Grandame’s Classic Recipes

 memory lane

I don’t know about y’all, but my Grandmama was an amazing cook. She started cooking big fried chicken breakfasts for her farmer brothers when she was 5. I have the luxury and blessing of owning her home and cooking in her kitchen. She was famous for her pound cake in our small Mayberry-like town in Florida. So much so that when I made one to donate to the local High School baseball team, I told them to add that it was her recipe, and it fetched three times what the other sour cream pound cake did. I’ve already posted that recipe, by the way. Anyway, to the point of this post, I make her pound cake, I make her chicken and dumplings, but my favorite thing she ever made was her cream corn and butter beans and field peas. I’ve never mastered her cream corn, but I come close. I’ve got the butter beans with field peas and snaps down! So, what’s y’all’s favorite Grandmama meal?! I’d love to see the different styles of cooking.

Grandame’s Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 cup chicken broth (reserved)
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/4 cup shortening, cut into flour
• Frozen vegetables (optional)

Instructions:

1. Boil the chicken and set aside about a cup of broth to cool. Debone the chicken and leave the meat in the broth.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the self-rising flour and shortening. Mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Gradually add the chicken broth to the flour mixture, using only as much as needed to form a dough. Be cautious not to add all the broth at once.
4. Hand mix the dough until it comes together, then roll it out. Cut into rectangles.
5. Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add the chicken. As you add the dumplings, use a spoon to separate them. If desired, add frozen vegetables before adding the dumplings.
6. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through.

 Creamed Corn

Ingredients:

• Fresh corn ears
• Salt
• Pepper
• Bacon grease
• Butter

Instructions:

1. Blanch the fresh corn ears and cut off the corn kernels.
2. Using a potato peeler, remove the starch from the corn cobs. Freeze the corn kernels in quart-sized bags.
3. When ready to cook, thaw the corn kernels and add salt, pepper, and bacon grease.
4. Cook the corn, adding butter after the bypass. Note: Achieving the exact taste might be challenging, as it was unique to Grandmama’s touch.

Recipe 3: Pound Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (preferably cake flour)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks butter
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1 8-ounce container sour cream (approximately 10 ounces for my preference)

Instructions:

1. Sift the flour and baking soda together, then set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.
4. Alternate adding the flour mixture and sour cream, incorporating 1/3 of each at a time.
5. Pour the batter into a greased pound cake pan.
6. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

 Grandmama’s recipes hold a special place in my heart. Whether it’s her comforting chicken and dumplings, the elusive creamed corn that I try to recreate, or the crowd-pleasing pound cake, these dishes bring back cherished memories. I hope you enjoy trying these recipes and would love to hear about your favorite Grandmama meals too!

if you love comfort food check our comfort recipe