Peanut Butter Cookies

Gluten free cookies made with no flour.
These cookies are to die for!
Really simple to make and really good.
Made with freshly ground peanut butter
they are always a treat to eat and
are always the first cookies to go.

Ingedients:
2 cups freshly ground peanut butter
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar or to taste
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl combine peanut butter,
eggs, sugar, vanilla, baking soda and salt.
Using a small ice cream scoop, drop onto
an ungreased cookie sheet two inches apart.
Using a fork make a criss cross pattern
by pressing down and across batter.
Bake for about 10 minutes, remove and
let cool on cookie sheet.

Ketchup Cabbage Slaw

I read about making a cole slaw using ketchup
as an ingredient in the dressing and made this.
Surprisingly the ketchup flavor goes well
with the tanginess of the fresh cabbage.
There is a huge recipe on-line for this,
I cut the recipe way back here just to try it.
This could serve three people as a side dish.

Ingredients:
3 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash of ground cayenne pepper

Directions:
Place water, ketchup, and sugar in a glass bowl,
microwave on high power two minutes, stir and add
salt, black and cayenne peppers, stir well.
Microwave on high 1 minute or until slightly thick.
Place shredded cabbage in a mixing bowl,
pour hot dressing over it and stir to coat.
Let sit 30 minutes before serving.

Apple Cream Cheese Tart

This is an incredibly good tasting apple tart.
The lemon zest and the instant coffee
sneak up on your taste buds very nicely.
It's attractive looking and the apples have
a sweet brown coating that goes well
with the cream cheese and custard mixture.
I cover the outside edge of the crust
with foil to prevent it from burning
before the tart filling is set.
It shouldn't go over in the oven while baking.

Ingredients:
1 9" pie crust
6 baking apples
1/6 cup flour
5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest from one lemon
2 packages cream cheese
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl place cream cheese
and beat in eggs to a smooth mixture.
Add 2 tablespoons sugar,
vanilla and combine well.

Peel, core and thickly slice apples.
Place in a large mixing bowl along with
flour, 5 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, coffee,
lemon zest and salt, mixing to coat apples well.
Place the pie crust in a 8" cake pan,
pour cheese mixture into pie crust.
Arrange apples all around and into cheese mixture
so that they stick up from the cheese mixture.
Top with any remaining cinnamon sugar/flour mixture.
Cover edge of crust with aluminum foil and bake
for about 80 minutes, remove foil and bake until
the crust is brown, another 15 minutes or so.
Let cool before serving and refrigerate for keeping.

Brown Sugar Lemonade

The hot weather is coming and I like to
have a jug of home made lemonade on hand.
I've made it with fresh lemons but using
that bottled lemon juice is quick and easy.
In this recipe I added a tablespoon
of brown sugar to the simple syrup.
It darkens the lemonade a little and
adds a good flavor twist that is differant.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup lemon juice
6 cups water
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions:
Place 1 cup water in a measuring cup and
bring it to a boil in the microwave oven.
Add sugars and stir to dissolve.
Pour into a pitcher of bottle,
add lemon juice to your taste.
Cover, shake and refrigerate.

Ricotta Filled Chocolate Cake

A chocolate cake with ricotta cheese filling.
Made in a 10" x 3" spring form pan.
Since the last cheese filled chocolate cake I
made came out exceptionally well I decided to
make it again but this time from scratch.
I made this one using no eggs in the batter and
only two whole eggs in the cheese filling.
This time the cheese didn't sink all the way
into the batter like the other cake did when baked,
and the cheese didn't quite thicken this time.
I spread some chocolate chips on the top and when it
melted I smoothed the chocolate to hide the cheese.
It really looks like I planned it that way.
The first cake came out much better than this one
made with a batter from scratch. Next time I
make this I'll use a boxed cake mix again.
And the chocolate I placed on the top got hard
when cold and was difficult to cut through.

Ingredients:
For the batter:
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 tablespoon vanilla
chocolate chips for garnish

For the cheese filling:
32 ounces ricotta cheese
2 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl combine flour,
sugar, salt and baking powder.
In a measuring cup combine water
along with the vinegar and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to the dry.
Mix well to make a loose batter.
Pour batter into a greased and
floured 10" x 3" springform pan.
In a mixing bowl combine the ricotta,
eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla.
Pour the cheese mixture on top of
the batter in the cake pan.
(Do not stir cheese into batter).
Bake for 60 minutes or until set.
Place chocolate chips on top of the
ricotta cheese filling if desired.
Remove to cool and store in refrigerator.

Grapes a Frozen

One year for a new year's Eve party I served
these frozen fresh grapes at the buffet table.
They were a real big hit with everybody.
Simple to freeze and serve all night long.

Ingredients:
2 pounds seedless grapes
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:
Combine grapes and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Place grapes in a freezer bag.
Freeze grapes until serving time.

Creamed Fresh Corn

This is a real old recipe for making
the best tasting creamed style corn.
Simple to make and delicious tasting.
My grandmother taught me how to make this.
Sometimes the simplest way is just the best.

Ingredients:
6 slices of smoked bacon
6 ears of fresh corn

Directions:
Fry the bacon slices in a saute pan,
remove bacon from pan and set aside to cool.
Shuck the corn and cut the kernals off the cobs.
Add the corn to the bacon drippings in the pan.
Saute for about 20 minutes, stirring until the
creamed fresh corn gets nice and creamy good.
Chop up the bacon slices and serve along side.

