Squash… anyone?

 Squash on the menu

 I love all forms of squash from crookneck to Pumpkin. But I have found some people who think they know how to cook squash. They didn’t. I love food period. Growing up meals were served at the table and dining was an activity an experience and one of the few times where communication was open and not judgmental, accusing or threatening. I never recall my mother making a ho hum meal. Now she made some humdingers hence the bad beef burgundy but her meals were never blah. However, in the squash world, she only made summer squash. But I have found some ways my daughter and chitlins love the squashes.

Some of the recipes will not have exact amounts, I will measure to the best of my ability. But some will just take some judgment.

I love acorn squash but one of my biggest pet peeves is I want the last bite to taste as good as the first bite and stuffing acorn squash does not accomplish that.

Candied Squash Rings

1-2 Medium Acorn squash, cut into thick 1 to 1 1/2 inch rings, scrape seeds out

2/3 cup room temperature butter at room temperature

3/4 cup dark brown sugar (can use light but dark = more flavor)

Seasonings as desired*

A bit of salt and pepper as desired

Mix butter and sugar into a thick paste. Slather each acorn squash ring with the butter paste and lay flat in a pan. Now I have been known to cut them so that they will fit but leave as many in rings as you can for pretty presentation. (A spoonful of sweet potatoes served in the center of the squash ring is pretty.) Now should you like to add seasonings then by all means do so. *A little Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice would be nice. Now of course as far as I am concerned cloves go well with everything right down to my clove gum. Back to the recipe. Bake this at 350 covered for about 30 minutes. *** NOTE Please do not add water to the bottom of the pan, for they will not be candied, my Aunt always adds wanted then says they do not come out like yours, well duh). You can use tinfoil to cover pan, After about 30 minutes remove the foil and cook another 30++ minutes till they are tender and candied. Now surely I don’t have to say it but since my grand daughter did it, a warning do not eat the green peel.

Yellow Crookneck or yellow straight neck squash was always luxurious to me. Tasted like liquid velvet. I thought my mother was a genius.

Yellow summer squash (crooknecks or straight necks) ala Edna Cotton

About 6 squash, about 6-7 inches in length, ½ to 2 in. in diameter.

Water

Salt

Pepper

Butter

Heavy cream ( may use half and half or in a pinch whole milk)

Sugar or sugar substitute

Trim ends and bad spots and then cut your squash in 1/8 inch rounds and put in a pan. Add just enough water to cover. Add a bit of salt and bring to a soft boil and cook till tender. Then drain the water off. Need to get as much off as possible. Add 2-4 tablespoons butter, 2-4 tbsp. sugar, a touch of pepper, and about a cup or so of heavy cream. Using a potato masher, mash this up and add more of anyth8ing you need. It should be about the consistency of cream style corn. Then serve. I don’t know if mama first made it this way to try to get kids to eat it but it is lovely and my family loves it.

Now this next one is my own invention so you do it to taste but again I will try to put some amounts in there. Just no that there is plenty of room to change things around etc since there are no hard and fast rules. I have posted it before so I will bring it forward again.’

Orange Butternut Squash

1 large butternut squash about 3 pounds
¼ cup butter, melted
½ cup orange juice*
¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
Orange marmalade

Peel the squash and cut in chunks, boil in salted water till tender. Drain well and let dry a bit. preheat oven to 350. Take squash and mash with potato masher, then add the remaining ingredient except marmalade one at a time and mix well. Spread this into a buttered casserole, then spread a thin layer of marmalade on top. Bake for 30 minutes.
Notes: I use fresh squeeze orange juice and I use a bit of the zest too chopped fine. I also leave the marmalade off a lot cause I don’t always have it around.

Everyone loved my mothers fried squash. And yeah she had a bit of a secret ingredient. Now there can be numerous different breadings and some people like batter. Then you can make them Italian style by adding Italian seasonings. My mother did none of that. Her biggest secret was to spread them out on paper towels for a bit before cooking and lightly salt and pepper on side, then she would flip them over and just before rolling them in plain flour, she would sprinkle the back side with plain old white sugar and the roll and fry them. Everyone and I do mean EVERYONE loved them and always wanted to know her secret. She usually used yellow squash.

Jodie’s favorite squash, this is another of my recipes

4 zucchini about 6 inches long, 1½ to 2 inches thick sliced ¼ in. thick

Morton’s Nature Season

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tablespoons butter cut in ¼ inch cubes

2-4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

A couple of hours before cooking the squash, spread them out and season them, then place in a colander and let them weep. When time to cook pour them out onto several layers of paper towels and dry them thoroughly. It only takes 10-20 minutes to cook these. In a large no stick skillet, place an extremely thin layer of olive oil over it, warm it up to about medium heat, you want it to sizzle then once squash is in, turn it up. You want to quickly brown them so they do not get soggy. You may have to add a teaspoon of olive oil here and there. Once they are all browned. Throw the butter over it and flip them around a bit so they all get “butterized” then turn off the heat and get them as flat as possible and sprinkle the parmesan over them, the cheese will melt quickly and then it is ready to serve.

Yeah it’s really easy!!

Last night was hot dogs and easy as pie. I love hot dogs, always have, always will. I grew up in the most ideal town in the world… Cooper, Texas. Summers were loaded with wiener roasts. I loved making mine quite blackish. Well now you just cannot emulate that in the kitchen. I do occasionally when it is just me, stick a fork in a wiener, remove the rack thing and turn on my gas burner and roast one for old times sake. But we are a family of 6 with everyone eating 2 so that is not practical.

In Oklahoma City, there used to be a hot dog joint called Max’s Frisco Franks, and you could get them all kinds of ways. My favorite is the deep fried, she cut an x in both ends and then deep fried it and it was great. Now I still deep fry it on occasion if I am also making onion strings or French fries. But as a rule I just cannot abide boiled wieners now so I at least throw them in a skillet and brown them. Plus they just have more flavor.

The night before, I had beef tips over egg noodles with sugar snap peas. Beef tips is a big hit for this family and they are so super easy. Again it is not a recipe with exact amounts cause I made it up as I went a hundred years ago. There are a couple of ways to do it some more drawn out than others. Back then I was a single hard working mother so I developed as many short cuts as possible. These days I have nothing but time and I have done it the more involved way, I cannot say that either one is better just easier.

Beef tips, in a crockpot

Meat – you can get the regular tips (expensive) or you can even

Use stew meat (cheapest), I like to buy a couple of

Chuck roasts and cut them myself.

