[book id=’2′ /]
Listen as Elise reads her cookbook favorites!
[book id=’2′ /]
Listen as Elise reads her cookbook favorites!
Hello, I’m Elise Johnson and I’m so glad you found your way here! From my own experience, cooking and eating together as a family nurtures and strengthens family relationships quicker and stronger than any other way. Join me as I continue my grandmother’s legacy of
inter-generational cooking by inspiring families and friends to make memories in the kitchen. 
So glad I found you here. I follow you on Facebook and have tried several of your wonderful recipes. Will definitely try the Individual Apple Spice Cakes
Hi, Michelle! So good to hear from you. I hope you LOVE this recipe! Be sure to visit the contest section of the site and the virtual cookbook section (you can even hear my family read our book there). You can also make your own post and be eligible to win the cast iron pans seen in this post. Good luck!
Love the Individual Apple spice cakes recipes, i also think that a nice sweet potato cake would be wonderful in these little cute pans..what a great idea for using these cute little pans..they would be worn out if i had a set..love following you on all of the social media networks and seeing what’s cookin with you..
Hi Jody! How nice to hear from you! Yes, aren’t these little just adorable? Sweet potato cake would be a perfect recipe for these beauties! How colorful owuld that be? Would love for you to share your sweet potato cake on the community blog if you’d like! xo
Hi Elise. I hope that you can help me with this! My father’s side of the family was portuguese and I have fond memories of going to New Bedford on the holiday’s to visit and eat delicious portuguese cooking that my grandmother made for us. There is one thing in particular that I absolutely LOVED and have tried over the years to duplicate it but have never been able to. My grandmother used pork butt but that is all I really know. My mother has told me that she used pickling spices and portuguese white wine and cooked it in lard on the stove. I thought that I saw it in a roasting pan when I was younger but can’t be sure. We have tried making it with pork butt by marinating it in picking spices and wine. The look and texture were all wrong. My grandmother’s meat was almost black and very dark inside as well and the texture was almost like jerkey. Not tender but not tough either. And the size was like that of stew meat. I have been talking about this for some time so my girl friend went online and found a recipe for Vinho d’alhos. She thought she found what I have been looking for but it was more like what I have been able to make over the years. It was way too tender and the wrong color and not quite the same taste. So not sure you’d ever heard of anything like this or if you have any ideas on how I can cook it to make it come out more like jerkey. My girl friend suggested that it was probably cooked in the over to dry it out somewhat. That would make sense to me. Maybe my grandmother cooked the pork butt in the over first and then fried it to a dark color. Would that give me the consistency I am looking for. Any help would be muchly appreciated.
Hi Gary! Oh how I love mysteries! : ) There’s something so special about successfully creating a recipe or recipes once made and shared with loved ones.
I think I know EXACTLY what recipe you are asking about. This was one of my favorite meals my grandmother made for special occasions. I can say the name, but I can’ t spell it. : ( Have no fear though! I have a call into my uncle (my go-to guy) for my grandmother’s recipes and as soon as he tells me how to spell it, I’ll post the recipe for you. Hope I can help you solve this mystery! Stay tuned…
Hi Elise, so far i have made the malasadas with the children over the weekend as you saw the photos, the ricepudding and i made the pan fried cod fish tonight. Everything has come out wonderful, I love having the kids in the kitchen, your book is wonderful! I have always loved to cook and there were many of our family recipes i wasnt able to obtain, others i have been making for years and now so have my girls.
Hi Stephanie! Thank you so much for sharing! It warms my heart to know that you have more of Vavo’s recipes! I loved looking at the photos of you and the girls! Our five senses help us to stir up memories of our loved ones and the recipes they lovingly created just for us years ago. I hope the sounds and smells of the food brig you back to a time past. You are building a legacy just like Vavo did! Much love to all! xo
HI Elise,
I’ve tried some of the recipes and the family have loved them. I am a strong believer in eating together. I’ll post more later on some recipes we’ll be trying out.
Take care and keep cooking!
Carmen
Thanks, Carmen! You are terrific! We’d all love to hear about it!
Hi Elise,
So I made the Brown sugar and Spice Banana Bread yesterday. I made it while folks were out. One by one as they trickled into the house they made their way to the kitchen to see what was the source of those wonderful ‘smells’! It took everything to keep my son out of the oven haha! Once I took it out of the oven and placed it on a cooling rack I found myself having to police the bread as well. Goodness! Anyway, everyone said it was amazing – as always with your recipes! So thanks again. I just had to cook those bananas hehe. Made some plantain chips last night too.
Carmen, you make me smile! xo
Hi Elise, I found your blog from another website. Seeing you’re in Raleigh, NC, which is not to far from me here in VA. I’ve enjoyed reading your website and I’m going to make the Pumpkin Banana Bread this week. It looks delicious!
Hello, Barbara! This coming Wednesday I will again visit the folks at Virginia This morning! We’ll be discussing ideas for simple and elegant petite holiday parties!
Hi Elise!
I am wondering if you have a recipe for Portuguese biscoitos? I have tried my Vavo’s recipe, but I feel like something got lost in translation b/c when I have tried making them, they are way off! Curious if you have a recipe? So great to find your website, hailing from Fall River myself with parents and grandparents that all immigrated from Sao Miguel.
Happy Easter – Be well!
I just turned 75 in April and if my memory servers me right my first chow mein sandwich was in Fall River at the age of 6. My mother was raised there and move to Pawtucket after she got married. Every Sunday we would go to Fall River to visit my grandmother and have chow mein sandwiches. I have lived in Florida for 13 years and couldn’t find any restaurants that made it. I searched on line and found a web site where I could buy the ingredients and make it myself. I just can’t get the right combination of ingredients to duplicate the taste or color. I keep the gravy mix refrigerated but don’t know the life of the mix.Would that make a difference in the taste? I also use chicken stock and ground pork to make the gravy. I noticed the taste is a little stronger than you get in a restaurant. Will too much gravy mix cause this? I make it by the gallon and freeze it in individual containers. I am not a very good cook and live alone and love chow mein. Any advice would be helpful.
Happy 75th birthday to you, Ted! I would order the kit (noodles adn box of gravy mix) from the Oriental Chow Mein Company I mentioned in thsi post on my website: https://cookingwithelise.com/a-hometown-tradition-fall-river-style-chow-mein/. The “Original Hoo Mee Chow Mein Mix can be ordered by calling (508) 675-7711. They should ship it directly to you. I see delicious chow mein sandwiches in your future. You may follow the recipe in my post for an authentic flavor. It’s very easy with the mix!