MANA'S CHEESE BISCUITS

Make one week in advance and store in tins after cooled. 

Mix together:
1/2 lb. Grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 c. Flour
1/8 t. Red pepper
Cut in 1 stick soft butter until cornmeal consistency.
Form small balls. Press pecan half into top.

Bake on cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 20 min.
Makes 3 doz. After cooled, store in airtight tins. Seem to get better as they age (about a month) although they can be eaten sooner.

Mana's Pecan Sandies

These melt-in-your-mouth cookies, dusted with powdered sugar, were always made for Christmas.

Cream together:

1 cup soft butter
1/4 c. Powdered sugar

Add and mix well:
2 t. Vanilla
1 T. Water
2 c. Flour

Add: 1 c. Chopped pecans

Make into balls and bake on cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 20 min. Roll in powdered sugar after letting cool a bit.

MANA'S CORNBREAD

Mana had a special 8" iron skillet that she never used for anything else. The seasoning on this skillet was perfection so her cornbread just slid right out every time. Several pans of this cornbread were made 2-3 days before a big holiday when mom was making turkey dressing. She would also make up her biscuits. 2-day old cornbread and biscuits would be crumbled up as the base for the dressing (don't go too heavy on the biscuits or it will be doughy).

Preheat oven to 425°.  Use a knife to spread a layer of crisco around the side of an 8" iron skillet and put the pan in the preheating oven while you mix the following ingredients. Only leave long enough to melt the shortening. (option: Mom sometimes used some bacon grease for extra flavor. She poured the grease from breakfast into an aluminum canister conveniently labeled "Drippings", always kept by the stove with a strainer in the top to catch the bacon bits. She'd go a bit lighter on the shortening and add some bacon drippings around the sides, heated the skillet in the oven till it was sizzling but not smoking, and poured into the mixed batter just before popping in the oven. Gently fold in the grease (let's call it what it is), poured back into the hot skillet, so it was already cooking a crust on the bottom before you ever put it in the oven. Don't overcook! 

Mix together:

2 c. self-rising corn meal
1/4 - 1/2 c. All Purpose Flour (use Gluten-free flour in same proportions)
1 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt

1 t. baking soda
2 c. buttermilk

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT PUTTING SUGAR IN MANA'S RECIPE!!

Remove the iron skillet of melted shortening and pour heated oil on top of the mixture and mix all together.  Pour batter back into the preheated iron skillet and bake 20-30 min. (To test if it's done, at 20 min. insert a knife into the center and withdraw to see if wet batter is on the knife blade. If knife comes out clean, remove from the oven.  Overturn onto a plate.

Note:  Mana had a skillet she used only for cornbread and nothing else and she only wiped it out with a paper towel between uses. Her cornbread never sticks because of the well-seasoned skillet!

Daddy loved to take leftover cornbread and crumble it into a tumbler that he then filled with ice-cold buttermilk. He'd eat this with a spoon; don't know it till you've tried it!

Sassy Cinnamon Muffins

Preheat oven to 400°

Combine:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon

Combine and add to dry ingredients:
1 beaten egg
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. milk

Stir just enough to moisten and add nuts if desired.  Spoon into muffin tins to half full.  Bake 20-24 min.

Mana's Southern Rice Pudding (my favorite way to eat rice!)

Ever wondered what to do with leftover cooked rice. I'll tell you what to do - make a rich and comforting baked rice pudding, the very essence of "comfort food." I've seen some recipes that are cooked on top of the stove, but mom's was baked in the oven where it develops into a wonderful custard. It's great just like that, but I saw a recipe in a Southern Living Magazine once that added two ingredients at the end and made a crunchy caramel brulee-like top and although I've never tried it, I'm putting it here because I think it would really be the pièces de résistance. Prep time on this is only 5 min. It cooks for 1 hr. 30 min. This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cooked leftover cooked rice ( If you don't have leftover rice cook 1/2 c. uncooked rice with one 1 c. water. Let rice fully cool before using. )
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup raisins

Instructions
Beat eggs. Stir in sugar. Add other ingredients. Stir.
Spray oven proof casserole dish with Pam. Pour mixture into dish.
Set dish in pan of hot water and bake at 300 degrees for 90 minutes.
After 30 minutes of cooking insert spoon at edge of pudding and stir from the bottom to distribute rice and raisins.

Place the baking dish in a larger pan and filled with hot water to within 1” of the top of the baking dish. To make this easier to handle, I place my filled baking dish in the empty larger pan. Then sit it on the oven rack and add the water. Much easier than trying to carry the pan filled with hot water and pudding all together! Bake uncovered for 1 to 1 ½ hours. Stir well after the first 30 minutes of baking, pulling the rice/custard up from the bottom.. Continue baking until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Start checking after the first full hour of cooking and remove immediately when done. Do not overcook. This is good at room temperature or chilled (I prefer it warm.)

