Ruse's Toffee

I was just making some of this while on the phone with Abby, and we decided that it needed to be posted here (because she lost her copy of the recipe, but we won't get into that), so here it is!

It's a pretty flexible recipe. If you don't like nuts, leave them out. If you love nuts put them in it and sprinkle them on top. If you love almonds, use almonds, likewise with pecans, walnuts, etc. Like it thick? Use a smaller pan. Like it thin? Spread it thin on a sheet of foil. Love chocolate? Spread chocolate on the top, let it harden, flip it and spread more on the bottom (If it's flipped that would be the top again though wouldn't it? We could call it "the new top", right? To avoid confusion, you know.) . Sprinkle the chocolate with nuts, crushed peppermint candies, sea salt (any of you into the "salted caramel" fad?), chopped/melted white chocolate, and etc and so on.

I should also say that when I come across a recipe that calls for "toffee bits", those bags are expensive folks (!), so I use this stuff chopped up fine. I haven't had any problems with that yet.


You need:
1 c butter
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 T corn syrup (I eyeball it, no need for sticky measuring spoons)
3T water 1 c chopped nuts
1- 1 1/2 c chocolate chips, milk or semi-sweet (original recipe calls for "melted Hershey's bars". Yeah, right.)

In a decent sized sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in sugar, syrup and water. Cook to hard crack (290 degrees) stage. It's easiest to clip a candy thermometer to your pan, but because I always break the glass in those, I use a digital thermometer. I ruin those less frequently. I just stir it every once in a while as I do some other work in the kitchen. I read that over-stirring is a big factor in candy failure. Sounds good to me! I like less hands-on. ; )

I like to line a pan with foil, so I can do multiple batches back to back using the same pan, otherwise just grab a plain old 9x13 and this is the best part: you don't need to grease it! I knew all that butter was in there for a reason.

When your candy is at temperature add the nuts if your going to, or sprinkle them in the bottom of your pan if that's your thing, or leave them out if nuts aren't your thing at all. Pour in the toffee, spread it all out (don't you LOVE these wonderful silicone spatulas?!?). Sprinkle it with chocolate. When the chips melt, spread them, lick the spoon, and let the whole thing cool until the chocolate hardens. If you are in a hurry you might want to stick it into the refrigerator, the chocolate doesn't harden fast. That was an understatement.

Now as long as none of you try passing this out to the Hansens for Christmas, we're all set.

Candy Cane Ice Cream Topping

Break out the ice cream everyone! Even our non-peppermint-eating-girls ("It's too hot") liked this one (it is pink after all). I've looked at this recipe for years in one of my Country Woman Christmas books, but Sunday night was the first time I tried it.

James and I were both needing peppermint sauce (and I DID TOO say it first, James! I know I did!), so after a hopeless internet search (page wouldn't load) I started going through the books.

It was even better than we hoped for. Tonight we're going to try it over cheesecake at Tina's birthday party!

1- 1 1/2 c well crushed candy canes/peppermint candies
7 oz marshmallow cream/ marshmallows
3/4 c cream

Cook all ingredients together in a sauce pan over low-medium heat until melted. We pretty much stirred the whole time to keep the candy from all sticking to the bottom of the pan. At some point it always turns into this scary candy clump in marshmallow syrup, but keep stirring and it will all combine. This has a sort of marshmallow taffy texture after it cools. James wants me to see if I could roll it into balls and dip them to make peppermint truffles, but I think it will soften too much at room temp, or (horror of horrors) while being dipped. I gotta say it's really good with hot fudge/chocolate truffle sauce though!

I expect Abby to have this made by tomorrow night.

P.S. I'm Becky.

Peppermint Sugar Cookies!!

My Mother-in-law makes sugar cookies every Christmas that EVERYONE loves! Even I like them, and sugar cookies generally aren't my favorite due to a lack of... well... chocolate :D. Heh heh, what can I say? Anyways, every Christmas I dutifully make one batch of sugar cookies for Alex because that's what you do at Christmastime. And every Christmas I look anxiously at him awaiting his judgment... and then every Christmas he says, "They're good... just not like my Mom's." What on earth?!? I use her recipe! I have concluded that she bakes love right into them, and you can taste it :).

So this year I studied up on cool cookie decorating techniques, different recipes, and all kinds of stuff. I got excited about baking sugar cookies! And... I came up with my own version that Alex loves!!! WOOHOO!!! Not that it replaces his Mom's cookies. It is different, and can't really be compared with hers... due to the addition of... well... chocolate :). Are you all ready for the recipe?
Peppermint Sugar Cookies
1 cup softened butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 3/4 cups flour
Cream butter and sugar together. Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing well after each one. Refrigerate dough 2 hours. Roll out, cut, and bake at 400* for 8-10 minutes (less if you roll them thin) on lightly greased cookie sheets.

