Life got a little crazy for a few months. Between my grandmother's chemo treatments, End of the school year activities for my children, and a few health issues of my own, I have not had time to blog! But I am back and hopefully we can get this ball rolling again!
This past week I had the opportunity to bake iced sugar cookies for a wedding. That is an experience I will not soon forget. They turned out very light and buttery, and by far the best sugar cookie I had ever tasted. And that is saying a lot because I am not personally a fan of sugar cookies! They held their shape nicely, so they would be perfect for Christmas cookies, when you want to make all of the cute little shapes. The dough does have to be chilled for at least an hour before it is baked, so this isn't a 'last minute' type of cookie.
What you will need:
2/3 Cup butter flavored shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
4 teaspoons milk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (or pre-sifted cake flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream together sugar, shortening and vanilla. Add egg. Beat until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in milk. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly blend the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least one hour.
Preheat your oven to 375.
Divide the dough in half and roll one half out on a lightly floured surface. If you have wax paper, you can roll the dough out between two pieces of wax paper rather than on a floured surface and save a mess. Keep the other half of the dough refrigerated until you are ready to roll it out. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters and place onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 6-8 minutes, and allow to cool before removing from the pan. This recipe makes about 2 dozen depending on the size and thickness of the cookie.
For best results, allow your pan to completely cool before putting another batch of cookies on it and into the oven. This helps make sure your cookies do not spread before they bake.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Grandma Simmons' Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Fortune Frosting
One of the very best things about having a large family, and living close to them, is being able to visit with them on a regular basis. Yesterday was one of my nieces birthdays', so I made her some brownie cupcakes with chocolate frosting and pink sprinkles and took them to her. They were not the prettiest cupcakes on the face of the planet, but they were yummy. And we sat and talked for well over an hour. For me it brought back memories of being a child, playing with barbies, dressing our dolls, singing off tune to the "BEST SONG EVAR!!!!" usually by the Spice Girls, or some other Top 40 Hit maker. Before I left, she handed me a few of my grandmother, her great grandmother's, recipe's. This one caught my eye. I haven't tried it yet, but it is at the top of my list for the next time I get a sweet tooth, and it will most likely fill the cupcakes for the kids birthday party which is quickly approaching.
For those of you who were reading quite regularly before I seemingly dropped off of the face of the planet, I'm sorry. We have had a bit of sudden family problems. My maternal grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung, liver, and brain cancer. She started her chemo treatments this week, and will be having them for the next 6 months. 3 days a week for one week and then 3 weeks off. I'm still trying to process all of the information and wrap my mind around the idea of it. So that is why I have not posted, but I am back. I will be posting as often as possible again. And as always, Thank you for reading!
What you will need:
1 3/4 unsifted cake flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients except boiling water; Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Remove from mixer. Stir in boiling water. (Batter will be very thin). Pour into 2 greased and floured 9" layer pans. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on rack, remove from mans, cool completely. Top with frosting.
Frosting:
2 squares of unsweetened chocolate, 2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar, 3 tablespoons hot water, 1 egg, 1/3 cup soft butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Melt chocolate in mixing bowl over double boiler. Remove from heat. Blend in sugar and water slowly. Beat in egg, and beat until smooth. Then add butter and vanilla.
** PLEASE NOTE ** The frosting DOES in fact have a raw egg in it, so PLEASE keep this cake cold at all times!
For those of you who were reading quite regularly before I seemingly dropped off of the face of the planet, I'm sorry. We have had a bit of sudden family problems. My maternal grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung, liver, and brain cancer. She started her chemo treatments this week, and will be having them for the next 6 months. 3 days a week for one week and then 3 weeks off. I'm still trying to process all of the information and wrap my mind around the idea of it. So that is why I have not posted, but I am back. I will be posting as often as possible again. And as always, Thank you for reading!
What you will need:
1 3/4 unsifted cake flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients except boiling water; Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Remove from mixer. Stir in boiling water. (Batter will be very thin). Pour into 2 greased and floured 9" layer pans. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on rack, remove from mans, cool completely. Top with frosting.
Frosting:
2 squares of unsweetened chocolate, 2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar, 3 tablespoons hot water, 1 egg, 1/3 cup soft butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Melt chocolate in mixing bowl over double boiler. Remove from heat. Blend in sugar and water slowly. Beat in egg, and beat until smooth. Then add butter and vanilla.
** PLEASE NOTE ** The frosting DOES in fact have a raw egg in it, so PLEASE keep this cake cold at all times!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Home made bread
When I was a child, my mother would bake home made bread every week. Usually on Friday afternoon, as we would clean the house and get ready for the weekend. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of sitting on my dads lap, the smell of fresh baked bread filling the house, listening to what he did that day while he took off his work boots.
As I got older, things in our family changed, and my mother slowed her bread making to a trickle and then stopped completely before I was old enough to really learn how it was done. Early this summer my husband and I moved into the same house that I grew up in. I've been cooking in the same kitchen that I remember those yummy bread smells coming from, so I had to at least try to make bread from scratch. I looked online and went threw page after page of recipe's that always started out great, but eventually said "Add this all together in your bread machine...." Oh wait.. I don't have one of those. Nor do I want one. Hmm. SO finally I found a recipe that sounded promising, and after trying it, I'm glad I didn't give up. This bread turned out light, slightly sweet, and very yummy. I cut the sugar in half so I could share it with my diabetic father, who of course loved it as much as I did.
