Butterscotch Tapioca

Makes 12-16 servings

by Marcia Adams

in Cooking from Quilt Country

Ingredients:

• 10 cups water
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups small pearl tapioca
• 2 cups dark brown sugar, no substitutes
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs butter (1 1/4 sticks)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Bring the water and salt to a boil in a large, deep saucepan. Sprinkle in the tapioca and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring often. Add the dark brown sugar, lower the heat a little, and cook 5 minutes longer, or until the tapioca is clear.
2. In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk and granulated sugar and blend. Stir 1 cup of the hot tapioca mixture into the egg-milk mixture. Then, combine this mix into the rest of the tapioca. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until the mixture bubbles up.
3. In the meantime, heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium until it is light brown. Add butter to the bubbling pudding, along with the vanilla, and mix well. Pour into a 3-quart serving bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. (It will set up without refrigeration in about six hours.)

If you do refrigerate this pudding, allow it to come to room temperature before serving and stir it up a bit to soften it.


I've copied this recipe directly from Cooking with Quilt Country, p 71. Normally, I don't post recipes I use exactly as written, but I'm making an exception for this one. I'm sure I'll deviate if I start making it more often. ;)

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten-free)

The original recipe I used called for regular, unbleached white flour. To make these gluten-free, I am substituting Pamela's artisan flour blend. Some day I may be brave enough to pull together my own gluten-free flour, but at this point I'd rather use the Pamela's and get used to how gluten-free flours work.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 bananas, peeled and mashed
3 1/2 cups rolled oats*
1 1/4 cup Pamela's artisan flour blend
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla to the bowl and mix well.
Add the bananas and rolled oats, mix thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Add to wet ingredients, 1/2 cup at a time and continue to mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop dough by tablespoonful on baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart, and bake 12-15 minutes at 350F.

This is a heavy batter, so I used my KitchenAid stand mixer. Also, I used regular rolled oats, but I imagine that quick oats would be okay for these recipe.

This recipe is adapted from the recipe for Banana Oatmeal Cookies in Extending the Table: Recipes and Stories from Argentina to Zambia, in the spirit of More-with-Less, p312.

~ ENJOY!

Mama's Shortbread Cookies

I love discovering new recipes and I was excited to see that Merissa at Little House on the Prairie Living is hosting a weekly Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange every Tuesday.  If you have a recipe to share you can link your blog post or you can post in the comments.  CLICK HERE to go to this week's exchange!

This is a repost of my mom's go-to cookie recipe for every holiday and occasion.  They are easy to make, don't need eggs, and can be modified easily to fit the season by mixing in or adding on top sprinkles, chips, nuts, or candy.  Most important?  They are melt-in-your-mouth good!

Today I made the traditional short-bread dough and added mini chocolate chips. I dropped them onto the stone using my smallest scoop. Perfect little munchies for my girls' classes at church tonight. :)

MAMA'S BASIC SHORTBREAD DOUGH

Ingredients
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 lb butter (4 sticks)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla


Directions
Preheat oven to 325F.
Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
Using a mixer, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla to a smooth consistency.
Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time to butter mixture - use a low setting on your mixture - until all flour is mixed.
Drop by the spoon/scoopful onto a cookie sheet or baking stone.
Bake for 20 minutes at 325F.

To change things up, stir in any kind of chip, nut, or sprinkle you'd like to use. I mixed in one bag of mini chocolate chips for the batch in the picture. (YUM!) My mama likes to make them with pecans mixed in or with a Hersheys' Kiss pressed into the center. At Christmas time, the kiddos and I make some with colored jimmies mixed in and others we'll roll in sprinkles or jimmies and then bake. Use your imagination!

ENJOY!

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I made these for my niece's baby shower.  I bought a jar of baby blue and white shimmer colored 'pearls' at Hobby Lobby and mixed them in a bowl.  Roll the dough (I used my tablespoon Pampered Chef scoop) and press into the sprinkles, smash with fingers, and then place on the cookie sheet.  The picture on the right is how they look in finished form- beautiful AND yummy!

