Nikki's Kale

• Rinse kale well.
• Pull little parts off, run knife along stalk.
• Stack and roll like cigars.
• Cut into 1/4" wide ribbons.
• Fluff up and put in bowl.
• Chop and saute garlic and onion (shallots are best) in olive oil.
• Add water, broth or tomato and salt.
• Heat till almost boil (don't need much liquid)
• Stir in greens till coated.
• When greens start collapsing, turn heat down and cook covered till done.
  

Coconut Macaroons

This recipe is from Nick Malgieri's book Cookies Unlimited. He says it's from his friend Kyra Effren. It's such a light, airy cookie that you can't eat just one. The meringue melts in your mouth and then you're just left munching on the delicious coconut. What a treat! And they're so easy to make! They're a beautiful white but I guess you could color them with a bit of food coloring for a lovely pastel treat. Be certain not to overbake them or they will be dry. I suggest turning the oven off after 15 minutes if they're not quite the golden color you'd like.

Makes at 50 - 60 little cookies.

1/2 cup egg whites (from ca. 4 eggs)
Pinch salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1 cp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 oz (about 2 cp) unsweetened shredded coconut

2 cookie sheets or jelly roll pans covered with parchment or foil

Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325F.

Beat egg whites, salt, and lemon juice until beginning to hold their shape, about 3 to 4 minutes. Increase the speed to the maximum and slowly add sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites are very stiff, but not dry.

Whip in the vanilla extract. (Remember to turn the mixer down at first so the vanilla doesn't fly out!)

Fold the coconut into the meringue with a large rubber spatula.

Using two teaspoons or a small cookie scoop, drop the cookies onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets, leaving a mere 1-inch space in-between--in other words, pretty darn close to one another. I fit about 30 on each sheet.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are a golden color but still moist within. Obviously, getting them just right is pretty tricky, so please see my suggestion above.

Don't remove the cookies from the parchment--just slide the parchment onto the cookie sheets and wait for the cookies to completely cool before removing them.

Store the cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a container with a tight-fitting lid.  (I just cut around them and placed them still on the baked parchment in the tin.)

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

6 oz can of tomato sauce
1 can tomatoes (crushed)
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
6 oz tomato paste
6 garlic cloves
1/2 - 1 cp onion
1/4 tsp marjoram
2 T olive oil
1 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in food processor or blender.
Add:
fresh basil
Parmesan or Romano cheese

Mom's Liver and Onions

• Use calf liver!
  
• Dip liver in flour.
• Fry it in bacon grease.
• Brown both sides and remove to a plate.
• Put onions in pan and brown them.
• Add 1/4 cp flour and brown this (add more grease if needed).
• Pour 2 cp cold water in pan while stirring.
  
• Put liver in pan and simmer.
  
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
  

Mom's Rice Pudding

Mom made this many times for Gina while she was recovering from chemotherapy.

1/2 cp dry milk
1/4-1/2 cp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/3 cp water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cp cooked rice
1 T butter, melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry milk, sugar, salt and water together. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Add rice and butter. Mix well Put in a greased 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Put in a shallow pan of water. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Stir twice after first half hour of baking.

Pork and Peppers

Stir fry some sliced pork for 2 minutes on med-high. Add green and red pepper sticks and stir fry 2 more minutes on med-high. Turn down heat and add chicken broth, soy sauce and water with cornstarch, which you have stirred together beforehand. Stir while cooking till translucent. Serve over rice with thinly sliced green onion for garnish.

Gina's Ranch Dressing

I got this recipe from Gina as she was lying in her hospital bed about a week before she died. She told it to me completely clear-headed. I then hastened to scribble it down, but she was no longer coherent. It tastes pretty good, so I think it must be correct.

1/4 cp mayo
1/4 cp sour cream
1/4 cp yogurt
1/2 cp milk (I wonder if she didn't mean buttermilk)
1 packet ranch dressing mix

Mix ingredients and refrigerate at least 2 hours before using. If it's too thick, thin it down with buttermilk.

Mom's Lasagna

1 lb Italian sausage
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T basil
1 16oz can tomatoes
1 2oz can tomato paste
10 oz lasagna noodles
2 eggs
3 cp cottage cheese
1/2 cp grated Parmesan
2 T parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb mozzarella cheese

Make tomato-meat sauce with the sausage, garlic, basil, tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook noodles. Beat eggs and add cottage cheese, Parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper. Layer half the noodles in a 13x9x2" dish. Spread half the cottage cheese filling over the noodles. Add half the mozzarella and then half the meat sauce. Repeat. Bake at 375F for about 30 min. Or assemble early and refrigerate. Bake 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
8-10 servings

Mom's Meatballs

1 lb chuck -or-1/4 lb pork + 3/4 lb chuck
1 cp fine dry or fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cp grated Parmesan cheese
1 T minced fresh parsley -or- 1 tsp dried parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cp milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients and shape into 1" balls. Fry in oil or bake at 350F for about 30 min on a lightly greased baking sheet. (I prefer baking them.)

