My Great Grandmother's Pound Cake

This is part of my family history!

2 sticks margarine
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup evaporated milk

Cream margarine, shortening, and sugar.  Add eggs, vanilla, and milk.  Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.  Add flour and baking powder and cream on slow speed for 7 minutes.  Bake in a bundt pan at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.  Do not open the oven.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.

For a chocolate version, which my great grandmother did NOT make:  Add 3/4 cup cocoa.  Decrease flour by about 1/4 cup.  Decrease eggs to 5.

Hershey's Syrup Chocolate Cake

This is a cake my mother and grandmother made when I was growing up.  It takes a whole can of Hershey's syrup, which I don't think they make anymore; you have to buy the bottles and measure.  It is best eaten cold.  I like how the frosting hardens when it is refrigerated.

1 stick margarine
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1 large can Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (or 16 ounces)

Cream margarine and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with the syrup.  Add vanilla.  Mix well.  Bake in a greased and floured 9X13 pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cool 10 minutes.

Frosting:

1/2 stick margarine
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons evaporated milk (or regular milk)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Boil margarine, sugar, and milk 2 minutes.  Turn off heat and add chocolate chips.  Beat until melted.  Pour onto warm cake.  Refrigerate.

The Best Scrambled Eggs

This the way my mother taught me to make scrambled eggs.  She makes the most delicious scrambled eggs.  Most people overcook eggs.  You won’t using her method.

2 eggs per person

1 slice cheese per person (Velveeta is the best)

Crack eggs and add cheese.  Turn on stove to medium heat.  Constantly stir eggs.  Remove from heat when they still look a little undercooked (you will still see some liquid) because they will continue to cook in the pan.  Salt and pepper to your liking.

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

INGREDIENTS for Cheesecake:

• 1 (8-inch) store-bought graham cracker crust – chocolate or regular*
• 1/2 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
• 1/2 cup frozen or fresh blackberries
• 6 ounces cream cheese
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

INGREDIENTS for Chocolate Glaze:

• 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I use 1/3 cup chocolate chips)
• ¼ cup whipping cream (or milk)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange raspberries and blackberries on the bottom of the crust (if using frozen berries, do not thaw; if using fresh, make sure they are not wet).

Beat together cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Beat in egg, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix well.

Carefully pour on top of the raspberries.

Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or just until set. Cool completely.

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate and whipping cream together over low heat, stirring often (I do this in the microwave).

Pour over the cheesecake. Chill several hours before serving.

*NOTE: If making your own graham cracker crust, keep in mind that this recipe is designed for an 8-inch pie pan (and many pie pans are 9-inch). If you use a 9-inch, you will probably have to adjust the cooking time (and obviously, the finished product will be slightly thinner).

Clark Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Ingredients

·         6 skinless, thin-cut, boneless chicken breast halves

·         6 slices Swiss cheese

·         12 slices deli cooked ham

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 cup all-­purpose flour

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/8 teaspoon paprika

·         1/8 teaspoon pepper

·         1 large egg

·         2 tablespoons 2% milk

·         1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

·

Sauce Ingredients

·         1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

·         1/2 cup sour cream

·         1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 7x11 inch baking dish with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.    Pound chicken breasts to ¼ inch thickness.

3.    Place 1 cheese slice and 2 ham slices on top of each breast. Roll up each breast, and secure with a toothpick. 

4.    In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, salt, paprika and pepper. In another bowl, whisk egg and milk. Place bread crumbs in a third bowl. Dip chicken in flour mixture, then egg mixture; roll in crumbs.  Place chicken on baking dish.

5.    Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes or until a thermometer reads 170°

6.    To make Cordon Blue Sauce:  In a small saucepan mix together the soup, sour cream, and lemon juice.  Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, and serve hot over chicken.  Makes about 2 cups; 8 servings of 1/4 cup each.

 

Fresh Herbs vs. Dried Herb Measurements

When using fresh herbs, the easy rule of thumb is to triple the amount of dried herbs called for in the recipe.  For example, 1 tsp. dried oregano equals 3 tsp. (1 TBS.) minced fresh oregano.

