Was thinking about how the President has canceled the American defensive missile project in Poland, to appease Russia - and the next day on the news programs we see Iran announcing that they now have the capability to make THEIR missiles!
But.........I will stop thinking about it right now, as thinking about what's going on in this government lately is giving me headaches. I need a break!
*************************************************************************************
How about this: a recipe! For all of you who would love a very simple cookie-type recipe, THIS is it. I clipped this from a newspaper quite some time ago (the recipe was from a Bette Lindmark of Lee's Summit,MO.), but have never tried it - until this past week. It is so quick and so good! Great for the kids' lunch-boxes.........
TOFFEE CRACKERS (Preheat oven: 350 degrees / ungreased jelly-roll pan)
40 graham crackers (I broke them into two)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine (but I used a full cup of butter, instead of half margarine)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
.....arrange the graham crackers in a single layer on the ungreased pan, placing them close together so crackers touch
.....combine butter, margarine (or just one cup butter) and sugar in small saucepan
...heat to boiling over medium heat - boil 3 minutes
.....pour butter/sugar mixture over the graham crackers
.....sprinkle the nuts over the crackers and sugar mixture
BAKE: 350 degrees - 12 to 15 minutes
Immediately remove cookies from pan and place on aluminum foil to cool quickly - let cool before serving.
Trust me - these are SO good! :)
P.S. I also tried this recipe using plain and whole-wheat soda crackers - very good, too ....... a tad less sweet, but quite good. Next time I am planning to sprinkle some chocolate chips over half of the recipe - and think you can sprinkle about anything you want (except for that kitchen sink!) on them. :)
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Cooking!
Finally another beautiful day here in the heartland. Love it! I have a door partially opened and am listening to the birds singing - while the sun is shining. So nice, after all the rainy,stormy days we've been having. Haven't yet seen the weather reports today, but my body is telling me that maybe there is more stormy weather ahead. :)
I title this "cooking" 'cause that's what I do a lot of..... yesterday I baked with the duck eggs a neighbor has given me (they have three egg-laying ducks in the back yard). No, duck eggs are not "yucky" - they taste just like other eggs to me. I even made an omelette out of some the other day and it was good. My neighbor says she uses them mostly for baking - so yesterday I decided, since I had two dozen of them, to do some baking, too. My house sure smelled great all afternoon. :) I baked my mother's chocolate pound cake, a coffee-cake and made up the dough for yeast rolls, which I will be baking in a few minutes.
In case my readers (I DO have a few readers!) haven't noticed, I LOVE to cook and bake. I've always loved cooking - even as a kid, though I didn't do a lot of it then. Of course, during the years of rearing four kids, it wasn't always as pleasant as I would have liked.....cooking was a bit more stressful then, with everything else to be handled. Even so, our kids did usually come home to a house filled with cooking smells - usually good ones. ha! It's a lot simpler and more peaceful NOW, without the kids - but now I don't have them to SHARE my cooking with! :( But, have to say, my husband, John, is very happy that he has a wife who likes to cook.
"Cooking from scratch" has always been my way - but I'm not opposed to using some ready-made things every now and then. Like brownie mixes - but only those really fudgy kinds! However, I usually even make those from "scratch". That's the way my mother cooked and the way I learned to cook. I feel sorry for those who always "eat out", and especially always eat out at fast-food places. They will never know what an honest-to-goodness REAL meal tastes like! And if you always eat out, you don't have those wonderful cooking odors wafting through your home. (Granted, I've had a few BURNT cooking odors wafting though our home - but that's another blog. :)) I have tons of cook-books - they are great reading, not just for the recipes. And, no, I don't always follow the recipe - I usually use it as a starting point because I usually don't have all the ingredients called for. So, I will "ad-lib" the recipe - use what I have, switch something in or out, etc. It generally works. You can't be a cook and be afraid of "trying" something different! I generally follow the recipes for baking - even though I may add to them. My husband likes to say to visitors, "enjoy it now because she probably won't remember later just how she made it - it will come out different the next time". :) That's usually true, what can I say?
I especially love my mom's chocolate pound cake recipe.....not only because it tastes great (if you love chocolate) but because you can slice it thinly and freeze portions for later. I kept out a third of it yesterday and sliced the rest in thin slices, put them in small portions in freezer bags and popped the bags into the freezer. Easy. Did the same with the coffee-cake. It's nice having some home-made goodies ready to pull out of the freezer when the urge strikes you.
