Grandma Elsies Recipe Book The Grossman Group
Grandma Elsies Recipe Book The Grossman Group
Grandma Elsies Recipe Book The Grossman Group
A tradition that started with one creative and We hope you'll enjoy all.
thoughtful woman was quickly adopted by her
daughters and grandchildren, along with friends Grandma Elsie, here’s to you! Cheers, and Happy
and neighbors. Thanksgiving season.
3
Grandma Elsie’s Famous
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
Ingredients: Directions:
4
Grandma Elsie’s
Famous Spices
Ingredients: Directions:
• 2 tablespoons + 2 ¾ teaspoons Sugar • In a small bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg,
ground ginger, and salt (makes 3 tablespoons). For
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon more, double or triple up the recipe and transfer into a
spice jar.
• A pinch of nutmeg
• Grandma Elsie’s Famous Spices is the common
• A pinch of ground ginger ingredient in the recipes on the following pages. Try one
out (or all) and impress your friends and family at
• A pinch of salt Thanksgiving dinner this year.
• Enjoy!
5
Grandma Elsie’s
Cast Iron Apple Crisp
and sugar have melted completely and are starting to bubble (4-5
Ingredients: minutes).
For the caramel sauce: When the mixture starts to brown at the edges, use a spatula to stir
• 2 cups granulated sugar occasionally, scraping the sides and the bottom of the saucepan. When
• ¼ cup water the mixture is a deep golden brown and just beginning to smoke slightly
• ¾ cup unsalted butter (1½ sticks), diced (4-5 minutes), remove from heat. Watch carefully because the caramel
can go from golden brown to burned if you turn your back.
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Carefully whisk in the heavy cream to make a smooth sauce. Add the
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt vanilla and salt. If you discover lumps, put the pan back on low heat and
whisk until smooth. Pour the caramel sauce into a heat-safe container to
For the filling: cool.
• 3 pounds firm, tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced (about 6
medium apples) Preparing the filling
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice Put a rack in the center of your oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees. In a
large bowl, add the sliced apples, lemon juice, spices and salt and stir to
• 1 tablespoon Elsie’s Spice Mix
combine. Drizzle ½ cup of caramel sauce over the mixture and stir again.
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Scrape the apple mixture into a 9- or 10-inch cast iron (or other oven-safe)
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom skillet.
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• Pinch of kosher salt Making the topping
In your now-empty bowl, combine the flour, oats, nuts, sugar and salt. Stir
For the crispy topping: until well combined, then add the softened butter. Use your hands to
• 1 cup all-purpose flour mash the dry ingredients with the butter until you form crumbs. Distribute
the crumb topping evenly over the apple filling in your skillet. Put in the
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
oven for 40-50 minutes until the topping is golden and the juices are
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts bubbling.
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt Serving the crisp
• ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened Slice into individual wedges (serves 8-10) and put on individual plates or
bowls. Serve warm with more warm caramel sauce and ice cream. You
Directions: can keep any leftover caramel sauce in an airtight container in the
refrigerator for about a week. You can rewarm the caramel sauce in a
Making the caramel sauce saucepan over low heat.
Put sugar and water in a saucepan and stir to combine. Add the diced
butter and put over medium heat. Cook without stirring until the butter From the Grandma Elsie West Coast Test Kitchen of
Brad Whitworth and Peg Champion
6
Grandma Elsie’s
Holiday Sangria
Ingredients: Directions:
• ½ medium apple, cut into ½-inch pieces with skin attached Put fruit, orange juice and brandy in a pitcher and muddle
• ½ medium orange, cut into ½-inch pieces with skin the ingredients. Add Grandma Elsie’s spices, lemon juice,
attached red wine, sparkling water and ice to the pitcher and stir to
combine ingredients. Pour into glasses and make sure to
• 1 small bunch seedless table grapes
spoon a variety of fruit into each glass.
