Cross Family Cookbook

The End

2009-05-23T06:06:00.001-07:00

Well, folks. After only five months, we’ve reached the end of the project.

Over 17 dozen eggs, 57 pounds of sugar, and too much cheese and butter to even think about were used to cook these 175 recipes of the Cross Family Cookbook.

My oven is in dire need of being cleaned. My dishwasher has been working overtime. And my freezer is bursting at the seams with breads, cookies, fudge and muffins that we haven’t eaten yet.

I’ve scanned the recipes from the book into this website. I’ve updated some recipes with comments after-the-fact (P.S.). I’ve printed the dozen or so recipes I absolutely LOVED that I may actually make once in awhile (everything with chili sauce!). And I have the Cross Family Cookbook for future reference.

I’m not planning to make further updates here UNLESS someone sends me another treasured Cross family recipe that didn’t get included in the cookbook. Grandma’s divinity? Popcorn balls? I sure have the memories, but not the recipes.

Also, you can still make a Comment on this website and/or send me an email to keep in touch.

Happy Eating,

Robin
robinmazna@hotmail.com

Simple Pork Chops

2009-05-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

I made this final recipe for last night's dinner and was surprised by how good it was.

The only challenge was figuring out a McGuyveresque way to open the cans when my can opener broke.

I added some frozen green peas to this to add some color to the white pork and white butter beans.

Sour Cream Cookies

2009-05-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

The last cookie recipe, and it involves flour and a rolling pin. I woke up early this morning and decided to get started.

I had to improvise because my baking supplies are low. I ran out of flour before the dough was the right consistency, so I used cornstarch as a stand-in. Conveniently, I had read on the label a few days prior that it can be used in place of flour as a thickener. Sweet. The batter still didn't get thick enough to 'handle,' but it was certainly thick enough to drop by spoonful on a baking sheet, so that's what I did. Into the oven for twelve minutes.

Ten minutes later, I noticed smoke coming from the oven. NO! NO! NO! I got the pan out of the oven and hurried upstairs to take the batteries out of that smoke detector so Andy didn't have a rude awakening this morning. WHEW!

The cookies looked fine once I removed the charred edges, and I baked the rest of the batter.

I frosted these with the frosting I have left from the Coffee Drop Cookies.

Saucy Steak Skillet

2009-05-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

Except for making substitutions for the dried spices, I followed this recipe as writtern. An excellent dinner. We ate this from a bowl, and the meat was so tender I could cut it with my spoon.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

2009-05-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

These are delicious.

Quick "N" Easy Chicken

2009-05-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

I liked this as much as I liked the Chicken Drummies appetizer recipe Richard also submitted. I just wouldn't serve them at the same meal!

Tonight I used chicken breasts and the French dressing leftover from December.

B.G.'s Oatmeal Cookies

2009-05-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

These very tasty cookies were fun to make. This recipe made three and a half dozen.

And they look adorable.

Barbe-qued Spareribs

2009-05-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

The sauce was wonderful. I never knew I liked 'things with chili sauce' this much until I cooked from this cookbook.

Unfortunately, the meat I bought had a lot of gristle.

Oatmeal Crispies

2009-05-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

This makes three dozen wonderful cookies.

I used raisins, but chocolate chips would have been great.

I always use the old fashioned oats, even when a recipe calls for quick-cooking oats, and it doesn't seem to matter.

I dropped these by spoonful immediately, rather than chilling overnight.

The cookie dough on its own was pretty darn good, too.

Baked Salmon "Ala Cross"

2009-05-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

Everything was perfect!

Also, I noticed that four hours later the No-Bake Cookies has indeed set. I guess I didn't remember that it would take time. Now I feel bad that I threw out two attempts at the No Bake Chocolate Cookies. Maybe its for the best because I sure can eat a lot of them.

No-Bake Cookies

2009-05-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

It wasn't meant to be! These no-bake cookies didn't set either. I've made them probably a hundred times in my life, so it's not the recipes, it's just today.

Grandma Tauer's Cooky Turnovers

2009-05-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

No, this is not a picture of my finished "cooky." But it's what I had in mind when I started cooking.

I made the filling first. I was concerned that it would burn before it got thick, but when I added the walnuts it became thick enough.

Next, the dough. Before I added flour, it was very thin. I didn't think it would ever get to the right consistency. I added flour, more flour, more flour. I must have added three or more cups of flour before it got to the right consistency. I almost gave up and was going to make these in muffin tins, but the dough tasted like sugar cookie dough from when I was a kid so I thought I might be on the right track. I kept adding more flour, and eventually the dough became roll-able.

I didn't get these very thin, and I made them MUCH larger than this recipe intends. But I have five cazone-sized cookies that are good. It was easy to share one.

No Bake Chocolate Cookie

2009-05-18T11:27:00.001-07:00

Well, this didn't have the happy ending I was counting on.

I tried making this recipe on Saturday. I had the sugar/milk/butter/cocoa mixture boiling when I realized I was out of coconut. GRR! I went ahead anyway to finish the cookies, sans coconut. But, insult to injury, they didn't set. So I tossed the whole batch into the food waste bin. Sad, but it didn't feel right without the coconut anyway.

I know I originally said 'no do-overs,' but I tried again this morning.

Oats - check
Coconut - check
Nuts - check

I let the sugar/milk/butter/cocoa mixture come to a boil and let it boil for at least a minute. They still didn't set, even an hour later.

Very disappointing because I know these are good, and I hate wasting oatmeal and nuts. I'll be especially appreciative of the next no-bake recipe coming soon.

Chicken Parmesan

2009-05-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Another good chicken recipe.

I didn't realize until AFTERWARDS that I made the full recipe of crumb mixture, but only used a half portion of chicken (six thighs).

Waffles or Pancakes

2009-05-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

I decided to make pancakes. I used whole wheat flour and omitted the oil. I used the whole egg - gotta get that Vitamin D from the yolk.

The batter was very thin, and I thought I had made an error or the recipe was wrong. I was going to add more flour, but then I took a look under Pancakes in another cookbook, and sure enough, it told me the batter for cornmeal pancakes would be very thin.

I made three large pancakes. They were very good, but we couldn't eat them all at once because they are so filling.

Better Than Mrs. Fields' Cookies

2009-05-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

These were a great success. I took the suggestion 'the more things you put in, the better they taste' to heart and added the entire bag of peanut butter chips and a cup of M&Ms left over from a previous recipe.

I made BIG cookies, six to a baking sheet.

This recipe made just under three dozen AMAZING cookies.

Plain and Simple Chewies

2009-05-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

When I saw that this was such a simple bar cookie, I couldn't NOT make it tonight. I'm sure the stain on the cookbook is from a long-ago episode of making Coffee Drop Cookies!

I did not dust the finished cookies with powdered sugar because I didn't think it would stick, and I didn't want to deal with the mess.

Chicken Ole'

2009-05-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

Glad to have another casserole. I have a friend (also newly unemployed) who joined the Campbell's Soup recipe of the week mailing list and is having a blast. I guess comfort foods are back in demand these days.

This was easy - I tore up about two-thirds of the package of corn tortillas and spread over the bottom of the pan. I had boneless chicken breasts, so I cut them into chunks and put across the tortilla pieces. I covered with a layer of grated cheddar, and then I covered it all with a sauce made of a can of fat-free mushroom soup, plain yogurt (instead of sour cream), and a can of diced green chilies.

I baked it for about an hour. The corn tortilla aroma was wonderful. No olives to add tonight, but that would have been good. This was nicer than I expected. A little spice from the chilies; the chicken was very moist. It could have handled the whole package of corn tortillas. My only complaint is that I should have torn the tortillas in much smaller pieces, since they were hard to cut.

Coffee Drop Cookies

2009-05-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have memories of making these with mom many times. This may be where my love for coffee started. I know I always loved this cookie.

When I made them today, the batter was too thin and the 'cookies' were more like little pancakes all run together.

The frosting is great, and I have lots left over - brought back memories of eating frosted crackers - graham and saltine. I saved the extra, so I may do that!

I still love these cookies.

Potato Pancakes

2009-05-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

This was a delicious cross between a hashbrown and pancake.

Crock Pot BBQ Ribs

2009-05-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Delicious.

I don't have a crock pot, so I slow-cooked this stovetop for 7 hours. I mostly followed the recipe as written.

