English Toffee

$100 Cake

2 c flour

1 c sugar

2 t baking soda

4 T cocoa

1 c mayonnaise

1 c water 

1 t vanilla

Soft together the flour, sugar, baking soda and cocoa. Add the mayonnaise, water and vanilla. Stir together. Put in greased cake pan and bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Frost with your favorite icing.

Blondies

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 c brown sugar

1 large egg

1 t vanilla

Pinch salt

1 c all- purpose flour

Butter an 8x8 pan. Mix butter with brown sugar- beat until smooth.  Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour.  Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. Cool on rack before cutting.

Tortellini and Tomato Salad

2 9oz pkgs cheese filled tortellini, cooked

1/2 c olive oil

1/2 c Parmesan cheese

3 T lemon juice

2 garlic cloves

1 t Worcestershire  sauce

1/2 t salt

1 c frozen corn, cooked

2 c cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 c sliced green onions

1/2 c fresh basil 

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook tortellini. Mix olive oil and next 5 ingredients in a blender. Toss in other ingredients. Serve warm or cold.

Lemon Pound Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tbsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 3 cups sugar 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1/2 cup shortening, room temperature 5 large eggs 1 cup whole milk 6 Tbsp lemon juice 1 lemon, zested Preheat oven to 350F Spray or butter and flour 2 loaf pans or one large Bundt pan. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl.   Set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening and sugar.   Add eggs one at a time, beating until well blended after each one. Add dry ingredients in three additions to butter mixture alternately with milk,  beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Mix in lemon juice and zest. Pour batter into prepared pans.   Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes.   Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes.  Turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely.

Cottage Cheese Bread

A kind lady at church shared this recipe with me. She had made it at one of our ladies luncheons and I loved it. It's easy to make!

1pkg dry yeast

1/4 c lukewarm water

2 t minced green onion tops

1T butter or margarine, softened

1 t salt

1 t oregano

1 c small curd cottage cheese at room temperature

2 T sugar

1/4 t baking powder

1 egg

2-2 1/2 c flour

Soften yeast in warm water. Mix other ingredients except flour; add yeast mixture and beat well. Gradually add flour.

No need to knead! Cover bowl and let batter rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. Punch down and put in well greased 1 1/2 quart casserole. Let rise for 30 minutes.

Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Turn out while warm, brush with butter and sprinkle with coarse salt. Serve warm or cold.

Helpful himts:

To soften yeast, use lukewarm water. Mix in yeast and let set about 5 minutes.

Bread needs warm, draft-free place to rise. You can use your oven. If it's electric, turn on the oven light, it provides just enough warmth for the bred to rise.  Just be sure oven isn't on while rising!

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

                              

2/3 c butter

1 c sugar

1 egg

2 T milk

1 t vanilla

2 c flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

Cream butter; add sugar,gradually. Beat in egg,milk and vanilla. Blend in sifted dry ingredients. On a slightly floured board, roll dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on lightly buttered baking sheets and bake 5-7 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes about 3 dozen. 

Hint: Best to break dough into 2 balls and chill in freezer before rolling out.

Icing

1 c powdered sugar

2 t milk

2 t corn syrup

1/4 t vanilla or almond extract

Assorted food colors, optional

Mix sugar and milk till smooth, then beat in corn syrup and extract until smooth and glossy. If too thick, add more syrup. Ice cooled cookies and add sprinkles or colored sugar if desired. Let sit till icing hardens.

Christmas Crack

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• 40 saltine crackers (approx. 1 sleeve)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional, clearly I didn't use any)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. On a 9x13" jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper, line the saltine crackers side by side until the entire pan is filled.
3. In a saucepot, melt butter and sugar together. Bring to boil then let boil for 3-5 minutes, do not stir.
4. Pour the caramel evenly over the saltines then place in oven to bake for 5 minutes.
5. In the meantime, in a microwave safe bowl, gently melt the chocolate, stirring in between 30 second intervals.
6. Remove pan of saltines from oven and pour chocolate evenly on top of the caramel, spreading it evenly and smoothing it out. If you're using chopped pecans or nuts, this is now the time to sprinkle them on.
7. Let the toffee and chocolate cool completely. I popped mine in the fridge for about an hour.
8. Once cool, break into 2 inch pieces.
9. Store in an airtight container if you have any leftovers.

