My favorite book collection

I love to read. I don’t think I always have time to read. But that really depends on what is meant by “reading”. Does it mean a good novel? A quick romance story? Or does it mean the daily newspaper? Or daily devotions? Maybe you read a great children’s book every night! I guess I do have time to read! It is probably no surprise to some of you that I love to read cookbooks. This is another wonderful trait passed on to me by my mom. We always joked that she read cookbooks as if they were novels…beginning to end. So here is a peek into my favorite book collection. I have cookbooks in 3 rooms, on 4 shelves and 2 tables…just on the main floor. My flea market collection of cookbooks lives in the basement…(that’s another story).
 

I like to buy cookbooks as souvenirs…Here are my latest.

I’m still reading through these two. Keep your eyes open for a spicy recipe coming soon!

Isn’t it weird when this happens?

 

Last week we were having a conversation about Red Hots which lead to the conversation about the wonderful dish that is Red Hot Jello.  So I had to laugh when I saw this over at craftzine.com as one of today’s posts.   I love it when that happens but I don’t love how long it takes me to put it all together :)

Check out some of the other cute things over there too!

Sushi Anyone?

Thanks to the Food Network Magazine, I had a little fun with friends and family over Easter weekend. We love going out to eat sushi, but I have never tried to make it at home. This recipe was the perfect solution for all of our non-sushi eating friends and it was really fun and easy to make. My daughter Briee was so impressed she took all the ingredients back to school to “make” sushi for her college friends.

These are a few of Dad’s favorite things.

 

1. Coffee

2. Donuts

I think this is how Dad’s favorites list would read.  If you ask Grace, Josie, Ollie or Jonathan what they like best about Grandpa Farm, inevitably the word donut or sparkle donut will come up.  Dad has a knack for picking out the best donut, sneaking it past a very observant mom, and enjoying a sugary treat with his grandkids.  It is a family tradition. 

Well, I came across this recipe one day and I finally got a chance to make it last week.   A perfect pick me up, any time of the day!

  Coffee and Donut Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1/8 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

(coffee frosting recipe, below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Combine the coffee and milk, set aside.

Alternate the flour and the coffee mixture into the butter mixture, beating until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.

The cakes become more coffee-vescent the longer they sit. These make a really nice cake as is. The coffee frosting is just a nice touch.

Coffee Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-1/2 Tablespoons coffee
1 Tablespoon milk (as needed)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream butter, carefully adding the sugar, coffee, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. Add a little of the milk at a time to get the right consistency. Turn the mixer up to high and beat well.

Quite obviously, if you have a donut maker OR a tiny sous chef to help sprinkle the donuts: top these with a donut to make coffee+donut cupcakes. Or just buy mini donuts from the store, they make a really cute presentation.

Cheesy Potatoes

Easter dinner on my side of the family is ALWAYS ham and cheesy potatoes. The ham is pretty simple and nothing too fancy. The cheesy potatoes, on the other hand, have evolved over the years. This dish started out as Golden Potato Casserole, a recipe from the 1966 cookbook put out by the American Dairy Association, and fondly referred to as “the dairy wives cookbook”. My mom made this casserole as a side dish to ham and fried chicken. As kids, we called this dish “cheesy potatoes”. As my sisters and I left home (each with our own copy of the “dairy wives cookbook”) we continued to make Cheesy Potatoes whenever ham was on the menu.

Sometime during the 1980’s, my aunt gave my mom a recipe for a quick easy version called “Hash brown Cheese Potatoes”. My recipe research took me to the internet where I  found quite a few recipes for Hash Brown Cheese Potatoes…most of them included cornflakes. My recipe card from mom does NOT include cornflakes. Then I remembered my mom telling me that my aunt always put cornflakes on hers but she never did. This “new” recipe for cheesy potatoes is now being made by the 3rd generation in my family. My niece made two pans yesterday for Easter dinner. That will cover about 15-18 people, no leftovers.

Although the new easy version is very good, this little jog down memory lane found me at the stove this morning boiling potatoes for the original Golden Potato Casserole. I put it in two pans and took one over to Kellee.  Her and Brian both agreed, the original is better! I am giving you both recipes. If you have the time…make the Golden Potato Casserole, if you are feeding a crowd, use the Hash Brown Cheese Potatoes. Either way…I hope you agree, Cheesy Potatoes are delicious!

Golden Potato Casserole
6 medium potatoes
2 cups (8oz.) shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup butter
2 cups sour cream at room temperature
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons butter
Cook potatoes in skins, cool, then peel and coarsely shred. In a saucepan over low heat combine Cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup butter, stirring occasionally, until almost melted. Remove from heat; blend in sour cream, onion, salt and pepper. Add potatoes, stirring lightly and turn into a buttered 2 quart casserole dish. Dot with 2 tablespoons butter; bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until heated through.

Hash Brown Cheese Potatoes
2 lb. frozen hash browns (country style or shredded)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 cups sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
Slightly thaw hash browns. Mix together all ingredients. Mix in hash browns. Put in greased 9x13 pan, bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Think Spring! (One of my many collections)

 

As of Good Friday, we have been in our house for 3 years!  It is hard to believe it has been that long already and just last week I unpacked the very last box we still had in the basement.

It was the box with all my jadeite green things!  I have a great turkey, a chicken, a squirrel perched on an acorn and two little bunnies that are all covered dishes.  I also have other assorted pieces  like coffee cups, vases, a cake stand and wonderful flowered candy dish that was Gram’s.

Here they all are, put to good use and out of the box!

Chocolate Bonbon Pops

I made these last week for Bible Study. I missed the part at the beginning where the recipe says “your kids will love this Christmas treat…” I made them for the ladies, the week before Easter…and yes, they did love them. I did use orange liqueur (because I was making them for the ladies), they tasted great!