The meat is so tender I can cut it with a spoon. The sauce is delicious.

Norwegian Potato Lefse

2009-05-08T14:13:00.001-07:00

I don't have a ricer, so I mashed/whipped the potatoes to as smooth a consistency as I could.

I added enough flour to get the texture I needed to roll the potato dough out thin, and then treated it like a crepe once it was in the hot skillet.

I made one fourth the recipe and had 8 lefse!

Congo Squares

2009-05-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

"Moist & chewy," said my Taster. And let me add "delicious. "

I always loved these, and they were just as good as I remember.

Molasses Cookies

2009-05-06T21:09:00.001-07:00

This cookie was a pleasure to make because of it's tidiness. The dough wasn't sticky!

I made half batch, which gave me 24+ cookies.

I had some unused shortening, so I used the last of it.

Very nice molasses flavor.

Monster Cookies

2009-05-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing cookie!

But first, a few words about the recipe:

The quantities made my head spin. I decided making one third of the recipe would be reasonable. I filled up my mixing bowl with the peanut butter, solid coconut oil (for the oleo), the sugars, eggs, M&Ms, and chocolate chips. It was pretty full, and I hadn't even added the oats yet! I slowly added as many oats as needed to get the cookie dough to the right consistency. I used about five cups of the old-fashioned oats, not the quick version. The bowl is full. I wonder what container you would use to make the full recipe???

I dropped large balls on the baking sheet. They were huge. Then I started rethinking the size. The large size when I worked at a fast food place in the late 1970s is now the regular size. I reduced the cookie dough balls by half and put them in to bake. Ten minutes in the oven and a minute or two sitting on the baking sheet before removing them was the key to perfection.

They cookies are the size of a big cookie you would buy at Starbucks today. My one third recipe made four pans of six cookies. And they are excellent.

P.S. The coconut oil did not add a coconut flavor to this cookie, so I'm going to freely use it whenever a baking recipe calls for shortening.

Chicken Divan

2009-05-04T17:21:00.001-07:00

When I started assembling this, I realized I didn't have three whole chicken breasts, but one chicken breast in three parts. So...

I used the full amount of frozen broccoli. I cut the chicken breasts into bigger-than-bite-size pieces and put the pieces among the broccoli.

I had made the whole sauce recipe first, so I spooned about a third of it over the chicken and broccoli pieces. I covered the entire dish with bread crumbs and then shredded cheddar before I baked it.

Very good.

Delicious Cookies

2009-05-04T16:52:00.001-07:00

I knew I didn't want a hundred cookies, but I also didn't want to halve a recipe with one egg. I figured that I'd make the full recipe and would make normal size rather than small balls.

When I was checking my supplies yesterday, I noticed that I had a jar of Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (a "good" fat) that I haven't used for a long time. It's a solid fat. It also had a noticeable coconut scent and taste, which is why we don't use it often for cooking. I was happy to see that it could be used in place of shortening, so that's what I used for the oleo.

Lots of great ingredients. When everything was mixed together it seemed pretty dry, but I managed to make a dozen balls. They crumbled when I flattened them with a fork. I squished them into cookie shape and put them in to bake. At twelve minutes I checked - the bottoms were burned and the rest of the cookie was dark brown.

I added another third cup oil to the cookie dough hoping they would hold together better. They did, and I put in the second dozen for ten minutes. Better, but still pretty brown.

I made the third dozen bigger and baked for ten minutes. They looked pretty nice, but came apart easily when I took them off the baking sheet.

I put the last seven very large cookies in the oven as golf ball-sized balls. After eight minutes, I flattened them with a fork. After ten minutes, they were pretty light, but the bottoms looked brown. I took them out of the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for another minute. They are perfect.

The cookies are good and have a distinct coconut flavor. I don't know if that's from coconut in the cookie or the coconut oil. We'll see how the coconut oil works as a shortening substitute for a cookie without coconut as an ingredient.

Meat Logs

2009-05-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

This is another recipe I was worried about because I could imagine what it's supposed to look like.

I decided to make half a recipe - two pounds of ground meat, not four. I used a pound of lean ground beef and a pound of mild Italian sausage. I skipped the dried onions since I don't have any. I didn't want to chop any fresh onions either.

I made the meat mixture and put it on a sheet of waxed paper on a cookie sheet. Then I held my pan next to it so I'd know which way I needed to 'roll' to fit. (Horizontally.)

I put a thin layer of shredded cheese on the meat. I decided to put another thin layer of cheese on. I have some fresh cilantro, so I decided to chop some of that and put it on.

I have little cans of chopped green chilies and chopped olives. I put the green chilies in the vertical middle. The same size can of chopped olives went a lot further, so I put a row on each side of the chilies.

Ready to Roll!

I was happy to learn when I re-read the recipe that I just had to lap the ends and not really roll them. So I lapped one side and then the other. Either my meat layer is too thick or I'm using to much filling, because it's not realistic to seal the ends.

Next I put greased baking pan over the filled meat loaf and flipped the cookie sheet over so the loaf was now in the pan. Whew. I covered it with a jar on salsa and I baked for about an hour at 350. This was a great meatloaf.

Lemon Bar Cookies

2009-05-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

I wasn't a fan as a kid, but I've really developed a love for lemon flavor as an adult. If I made these again, I'd make them more lemony - personal preference!

For some reason I always thought lemon bars would be difficult to make, but these were simple.

They are delicious, but I think I baked the crust too long because the edges are too brown and dry.

Ham Balls or Loaf

2009-05-02T21:24:00.000-07:00

I used a pound of lean ground beef, a pound of ground pork, and 12-ounces of ham patties cut into small pieces.

I made the loaf option because I was a little tired this afternoon. I spread the meat mixture in a 9x13 pan and poured the sauce mixture on top.

I baked for the entire 90 minutes uncovered.

This was quite good and would be good as a 'meatball on a toothpick' appetizer, too.

Coconut Joys

2009-05-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

When I read this recipe, I was able to visualize what it should look like, which scared me a little because I don't always have the skills to create my images.

I stirred the melted butter, powdered sugar and coconut together. I molded a small ball of it, put it on waxed paper on a baking sheet, and then squished it down a bit. I used my index finger to make a small hole in the squished ball. I made 12 of these. Tiny for a bird's nest; not so tiny for a cookie.

Next - melt the chocolate chips. I thought it would be simple to melt the chips in a liquid measuring cup in the microwave, thinking I could then pour the chocolate into the nests. Well, I soon smelled burned chocolate so that didn't work. I put the chips in a bowl and microwaved until the chocolate was melted. It was still thick, and I was able to use a teaspoon to get a glob of chocolate and then maneuver it over the hole in the nest. Beautiful! I feel like an artist.

I put the baking sheet in the refrigerator for about an hour. The cookies are beautiful and very good.

Snippy Doodles

2009-05-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

This is very nice. It reminds me of a coffee cake.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

2009-04-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

I used chocolate pudding mix, which made this a very chocolately cookie - a chocolate lover's dream? I used walnuts, which are always delicious.

The batter is VERY stiff, which made it easy to drop the cookie dough on the baking sheet.

I used a teaspoon that's over forty years old, but I still only made them small enough for just over four dozen cookies.

Chicken Scruda

2009-04-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

Another of the many Cross Family recipes with a very interesting name. I wish I knew who or what it refers to.

I used the half onion left from last night's Cheeseburger Pie. I was able to cover the bottom of my 9x13 pan with only five slices of bread. I didn't have milk, since it isn't listed in the ingredients, so I just skipped it. And I added the shredded cheese at the beginning and let it cook for the full 50 minutes.

I peeked after 30 minutes. The cheese had formed a golden crust, so I covered the dish with foil for the remaining 20 minutes.

This was good. The bottom was a bit tough to cut through, no doubt because I skipped the milk.

Cheeseburger Pie

2009-04-26T20:08:00.001-07:00

This was really good. I guess I like the flavor of Heinz chili sauce, because I really liked the Beef B.B.Q. from a few days ago, too.

I made the crust and lined a baking dish since I don't have a pie tin. All of my pie making for this project involved using a store-bought crust in a tin.

I used half an onion and sauteed it with the beef once the beef was browned.

