May232009

Caramel Apple Crumble

By Country Gal | May 23, 2009 | Posted in Cooking and Food, Desserts, Family Traditions, Harvesting | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Carmal Apple Cobbler I told you all about our family Iron Chef competition a few weeks ago…

Well… I just got the recipe for my favorite entry of the weekend!

My nine year old nephew invented this delectable dessert that had all his aunts swooning!

It was a caramel and apple combination on a cake base that was truly memorable.

Caramel Apple Crumble

1 package french vanilla cake mix
2/3 cup evaporated milk (separated) – ( this equals one small can)
3/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
1 can apple pie filling
14 ounce package of caramels

Mix the cake mix with the melted butter and 1/3 cup of evaporated milk.  Add the pecans if desired.

Press 1/2 of the mix into a 9 x 13 greased cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the caramels with the remaining 1/3 cup of evaporated milk and set aside.

Remove from the oven and spread the can of apple pie filing over the crust. Pour the melted caramels over the apples and dot with the remaining cake mix.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cake is not doughy.

PS: My home canned apple pie filling works great in this recipe!

Enjoy!

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Desserts, Family Traditions, Harvesting | Tagged , , | Comments (2)
May222009

Hershey’s Chocolate Cookbook

By Country Gal | May 22, 2009 | Posted in Book Reviews, Chocolate | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Hershey's Chocolate Cookbook

I not only have a chocolate addiction, but I’m also addicted to cookbooks. Finding a cookbook that features chocolate is like striking gold!

I must say, that I have looked at many chocolate cookbooks over the years, but not many have found their way to my collection. Why? Because not all chocolate cookbooks are created equal.

The Hershey’s Chocolate Cookbook , however,  is a classic.

It’s filled with real recipes – you know that kind that use real ingredients that I already have in my cupboard or can easily find at my local grocery store.

The directions are easy to follow – not complicated and don’t call for strange or unusual processes.

But the real highlight of this book is the gorgeous full-cover picture for every recipe.  And I mean gorgeous!

These photographers are amazing! My kids are forever leafing through the book, drooling over the pictures and begging me to make something.

Which is what I should be doing right now – making something chocolate – something warm and rich and gooey.

Now how’s turn is it to choose the recipe?

By Country Gal | Posted in Book Reviews, Chocolate | Tagged , | Comments (0)
May212009

Beaver Roast

By Country Gal | May 21, 2009 | Posted in Cooking and Food, Critters | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

707px-slaaende_lighedI love old cookbooks – especially the ones from church or community groups. These cookbooks have the real recipes in them from real cooks.

They also frequently have some very interesting entries!

I just picked up a 1969 community cookbook at a garage sale over the weekend that really intrigued me! It has an entire section of old-fashioned recipes.

This recipe was one I just had to share – as the economy continues to crumble – we may all need it!

(This is copied exactly as it came from the cook book)

Beaver Roast

First catch your beaver.

Then dress the same as any other animal. Cut your roast from any part of the animal you wish.

Make a strong brine and pour over the meat and let stand overnight.  Then take enough cold water to cover and lay it  in a kettle with a few whole peppers, 6 cloves, a piece of  stick cinnamon, 6 allspice, a teaspoon of white mustard seed, if handy, all tied up together in a piece of cheesecloth.

Parboil half an hour.

Take up and put in a dripping pan with a pint of water and start it roasting in the oven. Then mix a teaspoon of mustard, a teaspoon of black pepper, a pinch of cayenne, with a tablespoon of flour and mix with water from dripping pan and use to baste with.

Either stick 2 or 3 garlics here and there in the roast, or chop an onion fine and mix with the dressing.

I’m not sure when you are supposed to know that the beaver is done – or just where the dressing is supposed to come from – but if the guys around here every bring a beaver home, I’ll try it out and let you know!



By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Critters | Tagged , , | Comments (3)
May202009

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday- Milk!

By Country Gal | May 20, 2009 | Posted in Cooking and Food, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , , , | Comment (1)

450px-milk_glassMy sister and her 6 kiddos came to the farm to spend a few days this week – bringing with them lots of energy and lots of food! I soon realized that our refrigerator couldn’t handle all the wonderful things she had brought.

So, I called one of the boys to bring up our Coleman PowerChill cooler. I love the convenience of an extra refrigerator on occasions such as this. He plugged it in, we filled it up and forgot about it…

…until noon the next day when we started to make lunch for the troops.I opened the cooler to grab the cantaloupes and was shocked to discover they were hot. Not warm, as if it hadn’t been running, but hot.

In the chaos of unpacking, dealing with the piles of duffel bags, sleeping bags, suitcases, and food, we had plugged our warm/cool electric cooler on in the warm function.

Our 2 gallons of milk and 2 cantaloupes had been “cooking’ all night long.

Oops.

Now what do we do with 2 gallons of warm milk and 2 cantaloupes? Would it be okay to just cool the milk back down and drink it? Kind of double pasteurized?  We weren’t sure.

It was time to call Mom (of course!) After she stopped laughing, she started brainstorming ideas.

We decide to cut up the cantaloupe, put in the fridge to cool down and eat it immediately. It tasted fine.

Mom suggested making chocolate milk with one of the gallons. It was brilliant! I put it in a pot on the stove, added 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. After mixing it well with the immersion blender, I poured it back in the jug and put it in the fridge.

It chilled all night and the kids guzzled it down the next day!

One gallon down, one to go.

It was time to divide and conquer. We used some to make broccoli cheese soup for our lunch, some for the macaroni and cheese for the kids lunch, and the rest went into homemade vanilla pudding that we put in the freezer and made into pudding pops for the next day.

We did it! Nothing was wasted. Everything was used.

It is interesting to note that not one of us, my sister, my mom or myself, ever even thought of dumping the milk. We were determined to find a use for it because we had been taught from a young age that we should “Waste not, want not!”

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , , , | Comment (1)
May202009

Cream Cheese Double Chocolate Cookies

By Country Gal | May 20, 2009 | Posted in Chocolate, Cookies and Bars, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Cream Cheese Double Chocolate CookiesI am a soft cookie person. I love a cookie that is gooey and chewy as opposed to a crisp one.

These soft chocolate cookies were a winner! The cream cheese adds to the richness and helps keep the cookies moist.

The chocolate, of course, is what makes them so wonderful!

Cream Cheese Double Chocolate Cookies

3 – 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1 – 8 ounce package cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3  large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces chocolate chips
1 cup pecan pieces

Carefully sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together the shortening, cream cheese, and both sugars. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well.

Add the sifted dry ingredients followed by the chocolate chips and pecans and blend well.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Be careful to not over bake these cookies!

Incredible hot from the oven! Fabulous when cooled!

Enjoy!

By Country Gal | Posted in Chocolate, Cookies and Bars, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , | Comments (0)