Self-Rising Flour Substitute

As a substitute for self-rising flour, place 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt in a measuring cup.  Add all-purpose flour to measure 1 cup.

Pumpkin Pie Tip

Try substituting eggnog for the milk in your next homemade pumpkin pie.

Cafe Rio Recipes

Cafe Rio Pork

1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic—minced
5-7 lbs pork butt

Directions:

Cook all together in a crock pot for 7-10 hours, shred meat, and cook 1 additional hour.

Café Rio Rice

3 cups water
3 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic–minced
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles—or equivalent fresh
½ onion
3 c instant rice

Blend cilantro, green chiles, and onion together in food processor. Place all ingredients, except rice, in pot on stove and bring to a boil.  Take pot off burner, add rice, and cover for 5 minutes.

Café Rio Dressing

1 ranch dressing packet (make as per recipe)
2 tomatillos (tomato like vegetable with a husk around them)
½ bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1/2 lime

Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

Serve with black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese.

Caramel Squares

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
3/4 cup margarine or butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda

Mix together and spread mixture on bottom of lightly greased 9X13 pan.  Make another 1/2 of this recipe and set aside for crumb topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until top is golden brown.

32 caramel squares
3 TBS. margarine or butter
3 TBS. of milk

Melt caramels, margarine, and milk together over medium heat on stove.  Stir and mix well so mixture will not burn on bottom of pan.  When it is melted, pour over the baked, cooled oatmeal crust.  Do not pour over the crust when the crust is hot.

16 oz. bag semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Sprinkle chocolate chips over caramel mixture.

Sprinkle reserved crumb topping over the chocolate chips.  It will not cover all of it, so sprinkle it evenly with gaps in between. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Chocolate Cake

This is the cake I made for my mother's 60th birthday.  Delicious!

1 Cup butter
1 Cup water--boiling
5 T. heaping cocoa
2 Cups flour
2 Cups sugar
½ t. salt
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 t. soda -- dissolved in little water
1 t. vanilla
½ Cup sour cream

Mix butter, water and cocoa together. Add dry ingredients. Mix the eggs, soda and vanilla in separate bowl and add to mixture. Gently mix in the sour cream; do not over mix. Bake in two 8" or 9" round cake pans (buttered and floured) for 50 minutes at 325 degrees. Remove from pans. Chill. Cut off the edges and frost with chocolate buttercream frosting.

The Best Cake

One of my sister-in-law's friends made this cake. I was skeptical as I saw everyone dive into this non-frosted cake. Where was the frosting? Turns out the cake is perfect without frosting--a whole bag of chocolate chips inside the cake is all it needs! Try it out for yourself:

yellow cake mix
chocolate instant pudding
vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water
1 package chocolate chips

Mix ingredients and pour into greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

The Best Cornbread Ever

This is a really great, sweet cornbread. It takes 5 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to bake. I was experimenting with cornbread recipes for an upcoming missionary zone conference meal. This is the first and last recipe I made!

1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups milk

Mix dry ingredients, make a well and add oil, butter, eggs, and milk into the center. Stir until just mixed (batter will be runny, but don’t be alarmed!). Bake in an 8" square pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. This doubles perfectly for a 9×13-inch pan.

My Favorite Soup--Broccoli Cheese Potato Soup

A friend at BYU made me this soup on a very cold, snowy Sunday. It was so delicious that, of course, I asked for the recipe. Twelve years later, it is still my favorite soup, and now I think it is Cameron's favorite soup--he ate 3 bowls of it tonight!

5 c. cubed potatoes
2 c. carrots, cubed diagonally
1 c. onions, chopped
1 ½ c. celery, chopped
10 oz. frozen broccoli
6 tsp. chicken granules (I used chicken bullion cubes)

8 T. butter
4 T. flour
2 c. milk
1 lb. cubed Velveeta
1 T. dry mustard
½ t. pepper

Bring water to a boil and dissolve chicken granules or cubes in water. Cook potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery until tender (about 20 minutes). Sometimes I add more water if the veggies absorb most of it.

Add broccoli towards the end, a couple of minutes before you add the cheese mixture. Broccoli will get mushy if you cook it too long.