Bread crumbs! What a great excuse to make crumbs from the crusts I cut off from the thirteen slices of bread I needed for the Seafood Salad and the extra buns from the Beef B.B.Q.

I made this a few hours ahead and then baked it for dinner.

White Fudge

2009-04-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

I used white chocolate chips instead of almond bark - I think it's mostly the same thing. I used walnuts.

This, too, was very good.

I'm partial to fudge and peanut butter, so I've enjoyed the recipes for the last few days.

It's hard to believe, but after four months, I can see the end in sight for finishing my cooking of the Cross Family Cookbook. There are (I think) eighteen cookies recipes left, about a dozen more main dishes, and a handful of interesting things left in the bread section. I have a personal goal to finish by the end of May.

So all the fudge is going into the freezer so I can keep going!

Creamy Dreamy Fudge

2009-04-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

This recipe has fascinated me for months:

Velveeta.

as an ingredient in fudge.

4 cubes of butter.

15 cups of powdered sugar.

YIKES!

I was skeptical, but I followed the recipe. It's very 'fudgy' and smooth, with a flavor I can't quite identify...!

Holiday Fruit Balls

2009-04-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

The challenge here was translating quantities in half pounds to cups. This website was helpful:

http://www.ellenskitchen.com/pantry/suboamc.html

Once I had that information, I adjusted the measurements based on the quantities of ingredients I wanted to use. I had a 5-ounce bag of dried candied mangoes (a substitute for the candied pineapple) and a 5-ounce bag of dried candied cherries. I figured that was close enough to 1/2 pound. I used about a 1/4 cube butter, 2 cups mini-marshmallows, and 1/4 cup evaporated milk for the syrup and about a third of a 14-ounce box of graham crackers, the dried cherries and mangoes, 2 cups regular raisins, and 2 cups nuts. I have no doubt that I made errors in conversion and adapting the recipe. Whatever. I was able to form solid balls, but not much coconut stuck to them when I rolled them in it. I did about five and decided to skip the coconut. But after about five more, the non-coconut balls looked naked. So I rolled all the balls and used a little pressure when I rolled them to get the coconut to adhere.

There are good; not too sweet. The taste reminds me of something similar we used to have that was made in logs, rolled in something (coconut? powdered sugar?) and kept in the refrigerator.

Diabetic Peanut Butter Candy

2009-04-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, Is one graham cracker square half the graham cracker rectangle? I decided to double the recipe to use the entire cracker. I thought I used the right measurements (4T=1/4 cup, right?), but the mixture wasn't thick enough to make a ball. I decided I could put it aside and at least spread it on a cracker. Then I thought, NO, Aunt Martha used this recipe to make a special treat for my cousin Ken long ago. I'd at least try to make something nice. So I added a few more graham crackers until this got to the consistency I needed to make 5 peanut butter balls.

Creamy Peanut Butter Brittle

2009-04-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

The first things I did were (1) grease the cookie sheet and (2) mix the peanuts-peanut butter-vanilla together so it would be ready to go when the syrup was ready. I'm using a natural peanut butter, and it's very oily. Next, I mixed the sugar and water in a pan. I had no idea what to do with the karo, so I put it in now, too. I waited for the mixture to get HOT-HOT-HOT, and then added the peanut butter mixture and soda. I worked as quickly as I could to get the hot candy out of the pan and spead on the cookie sheet. It hardened very quickly, and it's thicker than I would like. I let it cool and broke it into pieces. Some parts are soft, maybe from the oily peanut butter? Maybe because of the thickness?

WOW, this is a flavorful peanut-peanut butter candy, a peanut butter lover's dream!

Dad's Dumplings

2009-04-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

This looked easy - I already had flour, baking powder, salt, and eggs, and had picked up a can of chicken broth at the grocery store yesterday. I wasn't exactly sure what a perfect dumpling would be like, but I figured I knew enough to give it a shot.

I started small - one cup of flour, one egg. I added milk as needed until my batter was doughy enough to form 5 meatball-size balls. I brought the can of chicken broth to a boil and dropped the balls in. They were not submerged, but about half covered. I set the timer for 15 minutes.

I noticed a burning smell after about 8 minutes and saw that the broth had nearly boiled dry. Yikes. I had to remove the lid to do something. I added more water, a bouillon cube, and turned the dumplings over because they had burned to the bottom of the pan. I covered them and let them boil for another few minutes. Then I took them out to 'dry' and cut the burned portions off.
They taste pretty good and are what I think a dumpling would be like with a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

P.S. Andy did detect a burned taste, and I did make these over a couple weeks later. I made smaller dumplings and boiled them in a larger volume of chicken broth. I then added some vegetables, and we had soup with dumplings.

Easy Caramel Rolls

2009-04-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

I started these yesterday. I had a bag of 36 frozen rolls. I don't have a Bundt pan, but I figured a casserole would do just fine. I buttered the dish and put the frozen rolls in it. I thought I would just use half the bag, and I was surprised that all 36 fit in the dish nicely.

I sprinkled them with a dry butterscotch pudding mix. It was instant; that was my only option. DRAT! I used the last of my cinnamon last week and forgot to buy more! I looked in my spice basket for alternatives and decided that pumpkin pie spice would be a decent substitution. Cinnamon is the main ingredient, and the ginger and nutmeg wouldn't be inappropriate.

I chopped some pecans and put them on, too. Then I melted some butter, mixed it with brown sugar, and poured it all over the mound of rolls.

Rather than use foil and a towel to cover for overnight, I put the lid on the casserole dish and put it in my cold oven until this morning.

When I opened my oven this morning. I had to laugh. Surprise! The rolls had expanded so they were overflowing the dish. The lid was askew and there was brown sugar mixture all over the floor of the oven. Easy to clean up, and I put all the rolls in a large baking pan.

I baked them for 30 minutes, then let them sit for 15 minutes before I turned them out onto a baking sheet. They are glorious - caramely and sticky. They would be even more wonderful if I had the bread/topping proportions right.

Mom's Peanut Brittle

2009-04-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

I made a nice candy from this recipe.

It didn't look like my grandma's recipe that I remember, but I don't know if I did something wrong or if that was a different recipe.

This made a white peanut brittle. It's quite nice. While the sugar-karo mixture was getting to the extremely hot stage, I read the next peanut brittle recipe (coming soon) and decided to pour this one out onto a greased baking sheet. It was easy to remove and break into pieces.

"Feudin Pudding"

2009-04-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

This was a delicious sweet bread or cake for dessert.

I loved the crispy, sweet crust.

I used fairly large pieces of chopped apples and walnuts, so it was hearty.

I had a whipped topping, but forgot to use it.

Corn Pudding

2009-04-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

This is a delicious savory dish. It would make a good side dish.

The texture is that of a custard.

Love the corn flavor.

Sinful Salad

2009-04-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

This final recipe in the Soups & Salads category makes a big, beautiful jello-fruit salad.

I used pecans and sour cream. I only used one bag of strawberries, and it seems to be enough.

It is a very fruity dish!

Custard With Powdered Milk

2009-04-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

This recipe, from my aunts, made a very nice dessert. It was simple and fast to make, too.

Beef B.B.Q.

2009-04-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Total comfort food. I regret that I only made half the recipe.

Rhubarb Muffins

2009-04-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

One more time to make a substitution for rhubarb since it's not yet in season here. This morning I used frozen cranberries in place of rhubarb and pecans for the nuts. This recipe is from Aunt Martha.

1 1/4 packed brown sugar
1/2 c salad oil
1 egg
2 1/2 c unsifted flour
1 t baking powder
1 t soda
1/2 t salt
2 t vanilla
1 c buttermilk
1 1/2 c diced rhubarb
1/2 c chopped nuts
1/3 c sugar
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 T melted butter

In mixer bowl combine brown sugar, salad oil, egg and vanilla; beat until well blended. Stir in buttermilk, rhubarb and nuts. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Add all at once to rhubarb mixture; stir just until mixed. Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. Mix the 1/3 c sugar with cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle over top of muffins, pressing gently into batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or untiil muffins test done.

I didn't press the cinnamon-sugar sprinkles into the batter, and they slid right off the top of the muffins onto the tins while baking!

Cherry Bisquick Delight

2009-04-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

This was as easy as it was delightful!

I didn't really make mounds with the cherry pie filling, but poured it across the Bisquick layer.