Rhubarb Chicken

My garden has some fresh rhubarb growing and
I thought I'd share a good recipe for using it.
This chicken dish is easy to make and tastes great.

Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut up
3 stalks fresh rhubarb
sugar to taste
salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Wash and place chicken pieces in roasting pan,
sprinkle with salt and black pepper to taste,
cover and roast for about 40 minutes.
Wash and peel rhubarb, cut into pieces
and combine with sugar in a mixing bowl.
Remove chicken from oven and place rhubarb
in pan and roast until rhubarb is fork tender.

Chicken Soup Using Frozen Thighs

I made this soup today using frozen chicken,
fresh cut up vegetables and some egg noodles.
Almost no salt and my favorite seasonings.
You defrost the chicken in the microwave
for about ten minutes and then throw them
into a soup pot to simmer with the vegetables.
I cook and serve the noodles by themselves
because it makes it easier to re-heat the soup,
as the noodles would overcook with the soup.

Ingredients:
3 frozen chicken thighs
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
2 cups cooked egg noodles

Directions:
Remove chicken from freezer and place
in a microwave safe dish and cover.
Heat on low setting for 10 minutes.
They should defrost but still be cold.
Place about 4 cups water in a soup pot,
add the chicken and bring to a boil.
Lower heat to a slow simmer.
Skim off any foam on the top of water.
Season with salt, pepper and parsley.
Let chicken simmer about 1 hour, un-covered.
Prepare the vegetables and place in a bowl.
when the chicken is done cooking, remove from pot
and de-bone and remove skin if desired.
Place vegetables in the chicken stock in pot,
simmer for 40 minutes until fork tender.
Add the chicken and serve with the noodles on the side.

New England Lobster Roll

Lobsterr rolls are simple to make and a real treat.
I like to make these with the flat sided hot-dog rolls
so I can butter and toast them nice and golden brown.
Of course this recipe is best with freshly cooked lobster
but even using canned tastes good on a hot day for lunch.

Ingredients:
lobster meat removed from shells
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and minced
1 tablespoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
3 tablespoons prepaired mayonnaise
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 hot dog rolls, split

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the lobster meat with the cucumber,
lemon zest, pepper, tarragon, Old Bay, and mayonnaise.
Stir until well combined. Cover and let the lobster
mixture marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, butter the split rolls and toast them
in a saute pan until golden brown on both sides.
Divide the lobster mixture among the rolls and serve.

Beets Freshly Roasted

If you like beets you must try this recipe.
The flavor intensifies to an earthy goodness.
Not at all tasting like pickled or canned.
I like the way the red juices color the plate and
find neat ways of using it like in mashed potatoes,
or in coloring the whites of hard boiled eggs red.

Ingredients:
4 fresh beets, washed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking dish with aluminum foil.
Place whole fresh beets in dish and cover.
Bake until beets are about fork tender.
The time will depend on the size of the beets.
About an hour or so, or more.
To serve slice beets and cut to remove skins.

Carrots Roasted with Summer Sausage

This is so easy to make and tastes so good.
I use no added salt or seasonings in this.
The carrots get all soft and creamy while
the summer sausage becomes swelled up and
opens up releasing it's great juices in the pan.
I use aluminum foil on the bottom of the pan
which makes for an easy clean up.

Ingedients:
6 carrots
1 Ib summer sausage link

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a small roasting pan with foil.
Peel carrots and cut into serving pieces,
place carrots in the small roasting pan.
Defrost summer sausage if needed for a
minute or two in a microwave oven on high.
Place sausage on top of carrots in pan.
Cover and bake for 1 hour or so.
To serve slice sausages and have some
of your favorite mustard on the side.

Cole Slaw with Blue Cheese Dressing

The flavors in this dressing sneak up on you.
First you taste creamy mayonaise and the cheese
and then it get's a little spicy hot.
Then you get some black pepper on your tongue.
I almost added some horseradish in this recipe.
I know this is good because after I made this,
I was licking the mixing bowl and spoon.

Ingredients:
1 cup crumbled gorganzola cheese
1 cup prepared blue cheese dressing
1/2 cup prepared mayonaise
1/4 cup prepared tomato salsa
2 cups brocolli slaw
2 cups cabbage slaw
1 grind of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:
Place cheese and salad dressing in a big bowl,
ad mayonaise, salsa, pepper, mustard and sugar.
Mix well by hand using a big wooden spoon.
Add brocolli and cabage slaws and combine well.
Place in a covered container and refrigerate
24 hours or overnight for best flavor.
Serve cold.

Chicken Wings Oven Broiled

This makes just about the best tasting hot wings.
You broil the wings to a crispy crunch and then
baste the wings a few times with a good sauce.
I like wings as hot as I can get them and use
a really hot pepper sauce, you can use what ever.
In this recipe you get sour, sweet and spice.

Ingrdients:
24 cut up chicken wings
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup hot pepper jelly
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup hot pepper sauce

Directions:
In a bowl coat wings in canola oil and then
place the wings on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
Broil until the wings are just starting to brown,
turning the wings to brown on all sides.
In a bowl combine pepper jelly,
lime juice and hot pepper sauce.
Baste chicken wings and broil,
baste chicken wings and broil again,
baste chicken wings one more time.
At this point they should be done
but broil longer if needed.

Serve with celery sticks and
of course blue cheese dressing.