Fresh Orange Cookies

This is my all-time favorite orange cookie! It’s a very moist and soft cookie (perhaps because of the sour cream?) with an orange glaze on the top. Unfortunately these cookies don’t stack well in a storage container – the glaze will come off on the bottom cookie – so be prepared to eat them fast, or give away a plateful to your friends and neighbors!

COOKIES:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup orange juice
3 Tbsp grated orange peel (about 3 oranges)

FROSTING:
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp grated orange peel (about 1 orange)
2-3 Tbsp orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

DIRECTIONS:

Cream together sugar and butter. Add sour cream and eggs. Blend well. Add rest of ingredients and mix.

Drop on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Frost while cookies are just warm. If they are too hot, the frosting will drip off.

**If frosting is too thick, add a little more orange juice. And if it’s too thin, add a little more powdered sugar.

Frosted Chewies

These are a lightly peanut butter flavored krispie treats with a chocolate/butterscotch frosting on top. These can be really rich, so you might want to cut in small pieces. I served these to a large group of teenage girls one night and they loved them and kept coming back for more!

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 – 6 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 – 6 oz. package butterscotch chips

1. Mix sugar and corn syrup in saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture boils.
2. Remove from heat. Add peanut butter; mix well.
3. Add Rice Krispies; stirl until evenly coated.
4. Press mixture evenly and firmly in a butter baking pan (9-in by 13-in).
5. Cool.
6. For the frosting, melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in top section of double boiler over hot (not BOILING) water.
7. Stir constantly.
8. Remove from heat; spread evenly over krispie mixture and let cool until firm.
9. Cut into bars.

*You can double the recipe and use a 10-in by 14-in buttered pan instead.

Texas Sheet Cake

This recipe makes a 12″ x 17″ pan (one-and-a-half times the original recipe).

Cake
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
6 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups water
3 cubes butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Frosting
6 Tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 cube butter
9 Tbsp milk
1 1/2 lb powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS for Cake: Sift flour and sugar together. In a saucepan, bring to a boil the butter, cocoa, buttermilk, and water. Add to flour and sugar and mix. Add eggs, cinnamon, soda, and vanilla. Pour into greased pan (12×17) and bake at 350 degrees for 26 minutes or longer. This thicker cake requires longer to bake than the “original” recipe.

DIRECTIONS for Frosting: Bring to a boil cocoa, butter, and milk. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Mix together powdered sugar and vanilla. Pour the cocoa mixture into this and beat well. Add nuts, if desired. Ice cake while warm, but not too warm or else the frosting will run off the sides (I’ve done this several times!). It’s a delicate line between too warm and too cool so just keep touching it lightly to test temperature.

Notes from Mom: I usually just put the sugar and flour mixture into a bowl and stir with a wire whisk to mix together thoroughly. I stir both the cake and frosting mixtures with a wire whisk while they are coming to a boil to make them smooth. When I add the chocolate mixture, I use an electric hand mixer until well blended.
I make the frosting about halfway through the cooking time so that it is quite hot when the cake comes out. Using an electric hand mixer breaks up the powdered sugar better and makes it smoother. Let cake cook until slightly warm. Gently pour the frosting on then smooth it out to the edges. I have found that if I wait too long the frosting begins to set up too fast and doesn’t spread out as nice nor look as smooth.

Recipe for 11″ x 16″ pan (original recipe)
Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
4 Tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Frosting
4 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 cup butter
6 Tbsp milk
1 lb powdered sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla

Follow the same directions above for Cake and Frosting.

Vegetable Dip (Dill Dip)

Perfect dip for serving with vegetables and potato chips.

1 pint sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp or more dill weed
1 Tbsp instant minced onion
1 tsp seasoned salt

1. Mix together well and chill before serving.

Source: Leta Smith

Sheep Dip

So the name is a little odd (I didn’t come up with it!), but it comes from the fact that the dip is served and baked in a loaf of sheepherder bread. Call it whatever you want (some also refer to it as “Ham Dip” because it has ham in it), but I call it “Yummy!”

1 loaf sheepherder bread
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 – 8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups cheddar cheese
1/2 cup green onions
1 cup chopped green chilis
1 cup chopped ham

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together sour cream, cream cheese and Worcestershire sauce.
3. Stir together remaining ingredients and then add to cream mixture.
4. Hollow out sheepherder bread and fill with dip (you’ll most likely have a little left over).
5. Wrap in 2 layers of heavy duty foil.
6. Place on a cookie sheet
7. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes.
8. Serve warm with tortilla chips or crackers.

