My Great-Great-Grandmother's Potato Salad with Cooked Dressing

Hello. Aren't you glad that Monday is over?! Boy, I sure am. And in three days, this broad gets hitched! It's so hard to believe that my journey toward wifedom will be coming to an end and my journey OF wifedom will be commencing. What a wonderful journey this will be!

Last night, I decided to pick something out of my cookbook of five generations of family recipes. I decided to make Gram Patton's Potato Salad with Cooked Dressing.

Now, Gram Patton was an incredible lady, although I never met her (she passed away three years before my mother was born), her son, my great-grandfather, was one of the most amazing people I have ever encountered in my life. She raised 15 (yes, you read that correctly) amazing children- nine of which were boys. "The Patton Boys" they were coined, as they formed their own semi-pro baseball team. During the 1940s and 1950s, "The Patton Boys" traveled around the northeast part of the United States playing baseball. Their weekend games brought people out in droves within the small, steel-town of Coatesville, Pennsylvania. To this day, many people still tell stories of watching the Patton brothers play baseball, stories that I adore hearing.

Gram Patton and her husband, my great-great-grandfather, Jackson Fuller Patton (how awesome is that name?)

My great-grandfather, Charlie, was an amazing person. He passed away in 2002 at 92 years of age. He left me with the baseball from the last game "The Patton Boys" all played together. On this ball, Gram Patton wrote that it was the last game that her boys ever played together, the date, and that- of course- they had won the game. This ball is my connection to the beautiful Sarah C. Jane Miller Patton who raised, not only 15 amazing children, but my Pop-Pop, Charlie, whom I loved dearly and miss so much.

This photo I have posted before, but this is my great-grandfather with my great-grandmother, and my grandmother as a little toddler!

This recipe was hers. I feel so lucky to have family recipes that my great-grandfather and his brothers and sisters grew up eating during the teens, 20s and 30s (remember... 15 kids, now!). What a gift! I made it last night. And boy, this is quintessential Pennsylvania Dutch Cookin'. Won't you try it out, too? Imagine a recipe so good that it has survived 5 generations!


My Great-Great-Grandmother's Potato Salad with Cooked Dressing
Courtesy: Sarah C. Jane Miller Patton, aka Gram Patton
Yields: 15 to 17 servings


My many apologies for the terrible photo, I made this at about 8:00PM, I've been putting in extra hours at work, preparing for when I'll be away on my honeymoon! So it has been late dinners that I've been eating!

Ingredients
6 large potatoes- peeled, cooked, and drained (small cubes: increased surface area: decreased cooking time)
3 eggs
1 tsp white vinegar
Sugar- to sweeten
1 onion - diced
2 celery ribs - diced
Salt
1 hard boiled egg (optional)

Directions:
1. Place the potatoes in a large bowl, cooling to room temperature (very important).
2. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a small bowl, add enough sugar to sweeten, add vinegar and blend together.
3. Heat the egg mixture on stove top to thicken, STIRRING CONSTANTLY (I didn't do this the first time around and ended up with scrambled eggs. Haha! So stir constantly.)
4. Allow mixture to cool
5. Once cooled to room temperature, add mayo (the mixture you just made), enough to cream potatoes.
6. Carefully fold in diced onion and celery, so not to smash the potatoes
7. Salt to taste
8. Garnish the top with sliced hard boiled egg!

Serve and enjoy a cherished family classic!

Steamed Broccoli

The only clean-eatin' debut in this meal... so sad to say it! But something made it. I wasn't 100% wayward of good eating habits this day!

I make my broccoli in the most low maintenance way possible. As my sister notes in her blog post, my mom makes a delicious version with lemon pepper seasoning and lemons. Me.. not so much. Why? Well, although I LOVE the version my mom makes, I love the taste of broccoli on its own! It doesn't necessarily have much flavor, but sometimes, depending upon the meal you're serving, it's nice to have a side that is less seasoned to accompany the other foods. Which, in the case of a feta-spinached stuffed chicken and smashed potatoes, I found that a simple veggie dish was the way to go!

Oh, and I should note, I swear by frozen broccoli. I know, I know, fresh produce is the way to go- and you're absolutely correct! But frozen produce is frozen at the peak of its season and you get it for a fraction of the price. When it comes to steaming side dishes, it's difficult to tell the difference between frozen broccoli and purchasing a fresh broccoli floret. Trust me, as a chick that is about to be a newlywed in her first house, finding excellent ways to cut corners and save money is honestly my favorite thing in the whole world!

