Mama's Brownies

These here...are what we grew up with. They are not your traditional 'brownie & ice cream' dessert. They have the perfect frosting that sets and are rich and moist and MMmmm... oh so good.

Mama's Fudge

Mama's Fudge

1 can evaporated milk

1 cube butter

4 cups sugar

Cook over medium heat and boil for 7 minutes (stirring constantly)

Remove from heat and stir in:

1 bag of chocolate chips

2 (8 oz) large hershey's bars

1 jar marshmallow cream

2 tsps vanilla

Nuts**if you want

Spread in buttered pan and let cool. Too easy! Too delicious. Too good to make more than once a year. 

Buttermilk Syrup

This is seriously good syrup... We use it for pancakes, wafffles, french toast and even as the glaze on sweet rolls. It's like almost too good that it could be bad. And of course, I'm posting it because I need it for when I'm away from home... 

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk (If you don't have this, I've used milk and it's still great)
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS corn syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda

Bring first five ingredients to a boil. Add baking soda and let boil for 10 seconds and then remove from heat. ***IT will boil over very quickly, so use a deep pot.

Enjoy while warm! 

Perfect Pie Crust

This is the 'perfect' pie crust recipe that we grew up using. It is versatile so you can make it thin or thicker and it's not too flaky. It makes enough for 4+ pies and freezes well as a dough ball or in the shape of your pie tin. MMmmmm enjoy!

Double Chocolate Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

Hearty, healthy, moist, and fun! Chocolate meets green=beautiful. 

Recently my hubby and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. For a few of our meals, we decided to grocery shop at Sam's Club (I love Sam's Club) and buy a few things that we never buy. One of the things we bought were some of those jumbo muffins... you know, the huge cake-like muffins that apparently people eat for breakfast. (Yes, I know they are gross, ahh well, I admit, in the past I had kind of liked them. But hey...love makes you blind, right? Ok, fine it was just a dumb choice.) So for breakfast the next morning, I had a smoothie & a muffin. Just after I finished it, I looked at the nutrition label (no, I don't always want to know...) and I was completely SHOCKED and grossed out. One muffin contained 33grams of fat. THIRTY-THREE! That's like THREE snickers bars! (Yes, I just looked that up) I bake often and there are not many pre-packaged foods that we buy on a regular basis. I do sometimes buy yogurt and bagels, bread and tortillas. But, there is just NO way that the muffins or breads I make are anywhere near that bad for me. Even the richest of my chocolate cakes or desserts are NOT that high in fat! So, hey..does that make you feel better? 

Lemon Ricotta Cake

Lemon Ricotta Cake

Yield: Serves 6 - 8Prep Time: 15 minsCook Time: 45 mins

A simple lemon flavored cake that includes ricotta cheese, keeping the cake ver moist.

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Softened Butter

3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

Zest From 3 Large Lemons

1 Teaspoon Lemon Extract

3 Large Eggs, Separated

1 Cup Full Fat Ricotta Cheese

1/2 Cup Plus 2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

Dash of Salt

To Serve:

Fresh Strawberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly grease and flour a 7 or 8 inch spring-form pan.

Beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the lemon zest, extract, egg yolks and ricotta cheese and beat until smooth.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt, and beat into the butter mixture just until combined.

Wash your beaters well, and then beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff.

Gently fold the egg whites into the batter then spoon the batter into your prepared tin.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester stuck into the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

chocolate cake--classic

this has been a family favorite for several years... i've had so many compliments from this cake and my kids (and husband) totally devour it. i had been on the search to find a moist, non-fluffy, yet not too heavy chocolate cake and actually found the hershey's recipe to be much like what i was looking for... it is not only delicious the first day, but days 2, 3 & 4 it is still fantastic...but shhh, we don't really continue eating the cake each day after the initial event, right? :)

hearty pumpkin cookies

I love cookies.  Especially a good hearty cookie - nicely complex but complimentary flavors and texture, not just sugar-sweet.  We all have a consistent drive to make food more healthful - higher in fiber and whole grains, lower in fat and sugar.  Unfortunately, doing so usually makes treats that are less appealing than their original yumminess.  Usually, but not always...

