Monday, July 9, 2012

Week 26 of 2012  Favorite Dessert

Who said, "Life is unpredictable....eat dessert first"?  My mom never did.  Her line was "clean your plate if you want dessert."  Dessert was not an everyday event, but all the Smith's can attest to not missing too many sweet treats.  If it was a holiday, birthday or company coming, there was dessert.  All four of the Smith girls are good cooks..and it all began with learning to make cookies, cakes and other goodies.  I don't remember asking how to make meat, potatoes or veggies...at least not initially.

Mom was a great cook and did a super job with most everything she made.  Over the years, she was known for her apple pie, angelfood cake with strawberries and almond star Christmas cookies.  I remember loving her elderberry pie, something that was an involved process.  Grandpa Anderson (mom's dad) would come and we would go pick the berries by the roadside.  (Funny we never worried about road spray in those days)  Elderberries are very tiny black berries in a clump.  You would pick the stems, take them home in a brown paper grocery bag and rub them between your fingers to loose them from the stem, repeating the process until you had 5-6 cups to make the pie...a lot of work...but fabulous results.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream...yum!  One of my favorites...

My husband's Grandma...Grandma Vanoff was a terrific cook and owned Peerless Cafe, home of Vanoff's Pan Fried Chicken!  She made and now I make the very best Chocolate Frosting in the world.  She also made me a very scrumptious birthday cake every year...white layers with lemon filling and vanilla frosting.  My mom always made me angelfood with strawberries...for 57 straight years.  It was neat to have another favorite for my birthday cake!



One of my best girlfriends makes the worlds best Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I've had lessons...right in my own kitchen, I have the recipe and all the ingredients, but they do not turn out like Jeannie's do.  Many in my family and beyond would easily say Jeannie's Chocolate Chip Cookies are the hands down favorite!

So is it a Saunder's Hot Fudge Cream Puff that Mom and Dee would splurge on in downtown Detroit, a Turtle Sundae at the Dairy Isle in Harbor Beach, or how about Old Fashioned Rice Pudding at Cracker Barrel or Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies at Reuter's Bakery (the Semp boys favorite)....there's not much to "not like" about dessert.  Well, there's one that I don't want to repeat courtesy of my sister Sharon and her husband Michael for my 60th birthday.


Check out the photo...it wasn't a good one!  I always notice powdered sugar on dessert tops now...and never blow out the candles on those!

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