Stayin' Alive

  Mr. Baker, of the Ole Baker Farm in Harpersville, Alabama was probably 100 years old when he told me the story of a local family that had moved down from Birmingham, Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930's. They had become his neighbors. This particular family was inexperienced at gardening and had failed in their first attempt to feed themselves. Mr. Baker and his family, being the good neighbors that they are, helped this family survive the winter by supplying them with sweet potatoes and molasses.

  This recipe survived. 

Sweet Potato Dumplings

2 or 3 Sweet Potatos (Raw Grated)

Basic Biscuit Dough

2 C. Water

1 1/2 C. Sugar

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 Stick Butter

1) Roll out Basic Biscuit Dough into a long rectangle about 1/4" thick.

2) Spread sweet potato on top.

3) Roll up jelly roll style and slice into 1/2" circles and place circles in a greased baking dish cut sides down.

4) Heat water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg & butter in a sauce pan.

5) Pour over circles & bake at 425 Degrees F for 30 Minutes.

(Basic Biscuit Dough)
2 c. Plain Flour
1 tsp. Salt
3 tsp. Baking Powder
6 tbs. Butter
1 c. Buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Cut butter into mixture until it begins to look like cornmeal. Make a well with flour mixture and slowly add milk into the middle. Knead dough with your fingers and add milk when necessary. 

Chocolate Pie

  I don't know where I got this recipe but it sure is good.

Chocolate Pie

3 T Cocoa
1 c Sugar
3 Eggs, well beaten
3 T Flour
Almost 1 stick butter
1 t Vanilla
2 c Milk

1) Mix all ingredients, then add milk & well beaten eggs.

2) Pour into cooked pie shell and bake 325 degrees F 30-45 minutes or until knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

(Ingredients can be combined in a blender and mixed for about 30-45 seconds adding liquid ingredients first.)

Note: Choose natural or organic ingredients for maximum nutrition.

Cream Cheese And Crackers

  This is an appetizer that can be brought out and served on any occasion. Donald Robinson Robertson, My Cousin, especially likes snacking on this when we are waiting for My Mama's famous Cornbread Dressing to be taken out of the oven at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. He always complains that I don't put enough of "the stuff" on it- but then he's always complaining about something.

Cream Cheese And Crackers

1 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened
2 T hot pepper jelly
1 stack Ritz crackers

Honey Pumpkin Pie

  Honey is a naturally healthy unprocessed sweetener and gives baked goods a delicately sweet flavor and good keeping qualities, not to mention helping the Honey Bee.

Honey Pumpkin Pie

1 unbaked pastry shell
1 can (15 oz) Solid Pack Pumpkin
1/2 c Honey
1 t Ground Cinnamon
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Ground Ginger
1/4 t Ground Nutmeg
1/8 t Ground Cloves
3 Eggs
1 Can (5 oz.) Evaporated Milk
1/2 c Milk

1) Combine pumpkin, honey, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

2) Add egg, evaporated milk and milk.

3) Pour mixture into prepared crust and place on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees F on rack just below center for 1 hour 25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Honey Hint: Add a little vegetable oil to the measuring cup before adding the honey and the honey will pour out easily.

Note: Use naturally or organically grown ingredients for maximum nutrition.

Apple Dumplings

  This is a great time of year to get out and support your local apple orchards. Chances are they are having fun Fall activities- not to mention some great apples.

Apple Dumplings

4 c thinly sliced apples, peeled and cored
1/3 c sugar
2/3 c water
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 c all purpose flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbs butter (or 3 Tbs oil)
1/2 c milk

1)  Combine the 1/3 cup sugar, water and cinnamon and apples in a 2 quart sauce pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium and cover.  Cook apples 12-15 minutes until tender.

2)  Combine flour, 2 Tbs sugar, baking power and salt. Cut or rub in butter (or mix oil in with a fork). Add milk and stir just until a stiff batter forms.

3)  Drop batter by spoonfuls into boiling apple mixture and cover.

4)  Cook 12 minutes without raising lid.

Serve warm.

Note: Use organic or naturally grown ingredients for maximum nutrition.

Gravy

  Molly Brown's Pa gave good advice when he said:

  "Learn to serve God and a hot breakfast, and in your search for that roof that don't leak rain, beware of men that offer you a roof and forget to mention marriage."

Well said.

Here's how to make the gravy for that hot breakfast. As for the other part-

you're on your own.

Gravy

1 T Oil
2 T Flour
1/2 c Water

1) Heat oil in a small cast iron skillet on medium high heat.

2) Sprinkle in flour and stir for about 1 minute.

