au gratin potatoes

8-10 medium potatoes

1 lb of cheese

1 stick butter

1/2 cup flour

2 1/2 cups of milk

garlic powder

salt

pepper

directions:

Wash potatoes and put in a large pot. fill with water to just covering all potatoes. turn on hi. boil until potatoes are soft enough to pierce with a fork easily.

pour off hot water and fill with cold water to cool potatoes down. I sometimes do this twice to hurry the process along.

using a regular table knife gently peel off the peels of the potatoes and then dice the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. place in a large bowl or casserole dish.

Dice the cheese into small cubes. add to potatoes

to make the white sauce start by melting the butter in a saucepan. as soon as it is melted add the one-half cup of flour and stir quickly. once the flour is completely mixed with the butter add the milk and whisk it well. stir constantly over medium heat adding garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. when the sauce is thickened, pour it over the potatoes and stir. sometimes I put the bowl in the oven again to melt the cheese, but sometimes the hot sauce does the job nicely.

I usually dice the cheese while the potatoes are boiling. also, when making the white sauce I try to have all of my supplies right there such as the whisk, wooden spoon, milk, flour, salt pepper, and garlic so that I don’t risk having to leave the sauce to fetch an ingredient.

Peanut Clusters

10 oz bag of butterscotch baking chips

8 oz can of roasted peanuts

This recipe is so very easy and simple but I thought I would put it up on the blog in case people didn’t know or couldn’t remember how mom would make these. She would always make them around Christmas time if I recall. It’s as simple as melting The butterscotch chips and then dumping the peanuts in and stirring it up. Then spooning clusters onto wax paper or foil. They will cool down and be ready to eat shortly.

Chocolate chip cookies

Pre heat oven to 375

2 cups of butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups of white sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Mix well

Add:

5 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1tsp salt

1 bag chocolate chips

Spoon onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes

When mom would make chocolate chip cookies she would double the recipe. this recipe is for a double batch. On the bag of chocolate chips where she got the recipe it would say to use the whole bag of chocolate chips but mom would double the recipe and still only use half the bag of chocolate chips so she could get more batches of cookies out of one bag of chocolate chips. I use one whole bag of chocolate chips for this recipe or if I’m buying bulk chocolate chips from Cosco it is 2 cups of chocolate chips.

lemon bars

here is the recipe in case the photo is too hard to read:

crust:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup soft butter

combine and roll out onto 9 x 13 sheet.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

filling:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup flour

6 tbsp lemon juice

pour onto already baked crust bake for 20-25 minutes.

How lucky are we?  this is straight from moms recipe collection!  the only thing I need to add to this is a little clarification to moms instructions on how to know when it is done.  when the edges start to get brown and the top looks like a ton of little bubbles have popped all over it!

I believe the traditional way to serve these is to cut into squares and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

good luck!

Cream Puffs (shrimp puffs)

Puff Pastry

set oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (mom never used parchment paper, but she might have sprayed the sheet with baking oil)

combine in a saucepan:

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of butter, cut up

bring to boil.

turn to medium low

Add:

1 cup of flour

stir until it creates a ball of dough that pulls away from the sides of the pot

remove from heat and continue to stir to cool down.

Add four eggs one at a time, stirring after each egg, until the mixture is smooth and velvety.

Pipe the mix onto baking sheets in mounds about 2 inches wide and 1 inch tall. Leave at least 1 1/2 inches between each. you can use either a pastry bag, or just a ziploc baggie with the tip cut off. I believe mom even just spooned the batter on a time or two.

Dampen your finger with cold water to press down the peaks

Bake for 30 minutes

When they are cool, you can cut the tops off to insert the filling, or you can add the filling with a special tip on a piping bag.

Filling:

Mom always filled hers with a shrimp/cream cheese filling where she used one package of cream cheese, and one small can of baby shrimp(drained).

You can also make any pudding you happen to have or that you want

 

If you want to make eclairs, instead of making mounds, make longer, more eclair shaped shapes on the baking sheet.

No Bake Cookies

Ok, so this isn’t moms recipe that I know of, but it is one that we have loved.

