Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I felt like doing some baking today and warming up the house a little and rewarding myself with an indulgence, so I decided on these delicious cookies!

The oatmeal is actually pretty good for you, as it is much higher in fiber than plain old flour, and everyone needs an indulgence now and then.


You will need:

1 1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 C unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 C quick cooking oats
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking SODA
1/4 tsp salt
1 C. semisweet chocolate chips
1 C. chopped nuts (optional)


Preheat your oven to 350.  Combine sugar and butter on low speed of your mixer until blended.  Next, add in the egg and vanilla and turn the speed up on the mixer to about half way and work the mixture until fluffy.  Slow the speed back down on the mixer to low and gradually add in the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips (and nuts, if you want them).

Place by rounded tablespoons on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for 9-11 minutes until golden brown.  Cool 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet to a cooling rack.

Pour a big glass of milk and enjoy!

Apple Butter

So, when I was a kid, one of my favorite things was my Mamaw's apple butter.  I know a lot of people have memories of a deliciously spiced, sweet fruit spread on a home made biscuit or roll.  I wanted to make some of my own after my Mamaw passed away, so I went in search of recipes.  This is the one I have made several times, and I love it!  I hope it warms your family's heart as well as it does mine!


Some things to know before you get started:

*Making apple butter takes time, don't try to rush it or you will not have a good finished product.

*Apple butter is supposed to be thick, and spreadable.  It should sit on a piece of bread like it does in the above picture.

*You can start with fresh apples, or you can cheat.  No one will ever know unless you tell them.

*Apple butter can be frozen, or it can be put into jars.  If you want to jar it and have it around, you need to process it in a hot water bath, which means you need a pot deep enough to cover the filled jars with at least 1 inch of water over top of them.

*If you don't like this recipe, do some searches, and find a recipe you do like.  My Mamaw used RedHot Candies to make hers, I haven't found a recipe I like using them, but I do like this one.

*Apple butter recipes tend to make a BIG batch, be prepared with the proper storage containers to hold it all.

Now, on to the apple butter!

You will need:

3 Qts unsweetened apple sauce

2 lbs granulated sugar
1 lb brown sugar
3/4 C apple cider, or apple juice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3 tsp cinnamon

Now, you can make your own applesauce by cooking down apples, or you can use regular, store-bought unsweetened apple sauce.  I use store bought apple sauce.

You need to combine the apple sauce, apple juice, and the sugars into a large pot, a large roasting pan, or a large capacity crock pot.

If you are making your apple butter in the oven, bake it, uncovered, for about 3 hours at 325 degrees.  If you are making it on the stove, bring the ingredients to a slow boil, being careful not to burn it, and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a splash guard only.  You can also make this in a large crock pot.  If you choose to use your crock pot, prop the lid on a pair of bamboo skewers or long handled spoons or knives.  This is very important no matter which method you use to make it.  You want the steam to escape.  The whole point is to cook off the extra moisture (and to caramelize the natural sugars in the apples).  Stir your apple butter frequently to prevent burning, and to prevent a skin from forming on the top of it.  If using a crock pot, you can set the heat to the high setting, just be careful to scrape the sides every 15 minutes or so to keep it from burning.

This is what a splatter guard looks like.  They are great for frying things stove top, as well.








After your apple butter has considerably reduced in volume and thickened, it will have also turned a rich brown color.  If you are cooking it in the oven, this will be about 3 hours in.  At this point, you need to add in the spices, and cook for about an hour longer.





Here are two simple tests to check for doneness:  remove a spoonful and hold it away from steam for 2 minutes. It is done if the butter remains mounded on the spoon. Another way to determine when the butter is cooked adequately is to spoon a small quantity onto a plate. When a rim of liquid does not separate around the edge of the butter, it is ready for canning.



To preserve your apple butter, ladle in to hot, sterile half-pint jars (or pints, what ever size you prefer), leaving 1/4 inch head space. Use a clean paper towel to keep the rim of the jar clean.   Apply the lids, and bands, turning the bands to finger tight, and process in a hot water bath for 5-15 minutes, depending upon your altitude.  Here in Knoxville, we are under 1,000 feet, so it is 5 minutes, though I usually leave mine in for 10 minutes.  It won't hurt it and it's worth it to me to be sure that it is processed properly.

