Treating You Like Family!

Our Favorite Recipes

If you think in metric, you can convert the US measures in these recipes using the conversions at this converter website.


Creamy Dark Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients:

Putting It Together:

  1. I like to sift it together.
  2. Fill your cup half full with the mixture and then pour the milk or water over the mixture.
  3. You can either mix it with hot water or warm milk and if you like cayenne and chocolate, you can opt for cayenne instead of cinnamon.
  4. We like it with a splash of good vanilla and marshmellows!

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Chilaquiles with Red Sauce and Chicken

from Claudia Yuskoff at Me Gusta Cooking

Chilaquiles is one of those dishes with as many recipes as there are cooks. This dish is usually used to get rid of the leftovers. Feel free to be creative, though this recipe is a good start.

Ingredients:

Putting It Together:

  1. Process above in blender until pureed (a little texture is nice).
  2. Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) kosher salt to sauce.
  3. Heat a generous amount of oil in a large skillet.
  4. Cut corn tortillas into eighths and add to hot oil.
  5. Fry tortillas until crisp. Turn frequently. Remove then drain on paper towel.
  6. Fry sauce. Reduce the sauce for about 5 minutes.
  7. Add cooked, shredded chicken to the sauce in the pan.
  8. Add a pinch of oregano to the sauce.
  9. Add tortilla chips to the sauce in the pan.
  10. Serve and garnish with cheese - Mexican queso fresco -- plus Mexican crema.
  11. Top it off with 1 easy-over egg for each serving.

Serves 3.

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Honey-Baked Pizza Crust

from Marlene Hammes

Ingredients:

Putting it together:

Preheat oven to 350º F (177º C). Combine first three ingredients and let set for 5 minutes. Mix 2 cups (255 g) flour, salt and Italian dressing mix. Combine honey mixture with flour mixture. Add warm water and oil. Mix well. Stir in remaining flour until dough is smooth and elastic. Knead for five minutes. Set aside and cover for 45 minutes. Roll out pizza dough with corn meal dusted over well-greased pizza pan. Cover with 1 cup (240 ml) pizza sauce and favorite toppings. Be careful not to overload crust with toppings so the crust can bake all the way through. Bake 20-25 minutes. Brush crust with melted butter. Let set for five minutes before serving.

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Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies

Ingredients:

Putting it together:

Preheat oven to 300º F (150º C). In medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Mix well with wire whisk. Set aside. Blend sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer set at medium speed. Add butter and mix until grainy, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until smooth. Add the flour mixture, craisins, and chocolate chips. Blend at low speed until just combined. Do not overmix. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 1½ inches (4 cm) apart. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool, flat surface using a spatula.

Yield: About 4½ dozen cookies

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Grandma's Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 350º F (177º C). Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Sift together first five ingredients above in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, cream sugar and butter. Blend in eggs and vanilla until well mixed. Add dry mixture alternately with mashed bananas until just moistened. Coat pecans with remaining flour and stir into batter. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

You make a mix by combining all dry ingredients into a bag. On baking day, melt the butter and add eggs & vanilla. Then add to dry ingredients. Finish off by adding the banana to the mixture and baking.

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Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

from Country Sunshine B&B, Durango, CO

Ingredients:

Putting it together:

Mix oatmeal & buttermilk. Add eggs. Combine dry ingredients & mix them into oatmeal mixture. Stir in butter. Batter is ready to pour on griddle. Cook on a hot griddle, adding blueberries as desired. Flip and cook other side until golden brown.

Makes 12 pancakes.

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Black Bottom Cake

from Grandma Margaret Merz

Batter Ingredients:

Topping Ingredients:

Putting it together:

To make the batter, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk, butter and cocoa. Pour into greased 9x13 inch (23x30 cm) pan.

Mix together the topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter. Then pour 2 cups (480 ml) boiling water over the top. Bake at 375º F (190º C) for about 35 minutes.

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Overnight Oven-Baked French Toast

Ingredients:

Putting it together:

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened. Pour into the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch (30x23x5 cm) baking pan. Arrange bread on top.

Beat milk, eggs, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Pour over bread, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350º F (177º C).

Remove cover from pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until set and golden brown. Serve immediately.

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Apple Oatmeal Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 350º F (177º C). Mix dry ingredients together in 2 quart batter bowl. Add remaining ingredients; mixture will be quite thick. Pur into deep dish baker (spritzed). Bake for 35 minutes.

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Banana Splitsville

Basic Caramel Software:
Caramel Sauce Software:
Banana Brulee Software:
Additional Splitsville Software:
Hardware:

Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small, heavy saucepan and place over high heat. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, heat your thermometer under warm tap water (to prevent thermal shock) and attach to side of pan, making sure that the bulb is completely submerged. Do not stir the mixture or agitate the pan at this stage.
When the mixture reaches 230º F (110º C), reduce the heat to medium and allow the sugar to color gradually. As the temperature approaches 300º F (149º C) the color will start to turn to amber. At this point, it's safe to swirl the pan gently to help distribute the heat evenly. As the caramel heads towards 340º F (171º C), it will reach a deep amber color.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly stir with a metal spoon, allowing it to cool until the caramel falls from the spoon in a solid stream, like a string. When it does, it's doodad time.

Form doodads by holding the spoon 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) over the caramel and drizzling the patterns on the parchment. (Hint: allow the spoon to unload into the pan for a few seconds before attempting doodad. This will allow a narrower stream.) Quick back and forth motions or side to side movements are best. It's all in the wrist. Allow doodads to cool for 15 minutes then peel the paper off (not the other way around). Stack in an airtight container with wax paper between each piece.

