Rhubarb Muffins

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

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

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

1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!