Carrot Cookies

The next half dozen or so recipes come as a consequence of going over copies my Aunt made of my grandma's fantastic recipes.  I took out some personal favorites and here you are.  When I was little, my mom used this particular recipes to barter for my older sister's piano lessons.  I always remember licking the icing off the cookies.  

bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

Shred and cook until tender: 

2 c carrots

Cream: 

1 1/2 c butter

2 c sugar

Add and beat well:

2 eggs

the cooked carrots

1 t salt 

4 c flour 

2 t baking powder

2 t vanilla 

2 c nuts (or less, or not at all)

bake on a greased cookie sheet 

 

FROSTING:

beat smooth:

1 grated orange rind

2 c powdered sugar

2 pinches salt 

2 T orange juice 

ice cookies while warm

Hearty Cabbage Soup

I don't know how long this recipe has been in the family, but it is one of the best soups I've encountered.  Its very good served with homemade bread.  Challah in particular.  As a kid, I always ate it made with beef, but I don't eat red meat anymore, so I just use ground turkey.  If you have the patience, like beans, this soup is better on the second day.  

Brown: 

1 lb ground beef or turkey

Add and simmer:

6 c water

2 cans tomato paste (6 oz each)

1/2 head of cabbage, chopped

1 large onion, sliced

4 all spice berries or 1/2 t ground allspice

3 T sugar

1 T salt (or a little less)

3 peppercorns 

1 bay leaf 

2 T worcestershire sauce

Stan's Deluxe Hot Cakes

To this day I still have no idea who Stan is, but the fact remains that these fall into the category of very good pancakes.  This is the kind that my grandparents always fix for breakfast when I visit.  

Sift together:

1 1/2 c flour 

1 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

3/4 t salt

Beat together and combine with dry ingredients:

3 T brown sugar

2 egg yolks 

2 c buttermilk

3 T oil

Beat and fold in:

2 raw egg whites 

grill in a lightly greased pan

Classic Rice Crispy Treats

For kids birthday parties you can't really go wrong with these.  My family likes to throw food coloring into the mix and then mold the treat into various shapes.  Past favorites have included Iron Man, a shark, and a rocket ship.

Melt:

1/4 c butter

1/2 lb marshmallows 

Stir in:

5 c rice crispies 

Seven Bean Salad

All I will say is that this is way better than the stuff that comes in a jar.

MAKE 12 HOURS AHEAD

1: Drain one can of each:

green beans

wax beans

garbanzo beans

kidney beans

lima beans

black beans

navy beans

1: Mix separately:

1 c chopped onion 

1/ green pepper (optional)

1 c sugar

1 c vegetable oil

1 cup vinegar

1 t pepper 

1 T salt 

1 Tcelary seed

3: Add Beans

Baked Alaska

This recipe is a family favorite for birthdays and a good alternative to cake.  It is basically a combination of brownies (or cake), ice cream, and meringue.  I can't really think of anything much better than that.  I personally like it topped with hot fudge sauce.  Another version of this recipe (a bit healthier) - you cut the meat out of a grapefruit, put it back in, top it with vanilla ice cream, and then bake it with meringue on top.  Its good tea party food.

350 degrees 3-5 minutes

Prepare:

1 9 inch round of yellow cake or brownies (I prefer brownies)

Coat a round bowl (1 inch smaller than your brownies) with wax paper and fill it with ice cream

Freeze

Shortly before serving prepare meringue:

beat until frothy:

6 egg whites

1/2 t cream of tartar

gradually add: 

1 c sugar

and beat until stiff and glossy

1: place cooled cake layer on a cutting board or baking sheet

2: turn bowl of ice cream upside down over cake and remove wax paper

3: cover ice cream with meringue and seal to the board

4: bake and serve immediately

Chicken and Dumplings

This recipe is the real thing- my grandma taught me how to make them right after my youngest brother was born and I used to make them all the time for the family.  Be careful with this recipe because it is easy to make the dumplings gooey.

Cook 10 minutes uncovered and then 10 minutes tightly covered. Makes 16-20 dumplings

Blend:

3 c flour

1 T and 1 t baking powder

1 1/2 t salt

Cut in:

1/4 c and 3 T butter

Blend in:  1 1/2 c milk

drop by spoonfuls into chicken or meat in thickened boiling meat stock with salt and pepper.  

Conference Rolls

Yet another Easter recipe.  When I was little and my family would attend the church's semi annual General Conference, as a reward we would have a "conference feast", of which these were the highlight.  The reason there are pictures of cinnamon rolls here is because my Aunt used this recipe for the cinnamon rolls we ate after our Easter sunrise service.  Half of them weren't cinnamon rolls at all, but rolls with chocolate chips and walnuts.  

400 degrees- 15-20 minutes

combine:

4 1/2 c hot milk

1/2 c butter

1/3 c sugar

1 T salt 

6 c flour 

3 T dry yeast

set 5-10 minutes

gradually add: 

5 more cups flour (1 c at a time)

knead 

let rest 10 minutes

Divide dough into 4 balls.

Roll each ball out into a circle and cut into 8 pieces.  

Brush with melted butter

Roll into crescents 

Shape

Cover with tea towels

let rise 45 minutes on cookie sheet

BAKE

Cherry Cream Pie

This is another easter favorite.  Despite it being wrong on so many levels, I usually eat this for breakfast the day after easter.  I don't usually go for this sort of recipe (basically things that include cherry pie filling or instant vanilla pudding), but its an undeniable fact that this recipe is sickly good.

Prepare 1 baked pie shell

cream:

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese

gradually add:

1 c milk 

1 c sour cream

reserve 1/2 c to decorate and add remainder to cheese mixture:

1 can cherry pie filling

sprinkle over mixture and beat 45 seconds at low speed:

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding

pour into cooled pie shell and chill at least 1 hour

Deviled Eggs

These deviled eggs were made from the hard boiled eggs that the kids dyed for Easter - so some of them have stains on them.  I didn't exactly have a recipe for these deviled eggs- I pretty much just went by taste and added things I had heard were good in deviled eggs.  As far as I can tell it worked.  

Hard cook a bunch of eggs.  Cut them in half, and carefully remove the yolk and put it in a separate bowl.  Lay the empty egg white halves on a cookie sheet so you can fill them.

To the egg yolks, add:

enough light mayonnaise to give it a good thick texture.  Mix until smooth.

Add to taste:

ketchup

dry mustard

worcester sauce

salt 

paprika

put the egg yolk mixture into a large ziplock bag and cut off a bit of one of the corners.  Squeeze the egg yolk mixture out of the bag and into the holed of the egg whites.  Sprinkle with paprika and serve with pickles.