Chicken Salad

12.5oz can chicken breast,drained and rinsed

1 stalk celery, diced

1/2 onion, diced

2 T pickle relish

Mayonnaise 

Mix ingredients together and serve on croissant or club crackers.

How to bake a ham(our way)

This is the way Mom and I cook our hams and our family loves it! We only use a Cook's Butt Portion ham. The first thing you do is remove plastic from ham and also remove the plastic disc found over the bone. Wrap the ham in heavy duty foil several times. Be sure to place in a pan so it will catch juice while it's baking. Cook it for 1 hour at 350 degrees, the lower temperature to 200 degrees and let it cook all day. We like to put ours on to cook before we go to bed and let it cook all night. 

Taco salad

                                         Taco a Salad

1 head lettuce

Tomato, diced

Onion,diced

Ground hamburger meat

1 pkg taco seasoning

Taco or nacho flavored Doritos

1 can ranch style beans, rinsed and drained

Catalina dressing

Sharp cheddR cheese, shredded

Cook meat until done. Drain and stir in taco seasoning. Tear lettuce into small pieces. Combine all ingredients. I sometimes put everything in individual bowls so everyone can put what they want in their salad.

Caramel Crispix

12 oz box Crispic cereal

2 c butter( 4 sticks)

2 c brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 c light Karo syrup

1/2 t vanilla

1/2 t baking soda

Melt butter in deep,saucepan. Add brown sugar and bring to a boil. Add Karo syrup, vanilla and baking soda. Put the cereal in a very large bowl. Pour mixture over the cereal and stir until all pieces are coated. Spoon pieces out on waxed paper to cool.

Panera's Cream Cheese Potato Soup

4 c chicken broth

4 c peeled and cubed potatoes 

1/4 c minced onion 

1/2 t seasoning salt

1/4 t white pepper

1/4 t ground red pepper

8oz pkg cream cheese, cut into chunks

Combine chicken broth, potatoes, onion and spices. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening.reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese. Heat, stirring frequently, until cheese  melts.

Crockpot Smoked Sausage,Green Beans and Potatoes

1 lb kielbasa or smoked sausage
4 med. potatoes, peeled and cubed ( I used red potatoes, cubed with skin on)
1/2 med. onion, sliced
2 14.5 oz cans green beans, drained
1/2 t. Black pepper
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients except sausage and place in crockpot. Add water ( I used chicken broth and water for,extra flavor) to barely cover ingredients. I also added a tablespoonful of bacon grease for more flavor. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours until potatoes are done. One hour before ready to serve, cut the sausage into bite size pieces and add to top. Do not stir! Mix before serving. Great served with cornbread.

Bull Dog Bread

2 c. warm water
2 T sugar
2 T dry yeast (2 pkgs)
3 c. flour + 2 c.

Combine sugar and water. Sprinkle yeast on water and sugar mixture. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir in 3 c. flour. Let rise one hour. Stir down. Sprinkle 1 t. salt and stir. Let rise one hour. Stir down and add enough flour to make stiff dough. Knead about 5 minutes. Roll out on board to thickness of a knife handle. Cut into 1 inch strips. Melt 1/2 stick oleo. Dip strips in oleo. Spray bundt pan with Pam. Arrange strips in pan. Let rise 30 minutes- 1 hour. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Paula Deen's Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

Mike's birthday is tomorrow, so what could be better than this? I hope he likes it!