1 can beef broth or you can use bouillon cubes/granules with

Water

Garlic

Morton’s Natures Season

Shallot or onion o dried onion

Thickening agent, you can use flour, cornstarch or as I do 2

Brown gravy packets

Now the way I always did this was around 9pm at night, I threw the meat in the crock sprinkled it with Mortons then added about a tablespoon crushed garlic (we love garlic) then I would grate a half onion in. My daughter hated onion even though she ate it daily. Then I poured the can of beef broth over that and add enough water just to cover the meat. Now if I did not have a can of broth then I used water and added a couple of bouillon cubes or a couple of teaspoons of the granules. Then I turned it on low as Ron Popeil says I set it and forget it. I let it go all night and all day on low till I got home, then I drained out a bunch of the juice and put it in a pan and added the brown gravy mix and cooked it till thickened then poured it back into the crock and set it on high with the lid off as I prepared the other stuff.

　

Now if you want to do it a bit differently you can certainly roll your meat in flour and flash fry it till brown and then add the liquids. You can do this on tope of the stove in a dutch oven or put it in the oven and do it over a 4-6 hour period, but it will neither look better or taste better than what you put in the crock pot. So why stress?

We love sugar snap peas but they are a pain to do when ya get em fresh so I get the frozen ones, they are just like fresh but have already had the strings removed. It is like having an assistant, ha ha.

Sugar Snap Peas con le herbe, Fancy way of saying with herbs

2 bags steam in bag sugar snap peas, steam each for 5 minutes and set aside

1 stick butter, no salt

3 cloves crushed garlic

1 shallot, sliced thin

Fresh Parsley (can use dried)

Fresh chives (can use dried)

Fresh tarragon ( can use dried)

Morton’s Natires Season

About 10 minutes before dinner, throw the butter in a skillet. I use non salted butter. Melt it down and add the shallot and sauté a couple of minutes till tender. Now add the garlic and herbs and sauté 1 minute, now throw the peas in and season as desired with Morton’s. Sauté these about 5 minutes over medium heat till peas are hot and tender. If you like them a bit more tender then you should microwave them longer and not try to cook them in the butter.

　

I made some egg noodles. I do cook mine different than most people, I add a bit of chicken bouillon to the water, cause ya only have 1 time to add flavor to pasta as it cooks. I also sprinkle 1 bag of cooked egg noodles with about 2-3 tablespoons of fresh grated parmesan. I find that just that little bit adds a whole different taste but it is not so much as people know what it is.

Dessert was an oldie but a goodie. From 1974 my mama’s recipe for Sock it to me cake. I have seen the recipe today and they just call it a cinnamon swirl coffee cake.

Sock it to me Cake a’la Edna Cotton

1 package yellow cake mix

¼ cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup water

½ cup butter

4 eggs

Filling:

4 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

½-1 cup chopped nuts

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon melted butter

½ teaspoon vanilla

2-4 tablespoons milk

Mix filling ingredients and set aside. Mix cake ingredients together till smooth. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a greased floured bundt pan, then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar/nut filling over the cake. Then gently pour the remaining 2/3 of the cake batter over the cinnamon filling. Bake at 375* for 45-55 minutes. Let cook 20 minutes then turn out onto serving plate. Mix glaze ingredients and spoon over the cake.

Gonna try….

I watched Julie/Julia a couple days ago and realized how far I fell behind. The gallbladder episode was much more than I expected. As a matter of fact, I still do not feel back to my old self.  I am gonna try to get back up and dust off and get back on track.

I actually have not done any in-depth cooking just some simple stuff really.  But I did make some Pork Milanese the other night that was licious. We have found we really, really like Italian food.  I do not have an exact recipe but I will tell ya what I did.

Pork Milanese

10 pork chops ( I use the thinner boneless ones) 

1 box Panko *

Morton Nature’s Seasons to taste

Garlic powder

2 eggs

A bit of milk

Fresh garlic

1/2 to 1 cup grated parmesan cheese **

Early in the day, I beat the milk with the eggs and added some Morton’s and the fresh garlic. I then covered my pork chops with it and let it sit till time to cook. I then mixed about 2/3 box panko together with the grated parmesan and sprinkled in the Morton’s. I then coated the pork chops with the seasoned Panko and pushed it on and sautéed them in olive oil till golden brown. My family loves them.

This coating is great on chicken tenders too and make your own honey mustard dipping sauce.

* Panko is Japanese bread crumbs, they are quite different from regular bread crumbs, and the end up with an incredibly crispy product. If you cannot find them in your area then the best bet is to take fresh bread and run it through your food processor but not real fine, spread it out on a cookie sheet and then place it in a 200 degree oven for a while till it is crispy but no color on it.

** Don’t use that dried up ground up old dirty sneaker cheese that ya sprinkle on pizza. Now I used “THE” parmesan cheese, the Reggiano one that is really a bit expensive to be shredding it into a coating. But it was what I had, just use a fresh grated one even if it is just Kraft.

The Cookbook project kicked off with Lemon Squares

  

 

 http://www.cookscountry.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=3294  . It does cost to be a member and get access to all the recipes. It can also be found in The Cook’s Country Cookbook. 

  

My dining partners tonight were my family. My son-in-law, my beautiful daughter who is NOT a fan of citrus, my 13-year-old grandson, my 11-year-old granddaughter, my 9-year-old grandson, and then yours truly. 

The recipe was quite easy to understand. I had my 11-year-old grand-daughter read the recipe. She is learning to cook now. She understood the recipe for the most part. She was not sure of a foil sling but she definitely knows now. So ease of directions gets an A. 

This recipe was quite easy to prepare. The whole thing takes about 30 minutes. Now the directions for the crust says pulse about 8 times. Heh, took quite a bit more for mine. The filling was just as easy peasy. Preparation gets an A also. 

Oh now these bars look great. They are beautiful. They cut like a dream. Visual gets an A. 

No exotic ingredients. The recipe calls for fresh lemons and zest so I did that, even though I have fresh frozen zest. Anytime I have a citrus fruit I zest it and keep the zest. However, I went out and got the fresh lemons etc. So that gets an A. 

Ok, here we come to a parting of the ways. There were 2 A’s, 2 B’s, 2 D’s which all averages out to a B. First off there was Braden (9) and he gave them a B. He said they were good but quite sour. Lierin (11) liked them a lot and her only complaint was they were too small at 2×2 inches. She gave them an A. Justin (13) said they were sour but good and he really likes sour and he gave them a B. Scott my son-in-law said they were quite tart and delicious and he gave them an A. Jodie my daughter gave them a D. She said they were metallic with an aftertaste. I gave them a D also. They were quite eggy. They did have an aftertaste but I believe it was the eggy taste. They also had a wee bit of a bitterness to them in my opinion and I believe that was due to the very large amount of lemon juice and zest. 