Allow the pudding to cool for about 30 minutes.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the cooled pudding. Place under the broiler (or use a torch) until the topping is melted and bubbly.
Topping:
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Snow Ice Cream - Yummy!

Have you ever eaten snow?! We did growing up. Mom never used the first snow but as soon as we got the second snow and it's still fresh and new, she'd brush back the top layer and scoop up a big bowl of the frozen magic below. This process has to happen very fast because snow melts fast! You can also just set out a big bowl(s) when you know it's going to snow and catch it coming down. Since we don't get snow in my part of California, it may be a while before I have this again!

Snow Ice Cream     

8 - 9 cups freshly fallen snow  
1 - (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
a tiny pinch of salt
1 - teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:   
Place snow into a large bowl. Pour condensed milk over and add vanilla.  Slowly Mix to combine.  Serve and eat immediately in bowls.    

Mana's Chocolate Applesauce Cake

(Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.)

Ingredients

   CREAM together  

1/2 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar

ADD 2 eggs, 1 at a time, blending

    SIFT TOGETHER 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 c. baking cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Alternate adding dry ingredients with applesauce, beginning and ending with dry.

 2 cups unsweetened applesauce

 Mix together TOPPING:

 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

 1/2 cup chopped pecans

 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

    In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine dry ingredients; add to the creamed mixture alternately with applesauce. Pour into a greased and floured 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Yield: 16 servings.

Butter Dips

These are great served with any homemade soup. (Preheat oven 450 degrees)

1/3 c. real butter - Melt on a cookie sheet (careful not to burn)


Sift together:
2 1/4 c. flour
1 t. sugar
3 1/2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. salt

Add - stirring: 1 c. milk

Dump out on floured board and knead about 10 times.Roll 1/2" thick and cut into 1" strips using a pizza cutter.Place on buttered cookie sheet, coating both sides.


VARIATIONS:1. 1/2 c. grated cheese mixed into the dry ingredients before adding milk.2. Sprinkle garlic powder in butter.

Mana's Homemade Vanilla Pudding (with pie variations)

Mana used this for her famous and delicious banana pudding (double the recipe because this won't last long!). For banana pudding, line a deep dish with vanilla wafers then a layer of sliced bananas. After the pudding has cooled about 20 min, pour 1/2 on top of layers. Add another layer of cookies and bananas (don't forget sides!) and finish with the rest of pudding. Mana liked the vanilla wafers to get soft so she just covered with wax paper and let it sit on the counter instead of refrigerating...until it was served - it didn't last long anyway! You can also use this as a base for banana cream pie or coconut cream pie. Use about 2 more T. flour to thicken it up for pie and add sliced bananas into cooled vanilla pie filling or if making coconut cream pie, add  2 c. grated coconut; top with merangue, lightly sprinkle with coconut and brown merangue in oven. Refrigerate after cooling. Pies can be topped with meringue and then refrigerated. Each recipe makes one pie.

Mix together in a medium size pan on stove:

3/4 c. sugar
6 T. flour
dash salt

Gradually stir in the 2 1/2 c. milk

When it just starts to very lightly boil and thicken you put spoonfuls, one at a time into 2 egg yolks that have been beaten lightly (Mana did this in a 1 cup measuring cup) stirring constantly to keep the eggs from cooking too fast. After you have added about 3-4 spoonfuls of pudding and stirred into the eggs, dump in the egg/pudding mixture and turn off the heat (Don't just put the egg straight into the pan without mixing first or the egg will cook immediately and you'll have lumpy pudding.)

Add 2 T. real butter and 1-2 t. vanilla and stir in.

 

Pecan Sandies

Preheat oven to 300 degrees
(20 min. baking time)

CREAM TOGETHER:
1 c. butter (soften on the counter prior to using)
1/4 c. powdered sugar

ADD AND MIX WELL:
2 c. All-purpose flour
2 t. vanilla
1 T. water

ADD:  1 c. chopped pecans

Make into balls by rolling between palms or form into crescent shaped fingers.  Bake 20 min. on ungreased cookie sheet.  After removing from the oven, roll in powdered sugar.



Famous Mana Muffins

Mana saw a recipe for oat bran muffins she thought she'd try but after putting it together she didn't realized she had used a conglomeration of two different recipes, one for date bread, that were right beside each other in the book (as she says..."In typical Mana-fashion!").  This "mistake" became her famous Mana Muffins and are requested often by everyone in the family.

PREHEAT OVEN:  400°

Mix together:
3 packages any flavor instant oatmeal
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt


Blend together and add to dry ingredients:
3 egg whites or 2 whole eggs
1 2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. chopped dates (optional...but good!)

If the mixture is too thin, stir in about 1/4-1/2 c. regular oatmeal.

Bake in Pam sprayed muffin tins for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden brown. Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full of batter.