3) Gradually add water while continually stirring.

4) Stir until thickened and boiling.

5) Stir in 1/8 t salt and 1/8 t pepper remove from heat and serve.

Note: Choose ingredients that are naturally or organically grown for maximum nutrition.

Cornbread

  Cornbread is a great staple item that is perfect for any meal, especially one with fresh vegetables.
And to quote a popular slogan, "Make Cornbread, Not War".

Cornbread

1 c cornmeal
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2/3 c buttermilk
2 T Oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Put a small amount of oil into an 8-inch cast-iron skillet and place the skillet in the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Add buttermilk, oil, and egg, stirring just until moistened.  Pour batter into hot skillet. Bake at 425 degrees F for 18 minutes or until browned. Yield 4 servings.

Note: Choose organic or naturally grown ingredients for maximum nutrition.

Shrimp Salad

  This is a great meal for summertime. I like to serve it with fresh sliced cucumbers and tomatoes on the side for a complete meal.

Shrimp Salad

8 ounces pasta shells of choice (boiled & drained)
1 pound boiled shrimp peeled and deveined
1/4 cup celery finely chopped
2 T mayonnaise
2 T sweet pickle relish
1 1/2 t Cayenne Pepper
2 T green onions finely chopped
1/2 t black pepper

1) Boil pasta until tender, drain.
2) Boil shrimp for 5 minutes, drain.
3) In a large bowl mix all ingredients and add salt to preferred taste.
4) Chill for about 1 hour before serving.

Note: Choose organic or naturally grown ingredients for maximum nutrition. Enjoy.

Wine

  I don't drink wine but I like to make it.

  I like what C.S. Lewis had to say about it.

    "One great piece of mischief has been done by the modern restriction of the word Temperance to the question of drink. It helps people to forget that you can be just as intemperate about lots of other things. A man who makes his golf or his motor bicycle the centre of his life, or a woman who devotes all her thoughts to clothes or bridge or her dog, is being just as 'intemperate' as someone who gets drunk every evening. Of course, it does not show on the outside so easily: bridge-mania or golf-mania do not make you fall down in the middle of the road. But God is not deceived by externals."

Basic Wine

1 1/2 lb berries
10 c water
3 c sugar
1/4 t wine yeast

2 c sugar (added later)

1) Wash berries and and place in an enamel or stainless steel pot.

2) Add water and sugar and stir. Simmer 30 minutes on stove top.

3) Remove from heat and cool to 95 degrees F and add softened wine yeast. (Sprinkle wine yeast into a 1/2 c warm water and let stand for 15 minutes to soften).

4) Stir.

5) Cover pot loosely and wait 6 days.

6) Strain and add the 2 c. sugar and stir.

7) Pour into a clean 1 gallon jug and cap with a water lock. (This allows the wine to ferment naturally and let gases escape when water is placed into the lock.)

8) Wine is ready when the water lock stops "bobbing" up and down.

Salmon Patties

My Mama has been making these for as long as I can remember. They are a great staple item.

1 tall can salmon with liquid
1/4 c flour
1 egg, beaten
2 T chopped onion
1/4 oil

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Drop by spoonfuls into heated oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and flatten out a little (reduce heat if necessary). Fry until golden on both sides.

Serve with gravy, tartar sauce or ketchup. (Our family likes ketchup.)

Yum.

Note: Choose ingredients that are grown naturally or organically produced for maximum nutrition.

Cream Cheese Pie

  Since I was a kid, my Mama has always made this pie for special occasions.  My Beloved Uncle would make one also for our family visit. He seemed so proud of himself for it. It's a great pie.

1 prepared graham cracker pie crust
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 c lemon juice (about 2 medium sized if using fresh)

Combine sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl.  With an electric mixer, mix on medium-high speed. Pour into graham cracker pie shell.  Cover and refrigerate 12 hours or overnight. Slice and serve. (This is delicious when served with Blueberry Pie Filling.) Keep remaining pie and filling refrigerated.

Cobbler

  This recipe comes from My Bestest Friend and Blackberry Picker's Aunt Mc.  It's a seedless cobbler that can be made from any kind of fruit juice.  (Blackberry is pictured here.)

Aunt Mc's Seedless Blackberry Cobbler

1 qt. unsweetened juice (any)

Mix 1 c. sugar, 1/4  cornstarch and 1 c. juice in bowl.
Boil rest of juice (3 c.).
Stir in the sugar/juice/starch mixture.
Stirring constantly, cook until filling coats spoon.
Pour into a 9x13 dish.
Roll out biscuit dough & lay on top.
Put 1/2 stick butter on top of crust in patties.
Bake at 450 degrees F 8 minutes until crust is brown.

The biscuit recipe My Bestest Friend and Blackberry Picker taught us how to make is on an earlier blog.

Note: Choose naturally grown or organic ingredients for maximum nutrition.

Cheese

  Until I became acquainted with a diary goat, my only experience with cheese was that of the plastic variety that could be folded into 4 equal parts and placed between saltines for perfect little cracker sandwiches.
My horizons expanded with this simple recipe for a delicious cheese made at home.

Cheese

5 qt whole milk
1/2 c. cultured buttermilk
2 T diluted vegetable rennet (dilution is 3 drops liquid rennet into 1/3 c cool water)

1) Pasteurize milk by using the double boiler method. Place a stainless steel kettle of milk (with a candy thermometer clipped to the inside of the pan) into a larger pan. Fill the larger pan with a few inches of water. Heat the pan of water on high until the milk reaches 161 degrees F. Stir the milk to make sure it is 161 degrees F throughout. Remove the pan of milk and place in a sink of cold water with ice packs.

2) Cool milk to 80 degrees F.

3) Stir in buttermilk, mix well and add 2 T diluted rennet mixture.

4) Stir well and cover.

5) Let set at room temperature for 8-12 hours.(I like to start this process early in the morning or late evening  so that the cheese can drain overnight or vice versa.) The cheese is ready to drain when it looks like thickened yogurt. It will sometimes have a thin layer of whey floating on the top.

6) Line a colander with muslin type cloth over an empty kettle. (Old pillow cases cut open at the seams work well. They can be washed, sanitized and used over and over again.)

7) Pour cheese curds into cloth lined colander.

8) Draw up the sides of the cloth and tie the opposite corners together and tie and extra loop or cord.

9) Hang to drain for 6-8 hours. (I have a cup hook secured under a cabinet for this). When the bag of curds has stopped dripping the cheese should be the consistency of creme cheese. (The remaining whey is good chicken or people food.)

10) Season with 1 tsp plain salt/lb of cheese mixed in with a spatula.

  This is a soft mild cheese that freezes well unseasoned and can be seasoned with a variety of herbs and spices or as a substitute for creme cheese.

  Keeps about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

  Recipe is from "Goats Produce Too!" by Mary Jane Toth

  To freeze, wrap well or use freezer bags. Flatten cheese out in 1 lb packages for ease of stacking.

  These are a few of my favorite ways to season soft cheese.

*Garlic & Chive*
1 lb soft cheese
1/4 t plain sea salt
1/2 t garlic powder
2 t dried chives or 1 1/2 T fresh
Mix all together and shape into balls.

*Pineapple Walnut Cheese*
1 lb soft cheese
1/4 t plain sea salt
1/2 c chopped walnuts
3/4 c crushed pineapple (drained)
Mix together and shape into balls.

*Cheese in Olive Oil*
8-12 oz soft cheese
1 t dry thyme or 2 sprigs fresh
1 t dry rosemary or 2 sprigs fresh
3-4 lg garlic cloves
1/2 t black pepper
8-12 oz olive oil
Put the herbs and spices into a sterilized seal able glass jar and add the cheese, sliced or cubed. Cover with olive oil and store in the refrigerator. Use within 1 month. (The remaining olive oil can be used as salad dressing after the cheese is used.) Yum.

Biscuits

  Lewis Grizzard, A Southern Man, once wrote that if you give a man homemade biscuits in the morning, he'll come home to you at night.

  We'll see.

Biscuits

1 c plain flour (light varieties are best)
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
3 T butter or oil
1/2 c buttermilk (or 1 1/2 t vinegar or lemon juice with sweet milk added to equal 1/2 cup)

Pre-heat oven to 470 degrees F. Let all ingredients come to room temperature.

Lighty dust a plastic cutting board with flour to protect counter top and for ease of cleaning.

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Add butter and rub into flour mix with your hand or stir in oil with a fork till mixture is crumbly.

Add milk and stir until mixture is just moistened.

Scoop mixture out onto the floured cutting board and lightly dust with a little extra flour, just enough to keep mixture from sticking to your hands when patted down to about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thickness.

After patting down, pull up a little flour from the cutting board to the sides of the mixture.

Fold mixture half way over on itself and pat down again to the 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thickness. Add a little extra flour if mixture sticks to your hand.

Fold over again and lightly pat down again to the 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness.

Dip biscuit cutter into flour and cut biscuits out one at a time flouring the biscuit cutter between each cut.  Fold mixture over and over and cut until there is only enough mixture left for a "patty cake" biscuit made with your hands. Place biscuits onto an cold oiled cast iron griddle with sides touching.

Bake at 470 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. Place a dollop of butter on each as they are removed from the oven and enjoy. Yield 6- 2 1/2 inch biscuits. Process takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. (Unbaked biscuits may be frozen on a baking sheet and removed to be stored in a freezer bag for baking later.)

~Choose organic or naturally grown ingredients for maximum nutrition.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This recipe, that belonged to my Grandmother, is such a familiar one to my family that my Neices' refer to it as "the Aunt Cheryl stuff". I think if I were to show up at my Mama's house at Thanksgiving and Christmas without this dish they would make me go back to the house and get it.

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

3 c mashed, cooked sweet potatoes
1 c sugar
1/2 c butter, softened
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
Mix together and pour into buttered casserole dish.

Topping:
1 c light brown sugar
1 c chopped pecans
1/4 c butter, softened
1/2 c flour
Mix well and spread over potatoes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a preheated oven.

Enjoy!

Potato Salad

   According to my youngest Niece this potato salad is the standard to which all other potato salads are measured.

  It's my Mama's.

3 lb potatoes (chopped into about 1/4-1/2 inch chunks)
3 eggs, boiled
3 heaping T's mayonnaise
1 t prepared mustard
1/2 small jar sweet salad pickles
1 T celery, chopped
1 T onion, chopped
salt

Pour chopped potatoes into a small amount of boiling water and cover. Don't overcook. When potatoes are just fork tender pour off water and rinse potatoes with cold water. Toss with wooden spoon and sprinkle with salt. Let cool. Mash boiled eggs with a fork and combine with mayonnaise, mustard, salad pickles, celery and onion and toss with potatoes. Refrigerate and enjoy.

 Choose ingredients that are naturally or organically grown for maximum nutrition.

Pumpkin Muffins

This is a great time of year to get out and support your local pumpkin patch and have some fun.

This recipe comes from a family friend. Choose ingredients that are produced naturally or organically for maximum nutrition.

Combine in a small bowl:
1 c pumpkin, cooked
3/4 c oil
1 c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
Mix well.

In another bowl combine:
1 1/2 c pre-sifted flour
1 t baking powder
1 dash salt
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 c raisins
1/4 nuts

Combine all ingredients, place in muffin tins.
Bake at 350 degrees 20 minutes.

Skillet Apple Pie

A friend of mine first brought a skillet apple pie to a dinner we had here at the house.  She and her husband had received a Pastorship at Mt Joy Baptist Church, where my Dad carried me and my Brother to church when we were kids.  She got the recipe from a lady there who had brought it to a function.

Easy Skillet Apple Pie

4 lb tart apples
1 t ground cinnamon
3/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 c butter
1 c firmly packed light brown sugar
1 (14.1 oz) package refrigerated pie crusts
1 egg white
2 T granulated sugar

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Peel apples, and cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges.  Toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 c granulated sugar.

2) Melt butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet over med heat: add brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly 1-2 min or until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat, and place 1 pie crust in skillet over brown sugar mixture, spoon apple mixture over pie crust, and top with remaining pie crust.  Whisk egg white until foamy.  Brush top of pie crust with egg white: sprinkle with 2 T granulated sugar.  Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.

3) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly, shielding with aluminum foil during last 10 min to prevent excessive browning, if necessary.  Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with Butter-Pecan ice cream.

Herbal Lemonade

A fellow Herb Society member acquired this recipe on a trip to Herb Day in Montgomery, Alabama.

This is quick and super easy and makes for a pretty presentation on special occasions.

Easy Herbal Lemonade

1 Pkg Lemonade Drink Mix
Handful Fresh Apple Mint

Prepare Lemonade Drink Mix according to package directions.  Rinse and gently twist to bruise Apple Mint.
Add to prepared lemonade and chill or serve over ice.  (and it's okay to drink the Apple Mint if it ends up in a cup!)

It's High Time for Pie Time

This Blackberry Pie recipe comes from my bestest friend and blackberry picker.

This recipe was her mother's.

Blackberry Pie

3-4 Cups Blackberries
2/3-3/4 Cups Sugar
3 T Plain Flour
Pinch salt
2 Pie Crusts (I use the frozen deep dish variety, using 1 crust for the topper.

Combine sugar, flour and salt in a medium bowl.  Add blackberries and toss to coat.

Put mixture into uncooked pie crust and top with additional crust.  Place into 425 degree pre-heated oven on center rack and bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on rack.  Pie filling will become firm after 7 or 8 hours or till chilled.