I would NOT make this specific recipe again. I love the way that they cook the two individual components separately for a short time then bring them together and finish the cooking. However, they felt that most lemon squares are timidly flavored. I will make this recipe again but 2 whole eggs and 7 additional large egg yolks are over the top for me. I will re-work this recipe and will let you know at a later date. 

Full tummies and Clean aprons until we meet again 

Granny Grump 

P.S. Boy howdy I am as angry as a Queen Bee trying to take a break from egg laying and all the other bees are a crackin the whip at me. The recipe at the web site is entirely different from the one in the book. The one on the web site calls for 4 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks with actually sounds better. The one in the book calls for ¼ cup lemon zest while the one on the web site calls for 1 teaspoon. 

　 

　 

 

Let’s get started

 

I’m So ExcitedAugust is here time to start my cookbook project. Oh and just at the right time with that new movie Julie/Julia coming out. 

Now, my idea to do this certainly did not come from this movie at all. This idea came from a forward thinking woman in Oklahoma also known as the pioneer woman. Her name is Ree Drummond. Her web site is pioneer woman.com and worth a look see. 

I know there are lots of people who are doing this and I just find it fascinating. I have not found anyone doing the Cook’s country cookbook yet. 

I am going to make every single recipe in the cookbook with just a very few eliminations. Fish will NOT be on the menu. NO ONE likes fish but my son-in-law who will be deployed through the military. Now they eat crab, lobster, and shrimp. 

There are a few recipes that call for nuts such as cookies etc. I am allergic to nuts we think. As a child at Christmas time my mother was shelling nuts of all kinds; pecans, walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts, filberts and so on. I was eating some of all of them and broke out in a rash and swelling of the tongue. Now I have actually had some of those nuts since then and no problem. I have not had brazil nuts since then . So not sure what happened, but I have grown used to NOT eating them and will omit them from all recipes except the pecan crusted chicken breast. 

The recipes will be graded over 5 areas. 1. The ease of reading and understanding the recipe and the techniques needed. 2. The ease in making the recipe. 3. The appearance of the final product. 4. The ingredients, how easy it was to find them. Are the ingredients too exotic. Do the ingredients that you have to buy a multiple usage amounts have a nice re-usability. 5. Of course last but certainly not least is the taste. 

For the most part these recipes will be graded by some really tough critics, my family. The family consists of 3 adults and 3 children. All of them can be picky but have agreed to give this a go. 

I have prepared drawing slips of paper and each one contains one page number and the name of the recipe. They have all been triple folded and placed in a drawing box. The recipes will be drawn out by the family members and they will take turns. There will be at least one recipe prepared weekly but there could be more depending on the difficulty and the expense of each recipe. 

The Cook’s Country Cookbook is written by the same people who do America’s test Kitchen show on the PBS channel. They take a recipe that was popular during some decade and they re-work it to solve any problems and make the very best product possible. Everyone is supposed to be able to make it following their recipes and techniques. We shall see. I am an experienced cook so we shall see how easy it is and how good it is. 

Full tummies and clean aprons to you until next time. 

Granny Grump 

P.S. Anyone wanting any further information, directions or recipes found in my blogs can contact me privately at iarya@twcny.rr.com  

The way we were……..

Summer’s here and the time is right for veggies at their peak, sung to the tune of dancing in the street. 

I grew up on a farm. Our lives were enriched and filled with lovely fresh vegetables and fruits. We were enriched by raising our own beef, pork, and chickens. 

For a while we had fresh milk daily. Mama made butter. We had fresh ice cream weekly and I do mean fresh. Fresh cream, fresh milk, and fresh eggs. There were no fancy “lectric” machines. Making ice cream was a production. We would get a couple of big cubes of ice and there were like 2 feet square. Then out came the sledge-hammer to break it up. This was the man’s job while the women were putting together the cream ingredients. When it was ready to be churned, the women brought out the canister and set it in the churn, now their job was complete for the moment. Then it became the men’s job, they packed the churn with alternating layers of ic e and rock salt. Then the oldest quilt ya owned was folded up and put on top and the smallest young un was unceremoniously called (it was always me) and my job was to sit on top of the quilt on top of the churn holding it all in place and the men began to take their turns a crankin’. The male children always had to give it a go and see if they could turn the crank. As the sitter, my only fun would be to suck on pieces of cold salty ice, then spit em or throw em at the boys in the family as they walked by. 

Each woman in the family had their own special flavor. My mama did strawberry or peach, one of my aunts would attempt to do chocolate which was ok but never great but she was not the best cook in the family, she was just ok. She would always try to outdo everyone else and would change the recipes around a bit which changed the outcome and she used these pie crust squares that come in the cake mix section, they were Pillsbury, and when it was all said and done, the only people who really ate her food were her own family. But my other aunt always made nanner ice cream and my “mamaw” made vanilla. Now believe me my mama was the best cook in the family bar none. All of them could cook some better than others and some had specialties that n o one could beat. But overall my mother had better range. 

At big family gatherings, she did most of the desserts, cause she made her own crust, not frozen, not pie crust squares but from scratch. My Aunt Billie really did not do any baking. But she made a great ham, and she made the best baked beans and tater salad. She still makes the best tater salad but now my cousin Sandra and I make the best baked beans. My Aunt Joyce made the best fresh salads. She also made the best Mincemeat pies but then it was only her family that ate em. My mother made chess pie, fresh coconut cake, chocolate pie. Ahh the memories. 

Anyway, back to the ice cream, now I loved it all but if I had to pick one, well sorry mama but it would have to be my Aunt Billie’s nanner ice cream. 

This time of year always makes me think of veggies tho. We always had a big ol garden. My mama spent all summer making jellies, preserves, canning veggies, making pickles, and chow-chow, freezing and just putting up vegetables. 

Before we got a freezer, when it butchering time, after putting all they could in the Smokehouse etc. They would take bits and pieces and grind it up, add seasonings, and make sausage, they would fry up all these sausage patties, then put them into quart jars, then completely cover them with hot grease and put the lids on, the hot grease would create the vacuum etc. Then they were stacked up and perfectly preserved. People today would have a fit and would not touch something like that but we were never sick, never had food poison etc. Time to cook, ya poured all the sausage and grease in a skillet then heated it up. Drain the sausage and kit was licious. Then ya had your grease to cook with for the week etc. 