Embellishments:
Brown dipping chocolate
White dipping chocolate
Crushed candy canes

Because my snowflake cookie cutter (see top picture) turned the cookies into flowers when baked, I wanted to turn them back into snowflakes (I'm trying to think Christmas thoughts even if it IS 72 degrees out today!). So I dipped the top of the cookie into the brown chocolate, plopped it down on wax paper and sprinkled the crushed candy cane on before the chocolate hardened. Then with white chocolate in a plastic bag with the corner cut off, I drew a snowflakeish design on the tops. They look pretty snazzy! In my humble opinion :).

Just think... you too, could have mountains of cookies in your kitchen very soon! This recipe makes quite a lot!

The Finished Product:

Note: To switch this back to the original recipe, simply substitute vanilla for the peppermint extract, and add 1/2 tsp nutmeg. They're good that way too... especially if you figure out how to bake love into them!

Chocolate Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans

12 c. popped corn (1/2c kernels or 2 bags of microwave)

1 c. roughly chopped pecans

1 c. brown sugar

3/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 c. corn syrup or honey

1/2 c. butter

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla

1/2-1 c. chocolate chips

Preaheat oven to 250. Place popcorn and pecans in a large bowl and set aside. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big microwave safe bowl. Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar. Pour the corn syrup over the top. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir to combine. Microwave for 2 more minutes until bubbly. Add vanilla and baking soda. Stir the caramel mixture into the popcorn. Spread onto a foil covered cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every ten. Let a piece cool and test for crunchiness. If necessary bake longer. Melt your chocolate and drizzle over the popcorn. Cool.

This recipe is from Our Best Bites. The only changes I make is a little more cinnamon, and as many pecans as you feel like cracking. The more the better in my opinion. Oh, and the original calls for white chocolate which is basically unavailable around here, so we use regular chocolate. Mmm! Hey, I think I might make this for the Church's New Year's party!

(I stole the picture from our best bites since I don't have any of my own)

Chewy Brownie Cookies

2/3 c. shortening

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1 T. water

1 t. vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. cocoa

1/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 c. chocolate chips

Mix the shortening, sugar, water and vanilla until well blended. Add the eggs and beat well. Combine the dry ingredients, then mix together until just blended. Add the chocolate chips. place on an ungreased cookie tray. Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes. Do not over bake! They will appear light and soft. Cool on the tray for a minute before removing.

Another recipe you probably all have, but it wasn't on here yet! We were planning on doing these, but for some odd reason we could not find chocolate chips anywhere. So we made them anyway using chopped pecans instead of the chocolate chips. Good, but I think they would be better with both. Very popular around here!

Christmas time is here!!!

I know everyone probably already has this recipe memorized, but just for the sake of future Harry girls and those of us with failing memories, I thought I would put it on here anyway. Besides, it's one of the few things I've been making recently and I would like my voice to be heard occasionally (for Becky's sake) =).

Chocolate Cheesecake Truffles

8oz. cream cheese (room temp)

1 package of Oreo's

Almond bark dipping chocolate

Throw the cookies in the blender, and press on. Pulverize those little puppies! If you find any chunks that escaped - eat them! Toss the pulverized puppies... I mean cookies into a bowl with the cream cheese and mix thoroughly. Roll them into 1" balls (or whatever size you prefer) and put on waxed paper. You might need to refrigerate them for a little while - before or after the rolling, depending on how soft your cream cheese was. Melt your chocolate in your preferred method - microwave, double boiler, chocolate melter, etc., until a nice runny consistency. DO NOT OVERHEAT!!!!

I usually do two 45 second intervals for three blocks of the chocolate. If you overheat it, your nice runny chocolate will suddenly start forming dry clumps, that will not re-melt, making it good only for eating, or the trash (yes, I speak from lots of personal experience. If you're using the double boiler make sure you do not get any liquid in there. I can't remember what happens if you do - not as much experience with that one, thankfully!

Dip your balls into the chocolate (don't let it sit in there too long), and then replace on the waxed paper. I usually use a fork, to pull it out, and sort of let it slide off the end to leave it looking as loverly as possible. The good news is, that no matter how ugly they are, they still taste amazing!

I also like to use some of the white dipping chocolate and drizzle the tops. It helps to cover up any possible errors with the other chocolate, besides making them look absolutely stunning, so that no one will believe you made them yourself!