• ¾ cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup of brandy Variations on a theme:
• 1 Tbsp Grandma Elsie’s Famous Spices
• Juice from one-half lemon Grandma Elsie would never want you to get stuck in a rut.
• 1 750ml bottle of dry Spanish red wine (Tempranillo or Rioja) Here are some ways you can modify the recipe to take
• 1 cup of sparkling water advantage of ingredients you have on hand:
• 3 cups of cubed ice
• Try using rum or triple sec instead of brandy. Rum will
make the sangria sweeter.
7
Grandma Elsie’s Spiced
Holiday Popcorn
Ingredients: Directions:
• ¼ cup olive oil • Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over low heat until
• 1 teaspoon paprika just heated through. Stir in the paprika, cayenne
pepper, and cinnamon spices and remove from heat.
• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• In a large (4-quart or larger) heavy-bottomed pot, add
• ¼ cup canola oil (can substitute grapeseed oil or the canola oil and two popcorn kernels and heat over
coconut oil) medium high heat.
• ½ cup popcorn kernels
• 1 tablespoon Grandma Elsie’s Famous Spices (see • After the kernels have popped, add the remaining ½
page 4) cup of kernels, cover and shake the pot constantly for
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt about 3 minutes. Stop when there is a few seconds’
pause between kernel popping.
8
Grandma Elsie’s Decadent
Organic Chocolate-
Cinnamon Fudge
Ingredients: Directions:
• Butter, to grease the pan • Butter the sides and bottom of an 8x8-inch pan, then
• 1 (14-ounce) can Santini* organic sweetened condensed line it with an 8x14-inch sheet of parchment paper. Let
milk (Santini Organic, if you can get it) the extra paper hang off the sides. The paper makes
removing the fudge from the pan a snap.
• 1 tablespoon Grandma Elsie’s Famous Spices (see
page 4) • In a medium stainless steel bowl (one that fits in a
• 2 teaspoons ground organic cinnamon saucepan), thoroughly combine the condensed milk,
• 1 teaspoon pure organic vanilla extract Grandma Elsie’s spices, ground cinnamon and vanilla
• 3 tablespoons unsalted organic butter, cut into small extract. Stir in the soft chunks of butter and the
pieces, at room temperature chocolate chips.
• 16 oz. (2 bags) Dagoba* organic chocolate Chocodrops
• Put the stainless steel bowl into a saucepan of simmering
• Kosher salt water and mix 8 minutes until the chocolate chips are
melted and the mixture is smooth and thick. Scrape the
mixture into the greased pan using a spatula. Smooth
the surface and then very lightly sprinkle with sea salt.
Put in refrigerator for at least two hours until solid.
* If you can’t find Santini organic, you can use Eagle or Borden. If you can’t
• You can store Grandma Elsie’s Decadent Fudge in
find Dagoba, you can use any bittersweet baking chocolate with 65% or airtight containers or freeze.
higher cacao.
To Serve:
10
Elsie’s Elegant Elixir
Ingredients: Directions:
– 3 oz. of vodka
11
Grandma Elsie’s Organic
Apple-Raisin Granola
Ingredients: Directions:
• 10 cups (2 pounds) old-fashioned rolled organic oats • Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, heat oven to 250
• 2 cups (6 ounces) chopped walnuts degrees. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with
parchment paper.
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened organic coconut
• 3 tablespoons Grandma Elsie’s Famous Spices (see • In a large bowl, combine oats, walnuts, coconut, Grandma
page 4) Elsie’s spices, salt and stir.
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup organic pure maple syrup • In a small bowl, whisk maple syrup, honey, vanilla extract
and almond extract. Whisk in oil until blended.
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoons organic vanilla extract • Add the syrup mixture to the oat mixture in the large bowl
• 1/2 teaspoon organic almond extract and stir until the oats are evenly coated and there are no
• 3/4 cup organic canola oil hidden pockets of syrup or dry ingredients in the bowl.
