Lasagna and a Birthday: Memories Around the Table

So the other day Katelyn's mom, my good friend, Jane, told me that there was a mistake in Memories Around the Table. I felt a pain rise in my stomach and then a sensation like hot liquid pour over me. Katelyn's birth date was incorrect. In fact, it's today, September 21-----not September 2 as printed in the cookbook.

Ugh.

Ugh.

Like anybody else, I hate making mistakes.

Especially this kind.

Jane reassured me not to worry about it.

So of course I am all about wanting to rectify the situation. I have two ways I would like you to help me in making things "right". The first is: I ask you to be sure and pencil-in a number 1 after the 2 in your copies for Katelyn's birth date. Next, I ask you to think about your loved one and do something in his memory today, something unique, something that embodies part of who she was here when she was with you.

I never had the privilege of meeting Katelyn, but I am told she was generous. Her mother has taken her legacy and is one of the most giving friends I know. She has supported me and my workshops and books in ways that are so awesome, I see God's light and love shine through her. And I see the love she has for her baby girl.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Katelyn!

Here is her recipe for Microwave Lasagna from Memories Around the Table.



Katelyn Latta
September 21, 1985 ~ December 7, 2002

1 pound ground beef
1 (32 ounces) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 lasagna noodles

Brown ground beef; drain. Add sauce and water. Mix all together and set aside.

In a bowl mix: 1 egg, pepper, ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. Layer 1/2 cup sauce on bottom of 2- quart oblong dish, then add 3 uncooked noodles, 1/2 cheese mixture, 1/2 sauce, 3 noodles and cook on high 8 minutes, then medium low (50%) for 32 minutes.

Uncover and sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.

^*^*^

Katelyn prepared this lasagna recipe as a very young child. She loved to eat and she would eat almost anything. The weekend before her accident we celebrated her birthday with a group of young teen ladies by making Christmas chocolates and candies.

This recipe is simple and yummy. We used to use cottage cheese instead of ricotta and she never really measured anything. We would use homemade spaghetti sauce which already had the ground beef in it.

She arrived in Heaven 12/7/2002 and I don’t think we have made this recipe since. Maybe now is the time. We miss you baby girl!

~ Jane Latta

To order a copy of Memories Around the Table, please go to this blog post.

Today's cookbook post: Remembering Stacy and Pistachio-Almond Cake

Today we are featuring another recipe and memory from the new cookbook, Memories Around the Table. Above is a photo of Stacy M. Sullivan Wehr and below is a recipe she loved and a memory associated with it from her mother.

Pistachio-Almond Pudding Cake

Stacy M. Sullivan Wehr
January 14, 1971 ~ April 6, 2000

1 box (2 layer size) yellow cake mix
1 package (4-serving size) Jell-O brand Pistachio instant pudding
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
7 drops of green food coloring

Note: If you use pudding-included yellow cake mix decrease water to 1 cup.

Combine all ingredients in large mixer bowl, blend, then beat at medium speed of mixer for 4 minutes. Pour into 10-inch fluted tube pan that has been greased and floured or sprayed with cooking oil. Bake at 350⁰ F for 50 to 55 minutes, or until cake pulls away from the sides. Cool for 15 minutes. Remove from pan, and enjoy as much as Stacy did. Any icing of your choice would be good.

^*^*^

I have a picture of Stacy and her son, Ryder, with her last cake. I wish I was still able to bake it for her. She also loved my chili, but I put in it what I wanted, without a recipe. In high school, she would say, “My three favorite things are Mom’s chili, band, and books.” She was like a sponge when it came to reading.

~ Barbara Rasche

Order a copy of Memories Around the Table today! Simply click on this link.

Memories Around the Table: Buttermilk Pie

As we feature our contributors here on this blog, I want to once again thank each person who sent in a recipe and memory for the new cookbook, Memories Around the Table.

Today we are going to remember Randy Bennett and enjoy a recipe for buttermilk pie.

Randy's mom, Teresa, writes: "Here are two pictures of my son Randy. The first one is him with my daughter, Mary. It was taken about three months before his leukemia diagnosis. The second one is him with Mary and myself. It was taken about three months after diagnosis."

Buttermilk Pie

Randy Bennett
February 3, 1980 ~ August 4, 2012


1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
3 eggs, beater
3/4 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix sugar and flour. Add eggs. Mix well with hand mixer set on medium. Add other ingredients and continue mixing until well incorporated. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350⁰ F for one hour.

