Baking Powder Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup shortening (I usually use butter. It's yummy.)

3/4 cup buttermilk or milk made sour with 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice

(they also have a powdered buttermilk that I just tried and really like)

Mix together dry ingredients and cut in shortening (or yummy butter). Add buttermilk slowly and stir with a fork until it forms a soft dough. Growing up we rolled them out and cut out circles, but now we make them into drop biscuits. It's easy and we love them. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Oreo Cake

36 Oreos (made into crumbs)

1 stick of butter or margarine (melted)

Combine Oreos and butter and press into 9x13 pan. Freeze for one hour.

Make Fudge and place in refrigerator to cool completely.

Fudge

1 stick margarine or butter

2 cubes unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter and chocolate in saucepan over medium heat. Add powdered sugar and stir. Add evaporated milk and stir. Bring to a boil. Boil 4 minutes. Put on a hot pad in refrigerator until completely chilled.

Soften a half gallon of vanilla ice cream and spread over crust. Freeze for one hour.

Spread hot fudge over ice cream and freeze one hour.

Spread whipped topping over fudge and keep in freezer until ready to serve. Decorate with any additional cookies (that did not get eaten) as desired.

Andes Mint Cookies

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 Tablespoons water

12 oz chocolate chips

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 boxes Andes mint cookies (or one 8.5 oz bag should be more than enough. It might even be enough for a double batch if you don't have a cuteness kid snatching a mint, or two or three, every time you turn around. I wouldn't know for sure.)

Melt butter, sugar, and water. Add chocolate chips until melted.

Pour into large mixing bowl and let cool 10 minutes. At high speed add eggs. Reduce speed and add combined dry ingredients. Chill dough for 1 hour. Roll into small balls and place on foiled-lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes. Place unwrapped Andes mint on top of each cookie as soon as you take it out of the oven. Spread around with a knife after mint has melted completely.

Whole Wheat Bread

The Sponge:

4 ½ tsp active dry yeast (or 2 packets)

¾ cup warm water

1 cup whole wheat flour

Mix ¾ cup warm water and yeast, then add 1 cup whole wheat flour and mix vigorously. Let sit for 45 minutes. It will reach a peak of expansion and then settle down a little. That’s when it’s time to do this:

While mixing add:

The Dough:

2 ½ cups warm water

2 cups whole wheat flour

Stir very well and add

½ cup wheat gluten

2 ½ Tbsp vegetable oil

⅓ cup honey

1 Tbsp salt

Mix very well and add slowly:

3 cups of whole wheat flour (or a bit more until it’s a good bread consistency)

Knead 20 minutes

Place into pans and let rise in a warm place or slightly warm oven for 1 hour

Bake at 325° for 20-30 minutes, depending on loaf size and how your oven works. It should be a very light golden brown, not a dark brown.

Pancakes & Syrup

4 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

2 cup milk

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

About 3 cups flour

Beat eggs, add oil and milk. Stir. Combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to eggs and mix until smooth. Should be thin enough to pour easy, but not runny.

Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup water 1/4 tsp maple flavoring

bring sugars and water to a boil. Remove immediately. Add maple flavoring. I always fill the sink partially with cold water and set the pan in there, stirring to help cool.

German Pancakes

4 eggs

1 T sugar

½ t salt

2/3 cup sifted flour

2/3 cup milk

2 T softened butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter well 9” pan. Put eggs in blender, cover and blend until light yellow in color. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake 20 minutes; reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Pudding Casserole

1 box vanilla wafers

2 boxes cook and serve pudding (we used chocolate, it's yummy!)

12 oz whipped topping

Line bottom and sides of 9X13 pan with vanilla wafers. Make pudding according to directions. We never bring it all the way to a boil. We're impatient like that. Once it is deemed thick enough we pour it slowly over the cookies. Top with a few more cookies if you want. We do because we like it that way. Cover with saran wrap, so the saran wrap is sticking to the pudding. This keeps away that nasty film that we don't like so much. Chill for 4 hours. Top with whipped topping. Keep chilled until ready to serve. If you can stay out of it for that long. Good Luck!

Pesto

*3 bunches basil

1 cup olive oil

3/4 cup grated parmesian (not the stuff in a can! you have to use real cheese!)

(pecorino romano or any other hard white chees works well, too)

1 package (2.25 oz) pine nuts - toasted

3-4 cloves garlice - sauteed (barely browned)

2 tomatoes - diced (optional)

2 chicken breasts - cooked, cubed (optional)

1 box pasta (any shape; we used cellentani in the picture above) - cooked according to box directions

dash nutmeg (optional)

salt, pepper to taste

Puree the following in a blender or food processor: basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, cheese, and nutmeg. Stir into cooked pasta. Add diced tomatoes and chicken. Salt and pepper to taste. Buon appetito!

*Note: as with most of our Italian cooking, we don't really measure anything, so the above amounts are an approximation.

Corn Bread

1 cup corn meal

2 cups flour

1 T baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups sugar

¾ cup melted butter

4 eggs, separated

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine egg yolk, milk, vanilla, and melted butter. Stir into dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into batter.

Bake in 9x13 greased pan at 350 for 25 min. DO NOT OVER BAKE!!!

Mexican Lasagne

Sauce

2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 bottle taco sauce

2 cups cooked chicken

2 envelopes sazón

Filling

1 large can refried beans

1 cup sour cream

Sprinkles

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 can black olives, sliced

3 cups shredded cheese

1 lb box lasagna noodles

Layer in 9x13 pan in this order:

Sauce, noodles, filling, sauce, sprinkles, noodles, filling, sauce, sprinkles, noodles, sauce, sprinkles.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, remove plastic and cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour, then uncover and bake another 20 minutes.

Chocolate Essence of Angel

There are three parts to this. Cake, Mousse, and Frosting. YUM! We just made a Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix. Follow directions on box for a bundt cake. Let it cool. Cut off the top 1 inch of the cake and set it aside (Very Carefully). Hollow out a little trench, making sure to leave sturdy walls on each side. About 1 inch on each side.


Mousse

Watch this video to see how to correctly make it.

5 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tbsp Unsalted butter, diced
3 large eggs, separated
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Combine the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not simmering, water, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool until the chocolate is just slightly warmer than body temperature. To test, dab some chocolate on your bottom lip. It should feel warm. If it is too cool, the mixture will seize when the other ingredients are added.

3 Once the melted chocolate has cooled slightly, whip the egg whites in a medium bowl until they are foamy and beginning to hold a shape. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.

4 When the chocolate has reached the proper temperature, stir in the yolks. Fold in the whites, one third of it at a time.

5 Fold in the whipped cream, one third of it at a time.

Fill the trench in bundt cake with mousse and then place top back on in the right direction.

Frosting

3 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

Combine sugar and cocoa. Stir sugar and cocoa mixture into cream. Refrigerate 1 hour. Whip cream to soft peaks.

Frost cake. Keep Refrigerated. Enjoy Yumminess!

We plan on trying this as a layered cake as well. We'll post pictures as soon as we do.

Blueberry Muffins

INGREDIENTS


Muffins

· 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

· 3/4 cup white sugar

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 2 teaspoons baking powder

· 1/3 cup vegetable oil

· 1 egg

· 1/3 cup milk

· 1 cup fresh blueberries


Topping

· 1/2 cup white sugar

· 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

· 1/4 cup butter, cubed & softened



DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.