Home Cooking! & My Life!!

AAahhh!!  There is nothing like a good home cooked meal right?  

I always feel that way , that’s how we grew up too, today I baked a nice sized Chicken, and made my homemade dressing ( stuffing) which I dearly love but now mind you , as good as it is I could’ve done without the three hour nap I had to take  LOL!!   I’m sitting here and I still feel “stuffed” like the breaded dressing and I didn’t really over stuff myself I don’t think so but I sure am full, no need for supper for me tonight unless its a bowl of cereal later (G).

Something “Light” mabye??

But don’t you just hate that “stuffed up feeling”  I do but it sure was good I meant to take some photo’s darn it but never remember to buy new batteries for that blasted camera of mine that just

“eats them” ( batteries) is what I’m referring too;

But I will someday I will put up here our family recipe on this great dish I know there are many various family versions on all recipes and that’s great but I love this one and I don’t ever see me changing it for another you know?

So that’s it for today?    My meal was great but I sure am stuffed!!

Christmas is fast approaching and who out there doesn’t like a great cheesecake huh??  This one is so easy to make and you can even freeze it ahead of time, just don’t put the “topping” on it, wait until the day you serve it ok? 

Very simple, great tasting, amaze your family (G)!!

My Family’s Ice Box Dessert

You can make your own Graham Cracker crust or just buy

the ones already made up for you;

Your graham cracker crust;

3/4 cup ( maybe less) Graham crackers

1/2 cup butter ( we use blue bonnet)

1/2 cup sugar

melt butter, pour over sugar, & crackers in a bowl spread out in a glass pan, we used a 9×13 dish

Bake at 375 degree’s oven;  Take out & let cool

You just want this to “set” really since all ovens vary in time

just keep your eyes on it I’d say maybe 5 minutes or less?  You don’t want them to brown too much/or burn ;

again if you don’t want to make your own graham cracker crust

not a problem just get those that are already made for this recipe

if you don’t put it in a glass pan say a 9×13 dish you’ll need (3)

of those round graham cracker ( made up crusts)  Yes (3) OF THEM!

CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE;

3  -  8 oz. packages of Cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar ( maybe more)

1  1/2  containers cool whip ( I just buy one small one) myself I prefer more CREAM CHEESE in mine than a lot of cool whip;

I just use one 8 oz size of the cool whip, let this all soften up a bit

so that you can mix it up;

Mix together in a bowl gently spread over graham crackers

Now if you are serving this say the day you make it or its going to

be served the next day you can go ahead and put your cherry pie filling on or any you like this all needs to chill for several hours in the refrigerator .

if you are using the store bought pie filling you’ll need at least

2 small cans of the cherry pie filling or one big 21 oz. size;

Taste your cream cheese mixture  as you are mixing it all up,

this way you can see if you need more sweetener in it which is

the powdered sugar, thats why I mentioned earlier (it could be more) so always do a taste test, its good to taste it…

I like my cheese cake plain but when I am making this for

others in my family they love the cherry pie filling on it!!

I’ve also used blueberry pie filling..VERY GOOD!

Here’s some photo’s of mine one is plain and one is

with the cherry pie filling, this is so very very good!

my plain cheesecake…YUMMY!

my Cherry Cheesecake!!

This recipe is so simple and you can fix this at any time of the year

that’s why our family loves it so much and well  we just love

anything that’s got Cream Cheese in it…LOL!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

This is a really simple easy to make Chocolate Sheet cake; I had planned on making it today but just am not quite up to doing that with the pain I’m still in but thought I’d go ahead and share it with you anyway and I do have photo’s of it also for when I made it the last time (G)!!

Now the other wonderful thing with this recipe is of course you can  make it as a sheet cake, nice beautiful round cake, or even better Chocolate cupcakes for your home & family or for the kids at School!!

Buttermilk Chocolate Sheet Cake/ very easy to do!

We’ve used this recipe for so many years in my family, my brothers and I also used to eat this batter “raw” its that darn good!  It always made our Mother freak out but it is so darn good and to this day when I make of course I leave a bit on the bowl so that I can lick it clean..LOL!!

You’ll need;

Mix together in a big bowl;

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Bring to a boil in a nice saucepan; that won’t stick;

2 sticks oleo ( we use Bluebonnet) do not use cheapy type brands for this recipe, you will notice a difference.  My family has always USED Blue Bonnet when baking;

4 TBLPS of Hershey’s Cocoa/I make them heaping Tablespoons  of cocoa,

(don’t be stingy)

1 cup water

6-8 Tablespoons of Buttermilk ( we use this substitute) in ours and not the actual buttermilk our version is 1 cup milk with 1 TBLSP of white vinegar, mix this up and its PERFECT!!!