I sprinkled the crumbly mixture across the entire cherry layer.

This smelled wonderful while it was cooking.

We had some as soon as it came out of the oven.

Seafood Salad

2009-04-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

This was fun to make.

Yesterday, I buttered thirteen slices of bread, stacked them in two stacks, and cut the crusts off. Then I cut them in cubes (I could only get 12 cubes/slice) and separated the pieces in a big salad bowl. I chopped an onion and added it. I peeled four perfectly hard boiled eggs and chopped them. I added them, mixed everything together and put the lid on the bowl and put it in the refrigerator.

This morning, I chopped the celery and added it and two cans each of shrimp and crab. I added a bottle of Lemon Asagio Vinaigrette. I mixed everything together and put it back into the refrigerator.

We had this for dinner tonight on greens with sliced cucumbers on the side.

I used a medium onion, and I wish I had used small or green onions instead. It's very onion-y.

Sweet 'N' Sour Pork Chops

2009-04-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

1 can pineapple chunks in own juice
4 pork chops
2 medium onions, cut in thin wedges
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c light corn syrup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 red pepper
1 T cornstarch
2 T water

Drain pineapple; reserve juice. Brown pork chops over med-high heat, about 10 minutes, turning once. Remove chops from skillet. Add onions & garlic; stir fry 1 minute, then stir in reserved juice, corn syrup, vinegar, & soy sauce. Bring to boil over med-low heat, stirring occasionally. Heat 30-40 minutes or until chops are tender. At this point, it sounded like the chops should be back in the skillet, so I put them back in. Remove chops and keep warm. Stir pepper strips in skillet. Stir cornstarch and water until smooth. Add to skillet and bring to boil over medium heat. I think I goofed here when I put the cornstarch directly in the watery vegetable mixture. Stirring constantly, boil for 1 minute. Stir in pineapple and cook until heated through, then spoon over pork chops. We had this over brown rice.

This was just OK - not sure if it was my cooking error, tasteless pork, or if I just had too many Chocolate Cherry Balls today.

Oroville Bran Muffins

2009-04-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

I made the batter for these yesterday morning after I made the Pumpkin Apple Muffins. The batter was quite thin when I put it in the refrigerator. When I took it out this morning, all the bran buds were at the top. Once I stirred everything, the batter had a nice thick consistency. I baked these as instructed. They have a nice brown top and are excellent.

Sweet-Sour Meatballs

2009-04-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

I made nine very large meatballs and baked them in the oven. This made a very good dinner last night, served on rice with grilled asparagus on the side.

Pumpkin & Apple Muffins

2009-04-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

This recipe from Aunt Martha made a perfect muffin - crisp on the outside and very, very moist on the inside.

2 1/2 cup flour
2 cup white sugar
1 T pumpkin pie spice
1 t baking soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup pumpkin, solid pack
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cup peeled, finely chopped apples

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, spice, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In medium bowl, put eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Add this to dry ingredients; stir until moistened. Stir in apples. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Put topping of 2 T flour, 1/4 c sugar, and 1/2 t cinnamon with 5 t butter cut in until crumbly. Then bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.

I used a cup of whole wheat flour and substituted Splenda for the sugar. I did not peel the apples, and they were more diced than finely chopped. I wish I had used brown sugar for the sugar topping, but it was too late before I saw Aunt Martha's preference. I was stingy with the topping on the first dozen, but not on the second since I saw I had plenty left. They were done in my oven in 30 minutes.

Chocolate Cherry Balls

2009-04-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

MMMMM. A recipe for another treat that I have fond memories of from the past. We usually had these during the Christmas holidays.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to roll the mixture into balls.

I did not have wax paraffin, so didn't use it. As a result, I had to roll my balls in the chocolate rather than dip them. I also had to use more chocolate chips - nearly double. The finished product is a little soft and sticky to handle. But still delicious, if not as beautiful.

Rice Salad

2009-04-10T08:59:00.001-07:00

This makes a large, substantial salad.

I used two boxes of low sodium chicken flavor Rice-a-Roni. I had 9 pimento-stuffed green olives left that I used. Red pepper was substituted for green. I forgot to add the slivered almonds, but the salad is good enough without them.

I hesitated when I bought the marinated artichokes because they were expensive. But after tasting the final salad, I'm glad I spent the money. The artichokes make the dish.

Pretzel Salad or Dessert

2009-04-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

It's a dessert, without a doubt.

I creamed the pretzels, butter, and sugar, put in a baking dish, and baked for precisely six minutes at precisely 350 degrees. Next, I mixed the cream cheese and more sugar. I folded in the cool whip, and spread this mixture on top of the pretzel 'crust.'

My heart sank back when I saw that this was a jello recipe. I followed the directions in the recipe: Boil water. Add to the jello mix. Mix well. Add cold water.

I put half package of frozen strawberries on top of the cream cheese recipe. They looked sparse, so I used the entire 16-ounce package.

I reluctantly poured the liquid jello on top of the yummy layers of pretzel crust, cream cheese mixture, and strawberries and put in the refrigerator to set.

I'm happy to say, it did jell and is pretty good. But it's sweet - definitely a dessert.

Candied California Walnuts

2009-04-09T16:58:00.001-07:00

Wow! I remember having these around Christmas time when I was kid. They are delicious. I had no idea they were fast and simple to make, too. My only comment is to move quickly once you add the walnuts to the syrup, because this sets pretty fast.

Sweet & Sour Chicken #2

2009-04-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

This was good and very different from Sweet & Sour Chicken #1.

First, whip an egg or two and roll the chicken in the egg, then in cornstarch. I used cornmeal, not realizing there was a difference until later when I noticed that I had both. Oops.

Next, brown the coated chicken in Crisco, and put the pieces in a baking dish.

Then, make the brine to put over the top. The brine is a mixture of 2 bouillon cubes dissolved in a cup of hot water, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup catsup, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 T soy sauce, and 1 t salt. The recipe is for chicken bouillon; I used vegetable. I substituted Splenda for sugar. Since I had five large chicken breasts, I doubled the recipe, EXCEPT I didn't double the sugar or salt.

Finally, bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Turn and bake another 20 minutes.

I thought of making rice, but didn't. Now I see that the recipe says to "pour sauce over rice," so I wish I had made some.

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

2009-04-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

This sounded like it would be an easy cake to make. And it could have been but....

I chopped two zucchini into chunks and put them in my blender. My blender didn't really know what to do no matter what setting I tried. I added a little water, then a little more water, until I got a consistency like a finely chopped salsa.

I was running short of most of the ingredients I needed. I had ALMOST the full quantity of vanilla and cocoa, so I used what I had and hoped the skimping wouldn't make a difference in the taste. It looked fine, so I put the batter in to bake.

After 4 minutes, I realized that I had forgotten to put in the oil! So I turned the oven off, took the pan out, and poured the batter back into the mixing bowl. I only had 1/2 cup of oil left, so I mixed it in and hoped for the best. I rinsed the cake pan, re-greased it and put the batter in. Back into the oven.

I took a peak after 20 minutes and realized I NEVER TURNED THE OVEN BACK ON. GRRR! I took a deep breath, turned the oven back on, reset the timer for 40 minutes, and left the room not knowing what I would come back to.

It looked, smelled, and tested done after 35 minutes. I let it cool, but was anxious to have a taste. It's very good - moist and chocolately, but not too sweet.

This cake would be good with frosting, but I'm going to leave it unfrosted since I like it the way it is.

Triple Lemon Cake

2009-03-31T18:15:00.002-07:00

I love lemon desserts, and this cake recipe from Aunt Martha is AMAZING. It's easy, too.

Blend:

1 box lemon cake mix

1 pkg lemon jello

3/4 c vegetable oil

3/4 water

4 eggs

Beat 4 minutes, then bake as instructed on the cake mix box. When the cake is done, punch holes in the top with a fork. Make a sauce of 2 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice and pour over the top.

Ever Ready Bran Muffins

2009-03-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

This recipe was a breeze. I made half the recipe and have 27 tasty muffins.

I used a raisin bran cereal.

I also found powdered buttermilk - pretty cool!

Paul's Cherry Delight

2009-03-29T16:29:00.003-07:00

Because this was such a no-frills recipe, I made it in the tupperware container that would be storing the leftovers.