Chicken and Cabbage

1 T oil
1 1/2 cp chicken
2 carrots, sliced but not too thinly
1 tsp salt
4 cp cabbage, sliced in ca. 1/2" strips
1/2 cp water chestnuts
1 T cornstarch
1/2 cp cold water/bouillon/stock

Saute chicken and carrots in oil for 5 minutes. Add salt, cabbage and water chestnuts. Cook covered at med-low for 15-20 minutes--till all the veggies are tender. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir in. Stir till thick and translucent. Serve over rice.

Marinated Beets

1 can sliced beets

Pour beets into bowl--don't drain!
Add
ca. 1/4 cp apple cider vinegar
3/4 T sugar
thinly sliced onion
salt

Adjust seasonings to taste.

Mom's Chili

Mince
3 lg cloves garlic

Chop
1 lg onion
Saute onion with olive oil

Add garlic. Crumble in
1 lb hamburger

Stir well.
Add
1 tiny dried red pepper, cut up with scissors
2 T cumin
2 T chili powder
2 T oregano
1 sm can diced tomatoes
2 sm cans kidney beans, undrained (or 2 cp dry plus water)
salt and pepper
a bit of sugar
Either
1 sm can tomato sauce
1 lg can stewed tomatoes
-or-
1 sm can tomato paste
1 lg can tomato sauce

Rinse cans with water and pour that into pan.

Cook well.
Add
handful of pasta

Cook till done.

Mom's Meatloaf

Start 3 hours before dinner!

1 lb hamburger
1 T minced onion
1 egg
1 sl fresh bread crumbs, white
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients lightly and form loaf. Heat pan. Put loaf in it.

Slice thickly (1/4-1/3")
1/2 onion
Press on top of loaf like this: OOO

Pour
1 sm can tomato sauce
over the loaf.

Put lid on pan. When it boils, add 1/4 cp water in pan to keep loaf from burning and turn heat down. Cook 1 hour. Put in some peeled and chopped (say, in half or thirds) carrots. Cook another hour.

2014 Update--she says she doesn't know who gave me the recipe above but it was not her! 
Mom now says she adds
1 lb ground pork (or whatever)
another egg (if using 1 lb pork)
1/2 onion, chopped fine
milk to make mixture not so stiff

She also says to use on top
1 sm can tomato sauce or puree

Apple Crisp (Mom)

4 cp (3-4 med) apples, peeled and sliced
2/3 cp packed brown sugar
1/2 cp flour
1/2 cp oats
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cp (5 1/3 T) butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375F. Place apples in 8" square baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients together and sprinkle over apples. Bake 30 minutes.

*I would  decrease the sugar  (when I doubled it, I used 1 cup instead of 1 1/3 cups and that was still too much), increase the oats, decrease the nutmeg, and increase the apples.

Cissy Gregg's Salisbury Steaks (Mom)

4 Servings

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cp cream
1 sl bread crumbs (fresh--grind in blender, food processor or herb grinder)
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp prepared mustard
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 T cornstarch
4 oz can mushrooms or 8 oz fresh
1 cp bouillon
fresh chopped parsley for garninshing

Combine meat, egg, cream, crumbs, and seasonings. Form into patties and brown slowly (medium) in heavy skillet until very well done. Remove to a warm platter.

Mix cornstarch with a little of the mushroom liquid. Pour out fat from skillet and put in mushrooms (including liquid), cornstarch and bouillon. Cook till translucent and reduced in volume, pour over steaks.

Calzone (Mom)

2.5 tsp dry yeast (18g)
4 tsp sugar (20g)
4 tsp warm water
1 cp plus 1 T milk
1 egg
3 3/4 cp flour (500g)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix ingredients together. Knead. Let rise 2 hours. Bake at 450F for 20-25 min.

Aunt Mary's Spice Cake

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 2 8" round pans or one 9x11".

1 3/4 cp flour
3/4 cp sugar
3/4 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
3/4 tsp salt

Sift these ingredients together.
Add:

3/4 cp brown sugar
1/2 cp shortening
3/4 cp buttermilk

Beat 2 minutes.
Add:

2 eggs

Mix till incorporated. Pour into pans and bake 30-35 minutes for round pans and 40-45 minutes for the oblong.

Delicious with brown sugar icing.

Sugar Cookies (Aunt Mary's)

These are the best sugar cookies I've ever tasted!

1 1/2 cp powdered sugar
3/4 cp butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cp flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and flavorings. Mix dry ingredients together and add slowly to butter mixture. Drop by spoonful on baking sheet. Squash once across with fork. Bake ca. 12 min. Cool on rack.

