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Baking And Cooking In Eldred, Pennsylvania

Until recently, Julia Ireland has made hundreds of Christmas cookies to share with friends, coworkers and shut-ins, a tradition her family will long remember. Front-Julia Ireland, Back left to right-Tammy Ireland and Sheena Ireland Peach. Photo by Beverly Kehe-Rowland

It is heartwarming when families not only celebrate Christmas together, but treasure the memories of that time and times past. The family of Julia Ireland of Eldred, Pennsylvania, is one of those families who will celebrate her legacy of recipes and special baking projects for many years after she is no longer in their midst. It is a wonderful woman who has the love and admiration of a daughter-in-law, something not all mothers of married sons can claim. Julia is well-loved and respected by all and especially by her son, Pastor Bruce Ireland’s wife, Tammy.

“She’s the one that started it all,” says Tammy Ireland. “As Julia Ireland’s daughter-in-law, I knew I never would fill her shoes in the realm of delicious desserts. Over the years I have learned so much from her in the kitchen. She has been a guest in our home for years for Sunday dinners and up until the age of 93 she would experiment with new and wonderful dessert recipes. We would eagerly anticipate what she would bring. My mother, who was also a guest, would always go back to her senior apartments and rave about Julia’s desserts. The minute she would get back every week, the others would want to know what Julia had made for dessert.”

“I used to go to Grandma’s house to help her bake. Grandma was always in the kitchen when we were there,” says Sheena Peach. “She would do a huge plate of cookies that were out all through the holidays, whether we were playing games or whatever.”

Another memory the granddaughter has is of her grandmother packing 12 sandwiches and half of a pie in her grandfather’s lunchbox.

“My father worked with him and the first thing he said when he met my husband was ‘do you pack a pail like your father,'” laughs Tammy.

“He worked on the oil well lease,” says Sheena.

“For 20 years,” adds her grandmother. “He was a foreman. After a couple of men got hurt on the job and he stood up for them, a couple of months later they told him his work was unsatisfactory.”

George, Julia’s husband, passed away 20 years ago.

“He loved his desserts. I always made coconut cream cake for his birthday. The rest of us didn’t care for it (coconut), so I’d put it on half,” his wife fondly remembers.

“Julia Ireland has been many things in her life-a wife, a mother, a banker, an exceptional Christian steward and the matriarch of a loving family,” says Christy, another granddaughter. “Grandma is known for all of these things, but also for her incredible cooking and baking. They say the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach and Grandma definitely has all of our hearts.”

“Grandma always has an amazing dessert. One of her most notable claims to fame is her Christmas cookie extravaganza, including such gems as Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, Buckeyes and Nutmeg Logs. Every year we anxiously await our package of cookies from Grandma. It has always been one of the best parts of Christmas. As the holidays approach it is heartwarming to think that Julia’s great-grandchildren are now helping to bake her cookies. These recipes are heirlooms we cherish and will keep near our hearts for generations to come.”

“Christmas dinners were overflowing with great food which was prepared by Mom who would rise very early to get it all done. One of the traditions for Christmas was Cranberry Sherbet which was prepared by my grandmother Nana (June Johnson) and then by my Mom,” says her daughter, Jackie Ireland of Virginia. “I was never a fan of the sherbet, but it was a tradition and it wouldn’t have seemed right if it wasn’t there.”

“Every year we make about a half gallon of the cranberry sherbet,” says her daughter-in-law. “We freeze little dishes to frost them. Everybody likes it. It was her mother’s recipe.”

“We always had it at home for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” adds the nonagenarian.

“Then at Christmas time was the preparation of my Mom’s famous cookies. I loved the preparation time, which would take many days, just as much as having them Christmas Eve, Christmas day and many days to follow,” her daughter continues. “I remember one day Mom was fixing cookies and while she wasn’t looking I would steal some cookie dough. Well, that day I got caught one too many times and was told to go outside and play because she wasn’t going to have enough if I kept eating it. Everyone looked forward to Mom’s cookies and her desserts. She would fix multiple trays to give to people as a Christmas gift. People who Mom didn’t even know knew about her cooking. As an example, after graduating from high school and not sure what to do next, I got a job at Corning where my Dad worked. People would ask me if I was George’s daughter and then there would be a comment about his lunch pail.”

“We saw a lady at the bank recently and she asked if she was still making all of those cookies,” Tammy interjects. “Every time we run into her neighbors or someone who went to church with her they’ll ask ‘does she still make all of those Christmas cookies?’ That’s the first thing they’ll say.”

