Homemade From Scratch

Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Fudge

- Mama 3 Comments

Tomorrow is one of my favorite holidays of the entire year… Peanut Butter Lovers Day! I had to celebrate in style.

When the amazing people at Hershey’s sent me some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for Valentine’s Day, I knew I’d celebrate in style!

Growing up, my favorite part of the Peanut Butter Cup was the middle. I’d painstakingly eat all of the chocolate off of the edges, then gently peel off the top and bottom chocolate, saving the peanut butter filling for last. When I started doing my own grocery shopping and found out they make Reese’s Peanut Butter, it totally blew my peanut butter loving mind.

Peanut Butter Fudge is actually surprisingly easy to make, and it’s SO rich and delicious. The best part of it, though, is that it tastes just like the middle of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Start by unwrapping a cup or two of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Minis. Try not to eat at least a million while you do so (I failed at my attempt not to eat them).

According to the National Peanut Board, peanuts actually originated in Peru or Brazil. Even though they don’t have any fossils to prove this, it’s been the oldest known location of pottery and decor made to look like peanuts and actually decorated with peanuts. However, peanuts were considered food for animals and poor people in the early 1800’s when they got their start in the United States.

Next, you’ll want to sift 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. By going ahead and doing this step in advance, the fudge will go more quickly later.

It wasn’t until Barnum’s Circus, yes THAT Barnum, that peanuts were sold to the masses at circus events, saying “Hot Roasted Peanuts!” They became insanely popular after that. While Peanut Butter itself was likely invented close to when peanuts where first cultivated, it also had a delayed popularity in the United States. Kellogg, from the cereal company, was considered the first here to create peanut butter.

Now, take some time to line your pan with Saran Wrap or parchment. This will make it much easier to lift out of the pan and cut into squares!

After Kellogg came up with peanut butter, a doctor in St. Louis started using it for patients that couldn’t chew meat, since it was a great source of protein and could be eaten easily with no teeth. It wasn’t made for the masses until the World’s Fair in 1904. It became a huge lifesaver in the World Wars, as it packed a major protein punch! It’s during World War II that the peanut butter and jelly sandwich got it’s start, and it hasn’t fallen out of style since.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 sticks of butter and a 16 ounce container of Reese’s Creamy Peanut Butter. Creamy is important– in a crunchy peanut butter, the nuts will sink to the bottom when melted and leave an uneven, broken texture in your fudge. Creamy Peanut Butter will keep the fudge extra creamy, which is perfect for a great taste.

So what about Peanut Butter Cups, then, in terms of history? Invented by a Dairy Farmer named H.B. Reese who formerly shipped chocolate for the Hershey Company, they were popularized quickly. From day one, they were made using Hershey’s Chocolate. It wasn’t the only candy that Reese made, but it was the only one that really experienced popularity, so the others were scrapped to keep the Cups.

Stir occasionally, letting it melt, then slowly bring it to a boil. Stir in a teaspoon of vanilla.

There are now tons of varieties of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, including limited edition kinds and the oh-so-fun seasonal varieties like Reese’s eggs!

When it boils, remove it from the heat and stir the powdered sugar into it. Also stir in about half of your Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Minis, which will melt instantly, adding a hint of chocolate flavor to your Peanut Butter Fudge. Set this aside, then take some of your remaining Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Minis and line the pan with rows of them.

Carefully spread your fudge mixture into the pan, then press in some more minis, which will also melt a bit on contact. Then, resist eating it and slide it into the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour while you lick the bowl.

Then, slice and serve! As always, sharing is optional.

 

Are you celebrating Peanut Butter Lover’s Day tomorrow? Let me know what you’re munching on in the comments below!

 

Disclosure: I received Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Minis from the Hershey Company as part of the Be Mine, Hershey’s Promotion. However, any opinions stated above are my own.

Memories of My Grandfather (With Oatmeal Raisin Bar Recipe)

- Mama 2 Comments

Please keep reading for a very special recipe from my Grandfather’s collection.

Cholangiocarcinoma. That’s… not an easy word to say, to spell, but once it becomes a part of your life, it’s a word you can’t forget. I like to know my grandfather as someone who wasn’t defined by the cancer that eventually took his life. But truly, I remember so many things before the cancer was a part of his life. Today would have been my grandfather’s birthday.

For a short time in my youngest years, my mother and I lived with my grandparents. I am often told the story of a time when I was very little, on Christmas Eve. I wouldn’t go to sleep at all, wanting to stay up. Then finally, out my grandparents’ house window, someone pointed out the lights from the radio towers nearby… flashing red lights, akin to Rudolph’s nose. I got so excited, knowing Santa was near, and knowing he wouldn’t visit if I was awake, I rushed to bed. I was asleep within minutes.

As a young girl, I had a variety of makeup brushes to play with at my grandparents’ house. I’d sit there for hours looking in the mirror putting on “MakeMuck.” My grandfather was a hairdresser for most of his life, and he formed a lasting bond with all of his regular customers. It seems he continued those friendships with many of them even after his retirement.

My grandfather had a passion for horses. A World Champion in the Missouri Foxtrotters Show circuit, and a Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association Hall of Fame Inductee, he truly loved horses with all of his heart. Because of that, at a young age, I did the whole Stick Horse Circuit, riding around a stick with a stuffed-animal style horse head in the arena. I never got into his passion for horses, but his love of them meant the boot closet in the old house always smelled like worn leather and, others say, manure. When I close my eyes, I can picture the smell of the boot closet, bringing back memories of my grandfather coming in from doing chores.

