No Bake Cookies - March Sugar Block of the Month Club

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups raw oat

In a large saucepan, combine milk, sugar, butter and cocoa.  Gently bring to a boil, stirring and cook for 1 minute.  Take care not to burn or overcook this mixture or the cookies will be crumbly.

Remove from heat and promptly stir in vanilla, peanut butter and oats until thoroughly combined.  Drop spoonfuls onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet and allow to cool in the fridge or freezer.  Takes about 20 minutes for the cookies to set.  Makes about 3 dozen.

I have always loved no bake cookies but oddly we never had them when I was growing up.  The first time I tried them was while I was dating my husband and I think his oldest sister had made them.  She usually brings them around at Christmas time too and the only other time I ever have them is when we stop at this little Czech bakery off the highway in West, Texas.  They have them package up in little 'to go' cups so I grab one for the road when I stop in there.  I've never made them but these were very easy to make and pretty tasty.  These past few months I've been donating my sweets to the Senior Center because we are all on a healthy living quest around here.  This time I kept a few of the cookies (everything in moderation) (PLUS I just love these things) and I sent the rest home with my son's fiance'.  Did ya hear that?  YES, I said FIANCE'!!!!! 

I am happy to report that my youngest son Marshall, after dating for four years, has asked our precious Cristina to marry him!!!  We are so excited!!!!!!  I could not ask for a more perfect girl for him or a daughter for  me!!!  She is sweet, kind, thoughtful, generous, loving, beautiful, smart, ambitious and crazy about my baby boy.  The big day is not for awhile yet but I will keep you posted on updates for the happy day!!!

Okay, so go try the no bake cookies and here is a picture of this month's quilt block.  It's called Forget Me Not and was pretty easy to put together, a lot easier than last months!!! 

Flourless Chocolate Cake - February Sugar Block of The Month Club

16 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (I used semisweet)
1 stick unsalted butter
9 large eggs separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9" springform pan.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl.  Set aside.

Put the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl and gently heat over an inch of water until melted.

Now whisk a little bit of the chocolate into the egg yolk mixture to temper the yolks and keep them from scrambling; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form then fold into chocolate mixture.

Pour into prepared pan and bake until the cake is set and the top starts to crack, 20-25 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes then unmold.  Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Well, this is the recipe and block pattern for February.  The block is called North Star.  It is made by using a technique called paper piecing.  If all of quilting was done by this method I would never make another quilt as long as I live.  I am NOT A FAN of paper piecing.  This block was hard for me to put together and caused me a great deal of stress!  I had to modify the block just to get it finished and I think it will still work just fine.  Only me and those of you reading this blog will know that it has been altered.  Plus the millions of folks who view Flickr cuz I put it on there too.  LOL!!!

The recipe for the cake was a breeze!!  I wish I could eat some of it and tell you how it taste!  Still trying to watch my girlish figure so I made this cake and then gave it to my mother-in-law to take to her Wednesday Senior Citizens get together.  She will call me tomorrow and let me know how they liked it.  Judging by how the batter tasted I think this cake is going to be pretty tasty!!!  Hardly any sugar, no flour but a lot of eggs.  Kind of soufle' eeee.  Easy to make so give it a try.

Banana Cream Whoopie Pies

6 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine banana and sour cream and set aside.

In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.

In a third bowl, beat together butter, sugars, egg and vanilla on med-high until creamy.

Gradually add in flour and banana mixtures alternating and mixing thoroughly.
Spoon or pipe 1.5" circles of batter onto parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are barely golden brown.

Sprinkle sifted powdered sugar over the tops.

Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick of butter
1 lb powdered suar (3 1/2 cups)
1 tsp vanilla or banana extract

Whip ingredients together and spoon or pipe a dollup of frosting between 2 cookies to create the whoopie pies.

Okay, honestly, I have never been a fan of whoopie pies.  To me, the cookie part didn't have much taste, kind of like banana bread though, and they were not real sweet which is probably a good thing because the frosing in the center is very sweet.  There is a good balance here though and they are small so they would be good to serve at a tea or shower.  I think the flour could be decreased by a cup and next time I would probably use banana extract to give them more of a banana taste. 

Momma and Daddy's Cornbread Dressing

1 5-6 pound Hen for broth
6-8 eggs, boiled
4-5 pans cornbread (made the day before)
3-4 onions, chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped
sage to taste
salt and pepper to taste

To make broth, take hen, including neck and giblets and boil on stove top covered until chicken is tender. This will make the broth you will need to add to the dressing once its assembled.  Reserve neck and giblets for gravy. 

Chop celery and onions by hand, a food processor chops them too fine.  Crumble the cornbread by hand into a large roasting pan.  Salt and pepper.  Add chopped celery and onions.  Add as much sage as desired over the top of the mixture.  Using a cup, pour broth over mixture until moist.  Stir all together well.  Keep adding broth as needed.  You want the dressing moist but not wet and soggy.  Taste often and add more sage, salt and pepper if needed.  Daddy is the official taster in our family!
Cook at 325-350 for about 1 hour.