German Cole Slaw

Slice cabbage superfine. Add salt and bruise cabbage with fingertips. Add some minced onion. Chop some bacon and fry till it's almost smoking. Turn off heat. Remove bacon bits to cabbage with a slotted spoon. Mix 1/4 cp apple cider vinegar and 1 T sugar into bacon grease and pour onto cabbage. Stir to distribute ingredients evenly. (You can also leave out the salt and use Ume Plum Vinegar, which is very salty, in place of the apple cider vinegar.)

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallow Topping

Boil several sweet potatoes until done when pierced with a fork or knife. When cool to touch, peel. Slice lengthwise. Place in greased baking dish. Sprinkle potatoes with a bit of water and brown sugar (as much as desired). Dot with butter. Bake at 350F till syrupy. Cover with marshmallows and brown in oven.

Peanut Butter Balls (Aunt Anna's)

1 cp peanut butter
1/2 pkg cream cheese
1 1/3 box powdered sugar (1 1/3 lb)
2 sticks butter (1 cp)

Mix all together. Put in fridge over night. Roll into balls. Dip in chocolate.

Bourbon Balls (Aunt Anna's)

1 stick butter or margarine (1/2 cp)
1 box powder sugar (1 lb)
1/2 cp chopped nuts
6 - 8 T bourbon
dipping chocolate

Cream butter. Gradually add sugar, bourbon an dnuts. Let sit for a while in fridge and then roll into balls. Dip into chocolate.

Robin Hood Chicken (Simone)

This is a rub for chicken, but I prefer it for pork.

1/4 cp olive oil
2 T rosemary
2 T ginger
6+ cloves garlic
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 cp parsley
1 T kosher salt
juice from 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 450F. Combine ingredients and rub all over chicken. Bake chicken 18 minutes per pound, covering for the first half of the time.

Gina's Chicken and Dumplings

1 stewing chicken (4-5 lbs), 2 broiler fryers (3 lbs each) or 2-4 chicken breasts
1 sm onion, sliced
2-3 carrots, sliced
3-4 celery stalks, sliced
1 tsp salt
4 T butter
6 T flour
1/8 tsp paprika
1/2 cp cream
pepper to taste
ca. 3 bouillon cubes, preferably Knorr vegetable bouillon cubes

Simmer chicken, onion, carrots, celery, and salt in enough water/stock/broth to cover. Cook until chicken is done, 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Remove chicken from broth. Remove skin and bones and dice meat. Melt butter, stir in flour and paprika. Add paste to chicken stock gradually; stir; cook for 2 minutes. Add chicken, cream, pepper and seasonings. Prepare dumplings:

3 cp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 T fat
1 egg
1 cp water

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together. Work in fat. Stir egg and water together and add to flour/fat mixture. Knead dough ca. 5-6 times and roll to 1/4". Cut in 2" strips and then in diamond's, 2" wide. Drop dumplings into boiling/bubbling chicken mixture while stirring, pushing them down into the mixture. Cook with lid tilted till dumplings are done, ca. 30 minutes.

Oven Chicken Salad (Aunt Angie's/ Betty Crocker?)

2 cp cubed chicken
2 cp thinly sliced celery
1 cp toasted bread cubes
1/2 cp chopped toasted almonds
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated onion
1 cp mayonnaise
2 T lemon juice
------------
1 cp toasted bread cubes or potato chips
grated cheese, as desired

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix ingredients together. Put in casserole dish, about 9" square. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and then 1 cp toasted bread cubes. Bake until bubbly, about 10 min.

How to toast bread cubes: Arrange bread cubes on a cookie sheet. Toast bread cubes at 300F for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

How to toast almonds: in an ungreased saucepan, stirring often until light golden brown or 10-15 minutes at 350F, stirring often

Sea Foam (one of Mom's favorites)

3 cp light brown sugar
¾ cp water
1 T lt corn syrup
2 egg whites (¼ cp)
Dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Measure brown sugar, water and 1 T corn syrup into a 2-quart saucepan. Blend with a wooden spoon and place over low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture begins to dissolve.

Continue stirring until the mixture boils, then put in your candy thermometer and boil without stirring over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 256º.

Remove from heat and let stand while egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks. Salt is added to the eggs while beating them.

Slowly add the syrup to te egg whites, beating continuously.

After all the syrup is added continue beating until candy holds a definite shape and no longer streams from a spoon and loses its gloss. This will require at least 15 minutes of beating. A test can be made before the beating is stopped and unless the dropped portion holds its shape immediately, beating should be continued.

Vanilla is stirred in just before candy is dropped in teaspoon-sized pieces on waxed paper. Walnuts or pecans may be added–they combine well with brown-sugar candies.

