Welcome to my cookbook! I have several recipes that folks have asked for, so I decided to post them here. Some are included in the ward cookbook, but many of them are things I found after that was published so I wanted a place to put them so my family had access to them. I'll add to this as I find things that I think need to be shared. If you have a recipe you'd like to add, let me know and I'll add you as a contributor.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Fresh Berry Pie

2-3 quarts berries, depending on the size of your crust (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries)
1 bottle (10 oz) "Simply fruit" jam (flavor to match the berries, or you can use regular jam)
1/4 cup water
1 pre-baked pie crust

Slice berries (or lightly mash, for raspberries and blackberries), reserving 10 of the best looking large strawberries or 1 cup raspberries or blackberries for the top of the pie.  For strawberries, halve the reserved berries.

Microwave the jam and water in a glass bowl and whisk to blend.  Pour over the berries prepared for the pie filling, reserving a couple of tablespoons for glazing the top of the pie.  Transfer the berries to the baked pie crust.

Top the pie with the reserved pretty berries and brush with the reserved jam glaze.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Top each slice with whipped cream if desired.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Tukey or Chicken Pot Pie

I haven't tried this, but I like home made pot pie and I saw this in a magazine and it looks good.  I want to save this recipe but not the magazine.  :)

1 egg
1 tb. water
6 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken
5 cups mixed vegetables (fresh or frozen)
2 tbs. butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups Chicken stock
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 of a 17.3 oz. pkg purr pastry sheet (1 sheet) thawed
2 tbs. coarsely chopped fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, and/or oregano)

Heat oven to 400, beat egg and water in small bowl with fork.  Stir turkey and veggies together in 9 x 13 pan.  Heat butter in 2 quart pan over medium heat and add flour. Cook and stir 3 minutes, and gradually stir in stock.  Cook and stir 5 minutes until mixture boils and thickens.  Stir in pepper.  Pour stock mixture over turkey and veggies.

Unfold pastry sheet on lightly floured surface. Roll into 9 x 13 rectangle and place over filling.  Press pastry to rim of pan to seal.  Brush with egg mixture and sprinkle with herbs.  Bake 25 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and filling is hot and bubbly. 

Okay, here's the thing.  At Thanksgiving time I always make a TON of gravy.  If I make this with leftover turkey after Thanksgiving, I will use leftover turkey gravy instead of doing the stock/butter/flour thing.  But doing this at other times of the year, I will totally do this using a pre-cooked turkey breast from the deli.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Drop Sugar Cookies

You can take the time to roll these out, but really, that's a pain in the rear so use a nice big scoop and make some delicious cookies (nice big soft ones) that aren't overly sweet but are sweet enough to satisfy your craving for soft sugar cookies.

1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
(cream above together)

1 cup buttermilk (OR 1 cup minus 1 tb. milk and 1 tb. lemon juice)
1 tsp. baking soda
(stir together, set aside)

4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
(add to creamed mixture, alternating with buttermilk)

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet, sprinkle with colored sugar and bake at 375 for 15 minutes for giant cookies.  You can frost these instead of sprinkling them with sugar if you prefer a sweeter cookie.  Use a thin frosting, almost an icing consistency.