Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ultimate  Chocolate
 Chip Cookies

¾ cup Crisco or (½ cup Crisco and ¼ cup butter)

1 1/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 ¾ cup Pillsbury Best All purpose flour
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp. baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2  cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat shortening and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape edges. Beat in milk, vanilla, and  egg. Turn off and let set 3 minutes while you measure and sift dry ingredients. Add flour, salt, and soda. Mix in with a large spoon, as soon as incorporated add chips and nuts. After I dip out 1 cookie sheet of cookies, I add the coconut and stir until incorperated. I put small  pieces of pecan on these, so everyone is warned, that they are loaded.
mmmmmm

If you have parchment paper, cut to fit 2 cookie sheets. I use a small or medium scooper to scoop out dough, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Cook 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies, The edges will just start to brown. 11-13 for crispy. After I take sheet out of the oven I set the whole thing on a cooling rack,  let the cookies set and cool for about 10 minutes before removing. I reuse the parchment paper that is on that sheet for the next batch going in the oven. If you don't have paper, just spray sheets with cooking spray.

*If nuts are omitted , add an additional ½ cup chocolate chips.
Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Momma's Cornbread Dressing

Momma always makes this recipe for Thanksgiving and Christmas
*1 recipe cornbread (no flour)
1/2 of 12 oz. bag of Pepperidge Farms Cubed Herb Seasoned Stuffing  (red label)
1 cup celery chopped
1 cup onion chopped
1 stick butter
3 eggs beaten
2 quarts (Hot) broth +1 or 2 cups more
salt and pepper
Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup

Saute onions and celery in a pan with the butter until celery is tender.
In a large dark roasting pan: add Stuffing Mix to hot broth 2 quarts, crumble cornbread, add raw eggs, celery and onion mixture, salt and pepper to taste, Cream of Chicken Soup and 1 soup can of water or broth to make soupy. This is where the + broth comes in.
You want everything well combined and it will be a some what soupy consistency.
Bake 350 degrees for 60 minutes until light brown, It will swell up then brown. The top will have a  little crust on it, especially around the edges where it is more brown.
That's my favorite part.

*Corn Bread (Momma always made the cornbread the day ahead and let set on a plate to dry out)
Before you go to bed cover. Make sure it is cold, if you cover hot bread it will swet.
If you can't do it ahead you will want to crumble it and let set out in the roaster or on a cookie sheet to dry , before putting together.

2 cups self-rising corn meal
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons bacon grease or oil
Have grease in black skillet, put in oven and heat to 400 degrease for 15 minutes. The grease will start to smoke slightly. If you wet your fingers with water and splash, or sprinkle  the water towards the pan in oven, the water will dance and splatter (stay back so you don't get burned) If its not hot enough to make the water dance, heat the pan for a few more minutes. Carefully with a thick pot holder remove the pan from the oven and pour the cornbread mix into the hot pan. Return to oven, cook 15 minutes, flip bread over with a spatula and return to oven for 5 minutes.
*We only make cornbread like this for dressing.
Normally I put 1 1/2 cup meal and about 3/4 cup self rising flour with the other ingredients, and it may take a little more buttermilk.

Grandma Gibbs always wanted boiled eggs in the dressing, if you put them in make sure they are not on the top, they will turn to rubber.

LUMPIA

LUMPIA

LUMPIA

LUMPIA










Just hearing that name makes me get excited. I just LOVE good LUMPIA!
This is as close to what I use to eat at Misuko's on Gulf Beech Hwy. They had the best. I was sooooo disappointed when they took it off their menu. They are now closed, cause they took the LUMPIA off the menu. Na, The couple was getting older and retired.

This recipe comes from Dan Dunn At H2O Cajun/ Asian Grill at Pensacola Beech, it was in the paper back in the spring.

1 onion, small dice
2 carrots, small dice or grated
1 pound ground pork*** or sausage
2 Tbsp fresh ginger (I use 1Tbsp.)
1 Tbsp. Chopped Garlic
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp. Fish Sauce
24 spring roll wrappers
1 egg scrambled with 1 Tbsp. water
Wesson oil 

Crumble sausage in pan and begin to brown,break meat up well with wooden spoon, add veggies, garlic, ginger and sauces, when the meat is done and veggies are just getting tender, it is ready. let cool, lay out several wrappers on the counter, place heaping serving spoon full across center of wrap, bring one corner over the mixture, fold ends over the mixture, wet outside edges with egg, if you don't have a paint brush, use your fingers. roll over and seal wrap, place seam down on a plate. fix several, or all before starting to fry.
(The wrap package has very good instructions on how to roll  and seal the wraps.)
Put enough oil in pan so at least 1/2 of the roll is covered at one time, can deep fry. have oil around 360 degrees, and brown rolls on both sides and drain on paper towels.