Best EVER Chocolate Frosting

I bought several boxes of Betty Crocker chocolate brownie mix on sale.  Thought it would be nice to have them around for those times we need something quick and don't have time to make from scratch.  Well.  Not such a great idea.  This is a boring, bordering on nasty, box mix.

Good thing I have a problem following directions.

I made the brownies according to the directions on the box and put it in a 9"x 9" pan.  Before baking it, I sprinkled the batter with chocolate chips.

After the brownies cooled, I frosted them with chocolate buttercream frosting based on this recipe from Allrecipes (of course, I deviated!)


Best EVER Chocolate Frosting

• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 6 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
• 5 Tbs cream or evaporated milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Sift together confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl.
In a separate mixing bowl, cream butter.
Add dry ingredients, 1/2 cup at a time, until the butter and dry ingredients are completely mixed.
Add cream and vanilla.
Continue to mix on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.

I have never had any luck making GOOD chocolate frosting.  I've had even less luck with chocolate frosting from bakeries since we moved to Kentucky.  This is life changing!  I can't wait for my birthday so I can make my own chocolate cake with THIS chocolate frosting.

Enjoy!

French Fruit Tarts ala Chloe Chronicles

Austin would rather have a fruit tart from Whole Foods than a birthday cake. That was cool when we lived 5 minutes from Whole Foods, but it makes planning a little tricky now that we're an hour and a half away. The thought of making one of these yummies myself never crossed my mind - I always figured it would be much too complicated.

Whole Foods mini fruit tarts

I'm not sure if I should thank Chloe or block her blog from my view... I suspect that once I make that first tart it could become a very bad habit. Although, they ARE made with FRESH FRUIT, right?

The Perfect Tart Crust
French Pastry Cream
French Fruit Tarts

Can't wait for an afternoon at home to try making fruit tarts from scratch!

Oatmeal Pies

One of my children (who shall remain nameless) has an obsession with Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.

For the most part, I've just looked the other way when the box ends up in our grocery cart and in her lunches pretty much every single day she brings a lunch to work. I rationalize this by reminding myself that "it's only for the summer" and "she's burning WAY more calories than she's consuming". With the older two working full time and the youngest old enough to have a life of her own, I have a lot of time on my hands these days. Time to sit and rationalize all of the above, BUT time to think further and COMPLETELY FREAK OUT ABOUT ALL THE CHEMICAL CRAP THAT'S IN THOSE THINGS!

And then I started plotting. To build a better Oatmeal Creme Pie. Because it finally struck me that they are almost exactly the same thing as Whoopie Pies and I know how to make Whoopie Pies! All I need to do is switch the chocolate for an oatmeal cookie. EUREKA!

You'll notice a new link under my Inspiration... Smitten Kitchen. I stumbled across that blog in my search for a big, soft oatmeal cookie. Not only did I get the basic oatmeal cookie recipe, I found a plethora of new cooking inspiration. True to my nature, I did change up the recipe just a BIT because I use fresh-ground whole wheat flour.

No artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.  Amazing!

OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
2 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
6 small eggs OR 4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups rolled oats

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together.
• Stir flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture.
• Allow dough to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (I think an hour would have been even better), then scoop out onto cookie sheet. I used the Pampered Chef medium scoop and they ended up about the same size as the Little Debbie's.
• Bake 10 - 12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

WHOOPIE PIE FILLING
from Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams

Ingredients
1/3 cup plus 3 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

• Place the flour in a medium sauce pan, add the milk gradually, whisking smooth. Cook over moderate heat, cooking and whisking until the mixture becomes thick and bubbles up in the center. Simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. (Note: this will be very thick.)
• Place the butter in a large mixer bowl and beat it until it is slightly softened. Ad the salt, vanilla, and sugar gradually and beat for 2 minutes. Gradually, one large spoonful at a time, add the cooled milk mixture to the butter mixture. Then beat on high speed for 1 minute until filling is smooth, light, and fluffy.

Spread whoopie pie filling between two oatmeal cookies. My plan is to freeze them in individual plastic sandwich baggies, then store these inside a freezer bag.

This recipe makes about 24 Oatmeal Creme Pies.

