Snickers Bar Cookies Recipe - So I Won't Lose It Again!!

My husband found this recipe on the old company website many years ago and it is one of my favorites for times when I need a dish to pass.  I can't make them for us as I would eat them all and even freezing them didn't prevent that!!

"Snickers" Bar Cookies

Ingredients:

•  bag choc chips
• chocolate cake mix
• 14 oz caramels
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup peanuts
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk. 

Melt caramel in the sweetened condensed milk. Mix cake mix and melted butter.  Bake half of this cake mix and butter in the bottom of 9 x 13 pan for 6 min at 350 degrees.  Spread choc chips, caramel mixture and peanuts on the top of this.  Then add the rest of the cake mix concoction on top.  Bake 20 minutes -- check that cake mix is cooked.  

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Zucchini Nut Bread

The following is a recipe which I got a long time ago from a neighbor when I lived out in the country.  I can barely read it anymore so thought I would post it for posterity (and so I will always be able to find it!)  It is sinfully good and a great use for zucchini.  For the batch I did today, I actually used zucchini that I had grated several years ago and thrown in the freezer.  I was afraid that it would suffer from freezer burn as we discovered the container when defrosting the freezer a couple of weeks ago but it tastes as good as usual.  It is great by itself but even better toasted with a bit of butter on it.  This is a repeat of a recipe I posted a long time ago but for a smaller amount!

It is a little early in the season for zucchini but I look forward to it later this summer!






Recipe for Zucchini Nut Bread  (2 loaves)                                              350 degrees

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sale

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini squash

1/2 cup walnuts
1 tbsp flour

1.  Mix first five ingredients in a mixing bowl.

2.  In a separate bowl, beat 3 eggs and then add the sugar, oil and vanilla.

3.  Mix chopped walnuts with the 1 tbsp flour

4.  Slowly add flour mixture into the egg mixture and then add the zucchini squash.  Add chopped walnuts which you have tossed with the tbsp of flour..

5.  Pour into two prepared loaf pans (coated with shortening or butter and dust with flour).

5.  Bake for a hour at 350 degrees.  Check with a broom straw which should come out clean when inserted in the highest part.  Cook an additional 10 minutes if wet.

This is a Cabbage White butterfly entertaining me while sitting outside on a nice summer day (a rarity this year!).

A hungry House Finch next door taking his fill!  I also saw a Tufted Titmouse but couldn't get a good picture as he flitted and hid behind tree leaves!

Shrimp -- My Way

Funny how my two favorite shrimp recipes are obviously southern in origin but came to me by very different routes! The Jimbalaya recipe was one of the first things my husband found on the local company internet back when the internet was really new. We changed it a bit and it has been a family favorite ever since. We always make it when shrimp is available.


Jimbalaya

2-4 cloves garlic
1 cup of sausage cooked (I like Jimmy Dean's Hot Sausage best but to be true should use andouille sausage)
1 cup of shrimp
1 cup of cooked chicken cut into small pieces
1/2 cup diced celery
2 cups canned tomato sauce
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it real spicy)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper

Chop up the garlic and cook (in a little olive oil) with the diced celery until a little browned. Add all the rest of the ingredients (I might pre-cook the shrimp as well just to get rid of some of the liquid) and cook for about 15 minutes. Then serve over rice. I generally double or triple the recipe and freeze the leftovers which taste even better the second time.


This second recipe is adapted from an old edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook and is one of our favorites. It has a nice clean taste and if you add a little more water, might be a good soup as well!

Shrimp Creole

1 medium onion diced
1/2 cup green or red pepper (whole pepper)
1/4 cup diced celery (I generally use more)
1 bay leaf crushed
1 tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne (I generally use more but show some caution here!)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 cups water
2 cups cooked shrimp (1 1/2 lbs of shrimp)

Cook onion and celery in olive oil until soft. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook for about 30 minutes. Add shrimp and cook on low for about ten minuntes. Serve over rice. I generally use brown rice these days! Of course like the former, I generally double or triple this recipe and freeze the leftovers for future treats!

