Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake

This is scrumptous.

I got this recipe from the website of an American bed and breakfast somewhere in Michigan. I made it a couple of weeks ago for a VBS leaders breaky and it was certainly a hit! It makes me think of Fall and Christmas and all things warm and cozy. You'll love it.

1/4 Cup Butter or Margarine
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 Cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 Cup Milk (Homo is best!)
1 tsp. Vanilla

Topping
1 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp. Flour
2 tsp. Cinnamon
4 Tbsp. Butter or Margerine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar; beat in egg.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.

Stir in vanilla extract. Pour blended mixture into prepared pan.

To make topping: In a small bowl, mix together sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter with pastry blender or fork. Spoon half over batter and swirl. Spoon remaining topping over batter.

Bake for 30 minutes.

**I doubled this recipe and made it in a 9" x 13". It was awesome!

Enjoy!

~Anne

Orange Spiced Coffee

When Starbuck's is an hour away, it's not very often you get to enjoy a flavoured coffee. This is a nice treat, especially in the fall since it has a Christmasy flavour.

To the grounds in the filter of your coffee maker, add 1 stick of cinnamon broken in half and about a tablespoon of orange zest (grated orange peel). Run cycle as usual.

Add cream & sugar if you like, find a comfy chair and a good book, and enjoy.

~ Charmin

Croutons

Homemade croutons - so good in your soup or salad!

Cube bread, spread on ungreased baking tray in single layer, and bake at 300° for about 20 minutes (until crisp).

Be creative - experiment with different types of bread for different flavours, or use a mini cookie cutter for different shapes.

~ Charmin

Macaroni & Tomato Juice

Mom told me that Grammie would make this when the budget was tight and the cupboard was bare. I have made it when the cupboard was bare, when the brain was dead, when I didn't have time to make something else... It's a great desperation meal. I don't know how Mom makes hers, but here's how I do it.

Cook 2 cups elbow macaroni according to package directions. Drain. In 6 cup casserole, toss macaroni with 1/4 cup butter until butter is melted. Pour 500 ml Heinz tomato juice over macaroni. (No Name tomato juice just isn't the same.) Top with 2 or 3 handfuls of crushed crackers. Bake at 350° for about half an hour (until crackers are nicely browned).

Hopefully this isn't one of those family recipes that traumatizes Anne. I understand they ate it every Thursday for supper for the 14 years or so that Anne was home while Mom was an Awana leader. Let's hope this recipe brings back good memories.

~ Charmin

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Campbell's doesn't even come close. It's fine for the odd casserole, but if it's mushroom soup you're craving (yes, I sometimes crave it), this is the one to make. You don't have to preheat the stocks, but if you do it will cut the cooking time down considerably.

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced or chopped
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (or 1 clove, minced)
1 cup beef stock, heated
1 cup chicken stock, heated
1 cup milk
1 cup cream, light or heavy
4 tsp. white wine, optional but good (I use 1 tsp. red wine vinegar instead)

Put butter, onion and mushrooms in large pot. Sauté until onion is soft and clear.

Add flour, salt, pepper and garlic. Mix in. Stir in beef and chicken stock, milk and vinegar. Heat and stir until it boils and thickens.

Stir in cream. Bring to boiling temperature and serve. Makes about 5 cups.

Serves 4 comfortably, or 2 somewhat uncomfortably. (We really like it.)

~ Charmin

Marble Squares

I took these to our Sunday School picnic and when offered one, my friend Tammy said, "Oh, I know what these are! I like these!" Nice and moist, not too chocolatey and not too sweet. Just right, if you ask me.

3/4 cup water
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
handful or two semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine water, margarine and cocoa in saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring to combine. Remove from heat. Stir in combined flour, 2 cups sugar, baking soda and salt. Add 2 beaten eggs and sour cream; mix well. Pour into greased and flour 15x10x1 inch jelly roll pan.

Combine cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar, mixing until well blended. Blend in 1 egg. Spoon over chocolate batter. Cut through batter with knife several times for marble effect. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares.

~ Charmin

Peanut Butter Cake

Allergy people beware!! We can eat this in our house because there is an unwritten rule that I have placed in our family long long ago : No one is allowed to have food allergies! So far so good. :)

1/2 Cup Margarine ( I use oil)
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
2 Eggs
2 tsp Baking powder
1 Cup Milk
1 1/3 Cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt

Cream margarine and sugar. Add peanut butter, vanilla and eggs; beat well.
Mix and add flour, baking powder and salt.
Add milk and mix well with mixer until fluffy.
Pour into 2 greased layer pans (8 inches).
Bake at 325 F for 35 - 40 minutes. Cool. Frost cake with Peanut Butter Cup frosting.

