Monster Cookies have always been a family favorite.  This adapted recipe from Bakerella would really simplify the process.  It’s on our “must try” list.  ~ Jan

Monster Cookie Bars
Makes 20

2⅔ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
⅔ cup butter, softened
1½ cups light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup white chocolate morsels
1 cup M&M’s
½ cup dried cranberries, raisins or cherries
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, use a wire whisk to mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar together until blended. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Then add vanilla and mix.

4. Slowly add the flour and mix until combined. Stir in dark and white chocolate morsels, M&M’s, dried cranberries and coconut.

5. Spread into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes until done. If the top starts to get too brown, you can cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.

6. Once cool, cut into 20 bars.

How easy is this.  Just put the cinnamon rolls in a waffle iron, then spread with the frosting that comes in the can when they’re finished.  A little maple syrup on top, maybe some fresh strawberries or blueberries, and you’ve got a great breakfast with no work!

Watch them closely, they can burn quickly once they’ve cooked!

Is there anything better than Hummingbird Cake in the springtime?  It’s Southern Living’s most requested recipe, and a favorite of mine for years.  It’s truly wonderful  ~  Jan

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained 
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups chopped bananas
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• ————————————————————————————
• Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not beat.) Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup pecans, and bananas.
• Pour batter into three greased and floured 9-inch round cakepans. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
• Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake; sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans on top. Store in refrigerator
• ————————————————————————————
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 
• 1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extractBeat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla
  .

Lemon is one of life’s greatest pleasures.  Pair lemon and waffles and you have a great spring brunch!

Cooking Classy has this amazing recipe, complete with marshmallow fluff, you have to check it out.

Grab it here...

Everything that goes around comes around.  Congealed salads are the latest darling of the food world, they were always on Mother’s table in the 50’s a nd 60’s and now they’re back in a big way.

My all time favorite is Perfection Salad, made the way mother did with pineapple, carrots and cabbage in lime or lemon Jello, it’s a oldie but goodie.

Lucy’s Perfection Salad

2 (3 oz.) pkgs. lemon or lime Jello

1/4 head cabbage, chopped

2 carrots, chopped or grated

1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple

Dissolve Jello in 2 cups boiling water; stir well. Add 1 1/2 cups cold water. Add vegetables and pineapple with juice.

Put in jello mold and chill several hours.

I made not one, not two, but three really good salad dressings this morning.  The Italian Vinaigrette is a new recipe, but the other two, Western and Ramona’s Poppyseed, are favorites.  I’ve made Ramona’s recipe for years, there isn’t a better poppyseed dressing than hers, it’s just wonderful.  And the quart jar, it’s green and it’s wonderful, but that’s for another post.

If you happen to be in the mood, these are easy peasy and so much better than bottled.  Yep, they’re low-carb, but don’t let that stop you, these are excellent dressings.

The Western Dressing calls for a bit of xanthan gum to thicken it, but you can leave that out.  

Here are the links, maybe you’re thinking spring and salad this sunny February day, too.

Ramona’s Famous Poppyseed Dressing

Peace, Low & Low Carbs Italian Vinaigrette Dressing

Western Dressing

“Papa’s Favorite Hamburger” (referring to Hemingway’s nickname) calls for nine ingredients to be mixed into lean ground beef — including Spice Islands mei yen power, soy sauce, garlic, India relish, capers and wine — before forming it into “fat, juicy patties” and frying them in oil so the final product is crispy brown on all sides and “the middle pink and juicy.”

You’ll see hand-written notes all over the recipe, including one calling for grated cheddar to be added to the patty blend.

The author’s hamburger recipe was just released by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library’s Hemingway Letters Project.

Who wouldn’t enjoy a collection of great kopy-kat Olive Garden Recipes.  Six Sisters Stuff has published all of the above.  You can grab their recipes here...

Recipes courtesy of Six Sisters’ Stuff

This four layer cake is also known as Grandma’s Best Coconut Cake.  I haven’t had it in years, but it’s a goodie.  Thinking ahead to Easter...

Here’s the link to the recipe

1 can Pillsbury Grands™ Refrigerated Biscuits
1/2 cup Land o’ Lakes Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread™
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons water

Learn how to make them here...