I cubed the Angel food loaf. Then I made the vanilla pudding. I had to take another look at the recipe: Do I really add that much sour cream? Yep. So I did and poured this over the cake. Final step was spreading the cherry pie filling over the top. I skipped the cool whip. Of course this is delicious.

Sweet & Sour Chicken #1

2009-03-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

This recipe from Aunt Martha made a good dinner.

4-lb chicken, cut in serving size pieces
1 can crushed pineapple, unsweetened
2 T cornstarch
1/2 c soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 t pepper
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c vinegar
1/2 t ground pepper

The first step was to place the chicken pieces skin side down in a baking dish. I had four pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or ten breasts. It was quite a panful.

Next, combine 2 T of the juice from the canned pineapple, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and pepper in a saucepan. Heat this over medium heat, stirring constantly until it bubbles and thickens. I know this is science, but it always seems like magic to me when it reaches that moment of thickening. I had a beautiful thick brown sauce.

At this point that I decided to only use half of the chicken breasts because when I turned the page to continue the recipe, I saw that there is another Sweet & Sour Chicken recipe following this one. So I removed five of the breasts and put them in the freezer. I also decided to make rice to soak up the delicious sauce.

I poured the sauce over the remaining five breasts and put them in the oven at 400 for half hour. After 15 minutes, I checked to baste and saw that the sauce had thickened even more. I spooned it over the chicken breasts. Never mind on the rice because there won't be extra sauce. I'm glad I'm only using half of the breasts.

After 30 minutes, I was supposed to turn the chicken, cover it with the crushed pineapple, and spread the sauce that's left over it all. In my excitement, I put the pineapple on before I turned, so I had to scrape the pineapple off, turn the chicken, and then spread the pineapple-sauce mixture. Oh, happy day - It looks like there will be extra sauce after all! So I started the rice while the chicken continued to bake. When the rice was done, so was the chicken. Yum.

Bread Pudding

2009-03-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

I cooked this for 70 minutes and it never got to what I considered firm. I used lemon juice and powdered sugar to make the lemon sauce.

My finished recipe seemed more like what I think of as flan rather than bread pudding. That could be my cooking skills today or my experience with restaurant desserts. It was very good.

Texas Sheet Cake

2009-03-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from Velma R. Guffey. It moves along quickly.

2 sticks + 2 T butter

1 cup water

4 T cocoa

2 cup sugar

2 cup flour

1/2 c sour cream

2 eggs, beaten

1 t baking soda

"Preheat oven to 375. Select heavy 4 cup pot and put in 2 sticks butter, water and cocoa. Bring to boil. Use 2 T butter and grease 11x16 cookie pan, including edges. Measure into mixing bowl sugar, flour, and baking soda. Mix well. When mixture in pot comes to boil immediately pour it over dry ingredients. Beat batter well for about 30 seconds. Stir in sour cream and finally beat in eggs. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Texas sheet cake is moist and keeps well."

I wish I had used a spray cooking oil to grease the pan. When this was done I cut two pieces for us to sample and we noted that the edges and bottom were a little too done. When I tried to take the rest of the cake out of the pan, I ended up with a bowl of cake pieces.

Salami

2009-03-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from Aunt Martha. The recipe is simple, but getting it done took some time.

The recipe as written calls for 5 pounds of hamburger and then very small quantities of Quick Salt (5 t), mustard seed (2 1/2 t), garlic salt (2 1/2 t), ground pepper (2 1/2 t), and Liquid smoke (1 t). I decided that making one-fifth recipe, or a pound of hamburger, would be reasonable.

I had to do a little research to find out what Quick Salt is: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/mod01/01600815.html
I saw that there's a Morton's Quick Salt, so I was hopeful that my grocery store would have it in their vast selection of salts since it's a critical ingredient, but no such luck.

I also didn't find Liquid smoke. I know this doesn't mean they don't have them - I have eventually found pimentos, Tang, cream of tartar, Accent (!) - for all I know they even sell Pream!

But I did find a company online that sold both Quick Salt and Liquid Smoke. Next decision - Did really want to spend nearly $20 for the ingredients + shipping to use 1 t Quick Salt and 1/5 t Liquid Smoke?? I've made exceptions in the past and skipped recipes for an ingredient that would not be used (Fruit Sauce, Sweetened Condensed Milk), made substitutions for ingredients I couldn't find (rhubarb, Pream), but I've never skipped a recipe because a key ingredient was a challenge. Heck, I ordered brandy extract for Brandy Whip and even made sourdough starter for all those rewarding soudough recipes! So I placed my order with The Great American Spice Company and waited.

Monday, UPS delivered my order.

Tuesday was Day 1: Using hands , mix thoroughly. Cover & refrigerate.
Wednesday, Day 2: Knead and refrigerate.
Thursday, Day 3: Knead and refrigerate.
Today, Day 4: Divide into rolls and place on baking sheet on broiler shelf. Bake 8 hours at 140 degrees. Turn every two hours.

I just took the salami rolls out of the oven after eight hours. The look like little meatloaf logs. They are red in the middle, but research tells me the meat will appear red when fully cooked. I tasted a bite, and they are OK. But I can't get the food safety issue out of my head for some reason. There's nothing on the internet that tells me homemade salami is unsafe to eat (except for pregnant women or young children). I'm not usually weird about this stuff - I eat sushi, caesars salad dressing, and lick beaters even though I used a raw egg. So I'm not sure why this is weird for me. I'll probably have to pop them in the microwave until the internal temperature gets to 160 just for my own peace of mind.

P.S. We did eat the salami. It was good, and we are fine!

Fast & Frosty Potato Salad

2009-03-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from Velma Guffey. This salad makes a nice lunch on its own.

1 lb package of frozen french fries

2 hard cooked eggs, sliced

1 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

1/4 cup minced onion

1 cup shrimp

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 t Dijon mustard

2-3 dashes tabasco sauce

Place the frozen fries into boiling water. Simmer five minutes; drain & cool. Blend mayonnaise with sour cream, mustard, & seasonings. Pour over combined potatoes, shrimp, celery, onion, and eggs.

Basic Muffins

2009-03-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

Biscuits in a muffin tin. It doesn't get much better than this. These were easy and fast to make and cooked quickly - eleven minutes for me. This recipe made a dozen large muffins/biscuits.

I didn't need to add the unknown quantity of salad oil, so I assume it could be used instead of the melted shortening, which means all the ingredients would be in most pantries.

Anytime Muffins

2009-03-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

This recipe from Velma R. Guffey says it makes 5-6 dozen muffins so I made a half recipe. I have 2 1/2 dozen very good muffins.

My reduced recipe is:

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup boiling water

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 quart buttermilk

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 cup All Bran cereal

Combine oats & boiling water, let cool. Mix together eggs, sugar, oil, & buttermilk. Stir in sifted ingredients with All Bran. Stir just until moistened. Bake in well greased muffin tins 15 minutes at 375.

Ralph's Cinnamon Rolls

2009-03-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

I have to remind myself that making cinnamon rolls is a huge accomplishment even if it seems like I didn't get anything else done today.

I reduced the recipe by about half. I dissolved the yeast in warm water with a bit of sugar added. Next, I put my thick sourdough in a bowl. Man, it smells great! I added scalded milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and soda. I mixed it all together and added the yeast. It did the nice fizz thing. I added a ton of flour until the dough got to the consistency where I didn't grimace every time I had to touch it with my hands. Then I kneaded for eight minutes. I put the kneaded dough in a greased bowl and tried to find a warm place to put it for 90 minutes, not an easy task since it's cold today.

While I waited hopefully for it to rise, I made the glaze. I mixed melted butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and pecans and spread this in the bottom of a baking pan.

I checked on the dough an hour and a half later and wasn't sure if it had risen or not. But when I punched it down, it was obvious that it had. I rolled it out into an oblong shape and brushed it with butter, then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

Now the fun part - roll it the long way into a tube shape. I was methodical, and it was easy. Then I cut the tube into one-inch pieces. I put each piece in the glaze-filled baking pan. At this point, I was tickled because they looked like cinnamon rolls! I covered the pan of unbaked rolls and left them to rise for 45 minutes. Buy now the sun is shining, so finding a warm place is easy.

