Grandma's Cheese Ball and Other Traditional Delicacies

For our Annual Christmas Food Blowout, I fixed that cheese ball Grandma Jeannie makes, and as usual it was a big hit. For anyone who would like the recipe, here it is:

Grandma's Cheese Ball

Equal parts of hand-grated medium cheddar cheese and cream cheese
Half as much blue cheese
Finely grated onion to taste (we like plenty!)
Worchestershire Sauce to taste
Garlic powder and pepper to taste

Mix in Cuisinart or with other mixer.
Form into a ball, fending off those who stand by with crackers, trying to eat it up before you get to this step.
Roll ball in paprika.
Wrap in Saran Wrap and leave in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serve with crackers. Our traditional favorites are all by Nabisco: Chick'n in a Bisket, Bacon Thins, Triscuits, and Wheat Thins.

Although the Cheese Ball was and is, in my opinion, the piece de resistance of our annual Christmas Food Trough, the whole menu deserves sharing. This list of goodies was formulated many years ago by Grandma Jeannie, as we all looked forward to Christmas eatin's at her house. Over the years we have added to and is seems to get better every year. The following is what we pigged-out on yesterday as we enjoyed Christmas here in the Benham home:

Sausage Balls with Ricky's homemade scuppernong (southern grapes) jelly
Pigs in Blankets
Chex Mix (homemade, of course)
Hot Rotel and Cheese Dip with Santino Chips
Spinach dip in a big bread bowl
Baby Quiches
Grandma Jeannie's Cheese Ball with assorted crackers
Wavy Lays with onion dip
Herbed Cheese Spread with Pretzel Crackers
Little Smokies in bbque sauce (on the menu but inedible after I burnt em in the microwave!)
Rice Krispie Squares
Gingersnaps
Sugar Cookies
Assorted chocolate treats, generously donated by Brant Benham from his stocking
Hot Wassail
Cold Punches
Tums

Let me know if I left anything off the menu.

Hope yall ate as well as we did!

The Gauntlet Has Passed!

Well, I salute Stacey for stealing my thunder with some killer pizza! Our family pizza recipe is one I got back at Fort Rucker from Carol Patillo, who said it originated with Mani Sorensen. It served me well for many years, as my homemade pizza became almost legendary in our circle of friends. It is not a quicky recipe, but one of those "love recipes" that only works when plenty of love is kneaded into the dough. I had heard that Stacey had perfected the recipe and taken it beyond my meager abilities, but I had no idea how literal that perfection was. Such as making killer cheese-stuffed rolls to dip in her home-made pizza sauce! Suffice it to say that I no longer need to be the pizza maker extraordinaire for our family. Stacey, I salute you! When you gonna bake some again?

Our Kinder and 'em

My good friend Edna asked me to post some pictures of our grown kids, their spouses, etc. So here we go:

This is my favorite picture of Stacey and her husband Rich.


Here is one of Stace, Rich, Ashli, Andrew, Chris, Tyler and Justin last year at Josh and Amanda's wedding.



This is Dave and Boris, our granddog, surrounded by some of my grandchildren.



Here are Lynne, her husband Ricky and their five children during an autumn hike in Provo Canyon. The children are Trent, Riley, Brant, Lance and baby Gavin.


This is Annie, her husband Bryan, and their three daughter - Taylor, Payton, and Hayden.


This is Josh and Amanda, his bride of one year.


And here are Jake and his girlfriend, Sheree.

Ginger Snaps at Last!

Oh the joy of it! Somehow, somewhere, I had lost our precious ginger snap recipe: the one my children and grandchildren love. It is just about the greatest cookie ever, and I have been so sad to have misplaced the recipe. So tonight, on a whim, I googled 'ginger snap recipe from "mother's in the kitchen," ' and can you believe it, it came up! I am so excited to share it with you, and never to lose it again. "Mother's in the Kitchen" is the old La Leche League Cookbook, which I never actually had, but borrowed many times during my La Leche League years. Last year I found a used copy for sale on Amazon Market Place, and hastened to order it. When it arrived it was time to pack it up in those infamous boxes now out in Lynne and Ricky's garage. Of course they are inaccessable, but now who cares! I have the recipe, and so do you. Please enjoy making these marvelous cookies for your kids this Christmas, and be sure to tell them that their Mimi loves them!

