Creme Brulee with Chocolate

Jessie ready to begin!:-) (I love this photo of you, Jess!)

Little Ramekins we had to go to the store to buy.

Melt your chocolate like so.

The chocolate mixture goes in first. Then cool in the fridge.

Whip the egg.

Add the rest of the ingredients and whip some more.

Pour over the chocolate.

It looks so pretty!

Place in a baking dish half filled with water. Bake.

Cool. You can do a sugar glaze with a food torch. We tried a lighter and some brown

sugar but it didn't work. We did manage to catch the sugar on fire, though!

Lovely Creme Brulee.

Lovely Jessie!

Fantastic.

Banana Bread

A good friend of ours (who I babysit for!) shared this fabulous banana bread recipe with me. I made it with whole wheat flour, and it was still just as moist and yummy:-) But no nuts for us... I am the only one who likes them in desserts.

A cup of tea and a slice of bread is the perfect afternoon snack:-)

Banana Nut Loaf

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel

2 ripe bananas, cut up (1 cup)

2 Tbsp. milk

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Lightly grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

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

In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add orange peel; beat well.

Mash bananas with a fork; stir in milk.

Add flour mixture and banana mixture

alternately to creamed mixture. Beat until smooth after each addition. Fold in nuts. Pour batter into pan, bake at 350° oven for 45-50 minutes.

When tooth pick comes out clean, it is done. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Basic scones and strawberry shortcake

On Saturday we bought a flat of strawberries at the flea market. Mom made scones and we used them as shortcakes to have with the berries and homemade whipped cream!

Doesn't this look pretty on my plate? I bought these at the end of last Summer for 50 cents each. I watched them all Summer (they were $1.50) and waited for them to go on clearance.

Basic Scones

2 cups flour (you can use whole wheat, we did!)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoons salt

6 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

Lightly beaten egg

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles cornmeal. Make a well in the center and pour in buttermilk. If you don't have buttermilk, use regular milk. Mix until dough clings together and is a bit sticky- do not overmix. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and shape into a six to eight inch round about 1 1/2 inches thick. Quickly cut into pie wedges or use a large round biscuit cutter to cut circles(I have made these heart shaped for Valentine's Day) .

The secret of tender scones is the minimum of handling. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, being sure the sides of scones don't touch each other. Brush with egg for a shiny, beautiful brown scone. Bake at 425°F for 10 to 20 minutes, or until light brown.

Serve with clotted cream, butter, honey, jam, or with strawberries lightly sugared and homemade whipped cream!!:-)

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

I made this to take to my Bible study tomorrow night. Very easy, and very delicious!

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

One 8 oz. package of cream cheese

6 Tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix everything but the chocolate chips until smooth and well blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips. Allow to cool in the refrigerator.

Serve with Graham crackers, cookies, or whatever sounds good to you!

I bought these vanilla pretzel shaped cookies at Marc's for 99 cents, and they go great!

The BEST Peanut Butter cookies!

These first-prize-at-the-fair winning cookies melt in your mouth, and are sooo good!

My parents got this recipe at their high school reunion. They are the Cafeteria's famous cookies, and the baker shared the recipe many years later upon the request of the former students. She is still making them today, and now we are too!

Before I share the yummy recipe, I will share some yummy photos!

My darling 2 1/2 year old niece making peanut butter cookies with me:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 stick of butter (=1/2 cup)

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients. Roll into desired size balls and place 2 inches apart on greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Press with a fork. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool on tray for at least 7 minutes to avoid them falling apart.

Enjoy!!

Chocolate dipped pretzels

I made these back in February as a Valentine's Day gift for each of the 10 children I babysit (3 families), As well as my nieces and nephews and my family.

The pictures look so pretty, to me:-)

Just melt chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 minutes to avoid overcooking.

When they are smoothly melted, dip pretzels using a fork and place on waxed paper.

For a pretty pop, top with sprinkles!

Apple Cake with Vanilla Sauce

I made this yummy apple cake last Sunday evening. We ate it still warm while playing an exhilerating game of "Dutch Blitz"!!

