Betty Jane Slaughter Briscoe’s Rio Frio Ranch Rolls

Rio Frio runs through Lake County, Texas. One of the three river tributaries runs north east of Uvalde, the birthplace of Governor Briscoe.

Prepare Wet Ingredients

Prepare 2 cups boiling water. Immediately pour 1 cup water over 1 cup shortening and mix.

Allow the second cup of water to cool to tepid temperature, then mix in 2 packages active dry yeast.

Prepare Dry Ingredients

Mix 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt to the diluted shortening. Allow mixture to cool, then add 2 beaten eggs. Finally, add the dissolved yeast.

Mix 2 packages active dry yeast to the diluted shortening

Gradually add 6 cups flour to the mixing bowl.

Sticky dough is chilled for 2 hours until firm enough to roll out on a cutting board.

Chill the dough in a refrigerator.

Roll dough on a floured cutting board, cut dough with a biscuit cutter and lay out on a greased baking sheet.

Allow rolls to rise for 1-2 hours, then bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Betty Jane Slaughter Briscoe’s Old Fashioned Pound Cake

1 cup butter and 1.75 cups sugar are creamed together until “thick like cream,” (McQueary, 222). Semi-melting butter in the microwave helps cream the sugar.

1 tsp lemon extract and 1 tsp vanilla extracts are added, followed by 5 eggs.

After each egg is broken into the mixing bowl, the batter is “furiously” mixed. 2 cups flour are gradually incorporated, finishing the batter.

Batter is poured into a greased baking pan and baked “slowly” ( 300F) for one hour.

I love the hint of lemon extract in this cake. This decadent dessert is both sweet and moist, juxtaposed by a crunchy top.

Betty Jane Slaughter Briscoe’s Tomato Juice Frappe

tomato juice, Tobasco, Bay leaf, lemon juice

A frappe is any frozen or semi frozen drink served as an appetizer or dessert (McQueary, 223). 1 large can tomato juice, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins (R) is advised), 1/2 lemon’s juice and Tobasco sauce are combined with a bay leaf in a saucepan. The juice simmers until the bay leaf’s seasoning can be tasted.

Remove bayleaf, place juice in a container and freeze overnight. Next morning, defrost the juice until semi-frozen, then pour into a wine or sorbet glass. Whip up the frozen beverage with a fork and serve.

I love the spiciness from the Worcestershire and tobacco sauce. The lemon does a marvelous job of preserving the tomato flavor.

Betty Jane Slaughter Briscoe’s Horseradish Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup sour cream blended with 1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. chopped chives
1/4 tsp dry mustard and 1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp horse radish

McQueary advises the reader to use chilled ingredients for this recipe (p. 224).

Seasonings: 1 tbsp. horse radish, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp dry onion powder (McQueary lists onion juice), 1/4 tsp dry mustard and 2 tsp chopped chives.

Once ingredients are combined, the dressing may be served atop lettuce wedges with diced tomatoes.

Betty Jane Slaughter Briscoe’s Spinach Ring

Governor Briscoe’s father, Dolph Briscoe, Sr., started a cattle business in Uvalde, TX in 1910. Uvalde, TX is the birthplace of Matthew McConaughey.

The spinach ring is essentially a crust-less spinach quiche baked in a mold.

  • Rinse and boil 20 oz fresh spinach until soft
  • Add 2 tsp lemon juice to the spinach
  • Cream 3tbsp butter and 3 tbsp. flour
  • Add 1 cup whole milk
  • Add 1 tsp salt
  • Add 1 tsp grated onion (onion salt substitution shown here)
  • 1/3 tsp nutmeg, which I was unable to measure, so 1/2 tsp was measured.
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • Grease a 1 qt ring mold and pour out the spinach mixture

Bake the ring mold at 375F in a pan of hot water to allow the heat to evenly distribute throughout the mold’s surface. Bake “until firm,” directs McQueary (p. 218). I set the timer at 20 minute intervals to check the firmness. I found the mold was ready after 90 minutes.

The spinach is to accompany a main course of steak. This recipe may also be prepared in individual ramekins to accompany each steak entrée.