A blog is a great place to keep some of your favorite recipes if your filing system is anything like mine!!

Hopefully, I will have some sewing pictures before too long. My kitties have decided that the sewing room and my sewing table are their favorite of all places and make sewing almost impossible. Of course they only come up when I am attempting to sew....

My Maiden Name was Baker...Therefore I Bake

What's in a name? Well, I loved baking breads long before it was in vogue -- back when you had to struggle to find yeast in the grocery stores! In keeping with my adding some of my favorite recipes to my blog, I have added some breads today (although my favorite sweet roll recipe was posted some time ago).

My Very Favorite Danish/Coffee Bread Recipe

1 envelope yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup heavy cream (I have substituted skim evaporated milk with no difference in taste)
1/4 cup evaporated milk
3 egg yolks beaten
3 1/3 cups of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix in the cream and egg yolks, salt and sugar. Mix in the 3 1/3 cups of flour. Add a little more flour if too sticky.
Roll out and spread the 1/2 cup butter over the dough and fold up and over until it fits into a bowl. Let it rise til double in a warmish place (hour - hour and half).

The above is the basic recipe. My favorite use of this dough is for Swedish Tea Ring.

1 cup walnuts finely chopped
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
egg whites

Roll out the dough to a large rectangle as thin as you can get it. Spread the butter all over and then spread the mix of the walnuts and cinnamon. and roll up and twist around to form a circle. Mix the egg whites with a little water and then spread over the top of the rolled up circle. Make slits about every two inches. Let rise again until double in size (about 1/2 hour).

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees until nice and brown on top!!

Oatmeal Bread

This recipe is from a 1944 version of Betty Crocker and is courtesy of a very old friend's mother. I had this bread in her kitchen and had to have the recipe!

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups Rolled Oats

1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 tbsp shortening

1 pkg yeast
1/4 cup warm water

3 - 3 1/4 cups flour


Cook those first three ingredients and then cool. Mix in everything but the flour. Then add the flour until the dough is fairly stiff.

Let dough rise until double (about an hour and a half). Divide into loaves and then let rise again until double. Loaves should fill up about half the size of the pan. I usually put a piece of greased plastic over the pans while the dough is rising. Let rise until when you poke it, it stays down. Cook at 325 for 40-45 minutes depending upon how big a loaf pan you use. I usually use two smaller loaf pans as opposed to a large one.

This bread is really delicious I think. That's why I rarely make it anymore!

I only make the first one for giveaways at group parties as it is much too good to have lying around the house.

Tomorrow I will try to put up my favorite shrimp dish recipes (Creole and Jimbalaya). We have been loving the Gulf shrimp that I purchased at our local market (Palmer's in Rochester for anyone around here). The shrimp are about 1 oz each and are delicious. I am one of those weird people that has seafood allergies and Gulf shrimp are the only shrimp I can eat without consequences! I still try to limit it though so I don't develop an allergy to this one as well.

Sour Cherries are in Season - YUM!!

Well, we have already pitted 8 quarts of sour cherries and made two pies! Warren bought a new cherry pitter this year and it did an awesome job of pitting the cherries in record time and with minimum splatter! The pies were so good, we are off today to pick up two more pecks (16 quarts more). There was a bumper crop of cherries this year but there were three series of very damaging hail storms which hurt the apple crop here even more than the cherries. Some of the cherries have dings, but who cares for pies!

My cherry pies are in great demand amongst my friends and neighbors which is crazy since they are from a very basic beginner cookbook (Betty Crocker). (I suspect they just don't want to pit the cherries and flattery is everything!) This year, I have been substituting more and more Splenda for the sugar to see if there is a point when you can detect a difference. I have successfully replaced 2/3 of the sugar and there is absolutely no difference in the consistency or the taste of the pies! The next one will be 100% Splenda substitution. It certainly helps with the calories and point values for those of us doing Weight Watchers! It would be even better if I eliminated that top crust but just wouldn't be cherry pie to me anymore!