One of my earliest memories in life was a memory of my grandfather. I had read The Foot Book a million times, listened to it a million more, so when I’d sit and read it, no one would believe that I was really, truly reading it.

I changed everyone’s minds when I crawled up into my granddad’s lap, as he sat in his chair, and started reading that day’s paper. There’s no way I could have memorized it– it was the edition from that day. The things I was reading had been unread by others in the room, and it was clear that I really did know how to read.

When my grandfather was ill, and we’d go down to visit, I loved that we were able to bond over episodes of Jeopardy. He always told me I should go on the show– that I knew so many of the answers. In reality, once there, I’d choke and never get one right. I’d rather be a good couch player.

February is Cholangiocarcinoma awareness month. Cholangiocarcinoma is very rare. It’s not something you expect to take you, especially so quickly. This cancer is rare, arising from tissue in the bile duct. Only about 5% of Cholangiocarcinoma cases are inside the liver, the way my grandfather’s cancer was. There’s a very small chance that people diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma will survive longer than 5 years, and in fact, because it’s caught so late, even 6 months is a long survival rate.

However, The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation is working very hard to find a cure by promoting collaboration, understanding research, and education about Cholangiocarcinoma. You can help them achieve this mission by donating.

When my grandfather passed, he left me the recipes and cookbooks, many of them old family favorites, handwritten on scraps of paper or pulled from newspapers. These incredible recipes are a huge part of my heritage. One special treasured recipe that he loved, that everyone seemed to love, was the recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Bars that my grandfather’s mother would make when he was younger.

With a flaky, buttery crust and crumble top, and a rich raisin filling, these bars are spot-on and perfect for bake sales, potlucks, or even just enjoying on a Sunday afternoon.

You’ll begin by taking 1 cup of raisins, 1/2 a cup of water, and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Right now, you can see all of the little wrinkles on the raisins, and the clarity of the water.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer as you stir constantly, mashing the raisins a bit with a fork. The raisins will get plump, losing some of their wrinkles, and the water will start to disappear, the water darkening into a syrup. You will want to cook them until there is nearly no liquid left. Set the raisins aside to finish soaking up liquid.

In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups instant oats, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. This will make the start of your crust.

Add in 1/3 cup of melted butter and 1 egg white to create a course crusty dough.

Press half of the crust into a greased pan, making sure it’s well-packed and sturdy.

Spread the raisin mixture evenly over the bottom crust. This will bake nicely in to create a sweet filling.

Press the other half of the crust mixture gently over the raisins. You’ll want to bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until lightly browned. Cool the bars for a minimum of 1 hour in the pan on a cooling rack before slicing.

Tuscan Sausage and Bean Soup

- Mama 5 Comments

I am a huge fan of soup. I think that a good, hearty soup can make any day better, especially a frigid one like so many of us are experiencing lately, with snow covering most of the nation.

When it comes to soup, I have a lot of old standbys. My mom’s killer chicken noodle soup that everyone raves about, an easy taco soup we can’t get enough of, chili… it’s all good. But I also like adding a new flavor into the mix. When we took a good look at our soup recipe collection, it became clear that there was no sausage soup in the mix. That had to change.

The easiest way to fix it was to dig through the old inherited recipe boxes and see what they had to offer. I wasn’t disappointed– I stumbled upon a delicious-sounding Tuscan Sausage and Bean soup recipe that would make a great starting point. With a few tweaks, it has now become a family favorite.

Start out with these ingredients. Because it’s a soup, it’s pretty flexible, so keep that in mind. Don’t have cannellini beans? Throw in great northerns instead. Need to make it stretch? Double the recipe, or add in more beans. But to create the perfect Tuscan Sausage and Bean soup, this is a good starting point.

Start out by cutting your sausage into small pieces and cooking it. I used a mild Italian sausage from Johnsonville. You can, of course, use hot. I won’t judge. Drain it, then set the sausage aside for later.

In the bottom of a large soup pot, melt a stick of butter, then saute half a diced onion and 2 cloves of minced garlic.

Stir in 1/4 cup of flour to create a nice thick base.

Gradually add a can of evaporated milk, a can of chicken broth, and a can of drained diced tomatoes, stirring constantly. You’ll want to continue stirring constantly over medium heat until your mixture comes to a boil, to help thicken the soup. Once it comes to a boil, add in two cans of cannellini beans (don’t drain them!), and your sausage.

Heat the soup a bit longer, and then serve it.

This is a really hearty soup, and it will fill you up and warm you up, which are the two best features of a good winter soup.

If you’re concerned about canned beans, you might take a peek at CansGetYouCooking.com. This site, which is not affiliated with any particular brand of canned goods, has some great information about the nutrition facts regarding canned goods. Did you know that canned beans actually contain more soluble fiber than dried beans? They’re the absolute best way to get fiber from beans, and they are packed with other great nutrients, too. Canned tomatoes also pack an extra punch, with more lycopene, which is insanely good for you.

On a snowy day, this soup is totally where it’s at. With the rich sausage flavor, the hearty broth, and the delicious flavor that needs no added salt or pepper makes it truly worth making on these cold winter nights.

 

 

Do you have a winter soup favorite? Tell me about it in the comments below! Want to save this recipe for future reference? Be sure to pin it or share it on your facebook timeline!

