Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes

Aunt Lynnie made these when I was very pregnant with Alyssa and then sent me home with a bag of them. They were DELICIOUS and as I was gorging my pregnant self on them, for some reason I got it in my head that these would be the perfect thing to make when I went into labor so that folks would have something to munch on while they waited for the baby to be born. Yep, I was planning to just whip up a batch of these between labor pains, I guess.

I know... don't ask me what I was thinking. I remember Deni telling me that before she had her babies she'd stock up her freezer with casseroles. Well I knew I'd never be able to pull that off. No, I couldn't supply my family with a stockpile of warm nutritious meals, but darn it, I could supply a few cupcakes for my kid's birthday.

I bought the ingredients to keep on hand but somehow the whole labor and delivery thing just keeps taking me by surprise. The night I went into labor I forgot all about baking cupcakes... which is probably a good thing. Darin was awfully patient with all my excuses for not leaving the house that night but I'm not sure how she would have reacted if I'd said I had to whip up a batch of cupcakes.

So there you have it, I couldn't deliver the cupcakes, but I delivered something even better. (Now how's that for a corny line... not to mention an obvious excuse to include a picture of my cute kid?)

1 (18 1/2-ounce) package chewy fudge brownie mix (recommended: Duncan Hines)
1 (12-ounce) package peanut butter chips or 24 miniature peanut butter cups

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 regular muffin cups with paper cupcake liners. Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions for cake-like brownies. Fill the cups half full with brownie batter. Place about 1 tablespoon peanut butter chips in the center of the batter, or press 1 peanut butter cup into the batter in each muffin cup until the batter meets the top edge of the peanut butter cup.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cupcakes are set.

When they can be handled safely, remove them from the muffin tins and let cool completely on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

(Recipe contributed by Dione. Alyssa, also contributed by Dione, seen above at 5 months old.)

Aunt Jacque's French Toast

When I ran across this recipe the other day I immediately knew I should post it because Scott asks me for it now and then and I can never find it. (Oh how I love an online cookbook. I rarely lose my computer.) So I've never made this French Toast but I've eaten it many times and it's yummy.

Aunt Jacque makes it, my mother-in-law makes it and Scott makes it (please refer to the Does Tia cook? post and find a boy who can cook). Even Amanda has made it with Grandma (see photo). So I can't imagine WHY I would make it…but if the need arose for me to make French Toast, this is the recipe I would use, because I could make it ahead of time and it doesn't require constant supervision the way normal French Toast does. Man, I can really screw up regular French Toast…one piece burnt, one piece raw in the middle… Anyway, now for your enjoyment:

Aunt Jacque's French Toast

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temp
12, ¾ inch thick french bread slices
6 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt

Butter bottom of large baking pan. Arrange bread. Beat eggs and all ingredients. Pour over bread. Turn bread to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn bread and continue to bake until brown. Keep cooking on both sides until browned to your liking.

(Recipe contributed by Dione, photo is of Amanda and her Grandma Travis. The picture is from Christmastime 2005. I don't remember the exact details but I remember my mother-in-law saying it was a good thing it was just family eating that French Toast.)

Poll # 4

What is the greatest lesson your children have ever taught you?

Umm... no food-related question, this time. Get over it.

Poll # 3

Non-food related question:

• What did you get into trouble for more often than anything else as a youngster?

Food-related question:

• What food above all others would you find absolutely impossible to give up?

Poll # 2

Looks like it's time to get things moving around here again. You'd think coming up with a poll question would be easy, but I was feeling rather uninspired so I dug out this book of questions...but as I flipped through it I kept saying nope, dumb question... nope, nope... no way...Shouldn't someone like Courtney be coming up with these questions? She'd be better at this... Who wrote these questions?

Then I finally had to pick one at random because I couldn't find a single question I liked. Of course after I'd picked the question I continued flipping through the book and then I kept thinking was, Oh great question! Good one... Interesting... Oh who needs Courtney, these are great... So I found several others which I should probably save for later. Except I have no self-control... so we'll see how long I can wait. But here's the randomly selected question for today:

• When you were very young, what did you want to be when you grew up? When you were a teenager, what did you think you might want to do for a living someday?

