Generations of Cookbooks

This is my happy place. Ranch wife, ranch mama. Raising cows and a feral ranch baby on the shores of the Laramie River. Being newer to the ranch community, I am still learning the ropes. From gatherings, brandings and all the other shin digs, I love seeing how many generations come together to get things done. Our daughter is the 5th generation to grace these lands and I love how special that is. Our ranch received recognition in 2023 for being a centennial ranch. Really, it reached its centennial in 2017, but we decided to put our name in for possible recognition in 2023. And we were chosen! Becoming a centennial ranch in the state of Wyoming is an honor, one of which only a few ranches receive yearly. It shows that this ranch has been owned and operated by the same family for over 100 years, which is quite the feat! I always tell my husband how proud I am of him. When his father died in 2014, the ranch could have easily been sold, and it would have never seen its centennial. He stepped up and kept it going and I know how hard it has been. Lots of blood, sweat and tears have been poured into this ranch, which makes it even more special, and I am so thankful to stand beside him as it continues to grow! We’ve added one more generation to the family tree and boy, does it feel good!

As I was saying before, seeing the generations of people come together is wonderful and it's great to have ways to keep the memories alive for years to come. There is a cookbook that has been passed down for 4 generations at least on my mother’s side of the family. My little one will be the 5th generation to hold and use this cookbook. This book is very important to our family. It holds not only the very special recipes of our family favorites, but it’s also the cookbook that has all of our family Christmas cookie recipes in its pages. The pages are worn and some of them are extremely tough to read with all the batter splotches, but we pull it out every year and let it guide us as we make the hundreds of cookies that we bake for the holidays. Its pages are filled with anything from thumbprint to spritz to sour cream sugar cookies… yes, I said sour cream! They are super tasty and so moist! (apologies to those who hate the word moist – it’s not my favorite either!) This side of my family is Norwegian, so you will find some popular Scandinavian recipes thrown into the mix as well including lefse, krumkake and fattigmann! I love thumbing through the cookbook and seeing all the different handwriting, starting with my great grandmother, my grandmother, my aunt, my mother and now myself. It is a glimpse through our past and even present times in the kitchen. This cookbook started out as a simple spiral bound notebook but has been turned into so much more for our family.

Here is a little story to end today’s entry. When I first moved into the ranch house in 2022, I was going through some things to turn the extra bedroom into the guest room and I found some old cookbooks and then found a recipe box. It turns out, it was my husband’s grandmother's recipe box. Well, I couldn’t help myself and I started thumbing through the recipes. I was pleased to see so many of my husband’s favorite dishes were included. What I wasn’t prepared for, was to find a recipe for easy caramel rolls. A recipe that my family has made for years and is known as our Christmas morning caramel roll recipe. It warmed my heart to know that his grandmother made the same recipe my family has used and that it has held such a special place in both our lives. This recipe is perfect to use for busy times like Christmas, because it is very easy but also super yummy and can feed a crowd! We even made it this past year and by next Christmas, little miss will be enjoying it with us too! Feel free to share with me if you or your family have a special cookbook or recipes that have been handed down through the generations! I’d love to hear y’all’s stories too! Thanks for reading! This is the Laramie River Ranch Wife, signing off… From my happy place.

RECIPES FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS:

Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter

¾ cup Sugar

1 egg

2 ½ cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and sugar, add unbeaten egg and flour sifted with baking powder and salt and vanilla. Force through cookie press and bake 10 to 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

**These are some of my favorites! They are buttery smooth and are so pretty!

TIP: If you do not have a cookie press, you can simply roll the dough into balls and press down with a fork and sprinkle red and green (or any color) sanding sugar on top.

Fattigmann

4 Whole eggs

Yolks of 8 more

12 Tbsp sugar

12 Tbsp cream

Cardamon and flour for a fairly stiff dough

Roll thin, cut and fry.

** These are considered the “poor mans cookie” in Norway. They are simple, but quite tasty and are more a pastry than a cookie. 

Easy Caramel Rolls

2 loaves frozen bread dough (can use frozen dough in roll form too)

½ cup margarine (or butter)

1 cup brown sugar

1 large package of cook and serve vanilla pudding 4.6 oz (NOT INSTANT)

2 Tbsp. milk

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9x13 pan by lightly greasing with cooking spray. Mix all the ingredients for your caramel sauce including melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla pudding, milk and ground cinnamon. Take one loaf of bread dough (thawed) and tear into small chunks. Add them in a single layer to the 9 x 13 pan. Pour caramel mixture over the first loaf of bread dough. Next, tear the second loaf of frozen dough into chunks and place on top of the caramel mixture. Allow the bread dough to rise until it doubles in size. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread should be golden brown. Let sit for 5 minutes when you remove from oven. Place a sheet pan over the top of the 9x13 pan and overturn the rolls. Serve warm. Enjoy!