Here is the CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE recipe: (I use an angel-food cake tube pan)
5 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
5 Tblspns. unsweetened cocoa powder (I always add more)
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 sticks butter (or margarine - I prefer butter)
1/2 cup Crisco
1 Tblspn. vanilla
***************************************************************************
1. Cream butter, sugar and Crisco
2. Add eggs, one at a time - beat
3. Add flour, mixed with the cocoa and baking powder .... add this alternately with the
milk
4. Add vanilla
5. Pour into well-greased and floured tube pan
6. Bake: 325 ..... about 1 hour and 20 minutes
*****************************************************************************
ENJOY! YUM!
I title this "cooking" 'cause that's what I do a lot of..... yesterday I baked with the duck eggs a neighbor has given me (they have three egg-laying ducks in the back yard). No, duck eggs are not "yucky" - they taste just like other eggs to me. I even made an omelette out of some the other day and it was good. My neighbor says she uses them mostly for baking - so yesterday I decided, since I had two dozen of them, to do some baking, too. My house sure smelled great all afternoon. :) I baked my mother's chocolate pound cake, a coffee-cake and made up the dough for yeast rolls, which I will be baking in a few minutes.
In case my readers (I DO have a few readers!) haven't noticed, I LOVE to cook and bake. I've always loved cooking - even as a kid, though I didn't do a lot of it then. Of course, during the years of rearing four kids, it wasn't always as pleasant as I would have liked.....cooking was a bit more stressful then, with everything else to be handled. Even so, our kids did usually come home to a house filled with cooking smells - usually good ones. ha! It's a lot simpler and more peaceful NOW, without the kids - but now I don't have them to SHARE my cooking with! :( But, have to say, my husband, John, is very happy that he has a wife who likes to cook.
"Cooking from scratch" has always been my way - but I'm not opposed to using some ready-made things every now and then. Like brownie mixes - but only those really fudgy kinds! However, I usually even make those from "scratch". That's the way my mother cooked and the way I learned to cook. I feel sorry for those who always "eat out", and especially always eat out at fast-food places. They will never know what an honest-to-goodness REAL meal tastes like! And if you always eat out, you don't have those wonderful cooking odors wafting through your home. (Granted, I've had a few BURNT cooking odors wafting though our home - but that's another blog. :)) I have tons of cook-books - they are great reading, not just for the recipes. And, no, I don't always follow the recipe - I usually use it as a starting point because I usually don't have all the ingredients called for. So, I will "ad-lib" the recipe - use what I have, switch something in or out, etc. It generally works. You can't be a cook and be afraid of "trying" something different! I generally follow the recipes for baking - even though I may add to them. My husband likes to say to visitors, "enjoy it now because she probably won't remember later just how she made it - it will come out different the next time". :) That's usually true, what can I say?
I especially love my mom's chocolate pound cake recipe.....not only because it tastes great (if you love chocolate) but because you can slice it thinly and freeze portions for later. I kept out a third of it yesterday and sliced the rest in thin slices, put them in small portions in freezer bags and popped the bags into the freezer. Easy. Did the same with the coffee-cake. It's nice having some home-made goodies ready to pull out of the freezer when the urge strikes you.
Here is the CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE recipe: (I use an angel-food cake tube pan)
5 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
5 Tblspns. unsweetened cocoa powder (I always add more)
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 sticks butter (or margarine - I prefer butter)
1/2 cup Crisco
1 Tblspn. vanilla
***************************************************************************
1. Cream butter, sugar and Crisco
2. Add eggs, one at a time - beat
3. Add flour, mixed with the cocoa and baking powder .... add this alternately with the
milk
4. Add vanilla
5. Pour into well-greased and floured tube pan
6. Bake: 325 ..... about 1 hour and 20 minutes
*****************************************************************************
ENJOY! YUM!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A nice evening ..... and a new President .....
Was a cold but sunny day here in our part of Kansas today. I didn't do much - stayed indoors and cooked, which I love doing. :) I made a noodle casserole for lunch: egg noodles, green peppers, onions, green olives, garlic and canned salmon ..... with sour cream. Yum! And, for supper, I fixed stuffed green peppers - just made two, one for each of us. Two giant green peppers stuffed with a mixture of rice, "deer"burger, onions, garlic, and salsa - with cheese melted on the tops. Also "yum!" :)
My husband, John, and I ate supper in front of the wood fire and watched a couple of news shows. It was cozy and warm. The food and fire, not the news.
We have a new President but I am not happy with his abortion legislation - he didn't wait long to start on it. I am also a little peeved about appointing a guy to be in charge of the country's finances who "got away" with not paying some of his taxes! Maybe WE should try that this time ........What I can celebrate, so far, about our new President is that this country FINALLY broke through the color block and voted in a man who is African American; well, half anyway. That was truly something to celebrate. Historical for sure. However, some of his policies sadden me - and others just plain make me frightened for my country. But I will be praying for him AND for the country.
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