What I'm cooking now:
May 2015
Two show-stopper dishes.
One's a dessert, one's an appetizer. You need to get them out of the house as soon as you make them. Trust Auntie on this.
#1. Janice's Sweet & Salty Bars.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Then take a "sleeve" of saltine crackers
and arrange them on the foil, one next to the other until they cover the foil
and cookie sheet. If a cracker breaks, use it to fill a hole.
Microwave a cup of sugar and two sticks of butter together, stir and remove from
heat.
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#2. Easy Baked Brie!This is a fun and easy take on creamy Brie cheese in a crust. You need a block of Brie and a can of refrigerated crescent rolls. That's pretty much it.
Unroll the crescents and place them on a lightly greased and foil-lined cookie sheet. Place them in an overlapping pattern. Remove the rind from the Brie and place in center of dough (see below).
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Maple-walnut bars, Feb. 2014.
Maple-walnut bars, like maple walnut ice cream only they don't melt.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft shortening
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 egg
2/3 cup sifted flour
1 cup chopped nut meats
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
Grease an 8x8 pan. Combine ingredients in order given and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Double ingredients and use 13x9 pan if desired.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft shortening
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 egg
2/3 cup sifted flour
1 cup chopped nut meats
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
Grease an 8x8 pan. Combine ingredients in order given and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Double ingredients and use 13x9 pan if desired.
Rice-Krispie Holiday Creations. Dec. 2013.
Every year we celebrate Christmas With my In-Laws on Twelfth Night. For the past few years, I've been bringing a statement dessert, usually made with Rice Krispies or some other form of cereal, plus marshmallows. This is a Christmas tree made with Fruity Pebbles. The snowman Marshmallow Peeps are carolers. I had little carol books made of Hershey squares, but they either fell off or got eaten.
The next year, I went with a North Pole theme. I made the igloo out of generic Froot Loops and had the fishermen catching Gummy Fish. A fun theme.
In the third year,
I made the Cathedral of Notre Dame
out of Cocoa Pebbles,
with Hershey bars for the doors.
I made stained-glass windows
out of Life-Savers
and put an electric candle inside
to draw the faithful, below.
I made the Cathedral of Notre Dame
out of Cocoa Pebbles,
with Hershey bars for the doors.
I made stained-glass windows
out of Life-Savers
and put an electric candle inside
to draw the faithful, below.
Midnight Mass.
Recipes
KATHY BAILEY’S BLOND BROWNIES
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 ½ c. granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Etc. (see below)
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease and flour a 13x9 pan.
Melt shortening in saucepan, then remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla.
(Do the sugar FIRST, or you’ll have scrambled eggs in your cookies.) Add
the flour, baking powder and “etc.” to the mixture. Bake 30 minutes, cut into squares.
I got this when I was first married from a book called “How I Feed My
Family on $16 a Week.” This recipe got me through raising two girls, 18 months apart, and their various
“activities.” The beauty of this is that it can use almost anything you have in the pantry – chocolate chips,
raisins, walnuts, thus the “etc.” These freeze fairly well. They tend to dry out after a couple of days,
so best to freeze some if you’re not planning on a crowd.
Variations:
Chocolate chip and walnut; Plain chocolate chip; Butterscotch chips; Raisin and walnut; Plain raisin; Plain walnut; Brown sugar instead of white. Sprinkle coconut on top when almost baked; lightly brown, take out.
Frost or unfrost. For the holidays: stir in colored “fruitcake” fruit and ice with white icing. I call this my “fake fruitcake.”
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 ½ c. granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Etc. (see below)
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease and flour a 13x9 pan.
Melt shortening in saucepan, then remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla.
(Do the sugar FIRST, or you’ll have scrambled eggs in your cookies.) Add
the flour, baking powder and “etc.” to the mixture. Bake 30 minutes, cut into squares.
I got this when I was first married from a book called “How I Feed My
Family on $16 a Week.” This recipe got me through raising two girls, 18 months apart, and their various
“activities.” The beauty of this is that it can use almost anything you have in the pantry – chocolate chips,
raisins, walnuts, thus the “etc.” These freeze fairly well. They tend to dry out after a couple of days,
so best to freeze some if you’re not planning on a crowd.
Variations:
Chocolate chip and walnut; Plain chocolate chip; Butterscotch chips; Raisin and walnut; Plain raisin; Plain walnut; Brown sugar instead of white. Sprinkle coconut on top when almost baked; lightly brown, take out.
Frost or unfrost. For the holidays: stir in colored “fruitcake” fruit and ice with white icing. I call this my “fake fruitcake.”
Two variations on the sugar cookie.
I could never make the basic sugar cookie come out the way my mom's did -- or just about anyone else's. These two recipes take the guesswork out with extra ingredients that add the necessary creaminess. The eggnog recipe is from Audrey Maloon of Plymouth, Mass. I found it in a newspaper. Not sure where I found the sour cream one, but both work for the sugar-cookie challenged.
Eggnog sugar cookies
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup eggnog
1/3 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
About 4 cups flour
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggnog and nutmeg; mix well.
Add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Chill. Roll thin on floured surface and cut
with cookie cutters. Bake on greased and floured cookie sheet, 6 to 7 minutes; cool.
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup eggnog
1/3 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
About 4 cups flour
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggnog and nutmeg; mix well.
Add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Chill. Roll thin on floured surface and cut
with cookie cutters. Bake on greased and floured cookie sheet, 6 to 7 minutes; cool.
Sour-cream sugar cookies
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp. sour cream
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Cream together sour cream, butter, sugar and salt. Add vanilla and egg; combine thoroughly. Sift
flour and baking soda in separate bowl, and add to butter and sugar mixture gradually. Wrap dough in waxed paper, refrigerate ¼ hour. Grease and flour pans and preheat oven to 375. Roll out cookies and cut. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp. sour cream
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Cream together sour cream, butter, sugar and salt. Add vanilla and egg; combine thoroughly. Sift
flour and baking soda in separate bowl, and add to butter and sugar mixture gradually. Wrap dough in waxed paper, refrigerate ¼ hour. Grease and flour pans and preheat oven to 375. Roll out cookies and cut. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.