Again, I couldn't tell if they had risen after 45 minutes, but I assumed they had and were ready to bake. I put the pan in at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. What a wonderful aroma! They were beautiful when baked, and delicious to eat. The pecan glaze is wonderful.

The glaze on the bottom of the pan hardened as the rolls cooled, so I put everything back in the oven to melt the glaze. When the rolls were loosened from the glaze, I transfered them right-side-up to another dish, and then poured the melted glaze and pecans over the top. Now they are ready for seconds, and thirds, and ....

Salad Parmesan

2009-03-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

This salad was so good. I keep looking over the ingregients to see why. I still don't know. But it was great.

I mixed a tiny bit of crushed garlic, table salt, ground pepper, dry mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, and real grated Parmesan cheese in a salad bowl.

I put a bag of mixed greens on top.

I put my extra 'sprinkle' of Parmesan on top now, too, to be done with it.

Then I covered and refrigerated for a couple hours. I tossed it right before serving. AMAZING!

Sour Cream Apple Squares

2009-03-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

I had leftover apple slices from the Apple Pudding, so decided to continue on this morning. This recipe was a little more challenging, but not difficult. My first three ingredients did not get crumbly, probably because I had to take a cube out of butter out of the freezer, and I defrosted it in the microwave until half of it was melted. I added another 1/4 cup of soft butter, which helped. I spread the mostly floury-sugary mixture in the bottom of an ungreased pan. I turned the leftover apple slices into chopped apples.Next I mixed everything else together and placed that batter gently over the floury-sugary base. It baked the entire 35 minutes.

When it was done, I was concerned that the sides were sticking to the ungreased pan. I slid a knife around the sides several times. When I took the finished cake out of the pan, the bottom did not stick, to my great relief.

I had to remind myself that both of this morning's dishes are dessert, not breakfast foods!

Apple Pudding - Quick Dessert

2009-03-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

This turned out to be similar to a fruit bread. It was quick to make the batter and took an hour to cook.

Prune Cake

2009-03-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

<<<<< Note the singe marks from yesterday's incident.

Making this recipe just meant following the instructions. I used dried prunes, cut in quarters. I made a mistake on the frosting and used one cup of karo rather than a tablespoon. OOPS! That may be why the mixture never became clear. I had about a cup of unused frosting. I used an 8" square pan, and I wish I had used a larger pan. Regardless, it's a very good cake.

Jolly Gelatin Gem Cake

2009-03-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

Where do I start with this dessert? The repeated failure of trying to make jello? The cookbook catching fire? The final sloppy result? I'll just start at the very beginning.

After I read this recipe yesterday I envisioned three Easter-egg colors of jello cubes (raspberry, orange, lime) mixed in a lime jello-whipping cream sauce sitting in a graham cracker crust. That doesn't sound so bad. I tried to get a head start by making my three jellos last night and leaving them overnight in the refrigerator to become firm.

This morning, much to my surprise, they were indeed firm. Yippee! I cut them into small cubes and put them all back in one bowl in the refrigerator. I then turned on the stove to boil the water for the lime jello syrup and proceeded to make the crust of graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.

ACK! Out of the corner of my eye, I saw fire around the edge of the Cross Family Cookbook!! I had turned on the wrong burner! I had turned on a burner that had the edge of the Cookbook on it! I grabbed the book and ran water over it to put out the flames. Unfortunately, the back upper corner is ashes, and much of the I Remember section is destroyed. On the bright side, NO RECIPES WERE BURNED! It took me a few minutes to air out the house, but on with the cake...

I put the lime jello in the refrigerator to become syrupy. I finished the crust. I whipped the cream. So far, so good. Ready to assemble the cake.

I folded the lime syrup into the whipped cream. Yuck, but OK. I put the jello cubes in next. They started falling apart. When I tried to 'fold' them in, I had a liquid mess. I put this concoction in the crust and put it in the refrigerator to see what would happen.

After a few hours, the crust was an impenetrable mass of gunk. However, the whipped cream-jello tasted OK, so I poured that into a separate container.

When Andy got home, I asked him to try the dessert. He says it's kind of different, but not bad.

Hearts of Lettuce Salad

2009-03-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite family recipes from my grandma. It's better known in our family as the Seven Layer Salad. It was a frequent dish at my grandma's house and family dinners. In a 9x13 pan, make the following layers:

1 head lettuce, broken into pieces. I used a bag of 'Hearts of Romaine.'

1 cup diced celery

4 sliced hard boiled eggs

10-ounce bag of frozen peas

1/2 cup diced green pepper. I used mini red sweet peppers.

medium onion, sliced in rings. I used a red onion, and I diced it.

8 slices fried bacon, crumbled. I broiled my bacon in the oven this morning. It's the first time I've made bacon that way, and I liked it!

Next, combine 2 cups mayonnaise with 2 T sugar and spread it over the top. For some people, this would be the deal breaker. However, I love real mayonnaise, am partial to Best Foods, and I know that this makes the "salad" yummy!

Of course, the finishing touch is to cover it all with grated cheese, then cover and refrigerate for 8-12 hours or overnight.

Chinese Salad

2009-03-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

This recipe is a list of ingredients with the simple instruction to "Mix all ingredients and chill." I have the hang of these Asian-inspired salads by now, and they are always good.

I combined a bag of mixed lettuce, cabbage, some chopped red and orange peppers, chopped cucumber and celery, crumbled Ramen noodles, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and sliced almonds.

Separately I made a dressing of the Ramen seasoning mix, 2 T rice vinegar, 3 T honey and 1/2 cup salad oil.

Then I combined the two and chilled. This recipe is from Shirley Gipson.

Mom's Porcupine Meatballs

2009-03-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

I wasn't really in the mood to cook tonight, but decided I needed to since tomorrow will be a busy day and the ground beef is already thawed. This recipe turned out to be so simple I'm glad I went ahead and made it.

1/2 c raw rice

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 can tomato soup

1 T grated onion

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1/2 c water

2 T green pepper, chopped

Mixed the rice and meat together. Forgot to put in the S&P. Shaped into small balls and dropped into tomato soup to which had been added water, onion, pepper. I almost skipped the onion and pepper (such small amounts!), but I'm glad I added them because it looks nice. Of course, I used a non-green pepper (orange). I used Aunt Martha's option of making this in a casserole and baking for 40 minutes at 350. The missing S&P was obvious; otherwise, very good!

Annie's Pizza Meat Pie

2009-03-01T18:59:00.000-08:00

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup powdered Pream
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t garlic salt
1 cup water
------------------------------
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1 4-oz can undrained mushrooms
1 t leaf oregano

My first challenge - What the heck is Pream? All I could learn is that it's a non-dairy creamer from 1952. I decided to substitute nonfat dry milk so I could get the flavor and consistency, if not the non-dairy benefits.

It was simple from then on. Combine the ingredients above the line, mix well, and pat into a casserole. Next combine the ingredients below the line, mix well, and spoon over the meat in the casserole. I had a tube of tomato paste and was worried because it was only three ounces. But then I noticed it said it was 'double strength for taste,' so I figured I would be OK. I used rehydrated mushrooms and ground oregano. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. I decided to cover with an entire cup.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 350. I wasn't sure whether to cook covered or uncovered. I started it uncovered until the Parmesan melted, then covered until it was done. The aroma was wonderful, first of Parmesan and then of pizza.

Sourdough Cinnamon Drops

2009-03-01T15:33:00.001-08:00

I wasn't sure what this was going to look like, but I had doughnut holes in mind when I started. My thick sourdough starter was beautiful and smelled heavenly. I mixed the dough as instructed. I thought it should be the consistency of cookie dough to drop from a spoon, but it wasn't even close, so I added quite a bit of flour to make it so.

Full disclosure - I used nearly two cups of whole wheat flour because I'm inconveniently out of white flour. I dropped spoonfuls into the oil and fried. I then rolled them in cinnamon & sugar. They look oddly like a piece of fried seafood, but taste like a really good dessert fritter.

Glazed Pork Chops

2009-03-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

I mostly followed this recipe as written for dinner last night. I had four pork chops. I used whole wheat flour and S&P to coat. I had to find out what Accent was; sounds like it's not used much these days, but wouldn't be missed in this recipe.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060715085940AApaKZ3

This was delicious, better than I expected. The sauce was wonderful, and I was glad I had leftover mashed potatoes to have with it.