I am anxious to get through with this gallbladder surgery. I want to put up a few things and make some jelly and preserves. I am gonna try something different this year. I absolutely adore mango and intend to make some mango pineapple preserves/jelly and maybe some mango peach or mango strawberry. 

I still make my mama’s blue ribbon bread and butter pickles. She won a blue ribbon in both the Texas and Oklahoma state fairs with them. They are our favorites. But I loved her pickled beats, squash pickles, pickled green tomatoes, chow-chow, mustard relish, pickled peaches. I am going to work on a post on cooking fresh veggies my mama’s way. 

Detailing some of my favorites. 

Food Cheats I love em

Food cheats, Lord I love ‘em. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in the real thing and I often spend hours making them. However, there are times when at 3 pm ya think oh I would love to have that but then it takes half the day. Those are my food cheats or Faux… 

Everyone that knows me, knows how I adore Mexican food and believe me I do my time making enchiladas and tamales etc. But to make homemade enchiladas is a lot of steps, I make my own sauce, my own fillings, do all the prep work and then the rolling etc. 

So on the nights that I come late to the idea of beef enchiladas, I make enchilada rolls. I mix myself up some taco meat using a bit of the canned enchilada sauce and some added seasonings. Make sure it is still thick thick. I then take some manicotti shells which are half-cooked and stuff the meat into these and place in a single payer. Put a little bit of the enchilada sauce over each one but then I take a couple cans of my favorite canned chili which happens to be wolf brand and I spoon that over the rolls. Then sprinkle the top with a 4 blend Mexi cheese. Bake till hot and bubbly. Voila’ or should I say Ole’ Faux Enchiladas. 

Another of my favorite cheats is for Cowboy Beans. Now growing up my mama never called them that. We always had 2 kinds of goulash, we had the traditional made with pasta etc and we called that macaroni goulash then we had a mixture using pinto beans and we called it bean goulash. 

We were not overly poor when I grew up but we were not wealthy by no means. We always had meat because we raised it ourselves and we ate T bones weekly. But again we raised almost every bite that went in our mouths from either the fields, the gardens or the orchard. We were still a typical Southern family, at least every couple of weeks we ate pinto beans cooked with ham hocks. A meal of pinto beans meant the same things on the table every time. There were the beans and of course fried taters which are a must. We either had cornbread (traditional which meant no sugar) or corn dodgers, there were always either thickly sliced onions or green onions and radishes. In the spring and summer, the table would always contain some sliced tomatoes, and cucumbers and onions in vinegar. There was always chow-chow and Tabasco. 

I was always thrilled and so happy when I saw Pinto beans on the table. I liked them ok but they were nowhere near the top of the list of my fave foods but when they were on the table I knew that bean goulash was on the menu for the next day and it was on my top 10 list. 

I now call them cowboy beans because people just cannot accept the idea of goulash being anything other than macaroni. But mama would simmer those pinto beans with tomatoes, garlic, cumin, chili powder, garlic, and then add fried hamburger meat and onions and simmer some more. She would serve it with more fried potatoes and then crackers and the same condiments etc. years later she developed a cheat and it is not quite as good as the original but let me tell ya it is great in a pinch and my house is never without the makings for a pot of these. Some people call it chili, but believe me, being from Texas, we would never call this chili. 

Cowboy beans 

4 cans ranch style beans (original not those with Vidalia onions) 

1 pound ground beef 

1 small onion diced 

2 cloves crushed garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder 

1 small bell pepper diced (optional, I do not use) 

1 cup water 

Place beans in a big pot and add the cup of water. In the meantime fry the hamburger meat till done, then add the onion and bell pepper and cook another 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic, then drain very well. Add this to the beans and bring to a bubble then turn to low and simmer stirring every few minutes for about 15 minutes. Then serve. You can use a variety of things as toppings such as sour cream or jalapeno, or cheese, or green onions, or crushed tortilla chips, or crackers or cheese. I like it straight up no chaser. 

Now if ya have any of this left, the next night make yourself some Indian tacos. Make some fry bread, spoon some of this over it then top with lettuce, tomato, green onion, cheese, sour cream and salsa or as you like it. 

I love to look at recipes for fry bread, they get real in-depth with yeast and so on and such but Native Americans did not have yeast and all those special ingredients. Their cooking may have capture some wild yeast but they did not leave it sitting around all day. They could grind their own flour and they probably did not have any leavening or salt at all except on rare occasions. 

Indian Fry Bread 

2 cups flour 

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder 

½ to 1 scant teaspoon salt 

Approximately 1 cup warm water 

Mix dry ingredients and then add warm water. Mix well till it makes a dough, it might be a bit sticky. This is much easier in a food processor. Add a bit more flour till it is not sticky but handle able. Then pinch off golf ball size bits of flour, roll in a ball and roll out till it is about 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. Lay that is hot oil at least 2 inches deep heated to 350 degrees. Fry a couple of minutes till golden, flip and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels. 

Now there is another easy quick cheat that is delicious and that is chicken and dumplings. Now believe me, I will never ever give up cooking homemade chicken and dumplings. There is a flavor that you cannot get in a quick dish no matter what but there is an acceptable quick dish. Now I do not make those big old fat dumplings, I don’t much like ‘em they always come out like dough balls to me. 

Quick Chicken and Dumplings 

1-2 quarts pre made chicken broth, I like the Swanson low sodium one 

1 precooked rotisserie chicken from your grocer 

1 can biscuits, the smaller cheaper ones not big Texas sized ones 

Herbs if ya like, and for this use dried not fresh 

First put the broth in a pot, now add any herbs or seasons you like, at this time I will add a little bit of parsley, a bit of crushed garlic and some pepper. I also sometimes use just a wee bit of poultry seasoning which I adore. It already has an excellent amount of different herbs in it already. Now bring that to a boil and drop the temp to simmering. Now take the biscuits and flatten them out just in your hand and cut in quarters, and slip those into the broth. Now as those are simmering, take your rotisserie chicken off the bone in big chunks, and about 3-5 minutes before serving, drop the chicken in to the broth and let it come up to temperature. Yee-haw a quick chicken and dumplings. Now I actually like a bit of butter in my chicken and dumplings and I like em thicker. 

