Peanut Brittle

You make this candy in the Microwave! I know that we cooks shouldn't brag about our own cooking........this is the best peanut brittle I have ever tasted. Dad always looks for this in his Christmas Basket. And, it's so easy to make.

Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup salted peanuts
1 teaspoon margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

In 2-quart glass measure combine sugar and corn syrup, stir, cook at HIGH 4 minutes. Add peanuts; stir well. Cook at HIGH for an additional 3 1/2 minutes; add butter and vanilla, stirring well. Cook at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes. Add baking soda; stir gently until light and foamy. Immediately pour mixture onto buttered cookie sheet. Spread thinly. Cool, break into small pieces. Makes 1 1/2 pounds.

Sweet and Salty Pretzels

These are my sister, Nancy's favorite! She always looks for them in her families Goodie Basket!

1 pound white almond bark
1 package pretzels...large, mini, sticks, etc.

Melt the bark in the microwave 2 1/2 - 3 minutes; stirring often. Dip the pretzels into the bark and place on wax paper to set up. You can sprinkle with red and green sugar or any kind of cookie decoration.

Candy Cane Crisps

Candy Cane Crisps

1 cup margarine, at room temperature
about 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
about 3/4 cup coarsely crushed candy canes or hard peppermint candies

In large bowl of an electric mixer, beat margarine and 1 cup of the sugar until creamy, beat in vanilla. In another bowl, stir together flour, oats and salt, gradually add to margarine mixture, blending thoughly. Add 1/4 cup of the crushed candy canes and mix until well combined. Roll dough into 3/4-inch balls, then roll in remaining powdered sugar (about 1/4 cup) to coat. Place balls about 2-inches apart on greased and flour-dusted baking sheets. Flatten cookies with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern with fork tines. Sprinkle each with about 1/2 teaspoon crushed candy canes. Bake in a 325 degree oven until edges are lightly browned 18-20 minutes, then transfer to racks and let cool completely. Store airtight. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Poppy Seed Muffins

3 cups flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat eggs, milk, oil and extracts; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield: about 8 dozen mini-muffins or 24 standard-size muffins.

No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Mom Bishop gave this recipe to me after Rich and I was married in 1973. She told me it was one of his favorite cookies!

No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies

1 quart sugar
1 cup cocoa
1 cup butter
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
5 cups oatmeal

Combine first 5 ingredients. Boil 1 minute; remove from stove. Add remaining ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Makes approximately 100 cookies. Please make sure that you use a large pan for cooking.

Candy Cane Cookies

Candy Cane Cookies

3/4 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup flaked coconut
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream margarine and sugar; beat in egg, vanilla and extract. Stir flour with salt and baking powder; stir into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Stir coconut into one portion; blend food coloring into remaining dough. Cover; chill dough for 30 minutes. Divide each dough into 30 balls; keep half of each dough chilled till ready to use. With hands, roll each ball to a 5-inch rope. For each cane: pinch together one end of a red rope and one end of a white rope; twist ropes together. Pinch together remaining ends. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; curve to form cane. Repeat for remaining balls. Bake at 375 degrees about 10 minutes. Makes 30 candy cane cookies.

Best-Ever Meltaways

Best-Ever Meltaways

1 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour***
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar, for coating

Beat the margarine with the unsifted powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Add both extracts and the salt and beat again. Stir together the flour and cornstarch; stir into the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic and chill for 1 hour, or until firm enough to shape.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Use ungreased baking sheets. Pinch off hunks of dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until set; the cookies will not color. Let cool on the pans until cool enough to handle. Roll in sifted powdered sugar. Lay on wax paper to cool. Roll again in sifted powdered sugar when cool. Makes 4 dozen.

***Chocolate Meltaways.....substitute 1/4 cup cocoa for 1/4 cup of the flour.

Raggedy Ann Swap

This is the Raggedy Annie I received from Barbara Burkard.

This is the Raggedy Ann I made for Barbara.

I had so much fun making my Raggedy Ann for Barbara. She collects old toys and I wanted to make her Raggedy Ann look vintage. Instead of using bright red for her hair I used a rust color to look more vintage.

Barbar emailed me and asked for any information that might help her to make my Raggedy Annie. I told her that I collected Black American dolls, red was my favorite color.......and I love the Annie she made for me.

Thank you Thimbleprims Studio for having this great swap!