What you will need:
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour
Directions
In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
As I got older, things in our family changed, and my mother slowed her bread making to a trickle and then stopped completely before I was old enough to really learn how it was done. Early this summer my husband and I moved into the same house that I grew up in. I've been cooking in the same kitchen that I remember those yummy bread smells coming from, so I had to at least try to make bread from scratch. I looked online and went threw page after page of recipe's that always started out great, but eventually said "Add this all together in your bread machine...." Oh wait.. I don't have one of those. Nor do I want one. Hmm. SO finally I found a recipe that sounded promising, and after trying it, I'm glad I didn't give up. This bread turned out light, slightly sweet, and very yummy. I cut the sugar in half so I could share it with my diabetic father, who of course loved it as much as I did.
What you will need:
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour
Directions
In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
I found this recipe and many others over at www.allrecipes.com, if you find a good one that your family loves, feel free to send me a link!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Southern Comfort Bon-Bon's
What you will need:
3 1/2 cups vanilla wafers, crushed
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup Powdered sugar
1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup
1/3 cup Southern Comfort
1 cup pecans (Optional)
16oz Chocolate Chips, Melted.
Mix Vanilla wafers, Cocoa, Sugar, Syrup and Southern Comfort together in a medium mixing bowl until well blended. Roll mixture into bite size balls and dip into melted chocolate chips. Set on wax paper and let the chocolate harden. Serve immediately, or store in an air tight container at room temperature.
3 1/2 cups vanilla wafers, crushed
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup Powdered sugar
1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup
1/3 cup Southern Comfort
1 cup pecans (Optional)
16oz Chocolate Chips, Melted.
Mix Vanilla wafers, Cocoa, Sugar, Syrup and Southern Comfort together in a medium mixing bowl until well blended. Roll mixture into bite size balls and dip into melted chocolate chips. Set on wax paper and let the chocolate harden. Serve immediately, or store in an air tight container at room temperature.
Southern Pralines
Here is another recipe from my Grandmother. I don't remember her ever making these, of course, most of my memories from her cooking, I was a child. This recipe is of the "Adults Only" variety! So next time you are having a dinner party, or need a home made gift for an adult in your family, you might try this!
What you will need:
6 teaspoons Southern Comfort
3 teaspoons Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon butter
4 cups brown sugar
2 1/2 cups of pecans
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Mix Southern Comfort, Milk, Butter, Sugar and Pecans in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium to medium high heat, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture up to "Soft Ball" stage (235-240 degree's). Add Vanilla, stir until creamy. Let the mixture cool slightly and drop onto wax paper to set. Let cool completely before eating.
What you will need:
6 teaspoons Southern Comfort
3 teaspoons Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon butter
4 cups brown sugar
2 1/2 cups of pecans
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Mix Southern Comfort, Milk, Butter, Sugar and Pecans in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium to medium high heat, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture up to "Soft Ball" stage (235-240 degree's). Add Vanilla, stir until creamy. Let the mixture cool slightly and drop onto wax paper to set. Let cool completely before eating.
Santa Fe Soup
What you will need:
1 lb hamburger meat, browned and seasoned to taste
1 can of corn, with juice
1 can of "Rotel" (Diced tomatoes and chili peppers)
1 block of Velveeta cheese
1 can of Ranch Style beans, or any of your favorite beans
1 bag of your favorite tortilla chips
Brown and season your hamburger meat, drain well. Put Meat, Corn, Rotel and Beans into a pot, and put over medium heat. Dice the Velveeta into small pieces and add to the pot, stirring frequently to keep it from scorching. When your cheese is melted, spoon mixture over bowls of chips and serve immediately.
This is a recipe my grandmother gave me a few weeks ago. I personally can not eat Rotel because of the tomatoes, so instead, I added a package of taco seasoning to the soup while I was waiting for the cheese to melt. It was very tasty!
1 lb hamburger meat, browned and seasoned to taste
1 can of corn, with juice
1 can of "Rotel" (Diced tomatoes and chili peppers)
1 block of Velveeta cheese
1 can of Ranch Style beans, or any of your favorite beans
1 bag of your favorite tortilla chips
Brown and season your hamburger meat, drain well. Put Meat, Corn, Rotel and Beans into a pot, and put over medium heat. Dice the Velveeta into small pieces and add to the pot, stirring frequently to keep it from scorching. When your cheese is melted, spoon mixture over bowls of chips and serve immediately.
This is a recipe my grandmother gave me a few weeks ago. I personally can not eat Rotel because of the tomatoes, so instead, I added a package of taco seasoning to the soup while I was waiting for the cheese to melt. It was very tasty!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Eggnog Cheesecake
We have a rather large family. Any way you slice it, our family is large. And not just because we have 5 children, which makes -OUR- family, quite large. Not to mention that both my husband and I have several siblings. This year, we ended up having 3 Christmas dinners to attend. And for most of them, I ended up cooking. A lot. This is just one of the recipes that really stuck out to me over the Holiday. I had never tasted or even heard of Eggnog cheesecake, but my mother suggested I try making eggnog fudge. Which I did, and it turned out delicious. But it got me thinking... If I could use eggnog in fudge, and make it so fantastic... Why not experiment with eggnog in some other yummy treats that my family likes. GOOGLE to the rescue! I found a recipe similar to this on allrecipes.com and tweaked it just a little.
What you need:
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
Filling:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup eggnog
2 eggs
1 pinch ground nutmeg -or- Pumpkin Pie Spice
Crust:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In a medium bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar, spices and butter. Press into a 9 inch pan.
Bake for 10 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.
Filling:
Preheat oven to 425
Mix together cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and eggnog; process until smooth. Blend in eggs, and nutmeg.
Pour mixture into cooled crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 250 and bake for 45 minutes, or until center of cake is barely firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
I made my cheesecake the night before our last Christmas dinner, let it cool completely and then covered it with tin foil and put it in the fridge. That kept the top of the cheesecake from drying out and cracking, and it was picture perfect and ready to cut when lunch was over. If you like cheesecake, and you like eggnog, this is a must have for any family get together. Though you might want to make 2, because it will be gone quickly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)