Tag Archives: recipes

Dave Kirk’s Mississippi Mud Cake

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In sauce pan, melt 2 sticks of butter, add ¼ cup cocoa

Add:

2 Cups sugar

4 eggs

1 ½ cup self rising flour

1 Cup nuts-chopped

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Mix well: pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan bake

Bake: for 25-30 minutes at 350 or until done,

Add 1 bag of mini marshmallows to the top of cake, as soon as it comes out of the oven. (  7 ounce jar of cream marshmallow in place of mini marshmallows).

Let Cool

Melt 1stick of butter

Add:

1 box confectioners’ sugar

½ cup evaporated milk

1/3 cup Cocoa

Mix well:

Pour over marshmallow topping

Enjoy!!!

Quick Caramel

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Everything is better when dipped in caramel, right?

For the CCPl Staff Development Day lunch I made my new favorite treat; marshmallows dipped in caramel and dark chocolate on a stick (because everything is better on a stick right? I already had the marshmallows and dark chocolate chips, but I thought homemade caramel would be a great choice.

My family has a secret recipe that almost always results in a great caramel and can be tweaked to provide soft and chewy or hard and lollipop like candies. Here’s how it works:

In a deep, thick pot with attached candy thermometer combine the following:

  • 1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 lb light brown sugar
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup Karo pancake syrup

Cook, stirring but not scraping the sides until candy is 225° F. When temperature is reached stir in:

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour from pan (being sure to not scrap sides) into desired dish.

Remember this recipe is super easy to change so that you get any sort of caramel you like. Try using dark brown sugar instead of light for a darker caramel. Cook to 228°F for caramels you can cut with a cookie cutter. Cook to 230°F for a darker, peanut brittle consistency.

To make our Staff Day treat lightly grease a cookie sheet, place marshmallows on it so they are not touching. Using thin pretzel sticks in place of sucker sticks impale marshmallows and dip them in caramel once you have removed it from the pot (into a bowl works best). Place in freezer to harden for 5 minutes and then dip into melted chocolate chips and then immediately dip just the bottom of your pop into sprinkles or jimmies (they help keep the chocolate from sticking to your serving dish).

If you enjoy this recipe try one of the following books:

Candy Making for Dummies by David Jones

Candy Making for Beginners by Evelyn Howe Fryatt

Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings

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Yahoo, Mountain Dew! Bring these delicious apple dumplings to your next get together and everyone will want the recipe.  The texture of the rolls becomes something entirely different during the baking process: the top gets delightfully crisp, while the underneath side remains soft and mushy and more “apple dumpling-y”. And the Mountain Dew, coupled with the large amount of butter, creates a yummy, sweet sauce at the end. Serve them with ice cream, or a dollop of sweetened whipped heavy cream and you’ll be left wondering how such ordinary ingredients can be so sublime 

Ingredients

  • 4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
  • 2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1  cups white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle Mountain Dew ™

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
  2. Cut two apples into 8 wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish.
  3. Slice and add the remaining two apples and place between the apple dumplings.
  4. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon, add vanilla. Pour over the apple dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew over the dumplings.
  5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

English Muffin Loaves

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english muffin breadThis simple, but exceptionally tasty bread is great for toast, garlic bread, and even small sandwiches!

2 packages yeast

6 cups flour

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups milk

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup water

cornmeal

Combine 3 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and soda.  Heat liquids until very warm (120-130F).  Add to dry mixture; beat well.  Stir in rest of flour to make a stiff batter. Spoon into two 8½ x 4½ pans that have been greased and sprinkled with cornmeal.  Sprinkle tops with cornmeal.  Cover; let rise in warm place for 45 minutes.  Bake at 400F for 25 minutes.  Remove from pans immediately and cool.

Take home some of these bread-making cookbooks to browse through while eating your English Muffin bread.

Healthy Snack

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food that matters cook book Looking for a healthy snack to counteract all of those delicious holiday treats you’ve been nibbling? Then take a look at Mark Bittman’s latest, The Food that Matters Cook Book, companion to his book, The Food that Matters.

The book has all sorts of recipes including main dishes and desserts but I found his suggestions about snacks to be surprisingly easy and tasty.

Pan Fried Chickpeas

1 Can of chickpeas, drained and dried thoroughly
3 T olive oil
Pinch of salt
1/2 T to 1T of one of the following: cayenne pepper, cumin, Chinese 5 spice, garam masala, smoked paprika, chili powder

Heat the oil in a saute pan large enough to accommodate all of the chickpeas in one layer over medium high heat. If you don’t have a pan large enough, fry the chickpeas in smaller batches. Fry the chickpeas until they’re slightly brown, shaking the pan a few times. It should take about 20 minutes. The chickpeas should have a slight crunch when done.

