Mom’s Musings

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

3 cups crushed graham crackers (about 48 squares)

½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Confectioners’ sugar

In a microwave bowl, combine milk and chocolate chips. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until chips are melted; stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla, graham crackers and walnuts. Shape into a 17-inch log; roll in sugar. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Unwrap and cut into ¼-inch slices. Makes about 5 ½ dozen.

These cookies taste like a lighter version of fudge. They melt in your mouth. Yum!

(This recipe is from my old More With Less Cook Book)

Makes 100 doughnuts or rolls

Dissolve:

3 pkg. dry yeast in

1 cup lukewarm water

Mix in large bowl:

1 quart scalded milk

2 cups mashed potatoes (no milk added)

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

Let cool to lukewarm, then add:

Yeast mixture

6 cups flour

Let stand until mixture foams up (about 20 minutes)

Add:

2 eggs, beaten

1 Tablespoon salt

11 to 12 cups additional flour

A little more flour may be needed, but dough should be soft. Turn out on floured board and knead until satiny. Let raise in warm place until doubled in bulk.

Doughnuts:
Roll out dough, cut doughnuts, place on trays and let raise until not quite double. Fry in hot shortening (375 degrees). When drained and while still hot dip in glaze mixture. Insert a stick through holes and let a number of doughnuts drain over glaze bowl until next ones are ready to do.

Glaze:

Combine:

1 pound powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Dash of mace

Enough rich milk to make thin icing

Cinnamon buns:
Prepare a mixture of sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Roll a piece of dough to about 18″x9″. Spread dough with butter and sprinkle over some of the sugar mixture. Roll up the dough as for jelly roll. Cut 1 ½” chunks and place in greased pans, pressing down lightly on each chunk. Cover and let raise in warm place until nearly double. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned. These may be iced with doughnut glaze as soon as they are taken from the oven.

Sticky buns:
Handle dough same as for cinnamon buns, except make a mixture of brown and white sugar, cinnamon, and a little white corn syrup and water. Spread in bottom of heavily greased pans with nuts, if desired, before putting in rolls. Immediately after baking, invert pans over trays and let syrup run down before removing pans.

To freeze:
Let baked goods cool. Wrap or place in large plastic bags and freeze the same day.

Note: This recipe is also quite good using part freshly ground whole wheat flour in place of some of the white flour.

Tonight we’re hosting a fun time of food and fellowship at our place. Whenever we have lots of company, I like to use my crock pot to make some sort of sandwich filling, and then set up a buffet, so people can just help themselves to food. Somehow this seems a lot less stressful to me than serving a sit-down dinner. This also makes it possible to invite lots more folks than we have room to seat at the table!

I think I’ll also bake a hearty potato casserole to go with the sandwiches. The friends are bringing such things as desserts, veggies, salads, and some of the beverages. Isn’t it fun to taste other people’s cooking? Yum!

For this get-together, I borrowed my girlfriend’s crockpot, too, and got up early this morning to start the following recipe. I haven’t tried it before, but it sounds really good, so here it is:

Tex-Mex Beef Barbecue
(from the Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker Cook Book)

This recipe is for a 5 ½ to 7 quart slow cooker:

6 pounds brisket of beef

2 (18 ounce) bottles hickory-smoked barbecue sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce)

2 (1.25 ounce) envelopes chili seasoning (or 6 Tablespoons homemade taco seasoning)

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 cup chopped onion

Combine all ingredients, except meat, in crock. Stir well. Brown meat first, if desired. Add meat and stir well to coat. Cover and cook: Low – 10 hours OR High – 5 hours.

Remove the meat and shred. Return the meat to crock. Stir well. Serve on soft rolls. Makes approximately 16 servings.

When serving something like this, I also provide sliced cheese, extra barbeque sauce, and additional toppers such as sliced fresh onion.

Now I’d better get going with the day’s work.