Quesadillas!

So this morning was another 11:55 "Aak!! What am I making for lunch?!?" day. Yeah, I don't think any of you have a big problem like I do: Alex comes home at noon and is due back at work at 1! It's horrible! Heh heh. So the point is, I didn't know what to fix today. Then I remembered I had tortillas (no, NOT homemade!) in the fridge. So I grabbed those out, grabbed my trusty Sams Club sized bag of cheddar cheese, a pound of precooked burger from the freezer, and set to work. I'll bet you'll never guess what we had! Oh wait! I told you in the subject. Oh well. So we had quesadillas. Only these were different quesadillas. First I waaaay overspiced the meat in my haste (ALWAYS look at a recipe if you have this same tendancy... yeah, I've done it before). So in an attempt to rectify that, I thought sour cream would be perfect with it, right? Well, we were out! So I grabbed out some homemade plain yogurt. Voila! Alex liked it so much that he said I needed to post it on here! Titus seemed to love it too. "Mwah yogyert Mom?" Recipe:
several tortillas
some cooked hamburger
lots of cayenne
lots of chili powder
a bit of onion powder
salt
lots of cheese
plain yogurt

Directions:
sprinkle burger liberally with cayenne and chili powder, and moderately with onion powder and salt. Taste several times, think it needs something more, and add more cayenne and chili powder. Taste one more time, think it still needs someth.... AAK!!! WATER WATER!!! No help... gasp gasp gasp... more water!! Um.... yogurt!!... deep breaths... Whew! Where were we? Ah yes, spread some burger on a tortilla (only a teensy if its for Titus) and sprinkle liberally with cheese. Top with another tortilla and plop on frying pan. Cook over low heat turning once so both sides are browned and the cheese is all melty. Snip into quarters (or smaller for children) and serve with yogurt.

Titus loves "yogyert" so he picked up his little bowl and drank out of it... you can see the bowl shaped ring by his mouth that goes all the way up on his forehead :).

And that, my dear ladies, is our fantastic quesadilla recipe. I shall attempt to duplicate it in popularity in the future, however hopefully NOT in the spicyness!

Quadruple Butter Cresent Rolls

*Now (11-28-17) with updated information!!

These rolls are dedicated to Abby, who asked for the recipe. Too bad she didn't get any. : )

The original recipe comes from an antique Fanny Farmer cookbook. Have you ever noticed that all Fanny Farmer cookbooks have different recipes in them? Between the 2 I own, and the one Mom has, are 3 very different collections of recipes. So, this one comes from the old, hard cover, beat-up one, not the split-in-half, fally-aparty paperback one. 😊

I always abuse my bread machine for this recipe and make a double batch, because a single batch is hardly worth the time. Not that this is more time consuming than any other recipe, they are just so good that leftovers are not an issue. (No, it's more the "HEY!  He took the last one!" fights that are the problem.)  It's also nice that the butter in these reduces the dryness issues that can strike day old bread.

I shall give you a single batch recipe, and allow you to decide for yourself if you want to double it in your bread machine or not.

1 c very warm milk or hot water +1/3 c milk powder (If you're too lazy to heat milk. Kind of like me.)  (By the way, I always make all my bread-machine recipes with HOT tap water.)
1/4 c sugar
2 T butter (I slice mine up so it will melt quicker) *I now use about 2 T of coconut oil instead of the butter here.

1 heaping t salt
3 c flour
1 T yeast
...Plus additional butter, NOT to be mixed in the dough.

Chuck it all in your bread machine in the order listed. (More or less.)  Run the machine on the dough setting, but keep an eye on it if you are doubling it because it will literally raise the lid on your machine. I just (if I'm actually keeping an eye on it) pull it out when it has risen to the top of the dough pan. More or less.

Shape option #1 is just normal, round rolls placed in a greased round cake, 8x8 or 9x9 pan or whatever. I get 12-18 out of a single batch.

Shape option #2 is the one pictured here, and gives you the most chances to add butter.  (And seems to be everyone's favorite.)  Divide dough in half (I do thirds when doubling this recipe).  Lightly oil your work surface and smush the dough out into circles and spread with butter. I split a 1/4 cup between 3 circles for my doubled recipe, so it really doesn't take a lot. Cut into 8-12 "pizza slices" (using a pizza cutter) per circle.  Roll each slice from the wide ("pizza crust") end of the triangle and place on a well-greased (I grease my pan with coconut oil for beautiful "buttery", slightly crispy bottoms.) cookie sheet or something WITH SIDES (unless you like butter burning on your oven floor).  I pack my double batches into a half-sheet pan/big cookie sheet.  
Let the rolls rise for about 20 minutes before heating the oven. (When I need rolls in a major hurry, I just heat and bake.)
Bake these at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes, or until golden.  Give them a few minutes to absorb the butter puddles, during which thou shalt brush the tops with melted butter (or do as I do and unwrap the end of a stick of butter and "color" them like you're using a crayon). It's the secret to making them beautifully shiny and soft.

