This is a somewhat unusual topic for a post for me (though...let's be honest...do I really have a usual topic?), but I was really excited about this so I wanted to make a post about it in Caitlin's style. :)
My Grandma, who died two years ago, was very devoted to her grandchildren. Not a marching band concert or CYO musical or graduation would pass that she would not try to attend, and that was an awesome feat, considering that she did this for all of her 17 grandchildren and stepgrandchildren. (There was the one year that two graduations for two different schools happened on the same day...but even then, one was postponed due to rain, and she got to go to both.)
For each grandchild's graduation party, she was the first to come and the last to leave (literally), always looking for ways to help. And she'd always come with a full batch of pizzelles for everyone to enjoy. It was her signature contribution to the graduation party fare.
Well, my brother graduated high school last week, and Grandma is no longer with us. I thought about this a few days ago and lamented to my mom that we would not have her present at his graduation, or have her at his graduation party with her pizzelles. My mom mentioned to me that one of the last gifts that Grandma gave her was a pizzelle iron. So I got really excited and decided to make them. Here's her recipe, and my attempt at a worthy result. :)
 My mom's pizzelle iron--I forgot we had this!
Grandma's "Famous" Pizzelles Ingredients: 6 eggs 3 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 Tbsp. vanilla or anise 1 cup margarine/butter, melted 4 tsp. baking powder Instructions: Beat eggs, adding sugar gradually. Beat until smooth. Add cooled margarine and vanilla or anise. Sift flour and baking powder. Blend into egg mixture until smooth. Dough will be sticky enough to be dropped by spoon. Bake in Pizzelle Baker for 30-40 seconds. Makes approximately 60 pizzelles. VARIATION: PIZZELLES WITH NUTS. Finely chop one cup of walnuts or pecans. Blend into Classic Pizzelle dough. (Mine are vanilla and without nuts.)  Voila! I guess my family will be the judges tomorrow whether I did her recipe justice...I'm hoping for a good response! And congratulations to my brother Andy!!! :-D |
