Posted on 10/30/2023 6:05:28 AM PDT by texas booster
When Danny Meyer was gearing up to open his barbecue restaurant, Blue Smoke, there was one recipe he knew he had to have on the menu: his grandmother’s secret potato salad recipe.
“I told the chef, ‘My very favorite potato salad in the world was the one my grandmother made,’” Meyer recalls.
That’s a big statement coming from Meyer, a successful restaurateur who has earned Michelin Stars and founded the fast-casual chain Shake Shack. At the time, his grandmother had already passed away, but Meyer remembered that she kept recipes on three by five index cards. After a search, he found the right card and handed it to the restaurant’s chef, who invited Meyer to try it in the Blue Smoke kitchen.
When Meyer arrived, the sous chefs had a big bowl of potato salad that brought back memories of his grandmother. He tried it, smiled, and told the chefs, “That’s exactly right.” They grinned back at him mischievously. Eventually, Meyer broke and asked, “What’s so funny?” A chef pulled out a jar of Hellman’s mayonnaise and placed it on the table. Meyer looked at it, then realized that the secret recipe his grandmother had hoarded for years was on the jar. It was the official Hellman’s recipe for potato salad.
This actually seems to be a common phenomenon. The television show Friends even features a similar discovery, when one character, Phoebe, realizes that her grandmother’s “famous” chocolate chip cookie recipe came from a bag of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips.
Two months ago, we asked Gastro Obscura readers to send in accounts of their own discoveries. We promised a (loving) investigation of grandparents lying about family recipes.
(Excerpt) Read more at atlasobscura.com ...
I’ve used cocoa powder as part of a marinade on a chuck roast. It tenderized the meat, and tasted awesome. The gravy was delicious, but you could smell the cocoa, which made for an interesting conversation during dinner.
Apple brandy? In the pie and in the crust?
Ah. The old “nobody can make pizza as good as mine” play.
(Oops, I “accidentally” left out an ingredient.)
Someone found a journal by George Washington, in his own hand, that included his recipe for beer, and his now infamous eggnog recipe.
1 Pint Brandy
1/2 Pint Rye Whiskey
1/4 Pint Rum
1/4 Pint sherry
1-1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Quart Cream
1 Quart Milk
12 Eggs
It really sets you to think about modern changes to it that can be made. For example using differently aged brandies, using Bourbon instead of Rye, 151 or Dark Rum, different sugars, and unpasteurized cream and milk.
Good read!
When Beau and I first started dating, I made Meatloaf for supper one evening. I, myself, LOVE meatloaf - especially leftovers for sandwiches.
Anyhow, try as I might, I just could NOT get the recipe right because he really, REALLY liked the meatloaf his late wife Lida made. I made z DOZEN different recipes and NONE of them were up to snuff.
I finally gave up, since I was never going to get it right anyway, and just bought a packet of Meatloaf Mix in with the spices from the grocery store for like 50-cents.
Guess what? THAT was the meatloaf he loves so much!
‘Secret Family Recipe’ my Aunt Fanny!
Hah......great story.
I use some peanut butter in mine - keeps the cookies moist for-ever. And always the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips.
When I was growing up, I was ‘in charge’ of two things - making sure Dad’s Cookie Jar was always full of HOMEMADE CC Cookies, and that I put the coffee pot on as soon as I got home from school at 3:30pm; Dad got home from work at 4pm. :)
“Betty Crocker Lemon Poke Cake”
I can testify! That cake is Da Bomb! :)
In our family a favorite was, ‘Mrs. Klar’s Busy-Day Hot Dish.’ My MIL got the recipe from the neighboring farm wife. It’s sort of like Tater Tot Casserole, if you’ve ever had that.
Mrs. Klar had 15 kids; she was d@mn busy, LOL!
LOL!!
“elbow macaroni, canned crushed tomatoes, chopped green bell peppers, ground beef and salt and pepper .”
Good ol’ goulash. Mom made it, too.
One of my grandpas made that. Truly horrible!
I love meatloaf, but not with ketchup.
I could never figure out why they kept printing the recipe on the box for so many years. For all I know, they still are. Have to look next time I go to the store, if I remember.
Now find the lost recipe for legendary Whiting’s Egg Nog (Whiting Milk Company, Swampscott, ma)
Tell you the truth, I don’t like egg nog. Never did.
I have my great aunt’s notes from her cooking class in college back in the 1890’s. I have many old hand written recipes from the early 1900s too. All the women in my family were excellent cooks. I cook the exact same Thanksgiving and Christmas meal that I had growing up, which my great grandmother, born in the 1880s served. Boiled custard is a must at Christmas and jam cake. All very old, but still delicious.
Schweddy balls?
I think this is what you are looking for. https://www.food.com/recipe/mary-ball-washingtons-gingerbread-245715
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