What was most wonderful about this whole meal, it was so cost-effective! It was delicious without a massive price tag. And anybody that knows me knows that I LOVE a good bargain! It makes me weak in the knees. Oh no, wait.. that's the husband-elect! :-)

Steamed Broccoli, Emily Style
Yields 8 to 10 servings

Stole this photo from my sister!

Ingredients
1 to 2 bags of frozen broccoli
1/4 cup of water
Salt, eh if you'd like!

Directions:
1. In a microwavable safe dish (I used Corningware) place the broccoli and pour the water on top.
2. Microwave for 6 minutes.
3. Salt to taste, if you so choose!

Serve and Enjoy!

...And yes it's that simple. And I promise... broccoli as it is = delish. Especially when it's coupled with food with lots of flavor. Don't overwhelm your guests with too much going on! Keep at least one dish simple!

Smashed Potatoes

This was one of the side dishes I made for my mom's birthday dinner. At the advice of my sister, I made this about an hour before everybody came, kept it in a crockpot on warm. It got the dish out of the way, cutting down the craziness that can come before company comes!

It was good, and made in my mom's favorite way- smashed! The difference? Using a masher vs. a ricer (my favorite method) or a mixer (my grandmother's favorite method).

This is a two, well perhaps three, ingredient recipe. Yeup! As simple as it gets, ladies and gentlemen, and oh so good!

Smashed Potatoes
Yields 8 to 25 billion servings (yes, it makes that many).


Ingredients
9 red potatoes
1 cup sour cream
Salt to taste

Directions:
1. In a large pot, bring water to a boil.
2. In the meantime, diced the tomatoes into 1 to 1.5 inch cubes, WITH SKINS ON. This cuts down the amount of time to cook the potatoes.
3. Once the water boils, throw in the potatoes.
4. Cook for approximately 5 to 7 minutes.
5. Drain the potatoes and place into a large bowl.
6. Using a masher, mash the potatoes until pretty smooth, but still a bit of chunkiness to it (use your discretion, if you like it more creamy, keep mashin' if you like the character of some texture of potatoes, mash less!)
7. Add the sour cream and incorporate!

Serve with a yummy steak or chicken and ENJOY!!!! :-)

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken

A continuation of my mother's birthday feast!

As the main dish, I made a Mediterranean Style Chicken. I found it on the Food Network's website. This turned out to be absolutely delicious and so easy to make! A great way to wow your guests!!

Mediterranean Style Chicken
Adapted from the Food Network
Yields 9 servings


Ingredients
9 boneless, skinless breasts of chicken
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups thawed, drained frozen spinach
1/2 cup white wine
Feta cheese, cut into 9 thin pieces
6 tablespoons Olive oil
3 Tomatoes, chopped
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dried basil

Directions
1. Cut a two inch pocket into the thickest part of each chicken breast.
2. Stuff each pocket with spinach and feta cheese and seal with a tooth pick.
3. Season each breast well with salt and pepper.
4. Heat oil over medium high heat and saute the breasts until golden brown on all sides.
5. Remove chicken to a plate and cover with tin foil.
6. Add onion to remaining oil in pan and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
8. Stir in white wine and bring to a simmer.
9. Stir in tomatoes and basil.
10. Bring to a simmer and return chicken to the pan and cover.
11. Simmer for 10 minutes.
12. Remove lid and season sauce to taste.

Serve with your favorite sides. In this case, I served it with smashed potatoes and steamed broccoli! Enjoy!

Pea Pesto

This Saturday was my mom's birthday. So, to celebrate, I invited everyone out to my house for a late lunch / early dinner meal. Originally, it was going to be my sister Kristi and myself cooking throughout the late morning to early afternoon, but as life would have it, it did not turn out that way. It was me. The kitchen. Lots of food. And a solitary thought that lingered in the back of my mind- this will be the most people I have ever had to cook for. Oh boy.

It was so much fun! And I managed to make 75% of the meal alone! For 8 people! I was quite happy with the way everything turned out! Completely to the fact that I focused on one thing at a time. I often try to multi-task my cooking, which can be overwhelming, even if I'm just cooking because the husband-elect is over for dinner.

The day was great fun! Everything was wonderful. I am quite regretful that I did not have time to make myself more presentable for the guests! (My hair was thrown back into a clip, I wore the husband-elect's sweatshirt, adorned in potato, old jeans, and no make-up. Oy! Thank goodness it was family and not the Pope! (oh dear, not to sound awful, I would love to cook for the Holy Father, but not in a potato-covered sweatshirt, of course!)


Only a bit of tomfoolery in the kitchen!


The table's ready to go!


Yumm.. dinner's good. Family around the table! And boy, I clearly need a shower!!!


Enough rambling. You're here for the food!

I'm separating the items I made and posting them individually, so make sure you check out each item!

The menu consisted of:
Pea Pesto with crackers
Delicious "Purple and Green" Salad, by my sister!
Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken
Smashed Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli
Southern Style Strawberry Cake, by my sister! - by the way, the cake. Really good. Oh so very good. Check it out!

To begin, I made Giada's pea pesto. It is so delicious. My mother-in-law-to-be (Friday's coming quickly!!) made this last weekend. It made quite the impression on me that I just HAD to have it again!

It is simple, light, and delicious! Giada recommends this being served with crostini, but I served it with an assortment of crackers, since time didn't permit the baking of bread on top of creating every other dish!

Pea Pesto
Courtesy: Giada De Laurentiis
Yields: 4 to 6 servings


Ingredients:
1 package frozen peas, thawed
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:
1. Pulse together in a food professor the peas, garlic, cheese, salt, and pepper.
2. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil and continue to mix until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve and enjoy!

Edward Marc Chocolatiers

Happy Friday! Woot woot! Y'all made it! Pat yourself on the back :-)

Today begins the one week countdown until the wedding! The husband-elect and I will be gettin' hitched next Friday in the evening in Philadelphia! So exciting, right?!
Check out our wedding website here!!! It should be such a fun day filled with great food (oh yes, as the day draws near, I will tell you all about the food selections).

Today's post is a touch different than what you normally see here on Cleanliness is Next to Godliness. This is partly because one of my dearest friends sent me a wedding gift that I cannot quite get over. Therefore, as a good foodie friend should, I am going to share some of my newfound knowledge and love with you all!

My Nadia sent me three pounds, yes- three pounds, of Edward Marc Chocolates. Holy moly. What amazing chocolate! It took me quite some time (and with help from some friends) to get through this delicious chocolate. Nadia sent me Edward Marc's The Pearl Tower. And what a treat it was!!



Edward Marc, At a Glance
Before we dig into the different kinds of chocolates and my thoughts on each, let's give you a little break down of the company!

Edward Marc was founded by a couple, who immigrated from Greece, determined to achieve the American Dream. After settling in Pittsburgh, Charlie and Orania began making chocolates as they had done Greece, years ago. Surviving time, Charlie and Orania's dream has continued, passed down from generation to generation, remaining a family business (something which has unfortunately become unique in contemporary times). They have truly perfected chocolate! It is so light and delectable!

Some of their locations are as follows:
The corporate headquarters of Edward Marc are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they have remained since the company's birth in 1914.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Retail Shop
1705 East Carson Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15203
412-488-1808 phone
412-488-1809 fax

Washington, D.C.
Sales Office
2150 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
202-496-1999 phone
202-496-4544 fax

Retail Shop
The Pentagon
Arlington, Virginia 22202
703-685-1999 phone
703-685-1920 fax

No retail stores near ya?! No worries! you can order online here!

Giving Back
Edward Marc is currently teaming up with Touch a Life, Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Children’s Institute, Wounded Warrior Project, and A Helping Hand for Haiti, in their One Sweet Gesture campaign. Should you decide to order online and you use a charity code at checkout, Edward Marc will donate 20% to the charity of your choice.

Life is all about giving back and serving others. Please do so and order some wonderful chocolates and help Edward Marc help others in need!


OKAY, I hear ya... onto the good stuff!

I began my Edward Marc Experience with the Terrapins. And oh my. I'm pretty darn sure that they may have been my favorite.

As you bite into the Terrapin, you are met with a perfect blend of crunchy, sweet, salt, and gooey. Absolutely unbelievable. The best blend of these flavors out there, I promise you.

In another lovely blue box lies Gourmet Chocolate Barks.

Oh yes... This ended up being my mother's favorite. Dark chocolate and milk chocolate bars with almonds so lovingly tucked inside! Crunchy, yet soft... and undeniably sweet! I adored the dark chocolate! It was so delicious.

And for a grand finale, the ASSORTMENT! Everybody's favorite...

The blend of chocolates were rockin'. I must admit, my favorite was the chocolate with the espresso bean so neatly placed on top! Yum! It was an excellent blend of flavors. Within Edward Marc's Gourmet Chocolate box is such a great variety of chocolates! Within this box, you will find some old-fashioned and comforting favorites, coupled with some new and exotic items, for example: citrus shavings dipped in white chocolate.. So refreshing! And light! I loved it! The hubby-elect even had fun going through and picking out some yummy chocolates to eat!

I loved every bit of it!

