Secret recipes
A few weeks ago, I was at my mom's house, and I saw a stack I hadn't seen in years. It was a pile of index cards that used to be in a nice file cabinet in our kitchen when I was a kid. My mom used to cut out recipes from magazines and newspapers and tape them to the cards, or she'd write out recpies that were given to her by friends and family. The filing system was pretty good, though over the years the tape got a little faded and the recipes got outdated.
My mom had pulled them out to prove to my dad that he's not the only one in the family to make bread. She used to make breads in the morning for us, and they were quite tasty. I totally forgot about that until she mentioned it.
Anyhow, I asked her if my grandmother's secret flan recipe was there. I had it at some point, but it's since been misplaced. It's such an easy recipe that I pretty much knew it by heart, but a detail (how many eggs) escaped me and I wanted to verify before making more flan.
My mother found it (along with two chocolate cake recipes that may have to be later followed up on), and I give it to you. Mainly so I don't lose it again:
Flan.
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 can condensed milk
1 can (14 oz) evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
Caramalize the sugar and pour it into a baking dish.
Mix all other ingredients and pour over the caramel.
Bake in 375o F oven over a water bath for approximately 50 minutes.
Ta-da!! I suspect that this is one of those recipies from the 50s when everyone started going crazy with canned goods and other ready made food products. But it means that I don't have to make any sort of custard, and it tastes just as good as any other flan. The hardest part is caramalizing the sugar, just because it takes forever, and the sugar gets really hot. I usually double or triple the recipe. I know I've made it since I've moved into my current house, because there are a few cans of evaporated and condensed milk in my cupboard.
Another recpie my mom gave me. This one given to her by a friend who brought these bars to the Christmas Tree Cutting Party this year. They're unbelievably good: Toffee bars
12 whole graham crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups chopped pecans
Put graham crackers on jelly roll pan.
Bring butter and sugar to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Stir in the nuts. Spread over graham crackers. Bake at 350o F for 8-12 minutes depending on your oven. The buttery stuff should melt completely over and begin to darken (but not burn). Remove and cool on rack and break into pieces to serve. You can spread chocolate chips over top when hot and they will soften and can be spread around.
This was a HUGE hit at the Christmas Tree Cutting party, and the baker had lots of requests for the recipe.
My mom had pulled them out to prove to my dad that he's not the only one in the family to make bread. She used to make breads in the morning for us, and they were quite tasty. I totally forgot about that until she mentioned it.
Anyhow, I asked her if my grandmother's secret flan recipe was there. I had it at some point, but it's since been misplaced. It's such an easy recipe that I pretty much knew it by heart, but a detail (how many eggs) escaped me and I wanted to verify before making more flan.
My mother found it (along with two chocolate cake recipes that may have to be later followed up on), and I give it to you. Mainly so I don't lose it again:
Flan.
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 can condensed milk
1 can (14 oz) evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
Caramalize the sugar and pour it into a baking dish.
Mix all other ingredients and pour over the caramel.
Bake in 375o F oven over a water bath for approximately 50 minutes.
Ta-da!! I suspect that this is one of those recipies from the 50s when everyone started going crazy with canned goods and other ready made food products. But it means that I don't have to make any sort of custard, and it tastes just as good as any other flan. The hardest part is caramalizing the sugar, just because it takes forever, and the sugar gets really hot. I usually double or triple the recipe. I know I've made it since I've moved into my current house, because there are a few cans of evaporated and condensed milk in my cupboard.
Another recpie my mom gave me. This one given to her by a friend who brought these bars to the Christmas Tree Cutting Party this year. They're unbelievably good: Toffee bars
12 whole graham crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups chopped pecans
Put graham crackers on jelly roll pan.
Bring butter and sugar to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Stir in the nuts. Spread over graham crackers. Bake at 350o F for 8-12 minutes depending on your oven. The buttery stuff should melt completely over and begin to darken (but not burn). Remove and cool on rack and break into pieces to serve. You can spread chocolate chips over top when hot and they will soften and can be spread around.
This was a HUGE hit at the Christmas Tree Cutting party, and the baker had lots of requests for the recipe.