My mother would often make this pie in the summertime following our trips to the nearby strawberry patches in southwest Ohio where I grew up. It was always a delightful end to warm summer days:

Strawberry Pie

9" pie shell, baked according to directions
1 qt of strawberries cleaned and put in pie shell, points side up.

Set aside. Then, mix the following ingredients together:

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
3 Tbsp of cornstarch
3 Tbsp of strawberry jello mix

Boil this mixture for 1 minute in sauce pan. Cool and refrigerate gel before pouring over strawberries in pie shell. Refrigerate; top with cool whip before serving.

A Note From Bethany...
You can use an 8" pie shell with 1 pint of strawberries to make a smaller pie.

My mother used to make these cookies around Christmas time when I was growing up. They taste like holidays to me in fact, even decades later. You'll notice that the recipe is very easy to make and calls for very few ingredients, hence the "easy" in their title. However, although the recipe mentions either chocolate or cherry cake mix, I've never had them with chocolate as my mother always used cherry growing up and this is what I remember. I cannot vouch for how they would turn out with chocolate cake mix.

Easy Yum-Yum Cookies
Makes 3-4 doz.

1 egg
2 cups of cool whip
1 box of cherry (or chocolate) cake mix
1 tsp of vanilla
Powdered sugar

Mix egg, cool whip, cake mix, and vanilla extract by hand. (Dough will be stiff). Drop by teaspoon in powdered sugar, then on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

This is the second time I have heard of Peanut Butter Pie in my family. My Aunt Chris on my mother's side makes one that we often eat at Thanksgiving and family gatherings and with which I am familiar. But yesterday, I found a pie recipe when I was preparing my post on zucchini bread that I'd like to share. Not surprisingly, it is a recipe from my grandfather, who was known for making dozens of pies by hand at holiday gatherings, most famously vanilla cake pie which was often playfully fought over by my dad and my cousins. This recipe, however, is for a pie that I don't remember him ever making.

Peanut Butter Pie

1 envelope of plain Knox gelatin
1/3 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup of hot water
4 oz of cream cheese
8 oz of cool whip
1 cup powdered sugar
Graham cracker pie crust

Put 1 envelope of plain (Knox) gelatin into 1/2 cup of hot water. Let cool.

Cream together cream cheese, peanut butter, cool whip, and powdered sugar. Pour in gelatin and mix well. Pour into graham cracker pie crust shell. Let stand in fridge for 30 minutes or overnight.

The following recipe was found in my recipe box, given to me by my mother. It is listed as from a woman named Marjorie, who I'm now told lived behind my parents' house in Ganges, Ohio (the only family member named Marjorie was my great aunt who died in 1944 at the age of 16). This isn't the zucchini bread recipe I remember my mother making when I was growing up; indeed, there is another recipe in my box from Nina Barnes (who was my parents' next-door-neighbor in Ganges) that I will post at a later date, and which looks like the recipe I remember. I am merely posting this recipe for posterity's sake, and for the enjoyment of my faithful readers. You will note that this is not gluten-free--although the flour could be easily substituted, I am unsure as to the consistency of the bread if the bran flakes were removed and/or substituted with gluten-free cereal flakes.

Marjorie's Zucchini Bread
Makes 2 Loaves

3 eggs
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of oil/crisco
1 tsp of vanilla

Beat the above ingredients well. Then beat the following ingredients together:

1/2 cup of sour cream
2 cups of zucchini

Next, sift together the following ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of cinnamon

Fold in 1 cup of raisin bran flakes. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr.

A Note From Bethany...
The original recipe calls for "1 cup of raisin bran flakes or 40% of bran flakes". Since I'm not sure what this means, I simplified the recipe posted above.

This easy-to-make cheese ball appetizer often accompanied holiday table spreads along with olives and crudités when I was growing up. Although at first glance mustard and mayo sounds an odd addition to cream cheese, the flavors go great together and add a bit of tang to the otherwise mellow flavor of the cheese. This recipe is naturally gluten free and can be eaten with regular or rice crackers alike. Before you start, however, make sure you have wax paper--you're going to need it!

Cheese Ball with Chipped Beef
Serves 3-4

2 (2oz) packages of chipped beef, chopped
2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
1/4 of a small onion, chopped
2 tsp of mayonnaise
2 tsp mustard

Chop onion and slice chipped beef into small pieces, place into large mixing bowl. Add cream cheese, mustard, and mayo. Mix with spoon until mixed thoroughly. Place mixture onto wax paper and shape into ball. Let harden in fridge.

A Note From Bethany...
When I first made this on my own I first attempted to mix the ingredients together with my hands in the mixing bowl. When that proved too messy, I tried mixing it by hand through the wax paper on the counter. This had disastrous, messy results and ended up ripping the paper and getting the cheese ball all over the counter top...yuck! I have found that it is best to mix the ingredients well with a spoon in the mixing bowl first, and then transfer the mixture to be shaped into a ball in the wax paper itself. Afterwards it can easily be placed either on a glass tray or in Tupperware to be chilled in the fridge.

This recipe is from my great aunt, Mary Clark, my grandmother Joan (Clark) Crites' sister-in-law.

Cherry Walnut Bars

2 cups of flour
1 cup of oleo (margarine)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar

Mix into fine crumbs, pat into 9 X 13 inch pan. Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Take out of oven and spread the following mixture on top:

1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of chopped English walnuts
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of maraschino cherries

Put into oven and bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and top with frosting.

FROSTING:
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp of oleo (margarine)
4 Tbsp of cherry juice
Enough water to spread nicely

Chicken Noodle Casserole

2 large chicken breasts, cooked, cooled, and diced
8 oz. package of noodles, cooked in the chicken broth (rinse and strain)

CHEESE SAUCE:
4 Tbsp of butter
2 Tbsp of flour
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of dry mustard
2 cups of scalded milk
2 cups of grated cheddar cheese

Alternate layers of the chicken and noodles in a large casserole or 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Combine sauce ingredients and cook over low heat until smooth. Pour over chicken and noodles and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

This is my own variation on a favorite chicken salad recipe I've made for my husband and parents in the past. When I couldn't find the original online recipe I used, I created the following one. This chicken salad is simple--it only has three basic ingredients--and yet it can easily be modified with eggs, basil, paprika, etc. I usually make this when the chicken is a good price at the store; this recipe will make enough salad to make sandwiches or put on crackers all week long. Best of all, it's gluten free!

Bethany's Chicken Salad

2 lbs of chicken breasts
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
1/8 tsp of pepper
1/8 tsp of salt
1 1/2 cups of lite mayonnaise
2 celery stalks, finely chopped

Cut up the chicken breast into pieces and cook it over medium heat until cooked thoroughly. After it is done, use a metal spatula to chop it into even finer pieces.

Finely chop celery; place into large mixing bowl. Add chicken and mayonnaise. Stir. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper as directed, or to taste. Chill before serving.