Once your jars are processed, remove the hot jars carefully, and sit on a clean, dry towel to cool.  Once the jars are out of the water bath, you will hear a periodic popping sound, this is the jars sealing.  After several hours, the jars will be cool and you can feel the top of the jar to see if it sealed.  If it the lid has been sucked down, it's sealed.  Just press gently in the center of the lid with your finger.  If it pops up and down with a light popping sound, it is not sealed.  If you put the jar in the fridge right away, you can still eat it, but it MUST be refrigerated!

Don't forget to label and date your jars :)  You can also spruce them up with ribbons and pretty colors of celophane and give them away for Christmas presents if your family will let you part with any of it!
  

Three Cheese Hasselback Potatoes

I am posting my own recipe and what I did, and at the bottom, is the recipe that inspired this.  I just used what was on hand, and made something that sounded good.

Preheat the over to 400.  Wash 3-4 medium sized potatoes. Put them on the cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut slices about 1/4 inch apart and not quite all the way through the potato. Next, I used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" Spray and sprayed in between each slice, careful not to break the back of the potato.


Place potatoes, cut side up, on a baking sheet, and sprinkle generously with onion powder, pepper, and garlic powder.  Bake the potatoes for 20 minutes, then remove them from the oven and sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese, and then grated cheddar, spray again with the butter and bake until all the cheese is melted and gooey, about 10-15 minutes.  

Remove from the oven and serve hot!



Inspired by: The Food Network's Robert Irvine

Ingredients

• 6 medium baking potatoes (8 to10 ounces each)
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup finely grated mixed Parmesan, gruyere and double Gloucester cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel all the potatoes and, as you peel them, put them in a large container with 1 gallon water and the lemon juice to keep them from browning. Once they are all peeled, remove them from the water and pat dry. Then slice the potatoes about 1/4-inch apart and about three-quarters of the way through to create a series of uniform slices so that they are still joined together at the bottom. This should create a fan type finish to the potatoes.

Next, using a whisk, blend the butter, parsley, salt and pepper. Make sure to mix well. Dunk the potatoes into the butter mixture, making sure that the slits in the potato soak up the mixture as well. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the potatoes, drizzle with any remaining butter and top with the cheese mixture. Bake the potatoes until the cheese is melted, an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Once melted, remove the potatoes and serve.

Zucchini Bread

So many folks are starting to get in a good crop of zucchini right about now, even with the heat wave.  It is a delicious and versatile vegetable, and this is one of my most favorite recipes!  I used to make a lot of this up and put it in the freezer to enjoy all year long, but it never lasted through the fall, because it got eaten up so fast!

To begin with, I usually use my food processor and shred the zucchini, but a hand grater will work just as well, or you could hand chop it down fairly fine.  The zucchini keeps the bread moist and adds a great deal of nutritional value to the product.  It's a great way to get green veggies in to your kids.  This is a simple, but delicious recipe, and is more like cake than bread!  I hope your family loves it!

3 eggs
2 C. shredded zucchini
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 C. sugar
1 C. oil
3 C. all purpose flour

Optional:
1/2 C. Chopped nuts
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Beat the eggs.  Add in oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla.  Stir in all dry ingredients.  Pour into two greased and floured loaf pans.  Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

Tips for making your own essential oils

So, I recently asked a new friend about tips for making essential oils, this is what he had to say!
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For starters, I do recommend a book to get. This being "Your Backyard Herb Garden" by Miranda Smith. This is a superb book for novice as well as for the experienced. To get a general idea of what the book looks likehttp://www.amazon.com/Your-Backyard-Herb-Garden-Gar…

Now to make your own essential oils one must remember that when you make your own, you bypass the heat method that is commonly used by companies. Heat breaks down the true essential oil of the plant, therefore what I do is use a carrier or base oil like almond oil, olive pumace oil or safflower oil. I prefer safflower since it has Vitamin E already in it and for making my soaps, this is a huge plus.