Aaaand... DIVE IN!!!

So, I figure that if you put butter in it when you eat it, it becomes a quadruple buttered roll. Not that the final buttering is in the slightest needed, and there are plenty of times when I tell the kids NO butter! These are already buttered., but sometimes we are driven to extremes. And that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Layered Spinach Supreme

Ok I don't have a pic of this yet because I didn't make it just this morning but it is a easy and tasty breakfast dish for those of you that are wanting something that will be quick.

1 Cup Baking mix
1/4 milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 PKG (10oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4-8oz Monterey Jack cheese cut into 1/2 cubes
1 Carton (12 oz) creamed cottage cheese
1/2 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 eggs

Heat oven to 375*. Grease rectangular baking dish 9x12. Mix baking mix, milk, 2 eggs, and onion. Spread evenly in dish. Mix remaining ingredients. Spoon evenly over batter in dish. Bake until set about 30-40 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

To round out the breakfast you can also serve apple wedges with
Apple dip
8 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup brown sugar
1stp vanilla

Pumpkins snack muffins

This is a fall favorite at our house!

2 1/2 cups flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 3/4 cup solid pack pumpkin
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups chopped nuts (optional)
2 cups butterscotch morsels, divided (optional)

Mix all ingredients except for 1 cup walnuts and 1 cup morsels. Spoon mixture into muffin tins, top with 1 TBSP of nut/morsel mixture. Bake at 350* for 20-23 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool. yeilds 18 muffins

The reason I state that the nuts and morsels are optional is because Matthew is not fond of everything having "chunks of chocolate" in them. When I brought them down for his breakfast this morning he was delighted that I had forgotten to buy the morsels and had chosen not to include the nuts. They are delishes no matter how you bake them! Enjoy!!!

Gorditas, Anyone?

This is made similarly to my Stovetop Pizza (see post below). I made flatbread on the stove for lunch the other day and Alex commented that it reminded him of Taco Bell's gorditas. That sounded really delicious to me so a couple nights later I made it again, along with all the taco fixings. It turned out delicious, if I do say so myself :). Bread:
1 1/2 cups warm water
! Tbs sugar
1 Tbs yeast
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour

Either pile ingredients in your bread machine OR stir together water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit about 5 minutes, then stir in salt and flour. I mixed it in my Kitchenaid and used it right away without any rising time. Just smoosh it out flat, cook in frying pan over med-low heat until lightly browning on one side. Flip and cook on other side. Pile on taco toppings and gobble it all up. Hope y'all enjoy!!

Pizza Variation & What To Do On Friday Night When Your Oven Is Broken

As you may have guessed from the title, our oven has been out of order. Fortunately the part we needed arrived in today's mail and it is fixed, thus freeing me to make Becky's PB filled brownies! I will let you all know how they are tomorrow, hopefully. Anyway, back to the no oven problem: Friday night is pizza night around here (at least in our house!) and we really stick to that tradition. So I reverted back to Stovetop Pizza, a solution I discovered the last time our oven broke. Basically you smoosh out your favorite pizza crust dough approximately the size of your frying pan. Use enough oil to keep it from sticking and plop it right on in there. Turn the heat on... about medium-lowish. When it is cooked and browning on one side, flip it over, pile on your toppings, pop the lid on and cook until the cheese is melty or you smell something burning. YUM!! This particular pizza flavor variation is my new favorite: cheeseburger pizza! You need:
Ketchup
Mustard
Cooked ground beef
Bacon bits
Dill pickles
Cheddar Cheese

Optional:
Lettuce
Diced tomato
Onion (chopped)
Anything else that sounds good on a burger!

Squirt your ketchup & mustard on the crust and mix together as you spread them around. Pile on other toppings (except lettuce) and bake. I think the pickles make this pizza really stand out, so try not to forget them! YUM! This pizza is the Bomb! :)

The Invincible Rolls

These are nice and fluffy rolls! Last night my oven decided not to heat up, so as a last resort I plopped them in a lightly greased frying pan, threw on a lid and cooked them on low heat, turning them once. They still turned out delicious!!! We also have greatly enjoyed them baked... and its a LOT less stressful to bake them, so I would encourage you all to try the baked version if you have the opportunity and resources necessary :D! Buttery Rolls 1/2 cup warm milk 1/4 cup softened butter 2 Tbs sugar 1 egg 3/4 tsp salt 2 cups flour 1 tsp yeast Place all ingredients in bread machine and run the dough setting. When cycle is done, divide into 12 portions, shape into balls, and place in a greased 8x8 baking dish. Let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes, then bake at 375* for 13-16 minutes or until golden brown. Note: this is technically only a half recipe, so I can promise it will double easily!