Waldorf-Astoria Red Velvet Cake

- Mama 4 Comments

Ah, Red Velvet Cake… it’s easily one of the prettiest cakes out there, whether you’re a fan of the taste or not. When I stumbled upon a red velvet cake recipe in my inherited recipe, I just knew I had to try it.

Why? Because the recipe claimed, on good authority, that it was THE Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake with Ermine Icing… oh, dear sweet, sweet goodness.

But it turns out that the Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake isn’t quite the same as most people know Red Velvet Cake. While the original recipe was a Depression-era recipe, it turns out that it died in popularity until a little movie called “Steel Magnolias.” Yeah, yeah, polish off that box of Kleenex while watching the film again, and notice the red velvet armadillo groom’s cake.

You’ll start making this famous cake by creaming together one softened stick of butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar.

Following the Steel Magnolias related boost in popularity, the cake got more attention when the beautiful “chicken or fish” Jessica Simpson chose it has her wedding cake when she married Nick Lachey, the hottie from 98 Degrees.

Add in 2 eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla extract, stirring until it’s fully combined. Go ahead and add a lot of food coloring at this stage. I used half of a small container of Wilton No Taste Red, but you can use any food coloring you see fit.

When the cupcake trend became widespread and there was a cupcake shop opening on every corner, pretty much every one decided to feature a Red Velvet Cupcake. Why? Because it’s so darn pretty, that’s why! Heck, even Emma Stone, of Easy A, Marmaduke, and Crazy Stupid Love fame, once said “You’re a human being, and life is wonderful, so eat the d*mn red velvet cupcake.”

In a separate bowl, sift 2 1/2 cups of pre-sifted flour, 2 Tablespoons of cocoa, and 1 teaspoon of salt together.

Rumor had it that quite some time ago, a diner at the Waldor Astoria’s hotel was so in love with their Red Velvet cake that she requested the recipe. The hotel refused, but she insisted, asking if she could purchase the recipe instead. The waitress replied, “Of course! It’ll be three fifty.” The diner accepted, but was later mailed a bill… for $350.00! (In a time when that would buy 3 months worth of groceries or more for a family of four). She tried to fight it, but her lawyer insisted since she had received the recipe, she had to pay. To get even with the Waldorf Astoria by spreading the recipe far and wide to make sure that everyone had a copy of the recipe and wouldn’t have to pay like she did.

Grab your egg and sugar mixture and add in parts of the flour mixture and parts of 1 Cup buttermilk alternately until all of the flour and all of the buttermilk are added in. At the very end, add in a Tablespoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of baking powder. You know how when you make a volcano for the science fair, and you get that bubbly eruption when you mix vinegar and baking powder? That’s the same thing happening in this cake to give it that perfect velvety texture.

You want to know a secret about that Waldorf Astoria story? The one about how everyone came to know how to make red velvet cake? Yeah, so… it doesn’t happen to be true. The truth of the matter is, when the Depression hit and people had to cut back on unnecessary things, including food coloring and extracts.

Divide your red batter into three greased 8 inch pans. If you’re the type of person who butters and flours, you can substitute a light dusting of cocoa instead to erase that white layer from your cake. This will give you your layers. You’ll bake these at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the cake tests done. Let these cool on a wire rack.

The truth of the matter about how Red Velvet Cake became popular in households in the Depression era is that it was actually a very clever marketing ploy. When people stopped buying coloring and extracts, it really sucked for the people at the Adams Extract Company, who, as the name implies, made their living from selling extracts and colorings. To try and gain back some income, the Adams Extract Company revamped an old recipe to make sure it used their red food coloring– a lot of it!

You see, Red Velvet Cake had been around, but the hue was very subtle, created by the way vinegar, cocoa, and buttermilk reacted in the cake, giving it a soft scarlet tint. Adams decided to pack a punch and make an impact AND make some money. When they revamped the cake, they added their own Red Velvet Coloring… TWO BOTTLES of it.

Now that Red Velvet Cake has become a “thing” again, with celebrity endorsements and cupcakery features galore, you see it slathered with Cream Cheese Icing. But no, no no, that’s not how Red Velvet Cake began. A real, Waldorf-Astoria style, Adams Extract Company Red Velvet Cake features something called an Ermine Frosting.

Ermine frosting is a silky cooked frosting that starts by mixing 1/4 cup of flour and 1 cup of milk in a saucepan over low heat. You want to stir it until it begins to thicken, basically making a roux. You’ll want to continue stirring constantly until you get a pudding-like consistency.

When it looks like this, you’re getting really close.

And when it looks like this, your roux is done, then it’s time to get started on part 2 of your frosting.

In a separate bowl, while your roux cools, you’ll want to beat 1 cup shortening and 1 cup sugar until it’s fluffy, like this, then add in a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Once your roux has cooled fully, beat it into the shortening mixture until the frosting is silky. This frosting cannot be overbeat– it’s just going to keep getting a silky texture! It won’t curdle like a buttercream frosting.

You can take the cooled cakes and layer them with the Ermine frosting, giving it a generous coat, then dirty ice the entire cake. Dirty icing just means to put a really quick coating of frosting on the cake, covering it, before you cover it with other decor. You don’t have to smooth it out. For the technique I’m showing you today, though, you’ll want to be sure the top of your cake is smooth. The sides can be rough like mine.