^*^*^

This was one of Randy's favorite dessert recipes. I usually made it only during the holiday season, but after he was diagnosed with leukemia I decided to make his favorites any time he wanted when he was able to eat. Sharing the things that we "hang on" to for special occasions became a thing of the past. Cherishing each day became our goal. Although he is gone and nothing will ever fill the empty hole in my heart, there are lots of things to remember and smile about. Memories of special times, sharing talks, and a piece of pie bring a tear to my eye and a smile to my heart.

~ Teresa Peiffer

Like Teresa and so many who have lost a loved one, we do learn to cherish the beauty of each day.

Order your copy of Memories Around the Table now! Simply click on this link.

Memories Around the Table: Boiled Custard

Caroline Raby is a contributor to the new cookbook Memories Around the Table. She has a recipe in the book for boiled custard which is truly delicious. In the recipe, both her grandmother and great-grandmother are included. Below is a photo of her great-grandma, Lucy Doles.

1918 Photo of Lucy Doles Whitehead of Scotlant Neck, NC

One of our family favorites was my maternal great-grandmother's boiled custard. It was easy to make and immensely enjoyable.

My grandmother would make it when my sister and I were sick with sore throats or other childhood illnesses, and it was a traditional part of the Christmas trifle, known as "tipsy cake”, also including cake, roasted almonds, whipped cream, and spirits. (The children's portions always had orange juice.)

Boiled custard chilled was relished on hot summer days, and when warmed, enjoyed on cold, blustery ones. It was also enjoyed when shared with my parents’ friends and neighbors.

~ Caroline Raby

And here's the recipe for you to try.

Boiled Custard

Lila W. McDaniel
September 2, 1888 ~ January 8, 1978

3 eggs, well beaten
1 quart whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 large serving spoons of flour added to sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour milk into a deep stew pan. Set the pan in an iron frying pan containing boiling water (serving as a double boiler). Let the milk warm until small bubbles form along the sides. While the milk is heating, beat the eggs and slowly add the sugar/flour mix stirring until the mixture is thickened. Pour the egg mixture into the hot milk and constantly stir with a wooden spoon (essential—a metal spoon won't work) until the custard coats the spoon and drops off. Remove custard from the heat, add the vanilla and stir until mixed. Chill and then pour into a large pitcher, cover, and refrigerate. Serves 4-6. Can be poured over vanilla ice cream, strawberries, or cake.



Get a copy of Memories Around the Table today! It's available on Kindle and in print. Click here to read about how to place your order.

Memories Around the Table! A NEW cookbook filled with memories

Excited to announce----a new cookbook!

Memories Around the Table is the third memorial cookbook published by Daniel's House Publications and compiled by bereaved mom, author, writing instructor and speaker, Alice J. Wisler.




Over 80 recipes, memories and poetry! The recipe for this cake---Mom's Cake---pictured above, is included in the book. Memories Around the Table: Treasured Recipes is unique in the sense that it's not just a cookbook, but rather, a compilation of the special memories of those we can no longer hold, those we once shared meals and laughter with. We remember our loved ones in many ways; food is one of those ways we cherish the stories about them.

Some of the memories associated with the recipes will make you laugh; others might cloud your eyes with tears.

Learn to make a bunch of delicious items including peanut butter fudge, chicken divan, chess pie and even Yorkshire pudding.

Order a copy of Memories Around the Table today from Daniel's House Publications. Each book is $14.99.


Here's how to order:

1 book: $14.99 plus $3.00 S/H for a total of $17.99
2 books, $29.98 plus $4.00 S/H for a total of $33.98
3 books, $44.97 plus $4.00 S/H for a total of $48.97
4 or more books, get free shipping!

Send a check to:
Daniel's House Publications
201 Monticello Avenue
Durham, NC 27707

OR

Pay with PAYPAL

Memories Around the Table

1 copy with S/H $17.99 USD 2 copies with S/H $33.98 USD 3 copies with S/H $48.97 USD 4 copies with FREE S/H $59.96 USD

How to write a food memory

I see a little boy in a white chef's hat at the play stove concocting some imaginary meal for me . . .
When I dig out the chef's hat, it's yellowed from age. But the memory---now over seventeen years old---will never yellow, never fade. There are days it is as fresh as today's gardenia blooms.

Recalling our loved ones through food makes sense. Food and gatherings with food are a large part of our lives; everybody has some food-related memory to share.

Memories coupled with favorite recipes go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Spend some time writing your own memory of a loved one.

Some Tips

* Take your time. We rush through much of life; this is not the time to plough through. Instead, slow down.
* Find a secluded spot away from distraction.
* Use a comfortable pen and notebook.
* To help you remember, look at a photo of your loved one. Spend some time describing the photo. As you think about your loved one, let yourself remember.
* Write with your senses----sight, sound, smell, and touch.
* Tell your story in your own style.
* Play some music to enhance the experience.
* Close your eyes; recall.
* After you have written a few lines, dig a bit deeper. Ask yourself what is it that you want to convey.
* If sentences are hard to compose at first, just jot down words that come to mind.
* String the words into sentences.
* Read your memory aloud.
* Make any necessary changes.
* Read it aloud once again.
* You have created a food memory!