Months of Menus

Anybody want to know what we are eating for the next month or two? Mom and Abby said they were curious, so...
In September I started doing menus a month or 2 at a time. I'm flexible, I don't always do what's written down, but it gives me an idea to start from. Just know that if you show up thinking you'll be joining us for beans and sow belly, the menu may have changed!
I printed calendar pages and then filled them in during a 4 hour internet session. These things take time. But it's done now!
OK, Thursdays night James and I usually go out, so those nights I/the kids serve easy kid food.
Friday nights are pizza night. 52 nights a year. Year in and year out. We have quite a list of "interesting" pizza variations, and we scatter them throughout.
Planning easy, fast, quick clean-up Sunday meals is something new I'm working on.
And last but not least, holidays make us eat differently. You know, I'm trying not to serve a lot of chicken right before Thanksgiving. We also eat more beef that many people because we buy 1/2 a cow from the Wakemans, and it is not only available, but some of the cleanest, most nutritious food I have available.
OK, I know I said "last", but I also have to explain that I "rediscovered" RealMomKitchen in planning these menus, so they are kinda heavy that direction, but she does a lot of our kind of cooking, so I like her. Normally we are heavy Pioneer Woman, Our Best Bites and Southern Plate eaters. Oh yeah, I tend to change recipes a lot: cheaper, homemade-ier, healthier, and what I have on hand.

November:
Mon. 1- Teriyaki Chicken, rice
Tues. 2- Josh's birthday
Wed. 3- *Tostadas
Thurs. 4- Tacos (night out)
Fri. 5- ?Pizza?
Sat. 6- ?anniversary trip?
Sun.7- Grilled chicken and Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole
Mon. 8- *Rueben Casserole
Tues. 9- *Green Chili Quiche, *Sour cream Coffee Cake, Sausage
Wed. 10- PW Chicken Sandwiches
Thurs. 11- Sloppy Joes (night out)
Fri. 12- Pizza
Sat. 13- "Torquitos"
Sun. 14- *Creamy Chicken & Rice Soup or *this one
Mon. 15- Burgers, Fries
Tues. 16- Mexican Cornbread
Wed. 17- Roast beef and mashed potatoes
Thurs. 18- Leftover beef, noodles (night out)
Fri. 19- Pizza
Sat. 20- Chicken Bacon Pizza Rolls
Sun. 21- Steak Tips over Rice
Mon. 22- *Baked Potato Soup
Tues. 23- Meatloaf or *meatloaf, noodles
Wed. 24- Tacos
Thurs. 25- Turkey with Abby
Fri. 26- Quite possibly more turkey, otherwise pizza
Sat. 27- Baked Sandwich
Sun. 28- *Rustic Beef Stew
Mon. 29- *Open Face Texas Burgers
Tues. 30- Chicken, Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

December:
Wed. 1- *Chicken and Homemade Noodles
Thurs. 2-Pancakes (night out)
Fri. 3-Pizza
Sat. 4-Premade meatball subs wrapped in foil and ready to throw in the oven to heat.
Sun. 5- *Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Mon. 6- Biscuits and Gravy, Scrambled Eggs
Tues. 7- *Fried Burritos
Wed. 8- *Garlic Butter Burgers
Thurs. 9- Bread sticks and dips (night out)
Fri. 10- Pizza
Sat. 11- ______
Sun. 12- Bama Steak Sandwiches
Mon. 13- Navajo Tacos
Tues. 14- Chicken (grilled/pan cooked), *Potato Slabs
Wed. 15- *Cheesy Salsa Mini Meatloaves - in bread shells
Thurs. 16- Pizza soup, muffins (night out)
Fri. 17- Pizza
Sat. 18- Bread sticks, dip
Sun. 19- Ultimate Beef Stroganoff
Mon. 20- Roast Beef with *Yorkshire Pudding
Tues. 21- Ham, *Au-gratin Potatoes (with recipe alterations)
Wed. 22- Beef Taco Bake, rice
Thurs. 23- Pizza?
Fri. 24- ???
Sat. 25-???
Sun. 26- ???
Mon. 27- Chicken Bacon Pizza Rolls
Tues. 28- Roast Beef Casserole
Wed. 29- Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta
Thurs. 30- Pigs in blankets
Fri. 31- ???- (church thingy)

* New untested recipe

Cloud Biscuits

This is Mom's famous biscuit recipe. We were "raised" on these, right guys? Well, Abby doesn't have the recipe!!! Or she didn't before this anyway. These are great biscuits, dumplings for your (Southern Plate) chicken and dumplings, etc. and so on.

