Mashed Potatoes & Turnip

My Mom remembers my Grandma M. (Doris) making this vegetable side dish and serving it with turkey. She would also bake turnips on their own, slit them and add butter, salt and pepper inside.

Mashed Potatoes & Turnip

Bake potatoes and turnip in oven and once done, mash together with butter, salt and pepper.

Baloney & Potato Dinner

This recipe comes from my Grandma M. (Doris). My Mom remembers this being served for many a meal. Enough was made for all eight children plus the two parents.

Baloney & Potato Dinner

Baloney

Onions

Potatoes

Cook first two ingredients together in frying pan. Boil potatoes. Serve.

Jellied Carrot and Pineapple Salad

This recipe was found written out on a scrap of paper slipped inside one of my Grandma M.'s (Doris') cookbooks.

Jellied Carrot and Pineapple Salad

1 pkg lemon gelatin

1 pint hot water

1 1/2 cup grated carrots

1 tbsp vinegar

1 cup crushed pineapple

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

mayonnaise

Dissolve gelatin in hot water. Add vinegar, sugar and salt. Chill until slightly thickened. Fold carrots and pineapple into slightly thickened gelatin. Turn into moulds. Unmould on crisp lettuce and garnish with mayonnaise.

Pumpkin Bread

This recipe was found written out on a scrap of paper slipped inside one of my Grandma M. (Doris's) cookbooks. My Mom and her sister remember that cans and pails were used for baking instead of baking tins. When the loaf came out, it would be cut into round slices.

Pumpkin Bread

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 beaten eggs

1 cup pumpkin

1 2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup nuts

1/3 cup water

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cream shortening. Add sugar, eggs and pumpkin. Mix thoroughly. Add flour and spices alternately with water, then nuts. Fill cans 1/2 full. Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done. I use any size cans.

Baked Beans

This recipe comes from my Grandma M. (Doris). This is actually my Mom's recollection of the recipe as Grandma didn't have it written down (that we know of). Grandma used to make baked beans quite often.

Baked Beans

Soak 2 lbs beans in water overnight or simmer in water for 1 1/2 hours on stove. Drain water and rinse beans to eliminate excess gas in water. Cover beans with fresh water and add:

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 lb shortening

chopped onion (optional)

1 can whole tomatoes (optional)

Bake uncovered in oven at 325-350 deg f. for most of day. Beans will turn a darker brown and be rather saucy in appearance. Add more water if you notice beans getting dry.

Raised Doughnuts

This recipe comes from my Grandma M. (Doris.) As mentioned in a previous post, she was well-known for her doughnut baking and used to sell to different bakeries and restaurants. This recipe was the original one that she began to make and sell. She later changed to the "Cake Doughnuts" as they were more "in-fashion," however these ones still remained a family favourite.

Raised Doughnuts

Ingredients

3 - 3 1/2 cups flour

2 packages yeast

3/4 cups milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

2 eggs

orange glaze

Directions

In large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and yeast. Heat milk, sugar, shortening and 1 tsp salt just until warm, stirring constantly until shortening melts. Add to fry mixture. Add eggs. Beat at low speed. Stir in remaining flour.

Cake Doughnuts

This recipe comes from my Grandma M. (Doris.). She was well-known for her doughnuts. She had a couple of different types that she made. (Click for her "Raised Doughnut" recipe.) She would bake them and sell them to various bake shops and restaurants. This is one version which does not require yeast.

Cake Doughnuts

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp nutmeg

3 tbsp shortening

2/3 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 quart oil

Directions

Deep fry at 375 degrees.

Sauce a la Cassonade

This recipe was passed down from my Grandma M. (Doris), a French Canadian. "Sauce a la Cassonade" is basically a butterscotch sauce. I've heard from my Mom and other family members that she would occasionally serve it to her husband and eight children as a dessert with bread for dipping, or with tea biscuits or it was even used as a pie filling. I might also add that it is especially good as an ice cream topping!

Sauce a la Cassonade

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

1-2 tbsp flour/cornstarch

2 cups farm fresh cream

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

On stovetop, melt butter with flour/cornstarch. Add cream and brown sugar. Stir until heated thoroughly - will have a skim on top. Remove from stove and add vanilla.

About Grandma Doris

My Grandma M. (Doris) was my maternal grandmother. She was born in Quebec in 1921. Being a francophone, she was raised with traditional French Canadian cooking. My Grandfather was an anglophone, but being a fellow Quebecer, also spoke the French language. After the birth of their 4th child, they moved to Ontario where they raised a total of 8 English-speaking children on their farm.

I have memories of Grandma's cooking, since she did not pass away until the last decade. A lot of the recipes and memories attributed to Grandma M. have come from my mom, and aunts. I was also lucky to be passed on a cookbook of Grandma's which no one else seemed to want. When paging through the cookbook, I was very excited to discover some of Grandma's recipes in her own handwriting, sitting between the pages. Real treasures!