Rum Cake

Mom and Grandma both made this rum cake, but it had been many years since I tasted it, and I had never made it before. I don't know why I waited so long to try out this cake. It is delicious.

As the name indicates, rum is a key ingredient. Mom says that she used to use imitation rum extract. I used the real thing. Either way, the cake tastes great. The recipe uses instant pudding, which helps make the cake so moist. The other ingredients are basic. As for the tube pan, I actually used a bundt pan. Either type of pan could work.

I made this cake for MDS in advance of his birthday. I left out the pecans because, although MDS likes nuts, he prefers no nuts in baked goods. Rum cake makes a great birthday cake. MDS's birthday is two days before Grandma's birthday. If Grandma were still with us, I am sure she would love to have a slice of this cake.

Rum Cake

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup rum
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

For the Glaze:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 ounce rum

Mix together the cake mix, pudding, eggs, oil, water, and rum. Arrange the pecans on the bottom of a greased tube pan. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 325 for one hour. Just before the cake is done, mix together the ingredients for the glaze in a sauce pan and boil for one minute. Remove the cake from the oven and pierce the top thoroughly with a toothpick. Immediately pour the glaze all over the top of the cake. Cool completely before removing the cake from the pan. Enjoy!

Pepper Steak

This recipe is very easy to make, but does take a little longer than some of Mom's other weeknight meals. Nevertheless, you should definitely consider adding it into your rotation of meals. There are only a few ingredients, and they are always easy to find.

I remember Mom making pepper steak with some regularity when we were young. I don't remember anyone objecting to it, and with seven potentially picky eaters, no complaints must mean it was popular.

Pepper Steak

• 1 1/2  boneless chuck steak
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 envelope onion soup mix
• water
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• cooked rice

Cut the meat into thin strips about two inches long. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and brown the meat, turning frequently. Stir in the onion soup mix and two cups of water. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, clean and cut the peppers into thin strips. Add the pepper to the skillet and cook for about 10 more minutes. Blend the cornstarch and 1/2 cup water. Stir the cornstarch into the skillet. Cook for a few more minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Serve over rice. Enjoy! 

Pizzelles

When we were young, Grandma and Grandpa often hosted Memorial Day and Labor Day get togethers. They often invited their friends, Rose and Red. To the left is a photo from Grandma and Grandpa's house in Chicago, featuring (from left to right) Grandpa, Rose, Grandma, Noah, Mom and Megan. Below is a photo from the house on Addison in Riverside, featuring Mom, Mike, Red, Rose and Grandma. Usually, Rose would bring her homemade pizzelles, a delicious Italian waffle cookie. Rose often made anise-flavored pizzelles, a traditional Italian flavor.

Pizzelle means little pizza and the name comes from the round shape. When fresh off the iron, pizzelles are soft and pliable and can be shaped into ice cream cones, mini-bowls or cannoli shells. After a few minutes, the cookie hardens and becomes firm and crispy.

In order to make pizzelles, you need to have a pizzelle iron or press. The modern electric pizzelle irons look a lot like waffle irons, but result in thin cookies. The old pizzelle irons were designed to be used over an open fire or on the stove top. Most pizzelle irons have a waffle pattern on one side and flower pattern on the other side.

Once you made the base batter, any flavoring can be added. Flavoring includes vanilla, almond extract, anise, lemon and orange. For chocolate flavor, add three tablespoons of cocoa powder. For coffee flavor, dissolve a tablespoon or two of instant coffee with the melted butter. When making almond pizzelles, I like to use both almond extract and chopped almonds in the batter. For the recent Fourth of July family party, I even made chocolate almond pizzelles, which were quite tasty. I have not made pistacchio pizzelles, but I may try those next time. At the end of this post, there is a photo of Tim enjoying a pizzelle from my latest batch at Mom's new place in North Riverside.

Pizzelles

• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 2 tsp. vanilla (or other extract)
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• optional: crushed nuts, cocoa powder, etc.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Add the cooled butter and desired flavorings. Sift in the flour and baking powder into the egg mixture. The batter should be stiff enough to drop by spoon. 

Heat up the electric pizzelle iron. Drop a teaspoon of batter onto each grid pattern and close the pizzelle iron. The pizzelles will be ready in about one minute. Remove the pizzelle with tongs and allow to cool on a flat surface for flat pizzelles or immediately shape. Dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Grandma Holmes's LBJ Brownies

UPDATE: After publishing this post, my Mother-in-Law Patti sent me a photocopy of the recipe that she had clipped from the Detroit News in June or July 1966. It turns out that Grandma Holmes got the recipe from Patti. The recipe was created by LBJ's daughter, Luci Baines Johnson. Patti recommends baking the brownies at 325 for 40 to 45 minutes to prevent the edges from getting too brown.

Who knew that LBJ liked brownies? MDS has read the entire Robert Caro biography (all four volumes, to date) of Lyndon Baines Johnson, but does not recall a single reference to brownies. But MDS's Grandma Holmes did have a recipe for "LBJ Brownies" that appears to be copied from a newspaper. And, a Google search revealed the exact recipe under the name "Mrs. LBJ's Brownies." I suspect that the recipe was published in a newspaper during an election season. Could Grandma Holmes have anticipated that her grandson would read over 3,200 pages about LBJ? Probably not. But, her grandson does like brownies, as do I, so this recipe was a hit.