Peanut Butter Cup Frosting:

1/4 Cup Margarine, softened
1/2 tsp salt
3 to 4 Tbsp milk
1/2 Cup Chocolate chips, softened
1/4 Cup Peanut butter
2 1/2 Cups icing sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Cream together all ingredients until light and fluffy. Spread on cake. You can also drizzle extra melted chocolate chips over this.

~Shannon

Strawberry Lemonade

We made this for supper on a hot day last week and it got rave reviews!

Juice of 1 lemons
1 tbsp sugar
8 - 10 ripe strawberries
1 cup water

Throw everything into a blender and mix until fairly smooth. Serve over ice.

I doubled everything to serve 6 people comfortably.

Enjoy!

~Anne :)

White Bread

Here it is, Anne. Instructions for setting the dough to rise overnight will be at the end.

5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1/2 cup milk
butter or margarine

In large bowl, comine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast. In medium saucepan over low heat, heat 1 1/2 cups water, milk and 3 tbsp. butter or margarine until very warm (120° to 130°F). (Butter or margarine does not need to melt.) With mixer at low speed, gradually pour liquid into dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium; beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in 3/4 cup flour or enough to make a thick batter; continue beating 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. With spoon, stir in enough additional flour (about 3 cups) to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Shape dough into ball and place in greased large bowl, turning over so that top of dough is greased. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place (80° to 85°F), away from draft, until doubled, about 1 hour. (Dough is doubled when two fingers pressed lightly into dough leave a dent.)

Punch down dough by pushing center of dough with fist, then pushing edges of dough into center. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; cut in half; cover with bowl for 15 minutes.

Grease two 9x5" loaf pans. With lightly floured rolling pin, roll one dough half into 12x8" rectaingle. Starting with 8-inch end, tightly roll dough, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal. Press ends to seal and tuck under; place, seam side down, in loaf pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. (Dough is doubled when one finger very lightly pressed against dough leaves a dent.)

Preheat oven to 400°F. If desired, brush loaves with 2 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted. Bake loaves 25 to 30 minutes until golden and loaves sound hollow when lightly tapped with fingers. Remove from pans immediately; cool on wire racks. Makes 2 loaves.

And now for my adaptations. I don't have a thermometer to determine how hot the milk mixture is so I just guess. You don't want it to be too hot or the yeast won't do its job. Instead of beating with a mixer and stirring in the rest of the flour, I use my dough hooks for both steps. I just have a hand mixer with dough hooks and it does a great job. I finish it off with a little kneading by hand right in the bowl. Then grease the bowl and continue as usual. I never roll out the dough with a rolling pin; I just cut it in half and then stretch and roll it with my hands into a loaf shape and tuck the ends under. I've started mixing up the dough the night before, using only 1 1/2 tsp. yeast, and leaving it greased in the bowl overnight to rise. In the morning I put the dough in the pans and let it rise another hour, then bake it. It is working very well. Just make sure you grease the whole ball of dough so it doesn't get dry and crusty before morning.

Don't you love these abstract recipes? Sorry. Baking bread is not an exact science.

~ Charmin

Ham, Potato and Onion Casserole

I got this recipe from Charmin. It's great for leftover ham!

6 Tbsp. ham drippings or butter
6 Tbsp. Flour
3 Cups Milk
2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper **I used crushed red pepper flakes instead to give it a little zing**
1/4 lb. Cheddar Cheese, grated
1 lb. Ham, cooked and diced
4 Cups Potatoes, cubed and cooked
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs, buttered

Melt drippings or butter.
Blend in flour and add milk, stirring constantly.
Cook mixture until thickened, boiling about 3 minutes.
Add seasonings and grated cheese.
Cook slowly until cheese melts.
Add cooked ham, potatoes, and onions.
Pour mixture into a greased casserole.
Sprinkle with buttered bread crumbs.
Bake, uncovered, in a 350 F oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until crumbs are lightly browned.

~Anne

Jenn's 'Nice and Moundy' Chipits Cookies

These cookies are by far the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made! We have some new neighbors moving in across the street today so I was able to whip these cookies up in less than 1/2 hr to bring as a 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift!

I got this recipe from Charmin a couple of years ago. She got it from Jenn Slauenwhite after receiving these delicious cookies from her!

2/3 Cup Butter, melted
2 Cups Brown Sugar, lightly packed
2 Uggle-Bugs (Eggs)
2 Tbsp. Hot Water
2 2/3 Cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 pkg. (300g) Hershey Chipits Milk Chocolate Chips

**I used 1 1/3 Cups President's Choice Milk Chocolate Chips from the bulk section**

Beat together butter, brown sugar, eggs and hot water until well mixed.
Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Stir in chips.
Drop from small spoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. (To make them look "perfect", I roll the dough in my hands, drop on baking sheet and press lightly with a spoon!)
Bake at 375 F for 8 to 10 minutes.

Makes about 5 dozen small cookies.

~Anne