A great and many thanks owed to Nadia! Thank you so much for this wonderful gift. I have enjoyed it thoroughly!

And do me a favor, check out Edward Marc's website, order some great chocolate, and help out some great charities! Talk about a Win-Win situation!

My Grandmother's Mashed Potatoes

So you may all think you have the best recipe for mashed potatoes, but you're wrong. You're simply wrong. There are no two ways about it. My grandmother made the BEST mashed potatoes.

The best?! How could that be, you wonder? For one reason, ladies and gentlemen. Well... maybe two.
1. Mom-Mom measured NOTHING as she made this dish. She based it off of taste.
2. It is such a simple recipe. And we all know that some of the best recipes are great because they remain uncomplicated.

This is one of those recipes that is insurmountable. Paula and Martha's recipes have NOTHING on this one. Trust me!

I was perusing my favorite cookbook to obtain this recipe to make for dinner tonight. I couldn't find it! I was quite upset, but then I realized! There is really NO recipe, per se, considering my grandmother always went off of instinct to get this side dish to be perfect!

I'll quickly refresh your memory about my favorite cookbook.
Last year, my parents gave my sister and me one of the greatest gifts possible: a cookbook with 5 generations of family recipes. I have decided to go through this cookbook and recreate some of these treasured family dishes. Although not all of these recipes are healthy, often times my sentimental nature triumphs my need to eat healthy.

Here are some excerpts from this family cookbook (bear with me, I took photos as opposed to scanned):

Here is the cover of the cookbook, so appropriately named by my father!!


The first page reads: to the next generation... meaning my sister and myself. And yes, that is my sister.... with a mullet :-)


This is a photo of my great-great grandparents. Some of my Gram Patton's recipes are in this cookbook, I cannot wait to try them out!


My great-grandparents and my grandmother as a wee little one! The best part is that some of my Nana's recipes are in here, written by hand! What a treasure!!


My grandparents... A lot of their amazing recipes are in here. Including my grandfather's famous mac & cheese (which I only found out with this cookbook it was really Stouffer's, I was both shocked and upset! Shocked that he fooled me big time... and upset that there's no recipe to replicate!)


And my parents! My mom has some KILLER recipes in here, with her notes and comments! So fun... You'll be seeing them soon!


My Uncle has some great recipes in here for entertaining. I look forward to using those when I finally have people over to the new house!


Last but not least, me and my better half... And yes, I'm really a foot taller than she is.

My hope is that I have successfully recreated this wonderful recipe- of my grandmother's mashed potatoes- that has never officially been written down. I suppose that is the true beauty of this dish, that it is not done by measurements and precision, but by taste and experience. Well, for the sake of passing it on, I tried my best to get it down to a precision so that others may try it as well. I hope I'm doing this recipe justice!!!


Mom-Mom's Mashed Potatoes
Courtesy: Joan Arasin, my grandmother
Yields about 8 to 10 servings


Ingredients
6 Potatoes, peeled and diced (to decrease cooking time)
1.5 cups of whole milk
3 TBS butter
Pinch and a half of salt

Directions
1. Boil water and add the potatoes. Cook until soft, approximately 7 minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes and place into a 5-quart plastic bowl.
3. Using a HAND MIXER (now you have to do it just like Mom-Mom did), mix the potatoes and slowly add the milk, butter, and salt. Tasting all the while to make sure it is the RIGHT amount of creaminess.

Delicious?! Huh!

Philly Foodie Night Out!

Last night was a Philly Foodie Bloggers' night out at one of Iron Chef Garces' many restaurants: Garces Trading Company, located 1111 Locust Street. What an adorable place!!!! The atmosphere is simply charming and quite melancholy. It feels as if you're stepping back in time. The restaurant has every element that one can picture in a boucherie in the 1920s- white subway tile adorning the walls, chalkboards, great items hanging from the ceiling, glass counter tops, smiles, and nice people to boot!!




Photos Courtesy: Leslie of andherlittledogtoo.com

After a long and busy day at the law firm, I was able to relax, sip some wine, and talk food at such a great location! And! I met so many great women! We talked of food, Philadelphia, our lives... MAN! it was great to be surrounded by so many like-minded people! There was a blend of bloggers and readers around the table.

Sabrina and Leslie were so good enough to organize the whole get together!



Melissa, a blog reader, gives a big smile, next to April, another blog reader and blogger-to-be


Such a great time was had!

Now onto the good stuff.. THE FOOD!!! How could I forget the food?! Well, Garces Trading Company is a BYOB, but they have an in-house wine store, with a great selection of European Wines. I bought a Spanish Cabernet Sauvignon- it was delish!


