Sugar Cookies

Not long ago, I posted a sugar cookie recipe. Upon further search in Mom's recipe box, I learned that those previous cookies were not Mom's favorite sugar cookie recipe. When I found the recipe card shown below, I knew I found Mom's favorite sugar cookies. The recipe card was so frequently used that it is nearly impossible to read. Luckily the ingredients and their quantities had been retraced, so I knew what to use. It looks to me as if the original writing is my Grandma's handwriting, with the retracing done by Mom. As for the instructions, I remembered the basic instructions from the many times I made the cookies with Mom. These sugar cookies are classic cookies with a nice crisp taste. They are delicious dunked in coffee.

Sugar Cookies 

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup powder sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 pinch salt

In a large mixing bowl, blend butter, oil, sugar, powder sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Blend in baking soda, flour, cream of tartar, and salt. Blend dough well. Roll tablespoon ball of dough in sugar and place on baking pan. Flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Chocolate Creme Pudding

I have never made homemade pudding. Instead, I have relied on boxed instant puddings. When I found this recipe, I decided to give it a try. This pudding was delicious, but did not thicken up as much as I expected. I guess I will have to keep trying to make pudding to get it right. Even though my batch was not all that thick, it was delicious. With trial and error (and a lot of taste-testing), I am sure I will be come an expert at making pudding.

Chocolate Creme Pudding 

• 2 cups milk
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1//4 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Heat 1 3/4 cup milk in saucepan until bubbles around the edge. Combine cornstarch, salt, and cocoa in a mixing bowl; stir in remaining 1/4 cup milk and blend. Stir into hot milk. Add sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mix thickens. Beat egg until thoroughly mixed. Slowly stir some of the hot mix into the egg; stir back into hot mix. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and thickened. Remove pudding from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool, stirring occasionally. Pour into dessert dishes; Refrigerate. Enjoy!

Hamburger Stew

This recipe makes a hearty and filling meal. To be honest, my stew was not very stew-like; it was a bit closer to a casserole. I think I could have added more tomato sauce, but I like that it was quite thick. 

Hamburger stew uses a lot of ingredients that you might have everyday in your kitchen. The key ingredients are ground beef, canned tomatoes, onions, carrots and olives. I do not always have fresh celery around, but I usually have cut up frozen celery that would work well in this recipe. The recipe calls for using whole olives, but I used sliced olives instead. I used just one cup of rice and found that it was enough.

Hamburger Stew 

• 2 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, sliced
• 2 cans (16 ounces each) stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup pitted whole ripe olives
• 1/2 cup olive liquid
• 1 1/2 cup pasta or rice

In a Dutch oven, brown ground beef and onion. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook for about one hour on low. Stir occasionally. Enjoy!

Thousand Island Dressing

Homemade salad dressing is easy to make and delicious, so I mostly make my own dressings. I found this recipe for Thousand Island Dressing in Mom's recipe box and decided to give it a try. I always enjoy Thousand Island Dressing, and this recipe is no exception. 

I was surprised to see that the recipe included chopped hard boiled egg. But a google search revealed that many older Thousand Island Dressing recipes include chopped boiled eggs to thicken the dressing. When I made this recipe, I used Heinz 57 sauce instead of chili sauce. You could also just used catsup instead of chili sauce.

Thousand Island Dressing 

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. chili sauce
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp. sweet pickle relish
• 1 hard cooked egg, chopped

Combine ingredients. Chill. Makes 1 2/3 cups. Enjoy on your favorite salad.

Fresh Tomato Soup

Late summer, backyard tomato plants start producing lots of tomatoes. Although I do not currently have any tomato plants, I am the beneficiary of Mom's tomato plants and a neighbor's tomato plants. Often the tomatoes come in a slow enough flow to be used up in salads, but if you find yourself with many tomatoes on hand, give this soup a try. After having fresh tomato soup, you will never be satisfied with the canned version.

Mom's recipe calls for seeding and peeling the tomatoes. But there is no real reason to do so here. The onion will already add some texture to the soup, so including chunks from seeds and peel will just give the text even more texture. This recipe made two good-sized servings of soup.

Fresh Tomato Soup 

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 6 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp. minced parsley
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 bay leaf

In a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and cook onion until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually stir in water. If desired, seed and peel tomatoes before dicing. Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients over high heat; heat mixture to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Add more water for desired thickness. Remove bay leaf. Enjoy!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Strawberries are a classic summertime fruit, and nothing beats a no-bake pie when the weather is warm. I found this recipe and knew I had to try it. This pie is delicious. It would be great for a summer get-together or just to enjoy all by yourself.

When I made this recipe, rather than using a classic pie crust, I substituted with a graham cracker pie crust. The graham cracker crust is so easy to make and adds great flavor to the pie. The strawberries that I used were so large so I just them into quarters. The pie needs to be refrigerator, so it is a great make-ahead dessert. Mom's recipe calls for using food coloring, but I left it out as not necessary.

Fresh Strawberry Pie 

• 1 package (3 oz.) strawberry jello
• 1 2/3 cup boiling water
• 2 cups thawed cool whip
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 pie crust
• 1 1/2 cup strawberry halves

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Chill until slightly thickened. Measure 1/2 cup and blend into cool whip with sugar. If necessary, chill cool whip mixture until firm enough to mound. Spread over bottom and ups side of the pie crust. Stir strawberries into the remaining thickened gelatin and gently spoon over top of cool whip mixture. Chill at least three hours. Enjoy!

Vanilla Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Another year, another birthday for MDS. To celebrate year 45, I made this Vanilla Cake with Brown Butter frosting recipe that I found in Mom's recipe box. The recipe card has both the cake and frosting on one card, so they are meant to go together. And, the cake and frosting are so good that they could be used in other combinations.

The cake itself was just right--light and moist. The frosting is also quite delicious. I often have trouble with frosting, but this one came out fine. I did put the cake in the refrigerator immediately after making it to get the frosting to set. This cake and frosting combination is a great way to celebrate being another year older.

Vanilla Cake 

• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; reserve. In a mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat well. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add flour mix alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat batter for 1/2 minute after all ingredients have been added. Grease and flour two nine-inch round layer pans. Divide batter evenly between two pans. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Cool for ten minutes in pan, then turn out onto rack to cool. 

Brown Butter Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. light corn syrup
• 6-7 Tbsp. light cream

Heat butter slowly in heavy-bottom saucepan over very low heat until browned slightly (careful not to burn). Turn into large bowl and, with beaters running, add confectioners sugar alternating with light corn syrup and light cream. Beat until smooth.

Frost layer of the cake. If desired, sprinkle with chopped pecans. Put second layer and frost top and sides. If desired, press chopped pecans over top and sides.