October 1st is National Homemade Cookies day!

It’s been homemade cookies week around my house!

My youngest daughter has made at least 3 batches of  Magic Peanut Butter Cookies and I made 1 batch of Magic Peanut Butter Cookies using Splenda.

My oldest daughter has been in the decorative creative mood and made Sugar Cookies decorated like snowflakes with white icing and blue sprinkles.  She also made this pretty fall centerpiece using a vase and other items found in our yard.

Now on to some of the easiest, most delicious cookies I’ve made lately…

 

Triple Chocolate Cookies

18 oz. pkg. Chocolate Fudge cake mix
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, oil, and egg at low speed until dry ingredients are moistened and dough is thoroughly mixed. It will be a thick mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips and pecan pieces.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2″ apart onto ungreased cookie sheets, pressing down slightly on each spoonful.

Bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cool two minutes on cookie sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool.

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Delicious warm and fudgey right out of the oven; these cookies did not last the day!

Have a very happy National Homemade Cookies Day!

…MORE COOKIE RECIPES…

COOKIES

Yummy Homemade Chunky Chicken Salad

As I was home for lunch, I literally threw together some very delicious homemade chicken salad and served it on toasted bread.

I used about 1 1/2 cups of leftover rotisserie chicken, some diced pickles, chopped green onions (2), and maybe a 1/2 cup of mayo.  I salted and peppered to my taste.  And it was tasty.

To add a little zip to the flavor, I added about a tsp of dill pickle juice and one pack of a Stevia based sweetener.  I think this really brightened up the flavor.

It’s a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken and it was quick and easy, too!

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Sour Cream Biscuits

September

is

National Biscuit Month

and I do love me a fluffy biscuit still warm from the oven!  Total comfort food on a crisp fall morning.

I’m on a quest to find the perfect biscuit.  One that stays fluffy and tender even after they cool off.  The biscuits that I’ve made recently are fantastic out of the oven, but after they cool down and sit a while, they get kind of grainy.  I’m thinking it might have something to do with the fat or flour used.

Recently I tried a new recipe using sour cream and was impressed with the tenderness of dough.  Topped with some apple butter,  that warm biscuit was just right along with my scrambled eggs.

Sour Cream Biscuits

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2 cups self-rising flour

3/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tablespoons water

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In a large mixing bowl, add flour and sour cream.   Mix to a soft dough.  Add additional water if necessary.

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With well floured hands, shape dough into round biscuit shapes.  Place in greased baking pan with sides touching.  Brush biscuit tops with oil.  Bake at 450º  for 10-12 minutes.  Brush with butter before serving.

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*For this batch of biscuits, I preheated an iron skillet,  along with about 3 tablespoons of oil.  I wanted to see if the bottoms of my biscuits would be crispy…and they were!  :)

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Tip:  If you don’t have self-rising flour, use 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 3 teaspoons baking powder.

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Also check out my Southern Buttermilk Biscuit recipe.

And here’s a great low carb biscuit recipe for all my low carb fans.

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I’m linking to…

Old fashioned homemade vanilla ice cream is on my weekend menu!

I can’t believe I haven’t made any homemade ice cream yet, but I plan on changing that this weekend!

*(Please click on the picture to go to the original post with the recipe.)

Snow Cream!

(Recipe Re-run)

For all you with snow on the ground…

Here’s a real treat you can make with that white fluffy stuff!

Click on the photo to be taken to the original post.

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Summer 2010

I just thought I’d share some pictures of my summer.  Most of these were taken with my cell phone camera, so please forgive the quality.

Hope you’ve had a great summer!

My daughter is all excited about Fall, so we’ll probably be sharing some photos of an Autumn project she has in mind.

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(Click on the pictures to enlarge.)

My hubby went fishing this morning.

Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy

My great-nephew enjoys the pool.

Homemade Pizza on a Low Carb Tortilla

The Pool on a beautiful day!

Purple Hull Peas from my garden

Purple Hull peas on my plate.

This was one of my mom’s favorite summer suppers…purple hull peas, fried summer squash, ripe tomatoes & cornbread.

My daughter’s cat, Angel, goes to the garden with me every day.

Pretty pepper plant.

Fresh green beans.

Fresh tomato on toasted sour dough bread sammie.

A wedding cake by my friend’s daughter…she is self-taught and a mom of 2 young children who bakes out of her home.  I don’t know how she does it!

Another cake by Jada.

(Hopefully someday to be called The Cakery Boutique.)

