Indian Pudding

One of our most cherished and controversial- some love it, others hate it- family recipes is Indian Pudding. Bring the subject up at any family gathering and you are sure to get plenty of opinions. My dad's mother passed along this family recipe to my mother nearly 70 years ago, and she  made it every Thanksgiving for the next 40 years. When I married, my mother passed along the recipe to me, and now I have been making it for the past 25 years. Mimi Jr. has  learned to make it, so someday she will become the keeper of the tradition. My grandmother would be pleased that this recipe can still be found on our Thanksgiving table so many years later and with many more years to come.

It's not to pretty to look at, but as we all know, looks can be deceiving. Made with corn meal, milk, molasses, raisins and dates, it is a thick, rich pudding that needs just a little whipped cream to mellow all of that natural sweetness. It is pretty rich so just a small bowl is very satisfying. Even after all the turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie, the Indian Pudding lovers in my family can always find room for this once-a-year treat.

Grammie Small's  Indian Pudding

1 1/2 quarts milk
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
3/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg or ginger
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins or 1 cup chopped dates, or a combination (I use 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 cup dates)
1 can evaporated milk- not always necessary, but I always have one on hand just in case.

Put milk in medium sauce pan turn heat to low and whisk in the cornmeal.  Add remaining ingredients stirring to combine.  Continue cooking on medium heat, stirring often, until mixture is thick.  Pour into a greased baking dish. Bake in a 300 degree oven for about 2 hours.  Check once or twice, and if it becomes to thick or dry, add canned milk on top during the baking. Do not stir. The pudding should be very soft. It can be made ahead, but rehaet before serving. It is best topped with slightly sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.

printable recipe

Happy Thanksgiving!

Popo Bars

Popo Bars

Each of my children has a favorite Christmas treat.  Popo bars are a favorite of my oldest daughter, Mimi Jr. Not only did she make the Popo bars, but she worte this post as well.

Growing up, we were fortunate enough to live 5 minutes away from my grandparents (Mimi's parents). We spent almost as much time at their house as we did ours. We had tea parties with my Nanny and helped my Popo in the vegetable gardern. Although Nanny, my grandmother, did the most of the cooking, there were a few times my grandfather got in the kitchen. During the holidays we always made these simple 7 layer bars, which we have renamed "Popo Bars" in his honor. He would get out all the ingredients and I would pull up a chair to stand on, and we would go to work. Everyone has their favorite Christmas treat, and these are mine. They are the first thing I make every year, always with a smile and an extra handful of chocolate chips, just like Popo did.

~ Mimi Jr. ~

POPO Bars

4 oz butter or margarine
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
6 oz chocolate chips
6 oz butterscotoch chips
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 can sweetened condensed milk.

In a 9x13 pan melt butter.  Place ingrdients in layers in the pan in the order given.  Bake @ 350 degree F. for 30 minutes.  Cut in bars.

Popo Bars

Candy Cane Cookies

Candy Cane Cookies

    It wouldn't be Christmas at our house with out Candy Cane Cookies. I remember as a small child my parents staying up in to the wee hours of Christmas morning making candy cane cookies so we would be sure to have them for our Christmas guests. What woke me up so early was the sound of my parents laughing. When I peaked out my bedroom door, there they were sitting at the table surrounded by cookie dough, laughing and enjoying a private moment together.
    For my own children dozens of candy cane cookies went to school each year for the class Christmas parties. Candy cane cookies are the first cookie we make every year, they are the signal that the Christmas baking has begun.


Candy Cane Cookies
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup shortening ( you can use all butter if you wish)
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
red food coloring
crushed peppermint candy
confectioner's sugar.

Mix together butter, shortening, and sugar.  Add egg and flavorings, mix thoroughly. Add flour and salt mixing to incorporate.  Divide dough in half.  Color one portion of the dough with red food coloring.

1.  Rolls dough into ropes about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick, about the size of you pinkie finger.  2.  Place one red and one white rope side by side.  Cut rope in 3 to 3 1/2 inch sections.

3. Twist the rope: hold each end of the rope and turn your right hand forward  (away from your body) and turning your left had backward (towards your body).  4. Gently, with your finger tips roll the rope to form a new rope about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick and about 6- 7 inches long.

Place the ropes on your baking sheet and turn the tops down, forming a candy cane.  Bake  in 375 F degree oven  for about 9 minutes, until just starting to brown.  Carefully remove from baking sheet and while still warm roll in a bowl of 2 part confectioners sugar to 1 part crushed peppermints.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses

Christmas is all about traditions.  When our oldest daughter was quite small, we invited several families to join us the first Sunday in December to kick off the Christmas season by making gingerbread houses.  It was an all day event which concluded with a soup dinner. That first year we tried to bake and assemble our houses all in one day.  When the sides caved in, we quickly learned that gingerbread must cure several days,  before building your structure. That was about seventeen years ago.  We still meet the first Sunday in December to build our gingerbread houses and eat soup, but we are not quite so ambitious now, we don't always make our own gingerbread for the houses.  You can pick up pre-baked ones at Target or Michaels, it is how you put them together and embellish them that makes them your own.