Cranberry Spice Cookies

This one is nice when you want something that ISN'T chocolate for a change.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 Tbsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp orange juice
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups dried cranberries


Preheat to 325 F.

Sift flour, spices and baking soda together to mix.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar.

Beat in eggs and orange juice.

Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Stir in nuts and cranberries.

Drop onto greased cookie sheets (or use parchment paper.)

Bake 15-20 minutes.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen.

Apple Cake

This is another recipe from my Grandma Josephine. It's a great fall dessert, but it's also good for breakfast or brunch, and relatively healthy because it's half fruit!

3 eggs

1 1/2 c sugar (or part brown sugar)

3/4 c oil

1 t salt

1 t vanilla

1/2 t cinnamon

 

2 c flour (or part whole wheat)

1 t baking soda

 

1/2 c chopped nuts (or rolled oats)

3 1/2 c chopped apples

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix well and pour into a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 34 minutes.

 

Two-thirds of this recipe will fit into a 9x9 inch pan.

 

You can also reserve a small amount of the sugar to sprinkle on top with additional cinnamon before baking.

 

Grandma's recipe said "Cool Whip topping as desired."

 

How to cook brown rice

When I first started doing a lot more cooking from scratch, I looked up how to cook rice. The method I use now is more like cooking pasta, easier than trying to measure out a certain amount of water for a certain amount of rice.

Get a pot of salted water boiling. (The salt is optional.) Depending on how much rice you're making, you want plenty of room for it to boil around in - I only need a few inches if I'm cooking a half cup of dried rice to make a cup of cooked rice for a recipe, but if the meal is chicken and rice I'll fill the pot higher for 2 cups of dried rice. The pot needs to have a tight lid.

Once the water is boiling, prepare the rice. This involves rinsing it under cold running water until the water runs off clear. If you have a sieve, or a colander with very tiny holes, you can use that. Otherwise, put the rice in a deep bowl, run some cold water in, and swirl it around with your hand. Drain out most of the water, add fresh, and repeat. I usually do this three times. (This is to wash excess starch from the rice so that it doesn't stick together after it cooks. It's okay to skip it if you don't want to bother - just be aware the texture may be a little different.)

Dump the rice into the boiling water and give it a brief stir. Bring it back up to boiling and let it cook uncovered at a rolling boil for half an hour.

Pour out into a strainer and let drain for ten seconds, then transfer back to the pot. Put the lid on and let it sit for ten minutes - not on the burner, just sealed. At this point the rice is being steamed to finish the cooking.

I know this is a lot of words, but it's so easy - get water boiling, rinse the rice, cook for half an hour, drain for ten seconds, steam for ten minutes, and you're done!

Spanish Rice (not Mexican)

This is one of my Grandma Josephine's signature dishes. She called it Spanish Rice. This later led to me being very confused at menus in Mexican restaurants. If you're looking for a side dish for your Tex-Mex menu, this is not it - but it is a delicious casserole/meatloaf-type meal.
My sister has a copy of a church cookbook which Grandma submitted her recipe to, so I can give it to you in her own words:


Spanish Rice

1 lb hamburger

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup tomato juice

1 tsp salt

pinch pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F

Mix well with your fingers until well mixed. It should be of less firm consistency than for a meat loaf - not firm enough to hold its shape. You may want to add more tomato juice. Put in 8 x 8 pan or pyrex and bake 350 for 1 1/2 hours more or less.

My mother Mary Rodgers always took this dish to "Last Day" dinners at the country school when I went to school. It was always a hit with everyone.

Josephine Appleby

Now, a few notes: this should be spread out in a casserole dish, flat - not more than an inch or so deep, because it gets a delicious crispy crust on top.

I usually reduce the salt a bit.

I usually use cooked brown rice, but any kind would work. Grandma always used white. I can't tell the difference.

If I don't have tomato juice on hand, I put some canned tomatoes in the blender. I usually increase the amount by half, since part of that is going to be pulp rather than juice.

If there is liquid around the edges of the pan when you take it out, wait to drain it - let it sit for a minute and a lot of the juice will soak back in.

Traditional accompaniments to this dish include cottage cheese, corn, and sliced tomatoes.

Because the proportions are all "one", it's very easy to alter the amount!

Black Forest Cake!

I'm not going to post the recipe here, just a link to where my sister found it at allrecipes.com.

I just wanted to post the photos of this gorgeously decadent cake that the two of us made to celebrate both my birthday and my dad's, which were a week and a week and a half ago, respectively! As fancy as it is, it wasn't actually that complicated. It didn't take that long, either, except for having to wait for the cake to cool to assemble the whole thing. We did it mostly according to the recipe directions - baked two layers and split those, but rather than crumbling one to coat the frosting on the outside of the cake, we just made four layers. We used two 14.5 oz cans of tart cherries rather than two 20 oz cans, but that turned out to be just the right amount. And the frosting, which was actually just three cups of heavy cream whipped to perfection with a bit of confectioner's sugar, was the perfect foil for the gooey cherry sauce and rich chocolate. No ice cream needed! Coffee definitely was...

Black Bean Salad

This is something my sister came up with a while ago. It's really tasty - a mix of rice, black beans, corn, and tomatoes, with a simple dressing flavored with mexican seasonings. It's cheap - dried beans and rice really stretch out! It's great for potlucks, because it just so happens to be gluten free, vegetarian (vegan, even) and dairy free. And since the dressing is just olive oil, lime juice and spices, it's okay to let it sit out on the picnic table for a few hours - no mayo to worry about.



Black Bean Salad

Mix together:

1 cup cooked rice (1/2 cup dry)
1 1/2 cup cooked black beans (1/2 cup dry)
2/3 cup cooked corn
1 1/2 cup small or cut-up tomatoes
2 green onions, chopped

Dressing:

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
2 cloves garlic, put through a garlic press
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch red pepper flakes

Combine dressing ingredients in a jar or container with a tight lid and shake well. Pour over salad and mix well.
Tastes better if you wait a few hours - then make sure to stir it up from the bottom in case the dressing settles a bit. It lasts longer if you use whole grape or cherry tomatoes - cut-up tomatoes break down a lot faster, and you want to eat it within a day or two. Or you can leave the tomatoes out and just add them to individual servings. It's okay to let it sit out for a while, but it should be refrigerated other than that.

This makes about 5 cups - a good amount for a potluck.

Chili!

Spring is almost here. It was really warm for a couple of days, and now it has cooled off again. I'm taking advantage of the cool weather to make chili! Not that I don't make it the rest of the year, but there's just something about eating chili when it's cold outside...

The chili recipe I usually make is spicy but not HOT. People who like their chili really hot probably wouldn't even call this spicy, but it's slightly hotter than mild. I'm making it for more than just me, so I'm not allowed to make it any hotter than this; next time I'm living by myself I may experiment. I'd like to try it just a little bit hotter, but this is pretty good.

This is for a big crockpot (I have a little 1 1/2 quart crockpot that's good when I'm living solo). I think it's 3 1/2 or 4 quarts. This recipe halved just barely fits into the little one.

Obviously, there's not much to it - just throw it all in the pot, stir it around, and let it cook all day - but I do have my preferred technique. For one thing, I use dried beans, which have to be cooked separately first. If you're using canned beans I would just throw everything else in first and fill it the rest of the way with beans.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb dried small red beans (pinto beans work too. Most beans would work!)

2 14.5 oz cans Hunts Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes. Or just regular diced tomatoes.

1 large or 2 small onions, diced

One small orange or yellow bell pepper, diced (remove the seeds and cut away the ribs)

1 jalapeno pepper, minced (be sure to remove the seeds and cut out the ribs)

Garlic - 3-4 cloves, minced or put through a garlic press.

1 cup cooked ground beef - or leave it vegetarian. Or add more meat - my way's cheaper, though!

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 Tbsp dried ancho chile powder

2-3 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp Durkee's Six-Pepper Blend

1/4 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

I usually just eyeball the spices, and then adjust to taste after they cook for a while.

Since I use dried beans, I start with those. Rinse them, and put them in a pot filled with water 1 1/2 to 2 inches above the top of the beans, and soak overnight. You can also do the quick soak method, bringing the beans up to a boil and then turning off the heat, covering it and letting it sit for 2 hours. 

After the beans soak, bring them up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for at least an hour, or until they are fairly soft - they can still be a little al dente but you want them comfortable to chew. 

(You can also cook them in the crockpot on high, but it will take a while to heat up so the cook time will be longer.)

Transfer the beans and some of the liquid to the crockpot. I like a somewhat soupy chili, so I usually scoop the beans over with a slotted spoon, then pour until they are just covered. If you want it thicker leave out most of the liquid. The tomatoes will cook down to fill in that space. Thick chili is good for chili dogs, but that extra liquid will stretch out the amount you can serve later!

An extra step you can take here is to sauté the onions, peppers, and garlic in a skillet on low until they are soft and translucent, before adding them to the beans. It really does add more flavor.

 

At this point just mix in the rest of the ingredients, cover, and cook for at least a few hours. I usually leave it on high until it's really bubbling, stir it again, then cover and cook it on low.

For convenience, you can also mix everything together the night before, stick it in the fridge, and put it in the crockpot the next day. Or cook it in the crockpot overnight, put it in the fridge and then reheat it later. I just happen to be at a point where I can make it the morning of.