So I use a fancy French technique, course did not know it was a fancy French technique growing up watching mama do it. I ‘spect she did not know either. Anyway it is called beurre manie and it is pronounced bare mon yay, there ya go best I can do to ‘splain that. 

The technique is to take equal parts butter and flour and mix together then kind of knead it together so it is well mixed. Then take little bits and stir into your dish to thicken. The trick is to not over cook it either cause unlike a roux, you will not be able to cook the flour so if ya let it go to long it will taste starchy. I mix 2 tablespoons each of real butter and flour, stir it really well. I keep it in the fridge so it is nice and chilled. Then I take bits and pieces and stir into the broth until it is thickened over one minute no more than 2 minutes then serve. Now I might not use the whole amount but then I might, ya just have to use the amount ya like. But never fear, butter/flour lasts for a long time kept in fridge. 

So ya ask yeah but what do ya do with it? Well hey you can make a quick pan sauce, after cooking some meat, remove it to a plate and keep it warm. Then add a cup or so of broth to the pan and deglaze, you can add a bit of wine if ya like, then once it is deglazed, add the seasonings you like, then add bits of the beurre manie till it is thick over a minute and done. 

Take some canned veggies such as green beans, drain them, then put them in a pot and cover with chicken broth, add a slice of precooked bacon torn up, a clove of crushed garlic, a slice of onion and bring to a boil and after 10-15 minutes of boiling, turn heat down and add a bit of beurre manie. 

I also like to buy canned asparaqgus when it is not in season, I drain the liquid into a pan, and then add some pureed garlic, a wee bit of chives, and a small bit of tarragon, a drizzle of lemon juice with a bit of lemon pepper, once the seasoning is right, I add the bits of beurre manie and after it is hot and thick, drop the asparagus in and let it get hot and serve. 

You can use the beurre manie in any soups including ramen and canned chicken noodle, it can only help. 

Now I would love to hear about any cheats you have. So let me hear it. 

Boy when it rains….

Everytime I think things are going well, then someone pecks me on the shoulder and whispers “not so fast there!”  About 6-7 weeks ago, I had an attack of some serious belly pain. Ladies you will know just what I mean when I say it was like the immediate 3 minutes before giving birth when the contractions are continuous and they make your head spin around on your shoulders, telling your hubby that you WILL SEE him after this. I kept it to myself and thought ehh it was a fluke. Now at this time I have diagnosed myself cause nurses just always do that. I believe I either have gallbladder problems or cancer.

Well, that fluke started happening just about daily. I got to where I would just get up and go soak in a hot tub till the pain passed. The hot water seemed to help. However,  I also began getting violently nauseous during these spells. On May 29th, I was unable to stand up straight. I was unable to get comfortable so off  to the Meddac I went. My doctor took some blood and said he would call me and let me know whether I should go to the emergency room or not. So I waited and I waited. I have to say I was quite angry at 4:30 when I called and I could only get through to the weekend triage people. I mean the doctor said he would call me right?  he believed I was having an acute gallbladder attack or maybe a serious infection.

I won’t go into everything, but needless to say I did not get any information from my doctor. The weekend people told me to go to the ER if it got bad. HELLO McFLY, I am constantly looking at my toes, and have went from 5 feet tall to 3 feet 4. But I sat in my recliner and took pain meds and hoped for the best.

Monday came, I went to see my doctor and I told him I was going to put easy off in his shorts for forgetting me. I find out he did not forget me, he was let off before my lab work came back.  Military doctors can be very good but let’s face it, they are gonna get pain whether they cure or kill ya and ya cannot sue em.  So he tells me I have to see the surgeon. Over the weekend I have lost like 9 pounds. So I get scheduled to see the doctor for the next afternoon. But before seeing him I have to get an ultrasound of my  gallbladder. So the next morning is a jim dandy day, I am in pain, I am hungry, I am nauseous, and my lovely disposition is beginning to get really sour.

When I finally made it to the surgeon, he took one look at the lab, ultrasound and me and said you are going to the hospital. So I spent several days on IVs with nothing by mouth. The doctor was trying to get me better so I could have the simpler procedure. So here I sit now on June 23. I have been living on very little.  I have to eat anything with fat in it before 3 pm or I suffer greatly all night usually. I can only eat one or two things with fat in it. So if it was tacos, I could eat 1 taco before 3 pm. Anymore than that will send me into another attack. The one thing I can eat without any problems is cereal without milk. Cannot eat some of those fruit kinds cause they cause a lot of heartburn but I have found I can eat all the Frosted flakes i want.  It is my main sustenance. I did have some peanut butter today with some crackers and then my good old standby frosted flakes.  I see the doctor tomorrow to make plans to remove my sock of sludge and rocks AKA my gallbladder. 

All that to explain why I have not been around much.  I have been looking at the web a lot and have come across a blog that has just been fascinating to me. It is called the Gourmet Project located here: http://thegourmetproject.blogspot.com/ .  In a nutshell Teena is one of a growing group of people who are dedicated to cooking every recipe in a given cookbook.  I love it. I intend to start my very own project as soon as I am through surgery and well enough to begin.

We started something like this a few years ago when twice monthly we would pick a foreign country and one night we would have a complete meal from that country. Unfortunately I did not take pictures or document our progress but we did it for about 3 years.

My daughter and I looked over my collection of cookbooks which now numbers well over 500. I believe a lot of those people have some chef or gourmet cooking schools under their belt. I am trained by life not by any school. So there are a lot of techniques, equipment etc that I would be unfamiliar with. I have been watching the America’s Test kitchen for years. I get the magazines, have the cookbook, am a member of the web site etc. It has been quite the learning experience for me.  I don’t think I am prideful or boastful when I say I am a very good cook. I know this because I have had plenty of people tell me this throughout the years. I know this because when I take dishes to a potluck, mine are always gone very quickly no matter how much I make. 

I am by no means perfect and I am still learning everyday. I was first thrilled when the food network came to TV. I would watch that channel 24 hours a day. I learned so many things but there was quite a few things that I would never be able to see or experience in my small neck of the woods. But now things are so much better, we have the world-wide web. I have moved to upstate New York and although the people in NY City think this area is for hillbillies, it has a lot of ingredients and things I would never find in a small town etc. I can look up things and techniques i don’t know. If i don’t have it and I can’t get it in my area well by golly I can order it online.

 Now I am no gourmet chef but I believe I am on the road to becoming a closet gourmet.  I believe I am at a point in my life that I can do this and not stress about it etc. Now my family comes from ranch/farm area. We are meat eaters, herd it by, wipe it’s behind and we will take a bite. We don’t do much of the seafood etc. But we are all committed to try. However, i will keep some frozen entrees on hand for emergency.