P.S. - Here’s the homemade Taco Seasoning recipe:

TACO SEASONING MIX (from Set for Life by Jane Merrill and Karen Sunderland)

Ingredients:
2/3 cup dry minced onion
4 teaspoons salt
¼ cup chili powder
¼ cup paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
¼ cup flour
Mix ingredients. Cover and store in cool place.
2 to 3 tablespoons equal 1 package taco seasoning mix.
Stir seasoning mix into meat or beans. Add ½ cup water and simmer 10 minutes.
Yield: 1 ½ cups

This recipe was given to me by some Dutch friends who assure me that this is “the real thing.” As you may know, the Dutch love almond desserts. We do, too! I only make this once or twice per year, though, since almond paste is so expensive ($8.99 per pound at the local supermarket). Oh . . . This is also quite a rich dessert. A little goes a long way!

Pastry:

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

½ cup water

Cut butter into flour, then stir in water. Mix well with fork. Refrigerate several hours or freeze 40 minutes. Roll the dough to fit a 15″x11″ jelly roll pan, plus ½ inch up the sides.

Filling:

2 cups sugar

16 ounces (one pound) almond paste

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Crumble (or grate, if hard) almond paste; add sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat well with mixer. Spread on pastry. Trim the pastry even with the top edge of the jelly roll pan, if desired, or simply fold down on filling.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

Cool; cut into bars.

Minestrone Soup (Serves 30)

First Ingredients:

5 pounds beef stew meat

Olive oil for skillet

¼ cup McCormick Beef Base (this is a condensed, pasty form of bouillon that requires refrigeration)

1 cup water

2 bay leaves (remove when the meat is tender)

10 whole allspice (remove when the meat is tender)

First sauté the beef stew meat in the olive oil until browned. Add the water and beef base. Once this boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 2 ½ hours, until the meat is tender.

Next ingredients:

2 ½ cups chopped onion (or ½ to ¾ cup of dehydrated onion)

5 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)

13 or 14 cups water

More beef base (I think I used ¼ cup)

5 or 6 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced

1 small head cabbage, shredded

40 ounces of canned beans, such as pinto beans or kidney beans

2 or 3 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (depends on how tomato-y you like the soup)

4 teaspoons Italian seasonings, such as oregano, basil, marjoram (or seasonings of choice)

2 ½ cups fine pasta (optional)

Once the stew meat is tender, cut it into smaller bits, if desired, and store in the refrigerator while you prepare the broth.

Stir the beef base, onions, garlic, celery, diced potatoes and dehydrated vegetables into the water and simmer until vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the pasta and stir frequently, until the pasta is done (Follow package directions.).

Add the cooked stew meat, the canned beans, and the Italian seasonings, and heat thoroughly.

Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, and crackers, if desired.

This is my own recipe for Minestrone Soup, which I am entering, belatedly, in BooMama’s Soup-tacular Celebration. You will find a wonderful assortment of soup recipes at this link.

CHEDDAR CHOWDER

2 cups water
2 cups diced potatoes
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cups fresh broccoli
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

White sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup cubed ham

• Combine water, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper in large kettle. Boil 10 minutes, then add the broccoli, and continue simmering while you prepare the white sauce.
• To make white sauce, melt the butter in a skillet. Add flour and stir until smooth (about 1 minute). Slowly add milk; cook until thickened. Add grated cheese to white sauce; stir until melted.
• Turn off the heat under the soup, and mash the vegetables if desired. Also, you may add 1 teaspoon curry powder or some other seasoning to the soup, for variety. Add white sauce and cubed ham to the vegetable soup mixture.

Yield: 6 servings

This recipe is from A Taste of the Country, from Country Store, Code #3018, Box 572, Milwaukee, WI 53201)

(Here’s another lovely image from Snapshots of Joy. It looks “harvest-y”, so appropriate for a Thanksgiving post.)

Since I have started working outside the home five hours per day, I have REALLY missed the time I used to spend in the kitchen. Did I mention how much I LOVE to cook and bake? So, when we got home from our Thanksgiving Day worship service, and after a quick lunch and popping the turkey in the oven for dinner tonight, I decided to have fun with a dessert. I selected a Land O Lakes recipe for Caramel Apple Pudding Cake. The recipe is available here. The only changes I made to the recipe were:

1. I used four apples rather than two.
2. I omitted the nuts, because Cadet-O doesn’t care for them.
3. I put the whole kit-and-caboodle in my slow cooker, turned it to HIGH, and will expect excellent results in four hours. The oven is busy with the turkey, so this was my alternative.

