What I Love About Preschool

Grandma's Recipes

She will be 97 on Christmas Eve.

She helped raise many of her 15 siblings.

She raised 5 of her own children.

She has 20 grandchildren.

She has 29 great-grandchildren.
And one on the way.

She has never driven a car.
She and my youngest daughter share a middle name, "Lorene."

She worked for years as a cook at McCollum Hall at the University of Kansas.

I wish she would have been the cook when I lived there!

We fight over her gingersnaps, we covet her snickerdoodles, her quesadillas are heaven, chicken and noodles just aren't right without her homemade noodles, and spending the night at her house brought the extra perk of getting a fluffy pancake as big as your head for breakfast.  I'll admit I don't use her recipes as often as my family would like, but thanksgiving calls for a couple of the favorites.


Let's have dessert first, shall we?

Grandma's handwritten recipe

I usually make two; one with a traditional crust and one with a graham cracker crust.  Now Grandma makes a mean meringue the likes of which I have not mastered, and that's what she tops hers with.  I default to whipped cream.  Here is her pie crust recipe if you don't have a favorite of your own:

The story on this, correct me if I'm wrong Mom, is that my 3 yr. old self proved my excellent cutting skills on Mom's recipe card while she was on the phone.  I like to think she was on the phone with Grandma getting advice on the recipe, but I'm not sure that's true.

Okay, on to dinner.

This is my own newly married handwriting, but I promise I was taking dictation directly from her.  A few things I'd like to point out:

1. I'm sure hers was originally made with bread she had baked herself the day before, not Wonder bread that may or may not get slightly toasted in the oven depending on my mood and time constraints.
2. That means sometimes it takes a little more than a loaf to soak up enough of the chicken stock.
3. Like a good speech student of Mr. Bigham, I must remember to assume my audience has never made dressing before, and needs to be told to tear the bread into pieces and place in the baking dish.
4. Mix the rest of the ingredients together, except butter, and pour over the torn bread.  Mash it slightly to make sure all the bread is moist.
5. I always use more than 1tsp. of sage because I love its flavor.
6. I use real butter instead of margerine and I just slice the stick in pieces and place them randomly over the top before baking.

Good luck with all of your Thanksgiving cooking!

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