Creamy Cherry Salad

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

Does this picture want to make you run to the kitchen and get a spoon and take a big bite?

I hope it does!

We celebrated my Dad’s 96th birthday last Saturday. (His real birthday was on Memorial Day) I was making a bunch of things to go with the Tickle Your Ribs BBQ that my Little Brother is famous for. (well…famous in our family anyway!) Saturday, he fought the rain all day to grill pork steaks and pulled pork, drenched in his home made bbq sauce. YUMMY! I was looking for extra special recipes to make to compliment all his hard work on his grill.

I had been eyeing this Creamy Cherry Salad recipe for a long time. I have been saving the recipe for months waiting for a special dinner to make it. Dad’s birthday seemed like the perfect time! I had all the ingredients to make it too, except the sour cream (the one container I found had expired, poo). Super Hero son came to my rescue and went to the store to pick up the sour cream. In no time at all I had this beautiful salad made! You just open some containers, chop up some pecans, throw it all in a bowl and stir.

Easy Peasy Nice and Easy! (and delicious)

With the beautiful pink color and the pop of red from the cherries, it would be a perfect for Memorial Day, 4th of July or a Christmas dinner. (and any other time you want to indulge yourself)

Anywho, I took this dish and Niener Wiener wanted the recipe right away. (her DAR group theme is cherries this year and she wants to make it for their next carry in dinner, woohoo success!). I also made home style fresh green beans, that the grand girls helped me snap, Smokestack Baked Beans (recipe coming soon, Deviled Eggs and Strawberry Spinach Salad.

Here is all you need to make this quick and yummy recipe:

You will need one can of sweetened condensed milk, chopped pecans, 1 regular size can crushed pineapple, drained, (I had to use to small cans because that is what I had on hand) some sour cream, 1 container cool whip and one can of cherry pie filling.

First thing I did was chop my pecans and drained the pineapple. (I saved the juice for the grand girls)

In a large bowl, (I was taking this to my dad’s birthday party, so I was using a clear plastic bowl that had a snap on lid for travel) add the can of cherry pie filling and the cool whip.

Pour in the whole can of sweetened condensed milk. Add the drained crushed pineapple.

Add in the chopped pecans. Finally stir in the sour cream.

And then LOW and BEHOLD….you have a beautiful and deliciously creamy and yummy salad that looks like this….

Are you ready to grab a spoon now?

Here is your recipe:

Creamy Cherry Salad

Adapted from old Silver Dollar City Recipe Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 (20 ounce) can cherry pie filling 1 cup chopped pecans

1 (9 ounce) container of cool whip

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained well

1 cup sour cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

In a large serving bowl, blend all ingredients together. Chill until firm. Serves 10 to 15.

Enjoy!

Becky

Cherry Pie Bars

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

My little brother’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago.

I love a great birthday party!

Especially one, with BBQ ribs and chicken.

And, birthday boy was doing all the cooking.

Little Brother was celebrating his birthday by BBQing his famous ribs and chicken and inviting Me and Company over for dinner.

All I needed to do was bring a dessert.

The big problem I had was that my little brother does not eat many sweets. That is probably why he has kept his girlish figure…: ) He does love coconut cream pie and banana cream pie and peanut m and m’s. I just did not have a ton of time to go to the store and make the pie I really wanted to make for him. So, I settled for a dessert that I already had all the ingredients for, it could bake while I was getting ready to go and it travels great.

Did I mention that it is pretty to look at too.

And, most importantly, it taste great too.

The crust is tender, it is not too sweet and if you serve it warm, a big scoop of ice cream goes perfect on top.

So Anywho, if you are looking for a pretty dessert to take to a bbq or picnic, I really recommend this one.

Just make sure you leave a piece for you at home, cause there will not be any left overs.

Here is what you need to make Cherry Pie Bars.

You will need some eggs, butter, vanilla, flour, powdered sugar, salt, almond extract and canned cherry pie filling. It calls for one big can, (which I did not have) so I used 2 smaller cans and it was the perfect amount.

First thing you do is cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with a mixer. I used my stand mixer.

Next, add in the eggs, one at a time, beating the each egg in before adding the next one.

Add in the vanilla and almond extract. Lastly mix in the flour and salt. Now you have the crust part all done.

Scoop half of the crust onto a greased 9by 13 baking dish. (I used my jelly roll pan). Spread the crust out evenly on the bottom of the pan.

Cover the crust with the pie filling. Spread it out evenly on the crust.

With the left over crust, with a teaspoon, drop teaspoonful’s on top of the cherry pie filling. It looks and taste better if you try to evenly drop the crust. Now, pop the bars into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes.

While the cherry pie bars are baking make your glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and water.