I will not be having dinner parties or lots of company. My taste testers will be my beautiful daughter Jodie who will also serve as project photographer. Then there is the terrible trio…. my grandchildren. Justin is 13 and he is picky to a certain extent, does not like to try new things. Then there is Lierin, 11 and the most open minded eater of the bunch. She is willing to give it a go and usually likes most things. Then there is Braden, mmm mmm mm, what can I say. Look in the dictionary under finicky and it will be his picture. He will not eat beef, he will not eat most processed meates etc. The boy is almost 9 and has never had a hamburger nor a hotdog, not even bologna. He is picky, he is hard to feed, he is as closed minded as they come. He has his mind set before hand whether he will like it or not and if not then it is not.  Then there is my son in law. He is army so anything is better than MREs or the chow hall. But I will give you their honest opinions as well as my own. Plus I will discuss how easy or hard the recipe is. I am working on developing a  grading system.

So my cookbook is The Cook’s Country Cookbook.  It is from the editors at America’s Test Kitchen. They boast that it has 500 Classic, Regional, and Heirloom Recipes. Some of the recipes found in this book are  all American favorites such as Corned Beef Hash, King Ranch casserole, Chicken Divan. They have old faithfuls such as Quaker Bonnet Biscuits and real heirlooms such as Chocolate Blackout cake.  There are regional recipes like Iowa skinnies, Cincinnati chili,  Creole fried chicken. 

For those of you who have never seen or heard of America’s test Kitchen, let me give ya a quick overview. They do ingredient testing such as which is the best cocoa or what is the best ketchup? Some of it is extremely helpful such as which red wine to use for cooking cause I do not drink wine so the saying always cook with a wine you like to drink, well it just does lot fit for me. Then they do equipment testing. Now see this is one of the things I love about the show. I am not made of money and investing in some of this equipment is like a down payment on a car. So I want the best I can by for the money I can spend. This has actually recently become very important. I have fallen in love with smoothies. But I cannot find a blender to withstand making daily smoothies. I have went through 5 of the reasonably priced ones at around 30-40 a pop but I could have just bought the big expensive vitamix or kitchenaid in the beginning, and it would have lasted.

Then the crux of the show is to take a recipe or two and not just make it but make it numerous ways over and over until they perfect the recipe as well as the techniques and all the while every recipe is tested by quite  a few people.  They figure out how to fix problems, for example oven fried chicken, well I have never found anything that really works but they say they have fou nd a way through trial and error and taste tests. So we will see.

There will be at least one or two days a week that I will do this. It will not necessarily be the whole meal but it may be a couple of elements of the meal.

I hope to start within a month. So I will keep you guys informed.

Hello!!

Well Lord do I feel like a horse that has been rode hard and put up wet. Sorry ya’ll, I had good intentions and then it hit.  Pain like the kind when you are dilated to a nine when you are about to have that young un. Ladies, you know of what I speak. That pain that makes your head spin on your shoulder and makes you look across at that man holding your hand, sweating bullets, and then you say ” If I ever get out of here, I am gonna take you on a long ride up the mountains, but only one of us is a coming back.”

Well, Granny is too old to be having young uns cause  first off ya have tp have the equipment and second off ya have to be exposed. So yes,  for me I was a trying to give birth to, the pitty pitty patter of the dink dink donk of gallbladder stones.  So I have just gotten out of the hospital. I was in too bad a shape at the time, the doctor wanted to try to get me feeling a lot better to have the laparoscopic surgery rather than cutting me from my eyes to my hinder ender.  I did respond well, and so I see him in a few days to start scheduling that.

So since I feel like butter spread over too much bread, it will be  awhile longer before I get back to doing this blog daily, maybe as much as a month. I am anxious to get back to it. We have a wonderful new camera to take much better pix etc. So hang in there. I do have some recipes that I am anxious to share. I have been busy developing some recipes and want to share them. So see ya’ll as soon as I can

Happy Memorial Day

To all of those who gave all for our country and our way of life, there are no words that can be said for what you gave up for me and mine. You are on my mind this weekend as well as many other days.

For those of you who have served, are serving and for those of you that will serve, may God bless and keep you this day and everyday and may he hold you in his hands till you are back in the arms of your family.

Well I have been remiss in keeping up my web log. My computer blew . I still do not have a new one but very soon I will. I am using my daughter’s old one. As before I have lost all access to my recipes. But better news this time, this time it was the screen that blew so all I need to do is buy an external hard drive case to put the hard drive in and I can recoup them all. I was quite disheartened.

This of course is the beginning of the Memorial day weekend. Memorial day is a special day for me. My entire family did their time in the military. It was just kind of expected. My father was much older than my mother and he was Army and served during WWII. My mother did a short stint in the Marines. She had polio as a child and it left her with quite weakened ankles. My brother was Army during the thankless war, Viet Nam. My uncle was Navy, and so on and such and such. So I did my time in the Navy. I recommend the military anytime.

I do not want to get on a soap box but let me just say, our society should recognize their military members period. My generation should be ashamed of how they behaved towards the military. That is all I will say other than Thanksgiving is a day we pause to give thanks for the things we have and Memorial Day is day when we pause to give thanks to the people who fought for the things we have. We should never fail to remember that so we are not doomed to repeat the same thing especially with this “new” regime and at a time when many cultures both inside and outside the USA would like to see us lose it all.

Holidays were always a time when the company was exuberant, family was ever-present, and the food was delicious. I always loved holidays.

I certainly do not want to go back to the June Cleaver days where a woman’s place was in the home and she could only open her mouth if it suited her husband. However, when women started becoming the breadwinners, some things were lost. Very few women do these things anymore, and they usually have to take a class to learn. These were things passed down through families. Things like embroidery, crochet, knitting, sewing, quilting, and cooking.

I went shopping the other day and started paying attention to a few things and was simply floored. Pre-cooked bacon in strips and bits. Bottled iced tea. Minute rice. Instant Grits. Pre-packaged lunches. Kits for everything. Mixes for everything from fudge to pumpkin bread. The problem with all this you ask? Well, no problem if that is what you like but it in no way compares to homemade. Ice tea for instance, a 12 ounce bottle was $1.09. 100 regular sized tea bags was about 2 bucks. But it will make 100 cups hot tea, or 10-16 gallons of iced tea depending on how strong you like it. Instant grits made me laugh like crazy. Every Southerner knows that it takes time for grits to get that nice creamy taste and texture that we love. A big box of minute rice is almost $4. Lord for 4 bucks you can get enough regular rice to make a truckload. And nothing could be easier than pumpkin bread, only 1 thing that is not a staple in most kitchens and that is pumpkin. In my home it is a staple cause in Oct/Nov I roast, puree, measure and freeze enough pumpkin for the year. On occasion I still have to buy a can of pumpkin on occasion.

