Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread is such

a true winter comfort food for our family; so I persuaded my mom to make this to post here. It is fabulous right from the oven with a pat of butter.

Things Needed:

Small can of pumpkin; dry packed

1 stick of butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 generous tsp of Vanilla

1 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp of ground cloves

2 cups of flour

Cream the butter, eggs, sugars, salt, and vanilla all toghether in a mixer on high speed. Slowly add in the rest of the ingredients, the flour, baking powder and soda, and spices. Pour the batter into a greased and wax paper lined bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.

Mom's Apple Crisp

No one makes apple crisp like my mom. This is a real treat for our family, especially when she uses the apples from our own orchard. We have a Red variety of apple, planted by my great grampa and we have no idea what kind of apple it really is, (they are shown in the bowl in the photo), but it is the tastiest cooking apple.

Things Needed:

5 peeled and sliced apples

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbs water to sprinkle over apples

Cinnamon or Apple pie spice, ( which ever your preference)

Lay the apples in a 9x9 baking dish. Mix the vanilla and water and sprinkle over them. Sprinkle over the spices. We generally sprinkle the spice till the apples are liberally coated. (Optional: chopped nuts, raisins or cranberries may be added) Set aside

Next, Topping:

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup of dry oat meal

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of flour

1/2 tsp salt

Chop all the ingredients in a dish with a pastry chopper. When the mixture is a medium, crumbly consistency, pour it evenly over the apples in the dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until done. May be served plain or with ice cream.

Note: mom has made this for so long with out a recipe that we had to have her record this twice as she made this dish. She got this recipe from my grandmother who probably never recorded it either;-)

From the Kitchen of Marilyn Wilken (Mare at Oak Hollow's mom)

Photo by Mary Fischer

Puppy Chow

Don't let the goofy name scare you, this easy to make treat is a real pleaser for the kids and tough for the adults to put down. In our family, we make these as a gift to give by putting them in a canning jar and dressing it up with ribbons and tags.

Things you will need:

9 cups of corn chex cereal

1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter

1 stick of margarine or butter

1 tsp of vanilla

1 bag of powdered sugar

Place your chex cereal in a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, melt the chocolate chips, the butter and the peanut butter over low heat. When it is thoroughly melted, stir in the vanilla. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and gently stir it in until all the cereal is coated. I use two large zip-loc bags for the next step.

Pour about 1 cup of powdered sugar into the bottom of the bag and spoon half of the chocolate coated cereal on top of it. Next, pour about another cup of powdered sugar on top of the mixture. Seal the bag so that there is plenty of air locked into it and shake the mixture up until it is all completely coated with the sugar. There is no drying time with this, just pour it into a container and repeat the last step with the second half of the mixture.

Photo by Mary Fischer

Butterscotchies

Butterscotch Delights

This is a heritage recipe from my family that dates back to the time of the civil war! It was handed down through the generations from one woman to another and I was taught how to make them by my grandmother when I was very young.

Things needed:
1 quarter pound of butter (1 stick, NO SUBSTITUTES)
2 cups of dark molasses sugar, (dark brown sugar)
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 and 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp of vanilla

Melt the butter and sugar in a kettle. Remove from heat and add in eggs, slowly beating them in by hand one egg at a time. Add in Vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and blend well by hand. Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for 28 minutes in a greased 9x9 pan. Be sure not to over bake and test the center to ensure it has set.

This is a very rich, heavy textured dessert, almost fudgy. It is wonderful with ice cream. The original recipe calls for sweetened cream to be poured over it.

From the kitchen of Mary Fischer at Oak Hollow Primitives
Photo by Mary Fischer

The Best Sugar Cookies...EVER!

Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
(note: you can halve this recipe) I made the smaller batch and got 27 cookies and easily could have gotten 30 out of this....
so this is the "FULL" recipe...
6 eggs
1/2 pound of real butter, room temp.
1/2 cup butter flavored crisco. (plain is fine too).
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 TBS almond extract
1 TBS pure vanilla extract
1 Cup evaporated milk
2 cups of sugar
5-6 cups of flour (depends on the consistancy)
you can use the 6th cup for the flouring of the surface in which to roll them out
Take room temp butter , sugar and crisco, cream them till nice and smooth. then add eggs one at a time till mixed. Then sift dry ingredients together and add them alternating the evaporated milk, till mixed.. The dough will be a gooey consistancy. Flour your surface and rolling pin well, put dough on floured surface and sprinkle flour on dough to keep the rolling pin from sticking..roll out to about a 1/4 inch thick or 1/8 inch depending how thick you want them..I personally love a thick soft and chewy cookie...and depending on the size of your cookie cutter will depend on how many cookies you get...put on a stone or cookie sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven for no more then 8-9 minutes...take off of sheet or stone to let cool completely..
Here is the butter cream frosting that is just to die for..
1/3 cup butter
1 pound of powdered sugar
5 TBS evaporated milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
mix butter, vanilla and milk first then add the powdered sugar.
you can tint the frosting to suit the holidays..
you can also halve this recipe as well...
Your family won't know what hit them...they won't last long either...

Recipe and photo by Gina of Cat Nap Inn

Milky Way Cake

8 MILKY WAY candy bars
1 stick butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1/2 tsp. soda
1 c. buttermilk
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt

FROSTING
3 MILKY WAY candy bars
1 stick butter
3 tbsp. milk
1 box powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped nuts

Melt candy bars and butter. Cream sugar with eggs, vanilla, chopped nuts.
Mix soda with buttermilk. Sift cake flour and salt. Add melted candy bars
and butter to creamed mixture, and alternately flour and buttermilk and
remaining ingredients, then nuts. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 min to 1 hour
or until done in a 9x13 inch pan.

ICING: Melt milky way bars with butter and milk. Remove from heat beat in
powdered sugar for desired consistency along with vanilla and nuts.


From the Kitchen of Cindy at Pywackit Primitives
Photo by Mary Fischer

Chicken and Dumplings

This is a winter comfort food that is quick and easy to prepare and absoulutely tasty! Stew about 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in water to cover with cut up onion and garlic. Remove the chicken when done and cut into bite size pieces. Tear about 10 large flour tortillas into bite size pieces and put into the hot broth; cook for about 10 minutes. The more you stir the tortillas the thicker the broth will get. Adjust amount water or tortillas; I like a lot of broth. Put the chicken back in the broth and season with salt and Mrs. Dash. Serve with corn bread and enjoy!
(note: I added celery, pea and carrots to mine)

From the kitchen of Edna B. at Plum Thicket Primitives

Photo by Brenda Sanker

Santa's Sandcastle Brownies

Santa's Sandcastle Brownies

These brownies are a wonderful, homemade recipe that when given as a "gift in a jar" make the recipient really happy. They get the fast convienience of a box mix recipe, the taste of homemade, and they get a nicely presented jar they can keep for use later.

Things needed:

1 cup plus 2 tbs of all purpose flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 tsp of salt

2/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp of baking powder

1/3 cup of cocoa powder

1/2 cup of chocolate chip, vanilla chips, peanut butter chips.....any kind you like.

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. These may be left out for those with nut allergies.

Baking instructions. (Be sure to include somewhere on the jar if giving as a gift!)

Combine the brownie mix with 3 eggs, 2/3 cup of oil, and 1 generous tsp of vanilla. Mix well. Spread in and 8x8, greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

From the kitchen of Mary Fischer of Oak Hollow Primitives

Photographed by Mary Fischer

Mulled Cider

When the cold autumn winds start putting a chill in the air, you can't beat a hot mulled cider. This is a recipe we have used traditionally at Thanksgiving time and it has always been a big hit. This recipe is easy to make and it is versatile too...allowing you to add your own favorite spices.
It also fills your home with a wonderful aroma!

Items needed:
1/2 gallon of apple cider
15 whole cloves
1 orange
about 15 allspice berry pods
7 pods of cardamon
7 cinnamon sticks
2/3 cup of dark brown sugar

optional: one shot of Brandy or Rum

place the cider in a large pot, cover and heat it on medium-high. You will need to slice the orange, getting 4 to 5 good long, thick slices of it's skin. fold half of the cloves into the orange skins, pressing them in tightly. (note, this part may be skipped as it is purely for decoration when the cider is placed in a serving bowl) Place the rest of the orange and the rest of the ingredients in the pot and allow it to simmer for at least an hour. Add a shot of brandy at the end if desired. When done, you will need to sift out the floating spices and orange, except for the orange peels with cloves and the cinnamon sticks and pour the mixture into a punch bowl to serve.

From the kitchen of Mary Fischer