2 c flour
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1-2 T sugar
1/2 c shortening, (I now use butter or solid coconut oil)
2/3 c milk
1 egg

Mix dry ingredients. Cut fat in until mixture is course crumbs. Combine egg and milk (I start with 1/2 c milk and add more later if it comes out dry), add to flour, stir until just combined (Mom always had us use a fork for this step. I distinctly remember that. Yes, I still do it too.). Knead lightly 5 or so times to form a ball. Roll on floured surface, to 3/4 inch thick. Cut and bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Serve. Win friends and influence people. Just give your mom some credit.

Peanut Butter Filled Brownies

Tragedy nearly struck yesterday. We did not have enough ice cream for our traditional "Sunday night supper". BUT... I realized it in time. Close one.
So I decided to make brownies so we could have brownie sundaes and stretch our remaining ice cream. I developed a sudden need for a peanut butter filled brownie. I spent the next 40ish minutes doing in-depth internet research. No beans. Every single recipe was described as . . . . . (I can hardly bring myself to say it) . . . ."cakey". If I want cake, I eat cake. I do not normally want cake.
I was scared, but it was time to go out on a limb. Someone needed to invent a REAL P.B. filled brownie. But who wants to ruin a perfectly good batch of brownies by messing around with crazy ideas?!? Folks, they weren't ruined.
I think these are the closest we will come on this earth, to the brownies we will be eating in heaven.
James said they were perfect. If James does not like something, he feels no need (whatsoever) to conceal the fact. He then said "You need to put these on your blog thingy." I think it was a command. Then he said he was taking them to work for his chili cook-off on Friday.
This is big. See, there's this lady at work, who makes "the best" caramel filled brownies. She always brings them to every food-bringing thing. Everyone falls all over those brownies. If James brings these brownies, he is going up against a...standard. But he thinks it will go over. I was honored.

So, the brownies (Think brownie meets Reese's cup):


Let's go for an 9x13 pan recipe, O.K.? Halve everything for an 8x8. These things are the real deal. If you don't have a crowd to feed them to, do the 8x8!

1 9x13 size batch of brownie batter, a mix, your favorite recipe, or mine:
1 c butter
2 c sugar
1 c cocoa powder
4 eggs (3 if they come from your own chickens and are huge)
1 1/3 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t vanilla

In large sauce pan cook together butter, cocoa, and sugar until butter is all melted. Throw in your eggs and vanilla, stir. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Whew, that's done.

Filling:
1 c peanut butter, (I used creamy)
1/4 c butter
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1-2 T, more or less milk or cream (I used cream because I had it)

In a sauce pan combine P.B. and butter. Stir in sugar. Add milk until you get a frosting/soft playdough texture. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it shouldn't be pourable (by a long shot!!!), yet it shouldn't be dry, crumbly, or really stiff.

In a greased 9x13, spread 1/3-1/2 of the brownie batter. Take spoonfuls of the P.B. mix, pat them flat and lay on the brownie layer. There is enough P.B. to make a nice thick layer, so if you wanted, you could only make 2/3 of the batch or so, and have a thinner layer. I wanted it good and thick though, so this was perfect for us. When you have all the P.B. on there, pour the remaining brownie on top, and spread to cover the filling. This is where my brownies being more of a batter than a dough is rather helpful.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. I checked rather often, as I had no idea how long these would bake. I started checking at 18 minutes. Bake until they are still a little soft, but aren't pouring out of the pan when you tip it a little. My toothpick came out chocolaty, but not raw-brownie-gooey. I let mine cool completely while we went to church, before cutting. Perfect.

Chocolate Banana Stuff

I'm putting this recipe here just for Andrea. My girls and I made this on the Hansen camping trip. Matthew talked Andrea into trying some, and to her surprise, she like it. I think her actual words were something like "Wow, this is actually good." And she got some herself after that, so we know it was good!

O.K. Andrea! I want you to make this for your family! You need:

2-4 bananas
1 box of chocolate pudding mix (3ish oz)
2 c mini marshmallows
8 oz whipped topping or whipped cream
1 1/2 - 2 c milk
a pink bowl : )

Pour the pudding mix in the bowl.