Whisk in the vanilla and almond extract. Whisk together until you do not have any lumps.

After the bars are baked and cooled, drizzle the glaze over the cherry pie bars. The glaze really adds a finishing touch!

Memorial Day is this weekend and this would be the perfect dessert to bake, take and share.

Here is the recipe:

Cherry Pie Bars

Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

1 cup soften butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 can (21 ounce) cherry pie filling

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoon water or milk

Directions:

Grease a 9 by 13 baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the vanilla and the almond extract. Add in the flour and salt. Divide the dough in half. Press half of the dough evenly on the bottom of the greased baking sheet. Evenly spread the cherry pie filling over the dough. With a spoon, drop spoonfuls of dough evenly across the top of the cherry pie filling. Bake in the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely. Whisk together the ingredients for the glaze and drizzle evenly (this is the fun part) over the top of bars.

Now all you have to do is slice you a (few) pieces. See that pie way in the back on the left hand side? That is a make it own’s crust Coconut Pie. See, I did try to make the birthday boy a pie he would like to eat. The desserts were good enough to bribe little brother into bringing back left over ribs. : )

Besides being pretty, these are yummy and addictive.

Enjoy!

Becky

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

Can the real Gooey Butter Cake please stand up.

To tell you the truth, there is so many different recipes for gooey butter cake out there, it is hard to say if you have the REAL one. The key is find the one that you believe is the closest one to it. But, more importantly, the one recipe that you love to eat. A very popular and good recipe for gooey butter cake, uses a cake mix for the base with a gooey sweet cream cheese topping. I like that recipe and I have made it several times. And, it gets eaten every time. I just wanted a more traditional old fashioned gooey butter cake recipe.

So, as any crazy recipe loving baker would do, I started searching for the ONE recipe. One that I would be happy to bake for others. One that I would love baking. Most importantly, one that I love eating. (the three important ones)

I knew I was as close as I was going to get to the ONE recipe, when one of the teachers at my school tried a piece and told me that this recipe tasted just like the gooey butter cake from St. Louis. He should know, they had some baked up and drove the cakes all the way to Georgia to serve at his wedding rehearsal dinner.

If you love the gooey butter cake made from a cake mix, it is ok. I love it too. But, if you want to try a more traditional old fashioned recipe, give this recipe a try.

It might make you stand up and cheer. (or ask for another piece)

Here is what you need to make this delicious cake. You will need some butter, eggs, cream cheese, salt, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, flour and baking powder.

The first thing you need to do is start making the base of the cake. In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter.

Add in the sugar and the eggs. Mix the butter mixture together with a whisk.

Add in the flour, salt and the baking powder. With your hands, form the dough into a ball.

In a greased 9 by 13 pan, press the dough evenly on the bottom. Now, let’s make the gooey topping. Put the cream cheese into a medium mixing bowl.

With a mixer, mix the cream cheese to soften. Now, add the eggs and the vanilla to the cream cheese.

With a mixer, mix the cream cheese mixture until smooth. In a microwave bowl, melt the butter.

Add in 4 cups (or 1 one pound box) of powdered sugar. (I save about 4 tablespoon spoons of the sugar to sprinkle on top) Add in the melted butter.

With a mixer, mix in the melted butter and the powdered sugar. Pour the filling onto the bottom cake.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until the topping browns slightly. With the saved powdered sugar, dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar using a fine strainer.

This is what mine looked like all sprinkled with powdered sugar. Can you see the gooey topping? This cake slices into beautiful slices

Here is a pictures of warm slices all stacked up ready to be devoured.

How about if I give you the recipe now. : )

Here is the recipe:

Old Fashion St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

Adapted from Suzanne Corbett posted on St Charles.patch.com

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 extra large egg or 1 egg and one egg white

Topping

8 ounce package of cream cheese at room temperature

2 extra large eggs or 2 eggs and one yolk

16 ounces powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 13 baking pan.

For the cake: In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In another mixing bowl whisk together the sugar, melted butter and egg. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine. Spread the combined mixture evenly on the bottom of the baking dish.

For the topping: Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Reserve 2 to 3 tablespoons of the powdered sugar to dust cake with later. Add the remaining powdered sugar to the cream cheese along with the melted butter. Mix together with the electric mixer. Pour the topping to top of the cake and spread evenly. Bake for 40 minutes or until top is set and obtains a golden brown crust but it is still gooey and soft. Remove from the oven and cool. When the cake has cooled, dust with the reserved powdered sugar.

Makes 16 servings.

This picture tempts me to go into the kitchen and make another batch and then hid them all for myself.

Hope this post tempts you to try this recipe for yourself.

Warning! Make two batches one for your family and friends and one for yourself : ).

Enjoy,

Becky

Cinnamon French Toast Bake

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

I bet you thought I would never post another recipe! I am so sorry it has taken me awhile to post a recipe. It is the end of the school year in teacher world and balancing everything can be a bit of a challenge. I have a couple of BIG functions on my to do list, but I can finally see the sun light. Whew….

I have had this post, almost done, for several weeks, just waiting until I had some uninterrupted time to put in the recipe and check my spelling. (as you have probably noticed, I write like I talk and spell like I can’t). Tonight, my clothes are in the dryer, the house is quiet and I have about 20 minutes before the washing machine buzzer goes off. So, here goes with getting this post finally published.

Four reasons you should try this recipe.

I first heard of this recipe on the radio on my way to work. The DJ on the radio was raving about this French toast bake that one of his coworkers had brought in share with the crew. He had a list of the ingredients and told about how easy it was to make and especially how addictive it was to eat. Secondly, one of my co-workers asked me for a easy breakfast casserole recipe that she could make to take to a morning staff meeting. I told her about this recipe, and that I had not tried it, but the ingredients sounded great together, it was easy to make and was suppose to taste divine. Thirdly, my co-worker took a leap of faith and made it and some people at her meeting loved it and wanted the recipe. And, now the fourth reason. I finally made this recipe for Easter Morning, when Baby College Girl was home for the weekend. While it was baking, it made the house smell like a bake shop and when it came out to the oven, everyone lined up with their plates to eat it.

Here is what you will need. Some canned cinnamon rolls with icing (save the icing to glaze the rolls later), eggs, vanilla, butter, cinnamon, maple syrup, half and half and some pecans (which are optional.)

First, melt the butter in a 9 by 13 baking dish. Open the cans of cinnamon roll and cut each roll into 8 pieces. I used my pizza cutter for this and it worked great.

Take 6 eggs and beat them thoroughly together with the half and half.

Add some cinnamon (which I forgot to put in the main ingredient picture) and some vanilla.

Beat everything together until all the eggs are totally incorporated into the cream. Pour the egg mixture over the cinnamon rolls.

Chop up the pecans. Sprinkle the pecans on top of the rolls. I only sprinkled half of the rolls with pecans cause The Super Hero does not like nuts in his food.

Drizzle maple syrup over the top of the rolls. Bake in the oven until all the eggs and rolls are cooked through. When the casserole cools, drizzle the top with the icing from the cinnamon roll packages.

It comes out moist and delicious. It really does make a difference to let the casserole sit for 15 minutes before eating as the rolls absorb all the maple syrup that has settled on the bottom.

Are you ready for the recipe?

Here it is!

Cinnamon French Toast Bake

Adapted from the Pillsbury Website

Ingredients:

2 cans (8 rolls in each one) of refrigerated cinnamon rolls

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

6 large eggs

1/2 cup whipping cream (I am sure you can use half and half or another milk)

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pecans

1 cup maple syrup (I used my pancake syrup)

Garnish:

You garnish with the icing from the cinnamon rolls and more maple syrup (optional) and powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375

Pour melted butter into a 9 by 13 baking dish.

Cut each cinnamon roll into 8 pieces.

Place cut roll pieces evenly into the bottom of the melted butter 9 by 13 dish.

In a medium bowl, mix together the whipping cream, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla.

Gently pour the egg mixture over the cut rolls.

Sprinkle with pecans and drizzle with maple syrup.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until done.

Cool for 15 minutes.

Drizzle with icing from the cinnamon roll packages.

Drizzle with more maple syrup if desired.

Serve warm.

If you are looking for a breakfast casserole that is easy to prepare but does not taste like it is, give this one a try.

I was also told that the leftovers taste just as good the next day re-heat in the microwave.

I would not know, as mine was gone in one day. : )

Enjoy,

Becky

Pineapple Upside Cake

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

We have been doing some intense cooking the last couple of weeks of school. In my quest of encouraging my students to use fresh ingredients and making items from scratch. I bought fresh pineapples for them to make pineapple upside down cake. Most of my students have never cut into a fresh pineapple. I was a little nervous watching them cut them up and cutting out the cores. The students were using the big chef knives to cut the pineapples apart. I think I only had to hand out one band aide. Relief. Not to brag (but I am) my class made beautiful double layered upside down cakes. Yes, you read right. Double Layers! I let them find a recipe they all agreed upon. They chose a double layered and iced pineapple upside-down cake from Paula Deen. The cake was such a hit and so many teachers wanted to try a bite, that I went and bought another fresh pineapple and made one for them.

You will need a pineapple, flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, butter milk, eggs, maraschino cherries, baking powder, vanilla and salt. (I forgot to include salt in the picture) oops.

The first thing you do is cream two sticks of softened butter with a mixer.

Add in the granulated sugar and cream together.

Now it is time to add the eggs one at a time to the creamed sugar and butter mixture.

When all the eggs are added in the mixture turns very cream. Now, you can add in the vanilla and mix.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking soda. This is also the time to measure out the butter milk.

Alternately add a little bit of the flour mixture and combine. Then add in a little bit of the buttermilk and combine.

Continue to alternate adding the flour and buttermilk, until all the flour and buttermilk is used.

Next, I cut up the fresh pineapple. I first cut off the top and then then started cutting the outer part of the pineapple off.

I sliced the pineapple into 1/2 in slices. I took a small biscuit cutter and cut out the cores of the pineapple slices.

When you pick out the round pans to make this cake, pick the taller pans as the cake rises up and the brown sugar cannot bubble out. I prepared both pans with a spray of vegetable spray and lining the bottom of each pan with parchment paper.

I put equal amounts of brown sugar in the bottom of each pan. Spread the brown sugar evenly on the bottom of each pan.

Pour equal amounts of melted butter on the brown sugar in each pan.

Now, you can get a little creative and decorate the bottom (which will be the top) of each cake with pineapple and maraschino cherries. Equally fill both pans with cake batter.

Bake in the oven until the cake is done. Cool the cake on a cooling rack until the cakes are completely cool. (I refrigerated mine for a time to make the cake easier to ice)

You make the icing by creaming the butter with a mixer. (You use two sticks of butter, I just took my picture before I put the other stick of butter in the mixing bowl)

Add in the vanilla. Add in enough water to make a spreadable icing. You could also use pineapple juice or the maraschino cherry juice (it will turn pink) instead if you want.

Here is a picture of the finished icing. Now, gently stack the cakes on top of each other.

Very gently, ice the sides of the cake. This cake is really tender and moist, which is a great thing, but you have to be careful of crumbs coming off in the icing.

Isn’t this slice of cake a beautiful thang…thing?

I refrigerated the cake overnight, before I cut it into slices. It sliced beautifully this way.

If you are looking for a show stopper kind of cake or want to try making this cake with fresh pineapple…it really does make a difference….give this cake a try.

Here is the recipe:

Adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients for the cake:

3 cups of cake flour (I used all purpose flour)

1 cup butter soften PLUS 1/2 cup butter melted

2 1/4 cups sugar

5 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 fresh pineapple, sliced, peeled and cored (if you do not want to use fresh pineapple use 2 – 20 ounces cans of sliced pineapple)

1 – 10 ounce jar of maraschino cherries

Ingredients for the buttercream frosting:

1 cup butter softened

2 tablespoons of water or you can use pineapple juice or maraschino cherry juice

3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions for the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans with vegetable spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add in the sugar and mix until fluffy.. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Beating well after each egg. Stir in the vanilla. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Alternately mix in the flour mixture and the buttermilk into the egg mixture.

Press 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar onto the bottom of each round cake pan. Pour the 1/2 cup of melted butter equally onto the brown sugar in each pan. Arrange the pineapples and cherries over the brown sugar.

Top the pineapples with equal amounts of cake batter.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack. Remove the parchment paper. Cool completely.

Icing:

In a mixing bowl, beat all the icing ingredients together until fluffy.

To assemble the cake:

Carefully stack one cake onto of the other cake. Ice the cake with the buttercream frosting.

You can press chopped pecans into the icing for a garnish if desired.

I hope you love this cake enough to jump upside down ; )

Enjoy!

Becky

Mom’s Light Bread

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

My Mom, the Princess, grew up calling this bread, “Light Bread.”

I think she got the term from my grandma.

I call this bread, “homemade memories of childhood goodness.”

“Us Kids,” Niener Wiener, Me, Jeanie Beanie and Brother, would wait in mouth watering anticipation, until the first hot loaf would finally come out of the oven.

Warm, lathered with butter, crusty and tender.

We were hungry little tow heads, that could (and did) devour as much bread as we could until Mom would finally shoo us from the kitchen.

Us kids, loved and still do love, Mom’s Light Bread. It magically switches our middle age brains into believing we are young, tow headed (not gray) and very hungry kids again.

MMMM…..Mom’s Light Bread.

Jeanie Beanie and I, just happened to have our spring break out of school, at the same time this year. Jeanie Beanie started planning a couple of months ago that she wanted Mom to teach her how to make homemade bread over break. I just invited myself to join in on the fun. So a week or so ago, over spring break, us two girls, went to Mom’s and made bread. We. Had. A. Blast. Not only did we hang out with Mom all day, my Aunt Pat and cousins Myra and Connie came for a visit too. We had our own little family reunion. We ate warm light bread with homemade strawberry jam and (real) butter.

