COOKING

Banana Caramel Ice Cream

2 Tb. butter
¾ C. firmly packed brown sugar
2 ¼ C. light cream
1 C. mashed bananas (3 medium bananas)
¼ C. chopped walnuts
1 Tb. vanilla

Stir butter and sugar, over a low heat, in a medium sauce pan until sugar dissolves.
Add cream and stir until smooth.
Remove from heat.
Pour into a medium bowl and add bananas, walnuts and vanilla.
Mix well.
Chill for 1 hour.
Put mixture into the container of a 1 quart ice cream maker.
Crank until the mixture becomes ice cream.
Serve with sliced bananas and caramel sauce.
Makes one quart

Caramel Sauce for ice cream

1 C. firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ C. milk
2 Tb. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan.
Bring to a boil and stir until smooth.
Add sliced Bananas if desired or serve bananas separately.

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Lime Frost

1 package of lime flavored gelatin
1 pt. of vanilla ice cream
1 Tb. fresh lime juice
½ C. whipping cream
½ cup of coconut

Prepare the gelatin as directed and chill to the consistency of egg whites.
Beat in slightly softened ice cream.
Add lime juice.
Pour into glasses and refrigerate.
Garnish with whipped cream, coconut and a lime slice.

You can also use this recipe for a cold lime pie.
Just pour the mixture into a graham cracker crust and freeze.
Garnish as above.

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Chocolate Malt Torte

1 package German Chocolate cake mix
Bake as directed for a 2 layer cake.
When the layers are completely cool carefully cut
each layer in half horizontally to make four thin layers.

Filling
1 pt. whipping cream
½ C. instant malted milk powder
4 Tb. powdered sugar
¾ C. unsweetened cocoa

Whip cream
Add malted milk powder, powdered sugar, and cocoa and blend.
Spread between the layers and on the top of the cake. Refrigerate
for at least an hour. Store in the refrigerator. Cover to prevent the cake
 from drying out. This is a great warm weather treat.

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Bavarian Apple Torte

Crust –
Cream-
½ C. butter
1/3 C. sugar
¼ tsp. vanilla
Blend in -
1 C. flour

Filling –
1 – 8 oz. package cream cheese
¼ C. sugar
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla

Topping –
4 C. Golden Delicious apples (diced)
1/3 C. sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ C. almonds

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Spread the crust mixture on the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan and 1 ½ inch up the sides.
Pour the filling on top and then add the apple mixture.
Top with the almonds.
Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
Reduce temperature to 400 degrees and continue to bake for 25 minutes longer.
Cool and serve.

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Butterflies

            My kids and I have made butterflies for many years and it has been a wonderful memory for all of us. They are simple to make and a joy to eat! You will need a Rosette and Timbale set. They come in many different shapes. Mine has a butterfly form and that is the form we always use. Pick your favorite shape and enjoy!

1 C. King Arthur All Purpose Flour
1 C. milk
½ tsp. salt
3 tsp. sugar
1 egg
Confectioners sugar

Mix all the ingredients until smooth, and chill in a covered, bowl at least 1 hour before making.
Pour 2” of cooking oil into a shallow pan and heat to 365 degrees.
Place your Rosette and timbale into the oil and heat it for about 3-5 minutes.
Dip your rosette into the batter making sure that you do not completely submerge the rosette into the batter.
Dip Rosette into the oil and hold it until the rosette turns a golden brown and the batter is completely cooked.
Turn the rosette out onto a paper towel and repeat the process until all the batter is gone.
As you make each layer of rosettes be sure to sift a little confectioner’s sugar over them.
These are great with coffee, tea, and ice cream.

This Swedish treat is usually served at Christmas, but they are too good to have just once a year!

