This blog post will seem long but it’s mostly pictures so keep reading!

FOOD AND MEMORIES
“We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,” Numbers11:5, The Holy Bible
Memories connected with food are strong memories. I’m sure each of us can come up with food memories both good and bad. We write songs about food (Fried Green Tomatoes is one we enjoyed introducing to our kids), we view and paint art about food:

Mom, Shaina, and I with our paintings after the Mother-Daughter paint at my church, February 2015.
We write books about food:

We photograph our food:

Yum! Prime rib!!!
We photograph each other eating food:

Edith HUBBARD DRAKE and her mother, Laura BUTLER HUBBARD- photo courtesy of Deloris NORRIS and Barbara DRAKE BRATTON.
We collect recipes:

(I’m panicking!! Where are my recipes from Kendra and Georgiann?!?! This was part of a group of recipes I received as a going away gift when we left Idaho coupled with recipes I collected from friends while in Idaho.)
We gift food:

Photo courtesy of my sister-in-law, Becky- the master jelly maker and photographer and blogger.
We medicate with food and we forage food:

This is a photo from a series of photos I took. One photo out of this series was published in a book the same year my sister-in-law, Becky, had some photos published.

Bart and I foraging mushrooms earlier this year.
We watch movies based around food (I enjoyed Julie and Julia), and we plan events around food (really- you know we have Thanksgiving just for the food). We love food!
I’m going to share a few recipes here and include a short explanation of why I treasure each one and then I’m going to set you free to enjoy your weekend- and maybe a fabulous meal!
ONE OF MY PERSONAL FAVES
“Hunger is the best sauce in the world.” ~ Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra
One of the things I make that my family really loves is a sauce for meatloaf. Sounds pretty insignificant, doesn’t it? But when I discovered this sauce it took meatloaf to a whole new level. Here it is (from memory so you may have to adjust it to suit your tastes. I lost the recipe a few years back.)

Lisa’s Meatloaf Sauce recipe
UPDATE: Becky corrected my recipe. You can see where I scribbled on mine because I was unsure. I should have left it alone. Here’s my recipe in Becky’s handwriting (the correct version):

SOMETHING I LOVE OF MY MOM’S
Cool coleslaw trivia: 1) Colombians use it on hot dogs and it is delicious!! 2) Coleslaw got it’s name from the Dutch ‘kool sla’- kool meaning cabbage and sla meaning salad. (Foodreference.com) 3) Coleslaw was made popular as a side dish thanks to NYC deli owner Richard Hellmann who created a formula, bottled it, and marketed it to consumers as a dressing for shredded cabbage. (Foodreference.com)
My mom always made a great coleslaw to take to meals at church. That’s really what I associate this with- potluck meals of my childhood at our small country church (Poynor Baptist Church). You can see by the picture that the recipe is a loved and used recipe. Those are always the best!!

Kay’s Coleslaw

MY GRANNY BATES’ RECIPE

“Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing…And they all ate and were satisfied…” Matthew 14: 19-20, The Holy Bible
My granny loved fish. On days when we took Granny with us to town, she would often choose to eat McDonald’s fish sandwiches or eat at a restaurant like Long John Silvers or Captain John’s. Here I will share my granny’s fish batter recipe in her handwriting followed by my mom’s Green Tomato Relish recipe.

Granny’s Fish Batter

Kay’s Green Tomato Relish

MAM’S FOOD
“You can’t go wrong with relatively simple comfort food. It’s also about ease. Some cook to impress. I cook for people to enjoy the food.” ~ Al Roker
Mam cooked for people to enjoy the food. I don’t have any handwritten recipes from my dad’s mom but she cooked and canned a lot. I’m not sure she even used recipes! Two of my favorite things that she made us were chocolate gravy and blackberry pies. Here is the recipe I use for chocolate gravy (Somewhere I have this recipe in my husband’s handwriting from my mother-in-law, Joyce, but it must be packed away somewhere).
Mix 2 Tbsp butter with some flour to make a roux. Add milk- start with 1 cup, add more if necessary. Add about 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder and 4 Tbsp sugar. Let blend. Taste test and adjust as necessary. Let it cook at a low temperature until it is the consistency of gravy. Pour over buttered biscuits and enjoy.
As you can see I sort of swag this one. You’ll get the hang of it. Or else my mother-in-law or husband will comment here and adjust my instructions. lol

MARK AND EDITH DRAKE- HERE’S THE SCOOP
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!– lyrics by Howard Johnson/Billy Moll/Robert King
You must see this! It’s a real song: I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream.
What I remember having at Mark and Edith’s was homemade ice cream. So delicious! I don’t have their recipe. I don’t recall a recipe ever being used for the ice cream. I’m including a link to one here just as a tribute to their memory.
A Hundred Years Ago blog Black Walnut Ice Cream. I’m pretty sure I would have had this flavor made by Mark and Edith at some point during my childhood.
BECKY DRAKE’S JELLY
Fun fact about Redbud trees: They are the official state tree of Oklahoma.

Redbud trees.
I would be remiss if I didn’t include my sister-in-law’s jelly in this blog post. One of my favorite recipes is the redbud jelly. I foraged and she cooked. I’m not sure if the recipe below is the recipe she used but it is one of a few that we passed around. I know I have her jelly recipe- I just can’t seem to find it. Here is one that we looked at as a possibility at one point. It will be close enough to taste like her jelly (unless she used a secret ingredient).

This is Becky’s redbud jelly- newly canned. I hope she doesn’t mind that I stole her photo for the blog.

BECKY’S REDBUD JELLY
3 cups of redbuds
Approx. 2 cups boiling water
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3 Tablespoons sure-jel powder
2 cups sugar
Rinse the blooms and put in a large jar, pour boiling water over to cover. Cover and let sit till room temp the put in fridge for 24 hours. Pour through strainer into a pan, discard flowers and heat to boiling. Add lemon juice and sure-jel, heat to boil again, add sugar and heat to boiling. Boil hard for 1 minute. Put in sterilized jars and seal. It’s that simple. Made 3 1/2 jelly jars.

RALPH AND BESS LARKIN’S CANNED FISH
“Life is rather like a tin of sardines- we’re all of us looking for the key.” ~ Alan Bennett
My dad has memories of Ralph LARKIN fishing every weekend and Bess canning the fish. They would can small fish whole. The canning process softened the bones so there was no need to bone the fish first. Dad says the canned fish were good. I don’t have a recipe for canned fish but here is a website I trust that talks about canning fish. Becky and I may have to try it sometime.

Ralph and Bess LARKIN fishing.

LAURA RITER AND HER ANGEL FOOD CAKES
“Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It’s all about the memories.” ~ Buddy Valastro
I don’t have a recipe for (nor do I have a memory of) Laura’s angel food cakes but when I was young my mom shared with me her memory of Laura’s cakes and now whenever I make an angel food cake, I do this as a nod to Laura. When Laura made angel food cakes she put candy sprinkles in the batter before baking so it came out with colored dots all through the cake. It makes a pretty cake and is safe for diabetics to eat for dessert.

Candy sprinkles that I use in my angel food cakes.

I would love to see your family recipes or food memories. Share them here or on Facebook. I hope this weekend is all “comfort food and sprinkles” for you.

Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives