Diva's Rhubarb Jam

Diva’s Memories of Recipes

⬗⬗   Rhubarb Jam  ⬖⬖

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Inspiration from: Grandma Margaret always had a bowl of this mixed in the fridge.  Grandad Dale always grew huge rows of rhubarb he perfected over the years from his horticulture knowledge. 

Ingredients
4 cups rhubarb 2 cups white sugar 1 TB water	1/2 tsp lemon juice 1-1 1/2 oz box of strawberry jello

Directions

Cut rhubarb into 1 inch cuts.  Bring water and rhubarb to a boil. Add sugar and let boil til rhubarb is stringy and tender.  (about 15 mins)  Remove from heat and add lemon juice and jello.

Variations

The jello adds color to the rhubarb if it is green and also helps it to gel.

Yields:  2 cups

Diva's Grandma Z's Rhubarb Cake or any Fruit

Diva’s Memories of Recipes Grandma Z's Rhubarb Cake
Inspiration: We made this on the farm all the time.  You can use any fruit for a variety.  I even use it to make carrot cake.  The cinnamon & sugar on the top makes it require no icing.
Ingredients: 1~1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup melted butter 1 egg 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups chopped rhubarb 1 cup sour milk (if you don't have sour milk, add 1 TB vinegar to milk) 1/2 cup sugar 1~1/2 tsp cinnamon	Instructions: Cream brown sugar and butter slightly, add egg and vanilla and beat.  Sift together soda and flour and add to cream mixture. Stir in rhubarb and sour milk til creamy.  Put in a 9x13 greased baking dish and Bake @ 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes.
Variation: refrigerate and can be topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

Diva's Grandma Sarah's Blackberry dumplings

Diva’s Memories of Recipes Grandma's little helper, I would help her pick the berries.  One day I ate them all and brought her a bucket full of kittens instead:) Good thing she loved me Grandma Sarah's Blackberry dumplings
Inspiration: My German Grandma Sarah Rutz always had wild blackberries growing in her yard near Scottsbluff, NE.  It was an awesome treat for her to make her dumplings.
Ingredients: 1 quart Blackberries 2 cups water 1/2 cup sugar 2 TB butter ________ Dumplings: 1 cup flour 1/2 tsp salt 1~1/2 baking powder 1/2 cup milk 3 TB sugar 2 TB oil or melted butter	Instructions: Wash and cook berries until tender in a large heavy kettle.  May need to adjust sugar if not sweet enough. Cover and bring to a boil. Drop tsp's of dumplings into boiling mixture.  Cook 10 minutes without lifting the lid.
Variation:  Serve warm with cream me and Grandma Sarah at her house on E in Scottsbluff, NE in the 70's.  Right through that backdoor was where she did her magical cooking and teaching. her kitchen was 6x6, but the most awesome cooking came from her little space in the world.  Grandma has been gone since 1996, but every now and then when I cook her recipes, I smile and say hi Grandma:)

Diva’s Memories of Recipes Diva's Volga German Cabbage Pancakes
Inspiration:  My Great-Aunt Polly taught me to make these when I would stay summers with her in Reno, NV
Ingredients: 2 large Eggs 2 Cups Milk, your choice 2 1/2 Cups self-rising Flour (if using all purpose flour, add 3 tsp baking powder to flour) 1 Cup shredded cabbage	Instructions: Pre-heat cooking griddle and spray with cooking spray. Beat eggs, milk and flour until mixed together.  Add cabbage. Pour 1/3 Cup mixture on griddle 1-2 minutes until bubbles form on surface.  Flip and cook another 1-2 mins or until golden. Repeat.
Variation:  Served best with butter. Can also use pancake batter and add cabbage.

Chicken Claire Casserole

Diva’s Memories of Recipes Chicken Claire Casserole
Inspiration:  My Step Mother, Judi Widmaier  and her Mother, Clara passed this recipe along to me.
Ingredients: 6 chicken breasts (I like boneless, skinless) Large can of mushrooms, drained 3/4 to 1 cup wine flour 1 pkg Frozen Artichokes, thawed	Instructions: Roll chicken in flour and brown in skillet.  Place chicken in a shallow baking dish.  Spread mushrooms and artichokes over the top.  Baste with wine. Bake in 250 degrees oven 4 hours. Test to make sure chicken is proper degrees. 165 degrees.
Variation:

Mouth-watering Biscuits

Diva’s Memories of Recipes Biscuits
Inspiration:  Rutz Family cookbook, by Ruth Hopkins
Ingredients: 2 cups Flour 1/2 tsp cream of tartar 2 tbsp sugar 2/3 cup milk 4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 egg	Instructions: Mix dry ingredients.  Add butter and mix until consistency of cornmeal.  Add milk and beaten egg.  Put out on counter and knead 5 times.  Roll or pat out to 1/2 inch thick.  Cut with a biscuit cutter and water glass.  Put on greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 mins.
Variation:  Great with my Diva's gravy.

Diva’s Memories of Recipes

⬗⬗   ButterBalls ⬖⬖

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Inspiration from: This is a Volga German tradition in our family, Both the Rutz and Zemanek families enjoyed this in our soups.  Grandma Margaret always used the fresh cream from the milk cows and fresh eggs from the hen house...YUM! The allspice makes it a wonderful divine taste.  Wonderful for that left over Turkey!

Ingredients
6 cups fine bread crumbs (almost 2-15 oz plain crumb pkg) 2/3 cups sweet cream  (can use cream or half and half + 1/2 c sugar) 3-4 large eggs	1 cup butter, melted 1 tsp salt 1 tb allspice, i like more for taste and usually use 2-3 tablespoons.

Directions

Put bread crumbs, salt and allspice in a large bowl; make a well.  Heat cream in a small saucepan and pour into well of bread crumbs.  Mix well with hands; pour in melted butter and mix again.  Add eggs 1 at a time; if it is dry, add another egg.  (Testing: make a ball and cook 10 minutes in boiling water, if the ball does not separate, it is ok.  If it falls apart, add another egg)  Roll into balls about the size of a walnut.  This is the diva test:  when making the balls, if the butter squishes and the ball is firm; it's perfect!

Variations

boil 10 minutes in Home made Turkey or Chicken and noodles.  You can find my noodle recipe on an earlier post.


The butter balls freeze nicely for later use.  Warning:  the are very rich and most people can only eat a couple at a time.  


Yields: 50 butter balls

Diva's Cabbage Burger's

Diva’s Memories of Recipes

  

Cabbage Burger's

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Inspiration from: This recipe was created by German immigrants. It is one of our favorite family recipes and found in the Nebraska region, where I was born and raised.  My Grandma's taught me how to make these before I could walk. lol The cabbage mixture is encased in a nice little bread package and was easy for the guys to carry them into the sugar beet and corn fields for the day.

	Ingredients
3 lbs of ground beef 1 head of cabbage, cut into bite sizes 1 extra large onions 2 cups of water Bread dough, enough for 2 loaves Cheese slices are optional  Recipe for dough is below	salt to taste pepper (lots of pepper) PEPPER is the key

Directions

Crumble the ground beef into an extra large pot over medium heat. Cook with onion and stir until evenly browned. Drain off grease. Add cabbage and cook over medium-low heat, stirring as needed, until the cabbage is soft and wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste while cooking. I like to use more pepper than salt. Us German/Czech woman love pepper, lots of it. Drain off any excess liquids, and set aside.

While you cook the cabbage mixture, make the bread dough.  Some people thaw 2 frozen loafs of bread dough or Frozen dinner rolls.  I and Grandma always used Potato Bread dough recipe.

For this recipe, you can use leftover mashed potatoes or mix up a cup’s worth of instant mashed potatoes. This easy potato bread recipe makes 2 loaves.  Grandma grew up in the depreciation and nothing went to waste.

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed potatoes

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2-1/4 tsp (1 pkg) active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

5 cups bread flour, about

Preparation:

In large bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes, eggs, and butter.  Stir in sugar, salt, yeast, and warm water.  Mix in enough flour to make a dough that can be kneaded by hand.  Turn dough out onto floured board and knead it until smooth and elastic.  Put dough in a greased bowl. Flip dough over inside bowl so that the dough top is also lightly greased. Cover and let rise for 1 to 2 hours, until double in bulk. Punch down dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board and briefly knead out bubbles. 

Assembly:

Method 1:  On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough balls into 5 inch (approximate) squares. Place about 3/4 cup of the cabbage burger into the center, fold the dough over, and pinch to seal. Place on a greased cookie baking sheet with the seam side down. Let rise 1 hour. 

Method 2:  Thaw freezer dinner rolls and let rise for 1 hour.  Roll out 2 on a floured surface to desired shape and size.  Place a heap of filling on bottom roll, then add other rolled out roll on top.  Seal shut and place on greased cookie sheet.  Let rise 1 hour.

*A trick for method 1, when you roll out the dough, put it a cereal bowl.  Add filling and fold.  Can make folding easier.

Variations

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated 375 degrees oven, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and brush with melted butter. Serve hot.

My kids love them with ketchup...

Yields: apprx 18 cabbage burgers

I also wrap them individually in foil and freeze any left overs to enjoy at a later time.  You can unwrap them from the foil and nuke them for 3 mins.

YUMMY!