Russian Tea Cakes

1 cp soft butter (2 sticks)
½ cp sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 ¼ cp sifted flour
¼ tsp salt
¾ cp finely chopped pecans

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla thoroughly.
Sift flour and salt together and stir in.
Mix in pecans.
Chill dough.
Roll into 1" balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 400ºF until set, not brown, 10 - 12 minutes.
While warm, roll in confectioners sugar.
Cool.
Roll in confectioners sugar again.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Divinity

2 cp sugar
½ cp corn syrup
½ cp water
2 egg whites (¼ cp)
Dash of salt
¾ tsp vanilla
1 cp combined black walnuts and candied cherries, chopped

Combine sugar with corn syrup and water. Stir over low heat until all the sugar is dissolved and mixture starts to bubble. Boil over medium heat to 260ºF.

Remove from the heat and let stand while egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks. Salt is added to the egg whites while beating them.

Slowly add the syrup to the egg whites, beating on low. (Add slower at first, then pour more quickly. Do not scrape the pan.) After all the syrup is added continue beating on med to high until candy loses its gloss, holds a definite shape and no long streams from a spoon. This will require about 15 minutes of beating. A test can be made before the beating is stopped and unless the dropped portion holds its shape immediately, beating should be continued.

When it is ready, vanilla is quickly stirred in, along with nuts and cherries, and then the candy is dropped on waxed paper in teaspoon-sized pieces. It may also be poured into a pan (8 x 11 inches) and cut into squares.

Aunt Anna’s Sugar Cookies (These are soft cookies.)

1 ½ cp powdered sugar
1 cp butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond flavoring
2 ½ cp flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Bake at 350ºF for 8 - 10 minutes.

Grandma Beisler's Caramel Fudge with Bitter Choc

1 box light brown sugar
1 T butter
1 cp whole milk

Put on stove and cook till it comes to a boil. Simmer to soft ball stage. Remove from stove and cool for a little bit. Add vanilla and beat. Pour into buttered pan.

2 squares bitter chocolate
Melt in double boiler and pour over caramel.

Mom says this is always a bit grainy, and I remember that, too.

Aunt Angie's Pie Crust

This is the recipe Angie used to make three pie crusts. When I asked if they were for 9" pies, she got really disgusted with me for asking, as if there were any other size, so I think that's what they're for. Actually, I think she got disgusted that I would ask such a silly thing because from her perspective, you use as much as you need and either freeze the rest or make something else (like cinnamon roll-up-thingies) with the left-overs.

3 cups flour
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp salt
7-8 T ice water

I just wanted to note that I'm putting this here for anyone who wants it, but I personally prefer a shorter dough made from a combination of butter and shortening :-)

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies (old, old Better Homes and Gardens)

3 T cocoa
2 cp sugar
1/2 cp milk
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cp)
3/4 cp peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
3 cp oats, old-fashioned

Mix cocoa and sugar. Add milk and butter. Stir till mixture boils. Boil 1 min without stirring. Remove from heat and quickly stir in peanut butter. Add vanilla. Stir in oats. May need a bit more oats. Shouldn't be too runny.

Drop by spoonfuls onto brown paper bag that's been cut open to lay flat.

Fresh Gingerbread (Susan, Alison Holst)

(You might also want to check out these recipes: Alison Holst's Gingerbread Recipe.) This recipe is from one of my dearest friends, who lives in NZ. It is so yummy and well worth grating all that ginger--I use quite a bit more than 1 tablespoon! In fact, I'd say I use a good 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup! This cake is so moist and beautiful to look at, but the taste is what you'll remember most--totally more-ish! I have looked in a couple of Alison Holst cookbooks but couldn't find this exact recipe. Susan is pretty sure her mom cut it out of the newspaper. Susan recommends that you eat this gingerbread with "tasty cheese," by which I think she means (sharp) cheddar.

1 egg
125g/4.5 oz butter, cubed
1/2 cup/125ml/4 fl oz boiling water
1/2 cup/100g/3.5 oz firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup/125ml/4 fl oz golden syrup
1 T fresh finely grated root ginger (or as much as you want)
1 3/4 cups/220g/8 oz flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated lemon rind
plus mixed spice, allspice

Cut butter into about 16 cubes, and pour water over them in a pot. Heat till butter melts, then remove from heat. Do not let mixture boil. Add brown sugar, golden syrup, unbeaten egg and root ginger. Mix thoroughly.

Sift all dry ingredients together into mixture, which should be lukewarm, add lemon rind and beat till relatively free of lumps.

Pour into ring tin (7 cups/1 3/4l/56 fl oz size); bottom lined with baking paper and sides lightly greased. Bake in preheated oven (180C/350F) for 25 minutes, leave to cool in tin for 5 minutes.

If baked in a loaf tin, takes about 50-60 minutes to bake.

Ice with ginger icing if desired.

