Tag: Recipes

What a welcome surprise. I found myself with an entire day–no kidding–in which everything that I had scheduled fell through. In other words, an empty calendar. And an empty house for the morning. A Christmas miracle. So I put my time to good, high-calorie, high-fat use and made Christmas cookies!

Last year I may have made one batch of Christmas cookies, and possibly one pan of special Christmas brownies, so this was a real coup. Spritz and the brownies are must-haves. I also made molasses cookies from Bill’s Grandma Helen’s recipe, and tried new recipes for lemon drops and vanilla icebox cookies. A little something for everyone.

I did get some help–Paige came home mid-morning and she was kind enough to make the brownies. They turned out great. My only complaint is that she cut them too big! They are so dense that I like them not much bigger than the pecan half on top, like a piece of fudge. She said that was entirely too small, and made them much bigger. I see half-brownies in my future!

My new recipes came from this book:

This little magazine has lots of great-sounding recipes, and I’m a sucker for a new cookbook. I’ve bought several of these magazine-style books from America’s Test Kitchen and they’ve become staples at my house.

Would you like a recipe? The brownie recipe is so rich we really do only make it at Christmas and possible on very special occasions. I remember her making these when we lived in Minesota, because she would store them out on the sunporch and we would eat them frozen! That means the recipe is at least 35 or 40 years old. While I’m sure it isn’t original, it is truly from my mom, Diane; so even though it say’s “Mom” on my recipe card, we’ll change the name here.

Diane’s Awesome Christmas Brownies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 16 oz. can Hershey’s syrup

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Nuts, if desired

Preheat oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix very well–about four minutes. Spread in a 13×9 pan and bake about 25 minutes. Cool slightly and frost with this:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Boil first three ingredients together for one minute. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Immediately spread on brownies.

Cut very small–I like to put a pecan half on the top of each one. I also like to store them in the fridge or freezer and eat them cold. Enjoy! And…do you have a tried and true Christmas recipe? Please share!

Have you heard of Lysa TerKuerst’s new book The Best Yes? Well, I have it and it still didn’t help me today.

A couple of weeks ago I offered to make the main course for the football team’s Thursday night dinner. Around 50 boys. I hated that Lauren did this every single week and I thought I ought to help. After all, I can cook. Plus Matthew specifically requested a family favorite known around here as Train Wreck.

Well, Train Wreck for 50 is slightly more time consuming than Train Wreck for six. But I got it done and delivered, and apparently I haven’t given the whole team food poisoning…yet. They seemed to like it.

But I got home and faced this scene, after having cooked pretty much the entire afternoon. My inner martyr came roaring out. Not. Pretty.

I don’t want my family to feel like I am so burdened and put upon. The fact is that I gladly chose to do this. But right now I’m not so sure I should have! The team is so sweet, and I like the other moms, but I need to consider the next time I step up to do this.

True, I know better now how to cook for fifty boys. But I noticed that many (but not all) of the moms there tonight only have their youngest child at home now. My other three were at home waiting for dinner. This may be the kind of thing that I can do better for my youngest than my oldest. I may need to think about how involved I get right now–and this is exactly the kind of thoughtful choosing that Lysa is talking about in her book.

I think I need to pick it up again!

EDITED TO ADD:  Okay, when I read this I sound kind of crabby. I need to learn to wait to post when I am not falling asleep at the keyboard! Bill said this morning how much he enjoyed seeing the boys eating, how nice they all were, and how fun it was to help out. And he’s right, of course, especially about those sweet boys. So I think maybe instead of regretting my “yes” to Lauren and the boys, I should regret my “yes” to my inner martyr. I should write that down and post it next to the sink…EDIT OVER.

And…here is the recipe for our family favorite. I think it is better known as Chili Mac, but we call it…

 

Train Wreck for six

1 T. vegetable oil

1 onion, diced small

1 T chili powder

1 T ground cumin

Salt

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 T brown sugar

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

2 cups water

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

8 oz. small pasta (we like bowties but elbows are traditional)

2 cups shredded cheese, either cheddar or Mexican blend

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Add onion, chili powder and cumin. Cook until softened, 5-7 minutes.
• Stir in brown sugar and garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add beef and cook, breaking up large pieces, until lightly browned.
• Stir in water and tomato sauce, and then add pasta.
• Cover and cook, stirring often, until pasta is al dente.
• Off heat, stir in one cup of cheese and stir well. Add the second cup of cheese on the top. Cover to let cheese soften, 2 to 4 minutes.

Enjoy!