Ohhhhh my moly.

If I were the demanding type I’d demand that you make these immediately. I’m not, of course so I’ll just strongly suggest it.

The peaches are so good this year and I bought more than I’ll ever be able to eat, so I wanted to some up with something to do with [...]]]>

Ohhhhh my moly.

If I were the demanding type I’d demand that you make these immediately. I’m not, of course so I’ll just strongly suggest it.

The peaches are so good this year and I bought more than I’ll ever be able to eat, so I wanted to some up with something to do with them. This is based on the apple crisp recipe, but with more of the crumble part so that you end up with a crust. It is OH so good.

Gather:

• 2 medium-to-large peaches, chopped
• 1/3 cup Craisins
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and chop the peaches, then put them in a saucepan with the Craisins, cornstarch and sugar. Bring it all up to a nice bubble and let it cook till it thickens, then set aside
2. Cream butter and sugar, then mix in remaining ingredients — it will look coarse like a crumble topping
3. Take two cups of crumble mix and press into a greased 8×8 dish and bake till it’s lightly browned, around 10-12 minutes, then spread fruit mixture over crust. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture over the top and bake till that’s lightly browned, about another 15-18 minutes or so

Fast and good! How can you beat that?

Wondering how to add a few calories to your breakfast?

Allow me.

These are really super easy to make (along with, uh, everything else I ever blog) and are such comfort food for breakfast! You will need:

We’ve seriously never talked about how to make basic biscuits? This is mind boggling to me.

This is one of those recipes I make by throwing stuff into a bowl; I very rarely measure this at all, so I had to go back and make these again and actually pay attention. The sacrifice! I make pretty [...]]]>

We’ve seriously never talked about how to make basic biscuits? This is mind boggling to me.

This is one of those recipes I make by throwing stuff into a bowl; I very rarely measure this at all, so I had to go back and make these again and actually pay attention. The sacrifice! I make pretty small batches of this because I make small biscuits and I make them pretty often, so there are always more on the way; the recipe is easily doubled.

Gather this:

• 1 cup AP flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. instant/bread machine yeast (you can certainly leave this out; I like the little extra rise and the flavor of it)
• 1/4 cup cold butter, shortening, bacon drippings (seriously) or any combination thereof
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup milk or buttermilk (see directions)

To make ‘em:

1. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and yeast in a bowl or in the work bowl of a food processor, then cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork, or pulse in the food processor till the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal
2. Slowly add milk, gently stirring with a rubber spatula or your fingers; add just enough so that it turns into dough
3. Turn onto a floured surface (I do it right on the counter lately); knead it four times, folding it back over itself as you go. FOUR! Then STOP, no matter how much fun it is. Overworked dough = unhappy biscuits
4. Roll and cut out biscuits and bake at 400F till just starting to brown on top; I do these in a cast iron skillet, but any kind of dish or baking sheet with a little butter in the bottom works just fine
5. Tell everyone you slaved over a hot stove for hours making these, and shouldn’t someone bring you something lovely to drink?

Hello, lovelies!

Not to get all Bob Ross-ey on you, but these are happy little muffins. It’s a Paula Deen recipe (that involves only 3 Tbsp. butter, I might add) and were apparently quite a hit at The Yankee’s office. Yay!

You will need:

It is also from an era when food wasn’t asked to [...]]]> This recipe comes from my great aunt Eva who named it thusly. Or perhaps she got it from her mother, my great grandma, who named it thusly? Either way, who am I to argue? It is, indeed, one of the easiest desserts you’ll ever make.

It is also from an era when food wasn’t asked to look pretty for the camera.

Obviously.

Gather together:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups fruit (cut up; don’t drain)

And then:

1. Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt; cut in butter like you’re making biscuits, or pulse in a food processor, then stir in milk till well combined
2. Pour batter into a buttered cast iron skillet or baking dish and top with fruit and its juice
3. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes; sprinkle sugar on top for the last few minutes of baking

See? SEE? How crazy easy is that? And at the end you get this?

No brainer.

See, King Arthur has a smaller pain de mie pan now, which is awesome. Like so:

I was excited about this because it takes us a while to work through a loaf of bread sometimes; Kiddo will go on a bread jag and eat nothing but this for a week [...]]]> Math skillz: I haz none.

See, King Arthur has a smaller pain de mie pan now, which is awesome. Like so:

I was excited about this because it takes us a while to work through a loaf of bread sometimes; Kiddo will go on a bread jag and eat nothing but this for a week and a half, and then not want to see it near his face for three weeks. It’s hard to predict. I slice it and keep it in the freezer so there’s always some on hand, and the smaller size pan makes just enough bread to fit in a one-gallon zip top bag. Perfect!

The problem is that King Arthur doesn’t have a whole wheat recipe for this size pan yet. So set out to convert the larger pain de mie recipe down to a size that fits the smaller pan.  I can’t tell you how long it took me to do enough math to convert this recipe. Well, I could but then I’d be embarrassed. Someone like The Yankee or my big brother could probably convert this in less time than it took for me to assume the appropriate thinky face (I totally stole that from Barefoot Foodie), but it took me slightly longer. But now it’s done and I will celebrate — with good bread.