"neiman marcus" cookies

I got this recipe about 15 years ago,  It was being spammed around the email world claiming that some lady had been tricked into paying $450 for the recipe so she was getting them back by emailing it to the world for free.  The claim was totally false but the cookies are totally good. 

I think the recipe has been propagated fairly widely but I still get asked for it on a regular basis.  Yes, it is the one with blended oatmeal.

okara oatmeal cookie

Lovin' these oatmeal cookies.  They are healthy and delicious and if you want a little more health try adding some ground flax and wheat bran. Okara is soybean meal. It is a good source of protein and high in fiber.

pumpkin pie filling

This is a great vegan pumpkin pie filling. Delicious and very easy. Try doing things a little differently with the spices or top with pecans and enjoy.

pie crust - vegan

This recipe is awesome for a great vegan pie crust but it also works well with adding vegan chocolate chips and forming into dough balls.  Cook them as cookies or just enjoy them raw.  

red bean chocolate cake

Last week I was visiting a dear friend and she mentioned something about putting beans in her cakes. Seriously--white beans for lighter cakes, red/kidney beans for chocolate cakes. I was completely fascinated with this idea and knew I would try it. Can I just say....AMAZING?!!  I have had my sister's cakes that call for soy flour and tofu, so I was not very skeptical when this idea was shared. But this cake has NO FLOUR and it is GOOD! And my 7 year old daughter who will only eat a bean if she's forced, LOVED this cake. Oh wait, it's because she had no idea there were any beans in the cake...and when I told her, she wanted more and asked if I was teasing her. "The cake with the beans in it tasted wonderful"

carrot cake-whole wheat

i have been making this carrot cake for almost 9 years and my whole family loves it...it is very healthy, (except for the the cream cheese frosting, but hey....what's a little cream cheese?)  this also makes excellent muffins. so go on, try this one if you want something moist, more on the healthy side and that has a good spice to it...my paper recipe is so well used, there are stains all over it. about time to type it up!

cheescake trifected - cake, sauce and crust!

I have been working on perfecting the art of cheesecake for... oh... about 3 years.  Finally, I think I can say, as far as we are concerned - it has been achieved.  (Of course, it probably won't stop me from tweaking.)

rich chocolate brownie cake

I found this recipe on the internet when I was looking for ways to use the okara after making soy milk.  This is a great recipe. Rich, moist and healthy.  I do it pretty much just the way this recipe says.

multi-grain scones

Awesome!!! We’ve never met anyone who didn’t love this recipe. It’s a frequently requested favorite. This is a Dr. Andrew Weil recipe. To make these a little healthier and to use ingredients that I have in the house I make a few changes; whole wheat flour, flax seed and soy milk… fun things like that. I haven’t done this without the eggs yet for a vegan version, but I am sure that I will.

chocolate tofu pudding

I’ve tried a several different variations of tofu puddings over the years and I have to admit that Mark Bittman’s Mexican Chocolate Tofu Pudding is by far the best. I think the extra spices and good melted chocolate are huge help to hide that hint of soy taste.  I don’t mind the soy taste, but I think most people do. So, this is a really good one to try.  Most chocolate soy puddings recipes call for cocoa powder and a variety of different sweeteners  - sugar, granulated cane juice, agave nectar etc. So long as you can get it smooth…   My family loves this recipe.

ginger pie

One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1971 Harold and Maude. It is about a young man, who is obsessed with death, and his interactions with an old woman, who is obsessed with life. It is the type of movie that makes one think about things that they have spent their whole lives not thinking about on all sorts of different levels.

sunday supper scones (thanks claudia!)

my husband says these are like krispy kreme donuts...only to be devoured when it's a special occasion and... well, when you won't cry yourself to sleep from delicious guilt. yum. (shh bob, not everyone hates donuts.) seriously...a little of my peach jam (more like syrup) drizzled on the top with some plain yogurt and powdered sugar is just pure de-lish...