Jen's Apple Pie

Pictured with crumble topping.

Apple pie is one of my favorite baking memories with Grandma Joy, and probably one of the first things I was ever allowed to help her bake. :)

I remember when I was itty-bitty Grandma let me peel the apples with her super cool apple peeler. It was one of those that clamps onto the side of a table or counter and it has a handle that you crank to spin the apple round and round. I am guessing that I got this job because it was a little tedious but loads of fun! 

Probably the funniest part of the whole event for Grandma was me trying to eat the peel as fast as I could peel it. I remember Grandma laughing at me and asking me what I was doing... I am sure it was quite the sight! What can I say, I love tart apples and you couldn't let a good thing go to waste! She finally told me that we could save the peels until I was done peeling all the apples and then I could eat as many or as much of them as I wanted. In retrospect I must not have been as fast as I thought I was! LOL

Jen's Apple Pie

Ingredients:
2 lbs apples
Juice of 1 small lemon
6 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I tend to use more)
Unbaked double-crust pastry for pie

Glaze:
1 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp granulated sugar

Optional crumble topping:
cinnamon
granulated sugar
butter

Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 425 degrees.

Quarter, core and peel apples.

Slice them, toss with lemon juice, then with the sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch.

Put the apples into the lined pan. 

Distribute the slices, heaping them toward the center.

Brush rim of the pastry with a little milk. 

Cover with the remaining piece of pastry. 

Gently press the edge with thumb tips.

Cut off excess, holding the knife at a slight angle.

Flute the edge with your fingertips, then brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Cut a 1/2 inch steam hole in the top crust.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes. 

The pastry should be golden and the filling soft when pierced.

Neoma's Cranberry Salad

I must admit when I was a kid I never really liked cranberry salad but it was always something that got put on your plate for you to "try" ... just in case you remembered it wrong from the year before. LOL Got to love being a kid! 

I think that it is a salad that your taste buds have to grow into, because surprisingly I actually like cranberry salad now. I must say that of all the different cranberry salad recipes I have tried this one is still my favorite. Although we have made a slight alteration to it by adding an orange, which is an adaptation from my Grandma Alice's recipe. Now it has just enough citrus zing to offset the tart cranberries. It's like a party in your mouth!

-Jennifer Figgins

daughter of Jesse Figgins and Mary Bryan

Cranberry Salad

Aunt Neoma and Grandma Alice Bryan

Ingredients:

2 packages strawberry jello

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 can crushed pineapple

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped nuts

optional: 1 orange, finely ground.

Use a food processor to chop up the cranberries.

Dissolve jello in boiling water according to directions on packaged.

Add rest of ingredients and refrigerate.

Serves: 15

*Grandma Alice Bryan's recipe: add 1 whole orange, finely ground.

_  ________________  _

This is another version of Aunt Neoma's Cranberry Salad that was sent to me by her son Mason. It is slightly different than the one I have of Aunt Neoma's but still sounds yummie! Thanks Mason!

Neoma's Cranberry Salad

Neoma Ridlen's handwriting and recipe.

Ingredients: 

2 cups ground cranberries

2 red apples ground

1 cup sugar

1 pkg jello dissolved 

zest and juice from one orange 

Mix all ingredients into dissolved jello.

Place in refrigerator to cool.

Classic Pecan Pie

One of my favorite pies at Thanksgiving is the pecan pie! ...well besides apple... and coconut meringue .. and ...okay so I like pie! This recipe, however, is one of the funny ones. My mom uses family recipes for just about everything, but one of the exceptions is her pecan pie ...well I guess I can't exactly say that it isn't a family recipe because Grandma made her's using the same recipe. I know it is hard to believe, but for the pecan pie my mom uses the recipe on the back of the package. Now mind you, it is not just any package, it has to be the recipe from the back of the Karo Syrup bottle. 

The brand is very important. You can't just use any old brand. LOL I asked her one time why she used that specific brand and she said that she had tried a bunch of recipes and that particular one always turned out the best, and besides that was the recipe Grandma always used. I guess you can't argue with that logic. So Karo Syrup it is!

-Jennifer Figgins
daughter of Jesse Figgins and Mary Bryan

Pecan Pie

As printed on the back of the Karo Syrup bottle.

Ingredients:

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sugar

1 cup light or dark corn syrup

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/4 cups pecans

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Place baking sheet in oven on center rack and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the first five ingredients until well blended. 

Stir in pecans. 

Pour into unbaked pie crust. 

Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. 

Cool for 2 hours on wire rack. 

Store pie in refrigerator.

*Tips: Pie is done when center reaches 200 degrees.

Tap center surface of pie lightly; it should spring back when done.

If pie crust is over-browning, cover edges with foil. 

