Today, August 11, is my father-in-law's birthday. Even though he passed away four years ago, we decided to acknowledge the day with his favorite birthday dessert. We couldn't remember what he would choose for birthday dinner. We only remember that for the past few years he chose chicken wings because the grandkids would have a contest to see who could eat the most. Calvin can't remember his record and Lucy thinks she once had 12.

The first time I was invited to my father-in-law's birthday dinner and was told we were having strawberry shortcake, I expected it to be those little sponge cake cups or angel food cake like I'd always had when growing up. 

Nope. 

Jerry was not a fan of sweets. His birthday strawberry shortcake was the kind with the biscuits rather than cake - with as little sugar as possible on the berries or in the whipped cream.

I don't have Sally's exact recipe, but I found this one online, which is pretty close to what Sally would make.

Happy birthday, Jerry!

http://southernfood.about.com/od/strawberryshortcakes/r/bl00521b.htm

Everyone in my family agreed they were delicious - though not quite the same as Grandma's!

Chicken and Peanuts (aka Kung Pao)

This is the first recipe I ever got from Sally. She gave it to me over the phone in 1998. In my husband's family, when it's your birthday, you get to pick whatever you want for your birthday dinner. Scott chose chicken and peanuts and chocolate cake almost every time. In 1997, we moved to Duluth, MN and wouldn't be home for Scott's birthday that year (January 1998) so I called Sally and asked for her recipe for chicken and peanuts and chocolate cake. She graciously gave me her recipe for chicken and peanuts, but told me she didn't really have a recipe for chocolate cake because it was a very old recipe and had quantities like "crisco the size of a large egg" and wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it. She promised to make the cake for us the next time we came home.

This "battle" went on for years. I put battle in parentheses because Sally never argued or fought or raised her voice. Ever. She was such a sweet woman. She just avoided giving me the recipe every time I asked for it. It wasn't until after she died that I mentioned to my sister-in-law how sad I was that I never got the recipe and I hoped it was somewhere in her recipe box. I was a competent enough baker at that point I was sure I'd be able to figure it out. My sister-in-law (well, my brother-in-law's wife if you want to get technical, which Sally would because of her love of genealogy) looked at me and said "She gave me the recipe years ago!" I have no idea why Sally didn't ever share it with me but gave it to Alena. Maybe it was because she wanted to have something she alone made for Scott. Maybe she just liked Alena better than me - just kidding, she loved us both! The chocolate cake wasn't my brother-in-law's birthday request (he always wanted fiesta and Harvey Wallbanger cake). I wonder if Sally gave Alena the recipe for Harvery Wallbanger cake?

I just about jumped out of my chair when I found the chocolate cake recipe in and amongst her stacks!

Tonight's menu:

cucumber salad
chicken and peanuts
chocolate cake

Cucumber Salad (from Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking)

1 pound cucumbers
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

Peel, split, seed, and cut into diagonal slices. Toss with the soy sauce and sesame seed oil.


Chicken & Peanuts (from Sally Polkinghorne - not sure where she got it)

This is the original recipe that I wrote down as
Sally told it to me over the phone.
Can't keep track of my keys or cell phone, but I've
kept this recipe for 17 years or so!

8 chicken breasts cut into about 1 inch pieces (I use thighs - the big package)
Marinate for 30 minutes or more in:
4 egg whites
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons water

Stir-fry chicken in oil - remove to a plate.

Brown 16 tien tsin peppers (I get mine from Penzey's) in wok.
Add 4 scallions (chopped)

Mix together:
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons vinegar
4 teaspoons sesame oil
   8 tablespoons water

Almost ready!

Add chicken and above sauce to wok until thickened and hot.
Add 2 cups of peanuts.

Serve with rice.

The finished dish - I'm working on my photography skills. I hope they improve!

Chocolate Cake (exactly as written on the recipe card I found. I have no idea what the numbers on the margin mean). This one was tricky to decipher, but I think I got it.



Choc Cake
1  -   1/2 c water
2  -   1 sq 1 oz choc melt                      2  -    1 c flour   pinch salt
2  -   1 c sugar
2  -   crisco size lg egg                         1   -  1/2 c milk
2  -   1 egg                                            2   -  1 t b. soda
                                                             2  -  1 t. vanilla
                          375 degrees


I'll add pictures and my chocolate buttercream recipe in a bit...

And yes, I'll work on formatting and making this all look cute. This is a learning process for me :)

So many food blogs. So many Pinterest boards. So many recipes. Healthy foods, quick foods, organic food, whole foods, weeknight meals, weekend party meals. There are waaaaaaay to many to ever process. What on Earth would make me think I should add to the chaos that is food blogging?

I love to cook (whoop-de-doo, so does everyone these days). I love to write (see previous whoop-de-do).  Food matters. Both my family and the family I married into have so many food stories and memories.

So here's the deal: my cooking has been influenced by a few people. My Grandpa Busch, Uncle Ted, and my mother-in-law Sally. My grandpa passed away in 2008. In 2011, my dear Uncle Ted unexpectedly passed away. Two years later, in 2013 my sweet mother-in-law suddenly passed away.

My grandpa was a baker. He had a bakery in St. Paul for years. Most of his recipes were in is head. However, my Uncle Ted had collected some of them and shared them along with his own on a blog called Friday Night at Ted's and was in the process of putting together his own cookbook. Because I ended up with his recipes, I started sharing some of them on a blog called Friday Night at Ted's Continued.

Then Sally passed away. She was an amazing cook and always made the pies for Thanksgiving. I now have her recipes and her Garland restaurant stove.

So many recipes. So many people asking for recipes.

Here's the plan: I'm going to go through Ted's and Sally's recipes and cook up a storm. I'll share the recipes and results here. Many of these recipes are hand written and in some cases difficult to read so there will be some element of surprise to see if I can correctly decode them! I'm asking family and friends here to help me out. Post comments, requests, insights, stories, etc. If I get something wrong, correct me. If you know where a recipe came from, tell us. If you remember the first time you had a certain recipe, share that. Was there a certain thing Sally or Ted or someone made that you'd like the recipe for? Ask me. I probably have it somewhere!

Let's tell the stories of our families through the food we shared.