Peanut Butter Cookies

What I remember most about making these peanut butter cookies is using a fork to flatten and mark the cookies. The fork-prints create a nice pattern on the finished cookies. I do not remember having these cookies very often, but they are a tasty treat.

Even if you are not a big fan of peanut butter (like someone I know), you should try these cookies. They are sweet with a slight peanut butter flavor that is not overwhelming.

Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Mix together the ingredients. Form tablespoon-sized balls of dough and place on cookie sheets. Dip a fork in sugar and use the fork to flatten the cookie. Bake at 325 for about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Mississippi Mud Cake

I remember loving Mississippi Mud Cake as a kid. Truthfully, I love just about anything with chocolate, so enjoying this cake is no surprise.

Mom's recipe calls for walnuts to be mixed in with the cake. I don't recall walnuts in this cake, so I left them out. Feel free to add nuts to this cake. Mom recalled that she did not include nuts because none of the kids would eat the cake if there were nuts.

After I made this cake, I was talking to Mom about it, and she remembered that there was a layer of marshmallow fluff inside the cake. There was no fluff written on the recipe so I did not include it in this version. I guess I will have to make this cake again with the marshmallow fluff variation. My favorite taste-tester will just have to test the cake with the fluff variation.

Mississippi Mud Cake


Cake

• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup self-rising flour
• 6 tablespoon cocoa powder

Cream sugar, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs until just blended. Stir together flour and cocoa and add to the butter mixture. Mix well. Spread in greased and floured 9x9 pan. Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting

• 4 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoon cocoa
• 2 tablespoon milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add in powdered sugar, cocoa, milk and vanilla. Add in additional milk, if needed to make frosting spreadable. Spread frosting on cooled cake. Enjoy!

Meat Loaf

What I remember most about Mom's meatloaf is the key role of ketchup in the recipe. Ketchup is mixed into the meat mixture and the loaf is topped with tomato sauce. I even recall more ketchup being served on the side.

Mom said that the boys used to complain about meatloaf because they would rather have the ground beef turned into burgers. But as Rich said, a slice of meatloaf between a hamburger bun is just a hamburger.

There are any number of ways that this recipe could be modified to change up the flavor. Mom's recipe calls for Accent seasoning, which is MSG. I did not have Accent seasoning, so I substituted Lawry's seasoning salt. Accent is available in the spice aisle, or you can just substitute your favorite seasoning blend. Mom's recipe includes an option of adding slices of bacon on top of the loaf before covering in tomato sauce. I don't remember bacon on Mom's meatloaf, so I did not use it in this version, but I may have to give it a try the next time I make meatloaf.

Meat Loaf

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp Accent seasoning
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 envelope onion soup mix
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

Blend all ingredients, except tomato sauce. Put into a loaf pan. (Option: cover with bacon) Pour 1 can (8 ounce) tomato sauce. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour.