Phizzy's Pineapple Bread Pudding

 Phizzy Edwards was one of my mom's (Anne Whitson's) best friends as well as being her cousin. This recipe came along from a neighbor when Phizz lived in Texas. It is soooo good as a side-dish served with Ham--or serve it as dessert. There is never any left at the Robinson potlucks. I know no one gets white bread anymore, but you can always use the rest for French Toast, orrr sandwiches for Tea with your daughter's stuffed animals!

 Ingredients: 

 2 T flour

 1/2 C sugar

 large can crushed pineapple

 3 beaten eggs 

1/4 lb. butter

 4 -5 sliced white bread, torn in small pieces

Directions: Butter an 8X8 baking dish. Mix the first 3 ingredients well and add the eggs. Pour in baking dish. Melt 1/4 butter and mix with 4-5 slices (depending on how large your bread loaf is) torn white bread. Place on top of pineapple mix. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 4 but can be doubled or tripled easily. YUM! I want some now!

Best Brown Sugar Peach Pie

I started cooking in earnest the summer of my 16th birthday. I baked --a lot. So, when my mom made this incredible caramel-y brown sugar peach pie, I asked for the recipe. Summer peaches are wonderful in Portola Valley! "Webb Ranch" down Alpine Road had a roadside farmstand where you can get produce straight from the orchard nearby. It formerly was made of used lumber, weathered and grey. The structure itself looked like it would fall over any minute--but we loved it! It had trays of gorgeous fruit and vegetables in reds, yellows, blues and greens. Fresh flowers too, in huge white buckets. Beautiful! So, wait until your local farmstand or farmer's market has peaches that are as big as a harvest moon--and make brown-sugar peach pie!

Ingredients:

One 9-inch lattice-top pie crust

3/4 C. brown sugar
1/3 C all-purpose flour
3 T light corn syrup
1 T lemon juice (this is key)
1/3 C softened butter
3 1/2 -4 C fresh sliced peaches

Combine all but peaches in a medium-sized pot. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly. Arrange peaches in pastry. Pour brown sugar mixture overall. Place lattice pieces, or regular pie crust, on top of pie and crimp edges. Bake at 400 degrees 35 minutes. Cool to lukewarm before serving. Vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream on top highly recommended!

Ming's Famous Chinese Chicken Salad

Chinese Chicken Salad swept the nation starting in the 1970's and 80's. That sounds funny--I get the picture of a truckload of the stuff being dumped at every corner in every city! HA! It is unique, however, in that it has retained its popularity. Like carrot cake, it has many devotees--and is wonderful for a simple lunch, brunch, or summer dinner. Since I posted the "Ming's Beef" from Ming's Restaurant in Palo Alto, I thought I'd better post their amazing, not-too-sweet-but-sweet-enough Chinese Chicken Salad. It was the first Chinese Chicken Salad I ever tried, and dang, it's good! So many of the others are just too sweet! I got it off of "Askville.com" --the recipe was contributed by none other than bald food expert/actor Telly Savalas some years ago. He had it at Ming's and liked it too!

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken breast, boned.
Oil for deep-frying
1/3-1/2 pkg. rice sticks
1/2 t Chinese mustard
1 C hoisin sauce
2 T crushed almonds (I use peanuts)
pinch salt
1 T sesame seeds
1 head lettuce, shredded (do by hand, not food processor)
4 sprigs (or more to taste) minced cilantro

Note: I put a T finely chopped green onions in there, but it isn't part of the original recipe.

Directions:

Deep-fry chicken 5 minutes, until crisp and golden. Drain. cut into lengthwise, julienned strips. Skin should be left on for added flavor. Drop rice sticks into hot oil and remove with slotted spoon as soon as they rise to the surface--which will be almost immediately. Drain on a paper towel on in a dish. Combine chicken with mustard, hoisin sauce, nuts, salt and sesame seeds in a salad bowl. Mix well. To serve, add fried rice sticks, shredded lettuce and cilantro. Toss, but not too much or it will get soggy!

Ming's Beef--a Palo Alto Favorite!

Ming's Restaurant in Palo Alto (CA) has been a local favorite since 1967. They are famous for their gourmet Chinese cuisine and upscale panache. "Ming's Beef", which is sort of like Beef Satay without the sticks on fried rice noodles, was one of my family's favorites.