Recipe for Cherry Pie (Betty Crocker with Beth's changes) - 9 inch

4 cups pitted sour cherries
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup Splenda (not the blend)
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp almond extract

Mix together and put into prepared pie crust and cover with another. Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes covering the edge of the pie crust for the first 30 minutes.

I have eliminated the butter and 1 cup of the sugar for this recipe.


This is Warren with the cherry pitter. We managed to do two pecks (16 quarts) in less than 2 hours! Pretty impressive! We got it down to a system between the two of us.
This is the first six quarts which will mean 6 cherry pies this winter. Our freezer is now full to overflowing with these cherries! I figure I have enough for about 20 pies still!

More Recipes

Well, I am taking several of my recipes down on our long trip ahead so thought I would post them as well so I will never forget them! I have most of my recipes stored on my old outdated computer which is upstairs and takes forever to load up!

Anyway, here is my sweet yeast bread recipe. I have substituted soy milk for real milk (for someone lactose intolerant) in this recipe and it was just fine.

Sweet Rolls

1/2 cup warm (NOT HOT) water and 2 pkgs yeast. Dissolve for 5 minutes
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening (melted and cooled down)
7 - 7/12 cups flour (bread flour is even better)

Mix all the above, adding the flour little by little. It should completely come away from the side of the bowl at the end. Knead for a bit and then place in a greased bowl and cover with a piece of plastic (you might spread some shortening on the top so it won't stick). Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours. Punch down the mixture. There is enough to make about 3 dozen rolls. I split it into 3 bunches about the same and one I roll out flat as I can and spread on light layer of margarine or butter and sprinkle a cinnamon/sugar mixture and then roll up. I then cut and make pinwheels. I also roll out, butter and cut into 1 1/2 inch wide strips which I then stack and then place sideways into muffin pans -- you get these great pull apart rolls. I also roll the dough out into a big circle and cut into 12 sections, butter, and then roll up to make crousants.  Then let rise for another half an hour and then bake.There are a million variations here!

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until nicely browned on top.  I usually check after about 10 minutes to see how they are doing.Cool before storing.


Oatmeal Crisps (or Oatmeal cookies) Farm Journal Cookie Cookbook

2 cups butter (1 lb)
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

3 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

6 cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups raisins

Combine first four ingredients and beat until fluffy. Mix together the next three and slowly add to the mixture. Slowly beat in the oats and then add in the raisins last. This makes a lot of cookies (14 dozen)!! This dough keeps nicely in a plastic container in the refrigerator so you can make a dozen at a time.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Cream together butter and sugar and then add eggs and beat. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Alternate adding in the flour mixture and the mashed bananas until all added. Stir in the walnuts. Spray or grease loaf pans (medium sized) and then flour. Pour in the batter which should come up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes. Test by inserting a straw which should come out reasonably clean.

I usually double this recipe and make four loaves.

Two of My Favorite Recipes for Crockpot Cooking - Both Pretty Spicey!

This is a picture of the completed chili in a container waiting to take up residence in Lisa's freezer.

Well, here are two of my favorite crockpot recipes. Neither was originally for crockpots but it is so much easier to cook them that way than to stand over the stove adjusting the heat every ten minutes. The longest part is the slicing and dicing I do ahead of time. I also tend to precook meats as I don't like the slime that forms on top of the crockpot if you cook them from scratch there. For what they are worth, here is my CHILI recipe:

Large crockpot (5/12 quart to 6 quart)
2 lbs of ground turkey
2 lbs of lean round, sliced into thin strips about two inches long
2 peppers (I like red and orange ones and sometimes add another one as well), chopped
2 large onions chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 16 oz cans of plain tomato sauce
1 can of water (rinse out those cans)
6 tbsp chile powder (it's not too hot)
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tsps cumin
1 tbsp salt (adjust to your requirements)
1 1/2 tsps oregano

2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans pinto beans(drained and rinsed)

Cut up all the veggies and put on the bottom of the crockpot. Cook the strips of beef and ground turkey until no longer red in olive oil (very little). Add into the crockpot and then put everything but the beans into the crockpot and cook for about four hours on high. Then add the cans of beans and give it a stir and cook on low for another 3 or 4 hours. Look at during the latter time to see if you think it is done. It tastes best when reheated for some reason.

