A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity Our Favorite Recipes From Your Childhood?

Anyone care to share a favorite, easy dessert you ate as a child and still enjoy?

In our family, we loved it when Grandmom made "Cottage Pudding" and everyone still loves it when I prepare it today.

And it is SO SIMPLE!

All you need is a pound cake and a box or two of chocolate pudding mix -- the kind you have to cook on the stove.

Prepare the pudding as directed.
Cut the pound cake into individual serving slices OR nice cubes in to a heat tolerant serving bowl.
Pour the hot pudding over the pound cake and serve!
You can add spray whipped cream as a garnish if you want.

Anyone else have something to share?

Merme

Ohh Yes !!
I remember ...

Make a large box of strawberry jello~ Thicken with ice instead of water,, cut up or break in small bite size pieces of Angel food cake( Bought)~ mix it will the jello and let set up in fridge, it only takes about an hour this way!!! This is sooo refreshing on a hot summer day!!! Even better cut strawberries up in it!!! or serve on top with whipped cream!!

Another easy one is...

Take vanilla wavers Put a dallop of cool whip on it and a piece of fruit on top ~ ~ it's quick and Yummy!!!

My mom made what she called "Banana Pudding"

make some vanilla pudding--(be brave, & use whole milk)

Crush graham crackers (as if you were going to make a GC pie crust.) have 1 or 2 bananas handy.

In a bowl, or in individual serving dishes-:

layer
1) graham cracker crumbs
2) Vanilla Pudding
3) Sliced bananas

Repeat layers until all ingredients are used up.
Serve warm or refrigerate till ready to serve. You can also top with whipped cream (or Cool Whip) right before serving.

Mom always made homemade vanilla pudding for this
it will make it extra yummy!!!!

JunieGirl ~ I love the sound of your mom's bananananana pudding; I think I will try this when I have company coming with lots of children. Thanks!

Angel ~ ice cream sandwiches out of Nilla Wafers is truly a terrific treat you can make in advance and freeze to serve later. Thanks for reminding me of it -- a perfect thing to have on hand when the kids are complaining they can not go meet the ice cream truck every day!!

Merme

Ohh Good idea with the vanilla wafers for icecream sandwiches!!!! Even better some sugar cookies as they are bigger LOLOL

We used to make coolaid popsicles. We put coolaid in the ice trays and inserted toothpicks. Very simple, I had almost forgotten about those until I saw this topic. I've started making fruit and yogurt popsicles with the kids. You just blend some fruit, yogurt, and orange juice in a blender then pour it into popsicle trays and stick them in the freezer. Healthy yummy summer snack.

I told you of the Banana Pudding recipe but are you interested in my Grandmothers oatmeal cookie recipe,
Her peanut Butter Cookie recipe or her Divinity recipe? I remember them ALL fondly from my childhood---

BTW: the peanut butter cookie does not have any flour in it as I recall

One from my husbands childhood favorites is Peanut butter Icing recipe. YOu take any vanilla icing recipe & substitute PB for some of the butter. Or what I do is ADD 4 TB PB to the butter. You blend the 2 together and proceed with your recipe. My MIL always put it on spice cake.

Post aweay, JunieGirl!! We'd love to have all those recipes!!!

Merme

OK--will do---as soon as I get my phone call I will begin--
(dial-up ya know)

we didn't have many desserts unless you count hoe cake and cane syrup, too poor.

penny, hoe cake is a flour and water "cake" that came to be called that because dirt poor farmers would cook it in the field on their hoes over an open fire. and cane syrup is just that, sugar cane juice that has been boiled down as part of the sugar making process, but interrupted. it is the only kind of syrup i can eat to this day. it's all i had.

potato candy is SO good...lots of people still make it around here and sell it at bake sales!

I have never heard of potato candy! Sounds like it would be good though!

It's good, and not really potato like at all....you should try it out!

OK here Goes:

Grandma Bilyeu's Oatmeal Cookies---makes 8 dozen

Preheat oven to 350*F

1 Cup Butter or margarine-(at least 70% fat)
1 Cup LARD--[b]not shortening[/b] 2 tsp. salt
2 cups white granulated sugar 4 C. Old-fashioned Oats
2/3 cup milk, twice[/b] 4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp. baking soda 1-2 C. chopped nuts
4 Cups flour 4 Cups raisins
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. Nutmeg

1) In lg. bowl, cream together first 3 ingredients until light & fluffy.
2) Add 1 tsp to 2/3 baking soda, [b]stir well to disolve. do this twice.
3) add milk/soda mixture to creamed mixture--blend well. (set this aside)
4) In a seperate bowl combine flour, spices & salt. Mix well.
5) stir these dry ingredients into the butter/milk mixture. Blend well.
6) Add first the oats & then the beaten eggs.--mix well
7) Stir in the nuts of choice and raisins.
note: if omitting either the nuts and or the raisins either double the
other or add additional oats--or cookies will be thin.
8) Drop by teaspoonful onto greased (or sprayed) cookie sheet.
9) Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or till edges are slightly brown.
10) remove to paper towels to drain off some of the excess grease.--cool
11) Store in airtight containers-a piece of bread added will keep cookies moist.
12) Cooled cookies will freese very well.