The frosting technique I’m going to show you today is a stunning ruffled technique that takes very little effort. Take a piping bag and put a large round tip in. I used a Wilton 2A.

Holding the piping bag at a 90 degree angle to the cake side, you’ll pipe dots of frosting vertically down the cake.

Squeeze and release, keeping the dots as uniform as possible.

Grab a spoon or an angled spatula (again, I’m a big fan of Wilton’s small angled spatula) and drag the dot sideways. Repeat this all the way down the dot row you piped.

Pipe a second row of dots on top of the tail of your first row, then flatten those, the same way you did the first, working all the way around the cake. Finish the cake by piping a row of small dots around the top edge of the cake.

Your finished cake will be a showstopper, and sure to woo anyone who sees or tastes it.

One bite of that velvety cake and that silky satin frosting, and you’ll be in heaven. I promise.

You see, Adams Extract Company knew what they were doing when they created this cake. It was so popular, so beautiful, and offered on free recipe cards at the grocery store that everyone in that era was making red velvet cake when they could afford to. And with a tagline like “The cake of a wife time,” it was, well, rather popular back in the day.

I’m not sure that Adams Extract Company realized that, in 2014, this cake would still be all the rage. Luckily, it was a cake that saved them through the Great Depression. In fact, it’s still around today, over 125 years after it got it’s start.

Now that you know how to make Red Velvet Cake and Ermine Icing, well, the sky is the limit. Adding blue food coloring will get you a beautiful Blue Suede Cake, which you could make in honor of the King’s hip wiggle, or you could go all Cupcake Wars and make your very own Red Velvet Cupcake. Cake Balls also work.

Waldorf-Astoria Red Velvet Cake
1/2 C Butter or Shortening
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 ounces red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 C sifted flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp vinegar

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat well. Add coloring and vanilla. Sift flour, salt, and cocoa together. Add this and buttermilk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in vinegar and baking soda last. Divide batter among three greased and floured 8 inch cake pans. Bake 30 minutes at 350 or until cake tests done. Fill and top with Ermine Frosting.

Ermine Frosting
1 C Milk
1/4 C flour
1 C shortening
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Stir milk and flour together in medium saucepan. Cook over low heat to pudding consistency. Set aside to cool. Beat shortening and sugar with electric mixer at high speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Add cooled milk mixture with vanilla. Continue beating– you cannot overbeat this!– until the frosting is silky. Spread between layers and on top of cooled cake.

Are you making something Red Velvet this Valentine’s Day? Let me know all about it in the comments below!

Asian Dipped Almond Cookies

- Mama 2 Comments

I absolutely love Chinese New Year. It’s such a fun holiday filled with tradition and excitement, and it’s just so exciting. And the year of the Horse this year? That’s really exciting. Today begins a very important celebration in the Chinese calendar… so important that it’s the longest holiday celebrated in their year. Because the Chinese calendar is based on the lunar cycle, the month starts on the darkest day of the lunar month (the first of the lunar month) and continuing until the brightest night, often the 15th day of the lunar month.

This recipe is so easy, that it is perfect for children to bake with supervision! This post will also give you a chance to brush up on some Chinese New Year and Fortune Cookie facts, so you can learn more about these cookies, and New Year tradition, while you bake together!

While fortune cookies aren’t inherently Chinese, they ARE delicious, and I had to try my hand at creating an Asian-inspired cookie that tastes very similar to a fortune cookie, complete with fortune printables for you!

The first step to these cookies is to download the printable found at the bottom of this post, and cut apart the fortunes. Trust me, you don’t want to start the cookies without doing this step, or they’ll break when you try to roll them, as they’ll have cooled too much. It’s good to do this step first.

So, with this being the year of the horse, it’s important to realize that those born in the year of the horse are considered to be cheerful, skillful with money, perceptive, talented, witty, and good with their hands.

As a dragon, I’m enthusiastic, quick-witted, and sometimes a little hot-headed. But I inspire confidence, and that’s a good thing. Plus, when life knocks me down, the Chinese Zodiac says I’m dauntless and get right back up. I think Dragon suits me well!

Gather your ingredients next. You’ll also want to add white chocolate chips and sprinkles if you plan to dip them, as pictured! They’re tasty undipped, too, but they’re so pretty dipped! To be a little clearer, you’ll want 2 egg whites, 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract (a little goes a long way!), 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, a generous pinch of salt, and the white chocolate and sprinkles.

Rembrandt, Harrison Ford, Aretha Franklin, Chopin, and President Theodore Roosevelt are all Horses according to Chinese Zodiac, so if you’re a horse, you’re in good company.

Start by beating the egg whites and almond extract until they’re foamy, but NOT stiff. They’ll look nice and frothy, as shown.

At Chinese New Year celebrations, people don red clothing, decorate the place with poems on red paper, and red envelopes are given to children, containing lucky money! Red is significant because it represents fire, and fire is a great way to drive away bad luck! For the same bad luck hates fire reason, fireworks are shot off in beautiful displays.

In a separate bowl, you can sift your flour, sugar, and salt.

While fortune cookies aren’t Chinese, they actually might not be Chinese-American, either. Invented in California, there’s a lot of debate about how they got their start. Today, though, they’re definitely equated with Chinese food in most Americans’ minds, just like Chop Suey (which is also not Chinese).

Slowly mix your flour mixture into your egg mixture to create a cookie batter.