Meanwhile, in another pan, melt butter and add flour. Gradually add milk. As it thickens, add Velveeta, dry mustard, pepper, and salt to taste. Pour all of this into steamed vegetables and broth.

Cereal and Yogurt Tips

I'm never quite sure how to tell if cereal is "healthy." I happened to catch short segments on a morning news program with information on how to choose healthy cereal and yogurt.

For cereal, you want the following:

1. At least 3 grams of fiber.
2. Less than 8 grams of sugar.
3. The word whole, grain, or oats in the first ingredient listed.

For yogurt, you want the following:

1. Zero grams of fat.
2. At least 20% of daily calcium, or 200 mg.
3. Around 12 twelve grams of sugar per 6-ounce container. Fruit added to the yogurt will increase the amount of sugar. Make sure sugar isn't coming from high fructose corn syrup.
4. 90-120 calories per 6-ounce container.

Sour Cream Chili Bake

This is the recipe that got Matt to eat chili! I didn't use the word chili (which Matt has always refused to eat) when serving this dish, and Matt loved it! And kids will eat anything with Fritos on top of it. I got this recipe from my favorite food storage blog.

1 lb. Ground Beef
¼ c. Chopped Onion
1 can (16 oz.) Kidney Beans, Drained
1 can (15 oz.) Tomato Sauce
1 envelope Taco Seasoning mix
1/4 c. Dehydrated Onions
1 can of Corn, Drained
1 c. (4 oz.) Shredded Cheddar Cheese
3½ c. Fritos
1¼ c. Sour Cream

Cook ground beef and onion until meat is browned and onion is tender; drain. Stir in beans, tomato sauce, taco seasoning, corn, onion and ¾ C. cheese. Sprinkle 2 ½ cups Fritos in bottom of 8×8 baking dish. Cover with Chili. Bake at 350 degree for 20-25 minutes. Spread sour cream of chili. Top with remaining corn chips and cheese. Bake 3-4 minutes longer.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This was a really yummy cookie. I liked the combination of cranberries and white chocolate chips. I'm not going to put the cookie recipe here because I really like my oatmeal cookie recipe better. So use my oatmeal cookie recipe and add 1 cup white chocolate chips and 6 ounces of dried cranberries instead of the chocolate chips it calls for.

Incredible 30-Minute Microwave Chicken

This recipe uses the Deep Covered Baker from The Pampered Chef.

1 whole chicken (3 ½ - 4 pounds)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Seasoning Mixture:

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1. Lightly spray deep covered baker with oil. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken cavity. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Trim excess fat, if necessary. Brush chicken with oil.

2. Combine ingredients for seasoning mixture and mix well. Completely coat outside of chicken with seasoning mixture. Place chicken, breast side up, in baker.

3. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 25-30 minutes or until instant read thermometer registers 165 degrees in thickest part of breast and juices run clear. Remove from microwave. Cover with lid and let rest 10 minutes (temperature will rise to 170 degrees).Yield: 4-6 servings

Variations:

1. Use rubs and seasoning mixes to give alternate flavors to your chicken.

2. All-in-one chicken dinner – prepare chicken as directed above and place in baker. Combine 1 cup each: celery and carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces, and 3 cups of red or russet potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces in bowl. Toss with additional seasoning, if desired. Arrange vegetables around chicken. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 35-40 minutes or until thermometer registers 165 degrees in thickest part of breast and juices run clear. Remove from microwave. Cover with lid and let rest 10 minutes.

Cookie Baking Day

So, finally, here are the recipes for the cookies we baked after Thanksgiving! We had a fun time and pretended we had an audience as we demonstrated our recipe. Hope you enjoy and get at least one new recipe idea. Happy holidays!

Heath Bar Cookies

This is the cookie Karissa made.

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 cups oatmeal

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

12 oz. chocolate chips

Skor or Heath bar pieces

Combine first five ingredients. Mix flour, oats, baking powder, and baking soda and mix with wet ingredients. Add chocolate chips and candy bar pieces.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove from baking sheet immediately after baking.