Here is a picture of the beautiful Princess holding her cookbook with her bread recipe in it.

There is a story about this cookbook, that I will have to tell you all about another time. Don’t worry I won’t forget to tell you all about how my mom lost her prized recipe.

Promise.

Anywho, back to making bread. My Mom is a serious bread maker. She has not made her bread in years (cause she lost her recipe) and of course she had hip replacements, breast cancer and a mastectomy.

But, my Mom is a survivor and she just keeps moving forward. She got busy making her bread so fast, I hardly had time to take pictures. I had to keep telling her to slow down. I think I managed to get all the step by step pictures on how to make Mom’s bread. Whew….she wore me out : ).

Here is what you need, some butter, milk, yeast, flour, salt and lard to rub on top of the rising dough and to grease your pans with. Mom says lard makes all the difference. Criso or lard….the choice is up to you. : ) I can just tell you I bought a small container of lard cause Mom said so.

First thing you need to do is dissolve the yeast in some warm water and stir it up to get all the lumps out.

In a large mixing bowl, add together the lard and warm milk.

Add the dissolved yeast to the warm milk and lard mixture. Now add in your sugar and salt.

Now, here is secret number one to my Mom’s bread. Mom firmly believes in sifting the flour into the milk mixture.

She sifts a little flour and then mixes it up with her mixer. Then she sifts in some more flour.

She sifts in as much flour as she can mix with her hand mixer. (the mixer got a work out that day).

Next, Mom dumps the sticky dough on a flour covered counter and kneads in more flour.

She kneads in enough flour to make a soft dough. She makes sure she kneads the dough at least 10 minutes to help make the dough tender.

When the dough is ready. She put the dough in a bowl greased with lard. She also gently spreads lard on top of the dough. She covers the dough with wax paper to rise in a warm place.

When the dough rises, Mom takes the dough and punches it down. Then, puts the wax paper on top and lets it rise again, for a double rising.

After the dough has risen for the second time, Mom takes the dough and pinches off circles of dough and forms them into rolls.

She puts the rolls in a pan greased with lard (again). She took the rest of the dough and formed two loaves of bread. Yes, the pans were greased with lard. Let the dough rise until doubled in the pans. until at 400 degrees until browned.

As soon as they come out of the oven, Mom brushes the rolls with melted butter.

She brushes melted butter on the loaves of bread too. Doesn’t this bread look good enough to tear off a big piece?

Jeanie Beanie got to make some bread too. Mom keep a close watch as sis made her bread. She should get first place on her technique for kneading bread. Go Sis!

Jeanie Beanie managed to get her dough in her (lard greased) bowl just in time to rise before Aunt Pat and cousins Myra and Connie came to visit. I just wish I would have gotten a picture of all of eating bread. Boo!

I did get a lovely picture of The Princess and Jeanie Beanie, though…: )

Thank you for hanging in there and reading my long post about such a special day I had with my sister and mom!

Family.

Family and warm bread.

The perfect combination!

Here is the recipe.

Mom’s Light Bread

Adapted from Favorite Recipe from Home Economic Teachers.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water

2 packages of dry yeast

3 1/2 cup warm milk or water

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons salt

10 1/2 to 11 1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup lard or shortening. (more for greasing the bowls, top of bread and pans)

Directions:

Soak your yeast in warm water for 5 minutes. Combine yeast mixture and warm milk or water with sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat in 3 to 4 cups of sifted flour and lard into the liquid until smooth. Add remaining flour, mixing until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn your dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough for 6 to 10 minutes. Adding additional flour if necessary. Knead dough until it is elastic and smooth. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Grease top of bowl and cover with waxed paper. Let rise in warm place about one hour or until double. Punch down and let rise again until nearly doubled. Dived the dough in four equal parts and shape into loaves or rolls. Bake at 400 degrees until brown, about 45 minutes for loaves of bread and 20 for rolls.

Yield 4 loaves.

Now, all you have to do is slice it and eat it till it is all gone!

Enjoy!

Becky

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

Have you ever heard of a plant called Rhubarb?

I know that I had never heard of it until I went to college and my foods teacher had us make rhubarb spread for biscuits.

I feel in love with rhubarb that day!

If you want to plant some rhubarb in your garden, now is the time to think about planting some. I tried planting some last spring. I think some varmit dug up my two crowns, that I paid $8.00 a piece for, and had them for dessert. You can read about me planting my rhubarb here. Anywho, I think I think I will be planting several crowns over at Company’s house this spring because he has more room. I hope my results will be better than last year!