Two Examples

Billy loved meatloaf sandwiches. Just reading that line makes me want to read more. It's not every day that you hear about meatloaf sandwiches. In my first cookbook, Slices of Sunlight, this memory, coupled with the instructions for making meatloaf provided by his mother, brings a smile.

"Billy was much like his dad, Bill, in that he could eat the same thing every day for months at a time. After taking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school every day for two years, Billy discovered meatloaf sandwiches for his school lunches. Throughout grade 3, 4 and 5, I must have made hundreds of meatloaves! After cooking, I'd put them in the refrigerator to cool, then slice them. I froze the slices. By the time lunchtime at school rolled around, Billy had cold meatloaf sandwiches . . . every day for three years!" (page 14)

The following memory from Kara's mom, first recorded in Down the Cereal Aisle and also included in my newest cookbook, Memories Around the Table, due out next month.

"When my daughter Kara was old enough to no longer ride in the shopping cart at the supermarket, she and I devised a plan that would keep her close to me in the store. Unless I asked her to get an item for me, she was to always have one hand holding onto the side of the shopping cart. We continued using that system for several years until it was no longer needed.

When Kara was in college, she would take me grocery shopping whenever I came for a visit. I could always expect to find a sizeable list ready and waiting for Mom to “foot the bill”. I did not mind as it was just part of the fun of being with her and enjoying our time together.

More than once during these grocery expeditions, I would notice Kara walking beside me, unconsciously holding onto the shopping cart as she had done so many years before. Sometimes I would put my hand over hers and smile. Other times I just let it be a fond memory to file away and cherish in later years.

After Kara died, it was (and still is) very painful to see moms and daughters together, especially when I see a little blond-headed girl in a grocery store with her hand on the cart."

Now it's your turn!

Let writing a food memory bring you some sunshine.

A Toast to Cookbook Contributors!

I must tell you that those who have sent me recipes in memory of loved ones for my new cookbook, Memories Around the Table, hold many talents! I've decided to focus on a few of them throughout the upcoming months. Every so often I will post A Toast to Cookbook Contributors! so that readers can see what else these people have done who have helped to make this cookbook come to life.

Here is a haiku from Marie, whose recipe in memory of her mother is for cinnamon raisin bread.

buds burst open

birthing the blossoms

spring fever

~ Marie Toole

Memories Around the Table: Treasured Recipes coming soon!
Daniel's House Publications

Memories Around the Table is looking for submissions!

There is nothing that ties us together quite like food. As Virginia Woolf said, "One cannot think well, live well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." And an old Irish proverb tells us, "Laughter is brightest where food is best."

Yes, I'm in the process of creating another cookbook of recipes and memories. Send me something today after viewing the YouTube video! The video will tell you how to submit so that the memory of your loved one can be included in the pages of Memories Around the Table.

Click to view the video.

To refer to an earlier post on this blog with written details about how to submit, view here.

And there is more! Want to help in another way with this project?

Donate today! Give any amount to help with the printing and publishing of this book. We plan to have it in print by summer 2013. All who donate will get their name on the Donations Page that will be included in the back of the cookbook.

Donate to Memories Around the Table!

Happy remembering!

Toffee recipe from Down The Cereal Aisle

Down the Cereal is now available for purchase on my website. The cookbook is in memory of children who have died too soon. From the simple to the more complex, Down the Cereal Aisle holds tender food-related stories, recipes, poetry, and tips on how to cope with the loss of a child.

The recipe below is one I make a couple of times a year. With it comes a great memory in the actual cookbook. I'm only placing an abbreviated version of the entry here.

Teresa's Wonderful Toffee

15 graham crackers (2 1/2-inch squares)
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
6 oz. pkg. milk or dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line a 13 by 9-inch pan with foil, oiled generously.
Arrange graham crackers in the pan. You might need to break the squares so that they all fit. In a saucepan melt the butter and sugar until the mixture boils. Pour this mixture on top of the graham crackers. Bake for 5 minutes and then remove from oven. Pour the chocolate over the top and spread it evenly. Add the chopped nuts by sprinkling them over the chocolate. Place in fridge for at least 30 minutes. Cut into bars or break into pieces.

Store in refrigerator. Makes 24 bars.

~ From page 70 of Down the Cereal Aisle
In memory of Teresa Wesley Hough, April 25, 1968--October 2, 1993