Chicken Club Ring

Ribs…

Our family made a trip to Lambert’s in Sikeston, Mo.  They are famously called “The Home of the Throwed Rolls”.  When you raise your hand, they’ll throw you a hot yeast roll.  The food is wonderful!

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse of my summer.

I hope to be back soon with some great low carb recipes and stories that warm the heart.  Come back soon!

Peanut Butter Cookies (low carb)

In the fall, I get a hankering to bake, bake, bake!

Since I try to live the low carb lifestyle, that limits my baked goods choices.  When I want to bake cookies, this easy recipe always comes to mind.

I found this recipe several years ago in my Aunt Mary’s little recipe box.  Last night when I baked these little gems, I subbed Splenda for the sugar.   I have written the recipe here as it is on her recipe card and added my own tweaks.

 

Magic Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar (I subbed Splenda)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla, optional

Mix the peanut butter and sugar well.  Add the egg.  Mix well.  (As the egg is added to the peanut butter mixture, it  causes the mixture to have a cookie dough texture)

Drop by rounded spoonfuls on baking sheet.  Using a fork, press the cookies down to give them that classic peanut butter cookie look.  Bake at 350º for 8-10 minutes.  Do not overcook.

 

Cool and enjoy!

Old Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Updated pic below…

Ok, so not a very good photo.  It was melting fast!  I really needed to give the ice cream time to “ripen” in the metal container nestled in the salty ice.  But as it goes around my house when it comes to homemade ice cream – we just can’t wait!

Here’s the “recipe” I use.  It’s my mom’s.  That’s what I always strive to do, make it like Mom’s.  The only thing different I do from Mom is to heat the milk and temper the egg mixture.  Then I call the custard cooked just in case I’m serving finicky people who don’t prefer to eat “raw” eggs.

Old-Fashioned Homemade Ice Cream

• 6 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 each 13-ounce cans evaporated milk
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• whole milk , as needed to fill line
• chipped ice
• rock salt

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar gradually, stirring constantly. Add salt, vanilla, condensed milk, and cream.  Heat the 2 cans of evaporated milk in the microwave until boiling.  Add the milk a little at a time to the egg mixture to prevent currdling.  Pour the ice cream mixture into the metal freezer can.  Add enough whole sweet milk until the mixture reaches the container’s fill line.  Stir.

Assemble the ice cream freezer. Add alternating layers of chipped ice and rock salt to barrel around freezer can. If electric, plug the freezer in and let it do it’s thing, adding more ice and salt, as needed.  When freezer stops, unplug.  Remove top and dasher.  Ice cream may be soft on top (see pic above ) but will be firmer near the bottom of the can.   Replace top. Cover can with more ice and salt. Cover ice with a towel, allowing ice cream to “ripen” for at least 1 hour, if you can wait!  Makes about 5 quarts of ice cream.

Enjoy!

Here’s to the happy days of summer!

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And after it sets overnight…

Another Brownie Recipe

Honest, that’s the title of this recipe.  I considered calling it Easy One Bowl Brownies, but decided to go with what I wrote down on the card.  This is another from my vintage recipe collection.

This recipe is very forgiving and I have made substitutions in the past with great results.

Another Brownie Recipe
 
1 stick butter, melted ( I have used 1/2 cup oil or 1/2 cup applesauce)
5 T cocoa ( I used 2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate)
2 eggs
3/4 c flour
1 cup sugar (I added 1/2 cup brown sugar)
1/2 cup pecan pieces, optional

Mix all together.  Pour into 7 x11 dish for thicker brownies. 

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Aunt Mary’s Special Cake with Strawberries

Several years ago I had a chance

to go through Aunt Mary’s little recipe box.  I copied down the recipes that I thought I might like to make and read through those that I remembered her making.  There was Date Nut Cake, Chess Pie, Pecan Crisp Cookies and even a recipe on stationery sent from a friend along with a greeting and personal  note.  One that stood out to me was hid near the back of the box, with no name other than Cake.  Not wanting it to get lost in my files I renamed it “Special Cake”. 

Over the years, I’ve made Special Cake several times, usually during the summer to go with strawberries and fresh whipped cream.  My oldest daughter happens to love Strawberry Shortcake. 

I made it again this weekend and decided to use my new bundt pan (can you call it a pan if it’s ceramic?) from Williams-Sonoma that was a gift from my dear youngest brother.

