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Classic zucchini bread - one of the recipes that is splattered, tattered and torn.
ZUCCHINI BREAD
3 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cup sugar
1 cup oil
3 tsp vanilla
2 cup shredded zucchini
3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp soda
3 tsp cinnamon
1 cup nuts, optional
Mix all ingredients. Put in two bread pans. Bake at 325° for 45 minutes.
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It's so wonderful when a dish like this baking, the whole house smells incredible and the taste does not disappoint.
SMOKY OVEN-BARBECUED CHICKEN
2 T butter or margarine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup (I used half ketchup and half Siracha ketchup for extra spice)
2 T brown sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T liquid smoke
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
One chicken (quartered or cut into 8 pieces)
3 small onions, sliced
About two hours before serving:
In one-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and cook garlic for about two minutes or until lightly browned. Add ketchup along with next five ingredients plus 1/4 cup water; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 10 minutes occasionally stirring sauce.
Preheat oven to 375°. Arrange chicken pieces skin side up in large open roasting pan. Arrange onion slices over the chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and onions. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until chicken is tender. Occasionally baste with sauce.
You will want to have this cake in your arsenal for spring and summer; it's light, refreshing and quite delicious. Warning - even with the time-saving steps of a cake mix and Cool Whip it takes time to soak the poppy seeds and make the butterscotch custard but it's well worth the advance planning.
POPPY SEED CAKE
Soak 1/3 cup poppy seeds in water for two hours. Drain well.
Mix one (1) package Pillsbury white cake mix (with pudding in mix) per directions. Adds seeds to batter and bake in 11" x 14 pan. (A 9" x 13" pan will also work). Bake per directions and cool.
Custard Layer
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
In heavy saucepan over medium heat, cook the above ingredients until thick approximately 12-15 minutes. This burns easily so whisk constantly. Cool custard mixture.
Spread cooled custard mixture on top of cooled poppy seed cake. Frost with whipped topping (aka Cool Whip).
My boys are pancake connoisseurs. "Stevie's" are the bar to which all others are compared. How could I resist a recipe hailed as the 'best pancake ever' according to Southern Living magazine? After all, buttermilk was on hand after baking the German Chocolate Cake.
One bite in, they both agreed - these are good, really good. Better than Stevie's? They wouldn't go that far....just different.
Your weekend needs these, you will thank me later.
BUTTERMILK PANCAKES
Recipe courtesy of Southern Living
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk together buttermilk and eggs; gradually stir into flour mixture. Gently stir in butter. (Batter will be lumpy). Let stand 5 minutes. Pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto a hot (350°) buttered griddle. Cook pancakes 3 to 4 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look dry and cooked. Turn and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until brown. Place pancakes in single layer on baking sheet and keep warm in 200° oven up to 30 minutes.
Why not have one more German Chocolate recipe? This one is, well, a bit more involved than the German Chocolate Bars.
As this beautiful slice of cake was lifted out I asked which one of my family members was going to take a bite and give me their review. No takers. Zero. Nada. Zilch. They don't like coconut. What?! Ranger Cookies are one of their very favorites, so let's just keep it a secret coconut is a main ingredient.
What would Grandma do with an unwanted cake? The real answer: It would meet the garbage disposal. True. If something was deemed subpar down the disposal it went. It was a family joke her garbage disposal ate better than most households. I couldn't do it. I simply did not have the will to destroy this project. So, the cake found its way to my husband's office. A much, much better ending. (It was loved).
GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 - 4 oz. bar of sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Over low heat, melt the baking chocolate and water until melted. Remove from heat and cool.
Combine the flour, soda and salt in bowl. Stir, set aside.
In mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beat again until combined (1 minute). Beat in the cooled chocolate mix. Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk, beating on low after each addition until just combined.
Grease and flour baking pans. Cake can be made in either 8" or 9" layers. For 8" layers, bake approximately 35-40 minutes; for 9", approximately 30 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, remove and cool completely. Frost middle and top with coconut-pecan frosting and sides with chocolate buttercream frosting.
COCONUT-PECAN FROSTING
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 lb butter (1/2 cup of butter)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup flake coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
Combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla in saucepan over medium heat. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. Add coconut and chopped pecans. Beat until thick enough to spread.
CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 T butter
2 2/3 cup powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Beat butter and powdered sugar together; add remaining ingredients mixing until smooth.
I'm back! There's no better way to return after a hiatus than with a recipe marked wtih one of Grandma's infamous (good!) notations in the corner of the card. My family agreed with her assessment. Rumor has it they are also wonderful as an accompaniment to a bowl of ice cream.
Incredibly easy, very gooey, lots of chocolate....how could they not be good?!
GERMAN CHOCOLATE BARS
32 caramels
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 box German chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 package (6 oz). chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (I used pecans)
Preheat oven to 350°.
Melt caramels with 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Stir by hand the cake mix, melted butter and remaining 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Place 1/2 cake mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 6 minutes.
Remove from oven and while hot, sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Drizzle with caramel mixture over the top. Place remaining cake batter over caramel drizzle. (There will not be enough to completely cover so dab "here and there").
Bake 18-20 minutes. Cool, cut and enjoy!