Aunt Anna's Butterscotch Pie

Filling
1 cup dark brown sugar (198g)
3 T cornstarch (24g)
2 T flour (16g)
1/4 tsp salt (2g)
3 eggs (separated)
2 2/3 cups whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
6 T butter
(1 9" pre-baked pie crust)

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt in pan. Whisk together egg yolks and milk. Slowly whisk wet ingredients into dry ones. Cook on stove top on medium till thick, stirring constantly. After mixture gets thick, cook for at least 5 minutes longer, continuing to stir. (I'm not sure about that, really, since Aunt Anna said to just use my imagination about how long to cook it!) Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and butter. Pour into pie shell.


Meringue
Boil and let cool:
1 T cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
2 T sugar

Beat till stiff:
3 egg whites

Add cornstarch sugar water slowly.
Beat some more.

Slowly add:
6 T sugar

Beat a bit more.

Spoon onto pie filling.
Bake at 350F, 12-15 minutes or till lightly browned.

Stuffed Peppers

My mom actually requests that I make this. If that isn't a compliment, I don't know what is!

Adapted from the Joy of Cooking
Serves 4
Bake 10-15 minutes @ 350F

2 peppers, green or red (I prefer red.)
1/3 cp bulgur wheat
2/3 cp boiling water
1/4 - 1/2 lb hamburger
1 T oil
3 T minced onion
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika, at least
2 T Worcestershire sauce, at least

Cut peppers in half long-ways (so that they are like boats) and clean them out. Put them in boiling water (parboil them) and let them cook for about 8-10 minutes. Remove with tongs and put them in cold water to stop them cooking any further.

While the peppers are cooking, put the bulgur into the boiling water and cover. Cook on low for about 10 minutes, or till done (not crunchy). Remove from heat to cool a bit.

Brown the hamburger with the onion. Set aside to cool a bit.

Mix all the filling ingredients together except for the eggs. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add egg and mix. Place pepper cases in greased baking pan and fill them. If there is any filling left over, just put it in the pan around the peppers.

Bake. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Pie Crust

(Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book)

Makes 2 9" crusts

2 1/4 cp (270g) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cp (5 oz/144g) shortening (I like to use butter-flavored Crisco if I'm not going to have time to refrigerate the dough.) or 6 T each shortening (72g) and butter (3 oz) (refrigerate dough for at least 1/2 hour)
5-6 T ice water

I always cut the fat into the flour in two parts--the first part until it resembles cornmeal and the second part till there are pea-sized bits of shortening/butter left. In adding the water, it helped me greatly when I finally realized that pie crust should be on the dry side and biscuits on the wet side. Sprinkle 3 T of ice water over the flour mixture and then mix using a lifting motion with a fork. Sprinkle 2 more T of water and continue lifting motion till the liquid seems well-distributed. Set the fork aside and use your hand to pull the mixture together into a ball, squeezing very gently. Sprinkle a bit of water, using as little as possible, onto any dry flour mixture under the ball of dough or inside it if it is coming together yet falling apart at the same time. The object is to get the dough into a ball using as little water and squeezing as possible. Divide the mixture into two equal portions and place each on a piece of plastic wrap. (I keep mine in the fridge and use them over and over in my effort to be environmentally-friendly.) Flatten each ball into a disc about 5" in diameter, pull up the plastic wrap around it and place in the fridge.

Whole Wheat Biscuits

(1975 Joy of Cooking)

Whisk together:
7/8 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

Add and mix well:
1 cup whole-wheat flour

Cut into flour:
1/3 cup butter and shortening

Add 1 cup sour cream (esp. delicious) or buttermilk

Roll or pat out and cut.
Bake at 400F, 12-15 min

Sunset Biscuits

Sunset Magazine Cookbook

Whisk together:
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cut in:
1/3 cup shortening and butter

Add and mix lightly:
3/4 cup buttermilk

Lightly grease 8" pan.
Pat dough in pan and cut in pan.
Bake at 400F, 15-20 min.

Moosewood Fudge Brownies

(From Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook)

5 oz unsweetened chocolate (or 15T cocoa and 5 T oil)
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 3/4 cp packed light brown sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cp flour
1 cp chopped walnuts

Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 350F.

Gently melt the chocolate and then let it cool about 10 minutes -or- mix cocoa and oil.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in the vanilla.

Stir constantly as you drizzle in the melted chocolate. After all the chocolate is in, beat well for a minute or two.

Stir in flour and walnuts. Mix just enough to blend thoroughly.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cut into squares while still hot, then allow to cool for at least 10 minutes, if you can wait that long. :-)

Less-Sweet Pecan Pie

Simply Recipes
http://www.simplyrecipes.com

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 T molasses
2 T melted butter
2 T flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1 9-inch pie shell, unbaked, chilled for an hour if freshly made, defrosted for 10 minutes if frozen

Preheat oven to 375F. Spread pecans along the bottom of the pie shell. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans. The pecans will rise to the surface of the pie.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the filling has set. About 20 minutes into the cooking you may want to use a pie crust protector, or tent the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent the pie crust edges from burning.