When I made the recipe, I left out the nuts. Now, I like nuts and I like brownies, but I have never liked nuts in my brownies. I have no good explanation, but to me, nuts have always spoiled good brownies. With or without nuts, this recipe is guaranteed to be delicious.

LBJ Brownies

• 1/2 pound butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Melt the butter in a sauce pan; while it is melting, put the sugar in a mixing bowl. Add about 3/4 of the melted butter to the sugar. To the rest of the butter, add the chocolate squares and stir often on low heat to melt the chocolate. Add the chocolate mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat in the eggs one ata time. Stir in the nuts, flour and vanilla.

Bake in a greased 8X8X2 pan at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Do not get too done; test with a finger or straw. Cool and cut into squares. Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

What I remember most about Mom's beef stroganoff is that she always served it with egg noodles. When I found Mom's recipe, it stated that it could be served with rice or noodles. To me, beef stroganoff should always be served with egg noodles. Mom's recipe also called from ground beef. Again, I am sure that ground beef would be just fine, but Mom always used round steak, and so did I.

In doing a Google search, it turns out that beef stroganoff is Russian in origin and has been around and in recipe books for quite some time. There are variations, but the key ingredients are beef, mushrooms, onion, and sour cream. If you don't have dry mustard, your could easily substitute any prepared mustard. You could also use canned mushrooms instead of fresh mushrooms. It had been years since I had had beef stroganoff, but it tasted just as I remembered it.

Beef Stroganoff

• 1 pound round steak
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 8 oz. fresh mushroom, sliced
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• cooked egg noodles

Slice or cube the steak. Saute the first five ingredients in a skillet until the beef is browned and the onion is tender. Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and beef stock, then stir it into the meat mixture. Cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve over the cooked noodles. Enjoy!

Crab Rangoon Dip

In looking through Mom's recipes, I found one for Crab Rangoon. Now, I don't actually remember Mom making Crab Rangoon, but my very own Crab Rangoon Dip has become a popular appetizer at our family Easter get-togethers. Crab Rangoon is a deep fried appetizer filled with cream cheese and crab. I have no interest in actually deep frying anything, so I just make the filling and serve it as a dip with crackers and pretzels. Mom's Crab Rangoon recipe is just about the same as mine, but does call for using wontons and deep frying these tasty treats. I take the easy way out and make a dip.

MDS claims not to like cheese, but he loves Crab Rangoon Dip. When I tell him that the main ingredient is cheese, he just claims that the main ingredients are crab and "rangoon." What is "rangoon"? I haven't the slightest idea. I doubt that this recipe has any connection to Rangoon, the former capital of Burma, because it seems to be an American creation. As to the ingredients, I typically do not closely measure the ingredients, so the amounts below are approximate.

Crab Rangoon Dip

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 4 oz. crab, finely chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. celery salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Soften the cream cheese so that it can be easily mixed (about 30 seconds in the microwave). Mix in the remaining ingredients. Serve with crackers, pretzels or vegetables. Enjoy!

Sauerkraut Cake with Mocha Whipped Cream Frosting

As I have mentioned before, Mom often did not inform us kids of the actual name of the dish or of certain ingredients in the recipe. She knew that we would not even try something if we thought it was weird. It could only take one of us to reject a dish before the rest of us might not even try it. I don't blame Mom; sometimes ignorance is bliss. While celebrating a lovely Mother's Day recently, we all enjoyed the delicious Portillo's chocolate cake.  As we were talking about how good the cake was, someone mentioned that the secret ingredient that made it so moist was mayonnaise. A quick google search will confirm that everyone talks about how good the Portillo's cake is and that the secret is mayonnaise. Then, Mom mentioned that she used to make a chocolate cake with sauerkraut. Everyone was shocked, but I had seen the recipe in Mom's recipe box, so I knew of the recipe. I didn't realize, however, that I had eaten it.

When Memorial Day came around, I told Mom that I would make the sauerkraut cake, but that we shouldn't tell anyone what was in it. So we just said that it was chocolate cake with mocha whipped cream frosting (which is specifically called for on Mom's recipe card). Some folks remembered the conversation from Mother's Day and were able to guess what was in it. But everyone who tried the cake liked it. This Memorial Day, Kal joined our family get-together and, as you can see, he enjoyed the cake. The sauerkraut adds texture and moisture to the cake. But, you would never guess that the secret ingredient was sauerkraut.

Sauerkraut Cake

• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup water
• 2/3 thoroughly rinsed sauerkraut

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until well-blended. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with water into the egg mixture and blend well. After rinsing the sauerkraut, finely chop it, then add it into the cake mix and blend well.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Allow to cool before frosting.

Mocha Whipped Cream Frosting

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp. instant coffee
• 2 tsp. cocoa
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Whip the cream until starting to stiffen. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until soft peaks form. Frost the cake. Enjoy!