These freeze very well, place on platter, freeze, put in a bag and back into freezer until ready to cook. 

Dipping sauce: Sweet Chili Sauce, find this with the Asian food.


 I had trouble finding spring roll wrappers, I used egg roll.
The fruit stand in Milton off Dogwood Drive has just stocked a lot of Asian items, they have Spring and Lumpia Wrappers.
***When I made this recipe, I couldn't find plain ground pork, so I used fresh ground sausage, it was already salted, so it came out too salty, I sauteed 1/2 a head of chopped cabbage and mixed with the rest of ingredients, and it was very good. I have made it again with the plain pork and Thomas and I both think it was better with the sausage.

I'm going to try it again with the sausage and cut out the fish sauce, maybe the soy also. If not, it was wonderful with the cabbage and it did make more LUMPIA.

                                                         MMMMMMMMMMMMM!
                          If you like this , but don't want to fry, I have another version coming soon.

Ice Cream Bites

Ice-Cream

 Bites

These are small, but they have big flavor,  and are a snap to make.

Ingredients:
Take your favorite Ice Cream, Sherbert, Frozen Yogurt or?
A box of frozen Filo Cups

The Filo cups are already baked, with a small scoop, scoop Ice-Cream into each cup, place in freezer until ready to serve.

If you cover and place  in the box before they harden back up, it will flatten the tops.

Cheesy Hash Browns

Cheesy Hash

 Browns

A friend told me about this recipe and I had to try it, it is sooooo creamy and delicious.

Ingredients:

26 oz. frozen shredded Hash Browns (Great Value)

3/4 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp onion powder

8 oz. grated sharp cheddar or your favorite cheese.
1 quart heavy whipping cream

In a large casserole dish, spray with cooking spray, evenly arrange hash browns, sprinkle seasonings over top, sprinkle cheese over top, slowly pour whipping cream all over the top.

Bake 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes, until golden brown.

Bar-b-que Chicken

Bar-b-que
Chicken







We went to a friends house to eat and he was putting chicken on the grill that his wife had just boiled until tender. I didn't say anything about it, but I sure thought, YUCK!
He put Bar-b-que sauce on the top of all the pieces and shut the lid on the grill, several minutes later he turned the chicken and put sauce on that side. After the sauce had set several minutes he took the chicken off the grill to serve with dinner. It was so tender and juicy, and it was all cooked through. It wasn't YUCK at all. It was DELICIOUS, I think I have boiled my chicken, before grilling ever since.

Ingredients:
10 lbs leg and thigh quarters
water to cover
4 chicken bullion cubes
BBQ Sauce
Honey (optional)

In a large pot, place leg quarters, water, bullion,over medium high heat,cover with lid, watching to make sure not to let it boil over. When it comes to a full boil turn down to a lower heat, just high enough to have a low boil. About 20-25 minutes. If I have time I leave in the pot to cool down, they will continue to cook as they set.
I use to cut the legs and thighs apart, I now cook them together, after they cool, I take the skin off, and gently take them apart. This is sooooo much easier, and safer to separate them this way.

arrange in a baking dish, drizzle with BBQ Sauce and a little honey, either put on the grill to get a smokey flavor, or just bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until sauce has cooked into chicken.

I like to cook extra chicken, after its cooled and I skinned and separated the pieces, I put it in a gallon zip lock bag and freeze. This is wonderful to take along on a camping trip, it's so easy to prepare on the grill.

Freezing Chicken
with Broth







Chicken is on sale this week so I bought several bags of legs and thighs to put in the freezer, I also cooked several bags, and put the meat with broth in the freezer for quick access, to speed up a meal for my family.

Ingredients:
10 lbs leg and thigh quarters
water to cover
4 chicken bullion cubes

In a large pot, place leg quarters, water, bullion,over medium high heat,cover with lid, watching to make sure not to let it boil over. When it comes to a full boil turn down to a lower heat, just high enough to have a low boil. About 20-25 minutes. If I have time I leave in the pot to cool down, they will continue to cook as they set.
I use to cut the legs and thighs apart, I now cook them together, after they cool, I take the skin off, and gently take them apart. This is sooooo much easier, and safer to separate them this way.
I take the meat off the bones making sure not to get any grizzle or small bones from the leg.
I try to get as much fat off the top of broth with a ladle.
I put a gallon bag into a quart container to help keep it up right.
 I measure 2 cups chicken, 2 cups broth
try to get as much air from the bag as possible, then freeze.