So today I am just gonna blog about basics. For those of you who like all these little “shortcuts” please just hang in there cause this post will probably not be to your taste.

Now my mama never used a box mix except for her “Sock it to me cake”. My mother would have never used a frozen pie shell and I have posted a whole post on pie pastry. My mother would have never bought and used Cool whip. If it called for Cool whip then she made it with fresh whipped cream. She was not the one that taught me, she died before I could make it into the kitchen to cook with her. I learned over the years. I would want something and I would buy a mix and anticipate the wonderful flavor and then found it sorely lacking and was quite disappointed. I also found that when boiling eggs there is a cut off on how long you boil them for or they become like small hand grenades and explode all over your kitchen. There is a trick to making nice fluffy rice otherwise you will make a large pot of gelatinous glue strong enough to put your own spaceship together.

Let’s start with iced tea. Now I keep iced tea on hand at all times, there is always a pitcher in the ice box. My mama made 2 quarts before each meal but I like it from daylight to bedtime.

First off a quantifier, I will tell ya how to make tea but some things may go against what the “teaxperts” say. Let me just say, these are things I have learned the hard way through nasty outcomes.

Let me also say I make a gallon at a time, if this is too much then by all means cut it in half, the same advice holds for a little as it does for a lot. I also have that Southern Sweet Tea, so if ya like sugarless then omit the sugar etc.

Perfect Iced Tea 1 gallon

6 regular size tea bags (you may like yours stronger, play around and see)

1 gallon sized tea pitcher

Now I use a skewer and place through the tabs of my bags and hang them in the pitcher, but you can put them in the pitcher just remember when taking them out, you do not want to squeeze the bags. I use a whistling tea-pot but any pot will do as long as it can hold 4 cups water. Place 4 cups of nice fresh cold water in your pot. Bring this to a boil. Turn off the heat and then pour that in your pitcher with the tea bags. Now put a lid on and let this steep 10-20 minutes, then remove the tea bags. Add in the sugar, which for Southern Sweet Tea is 1-2 cups. Stir this till it is dissolved. Now fill the pitcher to the top with fresh cold water.

Notes: If you would like to make Lemon, or Lemon Mint tea then before starting your water for the tea, you will make a simple syrup mix 1 cup sugar in 1 cup water in pan, bring this to a boil and when sugar is dissolved turn the heat off, place a sliced lemon in the water as well as a small handful of washed mint leaves, now leave this to steep for at least 30 minutes so flavors can infuse. Now when you make the tea, place the boiling water over the bags, let it steep, remove the bags, and remove the mint from the simple syrup (I leave my lemons in but you can remove them) and stir this into the tea and fill with cold water. You can certainly garnish with a fresh stem of mint in the glass or float a mint leaf on top or want to be fancy then take a mint leaf and place in the cups of an ice tray, place a teaspoon water over it and let it freeze then fill each cup with water and freeze till hard. Drop one or two of these in the glass with your regular ice. Want to be really special especially for hot days, take some previously made tea and freeze it into ice cubes and use those in place of ice in your tea and it will never be watered down.

Another note, never fill your pitcher with ice cubes and pour the hot tea over it to cool it down. Every single time I have done this, I have had rancid foul tasting tea in a matter of 10-12 hours. Otherwise sweetened iced tea will last in the fridge 3-4 days. Unsweetened plain tea will be ok on the cabinet overnight or even 2-3 days in winter.

Rice, nothing really wrong with minute rice except that the grains are funky, they look like they have exploded, and this certainly can be seen on the plate also. Rice really is simple to make and you do not need a fancy shmancy rice cooker either. I was gifted with one of those things and was not real happy cause ½ inch of rice sticks in the bottom of it.

Things to remember about rice, it makes twice as much as it measures, i.e. : ½ cup dry rice will make 1 cup cooked. Again you can adjust my recipe as needed. Also the meaning of the size of the grain is important. It took me years to figure this out, but now with the internet and cooking channel etc, it is all over the place. The shorter grains make a much creamier/stickier product and the longer the grain the more individually it cooks. For example Arborio rice is a very short grain and it is well known as the rice used for risotto a very creamy rice dish from Italy. Most rice used in fried rice are the very long grains and you see the individual grains etc. I always buy extra long rice.

Rice

1 cup extra long rice

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

I don’t know I it does anything special but I like to wash my rice in a colander for a couple of minutes. After I started doing that, it made a difference that is all I can say. Now place all 4 ingredients in a pot with a well fitting lid. Bring this to a boil, stirring on occasion. As soon as it comes to a boil, lower the heat to low and put the lid on, stir it occasionally and cook for 10 minutes. Then without opening the pot again turn the heat off and let it sit for about 10-20 minutes. Then remove lid and fluff with a fork.

Notes: Rice is a wonderful flavor sponge. We love rice and we eat it many different ways. We eat it with butter, sugar, milk and sometimes cinnamon as a hot breakfast cereal. When making it as a side dish for chicken or pork, I use broth instead of water to cook it in. For beef then beef broth. You can add herbs or cheese to your water and have all kinds of flavors as you like to compliment any meal.

Grits are a staple in the Southern home but there just ain’t no such thing as an instant grit. Those of us who know and love grits know it takes time to develop that creaminess that is what grits are all about. That would be like using instant rice to make risotto. Makes about as much sense as putting a wolf inside the chicken coop. Every Southern home that eats grits are as particular about them as they are about their religion and politics. However, in my home, we were poor and grits was cheap and it was used in a variety of ways from breakfast to a tapioca type pudding of grits. We ate them as breakfast cereal just like rice with sugar and butter and cream. At times we had them as a breakfast side dish plain or with cheese etc. At dinner they could be cooked again a variety of ways. They too are a flavor sponge and the same rules apply as to rice. You can cook them in broth, or in water. I always cook them in a mixture of milk and water as my base then add the other things to them. Now you can certainly buy the instant grits as long as you plan to cook them at least 15 minutes. The longer ya cook them the better they are. I start mine at the beginning of cooking and keep them going all through the cooking and have cooked them as long as 45-60 minutes but NEVER less than 20 minutes.