I like to serve it with some shredded cheddar or Monterrey Jack (or both) cheese on top and some corn chips. We have also used it to make nachos as it gets pretty thick over time. It is relatively lean because of the turkey and lean beef but you could put regular beef in instead of the turkey. We substitute turkey for about everything we used to use ground beef for -- we actually like the taste better and I don't get my normal beef night sweats!!

BEEF CURRY -- Probably Vindaloo

2 lbs lean beef cut into one inch chunks
2 cups beef stock
1 cinnamin stick
6 whole cloves
1 sq inch of ginger root
1 tsp chili powder
1-2 tbsp curry powder
5 Cardamom seeds (the contents of)
1 onion, sliced up
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 tbsps of ketchup or tomato sauce (this breaks down the beef faster)
Salt and black pepper to taste

Coat the beef with thin dusting of flower in a bag. Brown in olive oil until you don't see red. Brown onion and garlic in the leftover- add some olive oil if need be. I actually two cups of water here and use this as my beef stock. At this point I throw everything in the crockpot and let it cook on high for four or five hours and then taste to see if the beef is tender. I make sure that the stock covers the beef. This is another one that tastes better reheated. I serve it with Basmati Rice (a wonderful nutty rice but brown rice would be good too) and Nan (an Indian bread) if I can find it.

Quilts and Zucchini Nut Bread Recipe

The meeting was great and involves raising funds for the Women's Health Partnership which is a non-profit affiliated with U of R which gets grants to pay for mammograms and Pap smears for women who do not have the wherewithall to do it on their own. The grants pay for a very minimal staff as well. The problem is that there are no funds for the "in between" times when a woman gets a positive test and has to have a retest or when she needs to get immediate medical attention. Medicaid just doesn't work that fast so they need funds for the interim. They literally are the most frugal operation I have seen.

Their idea is to have a number of fundraisers including quilt challenge with a specific fabric with the theme of Tree of Life. The people on this committee didn't know anything about quilting so they asked my friend Peg and she got me involved as well to help them implement their idea. They would then ask the quilters to contribute their pieces to be auctioned off to the doctors and other providers who support this worthwhile cause. Wouldn't it be nice to have a quilt hanging in an office somewhere? Would give you some visibility for your art! They will have the show of these quilts as part of the Webster Village Days next year as Scarlet Threads has offered up part of their space to support this project and show the results. There will be other projects they are working on as well as part of their fund raising attempts.




Today is downright dreary -- a welcome relief from all the glorious weather we have been having! (Just joking, folks!) In going over to pick some zucchinis from my neighbor's garden, I stopped to take a picture of my perfect hibiscus and Joe's new fountain.
For those of you who know, Joe lives next door and has wonderful gardens 8 months a year. I did yet another batch of zucchini nut bread and provide the recipe here for your perusal (it is from my neighbor Terry Seweryniack in Batavia and is always a favorite).



Zucchini Nut Bread (4 loaves in 4 1/2, 8 1/2 x 2 5/8 loaf pans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spray coat or grease the loaf pans

Mix together in a bowl and set aside:

6 cups flour
4 tsps cinnamon
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Beat together:

6 eggs
4 cups sugar

Add:

2 cups cooking oil
2 tbsps vanilla extract

4 cups shredded zucchini with skin
1 cup chopped walnuts

Shred approximately two fairly large zucchini whole (don't remove the skin) into nice grated zucchini. You will need 4 cups (or a little more if you want) of the grated zucchini.

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the zucchini and just mix til moistened (don't beat). After all is in (it takes a large bowl -- fills my Kitchenaid bowl to the top), mix 1 cup of chopped walnuts coated with about a tbsp of flour into the mixture. Pour 1/4 of the mixture into each pan. Will fill it up about 3/4 of the way.

Bake for approximately 1 hour and five minutes. I use aluminum pans so if yours aren't you might want to add a little time. If you use smaller pans, less time; larger pans, more time. Just check. This is a nice very moist cakey bread.