K is for...Kiss the Cook...okay maybe not!

K is for…Kiss the Cook…okay maybe not!

I have a bad addiction to baking. I have to try new things almost on a daily basis. With my rockin’ mixer and cute aprons, how can I resist!?

My Grandma Olson was an amazing baker. She used to make these things called horn rolls that I loved! For some reason, I remember having them with ham. I don’t like ham…so maybe I just ate the rolls to avoid having to eat the ham. Either way, they were amazing! She also used to make popcorn cake with spice drops in it! Oh man…that I can remember picking the spice drops out and eating the pieces of popcorn cake that had the most sugar substance on them. And *Yummy Pie*…as my dad would say “make a rabbit chase a bear through the woods to get a bite.” Oh oh oh…and divinity. What is better than a lump of pure sugar that dissolves in your mouth!?

Okay. So you get the point. My Grandma was amazing! About a year ago I became very interested in her recipes. I was fortunate enough to be given a recipe book that my Grandma’s side of the family put together. It’s called “Legacy from the Hearth – Recipes and Remembrances.” Nancy Glland Osterlund (my Grandma’s niece) sent me a copy and I have happily been baking since! As Nancy puts it in her remembrance section “the pulse of the house was the kitchen.” Hey, I hear the dandelion wine that Great Grandma Gylland made was good…you have that recipe!?

My grandma passed away in 1998. I wish that I could go back in time and learn more from her. Not just baking…but really spend time with a woman that I could have learned so much from.

One of my favorite recipes is banana bread – I leave out the crunch. Don’t like it.

So here it is…right out of the book. Minus the crunch, which if you like chopped nuts, add ½ cup!

Banana Bread
2 large bananas

1 cup sugar

2 eggs
3 tablespoons milk

2 cups sifted flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon soda

½ cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine mashed bananas (about a cup) sugar and eggs. Beat together until light. Stir in milk. Sift dry ingredients together and add to mixture. Mix thoroughly. Stir in melted butter, vanilla and the optional chopped nuts. Grease and flour a 9 ½ x 5 ½ inch loaf pan. Pour into prepared loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for one hour or until it tests done. Let it cool for 15 to 20 minutes before removing from the pan.

I also make the apple bread recipe…good thing we have some amazing apple trees in our yard! Mmmm…and the *Aunt Frances Favorite Custard Pie*…yum! I think I better stop talking about food...maybe just go and make some!

But in all seriousness…I miss her. And I wish I would have taken advantage of what she knew. I am grateful to have been given this recipe book so that I can bake and cook like she did!

Thanks again, Nancy! I love my cookbook!