For those of you who are uptight about this being a "COOKBOOK," you may answer the alternate, food-related question:

• What was dinnertime like in your home when you were growing up? What was a typical meal? What was a typical evening for your family?

And yes, those of us who find it difficult to stop typing may answer both. Oh and if anyone wants to jump in with new poll questions, please feel free!

Aunt Lynnie's Baked Spaghetti

Like Darin, I also married into a family of really great cooks. (Luckily they only ask me to bring desserts to family gatherings. Lucky for them, I mean, because I'd hate to have to show up with a batch of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Though I could "fancy it up" by throwing in some sliced Oscar Mayer wieners for the meat eaters in the group.)

Aunt Lynnie definitely falls into the great cook category and we have been lucky enough to live only a short distance from her so we often get invited for fabulous dinners and then get sent home with delicious leftovers. Unfortunately, Aunt Lynnie and Uncle Bill will be putting their house on the market in the very near future and moving closer to the rest of their family. (So yes it's unfortunate for us, but fortunate for the rest of the family.)

Anyway, last night they had us over for dinner and Lynnie made this spaghetti. It was yummy. I'm not usually courageous enough to attempt Lynnie's recipes but she said this was easy and I thought hmm… I wonder if I could actually make this. I'm not particularly good at multi-tasking especially when it comes to cooking. Yes, I can check email, blow-dry my hair and breastfeed a baby all at the same time, but I panic at meals that require having multiple things hot and ready at the same time. I much prefer recipes like this one that I can make ahead of time when nobody is crying or begging for my attention and then just pop it into the oven at dinnertime. (Which reminds me…I love being able to say, "Oh dinner is ready and in the fridge, let me just pop it into the oven. Makes me feel Grown-Up and Competent. Feelings I don't have on a terribly regular basis.) So anyway, I haven't made this recipe but I'll give it a shot one of these days.

Aunt Lynnie, we'll miss having you nearby but we'll visit and thanks again for dinner and for sending home the leftover Snickers cake, last night. It will not go to waste! Mmmmm…

(Oh and Darin please tell the story about Chuck and Mom's spaghetti.)

Aunt Lynnie's Baked Spaghetti

2 cups canned diced tomatoes
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 small bay leaves
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1 cup grated cheddar
1 cup grated Monterey Jack

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat and let simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until fully cooked, with no pink color remaining. Drain the fat from the meat, and then add the ground beef to the stockpot. Simmer for 20 more minutes. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with sauce. Add a layer of pasta and then a little less than 1/2 of each cheese; repeat the layers, ending with the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Top the casserole with the remaining cheese, return it to the oven, and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes. Cut into squares before serving.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

(Recipe contributed by Dione. Photo is of the Rullman sisters, left to right: Aunt Jacque, Andrea (my mother-in-law), and Aunt Lynnie. No doubt I'll be sharing other recipes from these sisters in the future.)

Amanda, My Superhero Niece

Could someone please come up with a recipe so that we have a reason to leave this picture here? This picture speaks to me in so many ways, that I keep having to go back and forth to the other blog to enjoy it.

Isn't there like some SuperHero Cookie recipe out there or SOMETHING? Some recipe on how to make Kriptanite or something?
-----------------------------------
Mother of the Superhero jumping in here… I was trying to come up with a recipe for SuperSomething when it finally occurred to me I should go directly to the source. So I asked Super Amanda, "What do Superheroes eat?" And she said, "Superhero Stuff" (I'm not sure but I would swear that as she answered, she shot me one of those looks… you know the look that she will spend the next 13 or so years perfecting…the look that says, parents can be SO DUMB sometimes). "Oh yeah, of course, Superhero Stuff. Can you give me the recipe for that?" I asked.

To which she replied, "Sure Mommy!!! What's a recipe?" So then she told me. But as she listed the ingredients and I asked her how much or how many she was rather vague. Or she would say, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9,10… 4!" like she was trying to trick me. I'm afraid that either she doesn't know the exact recipe because she's one of those cooks who just throws in a little of this and a little of that and it comes out just perfect or she doesn't actually want me to know how to make Superhero Stuff. You know, since I'm a mere mortal and all. So make this at your own risk. There's no guarantee it will be as good as the stuff the superheroes eat.