Pumpkin Pie

This is a great recipe for pumpkin pie that you can bake in the microwave. I found this recipe in the cookbook that came with my new Quasar Microwave that we bought in 1984. And, by the way, it is still being used daily in our home today. It has never been repaired. When we bought the microwave at Friedman's in Medford, Or, we received free cooking classes. Rich and I would go to them every chance we had. We had so much fun and learned not to be intimidated by the microwave. We learned how to cook casseroles, bar cookies, jams and jellies, candies, cakes, veggies, etc. The main thing we learned was not to listen to people when they told you that all microwaves were for was heating up coffee, weiners and leftovers.

Pumpkin Pie

16 ounce can cooked pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
9-inch pastry shell, baked

Combine all ingredients; except pie shell. Pour into prepared shell. Cook at Medium 20-22 minutes, or until center is almost set. Let stand until cool. Serves 8.

Pie Crusts

Pie Crusts

Pastry for 2-crust pie

2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons cold water

Sift flour and salt into mixing bowl. Add oil, mix well with fork. Sprinkle cold water over mixture and mix well. With hands press mixture into a smooth ball. (If mix is too dry, add 1-2 Tablespoons more oil, a little at a time and then shape ball). Divide ball in half and flatten both parts slightly. Roll out 1 dough ball to circle between two 12-inch square sheets waxed paper to edge of paper. Peel off paper. Fit pastry carefully into pie pan, using care not to stretch. Trim evenly with edge of pan. Roll out remaining dough ball between two sheets of waxed paper as directed for bottom crust. Peel off top paper. Add filling to pastry-lined pan. Arrange rolled pastry over filled pie and peel off paper. Cut vents for steam to escape. Trim crust 1/2-inch beyond edge of pie pan; fold top crust under bottom crust. Flute edge. Bake as pie recipe directs. Makes one 8-9-inch 2-crust pie or two 8-9-inch pie shells.

Swirled Mint Cookies

Swirled Mint Cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspooon baking powder
1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
10 drops red food coloring
10 drops green food coloring

Combine flour and baking powder. In a large mixing bowl beat margarine until softened. Add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and peppermint extract; beat well. Add flour mixture and beat till well blended. Divide into thirds. Stir red food coloring into one-third, stir green coloring into another, and leave remaining third plain. Cover each and chill about 1 hour or till easy to handle. Divide each color of dough into 4 parts. On a lightly floured surface roll each into a 1/2-inch diameter rope. Place one red, one green and one plain rope side by side. Twist together. Slice into 1/2-inch pieces for larger cookies, or 1/4-inch for smaller ones. Carefully roll into balls, blending colors as little as possible. Place about 2-inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten to 1/4-inch thickness with the bottom of a glass dipped in additional sugar. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake in a 375 degree oven till done (8-10 minutes for large cookies/ 6-8 minutes for small cookies). Remove and cool. Makes 6-12 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounce package chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.*** Into large bowl, measure all ingredients except chocolate chips and walnuts. With mixer at medium speed, beat until mixed, scraping bowl. Add chocolate chips and walnuts; stir well.

Make 1-inch balls and place 2-inches apart on sheet. Bake 8-12 minutes**** or until lightly browned. With spatula, remove cookies to wire racks; cool completely. Store in a tightly covered container. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

***Can be baked in 9x13-inch pan; for 20-25 minutes. Cut into bars.

****Soft cookies when you bake for the shorter time.

Facebook

I've been having so much fun on Facebook lately. I've found that quite a few of family and friends are Facebook members. Some of them we hardly ever get to see.....so now we can visit and keep up with each other's lives.

Of course, I also play Farmville with several people. Rich always says he can tell when I'm checking in on my farm by all the animal noises coming from the Craft/Computer room.

Aunt Bess" Coconut Balls

This recipe was give to our family in the early 60's. Great-Aunt Bess was my Grandmother's older sister. She was a very outspoken woman. She would tell you exactly what she was thinking whether you wanted to listen or not. She got this recipe when she worked in a small candy shop in Los Angeles, CA. This recipe has become a Christmas tradition throughout the years.

Aunt Bess' Coconut Balls

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup butter or margarine
2 - 14 ounce packages coconut
2 pounds powdered sugar

In a very large bowl, mix above ingredients with hands. Roll into balls, about 1-inch diameter. Chill for 20-30 minutes.

1/4 pound paraffin***
2 - 14 ounce packages chocolate chips

Put above ingredients in double boiler and melt.

Take balls and put on toothpicks**** and twirl in chocolate mixture. Cool.

***I use melted chocolate candy coating to dip balls into instead of paraffin and chocolate chips.

****I take a plastic fork and break off the 2 center tines and use as a dipping fork.