There’s nothing like recipes from grandmothers. Time to get a little sentimental…I was blessed to have two wonderful, but VERY different grandmothers.

My dad’s mom, Jacque, or as we called her Jacque-Mama, was the salt of the earth. She never spoke a cross word about anyone. She treated everyone that came through her door like family. The first time she met Jay, she fed him dinner and LOTS of dessert! She was always smiling, and ALWAYS cooking something. Some of my favorite memories of her from when I was a child was making peanut brittle and divinity with her. I have tried and tried to make these over the years, but have always failed, miserably.

My other grandmother, Lillian, was a very strong woman, both in stature and personality. She was NOT the easiest person to get along with, and was, in fact, quite harsh, most of the time. However, if I EVER needed ANYTHING from her, I knew all I had to do was pick up the phone. No questions asked, she would have delivered.

Sadly, they are both gone, Jacque-MaMa passed away several years ago, and Lillian died earlier this year. I don’t have a whole lot of tokens from either one of them, except for a FABULOUS collection of recipes! Many of these are handwritten, and Lillian always signed hers and dated them. I cherish these, and hope to one day write a cookbook with many of them in it, but until then, I will post a few recipes from grandmothers on here each month. What better way to start than with brownies and dill pickles?!

Brownies by Lillian:

Ingredients:

• A Package of chocolate cake mix
• One stick of butter, melted
• Eggs
• Powdered Sugar
• Soft Cream Cheese

Directions:

1. Mix up and spread into a buttered and floured 9 X 13 Pyrex baking pan.
2. Top with the following mixture:
   • A box of powdered sugar
   • 8 oz.s cream cheese, soft
   • Two eggs
3. Mix and put on top of cake mixture
4. Bake in oven 350 degrees for 50 minutes

Dill Pickles by Jacque:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of water
• 3 cups of pickling vinegar
• 13 cups of salt (pickling salt prefered)
• A head of dill
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 fresh hot pepper (or 2-3 pickled)
• 1 teaspoon of celery seed (optional)
• Spears, slices or whole cucumbers

Directions:

1. Pack room temp. cucumbers in sterile jars with spices.
2. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over to cover (leave at least 1/4 head space from the top)
3. Seal with sterile ring and lid. Cool thoroughly. Check seal.