“It has been 20 years and I still think of those beautiful cookies Mrs. Ireland made and sent to her daughter, Jackie, each Christmas season. Jackie would then bring bags of her mother’s cookies to work to share with everyone,” says Andrea Duplechain. “They were the most beautifully and colorfully decorated and tasty cookies that looked like they were made by a big cookie corporation. I was in awe of the talent or better yet, craftsmanship of Mrs. Ireland. They were in different shapes and sizes and flavors and I had to taste each one. I studied each one as I fantasized about one day being able to make similar cookies myself.”

Four generations come together at Tammy and Bruce Ireland’s home on Christmas Day.

“We do presents and then have a special breakfast,” says Sheena.

“And we may have homemade sweet rolls or coffeecake and breakfast sandwiches,” says her mother.

“Later we have a relish tray like we had at Grandma’s and we have to have V-8 and eggnog,” Mrs. Peach adds. “About an hour or two after that, at one or two, we have our big sit down meal. Then we clean up and then we play games all afternoon. Around seven o’clock we have turkey sandwiches on butterbit rolls and salads.”

“And cookies,” Julia says with a chuckle.

“We play games while we are eating that,” says Sheena.

“We used to go sled riding,” says Tammy. “I actually broke my back one time. I ate my dinner lying on the floor and then let my daughter take me to the hospital.”

“We work hard cooking all morning and play hard. We have everything. We always do it all,” she goes on. “We have sweet potatoes, butternut squash, corn pudding, sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, cranberry sherbet, homemade butterscotch, chocolate and pumpkin pies.”

“When you have people in and you’ve toiled and worked and prepared, the thought provoking meaning and the preparation you’ve put into it … you give it part of yourself. Is it the homemade cooking or is it the love you’ve put into it,” Tammy adds. “What is scarcer than money? Time.”

More Christmas memories talk erupts.

“One year we got almost three feet of snow overnight,” Pastor Bruce Ireland says.

“My brother lived nearby and didn’t make it over,” his mother puts in.

Cooking is a passion with all three generations of this family.

“Sheena’s son has diabetes,” says her mother, Tammy Ireland. “She makes homemade marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate so he can have S’Mores, too. She took Julia and I a step further with the natural things, trying to help him.”

She goes on to say, “She made this whole Easter dinner with the cranberry sherbet and all when she was sixteen and I was in Mexico. Bruce said ‘don’t worry, she did it all.'”

Mrs. Peach carries on her grandmother’s tradition.

“I give our tenants and people we work with Christmas cookies. I do several, not all of the same ones, but four or five of them.”

“I started baking Christmas cookies after I got married, probably after the kids grew up a little,” Julia recalls. “I made them at night, after work. I collected recipes from different places and different people. I’d taste them and try to get the recipe. People love the Chow Mein Noodle ones (Hong Kong Cookies) and the Nutmeg Logs. I think the Nutmeg Logs are my favorite. Matt, my grandson that lives in Virginia, likes the Buckeyes.”

Julia Ireland was branch manager at Bradford National Bank/PennBank.

“I went to the same job, but the name changed four times.”

Sheena Ireland Peach lives in Lebanon, Ohio with her husband and two sons, Luke and Blake. She is in the health industry, sells Young Living Essential Oils and is a health consultant. She homeschooled her seven and nine year old sons until this year and now volunteers at her son’ Christian school.

Tammy Ireland owns the unique Olde Schoolhouse Village Shoppes, an old elementary school she and her husband converted into a fun shopping experience on Indian Creek Road in Eldred, Pennsylvania. She sells Young Living Essential Oils, as well.

See ROWLAND, Page C3

Rowland

From Page C1

Butterscotch Sauce (Makes 1 1/2 Cups Sauce)

1 c packed brown sugar

2 T Four

¢ c milk

2 T Karo Syrup

¢ c butter

dash nutmeg

In a mixing bowl combine brown sugar and flour. Stir in milk and syrup. Add butter. Microwave for 3 minutes or until mixture boils. Stir well then microwave 2 minutes. Stir in nutmeg if you want, as it tastes better with it.

Hot Apple Cider

1 gallon apple cider

2 c orange juice

¢ c brown sugar

Tie up in a coffee filter: 4 cinnamon sticks & 1 T whole clove. Heat all ingredients in crock pot.

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

Crust

2 c cookie crumbs, Lorna Doone or other shortbread cookie

6 T butter, melted

Combine and press in bottom and up sides of a large pie dish. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Filling

1 -14 oz. caramels

5 oz evaporated milk

1 c chopped pecans

28 oz packs of cream cheese, softened

l/2 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

¢ c semi-sweet morsels

Melt caramel with milk over low heat, stir until smooth. Pour over crust. Top with pecans. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Then add chocolate. Pour over pecans. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

Chocolate Sauce

¢ c sugar

¢ c packed brown sugar

3 T cocoa

2 T Flour

1/8 tsp salt

2/3 c milk

2 T light corn syrup

1 T butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix all together. Cook in microwave until desired thickness. Stir at intervals. Add vanilla after cooked.