A possible source of the fortune cookie is David Jung. He immigrated from China and opened a restaurant in LA. He saw poor walking the streets and, in 1918, was rumored to hand out the cookies free to give them something to eat, each containing inspirational Bible scripture, written for the restaurant owner by a minister.

Drop tablespoonfuls of the cookie batter far apart on a greased cookie sheet. Your oven should be preheated to 400.

Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese gardener living in San Francisco, is another possible source of the fortune cookie. He designed the famous tea garden in Golden Gate Park; he was fired from his gardening job when an anti-Japanese mayor took office, but later, a different mayor reinstated him! As a thank you, he decided to bake cookies with thank you notes inside, passing them out in the Japanese Tea Garden in 1914. They became so popular that they were a regular staple of the tea garden, and were even shown off at the Panama-Pacific Exhibition, a World Fair in San Francisco in 1915.

Both San Francisco and Los Angeles claim the cookie, and even historical review courts can’t agree.

Spray a spoon with cooking spray and use it to spread the cookies into a wafer-thin layer. It’ll make them have a nice crispy crunch when cooked!

Originally made by hand using chopsticks, today’s fortune cookies are made by machine. For good reason, too– the largest manufacturer of fortune cookies ship out over 60 million cookies every month. That’s nearly 2 million each day!

This is when you have to work quickly, and because the cookies are SO hot, it’s a job best for adults. As soon as you pull the pan from the oven, place a fortune on it and roll the cookie up. It will be VERY hot, I’ll say again.

If you let the cookies wait more than about 45 seconds, they’ll start to crack when rolled– that’s why you need to cook only 3-4 to a pan.

If you place the folded cookies next to each other, they’ll keep each other from unwrapping themselves until they cool off a bit.

From here, you’ll want to melt white chocolate and dip the ends in the chocolate to create the dipped look shown in the first image. I also chose to sprinkle some adorable sprinkles on while the chocolate was wet.

If you’re concerned about the cookies being too hot for you to comfortably roll, are cooking with very young kids, or just don’t want to risk breaking any, you can always leave them flat. I packaged mine up a few to a bag, with a fortune in the bag! Same flavor, same fortune, less rolling.

You’ll get a dozen cookies out of the recipe! And you can fight it out amongst yourselves whether the cookies are from LA or San Francisco, but either way, no one will be arguing that the flavor is amazing!

You can download my fortune printable here!

 

Counting calories this Chinese New Year? These cookies clock in at only 97 calories per dipped cookie!

 

Do you know your Chinese Zodiac sign? Let me know in the comments below!

Valentine’s Biscuits with Chocolate Gravy

- Mama 4 Comments

Valentine’s Day is approaching fast, and I’m really excited, actually! I wanted to make sure that Valentine’s Day would have a breakfast as special as the holiday. While visions of pink pancakes with strawberries danced in my head, I knew that a marriage of two family recipes would be perfect for V-Day… which is why I had to try biscuits with chocolate gravy!

The biscuit recipe is an old family recipe that I found in a church cookbook from about 40 years ago. I’m a huge fan of old church cookbooks– they seem to have the best recipes in it, some great down-home cooking. What I loved was finding this gem of a recipe– not only was it in a church cookbook I’ve almost worn out, but it was a recipe from my own family!

As for the chocolate gravy, I had honestly never heard of such a thing until my grandfather moved to Arkansas. In visiting, many of his friends would mention chocolate gravy. I was a bit alarmed– chocolate gravy?! That sounds… odd. However, after he grabbed the recipe for me, I was able to find out why it was such a beloved recipe.

As a bonus, one part of the recipe is kid-friendly, which means it’s even better for Valentine’s Day– the kids can pitch in and make breakfast in bed!

You’ll want to gather the ingredients shown above, plus your favorite red food coloring. I personally love Americolor’s “Red Red.” It’s the most vivid with the least amount of effort. Of course, if red isn’t your thing, you can try any color– your loved one’s favorite color, or a muted Valentine’s tone, like purple. You can also switch the red out for team colors on gameday– think Chicken and Biscuits in team colors.

Start by sifting together 2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Next, add 1/3 cup of shortening (you can also substitute butter for a buttery flavor). This should be COLD. Like, nearly ice cold. You want it to kind of chip when you cut it. The colder it is when you add it at this step, and the less the dough is handled, the flakier your biscuits will be. See, when your fat (which is either shortening or butter, or lard) is cold, and it hits the hot oven, it will melt, leaving pockets of air where it melted. If you use warmer butter or shortening, it will melt, but it won’t be in chunks to leave those layered pockets, leaving a denser, less flaky biscuit.

Add in two cups of milk. Again, the milk should be very cold– the colder it is, the colder the butter or shortening stays as you combine the ingredients and roll it out, which will leave that flaky texture I mentioned earlier.

It’s now that the fun starts…

Add in a couple of drops of food coloring, then fold and pull to get a swirled effect, not combining too much– if you knead too much, you’ll warm up the butter. You want a very lightly swirled effect.

Gently flour your surface and rolling pin, then roll out your biscuit dough to 3/8 inch (you can eyeball it! Just try to get it under a half inch). When you get your dough rolled thin, you’re going to fold it in half, then fold it in half again the opposite way (so fold it towards you, then side to side, or vice versa). Roll it out slightly more– to just over half an inch. This folding and re-folding will also add layers to your biscuits, allowing that flaky texture (in addition to the cold shortening).