Grandma's Gingerbread - a holiday tradition. My recipe is a photo copy out of one of her old cookbooks and I especially love the lead-in description: "Deliciously rich, black and moist. Grandma knew it as "Fort Atkinson Gingerbread" in the popular old brown covered Gold Medal Cook Book that was a treasure trove for brides in the 1870's."
This is not sweet and cake-like, the emphasis is on the bread in gingerbread. In fact, my father likes to eat it buttered just like a slice of bread. It's his favorite....and one of my favorites to make at Christmas.
GINGERBREAD
1/2 cup soft shortening (butter)
2 T sugar
1 egg
1 cup black New Orleans molasses
1 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups sifted flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
Thoroughly mix together the shortening, sugar and egg. Blend in the molasses and boiling water. Sift together the flour, soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon; stir into the wet mixture beating until smooth.
Pour into a well-greased and floured 9" square pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Cut into 3" squares in pan. Keep hot and serve piping hot with sweetened whipped cream or topping of your choice.
I read Marcus Samuelsson's autobiography, Yes, Chef: A Memoir and was inspired to try recipes from his cookbook Marcus Off Duty. These cookies are his Swedish grandmother's recipe and in the comments he notes her kitchen was one of his favorite places to hang out as a kid. Sounds familiar. In Swedish, Mormor means grandmother.
The first time I made these, I planned to serve when having guests to our home. My oldest son consumed so many I had to hide the rest. If you like a soft, spicy, molasses cookie then this is the recipe for you.
MORMOR'S SPICE COOKIES
Recipe courtesy of Marcus Samuelsson, Marcus Off Duty cookbook.
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 T baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
10 T unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup molasses
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and cloves in a small skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring with wooden spoon until fragrant 2-3 minutes. Immediately scrape the spices into a bowl. Add flour, baking soda, salt and white pepper and whisk to combine.
Beat the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the molasses. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake until the tops feel firm when lightly touched, 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely. Let the baking sheets cool, line with fresh parchment and bake rest of cookies.
Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.
Simple sugar cookies! I received this recipe from a friend a few years ago and it's become a staple at our house during the holidays. No refrigeration required, easy to roll out and delicious.
Of course, even easier when I do not frost individually but quickly drizzle holiday colors across all of the cookies. Enjoy!
SIMPLE SUGAR COOKIES
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 cups flour
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time, blending after each addition. Blend in vanilla and lemon juice. Add flour, salt and baking powder. That's it! Roll out and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Decorate as you desire.
A fun little gooey, sweet chocolate bar.
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CRUMBLE BARS
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
2 T cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup nuts, optional
2 cups miniature marshmallows
6 oz (1/2 package) chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups Rice Krisipie cereal
Cream together margarine and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and nuts (if using). Spread into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle on marshmallows. Return to oven for 3 minutes. In large saucepan, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter. Add rice cereal , then spread over top of marshmallows. Refrigerate and cut into bars.
My family falls into the "no bean" chili category and after years of tinkering with recipes, I've landed on a couple that please the soup connoisseurs in my home. So, when I was going through Grandma's recipe box and found chili...I hesitated. It has (gasp!) beans, green pepper and celery. My family gave me the green light to try it anyway. This chili is good, really good. As it simmered all day, multiple bowls were consumed throughout the course of watching multiple football games. Put a check mark in the W column for this one. (Feel free to bring up the heat to your taste as it is mild).
CHILI
2 lbs. hamburger
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 can tomato paste
1-28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 quart V8 tomato juice
1 can red kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
Brown hamburger until slight pink. Add onion and green pepper, finish browning hamburger. Drain. Return to stockpot, add salt, paprika, chili powder and tomato paste. Mix well. Add celery, crushed tomatoes and tomato juice.
Simmer at least one hour; add beans and heat through.
Nothing better with a chill in the air than waking up to coffee cake...this one is dense, moist and not-too-sweet. Perfect for a weekend morning with a cup of coffee and newspaper.
Doesn't it look pretty? The confession: the rest of the cake did not want to leave the bundt pan in a proper fashion. It was slightly mangled and disheveled but did not deter my family from consuming. The pecans are partially the key to not having the gooey sugar stick to the pan (I omitted due to family preference) and removing from bundt pan in timely manner.
SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
1 cup butter (room temperature)
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 cups flour
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
Topping / filling:
2 cups chopped pecans
8 T dark brown sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
Grease bundt or tube pan. Mix topping ingredients together.
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Add vanilla. Mix or sift together salt, soda, and flour. Alternating, add flour mixture and sour cream. Sprinkle small amount of topping ingredients on bottom of pan; add half of batter. Sprinkle more topping and add remaining batter. End with a sprinkling of topping.
Bake at 300 degrees for ~ 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool slightly (10 minutes) and remove from pan.
Chocolate and bananas are - to me - a match made in heaven. My family loves banana bread so how could they not love it with the double addition of chocolate? The kitchen was filled with glorious scents, the loaf was cooled just enough, my boys came home from school and refused to even eat a slice. To them, it was simply awful to add chocolate to banana bread and I was crazy to even think it would be good, let alone delicious.