Oriental Coleslaw (Japanese)

2009-03-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

This recipe, from Marilyn Cross, was very fast to make, and quite good.

Mix all this together:

1 bag slaw mix

3 T toasted sesame seeds

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 package instant Ramen-style noodles, broken up (The recipe specifies chicken flavor, but I used 'original.')

Mix these together and pour over salad:

1/2 cup oil

3 T sugar

3 T vinegar

flavor packet from noodles (I used about half the packet.)

pepper to taste (I missed this step.)

Ralph's Sourdough Potato Doughnuts

2009-02-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

Oh. My. Gosh. I'm in shock because I just made maple bars.

I knew this recipe would take many steps and lots of time, so it's the first thing I started this morning, well rested after a great night's sleep. I started by boiling the potatoes to make mashed potatoes. Next, since Uncle Ralph tells me this recipe will make 80-100 doughnuts, I get out my calculator and pencil to find out what quantities I'll need of each ingredient to make one fourth of the recipe since I'm not feeding a family of hockey players.

I made the mashed potatoes and am ready to go. Right off I have four times as many mashed potatoes as I need because I boiled the potatoes before I did my calculations. Oh well, leftovers are always OK. Next, I melted the butter in the microwave so it would be cool when I needed it.

"Scald the milk and mix in potatoes or potato flakes. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Put 2T sugar in water & dissolve before adding yeast. Melt butter and let cool. Put sourdough starter in big bowl and mix in sugar, salt, butter, eggs, nutmeg, and potatoes. Mix well. Add yeast and stir. Mix the soda with 1/2 cup flour and stir in. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. This will vary, it depends on how thick your sourdough starter is. Usually 5-7 cups."

The quantity of flour worried me because I was running low, but then I realized I only needed one fourth that, and then I realized that that although I had quartered the quantity for ingredients listed above the instructions, I did not adjust the ingredients in the above verbiage. GULP! Too much liquid, which explains why the dough was so sticky. So I kept adding flour until the dough felt kneadable. At this point, I just needed to move ahead and hope things turned out.

I kneaded for 5 minutes, then put the dough in a greased bowl, covered it with a towel, and put it on the dining room table to soak up the warmth of the sun on this beautiful winter day.

I checked back an hour and a half later and found that it had indeed doubled in size! I punched it down and put it on a cutting board covered in flour. While I like doughnuts, I LOVE maple bars. In fact, when things were so stressful at work last fall, I was a drive through customer at Krispy Kreme too many days on my commute in to my office. So I cut the dough into rectangles; I knew just the 'favorite glaze' to make this work. The dough was so pliable I didn't even need to roll it out; I just patted it down to about 1/2" thich and cut. I put my rectangles on greased plastic wrap to rise uncovered for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, I made a pan of the Quick Caramel Frosting from two weeks ago. I loved that frosting and ate my way through the entire cake, a piece at a time, directly from the freezer. Today I substituted mapleine for the vanilla. TADA - Maple Frosting!

Forty-five minutes later I couldn't tell if any 'rising' had taken place or not. Let's assume it did. I heated vegetable oil in a deep pan and put the first rectangle in. I turned it after two and a half minutes with tongs, then in another two and a half minutes I took it out and put it face down in the pan of maple frosting. I let it sit there while I put another rectangle in to cook (fry). I then took the coooked bar out of the frosting and put it face up on a cookie sheet. Wow - it looks like a maple bar. I kept an assembly line of two at a time, and then three at a time, moving along: fry, turn, fry, frost, done.

I ended up with a dozen large maple bars. They taste very good and homemade. I'm still kind of amazed that I did this.

Easy, Easy Frosting

2009-02-23T13:43:00.000-08:00

This recipe from Aunt Martha would have been Easy, Easy except that I didn't have two of the three ingredients. Since I needed to go to the grocery store, I decided to do my shopping, which meant going through the next few Cross Family Cookbook recipes to make a list of what I'll need, and I long as I was going out, might as well go to Starbucks, and they have the NYT, so let's see what it has to say about last night's Academy Awards...and now it's after noon.

This frosting was quick and simple to mix when I got home. It's creamy, like pudding (no surprise), and was very nice on the Krazy Kake.

1 1/2 cup cold milk
1 pkg instant pudding mix (I got chocolate.)
1 envelope Dream Whip (Imagine my glee at seeing it still around!)

Mix all ingredients together and beat slowly until well mixed, then gradually increase speed until mixture form soft peaks, about 4-6 minutes.

Krazy Kake

2009-02-22T16:29:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from Karen Cross (David's wife). It was puzzling.

3 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 t salt
3/4 cup salad oil
2 cup sugar
2 t soda
2 T vinegar
2 cup water
1 t vanilla

"Mix in 9x13 pan." Good! No extra dishes.

"Sift dry ingredients together into pan, level off. Make 3 wells and put vinegar in first, salad oil in second, and vanilla in third well." As I was pondering how big to make the wells to hold a range of 1 t to 3/4 cup of liquid, I realized that I had missed the sugar as a dry ingredient. OOPS! I added that and sifted it in with the rest. Then I made the wells and filled them as directed.

And I only had balsamic vinegar, so I took a chance to see how that would work in a chocolate cake.

"Add water and mix with fork." Good enough. But I was thinking that my mixer or even a whisk would do a much better job than a fork to get the lumps out.

"Do not beat. Mix well." I mixed it well, but I don't know if I crossed the line into beating or not.

"Bake 30-35 minutes at 325 degrees.

It turned out fine, but now I realize it should be frosted. I'll solve that problem later.

Apple Nut Cobbler

2009-02-22T16:15:00.001-08:00

This recipe from Alice J Cross is both simple and delicious.

4 cup sliced apple
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts
1 c cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup melted butter

Spread sliced apples in a greased 9" square pan. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon & nuts; sprinkle over apples. Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside. Combine beaten egg, half & half, and melted butter. Mix well and add to flour mixture. Beat until smooth and pour over apples. (This was a thick batter, so it wasn't so much pour as spread.) Sprinkle with finely chopped nuts (I sprinkled with the same coarsely chopped nuts in addition to the 1/2 cup already added.) and bake at 325 for one hour.

Simple. Except after half hour I noticed that the oven was set to broil, not bake. YIKES! I switched to bake and put foil over the already browned top. I had to cook for an additional 15 minutes or so.

Curried Seafood Bake

2009-02-21T20:25:00.001-08:00

I'm not going to scan every recipe, but yesterday we got our printer/scanner/copier/fax working to be more than a printer. So I learned how to scan.

This recipe is Curried Seafood Bake, but curry powder is an optional ingredient. Do I buy some or leave it out? I left it out. So it will be a delicious Seafood Bake.

This recipe was more challenging than I expected:

'Stir in Flour' - I wonder how much? Do I make a roux? I don't really know what that is, but I'll pretend I know what I'm doing. I added about 1/2 cup flour. Not a bad call - I added the milk, and the sauce thickened nicely. http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1655,136188-247197,00.html

When everything was mixed and ready to go into the casserole, I had to make an adjustment. There's way way way too much sauce for the amount of pasta. I cooked 2-3 more cups of macaroni and added it. Perfect.

Mixing the cracker crumbs & butter wasn't as easy as it sounds. I cut the butter into the crumbs and tried to mix them, but mostly I spread lumps of crumby butter across the top.

I love these casserole recipes because after they cook they can stay in the oven on warm until you're ready to eat. This was a delicious dinner with salad.

P.S. Obvioiusly, I changed my mind and I did scan every recipe I made into this blog.

Jam Cake

2009-02-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

This smelled wonderful baking, which is good since it took over an hour!

It's like a good, hearty spice bread.

Dainty Graham Cakes

2009-02-20T21:04:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from Velma Guffey.

Beat 1/4 cup vegetable shortening until creamy. Add 1 egg and 1/3 cup honey; beat until well blended.

Mix together:
1 cup unsifted flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup instant nonfat dry milk

Mix dry ingredients well. Then add dry ingredients alternating with 1/2 cup orange juice to shortening mixture. Beat well after each addition.

Stir in 3/4 cup finely grated carrots and 1/2 cup dates, finely chopped.

Fill 18 greased 2 1/2 inch muffin cups half full. Bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) about 25 minutes or until done.