Yes, my family loved Ming's. My mom even threw me a "Sweet Sixteen" party there. All my friends and I dressed up in evening gowns and sat at a large round table. It was so grown-up and wonderful. Until I, with a sweeping gesture, accidentally knocked the trays out of a passing waiter's hands. I really am SO talented. You could hear the crash and splinter of dishes in the next state. I felt really bad! After apologizing profusely and trying to help the waiter pick up his dishes, I consoled myself with this wonderful dish...

Ingredients:

2 T cornstarch
2 T sherry
2 T soy sauce
2 T oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T sliced fresh ginger root
2 T sugar
1 1/2 lbs. flank steak, sliced thinly across the grain into 3-inch strips
4 oz saifun noodles (also called rice or cellophane noodles), dry
Oil to fry noodles and for stir-frying (sorry, do not use olive oil unless it has NO flavor at all)
1/4 C oyster sauce

Directions:

Mix the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl or 9X13 pan and add sliced steak strips to marinate. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or longer. Fry saifun (rice) noodles in large (10-12 inch) skillet or wok in 1 inch oil. When puffed (a few seconds), remove to paper towels to drain.

Heat an additional 2-3 T oil in pan. Remove ginger root from marinade. Add meat mixture to work; stir-fry for 2 minutes or until meat changes color. Add oyster sauce; cook another minute or two. Serve over fried noodles. Use a little minced chives or green onion as a garnish if desired. Note: Make extra--this will serve about 3 people.

Ga-Ga's Stuffed Artichokes

My grandmother on my mom's side was the first Lady Ga-Ga. That was our name for her: GA-GA, because Gladys was too hard to say. And she really was very lady-like. Very much like Martha Stewart if Martha Stewart had a high voice. I asked Ga-Ga for this recipe when I was in my teens in the 1970s. You can stuff artichokes or avocados with it. She loved shellfish, so it's appropriate that this found its way into this cookbook. It is in her own words:

"The morning or night before you plan to serve this, cook 2 large or 4 small artichokes. In another small pot, hard-boil an egg. Drain the chokes in a colander and chill them in the refrigerator till cold. At the same time, chill the egg until you need to use it. The next day, when thoroughly chilled, cut each choke in half and take out the thistle-y core and most of the tender young leaves in the middle. Cut the stem short--about 1/2 inch at the most. Leave the heart on the end, but make sure there are no thistles left on it."

Wash and drain 1 lb. fresh, chilled (cooked) baby shrimp in a colander and put back in refrigerator.

Mix in a medium bowl: 1/2 C mayonnaise, 2 T olive oil, 1 C chopped celery, 1 chopped hard-boiled egg, a handful of chopped parsley, 1/8 t Beau Monde, a large pinch Cayenne pepper, lemon juice from 1/2 lemon (or to taste), and a sprinkle of Accent (MSG). Yes, I know MSG is bad for you, but it really helps the taste in this recipe!

To this mixture add the fresh shrimp and load it into the halved artichokes. Serve them on beds of lettuce. Perfect for a summer dinner or a luncheon with friends!

Speedy Ring Around (Orange Rolls)

This is a favorite from Aunt Elma Robinson. My cousin Robin says she only makes quick and easy food now, and this is quick and easy! She makes these amazing little orange rolls which were great at Easter and brunch-type celebrations as well as family breakfasts! They are very tasty--and have been handed down 3 generations--from Elma, to Phizzy, to Robin and now to Nicole who just had a baby daughter who will most likely make them too!

Ingredients:

3/4 sugar (or a little more)
1 T grated orange peel (or a little more)
2 pkg.s refrigerated biscuits
1/4 melted butter

Mix sugar and orange peel. Dip biscuits in butter then sugar mix. Overlap biscuits in circle in greased 9-inch ring mold. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Invert onto a plate. Serve at once.

Quickie Pork Chops

These pork chops are something I make when I know my hubby wants dinner fast, hot and yummy. Since usually I come home slow, cold and not wanting to cook--this is great! It's one of those olde recipes from the 1980s--so it is not lo-fat. But when you're in a hurry-- just do it! Got this from a girl named Gail that I used to work with at "The Yum Yum Tree" dress shop when I was in college. She was a working mom and knew her quick recipes!


Ingredients:

4 pork chops
1/4 C dry sherry (I use Amontillado, but cooking sherry is ok)
1/4 C catchup
1/2 C sour cream (you can use the low-fat kind)
1 t worcestshire sauce
1/4 t t paprika

Brown chops in a hot skillet until just done. Drain fat. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl and pour on top of chops. Simmer for about 10 minutes more. Boom! You're done! Serve with or without rice, your choice!