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Sometimes recipes are more than just something to cook for dinner. Recipes can bring back memories of past events and old friends. Last month we shared a few of our old recipe cards. The column this month will continue this reverie of sharing favorite recipes and memories over the past many years. 

 

Linda: It was so much fun sorting through my recipe card box, looking for cards and sharing the recipes with our readers. Let’s offer some more of these memories. 

 

Lucy: Great idea! I discovered a card with a Jello salad recipe from a master gardener friend, Vini. She had beautiful gardens surrounding her house. I made the salad for my grandchildren when they were visiting. At first, they were doubtful about a salad with Jello, but after one bite, they ate the whole thing! I think our readers would enjoy it.

 

Linda: That’s a good summertime recipe for a hot day since it uses frozen fruits. Another summer recipe that I have written on a piece of scrap paper in your handwriting is the Skillet Rice Salad. I remember making this salad over many past summers to accompany grilled steaks. Outdoor grilling didn’t really become the fashion until the late ’50s, and then it was all the rage. 

 

Lucy: And we didn’t have propane tanks to heat the coals. First, you had to dump in the charcoal and get the fire started with a charcoal fire starter and hope you didn’t start a fire. A popular drink when grilling, on a hot summer night, was Sangria. We both used the recipe we found in the “Bakery Lane Soup Bowl” cookbook. It was from a popular restaurant during the ’70s in Middlebury, Vermont. 

 

Linda: And I think we should add a dessert. You mentioned your gardening friend, Pat, in last month’s column. She shared her recipe for her special Blueberry Pie. It’s made with sour cream. Blueberries will be ready to pick soon so let’s include that recipe.

 

Lucy: I’m sure our readers have enjoyed our journey back to a time when recipes were shared with friends instead of searching on a computer. The memory of the friend is as important as the recipe.

 

Vini’s Strawberry Pineapple Salad

1 cup of crushed pineapple with juice (an 8 oz can is almost equal to 1 cup so that is what I use).

2 small packages of strawberry jello or 1 large package

3 cups of frozen fruit ( strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches). 

1 cup chopped nuts

 

Heat pineapple and juice to boiling and add jello. Stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and stir in frozen fruit breaking it apart. Add nuts and stir. Pour into serving dish and chill until thick. Serve with a dollop of Cool Whip.  

 

Lucy’s Skillet Rice Salad

6 slices of crisp bacon, broken up

6 oz box Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Rice 

3 tbs bacon dripping

1 tbs flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

1 cup chopped celery (optional)

1 small head of torn or chopped Romaine lettuce 

1 small onion, sliced

1/2 cup radishes sliced (optional)

1 cup sliced cucumber 

 

Cook rice as directed on package. In separate pan put bacon drippings, flour, sugar, and salt. Add water and vinegar. Cook over low heat until sauce is smooth. Mix lettuce, vegetables, and rice. Pour sauce over all.

 

Bakery Lane Soup Bowl Sangria

Serves four

1/2 orange, sliced

1/2 lemon, sliced

1/2 cup large Strawberries, sliced

2 tbs sugar

2 tbs Cointreau (optional)

3 cups dry red wine

Ice

 

Combine fruit, sugar, and Cointreau in large pitcher. Let stand for 30 minutes to one hour. Add wine and stir to dissolve sugar. Add ice and serve.

 

Pat’s Special Blueberry Pie

1 cup sour cream

2 tbs flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 beaten egg

2 1/2 cups blueberries

1 pie crust, unbaked

Topping: 

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup chopped pecans

 

Combine first five ingredients and beat until smooth. Fold in blueberries. Pour into crust and bake 25 minutes at 400. Sprinkle topping on top of pie and bake for 10 more minutes. Chill before serving.

 

(Note: The recipe said to bake for 25 minutes. However, when I made it, the center was still soupy after 25 minutes so I baked it until the center was set. When making pies, I like to bake the pie shell for 5-8 minutes at 400 before filling to prevent the bottom from getting soggy from the filling)