Family heirloom recipes
Recently, in another thread I'd posted that several years ago (14 to be exact) my mom, aunt and a few others of their generation sat down over a period of months and recreated the old 'family' recipes, converting the handfuls, dashes and pinches into actual measurements.
Several people have requested that I post some of these recipes... so here are some of them. Rather than make a long post, I'm going to break each one into it's own post, so that people can share comments or variatons with others.
Some of these I've tried, some I even cook myself nowadays. Some I've never tried (and a few I don't plan on...)
Here's the first recipes, and these I AM posting all together, simply because they were grouped together in the cookbook we did, and the are all OLD recipes, dating back when my mom (76) and my aunt (82) were young.
Cush
2 tbsp. meat drippings
2 tbsp butter
3 cup crumbled cornbread
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups crumbled biscuits
2 teaspoons ground sage
1 chopped onion
2 eggs
milk
Heat meat drippings and butter in a heavy skillet, add cornbread and biscuits, salt and pepper, sage, onion and eggs. Stir and brown lightly. Then add milk to make a soft mushy batter and cook until fairly dry. (cush may be baked at 350 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes.
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Sassafras Tea
Wash the sassafras roots, cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces. Place in a deep pan, cover with cold water, and boil for about 12 to 15 minutes. Strain and serve hot. Add cream and sugar if desired. The tea is a delicate pink and is delicious.
NOTE; This one I have tried. Mom used to make this. It’s very good with cream and sugar.
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Old Timer’s Pork Sausage
4 lb. ground lean pork with about ½ lb. Pork fat ground and mixed well. Add 2 tsp. black pepper, 2 tsp. salt, 4 tbsp ground leaf sage and 1 tbsp red pepper flakes. Mix well. Package and refrigerate if not to be used within a week. Wrap and freeze. You can alter these spices to suit your taste.
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Scrapple
1 lb. pork
2 tsp. salt
4 cups water
2/3 cup corn meal
1 large onion
pepper
2 or 3 teaspoons sage
Cook meat, covered in boiling salted water and simmering until meat falls from bones. Remove meat from broth. Cut or grind meat into small pieces. Strain broth into top of double boiler. Add corn meal, and cook over direct heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent lumping. Add meat, chopped onion and season to taste. Cook over boiling water for 1 hour. Pack into a mold or a small loaf pan. Serve cold or slice and pan fry in butter.
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Poke Greens
4 slices bacon
1 tsp. salt
2 hard boiled eggs
poke greens for 4 to 6 servings
Select tender, young poke greens. Clean thoroughly and rinse three times. Parboil twice and discard water. This is a most important step. Cover with water in large pot and cook until greens are tender, but not mushy. Fry bacon until crisp, remove from skillet and set aside. Add poke greens to drippings and salt. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes. To serve crumble bacon and chop eggs over greens.
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Pigtail with Turnip Greens
Clean pigtail thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste and brown in shortening, add 1 cup water, cover and simmer slowly until tender, about 2 hours. Serve with turnip greens.
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Fried Salt Pork
“FAT BACK” - “POOR MAN’S CHICKEN” OR “WHATEVER”
The meat with a streak of lean is most preferred, although many use the pure fat. Sometimes you couldn’t be to picky. Allow 3 or 4 slices for each serving. Use only thick slices. Cover with boiling water, bring to a boil, discard the salt water. Drain and dip slices in cornmeal. Fry in hot shortening until slices are golden brown Drain on paper towel. OR you can sprinkle each slice with black pepper and roll in flour and fry until crispy.
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Pig’s Feet
Dress pigs feet and place in pan of boiling water to cover pigs feet. Season with 1 tsp. salt for each quart of water. Simmer about 4 hours, or until feet are tender. Serve feet cold, with salt, pepper and French dressing, or split in half, dip in batter and fry.
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Pork Neck Bones
3 lbs. Neck bones
pinch of sage
pinch of red pepper
enough water to cover
salt to taste
Simmer for 2 to 2 ½ hours until most of the water is gone and meat is tender.
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Hoppin’ John
2 cups cooked rice
2 to 3 cans black-eyed peas or 3 cups cooked dried peas
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion
2 cans tomatoes
Cook rice. Heat peas in another pan. Cook tomatoes, pepper and onion, add salt and pepper. Serve rice topped with peas than top with tomato mixture.
