Sue's Diner: Easy Berry Trifle

My mother, Virginia Schonbachler, contributed this recipe to the BryonySeries cookbook Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony."

She often made it for holiday gatherings when my children were growing up because the kids liked it so much. It is easy-to-prepare and a good "extra" dessert to serve at Thanksgiving for people who don't like pumpkin pie.

We renamed it Darlene's Trifle for the cookbook because in Bryony, the protagonist's mother also made this recipe for Thanksgiving dinner.

Try this recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website. 

But try the recipe this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place. 

All proceeds from  Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony." benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

Order the cookbook from the BryonySeries store or from Amazon.

If you have any troubleshooting questions or comments, email us at bryonyseries@gmail.com. 

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).

For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at our BryonySeries bryonyseries.com/general-store.

Sue's Diner: Easy Berry Trifle

My mother, Virginia Schonbachler, contributed this recipe to the BryonySeries cookbook Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony."

We renamed it Darlene's Trifle for the cookbook because in Bryony, the protagonist's mother made this recipe for Thanksgiving dinner.

Rebekah also prepared it for a family Thanksgiving dinner last week as an alternate to pumpkin pie since half of the guests (many, but not all, were children) do not like pumpkin.

So if you need an easy-to-prepare dessert with plenty of child appeal for the holidays, we suggest this easy berry trifle, also known as Darlene's Trifle.

Try this recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website. 

But try the recipe this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place. 

All proceeds from  Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony." benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

Order the cookbook from the BryonySeries store or from Amazon.

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).

For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at our BryonySeries bryonyseries.com/general-store.

Sue's Diner: Easy Trifle

Each week for the last couple of weeks, I've featured one selected recipe from the Thanksgiving menu that's featured in the BryonySeries cookbook: Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony," which is a permament fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

All of these recipes are referenced in the novel Bryony. The complete menu is found in the cookbook.

Here is the explanation from the cookbook:

For the Marchellis’ first Thanksgiving in Munsonville, Melissa’s little brother Brian shows off the depth of his newly acquired culinary skills, under the direction of his mentor, Steve Barnes, the village maintenance man.

This week, I'm featuring the trifle recipe that Melissa and Brian's mother prepared. The recipe is actually my own mother's, and she often served it for Thanksgiving and other festive dinners. It is pictured in the back of this photo of the right.

In fact, everything in this photo is featured in Memories in the Kitchen: the turkey, the cornbread, the roasted root vegetables (hiding next to the cornbread behind the turkey), the salad dressing and the pumpkin roll.

Now, you won't be able to receive a print copy before Thanksgiving (unless you live near me, and you arrange for pickup), but you can download a Kindle version now.

You can try the easy trifle recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website. Proceeds from the Kindle version also benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

But try the recipe this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new non-Thanksgiving recipe will take it's place.

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).

For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at our BryonySeries bryonyseries.com/general-store.

Next Week on Sue's Diner: Recipes for a BryonySeries Thanksgiving Feast

Want to change it up this year?

How about preparing the Thanksgiving Day dinner featured in the Bryony?

For the Marchellis’ first Thanksgiving in Munsonville, Melissa’s little brother Brian shows off the depth of his newly acquired culinary skills, under the direction of his mentor, Steve Barnes, the village maintenance man.

Next Sunday (Nov. 19), I'll post recipes for the following on the Sue's Diner page at www.bryonyseries.com:

Steve’s Roast Turkey (brine and turkey recipes by Rachel Buchanan Savicz)

Steve's Stuffing (recipe by Virginia Schonbachler)

Roasted Root Vegetable Medley (recipe by Sarah Stegall)

Traditional Cornbread (recipe by Tutti Weiss)

Drop Biscuits (recipe by Rebekah Baran)

Salad Dressing (tastes like Thousand Island, recipe by Janet Cooney, salad by Timothy Baran)

Darlene’s Trifle (recipe by Virginia Schonbachler)

Darlene’s Pumpkin Roll (recipe by Sarah Stegall)

Rebekah, assisted by Daniel, cooked up this feast for us last week while I was at work. Timothy plated the entire meal (next week's photo), as well as the salad and desserts.

Needless, to say, we ate well for a couple of days!

Why, might you ask, would we cook a Thanksgiving Day dinner early?

One: I wanted to have photos to share with you, in case you'd like to try some of all of the recipes this year.

Two: Our traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner is comprised of poor boys, kettle-cooked chips, and pumpkin pie (Don't judge us), a Frankensteined tradition born our of my mother working in retail and hosting Thanksgiving at her house on the Sunday before Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving deadlines for both newsroom, routes and insert customers; too tired after meeting those deadlines; and, now still too tired after working long hours to want to cook up a feast on a day we're not working.

Besides, now that some of the adult kids work in the culinary industry, they, too, don't want to waste a precious day off in the vacation. It's far, far better to cook on a work day (or a working weekend).

So we did. Or rather, THEY did. 

But I enjoyed every scrap.

And maybe, just maybe, Rebekah will make some pumpkin rolls instead (or along with) pumpkin pie.

BTW, if you'd like a cookbook, proceeds benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties. Order a cookbook HERE.

And if you didn't try out last week's recipe (cinnamon coffee cake), it will remain up for another week. Find that recipe on the Sue's Diner page HERE.