Molasses Ginger Snaps from "Mother's In the Kitchen!"

3/4 C margarine or shortening

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups a.p. flour

1 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ginger

Mix everything together at one time. Form into balls. Roll in more sugar. Place wide apart on slightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes 3 to 4 dozen.

Note from Yo Mama: Go ahead and double the recipe. You'll be sorry if you don't!

COOKIE CORRECTION

My apologies to Lynne, regarding the picture of the cookie recipe. When I pilfered it out of her cupboard, I mistakenly thought it was one I had written down myself, but she reminds me that I gave it to her over the phone. Sorry, Lynne!

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS! (yum yum!)

Dear Family,
Everybody loves the famous Frosted Sugar Cookies. I can't take credit for the recipe, as it is the one the Cheryl posted in the old "dirty purple" Ozark Ward Cookbook, published way back in the seventies. I think I gave mine to Stace, or at least I intended to. If not, it's buried somewhere in one of those boxes out in the Benham garage. At any rate, I don't have it any more. So, this morning I started going through Lynnie's recipe cabinet and found this copy, in Yo Mama's own handwriting, with yo Mama's own grit and grime included. The 400 and 6-8 minutes looks like Lynnie wrote it. Anyway, now the recipe is officially available to all, right here in good old cyberspace! For those of you who don't care to decipher my scribbles, here is the recipe:

Frosted Sugar Cookies (Cheryl's recipe)

3/4 c. shortening (may use 1/2 shortening, 1/2 softened butter or margerine)
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. self-rising flour (the southern cook's favorite shortcut!)
1/2 t. vanilla

Dump all the above in your mixer and mix it up well. If you want to, you can do it by steps. You know, shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla on "cream" and then add the flour. Either way, chill your dough for an hour in the fridge before rolling out. You can fast chill it in the freezer.
Roll out dough on floured surfaced. Roll these thin if you like them like Yo Mama makes them. Be sure there is plenty of flour on the surface, or they will stick. Flour your cutters and go to town with them! Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 400 for 6-8 minutes. Time and even temp depends on your oven. Cool on cooling rack or paper towel, not on foil. Frost and decorate when cool. Be sure and bring some over to share with Yo Mama!

"C-H-I-C-K-E-N, That's the Way You Spell Chicken!"

Okay! I admit it! I'm a big chicken..... Always have been, always will be. Opa would probably say that it's because my parents babied me, and maybe it is, but all I know is I am a big scaredy-cat about being up high, going fast, going down hill, looking down from high building balconies, etc. Yall know I freak out when I am trapped in a car that is driving up a canyon, with a long drop just a few feet away! That's the reason I always want to take I-80 through Wyoming when making the Utah-Alabama drive. I just can't take the scariness of driving through the mountains. Driving in that awful area north of Price, Utah on the last leg of our drive out here in November was too scary for words. I just kept my seat reclined and played Solitaire on my laptop so as not to watch. (Even Opa found the drive dangerous, as it was dark by then.)

Anyway, a couple days ago Opa wanted to drive up to Brighton to check out the slopes, etc, and he wanted me to go with him. Not that I don't love to hang out with Opa, but I was just finally getting over the cold or whatever has been plaguing me since we left Mobile, and "baby it was cold outside" and I was aware of the switchback road that it the road through Big Cottonwood Canyon, leading to Brighton. But, being the loving, supportive wife that I try to be (stop with the smirks, girls!), I climbed in the truck and off we went, stopping on the way for a few errands. By the time we got to the turnoff for the slopes, there was not a lot of traffic heading in the same direction we were going. Curiously, there were lots of cars coming back down the mountain. Of course my paranoia shifted into high gear, as I became sure that there must have been a sudden blizzard up at Brighton, causing the road to close, etc. Never mind that the sky was blue and the day was sunny! Jim reasoned with me, and I calmed down, until we started seeing flashing lights, and traffic accidents. Jim drove extra cautiously, and I sort of calmed down. As we drove further up canyon, winding slowly around curves, it got colder and colder, even with the heat on.

