Coffee & Cocoa Cake

While I'm not a coffee drinker, my favorite cake that Mom made was a chocolate cake made with coffee...even in the icing.  My variation turned out pretty good this weekend.

The Recipe:
1 stick margarine
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 tbsp cocoa
4 tbsp coffee (black)
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp soda
2 tsp vanilla

As you can see...she wore her recipe out (or maybe it was me!).  She had copied it twice and wore them both out.

My Variations:
I didn't have buttermilk or plain flour.  So I used sweet milk and self-rising flour, no soda.

I creamed the butter and sugar together with a pastry cutter.  Since I was in a hurry, I didn't let the butter soften.

Again, I was in a hurry, and I didn't sift the flour and cocoa together.  When you don't do that, you get those little balls of flour/cocoa.  But it cooked up really nice.  I cooked it my stoneware instead of a cake pan this time.  Bake for about 30 minutes.

The icing is what makes it so great!

The Recipe:
1 stick margarine
4 tbsp cocoa
4 tbsp coffee (black)
Boil this for a minute or so.  I added 1 tsp vanilla.  Then I did shift the confectioners sugar over the cocoa mixture.  The recipe calls for 1 box of sugar, I used enough to get the right consistency, probably a couple of cups.

If it gets a little thick, add more coffee or a little bit of milk. 

The icing makes the cake.  It's almost like putting a layer of fudge on top of the cake and it really doesn't have a coffee taste to it.

Ice cream only makes it better!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Nestle Toll House

Mom always had cookies in the cookie jar....if they ever made it that far.  Chocolate chip was my favorite and she started early teaching me to make them.  I messed up a few batches combining self-rising flour with baking powder or soda.  The dog wouldn't even eat them!  Basically, we decided the back of the bag of the Nestle chocolate chip was the best recipe, however I did copy the recipe onto a recipe card just in case the bag disappeared.  I made a copy for her once when she was visiting me in Alabama or Florida.  I found it in her recipe box.

The recipe:

Okay...I'll not lie to you, I've made them using self rising flour and they tasted just fine....just remember not to use the baking soda and salt!

Mix the sugar together and then add your liquids.  I like to use soften butter but have melted it too in a pinch.

Sift together the flour (plain), soda and salt and slowly add to the sugar/butter/liquid mixture.

If you don't have a sifter, mixing the flour mixture with a fork does well too.

Chopped nuts and chocolate chips added last.

Let Adam taste test, just let him eat them all!   Another honest moment here.  See that tray I'm putting the cookies on?  It's a pizza tray....with holes in the bottom.  Don't ask me why I didn't think of what would happen to the cookies...the holes...when I put it in the oven (see picture below and imagine black smoke bellowing from the oven).

Yep!  The cookies fell through those tiny holes and left little drops of cookie mix in the oven.  Gave me a good reason to clean my oven though!  Those drops were burnt black when the cooking was done.  But this batch of cookies actually tasted the best. 

Next time I found my cookie sheet and used a cooking sheet (not my most favorite thing to use). 

The cookies went as quickly as they were cooked.  Delicious!

Fudge Pie

Here's the fudge pie I referenced in my last post, made during the Christmas holidays.  So simple and yet so delicious...served with ice cream while warm just makes it better.

The Recipe:

I mixed all the dry ingredients together.  (I love my "page-up" card holder!)

I added the wet stuff, eggs, vanilla, & melted margarine and I always use Blue Bonnet Light.

Into a very ugly pie shell.

But looks did not deter from the taste!!

Chess Pie

Chess Pie was one of my mom's classics, always delicious.  I used her Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook for the crust.  The recipe made enough dough for 2 crusts.  Mom always let me play with the extra dough....my first "playdough".  She would use a fork to decorate the edges....mine didn't turn out as pretty as hers but just as good.

The recipe:
1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
4-5 tbsp cold water

I used one crust for the chess pie and reserved the other for a fudge pie (recipe to come later).  I believe that Martha Stewart promotes working with the dough while it is chilled.  Maybe next time I will try that, but working it up went really easy.  The key is cutting the shortening into the flour mixture until you get a coarse mixture.

