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!

National Pie Day – January 23rd

In honor of National Pie Day…check out these easy,

yet delicious pie recipes.

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Chocolate Fudge Pie

 Printable Recipe

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Aunt Mary’s Chess Pie

Printable Recipe

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Southern Pecan Pie

Printable Recipe

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…

Sour Cream Pound Cake

You can always count on a good friend to give you a good recipe.

My friend, Karen, comes from a long line of good cooks.  Her grandmother was a great cook and her mom is “The Pie Lady”.  She can whip up a Caramel Pie or a Coconut Cream Pie in the blink of an eye.  She always has the ingredients on hand.

Karen has turned out like her mom in that respect.  She’s a great cook.  This is a recipe that she shared with me recently.  It’s so easy, yet so delicious!

I’ve made this cake twice this week.  I polished off most of the first one myself, but took the second one to my inlaws’ family get together.  I had to get that evil thing out of the house!  My hips have gotten wider just this week.  I’m trying to low carb, I really am.  I try to save my treat for that one-hour span, like the Carb Addict plan suggests, but it sure is hard with this treat around!

Karen prefers the cake ‘nekkid’, but I made an Orange Glaze to pour over the warm cake.  Most of it pooled up in the middle, but I just spooned that right out of the middle and onto my slice.  Mmm-mmm, good.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

1 butter recipe yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 half cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup sour cream

Mix well pour into bundt pan and bake at 325 until golden brown, 45-60 minutes.

Orange Glaze (optional)

1/4 cup orange juice
2 T butter, melted
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Mix together and pour over cooled cake.

Sugar-free Oreo Blast (low carb)

Want a quick and easy treat or a simple after-dinner dessert?  What about a Sugar-free Oreo Blast?

Sugar-free Oreo Blast (low carb)
 
1 serving Breyer’s CarbSmart vanilla ice cream
1 serving Sugar Free Oreos, broken into pieces
 
Place ice cream and cookie pieces into food processor. 
Pulse until blended.  Serve in a cute ice cream dish or
small glass.  Top with 1/2 a SF Oreo. 

Now, find a nice quiet spot outside in the swing on a warm sunny day and eat slowly.

Tomorrow…an easy 3 ingredient recipe for a quick supper.

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.

Peanut Butter Balls

I’ve been making this recipe for 27 years now. I first made it as a teenager while living at home back in the 1980′s.  It was a favorite of my brother and he still requests them today.   This recipe is great for the Christmas holiday or even Easter!

Peanut Butter Balls

One 18 oz jar of peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
2 sticks butter, softened
1 & ½ boxes of powdered sugar (I usually buy the 2 lb bag and guesstimate according to the mixture’s consistency)
Chocolate Bark (1 lb or as needed to dip the balls)
(My recipe actually calls for chocolate chips and parrafin melted over a double boiler, but chocolate bark melted in the micorwave is easier)

Cream the peanut butter and the butter in a heavy duty mixer. I burnt up a couple of handheld mixer motors before my Handyman got me a Kitchenaid stand mixer. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until mixed thoroughly. The mixture will be VERY thick.

Roll into 1” or smaller balls. I then chill mine for a few hours. Melt the bark in a small deep bowl in the microwave until creamy smooth. Proceed to dip balls and place on a parchment covered sheet pan until the chocolate hardens.  This recipe makes several dozen.

Store in the fridge for several days or on the counter ‘cause they won’t last long!

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Check out the parties over at

Southern Pecan Pie

I have a young daughter that is an aspiring chef. 

She is only 11 but loves Martha Stewart and is always ready to help out in the kitchen.  She loves to peel, chop, flip, scrape, mix… and lick the bowl.  Whether it be making cucumber salad or baking a pie, my youngest is always ready.

A few weekends ago, my oldest daughter was visiting friends so B (also for Bossy) decided she wanted to bake a pie with a homemade crust.  We had all the ingredients, so I loaded Martha on the laptop and took her to the kitchen with us.  The pecan crop has been abundant in our area this year so we decided the pie would be Southern Pecan Pie.  I discovered my glass pie dish was left at Mom’s house at Thanksgiving, so we ran to the store and picked up some foil pie plates and some more sugar. 

Back home we got all of our ingredients out and I did the measuring while B started putting the crust ingredients into the food processor.  As the crust chilled, we put together our pie ingredients.

We couldn’t wait until it cooled to cut it, so that’s why it’s falling apart in our first picture.  ( I think it even steamed up my camera lens.)  The Southern Pecan Pie was divine!  The filling was light and and the crust flakey.  Well done, my Valentine!

Southern Pecan Pie

3/4 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pecan halves
3 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine corn syrup, sugar, beaten eggs, melted butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl; mix well. Stir in pecan halves. Pour into prepared pie crust and bake for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350°F and bake an additional 35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of pie.  Cool on wire rack before slicing, if you can.

Pate Brisee (the French version of classic pie or tart pastry, courtesy of Martha Stewart)

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies.

· 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 teaspoon sugar
· 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
· 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.