Devils Food Cake

2 ¢ c sifted flour

2 c sugar

2 tsp soda

2 eggs

¢ tsp salt

¢ c cocoa

1 T vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1 c milk

1 c hot water

1 c shortening

Grease and flour 13×9 pan. Measure dry ingredients. Stir vinegar into milk. Cream shortening and gradually add sugar. Cream well. Beat eggs in one at a time. Blend in cocoa. Add dry ingredients to mixture alternately with soured milk. Stir in hot water and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Chocolate Confectioners Frosting

2 c confectioners’ sugar

1/3 c margarine, softened

1 egg white

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 c cocoa

Cream sugar with margarine. Beat in rest of ingredients.

Turtle Cake

1 German chocolate cake mix. Mix as on package. Pour half of the batter into greased and floured 9×13 pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Melt:

14 oz caramels

3/4 C margarine

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix all three together until creamy. Pour over baked cake. Pour remaining batter over caramel and seal edges. Sprinkle 1 ¢ c chocolate chips, § c chopped walnuts or pecans over. Bake another 25 minutes or until done.

Nutmeg Logs

1 c soft butter

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp rum flavoring

§ c sugar

1 egg

3 c flour

nutmeg

™ tsp salt

Cream butter with flavorings. Gradually beat in sugar. Blend in egg. Sift flour, 1 tsp nutmeg and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix well. On sugared board, shape pieces of dough into long rolls that are 1″ in diameter. Cut in 3″ lengths and set on buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Cool. Spread frosting on top and sides of cookies. Mark with tines of fork to resemble bark. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Frosting for Nutmeg Logs

Cream ¢ c butter with 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tsp rum flavoring. Blend in 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar and add 2 T light cream. Beat until smooth.

Candy Bar Cookies

§ c butter

§ c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 T evaporated milk

™ tsp salt

2 c flour

Cream butter. Gradually add powdered sugar, creaming well. Add vanilla, milk and salt. Mix well. Blend in flour. Roll out dough, half at a time, on floured surface to 12″ x 8″ rectangle; trim sides. Cut in 3 ¢ inch triangles. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-16 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool. Spread 1 teaspoon filling on each cookie. Top with icing.

Caramel Filling

Melt ¢ lb light-colored caramels ¢ c evaporated milk, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in ™ c butter, 1 c powdered sugar and 1 c chopped pecans (optional). Without nuts, add more sugar.

Chocolate Icing

Melt one 6 oz pkg chocolate bits with 1/3 C evaporated milk over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 T butter, 1tsp vanilla and ¢ c powdered sugar.

Bar Cookies

1. Spray foil on a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2. Line with saltine crackers

3. Boil for 3 minutes: 1 C brown sugar, 2 sticks margarine

4. Pour over top of crackers

5. Bake 7 minutes at 400

6. When removed from oven, spread 12 oz bag chocolate chips over all (let melt a little and spread)

7. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts

8. Put in refrigerator

9. Break apart when hardened

Hong Kong Cookies (Nutty Noodle Clusters)

12 oz package chocolate chips

12 oz package butterscotch chips

12 oz bag chow mein noodles

¢ c peanuts or cashews (optional)

Melt chips in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and quickly stir in noodles and nuts until heavily coated. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Cool. Refrigerate. Makes 24 clusters

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

1 c shortening

1c brown sugar

1c sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1c peanut butter

3 c flour

¢ tsp salt

Miniature peanut butter cups

Mix flour, salt and soda together. Set aside. Cream shortening with sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Put a small ball of cookie dough in a petit-four cup and press the peanut butter cup into it and bake at 350 degrees until cookie is done. For peanut butter cookies roll into small balls, set on cookie sheet and press with a fork in criss-cross pattern.

Cranberry Sherbet

1 lb cranberries

2 ¢ c sugar

¢c and 1 c boiling water

1 orange

2 lemons

2 egg whites, beaten

Wash and pick over berries. Put berries and 1 cup water into large saucepan and cook until soft. Put through food mill. Strain to remove seeds. Add sugar and ¢ cup boiling water and juice of orange and lemons. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour into bowl and freeze. When solid take out of freezer and beat until soft, but not runny. Beat in beaten egg whites and quickly return to freezer. Serve when solid. (I start mine two days before I want to serve it. Let it freeze overnight and then add egg whites and let freeze overnight again.)

Buckeyes

1# margarine, melted and cooled

2# chunky peanut butter

3# confectioners’ sugar

3-12 oz pkgs semi sweet or milk chocolate chips

™ sheet paraffin wax

Cream margarine, peanut butter and sugar by hand and make into walnut-size balls. Chill overnight. Melt chips and wax. Dip balls with toothpicks. Place on wax paper to set.

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