Cut the biscuit using a round cutter (or a heart cutter, if you want to be extra festive. Or a glass if you don’t have a round cutter. Or a knife).

You’ll want to place your biscuits fairly close together on the greased pan. If they’re close together, they’ll rise up instead of spreading out. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-9 minutes, until they’re golden.

The biscuits are very easy for kids to help with! They can sift, mix, knead, and cut the biscuits out.

While the biscuits bake, you can start on your chocolate gravy!

Start by melting a full stick of butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Add in 4 tablespoons of flour and 4 tablespoons of cocoa; you’ll also need 3/4 cup sugar at this stage. Keep stirring!

Stir in 2 cups of milk.

You’ll want to keep stirring over medium heat until it’s thick. When I first made chocolate gravy, I thought “Is this thick enough? How will I know when it’s thick?” When you first start to notice it’s getting a touch thicker, keep stirring a little longer and you’ll see what I mean when I say “You’ll know it when you see it.” When it’s about gravy consistency, you’re there. Think about the consistency you want when you pour a ladle of delicious gravy over your biscuits, and when you get there, stop stirring, remove from heat, and serve.

Now, take your honey some breakfast in bed and enjoy!

 

Valentine's Biscuits with Chocolate Gravy
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For the Biscuits
  1. 2 C Flour
  2. 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  3. 1/4 tsp Salt
  4. 1/3 C cold shortening
  5. 2 C cold milk
  6. Food coloring, if desired
For the Chocolate Gravy
  1. 1 stick butter
  2. 4 Tbsp flour
  3. 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
  4. 3/4 C sugar
  5. 2 C milk
For the Biscuits
  1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Add cold shortening until just combined.
  3. Add milk to form dough, being careful not to over-handle.
  4. Gently add in food coloring.
  5. Roll dough out to 3/8 inch, fold over twice, and roll to 1/2 inch.
  6. Place close together on a greased baking sheet.
  7. Bake 8-9 minutes at 450 degrees.
For the Chocolate Gravy
  1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Stir constantly while adding sugar, cocoa, and flour until combined.
  3. Stir in 2 cups milk, continuing stirring until thickened.
Mama Plus One https://www.mamaplusone.com/

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For those of you counting calories this Valentine’s Day, one biscuit and a ladle of gravy nets you about 322 calories. The biscuit alone is 145 calories and is delicious when topped with anything your heart desires. However, all calorie counts and nutrition information is based off the of the ingredients I used. Your mileage may vary.
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Do you have a special V-Day food that you love to enjoy with your family? Ever heard of chocolate gravy? Sound off in the comments below!

Hearty Cheeseburger Soup

- Mama 11 Comments

It’s cold outside. Like, frigid. I should be used to Midwest Januaries by now. After all, every January of my life has been spent here. That doesn’t make the 5 degree temperatures any less surprising. It seems like a lot of places are even colder. I mean, Canada was colder than Mars just recently, and a major winter storm has been dumping snow everywhere.

That’s why it’s perfect to have a really hearty cold-weather recipe in your stash. This cheeseburger soup fits the bill.

You’ll want to start by browning about a pound of hamburger, then draining it and setting it aside. With soups, I’ve found that they’re great for eyeballing ingredients– if you have approximately what you’re looking for, then you’re able to produce a delicious soup without as much effort. Soups are just so forgiving. It’s also nice when you want to add or subtract ingredients, just in case you’re snowed in.

While cooking your ground beef, start dicing an onion. You’ll want it in small dices, nice and fine.

In a nice soup pot, you’ll want to melt 2 tablespoons or so of butter. Add in your diced onions and about 1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots. Cook, stirring every once in awhile, for 10 minutes, or until the carrots and onions are tender.

While you cook the carrots and onions, peel and chop up 8 cups of potatoes into bite-size pieces. That’s about 6 medium potatoes, if you’re counting.

Add a carton of chicken broth to the onion/carrot mixture, then fill the carton halfway with water, and add that, as well. Toss in your potatoes and your ground beef. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover.

Melt the rest of your stick of butter (6 tablespoons, if you’re not using a stick or using margarine instead) in your now-empty ground beef skillet, keeping the heat medium. Add in 1/2 cup flour slowly, whisking the entire time, for 3-5 minutes. Stir this into the soup, bringing it back to a simmer.

Reduce the heat to low, and add in some salt and pepper, 2 cans of evaporated milk, and 16 ounces (half of the large block) of Velveeta (dicing it first helps it melt faster!)

Stir while cooking until the Velveeta is melted, then serve. Rolls are a great addition to this, as well as toasted bread rounds, as pictured. The toasted bread rounds add a nice crunch to the soup.

This soup is a total crowd-pleaser, and it really is not hard to make. It is a perfect soup for staying in with the family before curling up cozy under blankets.