Makes 8 servings. 

Apple Picking at Grandma Joy's

It is apple season again! I love to pick apples. There is something cathartic about harvesting and preparing food that you have raised. It always seems to taste just that much better.

Will Figgins and Jennifer Figgins - apple trees lining the lane.

When I was little my Grandma had a whole row of apple trees lining the lane to her house. She had a couple more up by the house, a red apple tree in front of the house and a huge green apple tree towards the North end of the house. My favorite to eat, by far, were the green apples. They were so tart that they would make your lips pucker! Okay, so I was an odd child. My favorite to climb, however, was the tree in front of the house. I was not very good at climbing trees and it had really low limbs!

Jennifer Figgins with Joe (the cat) - favorite climbing apple tree (left)

There is one year in particular I will never forget. We had picked all the apples from along the lane and from the tree in the front yard all that was left was the green apple tree. Grandma had a pretty big crew that year. We had picked all the apples that we could reach from the ground with the apple picker and it was decided that more were needed. Instead of finding a ladder to reach higher into the tree someone had the idea to pull my Uncle Maurice's old red and white pickup up under the tree so that we could stand in the bed of the truck and pick apples. Well, it turns out that the bed of the pickup didn't increase the apple picking opportunities like they first thought it would. So My Aunt Marie decided to climb up on top of the cab. This of course was much higher!

At this point my Grandma decided that it was okay for my aunt to climb up there, but we would just step back and supervise. Unfortunately the top of the pickup cab didn't allow them to reach the prime real-estate either... so they changed gears yet again and went to plan C.

The next thing we knew the pickup was pulling out and Uncle Maurice was pulling up to the tree in his tractor with the scoop attached. Now this was something to see! I wish I had a picture of it to share. I never knew my aunt was part Evel Knievel! She hopped up into the scoop with the apple picker in hand and up she went! My Uncle lifted her up in the bucket as high as it would go. I think We got every possible apple off the tree that year! 

Sadly apple picking just doesn't seem the same without a tractor and scoop. It is just not as exciting picking from the ground!

-Jennifer Figgins
daughter of Jesse Figgins and Mary Bryan


Marie Miller's Apple Crisp

Joy Miller's handwriting. Marie Miller's recipe

Ingredients: 

4 cups apples 

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup oleo or butter

Spread apples in an even layer in the bottom of the baking dish.

Cover apples with the white sugar.

Mix the brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oleo.

Sprinkle the oatmeal crumble mixture over the top of the apples.

Bake at moderate oven temperature.

Burnt Marshmallow Myth

Grandpa Miller always told me (with those wonderful, smiling, -more like laughing!- blue eyes of his), that burnt marshmallows would give me black curly hair. 

I tried and tried to get black curly hair by burning all my marshmallows when we had a picnic...it just didn't work! Dark brown, straight hair is just NOT the same, Grandpa! :-) 

I especially remember a picnic on the south side of Grandma's and Grandpa's house...I was getting up from the table to burn a marshmallow and the table tipped, because other people were sitting on the downhill side! Couldn't have been just me that stood up at the time, because I wasn't very old, and I used to be skinny! It was all those marshmallows and Wacky cakes!

-Donna Joy Hendrickson 
daughter of Maurice and Marie Miller

Salmon Patties

As our garden is now starting to produce peas I was reminded of one of my favorite fish dishes. If you know me you know that I am not extremely fond of fish, but I love this recipe! I remember helping Grandma make this when I was little. She would get all the ingredients out and dump them into a large bowl. I then got the super fun job of mashing it all together with my bare hands! Of course, you had to be kind of careful not to make too much of a mess. 

-Jennifer Figgins
daughter of Jesse Figgins and Mary Bryan

Salmon Patties

Ingredients:
1 sleeve of saltines
1 large egg
1 can of pink or red salmon
vegetable oil

Crush the sleeve of crackers into small pieces.

Drain the can of salmon.

Slightly beat the egg.

In a large bowl incorporate all the ingredients together.

Form mixture into skinny patties.

Use enough oil to coat the bottom of a skillet.

Add patties once the skillet is hot.

Fry on both sides until a golden brown crust forms.

Serve hot.


Makes about 4-5 hamburger-sized patties

*Note: Peas are a great side to go with the patties.

Homemade Ice Cream at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2011 in Arizona Max Miller, Jon Jelen, and Steve Jelen

I thought you might like this picture of my dad (Max Miller), Tammy’s husband (Jon Jelen), and Tammy’s son (Steve Jelen) working on homemade ice cream at Thanksgiving. It reminded me of the picture you posted of Grandpa making ice cream.

- Marcia Chadly

daughter of Max and Shirley Miller