Fritters

I have made these every week for breakfast since the boys were babies. That's a lot of fritters! We really love these little things! They are good dipped in a powdered sugar glaze or tossed with cinnamon-sugar. And you should always eat them hot!

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 Tbsp oil

Whisk these together in a bowl.

2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsp sugar

Whisk in flour 1/2 cup at a time. Add remaining dry ingredients after first cup of flour is mixed. Mix until smooth.

Drop into hot oil heated to 375. Cook until golden brown on all sides. Turn while cooking if necessary.

Remove from oil and let drain on plate lined with paper towels.

Blackberry Cobbler

This is the ultimate "comfort food" dessert! It works equally well with fresh or frozen berries (which makes me sad that I didn't freeze more blackberries this summer). It's so easy and really yummy served warm with whipped cream.

1/2 cup butter

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups blackberries (tossed with a little sugar)

Preheat oven to 350. Once oven temp is reached, melt butter in 9x13 pan.

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk and vanilla; batter will be slightly lumpy. Pour half of batter on top of melted butter in pan. Spread blackberries over batter and pour remaining batter over the berries.

Bake in preheated oven for one hour or until golden brown.

Sunshine Carrots

This recipe came from my mom. We love these carrots. I often make them for Easter dinner. There was a period of time when these were one of the 4 things Zack would eat, along with saltines, canned peaches and milk.

Cut up and cook 5 carrots.

Combine: 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, less than 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground ginger. Add 1/4 cup orange juice. Stir constantly over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 Tbsp butter. Pour over carrots.

Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

This is one of the easiest salads I make! It's perfect for a summer BBQ! Use your favorite ranch dressing to make it your own.

Dice potatoes (any kind) and boil until just tender. Drain.

Toss in some frozen peas.

Mix in ranch dressing and black pepper. Stir well to coat.

Place in bowl and chill in fridge.

Mix in some crumbled bacon and serve.

Spiced Rum Cake

All I heard about this Christmas was Susie's (my uncle Rick's wife) Rum Cake. She got it from "The Taste of Oregon" cookbook. I had my sister e-mail me the recipe and I finally ran to the liquor store and made it.

 

Everyone was right. It is moist and delicious! There aren't many cakes that we really like, but this is one of them. I am sure it will become a regular around here.

Spiced Rum Cake

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 18 1/2 ounce package yellow cake mix
1 3 3/4 ounce package yellow instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup spiced rum

Glaze:
1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 - 1/2 spiced rum

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube or 12 inch bundt pan. Sprinkle the nuts over bottom of pan. Mix next 6 cake ingredients together and pour batter over nuts. Bake 1 hour and cool. Invert on a serving plate.

Glaze: Melt butter in sauce pan; stir in the water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Prick cake top. Drizzle and smooth prepared glaze evenly over top and sides, allowing cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

 

Serve plain or with whipped cream.

Fruit Braid

Here's another yummy recipe that uses any kind of sweet yeast dough that you like. You can also use just about any kind of pie filling or jam for the fruit filling. I made this one with my freezer apple pie filling and I am going to make it again with my homemade blackberry jam (at the request of the guys).

1 to 1 1/2 pounds of sweet yeast dough

1 to 1 1/2 cups fruit filling

Roll the dough into a large rectangle. Place the filling in a strip in the middle of the dough. Cut strips about 1" wide down the sides up to the edge of the filling. Bring the strips up to the middle of the filling, overlapping the ends a bit.

Cover with a towel and let raise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool a bit. While it is cooling make a glaze with powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle it over the warm (not hot) braid.

It is best served warm.

Applesauce Spice Cake

This is an easy to make, really moist and yummy spice cake. It would be perfect with a hot cup of tea on a cool autumn or winter day.

1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup applesauce or apple butter

Grease and sugar a 9-inch square pan.

Dissolve baking soda into applesauce or apple butter.

Combine flour, salt, spices and raisins in a small bowl.

Cream butter and sugars. Mix applesauce or butter into creamed mixture.

Add flour mixture and mix until smooth.

Pour into pan and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick into center comes out clean.

Fruit Crisp

I love this simple fruit crisp recipe. It always makes a delicious and easy dessert. I have made it with berries, apples, pears, or even pie filling (I made some this fall and have it in the freezer). The pictured crisp was made with my apple filling and served warm with ice cream and caramel sauce. Yummy!!!

1 quart pie filling or 4 1/2 cups berries or sliced fruit

4 Tbsp sugar (for berries or fruit)

2 Tbsp flour (for apples or pears)

Toss in a large bowl and set aside.

2 cups flour

2 cups oatmeal

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/4 cup butter

Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter to make a crumbly mixture.

Press half of mixture into 9x13 pan. Top with fruit. Sprinkle remaining crumble mixture on top.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown.

Serve warm or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.

Cinnamon Bubble Cake

This yummy coffee cake is well worth the time and effort. You can use your favorite homemade sweet or bread dough or frozen bread dough for a quicker and easier version.

The boys love this and wish I made it more often. Andy had it as his birthday "cake" this year.

It has to be eaten right out of the oven and is best with a hot cup of coffee.

1 to 1.5 pounds of yeast dough
melted butter
brown sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg

Divide the dough into 40 to 60 small pieces and roll into balls. Roll balls in melted butter and then coat with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Layer in a buttered loaf or springform pan.

Cover with a towel and let rise in warm place for 30-45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until no longer doughy.

Invert onto plate and serve immediately.