Hearty Cheeseburger Soup
This hearty cheeseburger soup is perfect for a cold day-- all the flavor without standing outside by the grill in the cold!
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Ingredients
  1. 1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
  2. 1 onion, diced finely
  3. 2 Tbsp butter + 6 Tbsp butter
  4. 1 1/2 Cups carrots
  5. 1 tsp basil
  6. 1 tsp thyme
  7. 8 cups (approximately 6 medium) potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
  8. 1 Carton chicken broth
  9. 1/2 Cup flour
  10. 2 cans evaporated milk
  11. 16 oz (half block) Velveeta, diced
Instructions
  1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a large soup pot. Add in diced onions, the herbs, and shredded carrots, stirring until tender.
  2. Dice potatoes while onions and carrots cook.
  3. Add one carton chicken broth to soup pot, then fill carton halfway with water and add that in, also. Put potatoes and ground beef into the soup pot.
  4. Bring soup to boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover.
  5. Melt 6 Tablespoons butter in a skillet on medium heat, and add flour slowly, whisking for 3-5 minutes.
  6. Stir flour mixture into soup, then bring the soup back to a simmer.
  7. Reduce the heat to low, then add in salt and pepper, evaporated milk, and Velveeta.
  8. Stir until Velveeta is melted, then serve hot.
Notes
  1. Tip: Rolls or toasted bread rounds make a delicious addition to this soup. Or, top with croutons!
Mama Plus One https://www.mamaplusone.com/

Hearty soups are some of my favorites– check out this Chicken and Gnocchi soup or Tuscan Sausage and Bean Soup for more inspiration, or enjoy this Crock Pot S’mores Lava Cake as the perfect dessert compliment for this soup!

In the mood for more soup? Follow my Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches board! Stay warm!

Follow MamaPlusOne’s board Food: Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches on Pinterest.

Grandma Sybil’s Banana Bread

- Mama 2 Comments

Some recipes are worth a sore wrist from stirring. Some are worth doing the old-fashioned way. And I’ve found that, even though there are a million and one ways that you can be creative with food, it’s good to have some staples in your recipe collection that are tried-and-true. This banana bread meets all of those requirements.

I first encountered this recipe in the recipe boxes I inherited from my grandfather. A nondescript recipe handwritten on a stained and tattered card, it held a lot of promise, and I kept saying “I’ll make this sometime when I have bananas that need to be used before they turn.” However, when I finally got around to making the bread, I realized it was a recipe worth leaving on top of the stack. It’s a favorite in my home, and I’m certain it’ll be a favorite in yours.

Because this recipe has to cool overnight for easiest slicing, it’s a great bread to make, cool while you sleep, and slice for breakfast the next morning. And, it’s easy enough that you can make it any night of the week.

The recipe starts with sifting together 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt into one bowl.

In a small liquid measuring cup, you’ll want to put a tablespoon of vinegar, then fill it to 1/2 cup with milk. Set this aside for a few minutes. If you’d rather use buttermilk in place of the vinegar-milk mixture, you can– they’re essentially the same thing.

In a second bowl, cream 1/2 cup shortening, then slowly add 1 cup of sugar. To this, you’ll add two eggs, one at a time, beating until light and fluffy after each.

Before you even start the recipe, it helps to bring eggs to room temperature. See, chilled eggs didn’t used to be an issue. Farm fresh eggs are shelf-stable, and don’t need to be refrigerated. Many farm-fresh eggs are stored at room temperature from the time you get them. In the UK, even store-bought eggs are kept unrefrigerated, completely shelf-stable. The difference between the UK and the US is that in the UK, ALL hens are required to be vaccinated for salmonella. However, in the United States, vaccinating hens is a choice– not a requirement. That’s why store-bought eggs in the US are suggested to be refrigerated. Additionally, in the United States, we’re serious about egg washing– which means in addition to washing off the dirt and grime from the freshly laid eggs, we’re also removing that barrier that helps prevent yucky stuff from getting into the eggs. Unfortunately, sometimes in cleaning, we add more dirt. It happens. Bringing them up to room temperature before baking, however, is totally safe.

So, you have a light and fluffy shortening-egg-sugar mixture. You also have a flour mixture, and a milk mixture. Finally, you’re going to make one last addition in a separate measuring cup– 1 cup of mashed bananas. It took 3 very ripe bananas to make a cup.

In small amounts, and alternating between them, add the flour mixture, the milk mixture, and the banana mixture, whisking/stirring after each addition as it continues to thicken from the flour. While I’m positive you could use a Kitchen-Aid or hand mixer, if Grandma Sybil was mixing by hand, so was I. I wanted to try this recipe as authentically as possible– making it just as she did.

Turn the batter into a greased bread tin, and bake for 60-70 minutes. Mine was done after 65 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove the bread from the pan, cooling overnight, or at least for several hours, before slicing.

You can, of course, add chopped walnuts to your bread. I chose not to, since my family has enough nuts in it that adding more seemed counter-intuitive.

This bread is really good microwaved for another 10-20 seconds and spread with a little bit of fresh butter.

Once you try it, you’ll realize that it’s a staple recipe, worthy of a hand-written index card in your collection. Hopefully, over time, your copy will become as well-worn and loved as mine, covered in splatters and stains.

The recipe, as Sybil wrote it:

Banana Bread

2 cups sifted all purpose flour, 1 tsp soda, 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening, 1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 tbl (tablespoon) vinegar plus milk to make 1/2 cup
Broken pecans or walnuts (optional)

Method:

Sift together flour, soda, and salt. Cream shortening, blend in sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with bananas and liquid, beating after each addition. Turn into greased bread tin and bake 60 minutes to 70 minutes or until done at 350. Remove from pan and cool several hours or overnight before slicing. Nuts can be added last.

 

Do you have a favorite old family recipe? Don’t forget, if you love this recipe, or hope to try it, you can pin it on Pinterest, or share it on Facebook to save it to your profile!