Well, I had to slice into to take the picture so of course I tried the loaf. It is fantastic. So, I begged for them to just give it a try. Nope. Not happening. Clearly I did not need nor want to consume the entire loaf and in a fit of frustration sent a text to a friend that my delicious double chocolate banana bread was going into the trash. The family was willing to rescue the loaf.
I am happy to report they agreed with my assessment - it's a really good combination.
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD
Recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour.
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 T Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 cup unsalted, softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)
1/2 cup cold sour cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips - regular or mini-sized
Preheat oven to 350 degrees; lightly grease 9" x 5" loaf pan. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa. In separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in egg; then stir in vanilla, banana and sour cream. Gently mix in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips until well incorporated.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. When finished allow to rest in pan 10 minutes. Turn the bread out onto a rack to cool completely.
Happy Independence Day weekend! How can you go wrong with cherry pie on the 4th of July?
Perfect pie crust, rolled out into two rounds. Chill once rolled out. (or your pie crust favorite recipe)
1 cup sugar
2 T arrowroot
2 T cornstarch
2 lbs cherries, pitted. (I used Bing and Rainier).
Fit one of the crust rounds into pie dish, refrigerate. Preheat oven to 425.
Stir sugar, arrowroot and cornstarch together and then add to cherries. Stir mixture and allow to sit for about 15 mins.
Pour cherry mixture into chilled pie crust. Top with second pie crust, feel free to be fancy and make it lattice.
Brush crust with one egg yolk that has been beaten with approx. 1 T milk. Bake for 15 minutes at 425, then reduce oven heat to 350. Bake until cherry juices are bubbly. (A little foil on the crust does this trick if it gets too brown before the cherries are bubbling away.).
Allow to cool for a couple of hours before serving. Highly recommend serving with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!
Everybody needs a great no-bake recipe in their arsenal for those "mom, we need to take a dessert" moments. This one is a winner. After taking this to recent outing, I received an email that said "Thanks for bringing those amazing chocolate crispy chunks of deliciousness."
The original recipe notes: These are pretty intense and certainly on the sweet side so bite-sized portions are in order. Agreed!
TRIPLE CHOCOLATE SCOTCHEROOS (recipe compliments of David Lebovitz)
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup Nutella
6 cups rice cereal - a mix of chocolate-flavored and original or simply all chocolate
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
Butter or spray a 9x13" pan. In large saucepan, bring the sugar and corn syrup to a full boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, then stir in the peanut butter and Nutella. Mix with the rice cereal until completely coated. Press into the greased pan making sure the top is smooth.
Melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in a clean, dry bowl over set over a double boiler or in a microwave, stirring gently until smooth and well blended. Spread over the rice cereal mixture and cool until set.
No clue why they are called Arizona Pineapple Bars...but these are sweet and refreshing, perfect for summer.
ARIZONA PINEAPPLE BARS
2 cup flour
2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple with juice
Grease and flour jelly roll pan. Mix all ingredients together all ingredients, spread batter in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Frosting
2 cups powdered sugar
4 T butter
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional
Beat all ingredients together until creamy. Add the chopped nuts if using. Spread on bars when warm.
These beans were at nearly every backyard barbeque, picnic or outdoor celebration I can recall from my childhood. A hearty, down-home side item rich with flavor.
COWBOY BEANS
1 can pork & beans
1 can baby lima beans
1 can kidney beans
1/2 lb bacon, diced
1 lb hamburger
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 T vinegar
Saute the hamburger, bacon and onion, drain. Drain the liquid from the lima beans and kidney beans. Mix all ingredients together. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes covered and an additional 30 minutes uncovered or put in slow cooker on low for several hours.
This meatloaf lives up to its name. It is good - really good. How did Grandma like to eat it? Cold, the next day, on slide of bread with mayonnaise and a pickle. I wouldn't know how that tastes, the meatloaf was devoured.
BEST-EVER MEATLOAF
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 slices bread
1 minced onion
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 - 2 lbs hamburger
Beat eggs in large bowl with fork. Add milk, salt, pepper and bread. Beat until the bread has disintegrated. Add remaining ingredients. Place in greased loaf pan (or shape into loaf and place on rimmed baking sheet/pan). Add topping: mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 tsp mustard. Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours.
These little cookies often make their appearance around Christmas. Then again, my boys love them all year round. Soft, moist and cakey - a combination of a cookie and bite sized brownie.
CHOCOLATE CRINKLE COOKIES
1 2/3 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (8 T) butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla. Add flour/cocoa mixture, mix until combined on low speed.
Form dough into tablespoon-size balls, roll each ball into the powdered sugar. Place on parchment lined cookie sheets about 2" apart. They will crack and puff, watch to not over bake.
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes
A truly fitting name - these little guys melt in the mouth.
MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH SUGAR COOKIES
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
Cream butter, sugars and oil together. Add eggs - beat until smooth. Add flour, salt, cream of tartar, soda and vanilla. Mix well. Refrigerate dough overnight. Form into walnut-sized balls; place on greased cookie sheets. Flatten cookies with glass dipped in sugar and nutmeg (if using). Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Cool on rack. Yield about 5 dozen cookies.