Snickerdoodles

I love a good snickerdoodle cookie.  I have used Paula Deen’s recipe from her first cookbook The Lady & Sons for years.  I ordered her cookbook off of QVC years ago before the days of the Food Network.  One of the few items I have ever purchased on QVC but then we digress.  Back to the light and delicious cookie.

Snickerdoodles

Recipe by Paula Deen

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tarter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

Cream shortening with sugar and eggs.

Sift together flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt.  Combine with the egg mixture.

Chill dough thoroughly then roll into small balls (walnut size).  Roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake for 8-10 minutes on a ungreased baking sheet until lightly browned but still soft.

Enjoy!

Click here to print this recipe!

Easter Favorites

I wanted to prepare a nontraditional dinner for Easter.  I made fajitas and all the fixins.  I didn’t get pictures of everything but it was all delicious trust me.  This is one of my favorite menus. 

Here was the menu…

Seven Layer Dip

Chili con Carne

Beef & Chicken Fajitas served with fresh pico, guacamole, homemade salsa, sour cream and cheese

Refried Beans and Mexican Rice

Strawberry Shortcake

Seven Layer Dip

recipe by Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1 can Refried Beans
• Tabasco Sauce, To Taste
• 1 can Diced Green Chilies
• Ground Cumin, to taste
• ¾ cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1 cup Guacamole
• ¾ cups Monterey Jack Cheese
• 1 can Black Olives
• 1 cup Pico De Gallo

Preparation Instructions

Begin by throwing the refried beans into a small pan over medium-low heat. Add several dashes of Tabasco sauce and a small can of (undrained) diced green chilies. Stir well. Next, sprinkle a little bit of ground Cumin.

Spread the beans on the bottom of a glass bowl or high-sided dish. Over this sprinkle the sharp cheddar. Next, plop your sour cream. And spread it into a single layer, being careful not to disturb the cheese underneath.

The next layer is the guacamole. Spread it over the sour cream. Follow this with a layer of Monterey Jack Cheese and a nice sprinkling of chopped black olives. Lastly, place a generous layer of Pico de Gallo. You can also, if you have the gumption for it, sprinkle some diced jalapenos over top.

Enjoy!

Chili Con Carne

recipe by Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 32 ounces, weight Velveeta Cheese Loaf
• 10 ounces, weight Rotel
• 1 pound Jimmy Dean Hot Breakfast Premium Pork Sausage
• 7 ounces, weight Chopped Green Chilies
• 1 whole Yellow Onion
• 1 whole Jalapeno, or more to taste

Preparation Instructions

Dice the onion. Using a nonstick sprayed skillet, cook sausage and onions until brown, stirring occasionally. Once browned, drain some of the fat from the skillet.

Cube Velveeta loaf. Add cubes to browned sausage and onion mixture. Add can of Rotel (juice and all), can of green chilies (juice and all), and stir over low heat.

Cut the top and bottom off the jalapeño, slice into matchsticks, then rotate and slice to create a fine dice. (For a spicy version, leave seeds and white membranes. For a milder option, remove them.) Add to queso and stir.

Serving tip: Use a fondue pot or crock pot to serve piping hot!

Chicken Fajitas

recipe by Paula Deen

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Dash hot sauce
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds meat (boneless, skinless chicken breast, skirt steak or peeled and deveined shrimp)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced lengthwise
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1 lime, juiced, for topping
Sour cream, for topping
Salsa, for topping
Guacamole, for topping
Cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping

Directions

In a heavy duty resealable plastic bag, combine 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, salt, pepper and your choice of meat. Seal and toss the bag around to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator. *Cook’s Note: 15 minutes for shrimp, 20 minutes for chicken and 1 hour for skirt steak.

Preheat your cast iron servers in a preheated 400 degree F oven for at least 20 minutes, to get a good sizzle when you plate the fajitas.

Heat the outside grill or a large indoor grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and place it on the hot grill, discard the marinade. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, skirt steak about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare and about 2 minutes for shrimp. Slice the chicken and steak into strips if you are using.

In a large skillet heat up the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and fry the onions and bell peppers until crisp-tender with some salt and pepper.

Wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them in the oven with the servers for 15 minutes.

When you are ready to serve, remove the cast iron servers from the oven and quickly arrange the meat and peppers and onions on it. It will immediately start to sizzle from their fat and moisture. Serve sizzling immediately with the warm tortillas and other accompaniments.

Pico de Gallo & Guacamole

recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman 

Ingredients

• FOR THE PICO DE GALLO:
• 5 whole Plum (roma) Tomatoes
• ½ whole Large (or 1 Small) Onion
• 3 whole Jalapeno Peppers
• Cilantro
• Lime Juice
• Salt To Taste
• FOR THE GUACAMOLE:
• 3 whole Avacados
• Pico De Gallo
• Couple shakes of cumin
• Lime Juice
• Salt To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Pico de Gallo
Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. (Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.

Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again.

Guacamole
Start with buttery-soft avocados. Halve them lengthwise and remove the pits. Next, with a spoon scrape the “meat” out onto a large plate. Next, with the bottom of a clean cup (or with a fork) mash the avocados, making sure to leave it relatively chunky. Add just a couple of shakes of salt to taste. Next, add a generous helping of Pico de Gallo.  Add cumin.  Fold together. Lastly squeeze the juice of half of a lime over the top. Give it one last stir.

 

Mexican Rice

recipe by Allrecipes

Ingredients

1 cup long grain white rice

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

1 cube chicken bouillon

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic, halved

Directions

In a medium sauce pan, cook rice in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes.

Pour in chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Stir in onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and diced tomato.

Season with bouillon cube, salt and pepper, cumin, cilantro, and garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes.

Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients

Pound cake

2 quarts of strawberries

3 T sugar

1 pint heavy cream

4 T powered sugar

1 t vanilla

Directions

Prepare cake and let cool to the touch.

Wash and slice the strawberries.  Place strawberries in bowl.  Add sugar and toss to coat.  Cover and place strawberries in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Place heavy cream, powered sugar and vanilla in your mixing bowl.  Mix on low speed until combined, then mix on medium high until soft peaks form.  When you remove the beater, the cream should stick to the beater.  Be careful not to overmix.  Place in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To serve, place a slice of cake on a plate.  Top with a large dollop of whipped cream.  Add strawberries. 

Enjoy!

Apple Cake

I make this cake a few times in the Fall each year.  It is one of Josh’s and my mother’s favorite cakes I bake.  It makes the house smell utterly divine.  I use Paula Deen’s recipe.

Grandgirl’s Apple Cake

Cake:
Butter, for greasing pan
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Sauce:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a bundt cake pan.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, oil, orange juice, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract.  Mix well.

Fold apples, coconut, and pecans into batter. The batter will be thick!  The first time I made this recipe I thought I had done something wrong because the batter was so thick.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. 

Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Its a Paula Deen recipe.  There is always a stick of butter.

Stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda, and bring to a good rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the hot cake in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven. 

Let stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.   

Enjoy!

Here is a our Fall corner of the house.  I had the girls pictures professionally taken a few years ago.  I pull them out each year around Halloween and just love looking at them.

Beef Stew

Adapted from Paula Deen

2 pounds stew meat

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons oil

2 cups water

1 teaspoon worcesterire sauce

1 clove garlic

2 bay leaves

1 medium onion, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

3 large carrots, sliced

2 large potatoes, cubed

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 cup water

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Coat stew meat with flour.  Add meat to hot oil one piece at a time.  Do not crowd the pan.  It takes me two batches to brown the all the meat.

Add water, worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper and paprika.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 1/2 hours. 

Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. 

Add carrots, potatoes and celery.  Raise the heat a little.  Add a cup of water.  Cook covered for 30 to 40 minutes. 

Serve with cornbread and enjoy!

Corn Casserole (Paula Deen)

1 can cream of corn

1 can corn, drained

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together.   Pour into a greased casserole dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 – 60 minutes.  It will be de done when its golden brown and firm in middle.

Cinnamon spice cake

I came across a new recipe this past month. Someone brought this simple Bundt cake to the office and it was gone within 2 hours. It was moist and delicious. It turns out it is a Paula Deen recipe. Well that explains everything.

I did not grow up eating spice cakes but I like them. They remind me of the flavor of pumpkin which is probably why I like them so much. The scream Fall. The cinnamon, sugar, pecans swirl in the middle of the cake is perfect.

Cinnamon Spice Cakeadapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 serving) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (18-ounce package) spice cake mix
5 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch bundt pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, instant pudding, sour cream, eggs, and vegetable oil. Beat together well.

In a separate bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and pecans.

Pour half of batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with sugar mixture, reserving a little to sprinkle on top. Pour the rest of batter into the pan and sprinkle with the rest of sugar mixture.

Bake 50 – 60 minutes until done. Top of cake should be firm and should bounce back when gently touched. Let cool 10 minutes on a wire rack then remove from pan. Enjoy!

Top Secret Chocolate Cookies

I started making this recipe last year at Christmas time. It is an absolutly delicious cookie.

by Paula Deen
Ingredients2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
White Sanding sugar, for garnish

Directions
In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar and cream together with a mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and mix until combined.

In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until incorporated.

Roll the dough into 2 logs that are about 2-inches high and 1-foot long. Wrap them in waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Once thoroughly chilled, slice the cookies into 1/2-inch thick rounds and cover with sanding sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to cool.