Brown Eyed Susans

- Mama 2 Comments

http://i.imgur.com/IZC40.jpg

I had never heard of a Brown Eyed Susan before. Ever. Which is interesting because almost anyone I told about these cookies after making them said “Oh! Those are good.” Seriously, how had everyone heard of this cookie except for me?

I had found the cookie recipe torn out of a cookbook that looked like a flashback to the 1970s, on a page touting these as delicious after school snacks, along with some chocolate sandwich cookies. I thought they looked interesting, and they certainly sounded interesting. So, I decided to give them a try, since they sounded easy enough. Plus, they involved thumbprints and I’m a sucker for any kind of thumbprint cookies ever since my childhood when I got to make thumbprint cookies with my mom. Pressing my thumb into the dough is a sensation that absolutely evokes memories for me.

Start by mixing sugar, butter or margarine, an egg, and some vanilla in a bowl.

http://i.imgur.com/gXqBr.jpg

Cream that together until it’s well-combined.

http://i.imgur.com/GtMMk.jpg

Add in some flour to make the dough. If it’s too soft to roll into balls, go ahead and pop it in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes, just to get it a little stiffer.

http://i.imgur.com/wrE11.jpg

Roll those into one inch balls. Or at least, close to one inch. I rarely measure mine and end up guessing, which means I get fewer cookies because I overestimate the size.

Place those on a cookie sheet and prepare to bake them– they don’t bake long, about 8-10 minutes.

http://i.imgur.com/n1AVz.jpg

Then it’s time for the fun part– the thumbprints! Press your thumb gently into the top of each cookie. I found that it helped to flour my thumb lightly so the cookie didn’t stick to my thumb.

http://i.imgur.com/Gdd7w.jpg

When they’re all done, it’ll look something like this.

http://i.imgur.com/4qOe8.jpg

While those bake, it’s time to prepare the chocolate frosting. It’s a simple mixture of powdered sugar, melted butter, cocoa powder, and milk.

http://i.imgur.com/9zr1k.jpg

Mix that together until it has a smooth consistency. This frosting is very good, has a rich chocolate taste, and would also taste very good piped into a cupcake for a delicious chocolate filling (you may need to add a little additional milk to thin it out slightly).

http://i.imgur.com/03hiP.jpg

When the cookies are baked and cooled, top them with a teaspoonful of the chocolate frosting. Then, press an almond into the top of each one!

http://i.imgur.com/tsCDk.jpg

Ta-da! Delicious!

http://i.imgur.com/HSyml.jpg

Let me know in the comments below: Have you ever heard of Brown-Eyed Susans? Am I the only one left out of the loop?

Brown-eyed Susans
 
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 2/3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chocolate filling
Almonds (garnish)
Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla in small bowl until fluffy. Add flour and salt, blending well. Shape small portion of dough into 1 inch balls (chill if it’s too soft). Place on ungreased cookie sheet, then make indentation in center with thumb. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until firm and lightly browned. Fill with teaspoonful of Chocolate Filling. Swirl with spatula; top with almond. Remove from cookie sheet onto rack to cool (the recipe says that you get about 3 dozen cookies… I managed to get about 1 dozen)
Chocolate Filling
Combine 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, 3 tablespoons Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 1/2 tablespoons milk; blend until smooth and creamy.

Three Ingredient Soda (or Beer) Bread

- Mama 2 Comments

For years, I’ve been buying beer bread mix from companies like Tastefully Simple or Wildtree. I’m not going to lie, they’re expensive. But I’ve always been under the impression that they were so much easier than if I were to make it myself. I mean, you can’t exactly get much easier than opening a package and pouring a can of soda in, can you?

Except you can.

http://i.imgur.com/jsA0c.jpg

This bread literally has only three ingredients. Measure, pour your soda in, and bake.

Put some self-rising flour in a bowl and add a little sugar. Then grab your can of choice… because my family does not drink or purchase alcohol at all, we use soda, but you can make this a traditional beer bread if you prefer.

http://i.imgur.com/T8fIs.jpg

This time around, I used a can of Pepsi.

Pour it into the bowl with the self-rising flour mixture.

http://i.imgur.com/qhOV3.jpg

Barely mix it, just until it’s combined, and you get a thick dough.

http://i.imgur.com/HTNvI.jpg

Then, pour it into a greased loaf pan.

http://i.imgur.com/jv1f4.jpg

Bake it, and just about 15 minutes before it’s done, take it out of the oven and spread some margarine on top.

http://i.imgur.com/o4cpL.jpg

Pop that back in the oven for 15 more minutes, and it’ll develop a nice golden brown crust.

http://i.imgur.com/LuNfZ.jpg

This is awesome served warm… and it really goes well with the lasagna soup I posted recently!

This recipe is so easy, and it came to me in a handwritten note in the recipe box. I love that it was such an easy bread and it didn’t require any weird ingredients… three things. That’s it. It’s much cheaper than buying a box mix all the time, and it tastes just as good, if not better. While you’re at it, make up a few loaves to take to friends and neighbors. I know they’ll love it!

Soda/Beer Bread
 
3 cups self rising flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
1 can beer- room temperature (I substituted Pepsi)
Mix together in bowl, put into greased bread pan. Bake 350 for 55 minutes. Take out and put Oleo (margarine) on top and bake 15 minutes more.