Coffee Cake

As the birth of my first baby is approaching, along with a complete shift in my personal identity as well as the composition of my day, I have been trying to change my cooking philosophy as well. I have been looking for more recipes that are simple to make and, having recently (and I hope permanently) exited the "morning sickness" phase of this pregnancy I have been making a more concerted effort to make meal preparation a higher priority in my day. Which is why I have been trying to make more breakfast foods.

In spite of the cliché stating that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day," I have never really been a big "breakfast-person." Although I do enjoy breakfast food, I usually don't prepare it except on special occasions. But my husband talks about how much he values the time his mother spent to prepare breakfast for the family to eat before heading to school, work, and other daily activities. So a few days ago I got up a little early just to make this coffee cake that I copied out of a magazine at the doctors office about 6 months ago. Apparently I didn't get up early enough, though, because it finished baking within minutes of my departure for work - still too hot to eat - and our breakfast cake ended up being a dessert cake that night. Oh well, maybe next time. Nevertheless it was a good and very easy recipe. Unfortunately I cannot give the author her due credit because I didn't write down her name or the name of the magazine.

Cake:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Beat butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir until well mixed. Put half of the batter into a 9" square pan. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, and nuts and pour two thirds of mixture over batter. Then pour remaining batter into the pan and top with the last third of cinnamon mixture. Bake at 375° for about 50 minutes.

Fresh Green Beans

My husband's favorite vegetable is green beans. We usually eat them from the can but recently found a really good sale at the local grocery store. There are many different ways to cook them, but we decided to fry them in just a little bit of butter because it kept them crispy on the outside and kept their fresh taste. They were really good. Even better than they are canned.

1 Tbsp butter
1 lb. fresh green beans

Wash and remove stems from green beans. Fry for 3-4 minutes in butter.

Crock Pot Chicken and Potatoes

I meant to plan our Sunday dinner in advance, but I just didn't. So today I had to use the ingredients that I had (and some that I borrowed from my sister-in-law) and put together our dinner. I have to say I was impressed with how it turned out. I will definitely make it again.

4 chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 envelope chicken gravy mix
1 10 oz. pkg frozen peas
1 26 oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups potatoes, cut up
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp cumin
Black pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together in crock pot. Cook on low for at least 6 hours or on high for at least 3 hours.

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

These muffins made a delicious Sunday breakfast and only took about ten minutes to prepare for baking. I have always been a little hesitant to make muffins from scratch because they almost never taste as good as the ones from boxes, but these were actually pretty close. And they were more convenient because I had everything to make them in my cupboards at home.

1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup poppy seeds
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix milk, oil, egg, almond extract, and vanilla together. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir 30 seconds. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or use paper liners. Bake 15-18 minutes. Makes 12-15 minutes.

Waffle Cones

One of my husband's favorite gifts this Christmas was a waffle cone maker. Waffle cones only take a few minutes to make and they are so much fun. We made them for my family this past week when they were visiting. This is the best recipe we have found so far.

1 whole egg
1 egg white
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled slightly

Beat the egg, egg white, and salt in a small bowl with a fork until well blended. Beat in the sugar and beat until sugar is incorporated and the egg has lightened in color slightly, about one minute. Beat another 15 seconds to mix in the flour and remove all lumps. Add the melted butter and stir until well blended.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of the waffle cone iron. Bake for 1 minute and check for proper color. Cook for another 5 to 10 seconds if necessary. Roll waffle cone around plastic mold and hold for a few seconds until cone begins to harden. Cool completely before eating with ice cream. You can also make waffle bowls.

 

It was almost like Cold Stone when we mixed the ice cream with the cookies and candy of our choice.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Making these cookies around Christmas has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. They are some of the easiest and most delicious cookies that we make. It has been more recent that we started using Reese's in about half of the cookies, but they are quickly becoming the favorite. Actually, my mom usually makes the Reese's cookies in mini cupcake pans so that they surround the peanut butter cups more completely, but I found this way to be just as good.

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
granulated sugar
about 3 dozen milk chocolate kisses (or Reese's)

Preheat oven to 375°. Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, peanut butter, margarine, shortening and egg thoroughly. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder. Shape dough into 1" balls; roll in sugar. Place about 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until edges are light brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately press candy kiss firmly in each cookie; cool.

Remarkable Fudge

I made and delivered plates of Christmas treats to some of our friends and neighbors this past week and made a few things for the first time ever. Fudge was one of the things that I had never made before. I tried a recipe out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I tried to follow the directions exactly and the fudge turned out really well, although it's not quite as good as the one I remember my mom making. Maybe I should have asked her for the recipe. But still, I would be willing to use this one again and even to try the variation it gives for Peanut Butter-Chocolate Fudge (substitute peanut butter for regular butter and omit chocolate bar).

4 cups sugar
10 oz evaporated milk (1 1/3 cups total)
1 cup butter
1 12 oz package semisweet chocolate pieces
1 7 oz dark chocolate or milk chocolate candy bar, cut up (optional)
1 7 oz jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla

Line a 9x13" baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Butter foil; set aside.
Butter sides of a heavy 3-quart (or larger) saucepan. In saucepan combine sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Cook and stir over medium-high heat till mixture boils. Reduce heat to medium; continue cooking and stirring for 10 minutes.
Remove pan from heat. Add chocolate pieces, cut-up chocolate bar (if desired), marshmallow creme, walnuts, and vanilla; stir till chocolate melts and mixture is combined. Beat by hand for one minute. Spread in the prepared pan. Score into 1" squares while warm. When fudge is firm, use foil to lift it out of pan. Cut fudge into squares. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. Makes about 4 lb (96 pieces).