To make an infused oil (home made essential oil) chop or cut the entire plant up...leaves, stems, flowers. You can cut it on a cutting board or with a scissors right into a mason jar. Fill the jar with the plant material, leaving a 1/4 inch of space from the top. Pour your base oil (slowly) over the plant material to cover. Make sure ALL the plant material is submerged. If there is plant material sticking out of the oil, it may mold.

If you are using any plants that have a high water content like comfrey, chickweed, calendula, you will want to wilt those plants in a dark warm place, attics work well for this. I put them in a cupboard so no sun or any other kind of light will enter it. I wilt them on flat baskets or hang them up using rubber bands, which will flex as the water content dissipates.

You will want to label the jar and include the common name of the plant, the botanical name, the date and where you harvested the herb. A good way to learn botanical names is to label your preparations with both names Example: Peppermint/ Mentha Piperita and if you don't know the name of the herb, look it up as this will make you more familiar with the names and images of the plants. This way, you will also see the name every time you look at the jar.

After 6 weeks strain the plant material; you can use a cheese or other cloth or a potato strainer (I use a cheese cloth). When I use a cloth I squeeze the cloth and rub the oils on my skin. I suffer from skin issues so I do this every chance I can with the new infusion. If you want to bathe with the plant after you have squeezed out the oils, you can wrap a rubber band around the material and toss it in your bath water. But its only a one time usage. Put your infused oil, what you squeezed from the cloth, in a dark bottle and label it all over again the same way you did the first time and store in a dark constant temperate place. Your oil is now ready to use. You can use the oil directly as a massage or healing oil and/or you can turn the oil into a salve or lotion. Only select essential oils can be used for culinary like peppermint. If you wish to know what is what, get that book I spoke of at the beginning of this long ass email :)

Its much easier to do than to write, and so if you have questions, do contact me and I will help you through it more. I do want to add that infused oils are preferred by herbalists as they extract all of the healing qualities of the plant including the oil soluble vitamins and minerals. I prefer this to the water distilled essential oils which are lacking in many of the healing qualities and because they are an extraction of a strong component of plant can cause harmful effects. Infused oils rarely if ever cause any type of concern.

Calendula, or Marigold blossoms

With most herbs that don't have a water content, you just chop them up. For instance, flowers like wild roses, calendula, comfrey, you will need to dry these. For lilacs which is a bush, you don't need to dry ahead of time. To think about water content, anything that is a flower will have water inside it. A bush or tree however, does not, therefore you can go right ahead and chop up. Bee Balm, Valerian are of the flower category, same with dandelion. So anything that has a flower to it, is in the flower category and should be dried first.

Lilac blossoms

Hope this makes a little sense :)

Still here!

So, I know that my faithful fans are wondering what it the world is cooking at my place since I have been so quiet lately.  Well, I am still cooking, and loving it, I've just been super busy, as I graduate the local LPN program next month!  On top of that, I will be getting married a few short weeks after graduation.  Needless to say, I'm swamped!

This has been a very long journey, and hopefully, I will be back to posting delicious new recipes and tips for you all very soon!

Caramel Pie

I made this for our Christmas dinner this year, and it was *SO* delicious!

You will need:
1 package Kraft caramels
.5 cup + 2 TBS half and half
1.5 cups chopped pecans
1 premade chocolate crumb pie crust
3 Oz. Semi-sweet baking chocolate (3 squares)

Place the chopped pecans in the pie crust.  Next, unwrap all of the caramels and put them in a bowl with the half and half.  Place them in the microwave for 1 minute and then stir.  Continue heating and stirring until the mixture is smooth.  Pour caramel mixture over the pecans in the crust.

Take two of the squares of baking chocolate and chop it down to small pieces.  Sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the pie evenly.  Take the last piece of baking chocolate and place in a small bowl and microwave until smooth.  Use a spatula and drizzle over the pie.

Refrigerate until chilled through.  Serve cold. Refrigerate left overs.