♥Apple Cake with vanilla sauce♥

(Recipe for 8x8 pan, I doubled this)

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), softened

1 large egg

2 Tbsp. milk

3/4 cup sugarr

1 cup all-purpose flour (I substituted whole wheat with great results!)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups cored, peeled and chopped apples, such as Golden Delicious or Crispin

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Vanilla sauce (recipe follows)

Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8 inch square cake pan. Cream the butter, egg, milk, and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Whisk together the flour, soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a small bowl; then stir into the butter mixture until blended. Stir in the apples and walnuts. Spoon the batter (it will be thick) into the prepared pan. Bake until lightly brown, and tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Pour warm sauce over cake before serving.

Vanilla Sauce

Melt 1.4 cup butter (1/2 stick) in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used fresh skimmed cream from our milk), 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract ; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring, about 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to slightly cool and thicken, about 5 minutes.

(Sauce can be refrigerated , tightly covered, up to 3 days. Makes about 2/3 cup.)

This received rave reviews from the tasting crew: my brothers and sisters and mom and dad!:-)

It would make a yummy breakfast coffee cake, too!

~Crepes~

This is a favorite at our house! We don't make them often because it takes a long time to make enough for our big family.

If you aren't familiar with crepes, they are like a very thin, eggy pancake that you roll up with a filling. Sooo yummy!!
~Crepes~
This recipe makes 12 crepes
1 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Mix together until smooth. Pour into a crepe or omelet pan that is well buttered. Flip when bubbly. stack the cooked ones on a plate. Serve warm with your favorite sweet or savory toppings!

We like:

~berries and home made whipped cream~

~Cinnamon sugar on the inside, rolled up with powdered sugar sprinkled on top!~

These are a real treat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert!

My Omama's Blackberry Pie!

Beauty of blackberries growing in our backyard:

Our home grown blackberries...delicious! We managed to not eat *ALL* of them, and saved some for pies! We also found some growing down the road, so we picked them as well.
Here is my Omama's amazingly good ~Blackberry Pie~ recipe!

Make crust for a 9" pie top and bottom.
Here is the recipe we always make at my house:
Oil Pastry Crust
2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup oil (we use olive oil)
4-5 Tbsp. cold water

Measure flour and salt into a bowl. Add oil; mix until resembles small peas.
Sprinkle in water 1 Tablespoon at a time. If dough is dry, add oil. Never add water.
Gather dough together and press firmly into 2 balls.
Roll out bottom crust between to sheets of waxed paper. Press into a greased pie dish.

Filling for Blackberry Pie
4 cups fresh or thawed from frozen blackberries
4 Tbsp. cornstarch (be generous with the cornstarch)
1/2 cup (or a bit more) sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
dash salt
1/3 cup orange marmalade (I used blackberry jam and it was great -Anna)
2 Tbsp. butter
Optional: add orange or lemon zest

Combine cornstarch, sugars, and salt (and zest if using) in a large bowl. Add blackberries (or any berries) and any juices, stirring until blended. (Actually I put some of the dry mixture on bottom of crust first, because that is where the juices run to, isn't it? -Omama)
Pour into 9" crust. Dot with the preserves and then with the butter.
Lay top crust or weave lattice crust on top.
Bake in oven preheated to 425° F. Bake 15 minutes. Then lower oven temp to 350° F and bake 35-45 minutes more, until bubbling slows and filling appears thickened. You can test with a knife too; just done stab bottom crust!

Delicious served with home made vanilla ice cream!!

(See photo at top of this post)

"If it doesn't turn out and family won't eat it, I will!" -Omama

May I dish you up a slice??

(and we have enough blackberries in the freezer for 2 more pies! How about some pie and home made vanilla ice cream this Fall?!:-))

Butterscotch Cookies

I made cookies today to take to home group tomorrow night at church. They are delicious!
They are from a Gooseberry Patch Cookie book called Old-Fashioned Country Cookies. We have made so many wonderful cookies from this book! Here is the recipe with my changes:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 t. hot water
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
2 cups quick oats
1 cup mini butterscotch chips

Mix butter, sugars, eggs, hot water, and vanilla. Add flour, salt and soda, stirring well. Then add oatmeal and butterscotch chips. Drop by teaspoonful on a cookie sheet. Baker at 350° for 10-15 minutes. Cool on rack (but they are oh so good warm from the oven!).


They will go fast! Maybe you should make a double batch so you have some for later...
I got about 5 dozen cookies.