Grandma Ruth Arena Crawford Smith

"Though [my grandson] will retain pleasant but fleeting memories of my father, he will have no memory of my mother, who passed away before his birth. Not one of my children has any recollection of my grandparents. If I want my children and grandchildren to know those who still live in my memory, then I must build the bridge between them."

—Dennis B. Neuenschwander, "Bridges and Eternal Keepsakes"

Here's to building bridges through food!

Green Beans
the secret to Mother's green beans are fresh beans from the garden and salt pork and salt to taste

Blackberry Pie

Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups shortening
• 3 tablespoons white sugar

• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, shortening, sugar, and salt. Blend together with a pastry cutter until crumbly.
2. In a small bowl, mix egg with water. Blend into flour mixture. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.
3. Roll out dough, and fit into two 9 inch pie pans.
4. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 12 minutes.

Blackberry pie Filling-

In 1995 Joseph, Paul, Grandma Kennard and I went on the road from Grandma Smith's to the little store and picked wild Blackberry's growing along the side of the road and brought them home to Grandma and she made us several blackberry pies. It was fun activity for little ones and they loved picking and eating the fruits of their labors :).  Read Blueberries for Sal as an activity to go along with this awesome recipe

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups fresh picked and washed berries

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Flour

Directions

Combine 3 1/2 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell.

Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes

Homemade bread

INGREDIENTS

3 cups luke-warm water

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast

1/3 cup oil

1 Tbsp. salt

6 - 7 cups unbleached ground white wheat flour (You can use regular all-purpose flour with success as well. You will need more flour... closer to 8 cups, and it will make a softer, less-coarse bread.)

*opt. 1 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten (if using whole white wheat flour)

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and sugar. Let sit 10 minutes. Add the oil. Add the salt and flour (starting with 6 cups of flour). Mix all together. Knead the dough thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated, and dough is smooth, elastic, very slightly sticky, and pulls away from the bowl (6-10 minutes). As you knead the dough, you may add more flour as needed, and repeat the process until dough reaches the desired consistency. 

Cover the bowl of dough with a dish towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled (an hour or more depending on how warm your kitchen is.) You may speed up this process by placing the covered bowl inside the oven with the oven light on, and another bowl of warm water sitting on the lower rack.

Punch the dough down, divide and and form into 2 loaves. Place the dough in 2 greased bread pans. (I use 9" pans.) Cover and let rise till the top of the dough is an inch or two above the bread pans.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove the baked loaves from their pans immediately, and place on a cooling rack. Slice, and serve warm with butter and honey.

Store in an air-tight bag. Baked loaves AND bread dough freeze well. 

Crock Pot Roast Beef

Ingredients

4-5 lb Chuck Roast

Beef Consume – 1 can

2-3 Bay Leaves

1 tsp Sweet Basil

1 tsp Minced Garlic

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Rosemary

2 tbls Worcestershire Sauce

2 tbls Brown Sugar

2 tbls Olive Oil

½ cup diced onions

½ cup diced carrots

½ cup diced celery

Instructions

Heat crock pot at the simmer setting (usually lowest setting, but this varies depending on your crock pot). Add beef consume (undiluted), wine, and all the spices. While this is heating, rub meat with Worcestershire and brown sugar, coating both sides. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and lightly brown meat on both sides. Add meat to crock pot along with contents of frying pan. Top the browned meat with onion, carrots and celery (a mirepoix). Cook covered 7-8 hours or until desired tenderness.

(Reserve strained liquid for a tasty soup base, and leftover meat is great in tacos)

https://livinghappiness.blogspot.com/2016/03/happy-birthday-grandma-smith-january-30.html

Grandma Elaine remembers her mom making this recipe

BURNT SUGAR CANDY
1 c. sugar Melt over low heat until light brown. 1 c. cream 1/8 tsp. baking soda 1/4 c. butter 1/2 tsp. vanillaAdd 2 cups sugar and 1 cup cream to melted sugar and stir until firm ball stage. Remove from heat. Add soda and butter. Cool 10 minutes. Add vanilla; beat until gloss is gone. Pour in pan or drop on wax paper. Nuts or coconut are optional.