Tips:

if first sheet of cookies are too thin, add more oats.
2) DO NOT use quick oats OR shortening OR low fat maragrine--
if you do cookie texture/flavor will be much different.
3) this was my great-grandmother's recipe--handed down to all children in the
family when they set up housekeeping.

Grandma Bilyeu"s Peanut Butter Cookies
Preheat oven to 375*F

2-1/2 C. Flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt

in a small bowl, blend the above together, or sift, set aside

Now in a large bowl, (3 qt.) place:

1 C. smooth peanut Butter 1 C. White sugar
1/2 C. Butter, margarine, softened 1 C. brn Sugar, packed

Mix together until well blended, light & fluffy. Add 1/3 flour mixture at a time to the creamed mixture--blending well after each addition.

Mix in 2 eggs and 1/4 C. avaporated milk

Chill dough about 10-15 minutes or until dough is firm enough to handle.
Shape into balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press down on each with a glass or fork tines dipped sugar. Bake at 375*F for 10 minutes or til lightly gloden brown. remove & cool--store tightly covered.

Notes: try just a few at first. you may find you shuld LIGHTY grease the baking sheet. Do not press the cookies too flat-grandma always made a criss-cross design on the cookie.
While she did not add choc kisses i have. if doing so, only very slightly flatten cookes before baking & press kiss into hot cookies before removing from baking sheet.

Marie's Peanut-Butter Icing

4-1/2 TB Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 Cup 70% fat margarine or butter
4 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3 TB Milk

In a large bowl, use mixer to cream PB & butter. Add salt & vanilla.
Blend well. Add Powdered sugar. Mix Add milk and beat until smooth.

Note: Add more or less milk to reach desired consistency. This goes so very
well on a spice cake.

Grandma's Divinity



2 C. Sugar 2 Egg whites
1 C. water 1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C. corn syrup (not dark) 1 C. nuts, opitional
1/4 tsp. salt

In sauce pan combine first 4 ingredients. Blend well to disolve the sugar.
Cook on stove, over medum heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring
constantly. Continue to cook without stirring until small amt of mixture that is dropped into a bowl of water forms a firm, but not hard ball.

While syrup mixture is cooking on its own--(do watch closely though)
Beat egg whiltes until stiff peaks form. Drizzel completed syrup over egg whites in a steady stream until all syrup is incorporated into the whites and continue beating until mixture loses its gloss. Now add the vanilla. if you desire nuts--add now---blend well.

Either pour into buttered pan or prop by tspfulls to a buttered wax paper sheet. if in pan, chill & later cut into squares. if teaspoonfuls, when "dry" put into a tightly covered container.
I always keep my Divinity chilled.

Is divinity the same thing as fondant?
Also, who had the flourless recipe for peanut butter cookies? I hope you'll post it.

I thought I had the flourless recipe and that is was my grandmothers recipe---however as you see, it has flour---I do think I do have a flourless recipe for them though--and i will look for it---I will also post if i find it or not so you will know--

Divinity is different, it is simply a candy--where as i believe fondant is more like a filling--or in the case of icing it is like the stuff they lay on cakes these days to end up being smooth icing (& it tastes awful??)

no, divinity isn't the same. divinity is lighter, fluffier, and more "melt in your mouth". fondant is more like caramel or taffy in density, but isn't chewy. it's thick and heavy, and has a totally different flavor.

to make uncooked fondant (there is a cooked variety, but i've never made it) you can take a stick of softened butter, 1/3 c white corn syrup, 1 tsp vanilla, and about 5 cups powdered sugar. beat the butter, syrup, and vanilla together, then mix in the sugar, you will have to mix it by hand or use a bread mixer as the mixture will resemble french bread dough, very heavy.

it can be rolled thin (1/8") to use as icing on a cake - think wedding cake, medium (1/4") and spread with peanut butter or melted chocolate chips then rolled and sliced into pinwheels, or rolled into balls to be dipped in semi-sweet chocolate similar to buckeyes.

both divinity and fondant can have chopped nuts added to them, but i prefer them without.

carol, we were posting at the same time, only i took too long

Jiffy: WOW I can't believe I got done before you (the typing ya know)

But your explaination is much better..

OK, thanks all.
The fondant I remember was an oval white lump with an almond in the center.
I don't think they were cooked.

i've seen it done that way. divinity is also oval lumps if the humidity is too high, and is frequently garnished with a pecan half.

Wait a minute-it wasn't an almond, it was a date. Ick !

ick is right!

Deborah; here ya go!!

Flourless peanut Butter Cookies


1 C. Sugar
1 C. peanut Butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. PB chips--(try semi-sweet chips)???

Mix all ingredients together. Bake at 350*F
12-15 minutes. Makes 12 cookies. Can be doubled.

Another recipe leaves out the vanila & chips, and supposedly tastes like the PB filling in Reeses.

Thanks, Carol Jean !
I'll make them and report back !

Will be patiently waiting..............