Can ya tell?
Lisa and I split this yummy bottle!


Lisa is on the left and Meredith, a blog reader, is pictured on the right!


Kelly, and I are enjoying our food! Yumm!

Upon looking at their delicious menu, I had trouble deciding what it was that I wanted to eat! I mean, the options are ALL delicious!



The first item we were served was homemade bread. Olive oil and pepper were placed on the table to accompany their delicious, light bread!


To begin, I chose the Piquillo Peppers. Oh. My. These peppers were so full of flavor! I'm not even quite sure where to begin to recreate this delicious dish! It was so light! Sherry wine and hojiblanca olive oil were drizzled on top of the peppers, along with some chopped red onions. Simply heaven!


Then, for the main course! I ordered the recommendation of our waiter, Brian, who suggested the Funghi Pizza. Umm.. okay... so no words can quite describe the plethora of flavors encased in one bite of this pizza. At the first bite, the first thing you taste is the black truffles, holy moly! And I could go on about the cheese, the dough, the herbs. I mean. It is just unbelievable. Despite my rambling now, at the time I found myself quite speechless over how delicious the dish was!


At the end of the night, there was a little giveaway and I won!! Woohoo! It was like an early wedding present :-)

(Thanks so much Leslie for this photo, too!)



Since the husband-elect and I plan on bringing some food with us on our honeymoon in St. John, USVI, all of the goodies will come to good use!

I had such a wonderful time and met such great people!

The bloggers in attendance? Check it out here:
Sabrina of rhodeygirltests.com
Leslie of andherlittledogtoo.com
Chrissey of phillygirlruns.blogspot.com
Stephanie of stephtbs.wordpress.com
Jill of bootcampphilly.com
Lauren of hellopa.blogspot.com
Kelly of myverbalvomit.wordpress.com
Lisa of lisaathome.wordpress.com
Kelly of runningphoodie.wordpress.com
Lisa of www.dsdawgs.org
Jess of www.upsanddownes.wordpress.com

Memories.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

My apologies for my recent absence in the blogging world, once again. On Monday, my grandmother had a massive stroke and on Thursday morning at 3:50AM, she went to be with our Lord, with her family by her side. She lived such a wonderful, courageous life full of laughter and smiles. I will hold memories of her in my heart forever. I love you, Mom-Mom.


This is a photo taken for my mom's birthday. From left to right: Mom!, My sister Kristi of Ja Cie Kocham, Mom-Mom, and Me!!


For Mom-Mom's birthday last year, my sister crowned her the Birthday Princess!!


This is my sister and Mom-Mom dancing at her wedding! Mom-Mom was quite the dancer. She won a great deal of jitterbug dance contests. Her nickname was "Jitterbug Joanie"


In tribute to my Mom-Mom, I will be going through and making some good ole' family recipes out of my favorite cookbook. Don't know about my favorite cookbook? Read about it HERE! This fun will begin tomorrow and will continue until the 30th. Oh yeah! How could I forget?! I get married in TEN DAYS. How cool is that?! :-)

Also, this evening, I will be meeting up with an awesome group of people: Philadelphia-Area food bloggers. Oh yeah! So pumped! Stay tuned for a post tomorrow about the extra-fun night to be had!

French Toast Tuna Fish Sandwich

I saw the title of a recipe online once about french toasting your tuna fish sandwich (and yes, I turned that from a noun to a verb, and it's acceptable!). I became ridiculously intrigued and decided to try the darn thing out myself!

It was surprisingly good! I used my homemade whole wheat sandwich bread and a bit of a different tuna fish recipe than I'm used to making. But it all came out quite good! My girlfriend Liz and the husband-elect enjoyed it! Woohoo. We will chalk this one up to a W!

It sounds a tad unconventional, making a sandwich and then dipping it in egg and throwing it on a skillet, but why dontcha leave your comfort zone for a moment and give it a try?! You may be pleasantly surprised!


French Toast Tuna Fish Sandwich
Courtesy: Google Search from about 5 years ago!


Ingredients
1 can of tuna, drained
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1/4 cup cucumbers, chopped
Whole wheat bread
1 egg white
pinch of cinnamon

Directions
1. To make the tuna fish, combine the tuna, olive oil, lemon pepper, and cucumbers and put on your whole wheat bread
2. Place the egg white and cinnamon into a bowl that is shallow enough to have bread dipped into!
3. Take your tuna fish sandwich and dip it into the egg.
4. Throw it onto a butter skillet on medium-high heat.
5. After approximately 2 minutes, flip the sandwich to cook the other side!
6. Serve with your favorite salad and ENJOY :o)