So, I had a wonderful idea! Instead of me going all the way up to Brighton with Jim, 'risking my life on that road', I would get him to drop me at one of my favorite places, in spite of its location, the Silver Fork Lodge." I have spent many a happy summer hour sitting on the balcony with Dave, chipmunks scurrying around our feet, enjoying the summer beauty of the canyon. I remember eating breakfast there with Jim, Jake and Cheree, Ashli and Alli (our niece) on the morning of Josh and Amanda's wedding. Their oatmeal is the best in the world! Good Times! The picture is of Jake and Cheree on the balcony at the Silver Fork.

So Jim, even though he wanted me to continue up the "dangerous road to Brighton" with him, willingly dropped me at the Silver Fork Lodge. Dave's friends John and Angie both work there, and were coming in to work just as I got there. They found me the best table in the house, right in front of a roaring fire in the stone fireplace, with views on both sides of the snow-covered slopes. So I spent the next hour or so, sipping the very excellent Silver Fork Lodge hot cocoa, enjoying a plate of cheese fries. John and Angie checked in on me frequently, as I thawed out, relaxed and just enjoyed the heck out of that place. Jim returned from his drive up to Brighton and joined me for cheese fries and cocoa before we began our drive down the canyon. We passed four more traffic accidents on our way down! So glad to get back home at the end of that adventure. But I sure could use some more Silver Fork Cocoa! And that's the way they spell 'Chicken!'

By Popular Demand

It has been rumored that some of our family would like to see the origin of some of the German Christmas traditions which we have enjoyed as a family for so many years. So, after having done a google search of "german christmas traditions," I found a site which seems to be a good choice. It's called "German Christmas - Christmas Celebration in Germany" and can be reached at the following link: http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa120298a.htm

Enjoy!

A Day to Remember

Yesterday Opa and I were surprised to wake up to snow all over the ground and falling! This began our day to remember. What a pleasure it was to watch our grandchildren playing out in the snow! I took the first few pictures while standing on the front porch. Later in the day Lynne and I went to Day-Murray Music in Lehi, which brought back memories of my friend Brenda. If Brenda could only see me now, standing in front of Day-Murray, and only ten minutes from home! Back when we all lived in Germany, Brenda and I would both order sheet music through the mail from Day-Murray. Who would have ever imagined that I would actually be living so close to the store! I picked up an application for employment, but my chances of ever getting a job there are pretty slim, since loving to sing is not exactly a glowing reference! Just for fun, I took a picture of the front of the store to show to Brenda when we got together, later last evening.

So Jim and I and the Vasses drove to Temple Square last night and had just the best time having a mini-reunion with the Spillanes. We met in the South Visitors Center, until the missionaries very tactfully suggested we move out of the entrance, after which we moved the party over to the newly-renovated Tabernacle, home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was very cold outside, and we did spend a bit of time looking at the Christmas lights on the square, and they were very lovely, but our biggest interest was in being with Tom and Brenda. It was more than great to be able to spend time with them, some of our oldest and best friends. Along with them there were a few of their twelve children: Creed, along with his wife Jacqueline and baby Gavin; Britton, along with her husband David and baby Aria; and Paris, Tom and Brenda's youngest daughter. While we were in the Tabernacle, Spillane daughter Ashli's husband David showed up, unexpectedly, and we got to visit with him as well. Ashli Spillane Thompson is the person that Stacey named our own Ashli after.
What a great day it was!

A Day to Remember (in pictures)