Remove pie from oven and let cool completely.

Cinnamon Rolls

I used to use a recipe called T J Cinnamon's Cinnamon Rolls, but after much experimentation, I've finally decided to change my favorite recipe. I'll put the old one below, too, so you can compare. The new one is based on two recipes: the Kuchen Dough with Dry Yeast recipe (pg. 394, minus the lemon zest) from The Settlement Cookbook from 1947 and the filling recipe from the KitchenAid manual. I don't usually put any icing on my cinnamon rolls because "enough is enough and too much is superfluity," to quote my Grandma Beisler. However, I discovered that if you put a bit of Lorann's Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor to powdered sugar/cream icing, it becomes absolutely to die for! (That was really the only way I discovered to use this product that I felt I could recommend. I didn't feel that it gave anything else any particularly different flavor.)

Makes 18 rolls.
Dough
2 packages active dry yeast
2 cp scalded milk, cooled to 110F
1/2 cp butter-flavored Crisco (or a bit more is ok)
1 tsp salt
3/4 cp sugar
2 eggs
8 cp flour, about

Filling
1 cp granulated sugar
1 cp light brown sugar
1/4 flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 T cinnamon

Dissolve yeast in cooled milk, ca. 5-8 minutes. Cream Crisco, sugar, and salt. Stir in eggs, 2 cups flour and milk/yeast mixture. Keep working in flour until dough can be kneaded. It will be a softer dough than for bread--try to keep it as sticky as bearable. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning mix the filling together. Take the dough out of the fridge, punch it down and cut it in half. Roll each half out to a rectangle 1/4" thick, folding edges over a bit to make sure they stay straight. Sprinkle with filling, roll up (away from you) and cut in 1 1/4" pieces. Place cut side up in a greased 9 x 11" pan or on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Let rise 1 hour or till doubled. Bake at 325F for ca. 30 minutes, or till nicely browned. Remove from oven. Let rest in pan on rack for ca. 6 minutes. Turn out onto rack and then flip onto cutting board so rolls are right-side up. Separate with knife while still warm.

T.J. Cinnamon's Cinnamon Rolls

Posted by liz at recipegoldmine.com - May 15, 2001
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/cctti/tj-cinnamons-cinnamon-rolls.html

Source: Insiders Recipes For Brand Name Foods

Dough:
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled to 110 degrees F
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature

Filling:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Icing:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons warm milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For dough, dissolve yeast in water with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Let stand 5 minutes.

In mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar and salt. At low speed, gradually beat in milk, oil, eggs, and yeast mixture; beat until well blended. Beat in additional flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl.

On floured surface, knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise
in warm, draft-free area until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

For filling, beat all ingredients together until smooth. Set aside. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 18 x 10-inch rectangle. Spread with filling. Roll tightly from long side. Cut into 14 (1 1/4-inch) slices. Place 1 roll cut side up in center of each pan. Arrange remaining rolls in a circle of 6 around center roll. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, 30 to 40 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool in pans 10 minutes.

Invert onto wire racks, then invert again to cool. For icing, whisk all ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over cooled rolls.

Bridget's Mock Pumpkin Pie

3 cp (735 g)  sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (I boil them in a bit of water.)
2 cp (460 g) butternut squash, cooked and mashed  *
4 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cp half & half
1 heaping T flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
2 unbaked 9-inch pie crusts

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. In a very large bowl whisk the wet ingredients together.
3. In a small bowl whisk the dry ingredients together.
4. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
5. Pour the mixture into the pie crusts, dividing evenly.
6. Bake 15 minutes at 425F. Reduce heat to 350F. Bake until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

*Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Cover a half-sheet pan (or cookie sheet with edges) with foil and lightly oil it. Place squash cut side down. Bake at 350F for 30-45 min or till soft when pierced with a fork. When cool to the touch, peel and puree in a food processor or mash by hand.

Hummus

(Originally from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook but now sort of my own concoction)

3 cloves garlic (center taken out), sliced
1/2 cp packed curly-leaf parsley
3 scallions, cut in 1-inch pieces
3 cp cooked chick peas (2 15.5-oz cans, rinsed and drained or 1/2 lb dried)
8 T tahini
6 T lemon juice
1 tsp salt (depending how much was in chick peas)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cumin
1 T soy sauce
1/2 - 3/4 cp yogurt
1/2 - 3/4 cp sour cream
1/4 tsp sembal oelik (chili-garlic paste)
1/4 - 1/2 cp olive oil

Place garlic, parsley and scallions in a food processor and mince.

Add next ingredients down to and including the soy sauce and puree till smooth.