• 2 cups chopped dried organic apples
• Spread the granola mixture in an even layer on the
• 2 cups organic Thompson seedless raisins prepared baking sheets. Bake the granola until toasted and
golden brown, about 90 minutes, stirring and rotating the
sheets every 30 minutes to ensure even baking.
• Remove from the oven and cool completely. Stir in the dry
fruit. Serve or store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Ingredients: Directions:
13
Grandma Elsie’s Butternut
Squash Soup
Ingredients: Directions:
• 1 large organic butternut squash • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut butternut squash in
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and fill the cavities with
the garlic cloves and sage leaves. Place the two squash
• 4 sage leaves halves, cut side up, in an ovenproof dish. Add one-half
• 2 tablespoons butter inch of water to prevent the squash from burning or
• 1 large yellow organic onion, roughly chopped (about 1 - sticking to the dish. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until
1 1/2 cups) completely tender. Allow to cool. Discard the garlic and
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock or broth, preferably sage. Scoop out the cooked squash and set aside.
homemade
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar • Heat a large thick-bottomed pot on medium-high heat.
Melt the butter in the pot. Add the onion, celery and
• 1 teaspoon Grandma Elsie’s Famous Spices (see page 4) carrot and sauté for 5 minutes or until softened, but not
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper browned.
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon • Add the cooked butternut squash, stock, vinegar,
nutmeg Grandma Elsie’s spices, cayenne pepper, salt and
• Crème fraiche nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover
and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Chives, finely
chopped • Use an immersion blender to purée the soup or,
alternatively, work in small batches and purée the soup
in a standing blender.
Ingredients: Directions:
15
12 Tips to Communicate
Better and Improve
Business Results
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we thought we’d conclude 5. Match your words and actions: Talk is cheap…especially
the recipe book with a recipe to help you improve when it comes to leaders and their ability to build and
communication. We hope it’s helpful to you. maintain trust. Just ask anyone (especially employees). At the
end of the day, it’s actions and results that matter most.
Whether you need to leverage new technology, engage 6. Make time to communicate and make the most of that
employees or colleagues, to deliver better for customers, or just time: Set up regular face-to-face (or voice-to-voice)
keep meeting your business goals, good communication is critical communication opportunities.
to any success strategy. Strong leadercommunicators know that
when it’s effective, communication does much more than make 7. Be brief and brilliant: Be ready to get your point across in 15
people feel good. It is directly linked to business results. seconds or less. Grab attention from the start and convince
your listener what’s in it for them so they want to hear more.
In fact, good communication is inextricably linked to strong 8. Remember the basics: Who, what, where, when, why and
leadership. It inspires employees to commit their best effort by how (tip: adults usually start with the “what”, then the “why”).
helping them understand the goals of the organization and how
9. Use stories: The right anecdote can be worth a thousand
their individual efforts contribute to overall success.
theories or facts.
Here are twelve tried and true ideas for communication that drives 10. Check for understanding: Make sure your message is heard
results: and really understood. Ask questions. Listen. Ask for a
paraphrase.
1. Don’t settle for good…be great: Good communication gets
the message out, great communication connects the dots. 11. Know your audience and what’s important to
Whether it’s in your detailed job description or not, your role is them: Understanding your audience is key to moving
to connect the dots so others know what’s possible and their employees to action; the more you know about them, the
role in making it happen. better you’ll be able to persuade them.
2. Build trust and credibility: Be visible and approachable, 12. Watch for information overload: These days, everyone’s
engage others openly, fully and early on. bombarded with so much information that it’s hard to digest
it all. Just because you say something doesn’t mean others
3. Context and relevance: Remember to provide context and hear and understand you. And isn’t that the whole point of
make information relevant so your audiences understand how communication – to create shared understanding and drive
they fit in and what it means to them. Provide job-related people to action? (The answer is yes!)
information so those you work with have the essential
information they need to do their job effectively and/or make
the best decisions. Which of the 12 tips could have the greatest positive impact on
4. Communicate with integrity: Tell the truth always and without how you communicate?
exception.
─David Grossman
16
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