Source: Shelley Monson

Chicken and Rice Casserole

2 cups of cooked rice
2 Tbsp butter or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cups diced, cooked chicken
1 – 14.5 oz cans green beans, drained and rinsed
1 – 8 oz. can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 – 4 oz. jar pimentos
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook rice using your own directions (either in microwave or stove).
3. Heat butter or oil in skillet over medium heat.
4. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.
6. Add all remaining ingredients to bowl and mix together until thoroughly combined.
7. Pour into a greased 3-quart casserole dish.
8. Bake for 20-25 mintues or until bubbly. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Source: Paula Deen

Green’s Salmon Rub

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe. Because it’s so yummy, we now have a difficult time eating salmon at restaurants because it just doesn’t compare to the flavors in this rub! You can triple the recipe if you desire, but beware: that makes a LOT! Can you say “year supply?” 🙂

3 Tbsp Kosher salt
2 Tbsp Sugar (granulated)
1 Tbsp Brown sugar
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground fennel seeds

1. Mix ingredient in a bowl and store in airtight jar.
2. Preheat barbeque grill.
3. If the fish is a little dry, rub a tiny bit of mayo or cooking spray before adding seasoning (we often skip this step because we don’t have dry fish).
4. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of rub on top side of the fish (and a little on the sides if you wish), working it in with your fingers or the back of the spoon.
5. Spray a piece of tin foil with cooking spray; place salmon on foil.
6. Barbeque the salmon on the middle rack of the grill.
7. Squeeze a little lime or lemon on fish while cooking.
8. Do NOT turn fish. Cook until flaky (don’t overcook).
   

Source: Nancy Green

Yummy Blueberry Cobbler

I was surprised at how tasty this cobbler was, and loved every bite of it. Something in the topping just made it absolutely delicious that was different than traditional cobblers I’ve had in the past. As a note, if you don’t have lemon zest, it’s not necessary. I believe it’s just to help the blueberries retain their color better.

2 cups blueberries (fresh, dehydrated, or frozen)
3/4 cup water**
2/3 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
1/2 cup cream
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In saucepan, combine blueberries, water 2/3 cup sugar and lemon zest.
3. Stir until sugar is dissolved then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Transfer blueberries to a pie dish or a glass pan.
5. In blender, combine egg, cream, and vanilla. Blend for about 30 seconds.
6. In mixer with cookie paddles, cream together butter and 1/2 cup sugar.
7. Add in dry ingredients and liquid mixture. Mix until blended.
8. With a spoon (or #2 cookie scoop) spoon mixture on top of hot blueberries. DO NOT SPREAD OUT.
9. Bake for 30 minutes.
10. Let cool slightly and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

**If using frozen or fresh blueberries, you might need to reduce the amount of water to 1/2 cup. I tried it w/ frozen berries on 10/12/07 and it had too much water that I needed to add some Ultra Gel to thicken it up.

Source: Shar’s Kitchen

Fruit Trifle

This desert looks beautiful every time, and it disappears fast too! There’s a chocolate brownie and toffee bar version, too, if you like that combination instead of fruit and angel food cake.

2 – 8 oz. cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 1/2 tsp vanilla, divided
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 quarts mixed berries
4 Tbsp sugar, divided
1 pint whipping cream
1 angel food cake

1. Cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar.
2. Add sour cream, 2 tsp. vanilla, and almond extract. Mix together and set aside.
3. In separate bowl, mix 2-3 Tbsp sugar (to taste) with mixed berries. Set aside.
4. In separate bowl, whip 1 cup whipping cream, 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla.
5. Gently fold into cream cheese mixture.
6. Cut angel food cake into 1-inch squares.
7. In large bowl, fold cream cheese mixture and cake together until cake is thoroughly covered.
8. In a trifle dish, layer fruit and cake (alternating), saving a little fruit for the top.
9. Chill before serving.

*Can substitute one kind of berry instead of mixed (ie: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, etc).

Source: Nancy Green

Tomatillo Salsa

If you aren’t sure what “Tomatillo Salsa” is, maybe you’ve heard it called “Green Salsa.” This recipe tastes like the yummy green salsa served at Rancho de Tia Rosa’s.

1 – 28 oz. can tomatillos, drained
1/2 bunch cilantro, stems removed
1/4 cup sugar
4 slices nacho jalapenos (or more if you want more of a “kick”)

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender.
2. Chill before serving.

*Tomatillos can be found in the ‘Imported Mexican’ food aisle at most Food City stores.

Source: Leta Smith