Be sure to refrigerate the remaining as You’ll need some of this again for your icing ok?  Its very very good!

After this mixture of cocoa, water, butter, and substitute butter milk , starts to come to a boil be sure to stir this really good now so it does not scorch in the bottom of your pan;

When it comes to a boil now pour this over your dry ingredients

and beat together with your mixer, next add;

2 eggs,

1 tsp. Vanilla

Beat the mixture well again scrape around all the sides

with your spatula to make sure its all mixed up good;

Now I use a 9×13″ pan for mine most of the time I do spray

my pan with PAM, so it won’t stick or burn;

if you want to make cup cakes great just fill the cups like you

do on other recipes

Bake this at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes maybe more

all ovens do not heat up the same, so at the 25 minute mark I’d be checking on this cake as you do NOT want to over bake it;

check it with a toothpick or a knife whatever you have handy

it if comes out clean its done, I like mine a tad “gooey” but that’s just me, not gooey like the batter but not all the way done either

does that make sense ??  (G)!

I love this cake right out of the oven, I always have a big old piece of it like this even before its got icing on it! 

IT’S THAT GOOD!! (TRUST ME)  try a piece eat it while its piping hot!  really really DELICIOUS!

Ummm ( my second piece of chocolate cake) before I got the icing put on it…LOL!  DAMN GOOD!

Once the cake has cooled down, now you are ready to make

your chocolate icing!  This ( to me) and our family is the best

chocolate icing, its all we use on any of our desserts!

Get that pan out again or be sure to wash it up to use again;

You’ll need

1 stick butter( blue bonnet)

4 tblsps of Hershey’s cocoa, (heaping TBLS)

6-8 TBLPS of buttermilk ( or that subsitute ) we mixed up!

you can even add a bit more of this in your icing, it won’t hurt it any, make sure the heat is on as low as you can on your stove

while this heats up; once its all stirred up good and starts to come to a boil again, ( bubbly like)

remove pan from heat, next add your powdered sugar enough

for a good spreading consistency;  You’re going to need at least

a 1 lb of this maybe more, I never measure it I just use as much

powdered sugar until the icing looks right you know?  I rarely

really measure anything, it just has to look right and feel right

and of course taste right as in sweet enough, so keep adding

your powdered sugar until it suits you ok?

then spread your icing out on your cake, if you have extra icing

left over, heck don’t throw it out, put that sweet stuff into a bowl

or container of some sort and you’ve got the best chocolate fix

right at your finger tips when you want CHOCOLATE!!! LOL!!!

grab yourself a teaspoon and get some of that good icing…(G)!

ENJOY IT!!

See??  Miss piggy here ate two pieces of it before I even got icing made and put on here..LOL!

There you have it, best darn versatile recipe you’ll need;

good luck and I hope you enjoy it!

Hello,  I grew up doing a lot of cooking and baking at an early age and today I will be telling you how to make our home made dumplings;

This is of course after you’ve already baked your Turkey,

or chicken and are now ready to make your home made

dumplings;

You’ll need;

2 cups flour

2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

about 3/4 Cup Milk (maybe more)

2 eggs

thicken up your broth and be sure to have it in a non stick

type of pan; to thicken your broth just mix up some cornstarch

and water and stir into boiling broth, this does NOT need

a lot of thickening, just some;

also please note;  When mixing this batter up together it

needs to be done SLOWLY do not over stir this batter it needs

to be a bit thick not soupy like water,  The batter will be

dropped into the boiling broth using your teaspoon, just

scoop up a teaspoon full and drop it into the broth, nothing

fancy, you’ll have different shapes and sizes its all good,

these cook really fast too and are done in just minutes,

gently give them a stir in the pot and you are ready to eat!

the dumplings are just your basic type , so good when you

are down sick, eating this good old comfort food, I’ve

also included a few of my photo’s for when I made my last

batch;  This is a family favorite of ours, I hope you enjoy them too!

Good luck just remember do NOT overstir your batter while

mixing the ingredients together ok?

Enjoy!!!

here’s a shot of my bowl full of dumplings!

YUMMMMYYYYY!!!!!   Oh so good!!!!!!!