My cake wanted to stick a little and didn’t brown as well as the one on the cake pan lable, even after baking for 45 minutes.  I took a slice of it and cubed it up for Strawberry Shortcake Trifle. 

Don’t you just love spring?  Spring brings us those delicious little red bits of delectable fruit we call strawberries.  Aunt Mary brought me a Special Cake recipe to use with that delicious fruit,  along with many wonderful memories.

Happy Spring and happy Strawberry Shortcake Season!

Read more about Aunt Mary’s life and recipes

Mini Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Pie (Low Carb)

I tweaked this recipe from The 30-Day Low Carb Diet Solution book by the Drs. Eades.

I found the cheesecake to be very creamy and quite good; the crust was the best ever.  My high-carb loving Handyman didn’t agree, which was fine by me.  I got to eat the whole thing all by myself and didn’t have to worry about even my kids getting into it.  Yeah!  It lasted a week so I was glad to have dessert ready for when I had those sweet cravings which is most of the time.

The recipe calls for individual cupcake cheesecakes, but I baked it in a pie dish as my springform pan wasn’t handy at the time.  The original recipe is at the bottom of the page.  Forgive the cruddy photo.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup very finely chopped pecans
3 packets Splenda
2 T butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

Cheesecake:
2 large eggs, beaten
16 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup Splenda (granular) or other sweetener blend
1 tsp vanilla
3 T semi-sweet mini choc chips or
chopped up SF chocolate bar

Place the finely ground pecans, 2 pks of Splenda, the butter and
cinnamon in a food processor and combine thoroughly. Press the crust mixture in a springform pan or a pie dish. Bake for 10 minutes and then cool.

Place the eggs, granular Splenda, cream cheese and vanilla into a mixer and blend until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the cheesecake mixture into the crust and bake for 35-50 minutes at 350º or until it looks like it is set or kinda firm in the middle . Cool in the oven for
a few hours. Refrigerate overnight.

ORIGINAL RECIPE:

Mini Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes

8 T finely chopped pecans
2 packets Splenda
1 T butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Splenda (granular)
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 T semi-sweet mini choc chips

Place the nuts, 2 pks of Splenda and the butter in
a small bowl and combine thoroughly. Line the
wells of a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners
and distribute the nut mixture evenly, about 2 tsp
per well.

Place the egg, granular Splenda, cream cheese
and vanilla into a mixing bowl and blend until
smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the
mixture evenly among the 12 cups. Bake for 15
minutes at 350º . Cool and refrigerate for at least
one hour.

Vegetable Beef Soup with Southern Cornbread

This soup began as a Pot Roast with baby carrots and baby whole potatoes

baked in the oven for 6 hours at 275º.  That wasn’t long enough or the temp wasn’t high enough.  It was supposed to cooked in the crockpot while I was at work until I discovered my crockpot was missing in action and left at the church after the last dinner.

My cupboard was nearly bare of soup ingredients except for the 2 home-canned jars of mixed veggies sent back home with us from a trip to Aunt D’s house in Kentucky. I also had a small can of tomato sauce, but no diced or whole tomatoes which I normally use in soup.

The soup turned out to be the best I’ve made in a while… it was delicious!  Very hearty and full of flavor.   Only from memory, since I didn’t write anything down; it goes something like this…

Hearty Vegetable Beef Soup

Small portion of leftover pot roast
Whole new potatoes, from leftover roast
Onions, from leftover roast
2 cans mixed veggies
1 small tomato sauce
2 bouillon cubes
2-3 Tbs Flour or cornstarch for thickening
1-2 cups of water

Put all in a large pot or dutch oven and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes and until broth is thickened.  Serve with cornbread, breadsticks, or saltines.

Pacify your kids when they come asking for more, by informing them that soup’s all gone but homemade Pecan Pie with a dollop of fresh whipped cream is coming up!

Chocolate Fudge Pie

 

 

With work slowing down, we’ve found ourselves home more during the week.  What better to do than bake?!

I found an easy recipe for My Handyman to make while I was doing other fun stuff, like folding laundry and helping the girls with their lessons.  I thought he did a great job and by that evening most of this delicious pie had vanished.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE PIE

1 c. sugar 4 tbsp. flour 4 tbsp. cocoa 1/2 c. milk 2 whole eggs 3 tbsp. butter, melted 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring chopped pecans (optional)   Dump all ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat well. Pour into an unbaked pastry shell. We sprinkled a few pecans in the bottom before pouring in the batter. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool before slicing.  Top with freshly whipped cream.