Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups grated zucchini

Mix milk and lemon juice together. Add eggs, butter, oil, vanilla and sugar; mix well.

Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and baking soda; mix well with mixer.

Stir in zucchini by hand.

Pour into lightly greased 9x13 pan.


TOPPING:

1/2 cup ( mini or regular) chocolate chips
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup chopped nuts

Sprinkle cake with chips then sugar and finally nuts. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes or until cake tests done.

Slow-cooked beef brisket

1 large onion, sliced
1 fresh beef brisket (3 to 4 pounds), cut in half
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 jar (4-1/2 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
3/4 cup beef broth
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold water

Place onion in a 5-qt slow cooker. Rub brisket with pepper; place over onion. Top with mushrooms. In a bowl, combine the broth, chili sauce, brown sugar and garlic; pour over brisket. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove brisket and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine flour and water until smooth; stir into cooking juices. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until thickened. Slice brisket; serve with gravy.

* This is a fresh beef brisket, not corned beef.
* I used chopped onion that I have in freezer.
* In place of flour mixture to thicken, you can use cornstarch and small amount of water.

Cheese spread

2 packages cream cheese, softened
large container (16 ou) merts sharp cheddar cheese spread,
3 tablespoons finely chopped vidalia onions, use paper towel to squeeze juice out
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

Mix all ingredients with hand mixer. Refrigerate.

Hard-boiled eggs

Do you have trouble peeling your eggs after they are hard- boiled? This is how I was told to do mine and they have always worked great.

Start with eggs that have been in the refrigerator for about a week or so. Put as many as you need into your pan and fill with enough COLD water until eggs are covered by an inch or two. Bring eggs to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover pan and set timer for 25 minutes. Drain eggs and plunge into ice cold water. I start to peel them almost immediately by cracking both ends and rolling on the counter to crack shell. Peel. I hope it works for you!

Chicken Tetrazinni

Do you want a casserole that any child is bound to eat? So far, I have never had a child refuse to eat this one. (and I have had alot of kids eat here!) When Teddy first came home he would literally eat this until I took the pan away. Sometimes I cook two, put 1/2 in a 9x13 lined with foil and freeze it. Take the frozen food out and you can still use your pan and it fits perfectly back in when you need to cook it again.


Sorry, no great pics here...I don't think any casseroles would be very photogenic...

Chicken Tetrazinni

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups cooked chicken
4 ounces long spaghetti, broke in half and cooked
2 cups shredded cheddar
parmesan cheese

Mix butter and soups. Stir in chicken, noodles and cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan. Put in greased 9x13 pan. Cover with tin foil. Cook @ 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Teddy after scraping his 3rd plate clean!

Making Strawberry Jam

Well, it's that time of year again. Time to bring out the canning supplies tucked away from non use during the winter. Strawberries are the one thing that we all wait for. The one thing the kids will pick without complaining. I think it is because they never really put the berries in the pail. We have picked our berries for years from a pick-your-own place and then decided to try our own little patch. We are very pleased with the results. And pleased to be saving some money. Alot of money, actually. We found that we can grow enough strawberries for jam, sliced freezer berries and and pureed berries for syrup for pancakes, waffles and crepes, from just a few small rows. (We live on about one acre of land so you can imagine that we do not have a huge garden.) This is what our plants look like around middle June, before berries come. Oh, and it is only the 3 closest rows in the picture. The 2 rows behind them are raspberries.


And alittle closer view...


So, onto making jam:


Making jam is really very easy! Your ingredients are strawberries, sugar and pectin.
I made regular jam this year but low-sugar jam is good too.
You will need: (for each batch of jam)

5 cups crushed stawberries
7 cups sugar
1 box sure jell (pectin)

Your list of equipment is this:
.jar funnel
.at least one large pot (I use my dutch ovens)
.ladel
.boiling water bath canner
.canning jars
.lids
.rings
.jar grabber (optional, but great to have)

Step 1: Pick your berries


Step 2: Sterilize jars. I like to do this after picking and right before washing and hulling berries. Jars are nice and hot and ready to use.


Step 3: Wash (in strainer with cold water) and hull fruit. In this pic they are sliced which you don't need to do that. We did because we froze the sliced ones for desserts.


Step 4: Crush fruit. I use the food processor and hit the pulse button until desired texture is reached.

Step 5: Measure sugar in seperate bowl.

Step 6: Mix berries with sure-jell and 1/2 teaspoon butter. (to prevent alot of extra foaming) Bring to a full boil. You know you have a full boil when you cannot stir away the bubbles. I am making 2 batches at a time, starting one about 5 minutes after the first one.


Step 7: Put lids in small pan of water and bring to barely a simmer. Turn off.

Step 8: Add sugar and stir while adding. Bring to a full boil once more and boil for 1 minute.

Step 9: I skim the extra foam off the top but this step is not required. It just looks nicer.

Step 10: Fill the jars to within 1/4 inch from top. Wipe threads to remove any dripped jelly. Put on the lids and bands and tighten.


Step 11: Process jars in boiling water canner. Jars should be fully immersed and have about 1 to 2 inches of water over them. Bring jars back to a gentle boil and boil for 10 minutes.


Step 12: Remove jars and set on a towel for 24 hours to cool. During cooling you may hear some pinging/popping of the jar lids. This is good as it means the jar has sealed. After 24 hours check to see that all jars are sealed by pressing down in the middle of the lid. Lid should not spring back. If one does, refrigerate it.


Store unopened jam in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 1 year.

Haystacks

It is always nice to have another person who likes to cook in the house. Karissa is now starting to enjoy cooking various dishes and trying new things. This was her contribution to our 4th of July party this year. It was a cute treat because we always do a hayride. Yum!


1/2 cups butterscotch chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups chow mein noodles

Melt chips and peanut butter in microwave for 1 minute. (chips may not look melted but when you stir them they will blend with peanut butter.) Add the noodles and stir. Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper.

Patriotic Dessert

Every 4th of July our son Joseph makes this dessert to take along to our friend's annual 4th party. We always have an overflowing strawberry patch this time of year and this is his favorite fruit recipe. He always has an empty pan at the end of the day.



1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
1-1/2 cups cold milk
1 package (5.1 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
3 cups fresh strawberries, halved

In a bowl, combine the flour, nuts and butter. Press into an ungreased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Spread over crust. In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes. Spread over cream cheese layer. Cover with remaining whipped topping. Arrange blueberries and strawberries to look like a flag. Regrigerate.