Fried Chicken and Cheesesteaks

 Do you want your tea to be just like Lucy's first visit into the wardrobe?   An appropriate cake for a girl and a faun sharing a pot of tea.       Grease a 13 x 9 pan, preheat oven to 350   In mixer bowl stir together: 3 cups flour (or sub GF) 2 cups sugar 4 tsp baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 tsp salt freshly grated nutmeg dash of mace   then mix in: 2 cups sour cream 4 eggs   Pour into 13 x 9 pan, then  use mixer and beater: swirl: cream together  3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter, softened 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 Tablespoons cinnamon (I like to use some each of cassia and ceylon if you have two types on hand) 1 teaspoon cardamom  (any other warming spices you'd like) put well creamed soft mixture into a zip-top bag, snip tiny corner of bag and swirl over the top of the cake.   It will sink in during baking.    Bake ~40 minutes, until tester comes out clean. If desired make a glaze:  2 cups ...

  First prep 12 oz of Buttersworth original hard candies.    Unwrap, put them in a gallon ziploc bag, put bag into an old pillowcase or fold into a dishcloth, and pound with a mallet or the bottom of a heavy sauce pan:       Preheat oven to 350 degrees  Cream together:  2 sticks butter, at room temperature  1 cup brown sugar Then add:  2 eggs 1 T vanilla 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt When well combined add in: 2 cups flour 1 cup rolled oats Then add:  12 ounces hard butterscotch candies (prepared as described) Drop by the tablespoon onto parchment lined sheet pans, 3" apart.    Small balls, socially distanced.   These cookies seriously spread, y'all.       Bake ~10 minutes.   If your oven is uneven, turn the pans halfway.    Let the cookies cool on their tray, undisturbed.      Then store cooled cookies between layers of parchment.  ...

 When only the chocolatiest will do .. First prep 12 ounces of dark chocolate - break into small pieces or coarsely chop.    I used 85% dark from Aldi.   Lightly whisk together in a large pot (I use my 7 qt dutch oven): 3 cups white sugar 1 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp salt 3/4 cup corn starch Mix in: 12 egg yolks 1/2 gallon (8 cups) whole milk Slowly heat on stove, stirring almost constantly until it starts to thicken.   This will take 12-15 minutes.     When it starts to thicken turn off the heat, still stirring.       Add:  2 Tablespoons vanilla prepared 12 ounces of dark chocolate Mix chocolate into pudding mixture and let it sit a minute, then whisk until combined.    Add in: 1 stick butter, cut into 8-10 pieces.     Whisk until smooth and shiny.   Scoop pudding into cups - I ended up with 38 servings.  ...

 Grease or spray a half sheet pan.     Preheat oven to 350. 1 stick butter, browned 2 sticks butter, melted Mix together dry ingredients in an extra large bowl: 3 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt Combine browned and melted butter, stir in: 3 cups brown sugar then:  2 Tablespoons vanilla extract 4 eggs Gently mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then stir in: 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped  (I accomplish this by putting nuts into a gallon ziploc bag and taking out my frustration with the bottom of a heavy saucepan!) Spread on prepared half-sheet pan.    Bake approximately 25 minutes until lightly golden brown.  

A wonderful icing for gingerbread cookies or cutout cookies. Left to dry overnight it will completely harden. Perfect as the "glue" for a gingerbread house or to attach decorations and sprinkles to cookies. I would NOT attempt this if my mixer was broken. 1/4 cup of pasteurized egg white (buy in the carton in the egg section at the grocery store) 1 pound powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice 1 Tablespoon of vanilla water, if necessary food coloring (paste type), if desired Mix the powdered sugar into the egg white, vanilla and lemon juice about a cup at a time. Once somewhat combined, turn mixer to a high setting (using whisk attachment) and beat until stiff peaks stage. Once you reach this stage you can use in a few different ways: 1. Spread the thick mixture directly onto cookies. 2. Use as "glue" in cookie house construction) 3. Scoop out approximately a third of this recipe into a smaller bowl. Combine with about a tablespoon of water and food colori...

Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons ground ginger (for a spicy cookie - use less if you like) 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (again, for a spicy cookie) 1.5 tsp ground cloves pinch of salt pinch of ground allspice, just because it there in the spice drawer 2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons water 1 cup molasses (I used blackstrap, but regular will be fine too) 5 cups all purpose flour In electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until creamy. Add spices and salt and mix well. Add the baking soda mixture and molasses - beat for a while until thoroughly combined or until you reach the commercial break of the holiday special you are watching. Add the flour one cup at a time, then beat for two more minutes until well mixed. Let the dough stand while you go eat dinner or some other activity of your choice for about an hour. Place a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on the counter. Put about a third of the dough in the middle...

New Christmas season, same recipe as last year: Pistachio Wedding Cakes . If it ain't broke ...