Mana's Double Pie Crust

2 level cups flour
stir in 1 level teaspoon salt
 2/3 cup vegetable/canola oil - then pour this into 1 cup measuring cup (use same one used for flour
Hold this cup over dry ingredients bowl and slowly pour cold milk into it until it runs over  Dump into dry ingredients and stir with a fork until blended and form roughly into a ball.Split ball in half and put that half onto large sheet of wax paper and form gently into a ball. Lay another large sheet of wax paper on top. Use pie plate and press down to flatten a bit into circular shape. Use rolling pin to roll into a circle larger than the top of pie dish to allow for depth and overlap. Careful not to get too thin. Should be pretty uniform. Peel off top paper and flip crust over onto pie dish. Gently peel off wax paper and use hands to fit down into dish hanging over side. For single crust that needs to be cooked before filling (see pie recipe), crimp and flute top edge (if you don't know how, youtube it). Bake in preheated 425 deg oven, middle rack, until lightly brown. Cool, then add filling.

For pie with top crust, roll out other ball the same as above. Put pie filling into bottom crust (leaving overhang). Add top crust. Then seal the crust by punch fluting top and bottom together. Use sharp knife to cut slits in top, or pierce with fork for venting. Bake per recipe

Don't forget making pie crust cookies with leftover dough!  Roll out. sprinkle sugar cinnamon over top, roll into a 'jellyroll". Slice roll into 1/2" cookies. Place in pie plate and bake on 425 till light golden. Cool off before you toss them in your mouth - if you can wait!

Southern Sausage Gravy

How about putting a little south in your mouth! Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits & Southern Sausage Gravy. I don't think any dish can get anymore southern than that. Breakfast on the weekends was a big deal in our house. Saturdays was usually the day I made the big country breakfast. You know the choices eggs, toast, homemade biscuits (with spicy apple butter or homemade peach preserves), bacon, sausage or country ham (the salty kind), buttered grits and scratch gravy made with sausage or bacon (I'm partial to sausage). You gotta serve this over split piping hot homemade skillet buttermilk biscuits (you'll find the recipe in my blog).

Ingredients:
1 - 16 oz roll breakfast sausage - 8 oz works just as well
1/4 - cup flour
1 - cup water
1 - cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Crumble and cook sausage in large skillet over medium heat until browned. If the sausage does not render enough drippings you can add 2-3 tablespoon of shortening or bacon grease. Stir in flour until dissolved (this makes a kind of roux). Mix the milk and water together and gradually stir in one cup of milk mixture to the sausage.

When the gravy starts to thicken add the remaining cup of milk mixture and continue stirring. Cook gravy until thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper.

NOTE:  A roux is a mixture of equal parts of oil, butter, or fat renderings and flour. The roux mixture is cooked at least three to five minutes over low heat to remove the raw flavor of the flour, then the liquid is added which thickens into the gravy. The roux method is least likely to produce lumpy gravy.

To make a roux gravy, the basic formula is 2 tablespoons fat, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1 cup of liquid to equal 1 cup of gravy. It's the bones of just about any gravy.

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Ingredients

Add 2  cups uncooked regular long-grain white rice to 4 c. water and  1 t. salt. Bring to a boil uncovered. As soon as it begins to boil, cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes without lifting lid. Steam cooks the rice so keeping the lid tight is important (don't use a lid with vent). Remove from heat but don't uncover for 5 minutes as steam continues to cook the rice. 

While rice is cooking and using a very large skillet (I use my iron skillet):

Melt 6 tablespoon butter on medium heat and add 1 large chopped onion and 4 stalks chopped celery. Saute till tender. 

Add to sauteed veges over low heat and stir as cheese melts:

1 loaf (16 oz) Velveeta cheese product, cut into cubes 

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup 

2/3 cup milk 

1 teaspoon pepper (you may not need any salt, so taste first. Your rice was salted and velveeta contains salt.)

2 cups fresh broccoli florets (1/2 inch) (or you can use frozen,thawed) 

Put in greased casserole and add optional topping.

1 cup fine soft bread crumbs (about 1 1/2 slices bread) optional topping

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish (larger if doubling recipe) with cooking spray. Cook rice in water as directed on package.

Meanwhile, in very large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in cheese, soup, milk and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.

Stir in broccoli and rice. Spoon into greased or sprayed casserole baking dish. In small bowl, mix bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon melted butter; sprinkle over rice mixture.

Bake uncovered 30 to 35 minutes or until light brown on top and bubbly around edges.

I usually double this recipe because it's so good and leftovers are awesome!

Mom's Best Christmas Cookies (Cheryl)

Cream together:

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. softened butter

Add:

2 beaten eggs

1 t. vanilla

Add:

3 c. flour

3 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

Add alternately with 1 cup cream.  Chill and roll out with flour.

Bake 350 degrees oven. Decorate

Wassil Mom's

 6 c apple cider and 1 cinnamon stick simmered for 5 min

add and simmer for 5 more min:

2 1/2 c pineapple juice

1/4 c honey

1/2 t nutmeg

3 T lemon juice

1 t grated Lemon peel

Float orange slices in it when served