[CottonBall]

We built our first home “from scratch”, living in the basement,lugging water, having an out house and most important of all, NO mortgage.

That's awesome. I can imagine all the red tape trying to do that today without a contractor's license. And all the permits, fees, inspections,.... We've come a long way from down :(

Sadly, some of my grandmother and mother's cooked goods were also made from scratch with no recipes as they made them so many times, they just knew by instinct the right amount of each ingredient.

My grandmother had some of those. And trying to follow her around, writing down what she did didn't work so well! I never did get the amounts right because she added a little at a time until it was 'just right'. I have recipes that say things like 'add enough flour' or 'add until the consistency looks right' or 'till it tastes right'. Not so easy for a beginning cook - or one that can't remember what the recipe was supposed to turn out like!

[nw_arizona_granny]

My grandmother had some of those. And trying to follow her around, writing down what she did didn’t work so well! I never did get the amounts right because she added a little at a time until it was ‘just right’. I have recipes that say things like ‘add enough flour’ or ‘add until the consistency looks right’ or ‘till it tastes right’. Not so easy for a beginning cook - or one that can’t remember what the recipe was supposed to turn out like!

I once asked my grandmother for her cornbread recipe and she told me it was easy, to buy a box of Cinch brand cornbread mix.

C.B. you might find your missing recipes here:

http://www.google.com/search?q=boston+dodgers++a+raised+dough+dropped+like+dumplings+in+hot+fat+and+then+put+in+a+bowl+with+molasses+sauce++&btnG=Search&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=XIR&sa=2

[Marmolade]

“Sadly, some of my grandmother and mother's cooked goods were also made from scratch with no recipes as they made them so many times, they just knew by instinct the right amount of each ingredient.”

I remember my grandma making egg drops in her soup. I know she mixed some egg and flour and beat them, not sure if it had anything else in with it. Then she would pour it by the dripful into boiling bullion soup and it would make little egg drops. Sound familiar to anyone? I've been thinking about it a lot this past year wishing I knew how to make them.