Giblet Gravy:  Take the remaining broth, add canned broth if needed.  Heat and add cut up giblets from the hen and chopped boiled eggs.  Thicken with cornstarch to consistency you want.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add parsley flakes and a few drops of yellow food color to  make it rich looking.  You can also chop and add some of the hen if desired. 

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas since I can remember, the aromas of this dressing cooking in the background at our house has always been apart of our holiday traditions.  My mother and daddy would get in the kitchen together and assemble this dressing each year and as I said before, Daddy was the official taster.  He knew just when and how much sage, salt and pepper to add.  He never missed his mark, it was always perfect.  This Christmas they set out to see if they still had their touch, both in their 80s, and there is no doubt that they still do!  The dressing this year was perfection!  Walking in the house and smelling it cooking brought back wonderful childhood memories! 

Merry Christmas Pretzels

2 packages of pretzel rods

1 package each of milk chocolate and white chocolate melting chocolate (almond bark)

Assorted colored sugars, sprinkles, cookie decorations, etc..

Melt one of the chocolates in a microwavable safe bowl.  Use 40 second intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is melted and easy to stir.   Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for pretzel rods to cool on.  You’ll also need a paper plate to catch excess sprinkles that fall off as you go.  Using one pretzel rod at a time, coat the pretzel leaving about an inch and a half at the end where you are holding it.  Once the rod is coated, swirl the rod around in a circle and shake excess chocolate off of pretzel rod so that it is evenly coated and not globed on.  Use any one color or multiple colors of sprinkles to coat over the chocolate.  Place rod on parchment paper lined cookie sheet to cool.  Continue until all of the first chocolate is gone then melt the second batch of chocolate and repeat directions with it.  You’ll find that the lighter colored  sprinkles will show up better on the dark chocolate and the dark colored sprinkles will show up better on the white chocolate.  Hold the pretzel rods over a paper plate as you shake sprinkles and then when you have accumulated enough, use what is on the plate to decorate a few of the pretzels.  This will give you a few eclectic ones!  This is a good sweet/savory snack that looks pretty, fun to make and nice to give as gifts. 

Cracker Snack

1 cup vegetable oil

4 tbsp. dill weed

1 package Hidden Valley salad dressing mix (not buttermilk)

1 24-ounce package oyster crackers

Mix all together, drain on paper towels and store in covered container.

Okay, first of all, don’t wait until the weekend before Christmas to make these because you will not find an oyster cracker within 30 miles of town.  I went to every store we have and all of the oyster crackers were gone.  Apparently I’m not the only person in town who likes to make this snack at Christmas time.  I started thinking about what I could use in place of the oyster cracker and it occurred to me that it’s just a little cracker so I figured the regular flavor goldfish would probably work as a substitute.  While I was coloring outside the lines I also thought it would be cool to use the Spicy Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix instead of the regular just to give the crackers a little extra kick.  So here is how I put this all together…..

I used a 30 ounce box of goldfish crackers, the box looks like a giant milk carton.  Pour all of the goldfish into a large plastic bowl.  Open and sprinkle 2 packages of Spicy Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix all over the goldfish.  (2 because there are more goldfish in this box than oyster crackers that come in the 24 ounce bag)  Next sprinkle 5 tablespoons of dill weed (again, more because there are more goldfish) over the crackers.  Mix all of this together thoroughly and then slowly add the cup of oil.  Mix/fold, mix/fold, mix/fold to coat the goldfish completely.  Place two paper towels on two cooking sheets and spread the goldfish out evenly on both trays.  I don’t like my crackers greasy so I baked them at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, just to dry up the oil a little.  Remove the paper towels and let goldfish cool.  Store in air tight containers. 

Corn Chowder

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 whole onion, chopped
3 slices bacon, cut into pieces
3 whole bell peppers, finely diced (red, yellow, orange)
5 ears corn, kernels sliced off
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups half-and-half
1 heaping cup grated Monterey Jack
1 heaping cup grated pepper Jack
1/3 cup sliced green onions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the bacon and cook for another minute or so, and then add the bell peppers and cook for a couple of minutes. Finally, add the corn and cook for a minute.  (I took a short cut here and used two cans of whole kernel sweet corn, drained) Sprinkle the flour evenly over the top and stir to combine. Pour in the chicken stock and stir well. Allow this to thicken for 3 or 4 minutes, and then reduce the heat to low. Stir in the half-and-half, and then cover and allow to simmer and thicken for 15 minutes or so.

Stir in the cheeses and green onions. When the cheese is melted and the soup is hot, check seasonings. Add salt and pepper as needed.

Exactly one week to the day of me turning the big 5-0, I wound up laying in bed sick.  So much for turning older gracefully!  But, being the resourceful, efficient person that I am I decided that while I was laying there sick I could at least catch up on my programs recorded on the DVR.  I opened up the folder of several past shows from The Pioneer Woman and found this recipe.  She was having a Chocolate Day on the farm and to balance things out she made this corn chowder.  It looked so good and easy to make and I guess soup just looked good to me at the time since I was under the weather.  This is a very easy soup to make (aside from having to chop up all the veggies first) and it makes a pot full!  It is very tasty and is going to be a side dish tonight to the BBQ chicken that my sweet Momma has fixed and sent down to help me out.  I just love it when my mom takes care of me!  Makes me feel like a little girl again!