So with your nifty smaller pain de mie pan, try this:

• 2/3 cup lukewarm milk
• 2/3 cup lukewarm water
• 2 ounces butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon + 3 teaspoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons + 1 1/4 teaspoons dry milk
• 2/3 cup potato flakes
• 13.75 ounces flour (or 3 1/4 cups)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1. Mix all ingredients in order then knead — about eight minutes by stand mixer — until dough is smooth. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl or spray a little nonstick spray around the mixing bowl and let dough rise till nice and puffy, about 90 minutes. I set the sprayed mixing bowl with the dough in the oven (off) with a pan of water that’s been just brought to a boil; think sauna for your dough
2. Lightly grease a small pain de mie pan pan, then shape the risen dough into a log; pat into the pan, flattening the top as well as you can. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise till the dough is about half an inch below the top of the pan (this will take about 45 minutes)
3. Spray the lid of the pan with nonstick spray and carefully slide it onto the pan — don’t deflate the dough! — and let the bread continue rising while your oven preheats to 350F (ideally about 15 more minutes)
4. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the lid (carefully!) and bake for another 10 or 15 minutes until the middle of the loaf reads 190F, then turn out onto a wire rack; immediately brush with melted butter for an even softer crust

The Better Homes and Gardens New cook Book, copyright 1953. My mother had this book and I just adored looking though the pictures when I was a [...]]]> Isn’t that the most fabulous name? It just makes me smile. On a recent impromptu stop into an antique store I may have nearly hyperventilated at seeing this book:

The Better Homes and Gardens New cook Book, copyright 1953. My mother had this book and I just adored looking though the pictures when I was a little girl; I’ve been looking for another copy for years and years. I thought this candy page was the prettiest food I’d ever seen:

My mother thought it more appropriate for us to eat such things as oat bran and tofu. I’ll let you browse the dessert pages of One Particular Kitchen and come to your own conclusion about that.

On to the cookies in the book! This is a super easy recipe, and Kiddo had a BALL helping me out.

Gather together:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup sifted flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 6 oz. chocolate chips

Now make ‘em!

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cream shortening, sugars, egg and vanilla till light and fluffy. Add in dry ingredients, mixing well, then mix in chocolate chips
3. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet (or greased cookie sheet) and bake at 375 for 9-12 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.

The recipe said this makes about 3 1/2 dozen; I got a little less than that. These are light and crispy and just fabulous. Even the Kiddo, who has been known to shun any chocolate chip cookies that “look different,” ate these right up to the tune of four in one sitting.

This recipe is from the fabulous Magee. The fabulous Magee is the mother of my fabulous friend Lissa (perhaps you’ve heard of her here? Or here?). This is her recipe for caramel corn and it is to die for. Crazy good. The Yankee doesn’t like caramel corn (should I call a neurologist?) and of course [...]]]>

This recipe is from the fabulous Magee. The fabulous Magee is the mother of my fabulous friend Lissa (perhaps you’ve heard of her here? Or here?). This is her recipe for caramel corn and it is to die for. Crazy good. The Yankee doesn’t like caramel corn (should I call a neurologist?) and of course the Kiddo doesn’t (since it’s not Cheerios), so I cut the recipe down to involve just one bag of popcorn, but I doubled the amount of caramel because hey, it’s caramel. So here’s what I used:

• 1 bag popcorn
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. white Karo syrup
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

To make the goodness:

1. Pop the popcorn and dump onto a parchment-lined baking sheet
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan with sugar and Karo syrup, then boil for five minutes without stirring
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda
4. Pour over popcorn carefully — this stuff is crazy hot and sticky; dangerous combo (just ask my pinkie finger)
5. Bake at 250F for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes (the stirring will really help evenly coat the popcorn, so don’t worry if it’s not too even to start with)
6. Slide parchment paper off cookie sheet (again, carefully) onto a rack and let cool. Store in an airtight container if any lasts that long

For the sake of reference, here are Magee’s original amounts:

• 4 bags microwave popcorn (6 quarts)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white Karo syrup
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda

This is the most popular AND the easiest dessert I make. Isn’t that a great combination? It’s the Yankee’s favorite and my daddy’s favorite, so this gets made a lot during the summer. And it’s crazy easy. This is the recipe my grandmother taught me:

You need:

You know… like bread pudding, but biscuits? And OH MAH GAH this is amazing. This may be the ultimate comfort food. And yet another recipe that tastes a million times better than it looks.

See, my fabulous sister got me these books from Cades Cove, which is my most favorite place on earth. It’s [...]]]>

You know… like bread pudding, but biscuits? And OH MAH GAH this is amazing. This may be the ultimate comfort food. And yet another recipe that tastes a million times better than it looks.

See, my fabulous sister got me these books from Cades Cove, which is my most favorite place on earth. It’s home in every sense of the word. I’ve been picnicking at Carter-Shields as long as I can remember, and The Yankee and I love taking Kiddo there now to splash around and count “water spiders” down by the mill.

ANYHOO… the books. The books are Recipes, Remedies and Rumors from the Cades Cove Preservation Association. And they’re fantastic. Poison snake bite cure for dogs? In there. Squirrel dumplings? You bet. But also pork tenderloin, chicken and dumplings, fried potato cakes, you name it.

And my new favorite: biscuit pudding! This is criminally easy:

• 5 cooked homemade leftover biscuits, crumbled
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Assemble your ingredients, then:

1. In a medium bowl beat 2 eggs, and add sugar, milk, nutmeg and vanilla and mix
2. Crumble in biscuits and stir
3. Pour into a greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes

See what I’m saying? So easy. And so, so good.