Well anyway, my good friend Minerva, who I miss and have hardly seen over the last few months, gave me this terrific cookbook called, “Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook.” It is written by Cheryl and Griffith Day.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this cookbook. Of course it has my favorite food group (desserts) as the main attraction and the recipe looks divine. Last year, in my hopes of starting my own rhubarb plot (farm), I made this rhubarb crisp recipe from this cookbook. I think it lasted all off 10 minutes. It is made with strawberries and rhubarb and is topped with a crunchy, sugary topping.

Looking at my pictures of this mouth watering dessert, is tempting me to make some right now at 10:30 at night.

It would be done just in time for a midnight snack.

I need an intervention, immediately! ; )

If you are ready for warm weather, flowers on the trees and a sweet dessert in your kitchen, try a little Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp.

Here is what you will need:

I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but you should have most of the ingredients in your kitchen cupboard. One thing you might not have is the turbinado sugar. I bought mine at a Amish store, but I have seen it at Hyvee also. It is a course sugar that still have some maple flavor left in it.

Take your softened butter and with a pastry cutter, cut in the flour. (the recipe says to cut the butter in cubes, sometimes I forget to follow the recipes.)

Add in the brown sugar and the oats.

Add in the corn meal, salt and the cinnamon

Lastly add in the oil. Now, get crackin with the pastry cutter and mix all the ingredients together. Set aside.

Now it is time to peel and cube the rhubarb. Next, wash and stem the strawberries.

Add the rhubarb to the strawberries. Next, add in the turbinado sugar. (see how coarse it is and the light color of the maple flavor still in the sugar)

Add in the corn starch and flour. Mix until all the flour is covered.

Dump , (is that a funny word to use when cooking?) the filling into a buttered deep dish pie plate. Spread the filling evenly on the bottom.

Take the topping and press or crumble it on top of the filling. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Here is the recipe:

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Adapted from The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients For The Topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 salt

1/2 cup butter (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)

1 tablespoon oil

Ingredients For The Filling:

2 cups strawberries

4 cups 1 inch pieces peeled rhubarb (I just took a vegetable peeler and went over the backs of mine)

1 1/4 cup turbinado sugar (found at most groceries stores)

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

Butter a 9 inch deep dish pie plate and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You will put the pie plate on top of the baking sheet to catch any bubbling juices that might bubble out of the pie plate.

To make the topping: In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, cornmeal, cinnamon, salt, butter and oil with a fork until completely blended. Set aside.

To make the filling: In another medium bowl, combine the strawberries and rhubarb with the turbinado sugar, flour and cornstarch, stirring to coat the fruit.

Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pie plate. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit mixture.

Place the pie plate on the baking dish.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. The crust will start to get golden brown and crispy.

Now, all you have to do is wait for it cool off before you can eat (all of) it!

I will have to say it again, “I love rhubarb.”

Enjoy,

Becky

Some of my favorite recipes post:

Good Morning Saturday Corn Bread Salad Crusty White Bread

Easter Bird Nest

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

Last Saturday, the Oldest Grandgirl and I decided to start making some Easter treat ideas. I ran across this recipe on a Catholic Church recipe blog where cooks submitted recipes. I thought this was a super cute and super easy recipe to make with the Oldest Grandgirl. So, we thought we would give it a go.

Oldest Grandgirl had to get her hands right in the there to form the nest.

It did not take no time at all until she had them all made. She had so much fun making them, that she got up again Sunday morning and made another batch.

Woo…hoo….(now who volunteers to wash the all the dishes she dirtied?)

If you are looking for a fun, easy, and tasty Easter treat to make with your family, try making these nest.

Don’t worry you will not need a to lay the eggs.

Here is what you will need:

You will need some corn flakes, chow mien noodles, white melting wafers (you can use the Wilton ones too), coconut, some kind of candy for the eggs, I used jelly beans and you will need some green and blue food coloring.

In a medium size bowl, measure out the chow mien noodles and the corn flakes. Stir together.

In a zip lock bag, measure in the coconut. Add a small amount of green food coloring.

In a microwave safe bowl, measuring in the white candy melts. Place in the microwave at 30 seconds at a time, or until all the candy melts.

While I was melting the candy in the microwave, Oldest Grandgirl was kneading in the food coloring into the coconut, until all the coconut turned green.

When the candy melts were melted, add a small amount of blue food coloring and stir. Adding more coloring if you want the nest darker. When you get the shade of blue you want, pour the melted candy over the cornflakes and chow mien noodles.

Stir everything together until all the corn flakes and chow mien noodles are coating in the melted candy.

Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and start forming the little nest. Before the candy melts harden, put a small amount of colored coconut onto the middle of each nest.

Place candy on top of coconut to imitate eggs.

Let the bird nest set until the candy has harden.

That is all there is to making these adorable little nest.

Here is the recipe:

Easter Bird Nest

Adapted from Catholic Cuisine BlogSpot

Ingredients:

2 cups of corn flakes

2 cups of chow mien noodles

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2 cups white candy melts

jelly beans (or another candy to resemble eggs)

blue and green food coloring

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, mix the corn flakes and chow mien noodles together. In a microwave safe bowl measuring the candy melts. Before you melt the chocolate, put the coconut into a zip lock back with a small amount of green food coloring. Knead in the food coloring until you turn the coconut green.

Now, you can melt the candy in the microwave, in 30 second increments, until the candy is melted. Add a small amount of blue food coloring to the melted candy and stir until the candy turns a soft blue.

Pour the melted candy over the corn flakes and chow mien noodle mixture. Stir the candy in until all the corn flakes and chow mien noodles are covered in colored melted candy.

On a parchment covered cookie sheet, spoon out corn flake mixture and form little next. This recipe makes approximately 9 to 12, depending on the size. Before the candy hardens, put the green coconut onto the middle of each nest. Press down to kinda glue to the melted candy. Lastly, arrange 3 jelly beans (or candy of your choice) in the middle of each next to resemble eggs.

Arrange these precious little yummy next on some cute little plates to show them off.

Happy April 1st!

Becky

Strawberry Jam

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

A few weeks ago, there was a sale on strawberries at my local organic grocery store. They had reduced the price of their strawberries down to .99 cents for 16 ounces.

Woo…hoo!

It was a great time to offer a preserving cooking lab for my advanced foods class using fresh strawberries. So, I showed my classes how to make freezer jam. I try not to get on my soap box too often here on the webpage. In saying that, I promise I won’t stand on it for too long. but, I feel that preserving food is an essential lesson for students.

The preserving foods lab lesson offers the students the opportunity to; cut, chop, follow a recipe, measure, and participating in, start to finish, the techniques in taking a fresh food item and turning it into preserved food, such as jam. Last semester, we took pie pumpkins and made; pumpkin seeds, pumpkin puree and lastly pumpkin pies (with home made crust). You can read about the pie pumpkins here.

This semester, my beginning foods class took the remaining pumpkin puree and made these astonishing delicious pumpkin pancakes with home made caramel sauce. (I promise I will post those recipes soon.) It was refreshing to see how many different food items we could make from the pumpkin puree. Now, my classes were making freezer jam.

Here is one box of freezer jam, about to go into the fridge. You can refrigerate freezer jam for up to 3 weeks if you want to use it right away. Since the students were going to make Southern 7 UP biscuits to eat the jam on, we just put the jam in the refrigerator. Students brought their own containers from home to put their jam in. When we were done with the biscuit lab, the students were able to take their left over jam home….that is if there was any left over to take home.

Well anywho, since I was out of freezer room at home, I decided to take my strawberries and make cooked strawberry jam. I could process the jam in jars and then be able to store the jam in my pantry. In the three weeks or so since I made the jam, I am not sure how many I have left. It is funny how many pieces of toast you can eat when you have fresh jam to slather on top. Not that I know anything about that. : )

Don’t feel you have to wait until it is strawberry season in your area to make some jam. If you are able to find some strawberries that are on sale during the off season, give this basic, simple and delicious strawberry jam recipe a try. Here is what you need.

You will need strawberries (of course), sugar, and sure jell fruit pectin

The first thing you do is, cut the green stem off the top of the strawberries and slice up. Take a potato masher and mash the strawberries. Put the strawberries in a large sauce pan.

Add in the contents of the box of pectin and cook the strawberries and pectin together until the mixture comes to a FULL boil.

When it comes to a full boil, quickly add in the sugar and stir. Return the mixture to a full boil.

When the mixture comes to a full boil, boil for ONE minute, stirring constantly.

Ladle the jam into sterilized jars to within 1/8 inch from the top. (you want less air in the jar as possible). Wipe the jar rims and threads. Cover with two piece lids. (screw bands and the flat lids that have the little rubber circle edge).

Screw the bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner.

Lower rack into the canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Cover, and bring water to gentle boil. Process for 10 minutes.

I did not process this jar, as I did not have enough jam to go to the top, so I put it in the refrigerator for us to enjoy now. Let the processed jam stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Store processed jam for up to one year. Be fure to lable the jam with what kind of jam and the date you made it. Refrigerated jam for up to 3 weeks. Note: that jar of jam that went into the refrigerator did not last one week ; )

See, that is all there is to making strawberry jam.