Once they’re evenly browned, pour the chickpeas into a bowl and toss with the spice of your choice.

Nosh happily.

Texas Sheet Cake

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I have been making this chocolate sheet cake for years.  The recipe is so simple and the finished product is delicious.   If you need to make a quick dessert, this is the one to try.

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

½ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 sticks margarine

4 tablespoons cocoa

1 Cup hot water

Frosting or Topping

1 stick margarine or butter

4 tablespoons cocoa

6 tablespoons buttermilk

1 pound box powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup nuts (chopped walnuts or pecans)

Cake:

Melt margarine, add cocoa and hot water.  Bring to a rapid boil.  Pour over dry ingredients.  Add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.  Bake in large cookie sheet (greased) for 15-20 minutes at 350 F.

Frosting:

Melt margarine or butter, add cocoa and buttermilk.  Bring to a boil; add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 cup nuts.  Mix thoroughly and place on cake while warm.  When cool, cut in bars.

Thanksgiving Stuffing

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For years I worked on finding the perfect stuffing recipe. I had always enjoyed my mom’s but I wanted to find one of my own that had some goodies in it that my mom’s didn’t have. So after years of experimenting I finally settled on a stuffing recipe that has been my standard for over a decade. I call it Stuffing a la Lisa. I hope you try it and the Sugar Snap Pea recipe that follows. Both recipes are the key to simple Thanksgiving sides.

See you next month, Meet me in the kitchen!
Lisa Breithaupt, The Gourmet Librarian

Stuffing a la Lisa
Ingredients:
1 lb. sausage
3/4 cup of raisins
1 cup of celery chopped
2 small onions chopped
1 1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
1 14 oz. bag cubed stuffing, plain
1 can of chicken broth
1 cup of Brazil nuts (optional)
salt and pepper

Directions:

Saute the 1 lb of sausage and drain. In skillet saute the raisins, celery, onions, and mushrooms. When these items are carmelized add the sausage back into the skillet. Stir in the cubed, plain, stuffing and add broth. Season. Pat into a greased 9X13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
If you are vegetarian you can make this without the sausage and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to moisten the stuffing.

Sugar Snap Peas and Red Grapes

Ingredients:
3/4 lb of sugar snap peas
1 t. unsalted butter
1 shallot finely chopped
1/4 t. salt
pepper
1/2 cup seedless red grapes halved

Directions:

Blanch peas. Cool. Heat butter. Saute shallot (or small onion). Add peas, salt, pepper, and grape halves. Heat through and serve immediatly.

Southern Cornbread Salad

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Our annual church choir picnic was approaching and for some strange reason I knew exactly what I wanted to make……Cornbread Salad !!  My mom had made it recently and it sounded so good I wanted to try it myself.  I just needed a good recipe.  I began scouring cookbooks here at the library as well as the internet and came upon a Paula Deen recipe that sounded so good. I decided to add some additional ingredients of my own.  Our choir is rather large and spouses/significant others were invited so I knew I needed to make a big salad.  I also wanted to bowl to be clear because the salad is a layered salad and I wanted it to look pretty.  I used a punch bowl!  The salad was a huge hit and I ended up only bringing back enough for a lunch serving the next day.  Enjoy !

See you next month, Meet me in the kitchen!!

Lisa Breithaupt, The Gourmet Librarian

Ingredients:

1 batch of cornbread, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 (14.5 ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 ounce) can niblet corn, drained

1 medium cucumber, chopped

1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped

1 or 2 green or red peppers chopped

3 large tomatoes, chopped

1 large bottle of ranch dressing

2 cups of grated cheddar cheese

1 (8 ounce) bottle of ranch dressing

1 small can of sliced black olives, drained

Directions:

In the bottom of the bowl placed half of the cubed cornbread.  Begin layering ingredients in order given: beans, corn, cucumber.  At this point add the remaining cornbread and continue layering the ingredients: onion, pepper, tomatoes, dressing, cheese, sliced olives. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.  This allows the veggies to marinate a bit without the risk of making the corn bread soggy.

Enjoy putting your own spin on this recipe.  Add other delicious veggies that your own family enjoys !  What a great way to put all of those delicious garden vegetables to good use!!