The wooden cone shown was carved by Merriam Erickson sometime in the 1970’s. As cultures have blended through the years this Norwegian dessert was always a favorite at family gatherings at New Year’s! It is so wonderful to still have the use of this handmade cone and the Krum Kake iron as we recall special times spent with our loved ones. 

Recipe for:  Krum Kake

From the Kitchen of: Lorna Grieb Erickson                                                        Servings: about 24

Needed equipment: Krum Kake Iron and Wooden Cone shaper

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• ½ Cup Sugar
• ½ Cup Butter melted-one cube
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ Cup flour

Instructions

1. Beat 3 eggs until thick and lemon-colored.
2. Add ½ Cup sugar and mix well
3. Add 1/2 Cup butter, melted
4. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix in
5. Add ½ Cup flour to the liquid and mix
6. Heat Krum Kake iron over medium heat.  When a drop of water sizzles then the iron is ready.
7. Put 1½ Tablespoons batter in center of iron.
8. *Turn frequently until Kake is light brown.  About 1-2 minutes.  Carefully remove from iron with a butter knife and immediately wrap around cone to shape. 
9. Leave to cool while cooking next Kake.                      
10. Just before serving fill with whip cream.

*Do not multi task while cooking. Watch carefully!

Who Loves Persimmons?

Mr. P, our five-year old grandson, loves Persimmons. For Christmas he asked for a Persimmon fruit tree to be planted in the Grieb Orchard. We already have a Fuyu Persimmon tree so we planted a Hachiya variety instead. Mr. P experienced the difference himself when he bit into a Hachiya Persimmon fruit.

The two Persimmon varieties have very different purposes. The Fuyu can be eaten like an apple when ripe. The Hachiya is very bitter and comes to sweetness as the fruit matures to soft-ripe feeling. The very soft fruit flesh can be eaten like pudding and is very sweet.

So what does one do with the soft flesh of a Hachiya Persimmon fruit? Make delicious cookies!

Persimmon Cookies

From the Kitchen of: Joyce Willems from Granny (Ruth Stanley)         

Servings: Makes 3-5 dozen

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Baking Persimmon Pulp (Hachiya variety)
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda (sprinkle over pulp)
• 1 Cup sugar
• ½ Cup shortening or 1 Cube butter or margarine
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Cup finely chopped nuts
• 1 Cup raisins
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Beat thoroughly persimmon pulp, baking soda, sugar and shortening until creamy. Add egg, then flour with sifted spice. Add nuts and raisins. Beat all ingredients together – batter will be thin. Drop by spoonfuls on greased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 min.   

Waldorf Salad is a favorite around here, particularly in the fall when apples, grapes, lemons and walnuts are in season on the Grieb Ranch.

According to the American Century Cookbook, the first Waldorf Salad was created in New York City in 1893, by Oscar Tschirky, the maître d’hôtel of the Waldorf Astoria. –  from Simply Recipes.com

The original recipe consisted only of diced red-skinned apples, celery, and mayonnaise. Chopped walnuts were added later to this now American classic. This a festive salad for Holiday get-togethers.

Waldorf Salad

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of ground black pepper
• 2 sweet apples, cored and chopped (Do not peel)
• 1 cup red seedless grapes, sliced in half
• 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir in the apple, celery, grapes, and walnuts. Serve chilled in a serving bowl or in individual small salad dishes.

Fun days with the grandkids means coming up with engaging activities while enriching their lives and creating memories. One activity Connie enjoys doing with her grandkids is making a batch of Kool Dough for Kids Play and then making shapes like letters of the alphabet or animals with the dough. The dough can be stored in an airtight container for longer shelf life.

From the Kitchen of Connie Grieb Willems

Kool Dough for Kids Play

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ C Flour
• 1 T Cream of Tartar
• 2 Pkgs of Unsweetened Koolaid®mix (Color of Koolaid® will determine color of Kool Dough)
• 1 C Salt
• 2 C Boiling Water
• 3 T Oil

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients. Add oil to water and once it boils mix it well with dry ingredients. Knead dough as cools until smooth. I use my KitchenAid® stand mixer and it goes very fast. Or I use a Ninja® Blender.

Store Kool Dough for Kids Play in an airtight container when not in use. When stored correctly it can last a few weeks.