ENJOY!

Peanut Butter Brownies

From Cooking with the Horse & Buggy People II

• 3/4 cup shortening


• 3/4 cup peanut butter


• 2 1/4 cups sugar


• 5 eggs


• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla


• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder


• 3/4 tsp salt


• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips


• 3/4 cup chopped peanuts

Put in a 10x15 pan at 350F for 30 minutes.

Christmas Dinner ~ A First for the Decade

What?  A first?  Yes, this is the first year I have cooked Christmas Dinner all by myself.  I picked the menu, assembled the recipes, bought the ingredients, and managed the workforce.  The end result?  Three buffet dishes for breakfast at the relatives and dinner for my brood and some friends.

BREAKFAST

Cheddar-Sausage Breakfast Quiche
Sweet Ricotta Breakfast Quiche
Baked Brie with Apples & Cranberries

 

DINNER

Baked Ham
Au Gratin Potatoes
Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Cranberry Orange Salad
Deviled Eggs
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie

Cooking is the area I am best at expressing my creativity.  It was a wonderful gift for me to be able to pour so much of myself into this simple meal.  Why, then, is the the first Christmas Dinner I've cooked this decade?  Simple.  My mother is usually in my kitchen for the holidays and I learned a long time ago to just let her do it her way.  If I want to change my mother's cooking habits all I have to do is tell her how I do it and guaranteed she will do the opposite.  In the interest of family peace, I live with the same, old bland and boring holiday food every year.  (Well, except for the homemade noodles.  My mother makes exceptional noodles!)  This year she and my sisters stayed in Missouri and we stayed in Kentucky.  Really a win-win if you ask me!

Food ~ My First Recognized Hidden Art

Confession. Growing up I thought I was a 100% left-brained, math whiz, without a stitch of anything artistic in my bones. I had help thinking that. My family told me so. Frequently. Yet, all these artistic ideas were whirling around in my brain. I didn't know how to get them out and, even worse, I was afraid to tell anyone about them.

The first time I filled my creative need I made spaghetti sauce from a recipe in The New Basics Cookbook. The fact that I even owned such a cool cookbook was amazing. It was actually a huge matter of chance. I had bought a copy as part of a wedding gift for a college friend. On our way to the wedding, my dear husband and I got stranded at the airport for five hours (we could have driven to the wedding faster, but I digress...) What else was there to do but read this fascinating cookbook? I was so enthralled that as soon as we got home from the trip I went out and bought the cookbook. Several months later I was no longer merely enthralled, I WAS ENCOURAGED and my culinary adventures began. To this day, I find my most creative spirit in the kitchen, so you can expect lots of food posts and pictures on this blog.

I think the chapter on cooking is what drew me to Mrs. Schaeffer in the first place. I knew I had a creative spirit, I just hadn't found the courage (or had the encouragement) to explore and develope my Hidden Art. When I read the chapter and realized that I had been doing just that all along in my cooking, I suddently had the encouragement I needed to try new areas. I also started playing the piano more, joined a choir, and bought a new alto recorder. No, I'm no virtuoso, but making music gives me pleasure!

As an adult, I now realize that I was a repressed RIGHT-brained person. I really hate math and logic.

Anyhoo, there is a point to all of this. I love to try new recipes in my kitchen and thought I'd share this recipe that my sister and I searched for after buying a couple at a Mennonite shop near where I live. This bar is a wonderful marriage of vanilla cake with creamy chocolate filling. YUM!


Can't Leave 'em Alone Bars (picture above)

1 box WHITE (not yellow) cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter
1 cup semi-sweet
chocolate chips

• Stir together the cake mix, eggs, and oil.


• Press mixture into the bottom of a 9"x13" pan, saving about 1/4 of the mixture for topping.


• Melt butter, condensed milk, and chocolate chips together in the microwave in a glass bowl. (Be conservative... nuke for 15 seconds, stir, nuke another 15 sec, stir, etc. until mixture is creamy chocolate.)


• Pour this over the top of the cake mixture.


• Sprinkle remaining cake mixture on top.


• Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 deg F. The top of the cake should be nicely browned.