Superhero Stuff

A lot of macaroni
10 peas (optional*)
Chicken
Some corn
Sausage
One piece of pepperoni pizza
4 trees (broccoli)

Get a foon. Get a bowl. Put it all in together. Get the salt and get the pepper. Shake.

*I told Amanda that Aunt Darin doesn't like peas and asked her if there was something we could use instead. She said, "Hmm. I don't think I want any peas in my food either. But what are we going to do with the peas?" As I looked around at my currently pea-free windowsills, I said, "I don't know, but please don't ask Aunt Darin."

Superhero Buzzert

11 marshmallows
A lot of chocolate
5 M&Ms
6 lollipops (lollipops are good – any flavor)
Like 88 Reeses peanut butter cups
All the boxes of chocolate ice cream at the store… like five!

Put it together in a really, really big bowl. Don't forget to take the paper off the lollipops. Eat it with a fork or foon.

When I asked Amanda what Superheroes drink, she said, "Water. They drink water. They don't ever drink chocolate milk but I do. Can I have some chocolate milk, Mommy?"

Ila Good’s Vegetable Soup Recipe

Contributed by Darin Good, a major fan

(This soup is so good that we have knowingly exposed our children to viruses just hoping we’d get Grandma’s soup out of the deal if they got sick.) Jack Good insists there is a soup pump at Ila’s that just pumps this stuff out. However, if the pump goes dry, here is the actual recipe that primes it again:

First get a pot. A BIG pot.
Brown a couple of pounds of beef stew meat. (I cut it into smaller pieces.)
Put a diced onion in the beef after it browns and cook it awhile.
Add some water and simmer till it gets tender or you get too hungry to wait any longer.
Add a can or two of diced tomatoes.
Add a few diced potatoes, carrots, a can of cannelloni beans or whatever you like.
A half cup of barley is good if you like it.
I usually put in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and a couple of cans of beef broth.
Throw in a cup or two of frozen okra near the end of the cooking time.
Put in anything else you like, such as frozen corn & lima beans
I like to cook a cup or two of pasta and add it about the time I put in the okra.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
Love, Ila

Note from family members: If you are able to score a jug of this soup from Ila, always return the jar once empty--it's possible that it will come back refilled in the near future. This soup can cure almost any thing (broken hearts, really bad days at work, bad grades, actual illness, etc); we have resorted to shameless ploys to get some.

Giovanni’s Tuna Noodle Casserole

Submitted by Auntie Darin on behalf of Giovanni Silizar Nelson, viosomething@msn.com

OK, Giovanni ain’t officially a Nelson Sister—thank goodness, cuz he’s way cuter than all of us; and if he was a girl, with that hair and eye lashes, we’d be so jealous of him that we’d SCREAM. But he is one of The Best Nelson Brothers, so we need to include this recipe.

This recipe is particularly of note, because it is the only Tuna Noodle Casserole that Chuck will eat. I don’t know if this is because “a brother” has cooked it (maybe it’s a ‘guy thing’ to eat each other’s cooking) or it’s especially good, but Chuck will not eat any tuna casserole I make, as his theory is canned tuna is meant to be chilled, served in Tuna Salad Sandwiches. However, Chuck does like Giovanni’s casserole, so it must be included in the family lore:

2 cups thin egg noodles
1 can tuna, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup milk
Potato chips, like Lays (1 cup?) (the recipe called for bread, but GET SERIOUS, Giovanni knows what’s good)
¾ cup grated cheddar cheese
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a casserole dish. (I think Giovanni used Pam Spray.) Cook noodles in a pot of boiling water for 8 minutes. Drain in a strainer. Put noodles into a casserole dish. Add in tuna, soup, and milk. Crumble potato chips and put on tope of casserole. Spread cheese on top of casserole. Sprinkle with paprika and bake 25 minutes.

Serve to Chuck. Listen about how GREAT it is compared to Darin’s.

Does Tia Cook?

I’m about to submit Giovanni’s casserole, so I need to make sure that Tia’s recipes are not excluded. However, Tia is EIGHT YEARS OLD and I don’t know if she has RECIPES. (However, if she submitted her Mom Vicky’s enchilada recipe, I know that it would be much appreciated.)

However, knowing Tia, I wouldn’t be surprised if she graduated from The Darin/Katie School of Cooking: Find a Boy That Can Cook. Then, keep the boy entertained while talking to the boy while he cooks for you in the kitchen.

First, you have to: Get the boy to come over. Here is Katie’s recipe; I’ve heard it a million times on the cel phone: “Breandan, I’m hungryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Please come make me some macaroniiiiiiiiiiiii.” Then Breandan comes over and makes something really elegant and we all live happily ever after. A boy that can cook can have any woman he wants.

(Aunt Dione jumping in with photographic proof that not only can Tia cook, but she can also accessorize. Though I totally agree with Darin and Katie's advice:
Find a Boy That Can Cook.)

Darin (& Betty Crocker's) Cinnamon Puffs

The following recipe is taken from my Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cookbook. The cookbook is inscribed “Merry Xmas to Darin From Grandma McGraw – 12/25/68”

The following recipe is from page 144, SPECIAL OCCASIONS – breakfast.

Surprise Breakfast*

*Darin’s note, HA, they weren’t kidding about that!

Allow me to quote the intro on page 144:
“Have you ever wished you could get up some morning to fix breakfast for the whole family? You can, and its lots of fun! Try this exciting adventure on Mother’s Day or a birthday, or on a Sunday morning when you just want to let Mother and Dad sleep a little later than usual.” (I just didn’t know whose birthday)

Cinnamon Puffs
(See those pictured on page 23.)
Note from Darin, sorry folks—I’d scan and include the picture of these delightful little puffs, but page 23 is long gone. I probably wadded it up and threw it away the morning of July 23, 1969

Heat oven to 450 Degrees

Prepare Rolled Biscuits (page 31) (aw, heck—just use the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box, as page 31 is missing, too. Like I said, July 23 was a traumatic morning for me.)
After kneading dough, divide into 16 parts.
Roll each part into a smooth ball.
Place balls on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes

Melt in small skillet:
1/3 cup butter

Mix in small bowl:
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

While biscuits are warm, remove from sheet and roll each in melted butter; then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Makes 16 puffs.

P.S. – And this recipe, Amanda, is what to use to make a Baby Sister. Worked for me.

Please refer to: Comments: Mom said. . ."Darin, do you remember the night that I went into labor with Dione?"

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22851089&postID=114163153917985153

Ila Good’s Cajun Clam Chowder

Contributed by Darin Good, on behalf of the World’s Greatest Mother-in-Law. (I haven’t actually made this, my role is to devotedly slurp it; but as a devoted researcher, I criss-cross California checking all other clam chowders all year long to ensure this is Still the Best, and it definitely is. I live in the SF Bay Area, so I have access to some of the world’s best clam chowders. But none of them have forced me to have four bowls during a Serious Diet. This is Simply The Best, with no question):

2 large cans clams (51 oz – Costco)
3 (or more) jalapeños
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 lb bacon
1 lb smoked ham
3 qts whole milk
1 qt half and half
6 lbs diced potatoes
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
Salt to taste, if needed
2-3 tbsp Cajun seasoning

Large pot
Cook bacon, drain grease and save
Chop bacon and ham or run through food processor. Mix with onion mixture and set aside.
Peel and dice potatoes to ½ -3/4” size, boil about 15 minutes or until done. Drain and add to onion bacon and ham mixture. Stir in Cajun seasoning.

Add milk and half and half and juice from c lams. Heat to boiling point. DO NOT BOIL. Melt butter, add flour and mix with hot milk mixture to thicken. Add clams until clams are hot.

Good served in hollowed out French bread “mini-loaves.” (Sidenote: this might be good, but if you’re going to have 4 bowls, the bread bowl is going to get leaky.)

Ila’s note: Cajun Magic Seasoning is available in most stores. I have never used Cajun Magic. There are several Cajun seasons on the market. I use:

Ila’s Cajun Seasoning
3 tbsp black paper
2 tbsp red pepper
3 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp white pepper
3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp thyme
½ tbsp oregano
1 tbsp garlic powder

78 years ago yesterday...

Ed and Bea got married.

A while back I made this collage out of a few of my favorite photos of them. They're favorites because they look so real to me compared to some pictures from that era. And since I didn't know my grandparents when they were young, I like to think these pictures give me a small glimpse into who they were as a couple. I love Grandpa's rolled up sleeves and the cigarette between his fingers. And Grandma with her hand on her hip... or maybe her hand is on his. I can almost hear her laughing and saying, "Oh Ed..." Love the way they're holding hands in the picture in the top left and the way he's looking at her in the photo on the bottom left. Looks like she's wearing an old housedress and her hair is kind of a mess but he's looking at her like she's just the cutest thing ever. And I love the one on the bottom left most of all because it always makes me imagine what their real life might have been like... just hanging out on the couch, both reading magazines, looking totally comfy (except for those shoes Grandma's wearing.) I remember my dad telling me that he was practicing his photography at the time and this was a long exposure. He told them they'd have to sit still for a long time so he told them to get comfortable and it looks like they did. --- Dione

Our Children Are Our Only Hope

http://cookingnelsons.blogspot.com/2006/02/king-ranch-chicken.html

MY Momma Said I Had To Post These Poems to Give This Blog a Little Class. (I think the Nelson Sisters have quite a little culture of their own goin on...but hey, why not add a little poetry.)

I have been rehearsing the following poems for my "Oral Interpretation of Children's Literature" Class, and they make me hungry. That makes them eligible for cookbook blogging, right? (As if anything didn't go here...pah).

Here are my poems:
Mi Mama Cubana
By Mimi Chapra

When mi mama cubana cooks arroz con pollo
Her smile is as wide as a watermelon

Cutting green onions the tongue of mi mama goes clickety-clack
Her silver bracelets slide up and down jingling-jangling

With a dash of saffron spice mi mama turns boiling rice bright yellow
Ay! Sweet aroma of arroz con pollo carries me away!

Mi familia, we eat arroz con pollo delicioso.

We sing “la cucaracha” con mucho gusto!

We dance mambo, tango, cha cha cha.

Closing my eyes, I see palm trees swaying
Sea gulls circling, haciendas pink and green.
Still, si si, with my eyes open I taste salty saffron Cuba.

Muchas gracias, mi mama cubana for cooking up an island in your tiny New York kitchen.

Making Tortillas
By Henry Quintero

When my mother makes tortillas
For my father and for me,
The steel chimes, the rock pings and rattles
With each pass over the dough.
My mother tells me that her rolling pin is
Singing I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU.

Garden Footprints
By Lori Marie Carlson

I leave footprints
On the gravel path to
Mama’s garden full of CALABAZSAS,
TOMATES, GIRASOLES.
Footprints
Leading to and from this place,
Where mama spends her afternoons
Beneath a hat so big it
Shades me too
While
I kneel down and
Help plant flowers

:) Did they make you hungry? I need breakfast. First I need to figure out what "girasoles" are, cuz right now I am craving them and I haven't a clue what they are! Is that bad?

Hope you enjoyed :)
Love, Courtney

What is a Mermaid?

Courtney and her dreams!...this is the dream she had last night. I made her send it to me, cuz I liked it. Please share it with Amanda, so she will know what mermaids are.

From:"Courtney"
I Dont Know Why You Want This
To:"Mom"

I just woke up from this dream where I was driving around with Melissa Vale...shootin the breeze...

and she was telling me about some Canadian college student ritual that goes on this time every year where the "mermaids" come out.

I asked her what the mermaids were and she said I didnt want to know...
FINALLY she told me,

"they are women who think they can pee gracefully underwater"

I Don't Know Where I Get this Stuff--
and I sure dont know why you want it :)

MIDDLE SISTERS of America

Dear MIDDLE SISTERS of America:

Is it the same with YOUR older and younger sisters? Are your sisters among the very few people that you treasure like none other? Do you consider your sisters “your lifelong glue”? Do you, like me, consider your younger and older sisters your Sanity Voice? The only people in the world that you truly trust, that you would, without question:

• Consider allowing them to use your womb for 9 months for, in case they needed a warm spot for their egg to hatch and theirs wasn’t in working order.
• Ensure that they’re on the (extremely) short list of people who you’d give a kidney to without question—just tell me where to be and when, and tell them to make the scar cute.
• Take a bullet for them (preferably in the arm or leg)
• Bury a body for them, without question.

And then, does your sister send you an e-mail regarding your cooking skills, like this:

Dione wrote:
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 12:17:34 -0800 (PST)From: Dione Subject: RE: the first official pollTo: Good, Darin
Awwwwww... I totally understand the whole non-recipe thing... but the thing is I DON'T WANT YOUR RECIPES. Seriously... Please do not contribute a recipe ever. I just want your memories and stories.

____

Dear fellow middle sisters: Lord almighty, there must be a 7-layer dip out there somewhere I can fake my sisters out with…(The italics and bolding are my own--I know what she was thinking--she's my sister, for God's Sake. Thank you, Lord, for my sisters!)

Darrell's Famous Chicken Gizzards

OK, this was yet another recipe I had to take over when Denise got married and moved out. However, these did get rave reviews from Dad. (I think because no matter how badly I made them, I was willing to make them, Darin)

One package of chicken gizzards, rolled in flour
Heat 1/2 inch oil in large skillet
Fry chicken gizzards until they are well browned, cooked throughout, and until you absolutely can't stand to look at them anymore, because they are so gross to start with.

I think this was the important part: Repeat following mantra to self while browning them: "These are so disgusting, I can't believe anyone would actually EAT THESE. I hate these. These are worse than liver. How can he eat these? These are so disgusting..."

Then sit back and try not to gag while he tells you how great they were. "Yep, Pop, I made them with love." Ick.

Deni's Famous Greasy Tacos for Dad

This is the part where Deni is supposed to insert her recipe for tacos that Dad raved over. No one could make tacos like Deni, and Lord knows Darin tried and got tired of not measuring up.

As far as I can tell, since Deni didn't share her recipe, I think it had something to do with the high grease content that turned him on so much.

Deni's Famous Tacos

1 lb low grade hamburger, browned (undrained?)
1 Envelope Taco seasoning
1 cup water
1 package pre-formed corn taco shells
Cheddar Cheese, grated

COME AND GET IT!

P.S. - I can't recall if there were other toppings? What was the real recipe?

The first official Nelson Sisters' Cookbook Poll

In an effort to keep this from becoming a blog of Dione's memories, and to get y'all involved cuz it's getting lonely here, I'm instituting the first official cookbook poll. I'm even pretending to keep this one food-related, though I can't promise future questions will be.

So I'm the last of my generation on both the Nelson and McGraw sides, which is cool and all, but I can't help but feel like I missed out on a lot. I know there were big family gatherings with all the cousins and aunts and uncles because I've seen pictures and I actually remember a few of them. But I was pretty young so the memories are foggy.

For this poll, I want to know what you remember about family gatherings. And since I said this was about food... in the Travis family they still have big family gatherings and we're always expected to bring something for the meal. Some people bring something different every time but others are asked to bring the same thing every time or quite frequently. So Grandma Travis either brings the famous crab dip or her dump cake. And Scott almost curled up and died one year at Mom's house because it wasn't Thanksgiving without his mom's chili-cheese dip. (We made a run to the store and made a batch to shut him up...errr... to save his holiday.) So what was it like at Nelson and McGraw family get-togethers? Was everybody expected to bring something? And if so, do you remember what? Like what might Aunt Marge have shown up with? Who baked the pies? Who mashed the potatoes? If you were old enough to cook, what did you take?

Just click on "comments" below, to answer. Feel free to answer as many times as you wish. Please let your answers wander off into the completely non-food-related and don't forget to sign your name... or feel free to remain anonymous if you have any particularly juicy information.

(In case you're wondering about the pictures, they're related to MY memories... I would happily add pictures relating to other people's memories... if anyone would actually like to share some of those memories. )


(Photo at left...what Barbie might have worn to the ball)

(at left, poor Skipper. Okay, I didn't even notice the burned toes before. Do I have to get Danny, burner of the toes, on here to verify that's MY Growing-Up Skipper on eBay? )



From Darin: This is my memory of my beautiful Francie doll. I am bracing myself for the worst and have prepared alternative transportation for her.

(Remember at the First Annual Sisters' Reunion, when Deni had Tammy Dolls For Everyone? That was the COOLEST THING EVER.)

Speaking of the First Annual Sisters' Reunion, now that we're finally so close to scheduling the 2nd, I'm trying to outdo Dione by finding every pic SHE posted to her gallery and POSTING IT myself: