Grandma’s Stories

Mar 5th “Carrot Cake Bars”

Carrot Cake Bars

Ingredients

• 1½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup chopped toasted pecans
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon whole milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, letting excess extend over sides of pan; spray foil with baking spray with flour.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and melted butter until smooth. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture just until combined.
4. Stir in carrots, pecans, raisins, and pineapple.
5. Spread batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
7. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
8. In a small bowl, whisk together cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and milk until smooth and well combined.
9. Using excess foil as handles, remove from pan, and cut into bars.
10. Drizzle cream cheese mixture onto bars.
11. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Start enjoying, right NOW!

Mar 4th “Name: Pound Cake”

Recipe of the Day

Feb 24th “NATIONAL CHILI DAY”

National Chili Day on the fourth Thursday in February honors one of America’s favorite winter dishes–chili. It’s also known as chili con carne (chili with meat).

In Spanish, chili refers to “chili pepper” and carne means “meat”.

Chili is most commonly made up of tomatoes, beans, chili peppers, meat, garlic, onions, and cumin.  However, cooks offer up so many variations to the basic chili recipe. And, with so many varieties, chili cook-off competitions love to feature chili as a favored entry.  

American frontier settlers used a “chili” recipe of dried beef, suet, dried chili peppers, and salt. All this was pounded together and formed into bricks and dried. They could then boil the bricks in pots on the trails. 

At the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, the San Antonio Chili Stand helped people from all over the United States appreciate the taste of chili. Because San Antonio was a significant tourist destination, it helped Texas-style chili con carne spread throughout the South and West.  In 1977, House Concurrent Resolution Number 18 of the 65th Texas Legislature designated chili con carne as the official dish of the U.S. state of Texas.

Before World War II, hundreds of small, family-run chili parlors (also known as chili joints) popped up throughout the state of Texas as well as other places in the United States. Each new chili parlor usually claimed some kind of secret recipe. 

Ways to enjoy chili

There are many ways that people enjoy the great taste of chili, some of which include:

• Add chili to hot dogs to create chili dogs.
• Top burgers with chili and enjoy a chili burger.
• Combine chili and chili with fries and make chili cheese fries.
• Make the ultimate baked potato by stuffing it with chili.
• “Frito pie” is chili with spaghetti noodles.
• Transform mac and cheese into chili mac.
• Mix rice and chili for another flavor favorite.
• Add croutons to your chili for added crunch.

HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalChiliDay

• Make some chili.
• Try a new recipe like one of these:
  • Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili
  • Chili-Corn Chip Pie
  • Spicy Slow-Cooked Chili
  • Spicy Chicken Chili Stew
  • Biscuit Bowl Chili
  • Wild Came Chili
• Invite friends to warm up over a bowl of chili.
• Share your recipes.
• Host a chili cook-off.
• Use #NationalChiliDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL CHILI DAY HISTORY

Rich Kelly of Hard Times Cafe in Arlington, VA founded National Chili Day. The day has been celebrated with cook-offs, pot lucks, feeds and bottomless bowls since at least 2006. 

Chili FAQ

Q. Are all chilis spicy?
A. No. Chili is such a versatile dish it can be made with very little to no spicy heat.

Q. What’s a chili cook-off?
A. Chili cook-off is a competition. Many people claim they make the best chili and a cook-off is a way to determine who really does have the best chili. Competitors bring their finished dish and judges taste each entry. Sometimes a chili cook-off functions as a fundraiser for a charity.

Q. What kinds of toppings go on chili?
A. Some people prefer their chili without any additional toppings. However, there are many ways to top off your chili. Try these ideas:

• Sour cream
• Shredded cheese
• Jalapenos
• Tortilla chips
• Cornbread
• Cottage cheese
• Green onions

Feb 23rd “NATIONAL BANANA BREAD DAY”

February 23rd annually recognizes a well-known food holiday, National Banana Bread Day.

Bakers know that to make sweet and delicious banana bread, they need to use fully ripe, mashed bananas. The resulting quick bread is moist and almost cake-like. And while some recipes call for yeast, most don’t. Either way, the finished product makes a tasty sliced snack. Toast it and add butter for an even more satisfying treat!

In the 1930s, baking soda and baking powder made banana bread and other quick breads standard features in American cookbooks. Pillsbury’s included banana bread recipes in its 1933 Balanced Recipes cookbook, too. The release of Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book in 1950 further secured the banana bread’s acceptance. 

Surprisingly, bananas first made their appearance in the United States in 1870. For a long time, Americans saw the tropical fruit as merely that – a fruit, not an ingredient. It would take a few decades before they started seeing the banana’s potential. 

Early Banana Bread

One early recipe came from The Vienna Model Bakery. It advertised banana bread as something new in the April 21, 1893, edition of St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  A new restaurant/bakery chain owned by Gaff, Fleischmann & Company, The Viena Model Bakery was known for its baked goods and was likely one of the first to produce banana bread in the United States. The recipe was made with banana flour, made by drying strips of the fruit, then grinding it to a powder. This process had long been used in the West Indies.

In Hawaii during World War I, a surplus of bananas resulted from very few ships available to export the fruit.  To prevent waste, alternative uses for bananas were developed. For example, bakeries started incorporating the fruit into their bread.

This recipe was printed in The Maui News on April 12, 1918, for banana bread:

2/3 banana
1/3 flour
Yeast, coconut milk, or water

There was also rationing of staple food items such as flour. Banana flour was a suggested substitute. It was touted as a health food and recommended for a vegetarian diet.

This, of course, is not the quick bread we know today.  A recipe submitted by Mrs. Dean in the February 18, 1918, issue of The Garden Island paper for a banana muffin might more closely resemble the quick bread we think of today.

1 cup cornmeal
3-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 sifted banana
3/4 cup rye flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon Crisco

Mix dry ingredients, add banana, milk, and egg, and Crisco.

Quick Bread and Muffin

The difference between a quick bread and a muffin in baking has a lot to do with the type of fat and how it is mixed, creating a different crumb or texture to the bread.

In 1927, Unifruit (a wholesale produce company) offered a free cookbook called From the Tropics to Your Table. The book offered recipes full of bananas as ingredients, including banana muffins and breads. This little cookbook would have been handy during the Great Depression, which was just around the corner. At the time, families utilized every scrap of food, including overripe bananas. They cooked overripe bananas and other fruits and vegetables into breads, stews, and other dishes when flavor and texture were not as appealing raw.

• Bake your favorite version of banana bread to celebrate.
• With so many varieties to try – banana nut, chocolate banana, and more – you can make more than one!
• Invite someone to join you or give a loaf or two away. 
• Try a new recipe.
  • Buttermilk Banana Bread
  • Banana Sour Cream Bread
  • Applesauce Banana Bread
  • Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Visit your local bakery and pick up some banana bread. Don’t forget to give them a shout-out!
• Use #NationalBananaBreadDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL BANANA BREAD DAY HISTORY

National Day Calendar continues researching the origins of this quick bread celebration. We suspect it was founded by someone who thinks it’s the best thing since sliced bread!

Banana Bread FAQ

Q. Can I bake banana bread muffins instead?
A. Yes! That would be a perfect treat for the day.

Q. Can banana bread be frozen?
A. Yes. Wrap it well and place it in a freezer-safe container. It should keep for at least three months.

Q. My bananas aren’t ripe enough for banana bread. What can I do?
A. Poke holes into the peel using a fork. Place in a 300°F oven for 15-20 minutes. The bananas should soften.

Q. My bananas are very ripe but I don’t have time to bake banana bread this week. What can I do?
A. Freeze them in their skins. When you’re ready to bake bread, let them come to room temperature and the bananas will slide right out of the skins and into your mixing bowl!

Feb 22nd “NATIONAL COOK A SWEET POTATO DAY”

Across the United States, National Cook A Sweet Potato Day on February 22nd celebrates a root vegetable packed with flavor and a bit of history, too. The sweet potato is eaten and loved, each day, by millions of people across the nation.

Either Central America or South America is thought to be the center of origin and domestication of sweet potatoes. In Central America, sweet potatoes were domesticated at least 5,000 years ago. Peruvian sweet potato remnants dating as far back as 8,000 BC have been found in South America. 

The sweet potato is an excellent source of vitamin A, which supports good vision, the immune system, and bone growth. Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin B-6, magnesium, and vitamin C.  It’s also great for the complexion.

While many Americans confuse the sweet potato with a yam, the two are different. A yam is a starchy tuber while the sweet potato is truly a sweet root vegetable. The sweet potato also comes in a variety of sizes and colors, including pale to bright orange, white, and purple. High in fiber and low in fat and calories, this root vegetable is a healthful alternative to snack foods when prepared without added butter, sugar, or salt.

Unlike other potatoes, sweet potatoes like long, hot growing seasons. This might explain why it is the state vegetable of North Carolina.  

When storing your sweet potatoes, keep them in a cool, dry place. However, don’t refrigerate them unless they’re cooked. Refrigeration will give them a bitter taste, ruining their sweet flavor. Cooks find numerous ways to experiment with sweet potatoes, too! 

HOW TO OBSERVE #CookASweetPotatoDay

• Cook a sweet potato.
• Try new recipes like these:
  • Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
  • Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries
    
  • Sweet Potato Pineapple Casserole
  • Louisiana Sweet Potato Pancakes
  • Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Topping
    
  • Sweet Potato Cake
• Make your favorite recipe.
• Invite others to join you for a meal.
• Learn about the benefits of sweet potatoes.
• Read about these 7 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato for more ideas.
• Use #CookASweetPotatoDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL COOK A SWEET POTATO DAY HISTORY

National Day Calendar continues to research the origins of this sweet potato cooking challenge. 

Sweet Potato FAQ

Q. How do I cook a sweet potato?
A. There are several ways to cook a sweet potato. In most cases, you can treat the root vegetable just like a white potato. For example:

• Bake it. Top it with butter, brown sugar or drizzle a little honey on it.
• Cut it into bite-sized pieces, season it and roast it in the oven.
• Make potato fries. You can bake, air fry or deep fry them.
• Mash it with a little butter.

Q. What goes well with sweet potatoes?
A. If you can think of a dish, sweet potatoes probably go well with them. This vegetable is quite versatile.

Feb 22nd “Name: Chocolate Banana Bread”

Recipe of the Day