Measure the marshmallows. You should eat one too.

Dump them on the pudding mix.

Scoop in the whipped cream.

Uh-oh! DON'T lick your fingers!!!

But if you did you need to wash your hands. Especially if your mom saw you do it!

Peel those bananas. You can use as many as you want. Within reason, of course.

Slice the bananas up on a cutting board or a plate...

...and throw them in the pink bowl!

Pour in most of the milk, you can use the rest of it later if it is too thick.

Time to stir it all up! Boy this is fun!

Everyone wants to take a turn stirring!

It's DONE!

And we are hungry. Cooking is fun, but it's work too. So we scoop it into some pretty bowls...

and DIG IN!

YUM!! It's delicious!

So, try this out, Andrea, and let us know how it goes. Don't forget to take a picture!!!

Blueberry Ice Cream

I made this recipe from Tasty Kitchen and it was delicious! I have never tried coconut milk ice cream before and we probably prefer regular dairy ice cream, but it was a yummy change anyways :). Just follow the link for the recipe if you want to try it! The color is truly spectacular!!

Upside Down Pizzarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

We made this for the church potluck, and since we had leftovers, I served it for lunch the next day. Well, it turned out that NONE of my (dear, sweet) children had tried any! No wonder there were leftovers! What!?! It's PIZZA, guys! So I shoved all their noses into a plate and made them eat under the threat of no ice cream with strawberries (we had just picked the second 70 lb. round, and ice cream is my traditional reward for berry picking.). This was a terrible threat. One child (whose name we shall not mention, but whose initials are Kenton J. Ruseter), cried. See, he's mister picky pants, and he NEVER eats "mixed" foods. SO we began our ...happy meal. Haha.
And everyone LOVED it!!! And went back for seconds. And thirds. YEA! Most shocking, Kento... I mean the unnamed child, told me it was good. I wasn't flattered by the "well-who-would-have-guessed" look on his face, but still. I guess we also tested the "is it good as leftovers"ness of it. It is!

Filling:
1/2 lb burger
1/2 lb bulk sausage
handful of pepperoni ( I added this in to the original recipe)
26 (ish) oz pizza/spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 -2 c shredded mozzarella (I didn't feel like shredding, so I sliced.)
You could certainly do terrible things at this point and add peppers, onions, mushrooms or other pizza toppings.

Dough:
This was pretty much my basic bread recipe, so that's what I used. It called for the whole 2lb. loaf to go on a 9x13, but that seemed WAY overkill to me so I halved it like so:

3/4 c warm water
1 1/2 t salt
1-2 T sugar
2 c flour
1/2 T yeast

Topping:
1/4 c butter
garlic to taste
parmesan, optional

Mix dough using standard bread machine "dough cycle" procedure, or standard hand mix/ mixer procedure. Allow to rise at least long enough to be able to roll the dough out without fighting it.
Cook meats (and onions or whatever, if desired) until done. Stir in sauce. Pour into a greased 9 x 13. Sprinkle/layer with cheese.
Roll out dough on a oiled or floured surface to slightly bigger than your pan. Lift and place over cheese in pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 min, or until bread is done. Remove from oven, brush/rub with butter, sprinkle with garlic and parm.

Midway through typing this recipe in Tina dumped am entire 16 oz glass of water into my computer. After the feathers settled it was determined that Computerkins had survived...but with brain damage. At first it couldn't type "r". Then ALL it would do was to type THOUSANDS (I am not exaggerating) of "r"s. The keyboard had to be replaced, and I wasn't doin' no unnecessary typing, folks! So after a MASSIVE delay (we did not pick any October strawberries), here it is. In honor of all that I left a few of the rrrrs in my title.
Oh yes, Mom has found this to be a great recipe for bringing a meal to someone at church.

Hot Milk Sponge Cake

The Cake

What to put on "The Cake".
All 5 of the men living inmy house are horrified that I didn't photograph the cake with the above pictured strawberries and not pictured whipped cream on it. Too bad! This is a cake recipe, NOT a how-to-dump-strawberries-on-a-cake recipe! I think most of you can figure that part out.

This is the cake we have used for Strawberry Shortcake (you see that we interpret "shortcake" very loosely) for YEARS. Inspite of this, James always tells me that this one is IT- the perfect cake to go with strawberries. He has a short memory. But he is right. This cake is light and fluffy (see? NOT "shortcake".) and really soaks up the juice. I will admit that it was the weird name that caused me to first make this cake 12+ years ago. But it was a very beneficial curiosity. We have eaten it ever since. I make this cake just as stated, or I double it and bake it in a 9x13.

2 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
2 T butter
1/2 c milk

Beat eggs on high for 4 minutes, or until thick. I hope you all have stand mixers! Gradually add sugar, beat for 4-5 minutes on medium speed, or until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients, stir until just combined. Heat milk and butter together until butter is melted, stir into batter. Mix well. Bake in a greased 9x9 pan at 350 degrees for 20-15 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

Baked French Toast

Computers are weird, you know? Anyway, this is another breakfast casserole that our family loves. Whoever thought up the "crisp" topping was a genius! It is pretty basic, you don't really need a recipe, but it's nice to have a jumping off point. I pull out this kind of recipe when I need to use up bread. You know, it's going to mold in a day or two, or it's stale and there is NO WAY you are making a sandwich out of it, or you find that you appear to suddenly be starting a collection of odd pieces of bread. This is step one for getting rid of the stuff, before the feed-it-to-the-chickens step. (Chicken sure are handy!)
This "recipe" is easily cut in half, or otherwise doctored. But DON'T leave the topping off! It's SO good- buttery, crispy yum!

10-15 slices bread, or the equivalent in buns, etc
6-8 eggs
2 1/2 c milk
1/2 c sugar
2 T. vanilla

Have a nearby kid or two tear your bread and throw it into a buttered 9x13 pan. Mix together the eggs, milk, and sugar, and pour over the bread. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Topping:
1/2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c cold butter

Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter. Sprinkle over bread stuff just before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for45-60 minutes. You can serve this with butter, syrup, fruit, or any combination of the afore mentioned items. I sorta threw together a caramely syrup with butter, brown sugar and milk, but it was pure whim and guess work so your on your own with that one! We had this with eggs and sausages to balance out the sugar, and it made a very happy crowd of Ruseters.
The End.

There. Does that satisfy you Anna? Getting all picky about there actually being a recipe of some sort...
I can explain that whole thing in 2 words: Computer glitch.

Parfait!

We had parfaits for breakfast this morning! There really isn't a recipe, but it looked so pretty in my mini trifle bowls that I thought I'd make y'all jealous of the deliciousness. Basically, I grabbed my whole strawberries out of the freezer, sliced some up in the bottom of the bowl, plopped on a layer of vanilla yogurt, repeated both steps, and then threw some granola on top. You can use any type of fruits you want though and it'll be good. Mmmm!! Titus loved it and Alex is saving his for lunch due to the frozen strawberries giving him freeze brain and him not having time to eat slowly because he was already late for work :). Poor fella was stuck with just a banana for breakfast instead :(. Oh well. Anyways, even though the pictures didn't turn out that great I thought I should show you another one that doesn't make it look quite so huge :) Yum yum!!

English Muffins

These are easy. And SO SO SOOOO much better than bought ones! If you don't like English Muffins, I would be astounded if you didn't like these. None of that weird tangy taste Mom was saying that most of the kids in our family hated so much. My kids love to eat these fresh off the griddle, but to me English muffins should be toasted. Ahhh. A small piece of heaven on earth.


1 c milk, or 1 c warm water and 1/4 c powdered milk
2 T butter
1 egg
1/2 t salt
2 t sugar
3 c flour
1 1/2 t yeast

Place ingredients in bread machine in order listed. Run dough cycle.
Sprinkle counter top with flour, roll out dough 1/2 inch thick. This is where I usually "mess up". I tend to leave it a bit thicker than a 1/2 inch, and them my muffins end up 6 inches thick, and it's kind of difficult to cook them all the way through. So, go with a half inch. And no, this is not so picky that you need to get out a ruler!
Cut out rounds with a cookie cutter, or a can or whatever. Last time I used a large-mouth canning jar ring, and they were the perfect size (in my opinion). Some people use a tuna can, but NOT IN MY HOUSE! Haha! You can gently wad the scraps up and keep cutting until the dough is all used.
Lay on cookie sheets, or just on the already floured counter to rise for 20-30 minutes.
Heat a dry griddle (I go for high), or frying pan over medium low heat. Cook the muffins for 5-7 minutes on each side. They should be a beautiful golden brown on each side. You can fork one open to make sure that they aren't gooey. If they are, drop the heat.
These are great fresh, next day, or even next, next day and freeze beautifully. They even make good Christmas gifts if, for instance, your in-laws do a food exchange as gifts. Make them ahead, freeze them, bring them along. No last minute/day of, work It's an extra bonus if your sis-in-law is giving out homemade jams at the same time. (Nice timing, Jeanna!) YUM!