Weekend Cooking: Dinner with My Grandmothers

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

_______

Last year I kicked myself for not having enough free time to enter TLC Book Tours' contest to have tea with author Adriana Trigiani. Everyone who was lucky enough to win had a fabulous time, and they are still talking about it. This year the contest is for lunch and a walking tour with Adriana, and I can enter by following this guideline:

Make a recipe given to you by your grandparents, take a picture of the recipe you made, post about it on your blog, and then post the link on Adriana’s Facebook page.

I can do that! And I can go one better: Today's meal features a recipe from each of my grandmothers.

I will be forever grateful that I was able to really know my grandparents. In fact, I lost my last grandparent when I was in my forties. I loved knowing my grandmothers as peers and loved sharing recipes with them. My family has an abundance of great cooks who are easygoing and inventive in the kitchen. Because both my grandmothers lived nearby, I have many, many memories of helping them in the kitchen.

The lamb recipe comes from my maternal grandmother. My mother's parents liked to travel, and my grandmother told me that this dish was served on trains "going west to San Francisco" in the 1950s. On the train, diners also got rolls, peas, and new potatoes, but in my house, the lamb is often served with my paternal grandmother's famous noodle pudding. One taste of this dish, and you'll forget about the pile of dirty dishes left in its wake.

The recipes are exactly as I got them from my grandmothers.

Noodle Pudding

• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup melted sweet butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 pound creamed cottage cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 pound medium noodles, cooked
• 1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
• extra butter

Beat yolks with the melted butter and sugar. Fold in the cottage cheese and sour cream and then the noodles. Beat the whites until stiff and fold in with the rest. Place in a buttered 2-quart casserole and sprinkle with the crumbs. Dot with butter. Bake 45 minutes at 375F.

My dad's mom gave me this very cool egg separator!

Lamb Casserole

• 2 1/2 pounds boned lamb
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 pound sweet butter
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium turnips, peeled and chunked
• 1 heaping tablespoon flour
• 1 cup tomato puree or sauce
• 1 pint broth, lamb or chicken
• salt and pepper

Cut lamb into bite-size pieces. Melt the butter in the pan, add the lamb and sprinkle with pepper. Let cook, but do not brown. Add the onion and celery and stir until the vegetables are soft. As the liquid evaporates, add the flour. Stir until it starts to brown and then add tomato puree and broth. Bring to a boil and add the carrots and turnips and let boil until sauce gets shiny. Taste and add salt as needed.

Pour into a casserole. Cover and bake until done.

My notes written on the recipe: Sauce doesn't really get thick, this is tasty even without herbs, bake about 40 minutes or so at 350F or 375F.

Enjoy!! Be sure to visit Adriana's Facebook page or click on the cute I ♥ Adriana button to learn more about the contest.