Diva's Grandma Sarah's Viennese Kipfel rolls and a loving memory of her

Diva’s Memories of Recipes Viennese Kipfel rolls
Inspiration:  This recipe was tucked into one of my Grandma Sarah's cookbooks.  They are like croissants rolls and yummy.  I love when you reach for her cookbooks and little memories of her fall out.  It's like she is saying hello my little darling, I Love you and miss you.  I touch it and smile and say I Love you and miss you too Grandma:)  I would bake with her when I would visit, which was often and she would let me make shapes.  When I was 7, I made a shape of a kitten.  The day after she passed I walked into her house and sitting on the kitchen table was that little kitten on one of her pretty plates, wrapped with cellophane.  She passed when I was 36 and she had kept that little kitten all those years.  It is still a mystery to me why she had it sitting on her kitchen table that day.  I had not seen it for years.  it Was one of those goose bump moments.  I looked at my mom and smiled... She had no idea what it was or what it was doing there either.  Grandma reached out... i know she did, just like she always had to comfort & love me.  I did her eulogy at the service and I made a lot of the family smile, just as she would have wanted.  I love you Grandma.
Ingredients: 1 pkg active dry yeast 1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees F) 1/2 cup warm milk 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter or margarine 3 TB sugar 3 egg yolks 2~1/2 cups flour (approx)	Instructions: Sprinkle yeast over warm water.  Let stand 5 mins.  Stir until dissolved.  Add to warm milk in a large bowl.  Add salt.  Cream butter to consistency of mayonnaise.  Add sugar slowly, continuing to cream.  Add egg yolks, one at a time.  Add flour alternately with yeast mixture; using enough flour to make a soft dough.  Turn out on to a floured board.  Knead until smooth and elastic.  Place dough in a greased bowl.  Turn to bring greased side up.  Cover and let stand in a warm place (80 degrees F) until dough has doubled.  Punch down.    Divide dough in half and roll out to 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut into 6 inch squares, then cut those into two triangles.  Roll up each triangle; beginning with broad side and folding tip over.  Curve into crescent shape.  Repeat with other half of dough.  Place on well-greased baking sheets.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours.  Brush with 1 egg white beaten slightly with 2 TB milk.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
Variation:  Yields 24 rolls

Diva’s Memories of Recipes Title: Baked Ham & Grandma's Ham Gravy with Mashed Potatoes
Inspiration:  My kids 'Grandma Pat' made ham gravy for the kids while they were growing up.  She has Alzheimer's and sadly her recipes are in her memories.... She didn't write anything down.   I am doing the gravy recipe from my memory, as she taught me years ago, so my children can make it and pass it down to their families.  It's just one of the many memories taken from my children and I want to make their taste buds remember the good times.  There is something about a smell or taste that transports us back to our childhood and makes us smile.
Ingredients: 1 4# Whole Smoked Cooked Ham 2 20 oz Slice Pineapple,    reserve juice 1 10 oz jar Maraschino Cherries, reserve liquid 1 12 oz can Ginger Ale Soda 1 stick salted butter 1 Cup brown sugar salt and pepper	10 Potatoes, boiled and mashed. (Reserve potato water for making gravy) Ham Gravy: 1 1/2 Cup drippings after ham is cooked 1/3 cup Flour or corn starch approx. 2/3 cup water/ or Potato water from you homemade mashed potatoes salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:  Collect the ingredients along w/toothpicks and 6-7 qt. Dutch Oven with lid.  Drain Pineapple and Cherries in a bowl and reserve liquids.  Line the bottom of the Dutch Oven with Pineapples. Remove wrapping from ham. Arrange and remaining pineapple and cherries on the top with toothpicks.  Pour on Ginger Ale, sprinkle with brown sugar, salt & pepper and lay a stick of butter on the top. Cover pot with lid or with foil and bake at 325 degrees for approximately 20 to 30 minutes per pound until heated through.  Remove lid and brush top with juices and bake additional 10 minutes. Arrange ham on a tray and reserve liquids from the bottom of the pan to make the gravy. Making the gravy:  I prefer to use corn starch for the ham gravy.  (If you do not cook the flour enough, it can taste raw so be patient.) I like to have close to 2 cups of liquid to start with.  Stir in corn starch and bring to a boil.  Continue stirring til thickened.  Add salt and pepper to taste and Enjoy! Variation:

Diva's Pork Chili

Diva’s Memories of Recipes

⬗⬗   Pork Chili  ⬖⬖

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Inspiration from:  This was a favorite of my kids.  El Charrito's in Scottsbluff, NE, where we were born, was a popular place we use to eat at.  They had something similar on the menu and this is as close to their pork chili as I could get.  Never as good as the real thing...but divine!

Ingredients
3 lb pork roast 28 oz can of tomatoes with jalepeno's (undrained) 64 oz picante sauce, medium Flour tortilla's 16 oz of Monterey Jack Cheese	salt pepper cumin 2 TB flour + 1/2 water for paste

Directions

Put pork roast and tomatoes in a pressure cooker and cook til tender.  Let cool so you can pull it a part into fine pieces and remove the pork fat.  In a large stock pan, put salsa, pork mixture, salt, pepper and cumin.  Simmer over low heat for a couple hours.  To thicken mixture, add the flour paste.

Variations

Serve Hot in a bowl and sprinkle with Cheese with a tortilla on the side. You can also smother a burrito or enchilada with it.

Will Serve 8 people