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Chocolate Peanut Brownies

2/3 C. peanut butter (chunky)
¼ C. butter
1 C. brown sugar
2/3 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
¾ C. all purpose flour
¾ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 (12 oz.) package chocolate chips

Cream peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
Lightly beat the eggs and add them to the peanut butter mixture.
Combine the dry ingredients and add them to the creamed mixture.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Bake in a greased 13”X9”X2” pan at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

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Bessie’s Lemon Bars

Crust - 2 C. all purpose flour
¾ C. butter
¾ C. sugar

Filling – 4 eggs
2 C. sugar
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
¼ C, lemon juice
¼ C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Glaze – 1 C. confectioner’s sugar
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. lemon juice
½ tsp vanilla

In a mixing bowl combine the crust ingredients and mix for 2 to 3 minutes scrapping the bowl frequently.
Pat crust mixture into a 12”X9”X2” baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

In a mixing bowl combine; eggs, sugar, lemon peel, and lemon juice.
Blend for 2 minutes.
Add the flour and the baking powder and blend well.
Pour the filling into the hot crust and bake for another 25 minutes.

Cool completely.

Mix the ingredients for the glaze and brush over the bars.

Makes 24 bars.

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Sunny Day Cake

Cake – 1 package yellow cake mix
1 (10 oz.) jar orange marmalade
2 tsp. grated orange peel

Glaze – ¾ C. powdered sugar
1 tsp grated orange peel
2 tsp orange juice

Grease and flour a 12 C. bundt pan.
Prepare the cake mix according to directions except decrease the water to 1 cup.
Add marmalade and orange peel to the cake mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until done.
Cool.

Blend all of the glaze ingredients adding a little more orange juice, if necessary to make the desired consistency.
Drizzle glaze on the cake.

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Really Good Strawberry Pie

1 C. boiling water
1 C. sugar
2 tbsp. corn starch
½ tsp. salt
Red food coloring
2 tbsp. strawberry flavored Jello
Fresh Strawberries

Bake and cool a 9” pie shell.

Combine the water, sugar, corn starch, and salt in a sauce pan and boil until thick and clear.
Add 2 tbsp. Strawberry Jello stirring until the Jello is completely dissolved.
Add red food coloring to the desired shade.
Cool.
Place the cleaned and topped strawberries in the pie shell.
Be sure the strawberries are completely dry before coating with the glaze.
Pour the Jello mixture over the strawberries and chill for at least 3 hours.
Top with whipped cream and serve.

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Easy Flavored Ice Cream

            Here’s a great idea born out of frustration, as many great ideas are. The problem was that I LOVE peppermint ice cream, but you only find it during the holiday season and I like it all year ‘round. Sometimes you can find it in the summer months in specialty ice cream stores, but even then it is hard to find and it usually means a special trip or going out of your way. Here’s a solution and a challenge!

            I solved my peppermint ice cream cravings by buying peppermint candy and a half gallon of vanilla ice cream. I let the ice cream soften just a very little. Then I put a layer of ice cream into my blender and sprinkled some crushed peppermints in top. Another layer of ice cream and sprinkle peppermints on top and so forth until you have blended all the ice cream with crushed peppermint. Place the mixture back into the carton or into a freezer container and put it in the freezer. Allow to refreeze. There you are! Peppermint ice cream!

            I started thinking about all the flavors that one could make themselves. The possibilities are really endless. Sanders Candies makes an ice cream sauce that is out of this world good. Its apple caramel sauce and it has chunks of apple mixed into the caramel sauce. I was thinking that if you took canned apple pie filling and caramel sauce it might make a good ice cream. I blended the apples with the ice cream (to taste) and swirled caramel sauce through it. Yum!

That’s the solution. Now for the challenge.

            Sit down with your kids and ask them what flavors of ice cream they would like to make. Chocolate M&M? Just mix mini-M&M’s with chocolate ice cream. Chocolate/raspberry ice cream? Orange/chocolate ice cream? What could you make using sherbets? Ices?

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Pecan Pie

3 eggs
½ C. sugar
1 C. corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp vanilla
¼ C butter (melted)
Plain pie pastry
1 C. pecans

Beat the eggs thoroughly.
Add to this mixture the sugar, syrup, salt, vanilla, and butter.
Line your pie pan with a plain pastry.
Layer the pecans on the bottom of the pastry in the pie pan.
Carefully pour the mixture on top of the pecans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

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