This is wonderful for chicken pot pie, or any other dish.
If you have a favorite recipe that calls for so many cups of each, prepare it for that amount.
If I have extra broth I bag it, making sure there are not any small bones that went to the bottom of the pot.

Grape Salad

Grape
 Salad

This is a light and refreshing grape salad, I think you could use a mixture of other fresh fruit; strawberries, blueberries, fresh pineapple, or any fruit in season.
My Aunt Marilyn adds flax seeds mixed in the salad, use your imagination and create a new family favorite!


Ingredients:

2 ½ cups red grapes

2 ½ cups green grapes both washed and dried thoroughly.
If the grapes are large cut in half.

Mix: 8oz. cream cheese
8oz. sour cream
 ½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

 in a mixing bowl until smooth.

Fold in grapes.

I like this in a 9x11oblong dish.

Topping:

Sprinkle 1 ½ cup chopped toasted pecans and

1/3  cup light brown sugar on the top and chill.
After the salad sits in the fridge, the brown sugar melts over the pecans, and they have a candied taste.
 This is best when cold.
I only put pecans on one end of the salad, John doesn't like nuts on his, and my mother in law is not suppose to eat nuts.

A lot of people mix the pecans into the salad, I prefer them  on top.
The store was out of red grapes, so I doubled the green grapes.

                                                                         MMMMMM!

Sausage Casserole

Sausage Casserole

This was the first time I made this casserole

it is really good.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Ground Sausage, regular or hot
• 1 Small Onion, diced
• 14 oz. Cheese grated and Divided(Cheddar, American, or Pepper Jack is suggested)
• 2 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 4 oz. chopped green Chile's (Optional, if you like spicy)
• 1 1/2 soup cans of Milk
• 13.25 oz whole Wheat Spaghetti

We like spicy food, so we use Pepper Jack Cheese and the chile's.

---

Cook spaghetti until not quite done. Drain.

Fry the onion and sausage together, drain oil.

 Add 1/3 of cheese, cream of mushroom soup, chiles and the milk.

Stir all together and pour into casserole dish, sprinkle the rest of cheese over the top.

Bake at 350F degrees for about 40 minutes until hot and bubbly.



YUMMMM!



Crawfish Boil Salad

Crawish Boil

Salad



We had left over crawfish, and I enjoyed the
boil so much that I decided to make a salad
with all the boil ingredients.
I will be making this with other seafood this summer, it would be wonderful with leftover shrimp, lobster, crab, or imitation crab, mmmmmm!

Ingredients:
about 2 cups, or more seasoned seafood
3 lbs. red potatoes cut into equal size pieces(about 1 1/2" pieces)
2 cups  frozen whole kernel corn
1 lb. Conecah County Smoked Sausage, cut into 1/2" pieces
Hot Cajun Seasoning (Slap ya momma)
Cajun Seasoning (Gator )
1 stick butter, cut into pats

In a large pot cover potatoes with water,  I put 3 tsp. Hot Cajun seasoning, cover and bring to a boil. Set
timer for 6- 7 minutes, with a fork check to see if potatoes are tender, If they are drain out with a slotted spoon, into serving bowl.
 In the same hot water, add corn and sausage, bring to a boil for 3 minutes. turn pot off and let set for 3-5 minutes, the sausage and corn cook very quickly.
Sprinkle Cajun Seasoning over the top of potatoes and place cut butter over the top.
drain corn and sausage, and put on top of potatoes, toss, if you like it real spicy add more seasoning.

Top with seafood, and serve.

Livingston Macoroni and Cheese

Livingston Macaroni

 and Cheese

Momma grew up in Sumterville
Alabama, just north of
Livingston, this is a favorite
casserole for pot lucks in
the area.
I don't normally put the
 bell peppers in the dish. I have friends that do and love it. Make the dish yours and put your favorite things, such as asparagus,or black olives...

Ingredients:

12 OZ. Macaroni cooked (aladenta') and drained

1 cup mayonnaise

1 10-oz. can cream of mushroom soup

4 oz. jar pimentos, chopped

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup each; bell pepper and onion chopped (optional)

4 oz. canned mushroom caps, chopped (optional)
4oz blue cheese crumbles(optional)

12oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Mix mayo, soup, pimentos, sour cream, and veggies, blue cheese in a bowl

In a 9x11 greased baking dish layer ½ of noodles, ½ soup mixture, ½ cheese, repeat layers, except for last cheese if adding bread cubes, then cheese and Bake 350^o until bubbly about 40 minutes.

 (Optional) Can cover with cracker crumbs or cheese nips crushed and dot with butter, I prefer without.