Here is the recipe:

Recipe Adapted from the Sure Jell directions located inside the box of pectin.

Ingredients:

5 cups crushed strawberries

7 cups sugar

1 –1.75 ounce box of Sure Jell

Directions:

1 Bring boiling-water canner, half full with water to a simmer.

2. Sterilize and wash jars and screw bands with soapy water and rinse with warm water.

3. Pour boiling water over the lids and let stand until you are ready to use them.

4. Measure exact amount of crushed strawberries into a 6 to 8 quart sauce pan.

5. PRE MEASURE the sugar into a seperate bowl, so you will have it ready to add to the strawberries when the time comes.

6. Add the contents of the box of pectin into the crushed strawberries and stir.

7. Bring the strawberry and pectin mixture to a FULL rolling boil, stirring constantly.

8. Quickly add in the premeasured sugar.

9. Return the strawberry, pectin and sugar mixture to a FULL roiling boil. Boil for exactly ONE minute.

10. Ladle the hot jam into the jars. Fill the jars, 1/8 inch from the top. Wipe the rim and threads of jar clean of any spilled jam.

11. Put a lid on the top of the jar and then screw on the band, tightly.

12. Put the jars of jam in a elevated rack in the canner. Lower the jars into the canner.

13. Boil,the jars (making sure there is 1 to 2 inches of water over the top of the jars) for 10 minutes.

14. Take the jars out of the canner and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. You should start hearing the lids pop as the jam cools, forming a airtight seal.

Now all you have to do is find an excuse to try some.

Enjoy!

Becky

Apple Crisp

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Rebecca Baugh

It took me a while to get the hint.

Over the course of the last several weeks, Oldest daughter who does not cook, suggested that apple crisp sure sounded good.

She said in once.

Then twice.

Then suggested that, when I had time, she’d love to have some homemade apple crisp.

Is that a hint?

Anywho, last summer I tried my hand at canning some apple pie filling. I used a special thickening agent called. clear jell, that I purchased at a Amish Store. The clear jell does not break down when you process the apple pie filling, like corn starch or flour. The pie filling turned out wonderful, except that I used a variety of apples that were a little soft, and the apples broke down when they were processed in the canner. What I ended up was this delightful tasty, chunky apple pie filling that would be perfect for apple crisp.

Here is a picture of my first try at making canned apple pie filling.

I decided to surprise the girl who hates to step into a kitchen (but some how dirty a ton of dishes) with warm apple crisp for dessert.

This recipe only takes a few minutes to throw together. You can use store bought apple pie filling or you can use fresh apples for this apple crisp. I will give you recipes for both, no worries.

If someone in you family gives you a HINT, try making this simple delicious and tummy pleasing apple crisp that has lots of crunchy crisp goodness on top.

Here is what you need:

I am showing the picture of how to make this recipe with apple pie filling. (I will put the recipe for a fresh apple filling in the recipe section at the bottom. You will need one quart of apple pie filling, butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda.

The first thing I did was pour my apple pie filling in the bottom of a 9 by 9 baking dish.

In a medium size bowl, melt one stick of butter or margarine.

Add one cup of oats and one cup of flour to the melted butter.

Now add one cup of brown sugar and 1/3 teaspoon of baking powder.

Now add the baking soda. With a large spoon, mix the topping all together, making sure all the ingredients are moisten with the melted butter.

Sprinkle the top evenly on top of the pie filling and bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Here is the recipe.

Apple Crisp adapted from Alrecipes

Ingredients:

1 quart of apple pie filling (or you could use another fruit pie filling)

1 cup quick oats

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick (1/2) cup butter

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

If you are using fresh apples for the filling:

5 cups thinly sliced apples

1/2 cup white sugar

2 teaspoon flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup water

Directions:

Pour the pie filling in the bottom of a 9 by 9 baking dish. If you are using fresh apples, mix the apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and water in a medium bowl and pour into the bottom of a 9 by 9 inch baking dish.

In a medium bowl, melt the butter. Add in the brown sugar, flour, brown sugar, oats, baking soda and baking powder. Mix thoroughly.

Spread the topping on top of the filling.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Warm apple crisp.

I am so glad, that I finally figured out what Oldest daughter was hinting at.

Enjoy,

Becky

A Small Town Kitchen

Welcome to my kitchen and make yourself at home! | Recipes | Couponing | FACS | Crafts

Category Archives: Recipes

Creamy Cherry Salad

Cherry Pie Bars

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

Cinnamon French Toast Bake

Pineapple Upside Cake

Mom’s Light Bread

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Easter Bird Nest

Strawberry Jam

Apple Crisp