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together until light and fluffy: 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup Sugar Mix in: 2 egg yolks 1/2 cup maple syrup Mix in gently (on low setting if using mixer): 3 cups flour 1 tsp salt Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto baking tray, spacing 3" apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden on the edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool. For glaze: reduce 1/2 cup maple syrup by half. Drizzle over cookies, then sprinkle LIGHTLY with coarse salt. Allow glaze to harden overnight. Store in airtight containers.

Any recipe that includes butter, brown sugar and rum is bound to be a winner .... 2 sticks butter, melted 2 cups brown sugar 2 egg 2 teaspoon vanilla 2 tablespoons dark rum Pinch salt 2 cup flour 2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped Butter a 13 x 9 pan. Pour melted butter into mixer, and add brown sugar. Cream until well mixed. Mix in eggs, vanilla, salt and rum. Add flour and beat until just combined. Add walnuts and mix until stirred in. Scrape batter into pan and spread with spatula until about evenly covering pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until done (like brownies be careful not to overbake - they'll set up a bit more as they cool). Cool completely before cutting, if you can wait.

These are SOOOO good, and they make your house smell like a Cinnabon while they are baking. (Cinnabon is, I'm quite certain, a registered trademark. I am not claiming these are the Cinnabon recipe. But two different people told me they were better) In the bread machine, run these ingredients on the dough setting (the second time I made these, I actually set the dough cycle to run right before going to bed, and didn't die because there was milk in the recipe. On the other hand, we keep our house in the mid 50's overnight during the winter nights, so take that into consideration if you try it in the African heat): 1 cup warm milk 2 eggs, room temperature 1/3 cup butter, melted 4 1/2 cups bread flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar 1 packed (2 1/2 tsp) yeast When finished, punch dough down and transfer to board: Very lightly flour, and roll/stretch out, then brush w/ 1/4 cup butter, melted (or spread if you thought ahead enough to have some very spreadable): Combine 1 cup brown ...

A quick dessert from ingredients on hand - and a VERY flexible recipe to boot. Any combination of berries (actually almost any soft fruit) will mix well. Just adjust the sugar added to the tartness of the fruit. Berries, from your freezer. I used blueberries: Cranberries, and some mixed berries - about 8 cups in total: I added about a cup and a half of sugar (less if it hadn't included all those tart cranberries) and a splash of vanilla: Meanwhile in another part of the kitchen: Butter was melted: Leftover, stale storebought cookies were tried and sentenced to execution by spatula: Then mixed with about three cups of oats and the butter. (I didn't sweeten because of the cookies. If you're using all oats, add a bit of brown sugar) Pour the berries into a 13 x 9 pan, followed by the topping. Bake at 375, 35-45 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream!

My grandmother had a birthday this week, and my grandmother adores peanut butter, so I decided to attempt a peanut butter frosting. "THIS IS SO GOOD" is one reaction I received from a coworker (I brought the extras into work), so I decided to share the recipe: Prepare chocolate cake from a box, or cupcakes, or even just a spoon. Then make your frosting: 1 stick of butter, softened 1 cup of peanut butter (I like Jif) 2-3 cups powdered sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla ~ 1/2 cup of milk Use your mixer to blend the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time. Add the vanilla. Then add milk until the icing is somewhat spreadable. It will still be very thick. You could also roll it out like a fondant and lay thick slices over the cake. I decorated mine with pink M&Ms and white Reeses Pieces. Decorate yours as you see fit.

I never got around to posting my cookie recipes before Christmas. But who says cookies are only for Christmas? These are a twist on the Mexican Wedding Cake / Russian Tea Cakes . They are seasoned with orange and almond, and feature pistachios instead of walnuts. These are amazing! 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 cups powdered sugar 1 cup shelled, unsalted roasted pistachios, minced 2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (or reconstitute dry - I get mine from Penzeys) 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon almond extract 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour Heat oven to 350°F and lightly grease baking sheets. Beat together butter and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. (If you have a stand mixer, use it) Beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add pistachios, orange zest, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract and continue mixing until ingredients are well incorporated. Add flour and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seco...

Bread pudding is one of those old fashioned desserts that is also suprisingly good. Excellent for a showy dinner party, or for a Thanksgiving weekend brunch. 8 cups "good" bread - this was a mixture of old baguettes (I throw the ends in the freezer), and some leftover bread from take-out, which is a whole wheat bread: 5 eggs: whisked: Add four cups of milk or some mixture of milk and cream (I used three cups milk, 1 cup cream), and 1 cup of brown sugar: Add some grated nutmeg, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and a splash of vanilla: Stir the liquid into the bread: Pour into a 13 x 9 pan, and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes: The top will be all puffed when you take it out: Make a homemade cream anglaise sauce. WAIT who took this picture? Someone is daring to suggest I used melted french vanilla ice cream instead of cream anglaise sauce? Ok, so I did. I went and watched a movie while the bread pudding baked. Melted ice cream, if you look at the side, is often a custard. So melted ice c...

Just in case you are feeling guilty about all the steamed vegetables you ate this week, here's a way to atone for the damage: