Hotdog “Surprise” – Sara – May 09

I must premise this by saying it is NOT for the refined foodie. My mom used to make this when she had just a bit of mashed potatoes leftover. It was a treat because she didn’t usually make mashed potatoes, so we didn’t get this lovely dish very often!

It’s pretty simple. You need:

Hotdog (and the vegetarian equivalent for my spouse J)

Cheese

Mashed Potatoes

Bun/Bread (if you desire, certainly not a necessity)

Boil the hotdogs.

Slit the hotdogs open, dish in some mashed potatoes and cover with cheese. Bake at 550 for 5-10 min.

Voila! For the unsophisticated palate, a favorite of mine! (By the way, Marc liked this. He took a bite and said it was good. He then proceeded to devour into the second hotdog declaring it was REALLY good. He finished off 3 of these bad boys!)

Hotdog “Surprise” – Sara – May 09

I must premise this by saying it is NOT for the refined foodie. My mom used to make this when she had just a bit of mashed potatoes leftover. It was a treat because she didn’t usually make mashed potatoes, so we didn’t get this lovely dish very often!

It’s pretty simple. You need:

Hotdog (and the vegetarian equivalent for my spouse J)

Cheese

Mashed Potatoes

Bun/Bread (if you desire, certainly not a necessity)

Boil the hotdogs.

Slit the hotdogs open, dish in some mashed potatoes and cover with cheese. Bake at 550 for 5-10 min.

Voila! For the unsophisticated palate, a favorite of mine! (By the way, Marc liked this. He took a bite and said it was good. He then proceeded to devour into the second hotdog declaring it was REALLY good. He finished off 3 of these bad boys!)

Orange you happy? - By Brooke, May 09

I considered many beloved family recipes for this month's challenge. Because it was called "family favorites," though, I had to go with the one that is an inter-generational favorite: The candy cane orange, aka "Orange you happy?" It's a simple and tasty summer snack.

It takes 4 steps and you'll need just 4 things:
A big, juicy-looking orange
A bag of old-fashioned pure sugar peppermint sticks
A permanent marker
A small, sharp knife

Getting the right kind of peppermint sticks is absolutely essential, but they can be hard to find. Neither our local Kroger nor Marsh carries them. I went to the candy store in Bloomington's mall, and the teenage employee blinked many times before replying, "I don't think we have those, whatever they are." I finally found them at Cracker Barrel, a bag of 10 for 99 cents.

Step 1: Roll the orange on a tabletop very firmly. You're trying to break up the innards, releasing the juice. When you're done rolling, the orange should seem softened all around.

Lee did the rolling and Emma did the watching.

Step 2: Draw a happy face on the orange with the permanent marker. It needs to be a really cute, happy face too. Happy enough to cheer you up big time, like even if you're feeling very cranky or petulant.











Step 3: Take a small paring knife and cut around the top of the orange in a circle creating a small hole- about 1 to 2 inches in diameter.

Pull out the plug of orange rind (it may have some innards attached... ewwww) and peek inside at the juice.

Step 4: Get out a peppermint stick and put it into the orange like a straw. But don't keep it for yourself... give it to a nearby kid, because they will surely be pestering you for it!


Emma said "It's good. It's sticky."

Orange you happy? - By Brooke, May 09

I considered many beloved family recipes for this month's challenge. Because it was called "family favorites," though, I had to go with the one that is an inter-generational favorite: The candy cane orange, aka "Orange you happy?" It's a simple and tasty summer snack.

It takes 4 steps and you'll need just 4 things:
A big, juicy-looking orange
A bag of old-fashioned pure sugar peppermint sticks
A permanent marker
A small, sharp knife

Getting the right kind of peppermint sticks is absolutely essential, but they can be hard to find. Neither our local Kroger nor Marsh carries them. I went to the candy store in Bloomington's mall, and the teenage employee blinked many times before replying, "I don't think we have those, whatever they are." I finally found them at Cracker Barrel, a bag of 10 for 99 cents.

Step 1: Roll the orange on a tabletop very firmly. You're trying to break up the innards, releasing the juice. When you're done rolling, the orange should seem softened all around.

Lee did the rolling and Emma did the watching.

Step 2: Draw a happy face on the orange with the permanent marker. It needs to be a really cute, happy face too. Happy enough to cheer you up big time, like even if you're feeling very cranky or petulant.











Step 3: Take a small paring knife and cut around the top of the orange in a circle creating a small hole- about 1 to 2 inches in diameter.

Pull out the plug of orange rind (it may have some innards attached... ewwww) and peek inside at the juice.

Step 4: Get out a peppermint stick and put it into the orange like a straw. But don't keep it for yourself... give it to a nearby kid, because they will surely be pestering you for it!


Emma said "It's good. It's sticky."

Grandma Howard's Cornbread--May 2009

Growing up my parents’ property adjoined my grandparents’ (as well as my aunt’s property), so it was really more like a sprawling compound of a farm. We didn’t raise any cash crops or livestock, but we did have a huge vegetable garden and chickens for eggs. We also had my Grandma’s fantastic Appalachian cooking. There are several dishes I remember, but the one I am fondest of is cornbread. I don’t know how often Grandma made cornbread, but it seems we had it available at every meal. I’ve never had another cornbread like it. Definitely NOT sweet, not light and airy, not cakey...it’s almost more like a peasant loaf. A crunchy crust on the bottom, a golden brown top and a moist, dense crumb. I’ve never tried to make this cornbread before. I’ve always been afraid it wouldn’t live up to my memories (what does?), but I new I had to make it.

I inherited my Grandma’s cast iron skillet. So, I knew I had to use that to make the cornbread. Unfortunately, my laziness means that this wonderful skillet has been slowly corroding in my garage for several years. I’ve not supplied a photo so as to not shame myself further. Luckily, the interior of the skillet was unharmed, and a brillo pad took care of the exterior. I then seasoned the skillet and it was ready to go. Now all I needed was the recipe.

I’ve asked for, received, and lost this recipe more times than I care to admit. And now that I desperately need it, no one is giving it to me. After asking my Mother, my sister, and my aunts I was able to piece it together.

1 cup yellow corn meal (self-rising)

1 cup flour (self-rising)

1 ¾ cup buttermilk

1 egg

¼ cup Crisco

I couldn’t find self-rising cornmeal (and I didn’t have self-rising flour). So, I used what I had and added 1 tsp of salt and 3 tsp of baking powder. Preheat the oven to 450, put Crisco into the skillet and let the skillet preheat in the oven. I put the skillet in about halfway through the pre-heating process as I didn’t want the Crisco to smoke. You can see in the photo on the right all the Crisco love. Mix all other ingredients together.

When oven is ready, pour mixture directly into Criscoized skillet. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

I wanted to make a meal of this so I made Boley’s brisket and some mashed potatoes. I say “some” mashed potatoes, and that’s not really true. I have a hard time making small batches of certain items (restaurant cook’s back me up on this!), and mashed potatoes is one of them. The Brisket turned out beautifully (thanks BoBo). Sara said it was sweet and yummy. The mashed potatoes were pretty good as well. But the main event for me was the cornbread.

The final product was amazing! The color and texture were just right. It was a little salty (my Grandma’s probably was as well) so next time I’ll cut the salt in half.

The overall effect was so close to Grandma’s that I had to call my parents and sister to gloat.

Sara does not like cornbread, but said this was the best she had ever tasted. Tasted just as good the next day as a dessert with some raspberry jam.

I am very proud to have made such a good rendition of my Grandma’s cornbread in her skillet.

Feels like home.

Grandma Howard's Cornbread--May 2009

Growing up my parents’ property adjoined my grandparents’ (as well as my aunt’s property), so it was really more like a sprawling compound of a farm. We didn’t raise any cash crops or livestock, but we did have a huge vegetable garden and chickens for eggs. We also had my Grandma’s fantastic Appalachian cooking. There are several dishes I remember, but the one I am fondest of is cornbread. I don’t know how often Grandma made cornbread, but it seems we had it available at every meal. I’ve never had another cornbread like it. Definitely NOT sweet, not light and airy, not cakey...it’s almost more like a peasant loaf. A crunchy crust on the bottom, a golden brown top and a moist, dense crumb. I’ve never tried to make this cornbread before. I’ve always been afraid it wouldn’t live up to my memories (what does?), but I new I had to make it.

I inherited my Grandma’s cast iron skillet. So, I knew I had to use that to make the cornbread. Unfortunately, my laziness means that this wonderful skillet has been slowly corroding in my garage for several years. I’ve not supplied a photo so as to not shame myself further. Luckily, the interior of the skillet was unharmed, and a brillo pad took care of the exterior. I then seasoned the skillet and it was ready to go. Now all I needed was the recipe.

I’ve asked for, received, and lost this recipe more times than I care to admit. And now that I desperately need it, no one is giving it to me. After asking my Mother, my sister, and my aunts I was able to piece it together.

1 cup yellow corn meal (self-rising)

1 cup flour (self-rising)

1 ¾ cup buttermilk

1 egg

¼ cup Crisco

I couldn’t find self-rising cornmeal (and I didn’t have self-rising flour). So, I used what I had and added 1 tsp of salt and 3 tsp of baking powder. Preheat the oven to 450, put Crisco into the skillet and let the skillet preheat in the oven. I put the skillet in about halfway through the pre-heating process as I didn’t want the Crisco to smoke. You can see in the photo on the right all the Crisco love. Mix all other ingredients together.

When oven is ready, pour mixture directly into Criscoized skillet. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

I wanted to make a meal of this so I made Boley’s brisket and some mashed potatoes. I say “some” mashed potatoes, and that’s not really true. I have a hard time making small batches of certain items (restaurant cook’s back me up on this!), and mashed potatoes is one of them. The Brisket turned out beautifully (thanks BoBo). Sara said it was sweet and yummy. The mashed potatoes were pretty good as well. But the main event for me was the cornbread.

The final product was amazing! The color and texture were just right. It was a little salty (my Grandma’s probably was as well) so next time I’ll cut the salt in half.

The overall effect was so close to Grandma’s that I had to call my parents and sister to gloat.

Sara does not like cornbread, but said this was the best she had ever tasted. Tasted just as good the next day as a dessert with some raspberry jam.

I am very proud to have made such a good rendition of my Grandma’s cornbread in her skillet.

Feels like home.

Mini Monkey Muffins

First of all, this post is in large part thanks to Nikki, who told me about Ree Drummond's cooking blog http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/. The recipes here are ones that are based on hers. If you like eating really fattening food and beautiful photography check her blog out. Also, she's really funny, homeschools her kids and lives on a working ranch, so those of you who know me, know that this appeals to me on so many levels!

On to the recipe. My family was in need of a pick-me-up last week, so I decided to look for a comfort food recipe that was fun and the kids could help me make. My mom had made monkey bread a few times when I was a kid, and it was exactly the right thing for a Friday that ended a week of frustrations. We made a large batch that looked like this after it came out of the oven:
And it looked like this about 5 minutes later:

We have had a much better week this week, but I still had one tube of biscuits left over. So this morning I decided to make mini monkey muffins! Here's the scoop.

You'll need 1 tube of biscuits, each cut into 6 wedges and placed in a zip-loc baggie along with 2 t. cinnamon and 1/4 c. sugar. (No dishes to wash--perfect!)

Seal and let your oh-so-excited child shake the bag.

It will look like this, with all of the biscuit bits perfectly encrusted with beautiful little cinnamon sugar crystals.

Place the little biscuit bites in the muffin tin, 4 to a muffin round. Then melt 1/3 c. butter with a few shakes of brown sugar in the microwave and pour a little over each of the 12 lovely cups of goodness. Because everything's better with butter.Bake at 350 degrees for between 15 and 18 minutes (our oven runs cool, so I'm never quite sure how it compares with others).

They come out gooey and sweet with a slightly salty dough. Absolutely perfect with coffee or milk. Here are the responses:

Matthew, AKA The Shirtless Wonder, all fingers and thumbs up

Soren, AKA Super Dad, two thumbs upAnnika, AKA Mama's Little Helper, big smile and thumbs up

I liked the large loaf presentation better than the mini-monkey-muffins because I enjoy picking one bite off and then another, and another and another (you get the picture). Also, I cut the biscuits into only 4 pieces with the larger loaf. The larger loaf seems to work best with the sauce, too; it just seemed gooier. But as a mom, it was nice to give each child one muffin and leave it at that, so nobody completely lost control and gave him or herself a stomach ache. Portion control.

Mysteriously, though, when I returned home after spending the morning out, ALL of the mini-monkey-muffins had disappeared!