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An Old Cabbage Dish
1 head cabbage
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices salt pork
¼ cup sugar
Cut cabbage into ½ and shred ¼ inch thick or thereabouts. Fry salt pork after you have boiled it in water a few minutes, drained and rinsed, Then fry. Then remove from skillet and add cabbage to pork drippings. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn cabbage over and continue to simmer until cabbage is tender. Stir often as not to let them burn. Add salt, pepper and sugar. Put salt pork back in skillet. Stir well and serve.
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Vinegar Cobbler
(YEAR 1800)
2 cup water
1 cup sugar, may need a little more
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
Put water, sugar and vinegar into a saucepan. Let come to a boil and add vanilla. Make a soft biscuit dough. Roll out as for pie crust and cut into strips, about 2 inches long. Drop into boiling liquid a few at a time. DO NOT COOK TO DRY. Cook thoroughly. Add 2 tbsp butter and stir. Serve. I love these too.
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Mush
6 ½ cups water
1 ½ cup cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp butter
In a 3 quart sauce pan, bring 5 cups water to boiling. In bowl combine remaining water, 1 ½ cups corn meal and salt, stirring constantly add corn meal mixture gradually to boiling water. Cook 5 minutes, reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes longer. Pour into a well greased 9 x 5 x 2 ¾ inch loaf pan. Bake in 350 degree oven until crust is formed. Stir this crust under (it does not have to be brown) put back in oven, turn oven to 400 degrees and let crust brown slightly. Serve hot as you would a cooked breakfast food. To fry; cut into ½ inch slices, in large skillet over medium heat, melt butter or margarine. Arrange slices of mush in pan. Fry until brown and crisp, turning once. Serve with additional butter and maple syrup
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Grandma’s Butter Rolls
2/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup sweet milk
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
Mix flour and shortening until mealy and add salt, egg and milk. Add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Divide in biscuit size rolls. Roll each on floured board real thin. Cut cold butter in real small pieces over each little flat. Sprinkle heavily with sugar, dot with nutmeg. Roll and place in a baking pan side by side. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Cook in 400 degree oven until brown. When done pour 1 cup of milk with ½ cup sugar mixed over top and bake a few minutes more.
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Eggplant Patties
1 eggplant
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter
a small pinch of nutmeg
3 tbsp bread crumbs
1 egg
Let eggplant cook until tender in boiling salt water. Then drain, peel and mash it fine. Add bread crumbs, egg, butter and seasonings. Cool - and form into patties. Roll in beaten egg then in bread crumbs and fry in hot fat until golden brown.
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Molasses Cake
I don’t know how old this one is, but think it has been around ever since molasses was invented. It is good with raisins or without.
2 cups flour
½ tsp. ginger
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup melted shortening
1 cup raisins (plumped)
½ cup molasses
½ tsp. soda
½ cup sugar dissolved in 1 tsp. water
1 egg beaten slightly
½ cup buttermilk
½ tsp. cinnamon
Plump raisins in hot water and drain thoroughly. Stir together flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Combine dissolved soda, shortening, molasses, sugar and eggs. Add dry ingredients, buttermilk and raisins to shortening mixture. Pour batter into a 13 x 9 x2 inch greased pan. Sprinkle generously with sugar and bake in 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
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13 lbs. grease
Lye Soap
3 cans lye
3 gallons water
1 box borax
Mix all ingredients, cook 20 minutes. Stir till cold. Pour into containers about 2 inches thick. Slice.
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Hand Lotion - Mom and Aunt Lee’s Recipe
Mix 2 oz. Of glycerin, 3 oz. of good quality witch hazel and 2 oz. rose water. Apply generously both before and after exposure to cold and the wind, also after dish washing. This easy to make hand lotion is as effective as the commercial lotions on the market today.
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More Lye Soap
Slowly empty the contents of one can of lye, being careful not to let it touch the hands, into 2 ½ pints hot water in an enamel pan. Stir occasionally until lye is completely dissolved. Allow to cool to lukewarm. Boil waste kitchen grease in double its amount of water to free from salt. Skim off 5 pounds of clear grease. Allow to cool, but not solidify. Pour lukewarm lye solution slowly into melted grease, stirring about 15 minutes. Pour into a enamel dish pan. Keep in a reasonably warm place 2 days; then cut into bars. Wrap in waxed paper and store until ready to use. It is better after about 2 weeks.
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)....then I saw your thread! 