Yellow grits which are rarer are ground from the whole kernel of corn white grits which is what I use are made from a hulled kernel of corn.

Grits for 6

1 cup grits

2 cups half and half or milk

4 cups water + more as needed

½ – 1 teaspoon salt

½ – 1 stick butter (unsalted)

In large heavy pot mix half and half, water, salt and butter and bring to the boil. When boiling stir in the grits slowly while stirring continuously. Once in turn heat down to medium and cook while ya stir for about 5 minutes, as soon as the grits are good and moist and have started thickening. Now you will need to judge them and keep them thin enough to cook without sticking etc. At this time I usually add another cup of water. Turn the heat to low and stir them about once every 5 -10 minutes. Keep cooking your other stuff. Add water as needed in grits. About 5-10 minutes before you are ready to serve, turn the heat up to medium and cook without adding water and stirring frequently until it is as thick as you like, then add anything you might like such as cheese etc.

Boiled eggs seemed to give everyone fits, Lord they even have a little egg cooker on TV. Now I cannot help you with the soft boiled eggs exactly cause I do not like them but you should try cooking them at half the time. The main thing that people are concerned about is the greenish color that surrounds the yolk when overcooked and they can get rubbery when cooked too long. Mine are perfect every time as long as I get to them and do not let them sit too long. Eggs peel better if warm.

Hard boiled eggs, the ones that are tender and with a beautiful yellow yolk sans any green

As many eggs as you need

A pot that is as big as you need it, you would prefer to have your eggs in a single layer but a double layer is acceptable, if ya have more than that then use 2 pots and get help for peeling!!

Now place 1 tablespoon salt in each pot and enough water to cover your eggs by ½ – 1 inch

Bring this to a boil, as soon as it comes to a boil, drop the heat to medium to low, just enough for a heavy simmer or light boil. Now cook these eggs exactly 5 minutes. Turn heat off, put lid on pot, and let sit exactly 10 minutes. Now peel them. If you cannot get to them immediately, then drain all the water off, and shake the pan really well so the eggshells crack well then let them sit so they will not over cook and peel when ya can.

NOTE: For Easter eggs, you do the same thing but also add a couple of tablespoons vinegar to the water. The vinegar helps prepare the shell for the dye. Now as soon as the 10 minutes are up rinse these quickly under cold water to chill fast and stop all cooking.

Whipped cream, the real stuff made out of real moo cow cream not milk flavored vegetable oil as is the case of cool whip. Now this stuff is so good, and if ya need to double it then by all means you can double or triple or quadruple it. Another biggie is flavoring, you can use any kind of flavoring ya like from a bit of brandy for brandy whipped cream to amaretto or maybe almond flavoring or vanilla or maybe you would like to make chocolate whipped cream and in that case ya have 2 choices, the first is my fave way add ¼ cup cocoa to the cream as soon as it starts getting thick. In a pinch if ya want chocolate whipped cream and are out of cocoa, you can either reduce sugar or omit it and add either Hershey’s chocolate syrup or Nestlé’s quick. The other thing is the sugar, you can use regular sugar, powdered sugar or even brown sugar or a bit of honey or maple syrup. You are limited only by your imagination and you have so many more options than opening up some milk flavored oil.

Whipped cream

1 cup whipping cream

2-4 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you like it

1 teaspoon flavoring, you can use all vanilla or a combination of flavors or even 1 tablespoon brandy

Place cream in bowl and start mixer on low, slowly sprinkle sugar in while mixing until all sugar is added, then turn mixer up to medium and when cream starts to get thick add the flavorings and turn mixer up on high and whip till cream is thick. Whole process should take 5 minutes or less for fresh whipped cream.

Now you may think that cool whip is easier but ya have to remember to thaw it and the difference in taste is like steak and hamburger.

Note: One thing I do to help the process be quicker but please note it is NOT necessary unless you are beating your cream by hand. I have a metal bowl that I use, and I put this in the freezer at the beginning of the meal along with the ,mixer beaters so they get good and cold. The one down side to fresh whipped cream is it does not keep as well as cool whip, so if it sits in the bowl for any length of time it starts to deflate some and the bottom gets a pool of liquid which increases the deflation. This is easily combated by Placing your whipped cream in a colander and sitting it in a bowl in the fridge the liquid drains off. The beauty of whipped cream is it is sold in 1 cup cartons as well as 2 and 4 cup so you can make a little each day if needed.

Now my mama would never use a box mix but I do on occasion but you would never know cause I Grannyize em and make em my own and I am just about to divulge my secret so, listen up, and feel free to pass it on.

Cake and Brownie mixes

I have a theory , if powdered milk was all that good we would drink it all the time. If oil had a lot of flavor we would spread that on our rolls, so why on earth would I bake a cake with them?

So I do follow the amounts on the back of the box but that is about it with ONE EXCEPTION, the one or two times I have used a mix for angel food cake, I followed the directions exactly although I usually just make these from scratch cause they are so easy and so much better.

Most mixes call for 1 ¼ cup water or so and 3-4 eggs and 1/3- ½ cup oil. I replace the water with milk. I replace the oil with melted butter. I add 1-2 teaspoons of flavorings. I love to use both vanilla and almond flavoring in a yellow cake mix. I sometimes add butter flavoring also.

In brownie mixes I do the same but usually I stick to vanilla for flavoring.

Now there are some exceptions, my family loves pineapple upside down cake. I just use a mix. I do not buy the pineapple upside down cake mix, again, I like putting things together myself. So I buy a large can of pineapple rings, a can of crushed pineapple, of course maraschino cherries. I pour a stick of melted butter in my 9×13 inch pan, sprinkle it with some brown sugar, place the pineapple rings on there with a cherry in the center, but we like lots of fruit so I then take the drained crushed pineapple and fill around each of the rings. Then I sprinkle that with a bit more brown sugar. Now in the cake mix, I use the juice that I have saved from the pineapple and use that in place of the water/milk. Then add a bit of vanilla flavoring. I promise you that it is better than that mix and your family and friends will follow you around begging for another one. In the lemon and orange cake mixes, I use orange juice and add some zest. The lemon cake, I simply use milk but I do add the zest. One cannot always have fresh oranges or lemons on hand whenever they need zest so McCormick does have bottles of dried orange and lemon zest and they are really great. I do zest the lemons and oranges I get and I have frozen the zest in 1 teaspoon amounts with 1 teaspoon of water to hold them together in ice trays. I have also dried them in the dehydrator.