The Plucky Housewives

My daughter called me today.  Once again, it was for a recipe and one I had not included in their cookbooks.  That always happens!  So as I was typing out the recipe to send to her smart phone, I thought, "what the heck?"  Why have I not put this recipe on the blog.   So, here it is.... Its an heirloom.  She kept a cookie jar full of these at all times, for whenever any of her grandchildren came over.   It was collected by my cousin Todd years ago, when they sat grandma down and picked her brain for all of her recipes.   Ill post her bread recipe next week.  You'll enjoy it, with the handful of this and a spoonful of that....heirloom it is!  This one she wrote down and the original is now mounted and framed and on my cousin's wall.   Pretty special.  Its a tad different from your traditional tollhouse recipe, but it is oh so good. Grandma Geiger's Chocolate Chip Cookies ¾ c white sugar ¾ c firmly packed brown ...

Our new page - Family Favorites has a recipe listed.  Joy's Casserole.  Check it out and enjoy!

I love summer, because I love to grill.  I have pretty much tried everything on the grill, from the traditional burgers, brats, chicken to roasted veggies and even my roasted Roma tomato sauce. Today, its lamb chops.  We get our lamb from a great local farm,  Ruegsegger Farms.   Their meats are fabulous and we have enjoyed helping to support our local farmers.    The lamb chops are lightly rubbed with olive oil and seasonings and grilled, nothing too complicated and simple flavors, so as to not mask the flavor of the lamb! I like to serve the lamb with either a spaetzle or a gnocchi, and a good salad with a glass of ice cold home made lemonade.  I hope you like it! Grilled Lamb Chops 4 Lamb chops, about 1 inch thick Extra Virgin Olive Oil Salt and Pepper to taste. Fresh rosemary (optional) Fresh thyme (optional) Garlic puree or minced garlic (optional) Little drizzle the chops (both sides) with the olive oil.  Sprinkle your salt and peppe...

Avgolemono Soup (Greek Egg-Lemon Soup) 8 cups chicken stock  (use your own homemade or you can buy good chicken stock (not broth) over the counter at your local grocery store.  I make my own, cause I like the added flavors) 1-1/2 cups uncooked orzo pasta 6 egg yolks (room temperature) 16 oz heavy cream (room temperature) 5 Meyer lemons, juiced  (should be about 1/4 c of lemon juice, but it all will vary according to your taste) salt and cracked black pepper to taste In a large soup pan, bring the chicken stock to a boil.  Add the orzo and cook about 8-9 minutes, until tender.   While orzo is cooking, in a medium bowl, slightly beat the egg yolks and add cream, whisking until mixed together.  When pasta has cooked, turn off the heat.  Remove 3 c of the broth from the soup pot.  One cup at a time, SLOWLY whisk the stock into the egg/cream mixture to temper the mixture.  (This ensures that when you add the egg/cream mix to the stock, it wont c...

When trolling a Facebook group this week about growing up in Madison, a discussion was started about Carson Gulley's Black Bottom Pie.   I had long forgotten about this decadent dessert and was quickly transported back to days sitting in the union, having wandered down with friends just for an excuse to have some of this pie.   I was surprised to see that a large number of people were involved in this "discussion".   I had no idea it had become so iconic.  So I set out to do a little research myself. I discovered that there is quite a legend as to the origins of the pie and its attribution to Carson Gulley (head chef of UW Madison's residence halls for over 20 years).   A great article was written by Michael Penn on The Life of a Pie and the life of Mr. Gulley.  Follow the link and you can read all about it.   Something more than just the story of the pie hit me as I was devouring this article.   Julie Vincent, Memorial Union's assistant direc...