! Oh boy, I am suddenly sounding like Laura Ingalls Wilder :)

love, krissy girl

upside down cake

Recipe 10

Upside Down Cake-Bernice

1 c. brown sugar, melt- add to cooked fruit and few nuts-grease pan

Cake

1/2 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1/2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

Bake in moderate oven- 350 degrees. Turn over on plate, whip cream on top.

This recipe must have came from my Great Grandmother Bernice. I love the history in picking each card. My Aunt Sonni mentioned a lot of these recipes came from the "church ladies". My Grandma Bernice was a hoot!! She lived in California, and we loved to visit her! We watched her put white powder all over her face, bright lipstick and wear her huge rings and jewelry. She would have been in style now with the chunky jewels!

When I think of cake, I do not like to think of fruit with it. Frosting is my only way! However when searching for pictures of an Upside Down Cake I saw a lot of them with raspberries, blueberries, rhubarb and this one with cherries, that I could do. I hope to make a lot of these recipes with Lily in the near future. Right now I am focused on just getting them on the blog to share :)!!

love, krissy girl

edith lee's hot dish

Recipe 9

Edith Lee's Hot Dish 62'

Island House-Belle Isle, Minn

1/2 c. wild rice

1/2 c. white rice

1 lb to 1 1/2 lbs. cubed veal, cubed pork

2 medium onions chopped

2 c. diced celery

4 c. boiling water or beef broth

3 T. Soya sauce

1/2 c. sliced almonds

Brown meat, celery, onions

Grease dish and bake 2-3 hrs at 350 degrees

Mushroom sauce

2 cans mushroom soup

3  cans mushrooms (browned)

add (mushroom juice) as it cooks (thin if needed)

Serves 10-12

T

This recipe is from old friends of my Grandparents, the Lee's from 1962. They owned WKTY radio station in La Crosse, where my Grandpa Milo was the news director. They must have enjoyed it at their Island House, as stated by my Grandma on the card. Hot dish and casseroles were very popular in the 60's.

This actual sounds really good. Sounds like everyone could enjoy it in my family, even the picky ones. I would use pork or chicken, not veal. I have never tried veal, and probably never will. Look who's picky now! :)

love, krissy girl

ripe cucumber slices

Recipe 8

Ripe Cucumber Slices

12 ripe cucumbers

1/2 c. salt

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 T. whole cloves

1 T. whole allspice

1 long stick cinnamon

1 T. mustard seed

1/2 t. whole black pepper

4 c. vinegar

This recipe did not have instructions on the card. I am assuming this is a picking recipe for sweet cucumbers, so any canning recipe would work to finish it. This could have come from my Grandma Veronica, she made these all the time. I really like them, but most people do not. However, I like anything that has sugar in it!

Canning is very popular with some people, who grew up with it. I remember my Mom made jam a few times, but we were not "canners" like my Grandma Veronica. I do not think my Grandma Bea ever canned foods. In my lifetime with her she did not have a garden, but I have a feeling she tried this recipe many times for fun.

love, krissy girl

norwegian christmas cookies

Recipe 7

Norwegian Christmas Cookies

2 egg yolks

1/2 c. margarine

1/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. heavy cream

1 egg white beaten

10 sugar cubes crushed

Gently drop egg yolks into boiling water 20 mins. 350 degrees, grease sheets. Margarine and sugar- egg yolks- flour and cream. Roll 1 " balls into 4 " strips. Sprinkle crushed sugar. Bake 20 mins- 25 cookie.

I love finding her Norwegian recipes. I know these were so special to her. I can almost bet there are more to be found.

Isn't it funny that we can recognize someone by their penmanship. I could spot my Grandmother's, Grandfather's, Father's, Mother's, Husband's Sister's....etc. It's like a little piece of them is left behind, left so we don't forget. A mark to let people know they were here, and to remember who they were. 

love, krissy girl

oatmeal macaroons

Recipe 6 

Oatmeal Macaroons

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

1 c. melted shortening

2 eggs (separated)

1 t. baking soda

1/4 c. hot water

1 c. shredded coconut

1 t. vanilla

1 3/4 c. sifted flour

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

4 c. oatmeal

Combine sugars and melted shortening. Add egg yolks. Dissolve soda in hot water. Add to first mixture. Stir in coconut and vanilla. Mix and sift flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in oatmeal to flour and add to mixture. Fold in stiff beaten egg whites. Drop on baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 mins.

These look so yummy for fall.Coconut and oatmeal...yum! I see shortening in a lot of these old recipes. I have not baked with shortening for years. Isn't it a artery clogger :( ? I am sure we could find an alternative...butter??

This recipe and the next one were written on pieces of small notebook paper. I remember when we were cleaning out her house, you could open a drawer and find 50 pieces of scrap paper filled with notes. Notes from shows she had watched, ideas for decorating and lots of recipes. She had a very creative mind. She had so many ideas and thoughts. Even though we live in an electronic age now, I still like to write notes, lists, ideas and recipes, I get that from her :)

love, krissy girl

red devil's food cake

Recipe 5

Red Devils Food Cake

2 1/2 c flour

3/4 c. sour milk (2 T. lemon juice)

1/2 c. carob powdered cocoa

1/2 c. water

2 t. soda

1 3/4 c. sugar

2/4 c. butter

2 egg yolks, beaten

2 egg whites

1/2 t. vanilla

Add cocoa, soda and water (let stand in bowl). Cream sugar, butter, add beaten yolks, add flout and milk. Add cocoa, fold in egg whites, add vanilla. Pour into 9 x 12 cake pan. Bake in moderate oven 350 degrees  for 60 mins. Cool. White Frosting, pour on better chocolate. 

I don't make cakes by scratch very often, but when you do there is nothing better. I especially like making cakes in layers like this one. My grandma's recipe does not call for red food coloring, but I think I would add it to get the really red color. Make a cake for someone this weekend, it will make their day!

My Grandma made cakes for certain occasions,  Christmas (Baby Jesus, save for another day) or for birthdays, and she always put it on a cake plate. If she had little Norwegian flags on toothpicks available, those would go on top. She loved her heritage and her "home" country Norway. So many memories of her Bunads, jewelry and songs. More on that to come!

love, krissy girl