Add rest of ingredients starting with smaller amounts and puree, increasing amounts of whatever you think your humus needs more of.

Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate.

Princess Tea Cakes

Eating Well Magazine article:
Working on this makeover of a classic Russian Tea Cake made Bridget Klein feel closer to her late sister, Gina, because they are “a great match for her personality: delicate and refined, pretty to look at, and yet a definite character that inspires adoration and loyalty.” Gina's middle name, Sarah, means “princess,” in Hebrew; hence the name of these confections. Klein's mom “swore these cookies couldn't be made without butter,” she says, “until she tasted them.” Klein continues: “Gina was a traditionalist, too, but I think I might have been able to fool her with these.”


Makes 3 dozen cookies
ACTIVE TIME: 40 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 2 hours
EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup very finely chopped nuts, such as pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Pour oil into a medium bowl. Whisk all-purpose flour, white whole-wheat flour, 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch and salt in another bowl.
3. Mix half the dry ingredients into the oil by spoonfuls. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add vanilla. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients by spoonfuls until thoroughly combined. (The mixture will resemble creamed butter and brown sugar.) Stir in nuts.
4. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls; place about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
5. Bake the cookies until just set, being careful not to let the bottoms get too brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.
6. When the cookies are still warm, but no longer hot, roll them in the remaining 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar and place them back on the rack to continue cooling. (Reserve the sugar.) When the cookies are completely cool, roll them in the sugar again.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per cookie: 105 calories; 7 g fat (0 g sat, 4 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 11 g carbohydrate; 1 g protein; 1 g fiber; 8 mg sodium; 19 mg potassium.
1 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1 other carbohydrate, 1 fat
MAKE AHEAD TIP: Prepare the dough (Steps 2 and 3), cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Roll in the second coating of confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Grandma Beisler’s Molasses Taffy

1 (1 lb) box brown sugar
1 bottle dark Karo (2 cups)
2 T butter

Stir continuously.
Boil to hard crack (stringy): 300ºF
Pour onto marble. Pick up (when cool enough) and pull till pale brown.

Grandma Beisler’s Sugar Cookies

(also called Aunt Dot’s Sugar Cookies b/c she made them for Gma)
1 cp Crisco
2 cp sugar
4 eggs (room temp)
1 T vanilla
5 - 5 1/4 cp flour
2 heaping tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cp milk

Cream sugar and Crisco.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add vanilla.
Sift flour, bp and salt together. Add alternately with milk.
Chill dough overnight.
Roll on well-floured board.
Bake at 350ºF for 10 - 15 minutes.

Modjeskas

Caramel

2 cp sugar
2 cp heavy cream
2 T butter
1 1/4 cp white corn syrup
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 pound marshmallows, cut in half with scissors (or see recipe below)

Combine sugar, 1 cup of the cream, butter, syrup and salt in a heavy 3- or 4-quart sauce pan. Put remaining 1 cup cream in a small pan and heat it separately. Bring sugar-cream-butter mixture to boil, stirring constantly. Wipe down sides of pan with wet cloth or cover with lid briefly to dissolve remaining sugar crystals.

When it begins a rolling boil, dribble the hot cup of cream into the boiling mixture, stirring. Don’t let the boiling stop. Cook over medium heat, stirring as necessary to prevent scorching, until thermometer registers 238 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Allow cooked caramel to stand 10 minutes before starting to dip. Drop marshmallow half into caramel, then, with a fork, turn it over to coat completely and lift out, pulling the fork over edge of pan so surplus runs back into pan.

Place each piece on buttered or oiled surface, such as cookie sheets or clean counter top. When set, wrap each piece separately in square of waxed paper.

Marshmallows

2 T gelatin (2 envelopes)
1/2 cp cold water
2 cp sugar
3/4 cp light corn syrup
1/2 cp hot water
2 tsp vanilla
Confectioners’ sugar

Put gelatin in an electric mixer bowl. Pour in water and mix well. Let stand. Put sugar, corn syrup and hot water into a saucepan and blend well with a wooden spoon. Place over low heat until sugar is all dissolved and then increase the heat. When mixture boils, put in candy thermometer and continue cooking without stirring. When thermometer registers 244º to 246º, remove from heat and pour into gelatin, beating all the while. Continue beating until candy thickens and is slightly warm. At least 15 minutes is required. Blend in vanilla and our into two pans (7 x 7) that have been lightly buttered and dusted with cornstarch. Set in a cool place or refrigerator until firm. Remove from pan and cut into pieces, dusting each piece well with confectioners’ sugar. Scissors can be used if dipped in confectioners’ sugar between cuttings.

Springerle

..

1 lb powdered sugar (3 1/2 - 4 cp)
4 eggs (room temp)
1 T + 1 tsp butter
1 T corn syrup
1 lb flour (3 1/2 cp)
1 1/2 tsp anise oil

Beat eggs till light yellow and thick. Add sugar, beating well after each addition. Add remaining ingredients.