German Apple Cake

2009-02-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

First of all, the Three Day Cabbage Slaw was good! We enjoyed it last night.

This recipe is from Aunt Betty.

CAKE:
2 large eggs (or 3 small)
1 cup salad oil
2 cup sugar
2 cup flour
2 t cinnamon
1 t soda
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
4 cup thinly sliced peeled apples
1/2 cup chopped nuts

ICING
2 small packages cream cheese
3 t melted butter
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Beat eggs until foamy; then beat in salad oil. Sift dry ingredients together; mix into egg mixture. Add vanilla. When smooth, add the apples and nuts. The batter will be very thick. Pour into a 9x13 pan which has been greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. For the icing, cream the cheese and butter, work in the powered sugar and vanilla.
Spread on cooled cake.

Three Day Cabbage Slaw

2009-02-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

I know my 'Comments' icon was Missing In Action for awhile, but it's back now, so Comment Away!
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Aunt Martha's recipe is a chance to practice delayed gratification.

Mix together:
1 head cabbage, shredded
1 7-oz can pimentos, chopped HEY! I found pimentos in the store! I was so excited I bought 2 jars, but they are only 2-oz each, so this salad only has 4-oz chopped pimentos.
1 medium onion, chopped I used green onion tops because that's my preference for raw onions.
1 green pepper, chopped I used a red pepper because that's my preference, but I wish I had used yellow or orange to have more variety in color in the salad.

Bring to boil:
1/2 cup honey
1 cup vinegar I used the rest of my apple cider vinegar and some balsamic to make up the difference.
2 t salt
2/3 cup salad oil I used extra virgin olive oil.
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar I used 1/3 cup Splenda.

After bringing to boil, cool. Pour over cabbage and toss. Refrigerate 3 days before using. This will keep up to 3 weeks.

Into the refrigerator until Thursday night.

Quick Caramel Frosting

2009-02-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

This frosting is awesome! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Many of the cakes in the Cross Family Cookbook have a frosting or topping included as part of the recipe. This one didn't, but fortunately there are two frosting recipes tucked in the 'Cakes' section. I chose this one because I have the ingredients on hand.

4 T butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla
6 T cream

Boil butter, cream, and brown sugar together for 1 minute. Let cool. Then stir in powdered sugar and vanilla. If desired, add nuts.

Flat Chocolate Cake

2009-02-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

Boy, those Crosses loved their desserts! I've made good progress through the Cross Family Cookbook in the two months since I started this project. The Appetizers & Beverages, Vegetables, and Miscellaneous sections are complete. I've made solid progress on Breads & Rolls, Soups & Salads, and Casseroles & Meats and can see an end in sight. But it seems like I've barely made a dent in the Cakes, Candies & Cookies and Pastries, Pies & Desserts categories.

So I made a cake this afternoon. This recipe is from Ida Mae Cross.

Mix together:

2 cup flour

2 cup sugar

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon

Melt together and mix into the above mixture:

1 cup hot water

3 t cocoa

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup margarine

Pour into greased and floured 12x18 pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Batter will be very thin. Put on your favorite frosting.

The batter was extremely thin, so I was glad to have the warning. I let it cool while I made the frosting (Quick Caramel Frosting, next).

The cake is very soft, and I'm not sure whether that's the way it was intended or if I should have cooked it longer.

Zucchini Haters Casserole

2009-02-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

This recipe from Vivian Roberts was simple and delicious.

2 lbs zucchini
1/2 c sour cream
3 eggs
1 medium onion
1 cup cracker crumbs (I used leftover bread crumbs.)
1 cup grated cheddar
S&P to taste

Slice zucchini and cook in salted water, but do not overcook. Save some cracker crumbs and cheese for top. Add the last six ingredients to cooked and mashed zucchini. Put in a buttered medium sized casserole, sprinkle remaining crumbs and cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. (Can be frozen.)

Sourdough Pancakes with Maple Syrup

2009-02-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

The fourth and final pancake was nearly perfect!

I've been anxious to make the sourdough recipes since the beginning. Today I was ready. I don't have any obligations, and I've read the Sourdough section of the cookbook many times. The starter smells wonderful, Uncle Ralph's anecdotes are funny, and the recipes make me hungry.

I've been fantasizing about the add-ins - something basic, like pecans? Or something savory, like bacon? Sweet, like butterscotch chips! MMMM. I even thought I'd do this in two parts - breakfast pancakes with craisins and later dinner pancakes with smoked salmon! But I decided to make one batch with chopped ham and pear.

But first, I made a half batch of the Maple Syrup: 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 t Mapleine maple flavoring, 1 cup water, 1 cup Karo corn syrup. Mix it all together, lightly boil 2 minutes. Done.

Time to make Sourdough Pancakes.

The ingredients are simple:

2 c starter
2 T sugar
4 T oil
1/2 t salt
1 egg
1 scant t soda

Mix everything in a large bowl (remember, no metal). I didn't add the soda yet, because I know it's the last to go in, right before cooking. Get the pan real hot. Then dissolve the soda in a little warm water, and fold it into the sourdough batter. Yippee - It started bubbling and rising like it was supposed to!!! So I put a ladle of batter in the pan. The instructions are to "cook til golden brown, turn, and cook other side. TURN only ONCE."

The edges of the pancake were oddly jagged. When the edges were brown, I turned it. Too soon, and it fell apart. Like with crepes, the first one is for the hounds.

I tried another one and left it in the pan longer. Too long. The pan was, literally, smoking hot. I took the batteries out of the smoke detector, just in case. I turned the pancake - burned. I took the pan off the burner to cool it down, but had to put it down because the cast iron was so heavy. When I picked it back up to try again, I discovered that I had put it on the Cross Family Cookbook and melted the binding. DRAT!

I wanted round, golden brown pancakes. I turned the burner down one notch. I filled the pan to its edges with a layer of batter. I waited and waited and waited, and then I turned it. ALMOST DONE, but not quite. I had to turn it again to cook longer. Beautiful round shape though.

The last one would have been perfect, except I tore a corner off when I was plating it. As uncle Ralph predicted, we had HAPPY EATING.

Vicki's Vegetable Dip

2009-02-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

This recipe, from Vicki Fiedler, is delicious. I had some on top of a toasted english muffin for lunch. Just make sure to floss after eating!

1 can chopped black olives
1 can chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 can green chilies
2 small tomatoes, chopped

Marinate all of the above in a small bottle of Italian salad dressing; then add a chopped avocado.
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GRRR - I can't believe this - I bought an avocado this morning, but I forgot to add it. I'll go do that next.

Sweet-Sour Sauce

2009-02-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

This was the perfect topping for tonight's dinner of Zucchini Egg Foo Young and Fried Rice.

Blend 2 t cornstarch, 2 t sugar, 2 t vinegar, 5 t soy sauce, 3/4 t salt, and 1 cup cold water. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve hot. Makes 1 cup.

After a whirlwind of cooking the last few days, I'm going to take a few days off so we can catch up on eating our supply of fruits and vegetables and leftovers. I also need to go see a bunch of the Oscar-nominated movies!

Fried Rice

2009-02-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

2 c boiling water
1/2 t salt
1 t vinegar
1 c long grain white rice
1/2 c cooking oil
6 eggs, beaten
1 large white onion
1 bunch green onion tops
1/4-1/2 c soy sauce (depending on preference)
2 lean pork steaks, diced

I was excited to have an excuse to use my wok! I followed Lois Baxter's recipe as written for the most part. Dicing the flank steak reminded me of teriyaki steak strips we had growing up - MMM.

"Add salt, vinegar, and rice to boiling water. Cook until all water is gone (about 20 minutes); In a clean skillet [WOK!], heat the oil...Add the beaten eggs, tossing lightly until set and crumbly, BUT NOT BROWN. Add the chopped white onion and chopped green onion tops." Heck, I threw in about a cup of shredded zucchini that was leftover from the Zucchini Foo Young. I also browned the diced steak pieces. "Add the browned, diced pork steak and the soy sauce." I used 1/3 cup because that was the only measuring cup that wasn't dirty from today's cooking. "Last, add the cooked rice, toss lightly while heating for several minutes. When ready to serve, put in a large bowl and press down with a spoon. Turn upside down on a serving plate and garnish with a few chopped onion tops." I skipped the presentation and plated our dinners at the stove.