Memory Monday: My Mother-in-Law

My Mother-in-Law

MY MOTHER-IN-LAW

I had a wonderful mother-in-law and I can truthfully say that I was her daughter. When my husband was born (he was a big, big baby and his mother was a small woman), the doctor told my in-laws that any other children they had would have to be delivered by c-section. My father-in-law didn’t want to take a chance on anything happening to his wife (remember this was back in the 1940s and c-sections weren’t as common as they are today). He said that they wouldn’t have any more children. My mother-in-law told him that she wanted to give him a daughter. He told her that when their son married that they would have their daughter.

Fast forward a number of years. I married that boy and got a wonderful second set of parents. The way they loved and treated me, I was truly their daughter. (Actually, when I was going with my future husband, my mother said that if we married, I would have the most wonderful mother-in-law in the world. And as we all know, mothers are always right, well almost always.)

Even though she has been gone for a number of years, I want to honor her this Mother’s Day and share a couple of her favorite recipes.

AUNT EMMALEE’S BROCCOLI CASSEROLE

2 (16 oz. each) pkgs. frozen chopped broccoli

1 stick margarine

1 can sliced water chestnuts

1 pkg. onion soup mix

½ cup chopped pecans

2 cup Rice Krispies

Prepare broccoli according to directions, drain. Mix in other ingredients, reserving ½ of cereal. Pour into an ovenproof casserole dish. Slightly crush remaining Rice Krispies and place on top of mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

(Emmalee was my mother-in-law’s aunt. Recently we learned the recipe was originally from Emmalee’s daughter, Gail. But since we have been calling this recipe Aunt Emmalee’s Broccoli Casserole for more than 40 years, the name of the recipe stuck.)

DOWN SOUTH BARS

2 T. butter or margarine

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

5 T. flour

1/8 t. soda

1 cup chopped nuts

1 t. vanilla

Powdered sugar

Melt butter in an 8”x8” pan. Beat eggs, combine brown sugar, flour, soda and nuts. Stir mixture into eggs. Add vanilla. Pour over butter. Do not stir. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool slightly. Cut into bars and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes about 18 bars.

(These were my husband’s favorite growing up and I still have the recipe on my fridge.)

Do you have any favorite recipes handed down from your mother-in-law?