NELDA'S CHOCOLATE COVERED PEANUT BUTTER BALLS

This post is for Nelda's wonderful daughter-in-law, Diane, who needs Nelda's recipe.  Nelda has moved from Maine to St. Louis and hasn't unpacked her recipes yet.

NELDA'S CHOCOLATE COVERED PEANUT BALLS

2 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs

1 lb. powdered sugar

2 sticks margarine, melted

1 (12oz.) jar crunchy peanut butter

2 cans (3 1/4oz.each) coconut

1 c nuts, chopped

1 (12oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate

1/3 bar paraffin wax

            OR

1 (8oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Add peanut butter and                                                        margarine.  Shape into tight little balls.  Carefully melt                                                                    chocolate and paraffin (if using chocolate chips, you don't need                                                      paraffin) and dip the balls into the chocolate.  Place on a rack                                                                  to drip and let the chocolate set.

BAKED CORN

 

http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2010/07/as-promised-easiest-and-tastiest-way-to.html    

Here is the link to one of my favorite tips for summer.  Have years of shucking corn, putting large pots of water on the stove to boil, draining or removing the cooked corn from the boiling water, I discovered baked corn.  You must try.  It makes serving corn to a family or a crowd so easy and in the summer heat, we want easy. 

Ivanna, my Grandson's sister-in-law, has taught me a new way to shuck the corn after it is baked.  Ivanna cuts off the stem end of the cooked corn right at the place where the corn kernels start.  Tightly hold the end with all the silky stuff and squeeze the cob out of the husk through the stem end.  All the silk stays in the husk.  

I NEED HELP.  Some of my friends told me that the Print Button is not working on my blog posts.  Tom always took care of all the technical problems with the blog.  I am clueless.  Anyone out there who could or would help me? 

REVISITING FABULOUS REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

 
http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2010/07/neldas-1982-ice-box-pickles.html

Life without Tom is still very painful, but I have started to do more cooking for family and friends.  When Tom's cousins were here from Mississippi, I made these pickles just about every day as The Cousins just loved them.  The pickles were used as a fresh cucumber salad, a relish for sandwiches, and they even used the juice for a salad dressing.

I also made them for the first time for the family my Grandson married into last summer.  Not only has he become a very valued member of the family, but they have adopted me too.  Last Sunday there was a steak cook-off dinner around the pool.  All the men cooked their best steak recipe.  I am glad we weren't required to vote for a favorite as they were all great.  These pickles were a big hit too. My favorite picture of the heart, as I didn't have a camera, was Bradley walking down the middle of the road pulling his grill behind him as he brought the grill from his home to his in-laws.  Caption to the picture in my heart, "Taking your grill for a walk greatly improves the flavor of the food you're grilling."

I AM GOING TO BE A GREAT-GRANDMA!!!

As I slide into a new decade of my life with real trepidation, I get the news that my beloved Grandson and beloved Grand-daughter-in-law are expecting a little boy!!!  What joy!!! What a difference the tools for managing a pregnancy are from when I was having children until now.  I know the baby is a boy and that he is cute as a button even though he is only as tall as an ear of corn.  I knew nothing about my children until they were born.

I still am not happy with all the changes aging has brought to my life, but I am so thrilled to be here to welcome the next generation of my family.  Just wish Tom was here to share the joy. 

WELCOME TO MICHIGAN!!!!

MY MOM'S MACARONI (ACTUALLY SPAGHETTI) AND CHEESE. I CAN"T HUG MY MOM, BUT USING HER RECIPES GIVES ME A HUG.

http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2010/03/moms-macaroni-and-cheese.html


This is my Mom's version of Macaroni and Cheese.  I have never found a recipe quite like it.  Instead of macaroni, it is made with thin spaghetti.  There is no sauce to make.  The ingredients are just layered into a casserole and some warm milk is added.  The Spaghetti and Cheese comes out of the oven looking like a puffed souffle.  This is one of the first recipe I posted on this blog.

Do you ever have those days, weeks, years, when you feel like a punching bag?  When the saying, "God doesn't give us anything we can't handle" and you say, "God, I think you have me confused with someone else."  That is how I have felt lately.  I need my Mommy.

I am old enough to have a Grandson who is getting married, and my Mom left this life over twenty years ago, but I need a hug.  I still miss both my Mom and Dad.  To be hugged, have my hair stroked, and be told it will all be alright was such a comfort growing up.  No matter what happened to me, I knew they loved me.  

Now I use their recipes to celebrate their lives and to remember what fantastic, loving, generous people they were, and even with their own problems to deal with, what wonderful parents they were.  I hope you enjoy my Mom's unique Spaghetti and Cheese.  Just thinking about it gives me a hug. 

THE VERY BEST LEMON BARS MADE BETTER WITH MEYER LEMONS

MEYER LEMONS

I am on a lemon kick because I am so excited to be able to purchase Meyer Lemons in a supermarket in Michigan.  It use to be you could only get Meyer Lemons if you grew them yourself or had a friend with a tree in their yard that you could beg them for a lemon or two.

Meyer Lemons are from China and are a cross between a Mandarin Orange and a lemon.  The flavor and perfume are heavenly.

NELDA'S BEST LEMON BARS

 

http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2011/01/neldas-best-lemon-squares-for-either.html

CELESTIAL VARIATIONS FOR THE BEST LEMON BAR RECIPE

NELDA'S BEST LEMON BAR WITH A COATING OF APRICOT GLAZE ON TOP OF THE TOP LAYER

Other variations in this posting are baking fresh red raspberries or blueberries in the lemon filling.  Yummy and pretty.

http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2011/12/celestial-lemon-bars-made-even-more.html

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!