Roll out with a normal rolling pin to about 3/8" thick. Dust dough with cornstarch to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Roll out with springerle rolling pin to about 1/4" thick. Cut apart and place towels to dry out overnight. Transfer cookies to greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 300º - 325º for about 15 minutes. They should be white, not yellow or brown.

These are soft. If you would like them hard, leave out the butter and corn syrup.

Bourbon Balls (Aunt Angie's)

1 (1 lb) box (3 1/2 - 4 cp) powdered sugar
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cp)
1/3 cp bourbon (Old Forester)

Mix sugar and butter with fork.
Add bourbon and mix.
Roll into balls and place on waxed paper.
Chill in fridge. Reroll if necessary--may have been too soft and blobbed out.
Dip in dark chocolate (also delicious with some Creme de Menthe oil added). Note that confectionery coating should not be heated over 115F.
Place on wax paper to harden. They do not need to be refrigerated again.

Chocolate Syrup

From Chocolate on the Brain by Kevin and Nancy Mills

Makes: 1 cup
Prep time: 5 min
Cooking time: 5 min


1/2 cp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cp brown sugar
1/2 cp water
1/3 cp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the cocoa, brown sugar, water and corn syrup in a small pot and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring continually. Cook for 1 minute. Remove form the heat and let cool. Stir in the vanilla. Serve immediately or when needed.

Marble Cake Supreme (Grandma Beisler’s recipe)

2 3/4 cp (330g) sifted cake flour
1 3/4 cp (350g) sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cp vegetable shortening
3/4 cp (180g) milk
2 tsp vanilla
3 unbeaten eggs
1 unbeaten egg yolk
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/16 tsp cloves
3/8 tsp allspice
3/8 tsp nutmeg
3/4 T cocoa

Preheat oven to 370 F. Grease and flour a 10-in tube pan.

In a large mixing bowl sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add shortening, milk, vanilla, and 1 egg. Beat 2 min on low. Scrape bowl. Add remaining 2 unbeaten eggs and the egg yolk. Beat 2 more min.

Put 1/3 batter in a smaller mixing bowl. Add cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and cocoa.

Spoon both batters alternately by tablespoonfuls into prepared tube pan. Run spatula through batter several times to marble.

Bake for 60 – 70 min or until cake tests done. Cool in pan and then remove. When completely cool, spread with Lemon Cream Icing.

Lemon Cream Icing:
2 T shortening
1 T butter or margarine
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated lemon rind
1 T lemon juice
3 cp (340g) confectioner’s sugar
5 T scalded light cream
Yellow food coloring, optional

Blend together shortening, butter, salt, juice, and rind. Beat in 1/2 cp confectioner’s sugar, and then add alternately remaining sugar and cream, beating well after each addition.

Grandma's Devil's Food Cake

My grandmother was famous for this light chocolate cake, its cocoa-rich layers spread with sinfully rich, fudgy frosting. My friends maintain that it gets better as it keeps in the refrigerator, but I'll never know for sure because mine always disappears too quickly to find out. --Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book.

Makes one 8-inch 2 layer cake (cut recipe in half for one 6-inch 2 layer cake)

1/2 cp unsweetened cocoa
1 cp boiling water
1 1/2 cp sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 T unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cp granulated sugar
2 lg eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract


Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

Place the cocoa in a bowl and pour in the boiling water; stir to dissolve the cocoa and cool slightly.

In a medium-sized bowl stir together the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter until fluffy, about 1 minute, then gradually beat in the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time; add the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the dry ingredients alternately with the cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Divide batter between the prepared pans, smoothing the tops. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it; do not overbake or the cakes will become too dry. Cool in the pans on a rack for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen from the pans and turn layers out on the rack, placing one upside down and the other right side up.

Brush any loose crumbs from the layers and place one upside down on a serving plate. Spread with about 1 1/4 cp of the frosting. Center the remaining layer, right side up, over the top. Frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting, making decorative swirls around the sides and over the top. Chill to set the frosting but return to room temperature before serving.

Grandma's Fudge Frosting

This thick, fudgy, not too sweet frosting begins with a granulated sugar and heavy cream mixture that is simmered for ten minutes before the chocolate is added, and then cooled to an ideal spreading consistency.

Makes 3 cups.

1 1/2 cp granulated sugar
1 cp heavy cream
6 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 T unsalted butter, sliced
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a heavy medium-sized saucepan combine the sugar and heavy cream. Place over moderate heat and, stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes without stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate, butter, and vanilla, continuing to stir until chocolate and butter melt. Turn into a bowl and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate, stirring frequently, until thickened and of a good spreading consistency. Use to frost a cake before the frosting sets completely.

**I beat the frosting when it gets thick so that it is light and fluffy.