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup silver tequila
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 6 to 8 limes)
• ⅓ cup honey
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 1/2 pounds chicken drumsticks (about 20)
• 3 tablespoons safflower oil
• Clementine or orange wedges, for serving (optional)

Preparation

A friend of mine had horseradish coleslaw in a restaurant and loved it, so I decided to make it at home.  It turned out so good, it’s very forgiving, you can just add or subtract the amount of horseradish to taste.  You could even try just adding horseradish to your own creamy coleslaw recipe ~ Jan

This has always been a family favorite of ours, perfect for this January weather...

I’m on a fried chicken kick this week and this Amish Fried Chicken is a recipe I’ve made several times with good results.  The seasonings are really good, the dried marjoram gives it a different flavor.

This is the recipe I made, from Food.com with just a few adaptations to the spices.  I used garlic powder instead of garlic salt, and also added a teaspoon of onion powder.  I also added a teaspoon of paprika for a nice golden color.   I also soak it overnight in sweet milk, I think that milk makes chicken more tender, and gives it a nice flavor.

This is so easy because you bake it instead of fry it, it’s really delicious.  ~ Jan

Photo courtesy of Midwest Living

The food of your childhood is always the best, and my mother’s fried chicken was absolutely world class.

We had chicken every Sunday, and it didn’t come from a store, but from our own backyard.  It was a gruesome task, dressing a chicken, but we were country people and lived off the land.  The meat was amazing, you simply can’t get farm raised chickens now unless you find a grower and pay a premium price, but with a few tips as to how Mother made her chicken, I’m sure that yours will turn out very well.

The first thing she did was to soak the chicken pieces overnight in buttermilk.  She always cut the breasts so that there was a “wishbone” and it was the most tender, coveted part of the chicken.

She would heat lard in a black iron skillet, which is a tricky thing, because iron heats so quickly, that when you put your chicken pieces in to fry, you turn it down to medium or even medium low, or your chicken will brown too quickly and by the time it’s cooked it will burn.

She would salt and pepper the chicken, wet from being soaked in the buttermilk, and then put it in a brown paper sack and shake it until coated, then drop it piece by piece into the hot fat.

Here’s how she cooked it, resulting in the best chicken you’ve ever eaten:

She always let her fat get really hot before putting in the chicken, if you don’t, it will stick to the skillet and the crust pulls away from the chicken.

She never put a lid on it when it was frying, this steams the chicken and results in a soggy, not crisp crust.

She turned it often, very often, like every 5 minutes, taking the wings and legs out first and blotting them on a folded paper sack, we didn’t have paper towels in those days.

She cooked the breasts for approximately 35-45 minutes until a deep golden brown, remember, keep turning

Gravy:

The best part, drain the skillet of all but 2-3 tablespoons of fat drippings, stir in 2-3 tablespoons of flour,  salt, pepper and cook until a very light brown, then stir in milk, approximately two cups, stirring constantly so that it doesn’t lump.  Today we use a whisk, she always used a wooden spoon.  Cook until thick, add more milk if needed, or if the gravy  seems thin, just cook it down to the right consistency.

Black iron continues to cook after it’s removed from the heat, you may need to add a bit more milk to the gravy before stirring.

And that’s it, the recipe for the best fried chicken you will ever eat.

Enjoy… ~ Jan

Even they aren’t trendy, sausage balls have been around forever, and they’re still one of the most requested recipes on Betty Crocker’s site, people love them, and even if they aren’t tres chic, they are absolutely delicious.  I’ve blogged about these before, but some things are definitely worth repeating.

There are lots of variations, but I never deviate from the original, sometimes you just don’t mess with the classics.  Super Bowl Sunday will be here soon, pick up a box of Bisquick in your local market, put together this recipe and you’re in for a treat.  It’s an oldie, but definitely still a goodie.  ~ Jan

3 cups Original Bisquick Baking Mix
1 pound pork sausage (I like Bob Evan’s Hot)
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 
12 cup milk
12 teaspoon rosemary leaves, crushed
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon parsley blakes

Barbecue or chili sauce, if desired

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan.

2.  Stir together all ingredients using hands or spoon.  Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Place in pan.

3.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown.  Immediately remove from pan.  Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

Photo and recipe courtesy of You Sweet Talker, Betty Crocker :-D