Grandma Grieb’s Dreamy Cream Puffs

Grandma Grieb’s grandchildren always looked forward to these dreamy cream puffs for dessert on special occasions.  They were generously filled with real heavy cream whipped that was made with sugar and the real vanilla.  These are great to make in the spring when the hens are laying lots of eggs.

From the Kitchen of:  Gertrude Haven Grieb

Makes 6 to 8 cream puffs

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup of flour
• Dash of salt
• 4 eggs
• Sweetened Whipped Cream
• Powdered Sugar

Heat oven to 400°F. Heat water and butter in a pan, bring to a boil. Stir in flour. Stir briskly , bring to a boil over low heat about 1 minute, or until it forms a ball. Remove from heat . Beat in eggs, one at a time, continue beating until smooth, drop by scant 1/4 cupfuls 3 inches apart onto an onto an un-greased baking sheet.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until puffed and  golden. Cool completely away from drafts. Cut off tops. Pull out any filaments of soft dough. Carefully fill puffs with whipped cream. Replace tops, dust with powdered sugar. Refrigerate until serving time.

Recipe for: Ranch Style Wild Dove Meat Appetizers

From the Kitchen of: Connie Grieb Willems

Servings: 2 dove portions per person as an appetizer

Ingredients:

• Dove meat – enough meat pieces to fit evenly in your pan
• Flour
• Salt & Pepper
• Toothpicks
• Bacon-1/2 strip per dove
• Olive oil to cover pan bottom

Instructions:
Mix flour, salt and pepper together. Roll dove meat in the flour mixture and then wrap dove with bacon. Secure bacon with a toothpick. Heat oil and then reduce heat to medium high. Cover the pan to keep the moisture in. Cook until dove meat is tender – about 6 minutes on each side. Remove dove meat to a warm platter and serve with steaming rice.

Special Memories:  Dove season and calving season are at the same time (Fall for the Central Coast), so friends with their hunting license can hunt dove as they help check for new calves or pump water.

Here’s a guide for responsible hunting of Dove: The first column is the type of dove in California, then the hunting season followed by the limit.

Apricots were a primary summer fruit crop grown on Grieb Ranch in its original location. Growing up, most of the Grieb children worked in the apricot cutting sheds during the summer.  The worker’s salary was determined by how many boxes were cut.  One fruit box was given to the workers sitting at long tables topped with a wooden tray.  Each person would slice the apricot in half and place it on tray. The fruit trays went to the sulfur shed to be smoked/sulfured and were then laid out in the field to dry.  As the apricots era drew to a close, an automatic apricot cutter was manned by two people who fed fruit into the machine.

Mr. P helps Grandma set apricots up to dry just as she did as a child working during the summers.

We had a great time with apricots this year.  We made some fruit leather, dried some, put some in salads and smoothies, and then there was the seasonal must of Apricot cake.

Fruit Salad

Apricot puree for fruit leather

One of the cousins, Marla said, “As a child I remember this cake being made and loving it so much and then as an adult realizing not everyone got to eat this cake growing up and feeling sad they missed out.”

Grandma’s Apricot Cake

Recipe for: Apricot Cake

From the Kitchen of:  Great Grandma Grieb        Servings: 12-15

This is a traditional apricot recipe of Gertrude Haven Grieb.  Connie Grieb Willems grandmother.

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ Cups Flour
• ½ C. Butter(1 cube) plus more for top
• ½ C. Milk or water
• 2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 12 plus apricot to cover the top

Instructions:  

Sift:  flour, baking powder, 3 Tbsp. sugar and salt.

Cut in: 1 cube of butter

Add:  milk to make soft dough.  Then put in 9 x 13 pan

Put peeled apricots halves as close as possible on the top. Sprinkle 1 the rest of the Cup of sugar on top and then dot with butter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until apricots are baked.

*You can use canned apricots or stewed dried apricots or apple slices laid close together on dough-if you can not wait for the next apricot season.

Food, fun, fellowship and flowers have always been a part of the Grieb Ranch Table.

A Valentine’s Day love gift was especially appreciated this year. Home-made cookies, lovingly made by cousin Sandi, were a true blessing as they took her many hours to make.

If you have a day to play with try this recipe from the Martha Stewart Magazine, Jan/Feb., page 112.  They are called Dark and White Chocolate Shortbread Hearts.