After making 15 to 20 doodads, you should have sufficient caramel remaining to move on to the sauce phase. So, return the remaining caramel to medium high heat and continue cooking until you see the first sign of smoke. Immediately remove from the heat, and add the cream, all at once, at arms length. (It will boil furiously.) Once the mixture calms down, return to medium heat and boil 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature, move to squirt bottle and refrigerate for up to a week.

To make the bananas brulee, quarter the bananas (peel on) and rub into sugar to coat thoroughly. Remove peel and place on cooling rack over several layers of foil. (Don't try this on your dining room table.) Don your safety goggles and fire up your torch. Hold the torch so that the very tip of the flame barely touches the banana, and move quickly back and forth until the sugar melts, turns brown, and bubbles. As soon as it looks like caramel, move on. You know you've got it down when a solid, glasslike sheet of gold (no graininess) has formed on the banana.

To do the split (so to speak), squirt a pattern of caramel sauce on a chilled plate, top with 4 banana pieces (Lincoln log style), top with the ice cream of your choice (we like our peachy vanilla from Churn Baby Churn), and finally, a doodad.

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Bananas Foster

Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet. Place the pan over low heat either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan. When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum. Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum. When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream. Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.

OR

Melt butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over low heat. Add brown sugar, allspice and nutmeg and stir until sugar dissolves. Add banana liqueur and bring sauce to simmer. Add bananas and cook for 1 minute on each side, carefully spooning sauce over bananas as they are cooking. Remove bananas from pan to a serving dish. Bring sauce to a simmer and carefully add the rum. If the sauce is very hot, the alcohol will flame on its own. If not, using stick flame, carefully ignite and continue cooking until flame dies out, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. If sauce is too thin, cook for 1 to 2 minutes until it is syrupy in consistency. Add orange zest and stir to combine. Immediately spoon the sauce over bananas and serve. Serve with waffles, crepes, or ice cream.

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Dr Mary's Barbequed Baby Back Ribs

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Dr Mary's Addictive Crunchy Carmel Corn

Combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in a sauce pan. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring often. Turn off the heat. Then add ½ teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon vanilla. It foams. Pour over the popcorn in a large roasting pan and stir.

Bake for 1 hour at 250º F, stirring every 15 minutes. It will be crunchy when cool.

It seems like a lot of corn, but it magically disappears!

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Dr Mary's Best Beans Ever!

from Burnita Besser

Cook meat and onion. Drain and transfer to a greased 2½ qt baking dish. Add all beans. Mix/combine remaining ingredients and add to rest.

Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes covered and then 15 minutes uncovered.

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7-grain Pancakes

Mix egg yolks, milk, soda, brown sugar & vinegar. Add flour, mix well. Stir in butter, fold in egg whites. Original recipe called for buttermilk in lieu of milk, I believe. Great for making artistic pancakes.

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Sand Art Brownies -- for gift giving

Place ingredients in a 1 qt jar. Place the directions on the jar.

To make, mix contents of jar with:

Pour into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 350° for 27-35 minutes.

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Bread -- for bread machine

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Mary Hartwig's Lady Fingers

Add sugar, salt & vanilla to the melted butter. Add nuts and coconut, then flour. Mix well. Shape small bunches into finger shapes. Place on un-greased cookie sheet, bake at 350º F for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool, toss in bag of powdered sugar to coat.

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Dr. Mary's BBQ Meatloaf Recipe

I love this recipe and my daughter, Stefi, can almost eat one of the loaves all by herself! I always think that I'll freeze one loaf and eat the other. But, somehow the second one never makes it to the freezer. This is easy and fun to make with kids.

Mix together all but the bacon and pat into two loaf pans. I use ceramic pans and usually warm up the loaf and pan in the microwave before placing it into the oven. Then I only have to bake them for about 30 minutes. Crumble bacon over the top for the last few minutes of baking. If you don't heat up the pans, you'll have to bake longer. You can also place all of this into one pan and bake for one hour. Serve with BBQ sauce and a smile.

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Harvey Wallbanger Cake Recipe

from Robbi Royce

This easy, traditional recipe made the rounds during the 70’s, and the origin is uncertain. It takes the potent flavors of the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail and puts them into a deliciously moist cake. Look for the small single-serving bottles of the liquors if you do not keep them on hand. Instructions are also given for muffins.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Cake:

Glaze: Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Grease and flour a Bundt pan.

Place cake mix, oil, eggs, liqueur, vodka, pudding mix and orange juice into a large mixing bowl.  Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.

Pour evenly into Bundt pan, and bake for 45 - 50 minutes.

For the glaze, mix powdered sugar, orange juice, liqueur and vodka until smooth.  Drizzle over the warm cake and let cool to room temperature for glaze to set. Yield: 1 Bundt cake -- about 10-12 servings.

For Muffins:

Fill mini-muffins and/or muffin paper-lined tins ¾ full.  Bake mini-muffins for 10 minutes or 20 minutes for regular muffins.  Drizzle glaze over cooled muffins or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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Good Eats Brined Roast Turkey

OK, here it is. This is the wonderful turkey recipe featured at the GeekAmI website. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, also featured in Food Network Magazine


Ingredients
For the brine:
For the aromatics:

Directions:

Click here to see how it's done.

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

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Make Ahead Rich and Creamy Hot Chocolate

Makes 10 chocolate balls, enough for ten 1-cup servings