2 sticks butter, softened
8 oz sour cream
3 c. Sugar
6 eggs
1 t. Vanilla
2 1/4 c. Cake flour
1 t. Baking powder
3/4 c. Cocoa

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 in. bundt pan. Using mixer, cream together the butter, sour cream, and sugar. Add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and cocoa. Add half the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beat well, add remaining flour mixture and continue beating for 2 minutes. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes. Do not open the oven to check the cake for at least an hour. I dusted the cake with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

1 devils food cake mix
1 jar Smuckers hot fudge sauce
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 t. Peppermint extract
8 oz cool whip
1 bag Andes peppermint crunch baking chips

Bake cake according to directions in 9x13 pan. While cake is baking, mix milk, fudge sauce and extract together. When cake is done and still warm, poke holes with a fork. Pour milk mixture over cake. Let cool completely. Sprinkle half the peppermint chips over cake, then spread cool whip on top. Sprinkle rest of chips on top of cool whip. Chill.

Bits and Brickle

2 c. Pretzel sticks broken in half
1 bag bits and brickle
2 c. toasted peanuts
2 bags Wilton white candy melts

Break pretzel sticks. Add peanuts and bits and brickle; mix. Melt candy melts in microwave and pour over dry ingredients. Mix until covered completely in white candy melts. Drop onto,wax paper. If mixture gets too hard to drop, just heat up in microwave and continue.

Ranch Biscuits

This recipe has been around for years. I remember my Mom made them a lot when I was growing up. (picture to come soon)

2 c. buttermilk
1/4 t. soda
1 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg. dry yeast
1/2 c. oil
4 1/2 c. flour
4 t. baking powder

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 c. warm water ( can heat about 14 sec. in microwave). Pour into bowl and add other ingredients. Leave in bowl and store in refrigerator. Pinch off dough as needed. Roll and cut or drop from spoon on greased pan. Bake at 450 degrees until brown.

For larger biscuits, let rise for a while in a warm place.

Easy Mexican Casserole

 

1 lb ground beef, cooked and seasoned

1 can Ranch Style Beans

1 can Spanish Rice

Grated cheese

After cooking meat, add the beans and rice and mix together. Topped with grated cheese. Can be served right from the skillet, or place in 8x8 casserole and bake till cheese melts.

My Mom's Pot Roast

My Mom has always made the best pot roast. I decided it was time for me to learn to make it like she does, so here is my attempt. I have to say, it tasted pretty good!!

1 roast
onion
bell pepper
worcheshire sauce
potatoes
carrots

First you sere the roast on each side. I put a small amount of olive oil in the bottom of my dutch oven. Once the roast has been sered, I cut up an onion and bell pepper and placed in the pot along with some seasoning salt. Some fresh garlic might also be good! Cover the roast about half way with water and add at least 1/4 c. or more worcheshire sauce. Put the lid on and bake in the oven for 350 for one hour, then lower the temperature to 300 for another 3 hours. I wait and add the carrots and potatoes the last hour or so of cooking. Once the roast is done, remove it and the veggies from pot. Take a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch and mix with a little water. Stir this into the liquid in the pot. Stir over med. high heat until bubbly and thickens some. Return the roast and veggies to the pot and its ready to serve.

Honeybun Cake

1 box Yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1 c. light brown sugar
2 t. cinnamon
2 c. powdered sugar
6 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. By hand, blend the cake mix,eggs, sour cream and oil until well incorporated. The mixture may have a few lumps, but that is ok. Set aside.

In a seperate bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon until well blended; set aside.

Pour half of the cake batter in a greased 9X13 pan, spreading the batter out into a thin layer. Add half the swirl mixture to cover top. Pour the rest of the batter on top and spread until the batter is even. Top the cake off with the rest of the swirl mixture. With a knife, swirl the batter. Place the cake into the oven and bake for 45-50 mins.( mine was a little less time, depending on oven).

While the cake is baking, make the glaze. In a bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until glaze is of desired consistency. When the cake comes out of the oven,immediately pour glaze onto hot cake, I poked a few holes in the cake and tilted it so the glaze would spread evenly over the cake. Let the cake sit a few mins. so the glaze can set and serve warm or at room temp.