I’ll let you know how it turns out, but, like I said, I’m having a great time in the kitchen. This is my FUN, and I’m thankful to have the time today to do some experimentation.

Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons sugar (heaped a little)

3 Tablespoons shortening or bacon drippings

4 level teaspoons salt

4 cups scalded liquid

1 package dried yeast

½ cup lukewarm water

14 to 16 cups flour (You will have to judge this amount when you knead; add flour just until it won’t stick to your hands)

Method:

Combine sugar, shortening and salt; pour scalded liquid over and dissolve.

Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water. Do not add yeast to other mixture until cooled. If it’s too hot it will scald the yeast and it will not rise.

Mix in flour and knead until it is springy and squeaks.

Let rise in a warm place (approximately 82 degrees) until it is doubled in size or more, then with fists push down and divide into four loaves, and place in thoroughly greased pans. Let rise in pans until double in size.

Heat oven to 400 degrees for the first 10 minutes, then turn down to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 50 minutes more, depending on your preference.

I seem to remember that my Grandma Schmitz was usually taking this delicious bread out of the oven just as we were arriving for a visit. I so enjoyed a fresh slice of her bread, spread with butter, or sometimes made into a hearty sandwich. I would tell her that it was the best bread in the whole world, and when I was a bit older she gave me the recipe. Now, I usually bake bread that is at least half whole wheat, but this bread truly brings back memories for me. If you try it, use the bacon drippings, because that is SO good.

Minestrone Soup (Serves 30)

First Ingredients:

5 pounds beef stew meat

Olive oil for skillet

¼ cup McCormick Beef Base (this is a condensed, pasty form of bouillon that requires refrigeration)

1 cup water

2 bay leaves (remove when the meat is tender)

10 whole allspice (remove when the meat is tender)

First sauté the beef stew meat in the olive oil until browned. Add the water and beef base. Once this boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 2 ½ hours, until the meat is tender.

Next ingredients:

2 ½ cups chopped onion (or ½ to ¾ cup of dehydrated onion)

5 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)

13 or 14 cups water

More beef base (I think I used ¼ cup)

5 or 6 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced

1 small head cabbage, shredded

40 ounces of canned beans, such as pinto beans or kidney beans

2 or 3 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (depends on how tomato-y you like the soup)

4 teaspoons Italian seasonings, such as oregano, basil, marjoram (or seasonings of choice)

2 ½ cups fine pasta (optional)

Once the stew meat is tender, cut it into smaller bits, if desired, and store in the refrigerator while you prepare the broth.

Stir the beef base, onions, garlic, celery, diced potatoes and dehydrated vegetables into the water and simmer until vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the pasta and stir frequently, until the pasta is done (Follow package directions.).

Add the cooked stew meat, the canned beans, and the Italian seasonings, and heat thoroughly.

Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, and crackers, if desired.

FRUIT DUMPLINGS (from the More With Less Cook Book)

Prepare 3 cups finely chopped fresh fruit. Use apples, peaches, rhubarb, etc. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 °.

Prepare 1 recipe biscuit dough (below). Roll dough into large rectangle on floured board. Cover thickly with fruit. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll up like jelly roll and cut into 1″ rings. Place in greased 9 x 13″ baking pan.

Combine in saucepan:

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon flour

1 cup cold water

Let come to a boil and pour over dumplings. Bake 45 minutes. Serve warm with milk or vanilla ice cream. Serves 8.

BASIC BISCUITS

Sift together in a bowl:

2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Cut in ¼ cup shortening.

Add ¾ cup milk all at once, stirring until soft ball is formed.

Turn dough onto floured board; knead lightly 20 times. Roll or pat dough ½” thick. (If you really make biscuits, you would bake them on an ungreased baking sheet for 10-12 minutes at 425 °.)