2 c. sugar

1 stick margarine (or butter)

1/2 c. milk

4 T Cocoa

3 c. oatmeal

1 T peanut butter, heaping it (i usually add extra)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

put oatmeal, peanut butter and vanilla in a large bowl.

Combine sugar, margarine, milk and cocoa.  Stir constantly over med hi head and bring to a boil.  allow to boil 3 minutes.  Add to oatmeal mixture and mx well making sure to mix the peanut butter in and allowing it to melt.  Drop on waxed paper.  Let set until cold.

Tuna biscuit casserole

This is one of moms go to meals when we were poor.  (which was always…lol)  but my kids love it.

Mix in a bowl 2 cans of cream of chicken soup (i prefer cream of mushroom for added flavor, but have also used cream of brocolli, or cream of celery), 1 1/2Can of milk (use the can from the soup for measurement) and 1 can of tuna, drained.  Stir well and put in a cake pan.

 

baking powder biscuits:

2 1/2 cups flour

4 tsp baking Powder (not soda….it is nasty, don’t ask how i know)

1/4 cup sugar

dash of salt (optional)

mix well:

cut in 2/3 cup of shortening (use a pastry blender or a fork and continue to mix in the shortening until is in small pea size pieces)

slowly add 2/3 cup milk

Mom used to actually roll this dough out and cut biscuits.  I prefer to take this step out and just do drop biscuits.  My dough is pretty sticky but it is easy to drop biscuits and then I don’t have the mess on the counter.  If the dough is sticky and you prefer to roll out the dough just add another 1/2 cup flour.

 

bake at 400 until biscuits are brown on top.

 

 

 

Dinner Rolls

So these famous dinner rolls that mom made don’t really have specific measurements.  I will write up the instructions as I know them, but just know that if you remember differently it is probably also right.

 

Scald 2 cups of milk.  (cook on the stove until a slight skin forms on top of it.  Also, you can look to the sides for small bubbles.)  Pour over 1 stick of butter and allow the  milk to melt the butter.

Add 2 eggs and about 1/3 cup of sugar.   Stir well.   In a small bowl put about 1/2 cup of warm water.  Stir in 2 packets of yeast and allow it to sit for a minute.  While the yeast is “growing”  add about 2 to 3 cups of flour to your milk mixture and stir well.  Before the mixture is too thick go ahead and add the yeast mixture and mix well.  Now start adding flour one cup at a time until it is difficult to stir with the spoon.  At this point I put flour on my hand and a little more in the bowl and begin to knead the bread by hand until it is the desired thickness.  It should be a little bit sticky, but not too sticky to handle.  the amount of flour you add might be as little as 4 more cups, but as much as 6 more.  (since i never measure the milk or the water, that is what makes the difference for me.  so if you measure carefully, it should be a total of 6 cups of flour.  but you will learn as you go)

Once you can pick up the ball of bread take it out of the bowl and put it in a slightly oiled bowl to rise.  (I usually set it aside and wash out the bowl i made it in, then oil that bowl and use it again.)

After about an hour the dough will have doubled in size and you can form it into rolls, loaves, hamburger buns, or whatever you want.  i do this by shaping the item, then dipping in butter and turning into a pan.

Allow to rise again for a while.  Then bake at 375 until golden brown.

 

Good luck and feel free to post pictures or questions and we can refine these recipes!

Chocolate Pudding Cake

2 Cups Flour

3 Cups Sugar, Divided

4 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 C. Cocoa, Divided

1 C Butter, Melted (but cooled, it shouldnot be too hot)

1 C. Milk

2 Tsp. Vanilla

3 C. Hot Water

 

Preheat oven to 350.  In a 9 x 13 pan, combine flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 cup cocoa.  Mix well.  Add the butter and mix again.  Add milk and vanilla, mixing with a fork until well blended.  Use some muscle to get out the lumps as best you can.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar, and remaining 1/2 cup cocoa.  Sprinkle this mixture over the batter in the pan.  Pour 3 c. hot water over the entire pan. Do not stir.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven:  Allow the cake to set for 10 minutes.  (it will finish baking outside the oven).  The cake forms a cakelike crust on top with a puddinglike fudge layer underneath.  Serve hot with vanilla ice cream on the side.