Long overdue! Grandma Bemiss Cobbler

This is a long-served dessert in our family bearing the name of Grandma Bemiss. Where she got it, I don't know. It has come down to us this way:

Batter:
1 C. Flour
1 C. Sugar
2T. Butter
3/4 C. Milk
2 t. Baking Powder

Topping:
2 C. Fruit (or more)
1/2 C. Sugar
1 C. Boiling water

Pour batter into greased pan, spread fruit on top, sprinkle with sugar, and pour boiling water over. Bake 350 for 30 minutes

Notes:

• The fruit can be fresh or canned. I know my grandma (Epps) used canned peaches a lot. She also liked to use fresh rhubarb.
• Usually, the pan is a 9" x 13", or so.
• It can take up to an hour for the batter to bake through, so allow a little extra time.
• Delicious with ice cream!
• Here is a bio on Grandma Bemiss I posted on my blog: https://yourpedigree.blogspot.com/2012/03/backward-glance-maud-may-morgan.html

Whipped Shortbread Cookies

This is a recipe I got from a mission-serving friend. I baked some up, today, and they are delish; especially if you like shortbread. They have the shortbread flavor, but are so light, they melt on your tongue. I did use candied cherries on mine, but I'm going to experiment with other things. Maybe I'll try a piece of a candy cane, a pecan, a chocolate kiss; I don't know, but this is a keeper recipe for me.

Brownie Cookies

Cream:
½ cup shortening
2 tsp vanilla
1 ¾ cup sugar

Beat in:
2 eggs, one at a time

Add:
8 Tbsp cocoa
½ tsp salt
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk

Roll balls of dough in powdered sugar and place on greased pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. (They may look gooey, but if you overcook them they will be as hard as a rock.)

Accidental Dessert

So, the other day, Grandma Aitchison told me she makes a lemon bar cookie by mixing an angel food cake mix and lemon pie filling together and baking it. I decided to try it. The 'cookie' was good, but not fabulous. It was more like a moist lemon pound cake. I started considering what else could be done with it. This is the result.

Strawberry Lemonade Compote

1 angel food cake mix

1 2-lb. tube of lemon pie filling, divided

1 lb. fresh strawberries, quartered

2 c. whipping cream

1 T. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the cake mix and 1/2 of the lemon pie filling. Spread in greased cake pan (9x13). Bake for about 20 minutes. After cooled, cut or tear into cubes, about 1 inch square.

In a large bowl, combine baked squares, remaining pie filling and quartered strawberries. Whip the cream until stiff peaks are formed; fold in the sugar.

Spoon the cake mixture into serving dishes. Top with whipped cream. Makes 8-10 1-cup servings.

Orange sherbet - without an ice cream maker!

7 satsumas/tangerines/mandarins/whatever you call them, squeezed
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 orange rind cut into small pieces
2 tsp vodka
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
dash of salt

(the recipe I found just called for fresh squeezed orange juice. I do not have a juicer so I hand squeezed them.)
Rub sugar and rind together until sandy and damp. Whisk in salt, juices, and vodka. Strain through a mesh sieve. Chill 2-3 hours in the fridge or 45 minutes in the freezer. Try not to let it ice over.

All I did then was blend the juice mixture and the cream for a minute or so to make it all frothy. For consistency, and I plan on doing this the next time I make it, I'd try whipping the cream into soft peaks before tossing it all in the blender.

I'm pretty sure it can be made without vodka but it won't be as smooth. In the end, you can't taste it but it makes the flavor richer and keeps it from freezing solid.

Mrs. McQueen's Oatmeal Crispies

Grandpa Hoyle's favorite cookies - IF you add 1-1/2 cups of raisins! They have a soft center and a crispy outside. Very yummy!

 My mom thinks she got this recipe in around 1959 from Mrs. McQueen who was her friend's mother. We've been using it ever since. This is a picture of the original recipe card on which my mom wrote it.

Faux Great Harvest Bread

Andy and I have fond memories of walking around the Thanksgiving Point farmers market eating samples (which were really not sample sized at all, we're talking fat slices of deliciousness) of Great Harvest Bread. One of our favorites is the White Chocolate Raspberry bread.(Sadly for us there's not Great Harvest near us)

Last week I formed my bread loaf by rolling it out in a rectangle then and rolling it, instead of just forming it into a loafy blob. When I told Andy about my new loaf technique (which makes beautiful loafs, btw) he was a little excited saying that this opens up so many bread possibilities. Enter Great Harvest Bread inspiration.

 So today we experimented with some bread of our own. I used my regular bread recipe (found here). When it was rolled out we spread some cream cheese mixture on it (cream cheese softened and mixed with a little powdered sugar to taste), and we were really crazy and did half the loaf with cinnamon and the other half spread with homemade strawberry jam.

I baked it for about 5 minutes longer than my recipe called for, I was worried with all the goo that the bread dough would take longer to cook. Not sure if it really needed the extra 5 minutes, but it was cooked all the way through.

In the end, the loaf didn't last long. We loved it and between the 4 of us we gobbled it up in an afternoon.

We're excited (and a little scared for our waist lines) for all the different flavors we can try!

*Sorry, this isn't really in recipe form. It's just to inspire you to try your own filling. Enjoy!*

Warning! Diet ruining recipe!

I could not figure out what I wanted for a snack this afternoon! I wanted chocolate but the only kind we had was hot chocolate, I wanted peanut butter but all we had was plain old peanut butter! The only thing I could do was combine them and drink it up!

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate!
Single serving

1 cup Milk
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Peanut butter
3 heaping Tbsp Favorite Hot Chocolate

In a small sauce pan pour milk and heat on medium low, when it gets warm put in reamaining ingredients. Stir continually until well mixed. Continue to heat for 2-3 minutes being careful not to boil. Remove from heat, pour into a mug. Gently lift to your lips and blow a couple times. Drink!

Let me know what you think!

Banana Shake with Rice milk

Lately I have been trying to find yummy dishes that don't use dairy. It is really hard to find any that my kids will eat. I did however create a dessert that they will eat. If you make it let me know how it turned out for you.

Banana and Rice Milk shake

4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup Rice Milk
10-20 ice cubes
Vanilla

Cut up the bananas into pieces and put them in the freezer. Leave them in there for a couple hours or until frozen. Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and mix until well blended. Enjoy!

When I made this last night I did not add vanilla. The kids relaly liked it but my husband and I thought it needed more flavor. Before pouring this into your cup taste it and add more flavoring if you need it. I was also thinking it might tast good with some chocolate syrup on it!

Delish!

I found this awesome recipe for Candy Cane Hershey Cookies! They are my new addiction! It is a very simple recipe. The hardest part was chopping up the kisses. I had to do them all by hand.

A friend of mine suggested using a meat tenderizer, good idea!

Surprisingly Delicious!!

What would your reaction be if someone asked you to eat Chocolate covered grapes? Would it be, "Ew, gross"? Or would you be intrigued by the idea and try it anyway? My reaction was the first choice! However, when I tried them I was pleasantly surprised and have found a new way to ruin my goal of losing 10 pounds! Here is the recipe, so that you can join me in ruining said goal!

1 bag of Milk chocolate chips ,

Grapes (Red Grapes tasted better but green was also tasty!),

Pan covered with wax paper

Rinse and thoroughly dry the grapes, do this step at least an hour before covering to be sure that they are dry. If you are in a hurry, you can dry them with a towel.

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or over the stove. Proceed to dump a hand full of grapes into the chocolate, make sure they are covered in it and then set them on the pan.

Put them in the refrigerator for approximately 1 hour. Enjoy!