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Fudge Brownies
Chocolate lovers, these decadent brownies are the stuff of drools dreams. Rich, fudgy, nutty, chewy, chocolaty heaven-in-a-square. Even maestro Willy Wonka himself would agree. I mean, who doesn’t love brownies? And these check ALL the boxes. Even ice cream is superfluous with these bad boys, and that’s saying something (although it couldn’t hurt any either…). I love the crunch and depth of flavor added by the nuts, but you can leave them out if you prefer them that way or have a nut allergy. They’re still fudgy and amazing. This recipe comes from my grandma, Ann Williams Stephens. She’s been making them at least since the 1970’s and it’s THE…
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Grandpa’s Ham and Bean Soup
Grandpa Brent is famous for his soups. His ham and bean soup in particular is the stuff of legend. Due to health challenges, he’s no longer able to cook, but I remember when Jeremiah and I were first married, we all had dinner together and he made this soup. We’ve never stopped talking about it. I’d had it a few times growing up as well, and always loved it, but I don’t think I gave it the respect it deserved at the time. This soup is about simple, quality ingredients coming together in the most comforting, savor-every-mouthful kind of way. My Grandpa, Robert Brent Bullough, is the most genuinely kind,…
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Banana Nut Bread
Top notch. Those are the words Jeremiah used to describe this banana bread when he tried it after I first made this recipe. He’s a bit of a food snob, and an excellent cook himself, so this is high praise indeed coming from him. Especially since I’ve made many, many loaves of banana bread during our time together, most of which turned out pretty good, and he’s never lavished them with such a title. But he’s right, I don’t know why this hasn’t been my go-to recipe all along, because it really is top-notch. This recipe comes from Eila Anderson Williams (1913-1991), and my grandmother, Ann Williams Stephens, notes that…
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Grandma Robbie’s Sweet White Bread and Butter
This is a two-for-one post. My grandmother, Linda Beck Bullough, remembers that one of her favorite treats as a child was when they would visit her grandmother, Nellie Ross Robinson (aka “Grandma Robbie”) (1875-1969), and she would give them a slice of white bread slathered with butter and sprinkled with a spoonful of sugar. This was around the time of World War II, and sugar was scarce, so sweets weren’t something they got to enjoy very often. Grandma Robbie’s family was well-off during the early years when they were raising their four children, due to both prosperity in the stock market and a successful music store they owned in Springville,…
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Oatmeal Crisps
Thin, crispy, crunchy, buttery amazingness! This is like toffee meets cookie meets lace doily. I think that’s why these delicate, crisp cookies are also often referred to as “lace” or “lacey” cookies. This recipe comes from my great-grandmother, Anna Wilson Stephens (1917-1999). Anna was known by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren for always having cookies in her cookie jar, which she was always ready to share, along with a warm hug. Anna spent her early childhood in a small log cabin on her parents’ homestead in Idaho, where they endured a harsh climate as well as lifestyle, but she said she always felt loved and well-cared for by her parents and…
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Gnocchi
Ah, gnocchi. Or, Ñocchis, as they are called in Argentina. Unfortunately, I don’t have any Italian ancestors that I’m aware of, but I do have some (indirect) family connections to Argentina, where homemade pasta is common and ñocchis are a popular meal. My grandparents, Brent Bullough and Linda Bullough, served a church mission together in Argentina in 2007-2008. They spent time in bustling Buenos Aires as well as going to the southernmost part of the continent, Rio Gallegos, which probably boasts more penguins than people. My grandfather already spoke some Spanish before they left, but my grandmother struggled with the language and never really mastered it. However, she found other…
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Pizza Crust and Everything Dough
This is one of those recipes that has many possibilities. Homemade pizza, breadsticks, rolls, or bread all turn out great with this recipe. I got this from my Mom back around the time I was leaving for college, and I’ve adapted it a little since then, but at the core, it’s still Mom’s recipe. I always thought of Mom as the “Queen of Breads,” growing up because she made most of our bread from scratch, and was always working on mastering a new recipe or technique. There’s no better way to wake up in the morning than to the smell of fresh baking bread, and that was a treat I…
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Special Tossed Salad with Old-Country Dressing
This recipe comes from my great-aunt, Janet Beck Clark (1936-2012). I remember Aunt Janet as a fun, kind, charismatic woman who loved spending time with family and friends, and was always hosting and organizing events, both large and small. She organized our extended family reunion for many years until she passed away, and she was good at spotting specific talents and strengths in certain people and delegating responsibilities accordingly. I remember she would always ask my Dad to be in charge of the games, which is his forte for sure, and then she would enthusiastically participate in all the games and activities, either as a player or a cheerleader. Not…
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Swedish Oatmeal
Sweet, creamy Swedish Oatmeal. This is the stuff of my childhood dreams. I grew up eating this dish and hearing my mother tell stories about our Swedish ancestors who used to eat it too. I would imagine them as children in the Swedish countryside more than a hundred years earlier waking up in the morning and having this for breakfast with fresh-picked blueberries and milk from the cow in the barn out back. Of course, I have no idea how close my childhood imaginings came to approximating the truth of this idyllic image, but like many old family stories, this had become the stuff of lore. At least I was…
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Peanut Butter Cookies
Smooth, creamy, peanut-buttery-liciousness. What could be better? This is another of my great-grandmother Florence Robinson Beck’s (1905-1998) recipes. Soft and tender, these are melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are heavenly paired with a glass of milk. This classic treat never gets old. Raising a young family during the Depression in Utah, Florence was practical, frugal, and hardworking–yet quietly elegant. She always tried to keep her hands busy and learned to apply her artistic abilities to creatively repurpose what others might have seen as worthless into something useful or beautiful. She was the queen of recycling before recycling was even a “thing.” She took cloth scraps and sewed them (by hand) into high…