My son, Adam, made my rolling pin.  I love it.  Adding the water makes it easy to work it with your hands.

Once the crusts are made, they can be frozen for later use if needed.  The chess pie calls for an unbaked pie crust.  The instructions for the pie call for cooking part of it and then adding to the other mixture.

I'm not sure where Mom got her recipe.

3 eggs
5 tbsp cream (milk)
1 tbsp cornmeal
1 tsp vanilla

Cook together:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter

Cook at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and then at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.

The finished product was a huge success!!!

I heard one of the grandkids encouraging others to try the pie, "it tastes just like Grannie's".  That's what I was going for!

Oatmeal Cake

You can tell from the picture that this recipe is one that Mom used often.  It was one of our favorites.  It is best served warm and even better the next day.  When I think of this cake, I always think of "comfort"....guess it was a comfort food for me growing up.  I have no idea where Mom got her recipe, but I  think I remember Grannie Carathers (her mom) making this too.

The recipe:

1 cup quick oatmeal

1 1/2 cup boiling water

  (pour the water over the oatmeal and let it stand while you mix the other ingredients)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup Crisco

  (cream the Crisco and sugars together)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

  (add to mixture)

Shift dry ingredients together

1 1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

 (add to mixture and then add oatmeal)

 Pour into greased baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 35 minutes.

  

Remove from oven and cover with the topping mixture (recipe below), return to the oven and cook for 5 minutes more.

1 stick butter (melted)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup coconut
1 egg
   (add a small amount of milk as needed if mixture is too thick)

Serve straight from the pan and enjoy!

Cornbread Dressing & Gravy

Mom traditionally made this dressing for Thanksgiving, Christmas and my birthday.  Oh, she might have made it at other times, but those were the most common....and the most expected dish for those gathering on special days.  She asked me several years ago to learn to make it, but I told her that I had always known how to make it...I just liked for her to make it for me.  My job was always to taste-test the mixture to see if the seasoning was just right.

I don't have a written recipe for this, no exact measurements...this is just how I watched my mom do it year after year.

The Recipe: serves 15-20 people
3-4 pans of cornbread - Use your favorite recipe.   I used two different recipes, two with more of a flour mixture and one with just a cornmeal mixture (from two different cookbooks, referenced below).  I made 3 pans of cornbread for this mixing, cooked in a cast-iron skillet.

Seasonings: (to taste)
Sage
Salt
Pepper

 I added one large chopped white onion and about 6 chopped boiled eggs.

I baked a hen and tore the meat up (bite size) and mixed with the cornbread mixture.

 This is best mixed with your hands so that you can feel any large clumps of cornbread that needs to be broken down.

Once the mixture is thoroughly mixed and the seasoning is to your liking, add chicken broth (mixing with a large wooden spoon this time).  Many people use the drippings from the baked hen (or turkey) to moisten the mixture, however, I reserve the drippings for the gravy.  I used 3-4 cans of chicken broth, mixing  as I poured, making sure that all the mixture is covered.  Too much broth will make the dressing too moist.  The consistency that my family  likes is more a slightly moist dressing.  Sorry....I forgot to take a picture of the finished product...we were in a rush to eat!

Gravy: (again...sorry for no picture...it was getting close to dinner time!)
Drippings from baked hen or turkey and/or chicken broth
Boiled eggs
Onions
Salt
Pepper
Flour
Small pieces of chicken

Mom always used the giblets from her hen (she always used a hen)....but I never cared for that, so I do not make giblet gravy.  The biggest complaint from my family is that I never make enough gravy, so I made almost 4 times as much gravy as the recipe is for.  I used all the drippings and even a can of broth, adding enough flour and broth to get the desired consistency.

I shift the flour slowly into the broth while it starts to thicken, stirring constantly, adding the rest of the ingredients as it cooks.

Source:

 For my gravy, I leave out the celery.

 The flash from my camera is covering up the last line....cooking oil or melted butter....I use oil.

I use oil instead of bacon grease.