The nutmeg, flour and milk easily remove the spinach’s acidity, making this dish satiable and delicious.

Ima Mae Smith Smith’s Date Pudding

Chopped dates, pecans and peanuts baked atop caramel and vanilla pudding

December 12, 1972 was the final lunar landing for NASA. Traveling aboard Apollo 17, astronaut Eugene Cernon performed his third lunar walk over a 73 hour span. Cernon’s career space walk hours: 566. Apollo 17 logged the longest lunar mission, over 300 hours, including 22 hours of lunar extravehicular activity. Standing on the moon, Cernon noted “America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And as we leave the moon, and Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and G-d willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind,” (Texas History Online).

Anyone with a palate for peanut butter and jelly will love this pudding!

Prepare the Topping

8 oz chopped dates, 1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans and peanuts) are blended together.

1 cup sweet milk and 1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla are combined in a bowl.

2 cups water and 1.5 cups brown sugar simmered over low heat
1.5 cups brown sugar

Dates and nuts are added, completing the filling.

Filling is poured over the caramel, not stirred, to allow the brown sugar filling to rise and thicken as it bakes.

Per McQueary’s instructions, pudding is baked at 20 minutes at 450F. I fond the sauce to be thickened after 30 minutes.

Ima Mae Smith Smith’s Chicken Waldorf Salad

The Waldorf salad was first served in 1896 at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The recipe was created by chef Oscar Tschirky.

1.5 cups chicken are cooked (pan fried for this recipe) and diced.

2/3 cups grapes
2/3 cups chopped celery

2/3 cup whole green grapes, 2/r cup chopped celery and 1/2 cup chopped pecans are combined in a bowl.

1/2 tsp salt and 2/3 cup mayonnaise are stirred in with the rest of the produce, creating a creamy, yet sweet light lunch dish.

Ima Mae Smith Smith’s Pecan Pie

Prepare Pie Crust

I prepared Joy of Cooking 75th Edition’s Basic Pie Crust (p. 665).

  • 1 cup pecans placed in the base of a 9 inch pie crust
  • 1 cup light corn syrup. I chose a low sugar corn syrup.
  • 3 eggs lightly beaten with a fork
  • 3/4 cups granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp salt
  • Corn syrup will hold the ingredients together
  • Pour filling over the pecans and bake at 350F for 40 minutes, per McQueary (p. 216)

McQueary instructs the reader to bake for 40 minutes. I felt this pie needed extra time in the oven: it was ready in 1 hour .

Ima Mae Smith Smith’s Texas Hash

  • Pasta, onions, celery, tomatoes and ground beef steaks

Prepare the Vegetables

Dice 2 medium onions and chop 1 cup celery. Sautee vegetables in 3 tbsp cooking oil (olive oil) until they turn yellow (not translucent, they need to cook more with the meat).

Diced celery and onions sautéed in olive oil
3 tbsp. olive oil

Prepare the Pasta

Cook 16 oz elbow noodles (which I substituted with ziti).

Add 1 pound ground steak and cook until brown. I am not sure if the steaks were to be further chopped, as the recipe doesn’t specify. Steaks were ready within 10 minutes with the sautéed vegetables.

Add 2 cups diced tomatoes (6 roma tomatoes, preparation not specified), ziti and seasonings.

1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper

Seasonings: 1 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. These are similar seasonings to Blanch Fay Stevenson Spanish Macaroni recipe.

Ima Mae Smith Smith’s Cucumber Salad

  • 1 cup
    boiling water stirred into 1 package lemon Jello poured
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1tbsp vinegar are blended with the Jello
  • Chill Jello and mayonnaise until firm
  • Grate and drain 1 cucumber
  • Grate and drain one onion, then mix with grated cucumber
  • Mix 1 cup small curd cottage cheese with the vegetables.
  • Combine partially set Jello with cheese and vegetables
  • Pour mixture into mold.
  • Spread 4oz crushed salted nuts (I used pecans) atop the mold. Chill until set.

Ima Mae Smith graduated from Texas Tech in Lubbock. TX. One class had assigned seating and it was in that lecture hall where she met her future husband, a fellow Smith.