Author: Helene Wallace

This is my husband’s aunt’s recipe

1-1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup melted shortening or vegetable oil

2 cups self rising corn meal (Dixie Lily preferred)

Preheat oven to 450F. Grease skillet or pan and place in oven (I use a 9×9 glass pan). Stir buttermilk and oil, add cornmeal and stir well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

• kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 pounds green beans, trimmed
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the green beans and cook until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool; transfer to a serving bowl.
• Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Let cool, then break into pieces.
• Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from the skillet and return to medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the vinegar, mustard, oil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add to the green beans, along with the bacon, and toss to combine.

From Real Simple magazine

This is my father in law’s gravy based on his mother’s recipe that we use for Thanksgiving.

• 2 hard boiled eggs (finely chopped)
• 1 chicken liver (fried and finely chopped)
• 5 tbsp salted butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 5 cups milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1-1/4 tsp Bobs Big Boy Salt
• 3/4 tsp Accent
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sage

Melt butter in sauce pan, add flour, milk, chicken broth, stir well and bring to simmer

Add spices, liver and egg, stir well.

5. eggs

3 dl flour

500 ml milk (at room temperature)

125 g butter

Serve with vanilla ice cream, jam, Nutella or chocolate syrup

Melt the butter. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, stir in flour, whisk in the milk a little at a time. Then stir in the melted butter. Using a ladle pour a scoop of the batter to a frying pan at medium heat. Quickly tilt the pan in a circular motion to spread the batter in a thin even layer. Cook for 2-3 minutes until browned and edges crisp before flipping. Once finished cooking stack pandekager on a plate and keep the plate in the oven at 180 to keep warm as you make the others. Once ready to eat serve with ice cream, berry jam and or Nutella. Our family each has their favorite combo, but the jam and or Nutella is spread all over the open face of the pandekage, then line up slim scoops of ice cream in the middle. Fold each end of the pandekage over the other and eat with a knife and fork.

I got this recipe from a family member. not sure where she got it but it is now a standard part of our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

• 4-1/2 to 5 lbs russet potatoes (about 8 large potatoes)
• 1 – 8 oz package of cream cheese softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tsps garlic salt
• 1/2 white pepper (you can use black, but I prefer white as it blends in better)
• 1/4 cup butter

Peel potatoes. In a 5 quart pot boil potatoes until they easily slide off knife when pierced (about 30 minutes). Drain and cut into chunks and place in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer beat cream cheese and sour cream until smooth, gradually add to potatoes, beating until smoothly blended. Beat in garlic salt and pepper. Turn mixture into a buttered 3 or 4 quart casserole. Dot the top with butter. Cover with lid or foil.

At this point you can refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before baking. Bake covered at 400F until heated through (50-60 minutes)

Prep 5 Minutes, Bake 20 minutes, Makes about 4 cups

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese softened

1 cup shredded cheese (I usually use cojack but any that melts well will work)

1/2 cup ranch dressing

3/4 lb shredded chicken (use rotisserie chicken or a few cooked chicken breasts)

1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce (any flavor)

Heat the oven to 350F, grease a 9 inch deep pie plate. Spread the cream cheese in the pie plate until smooth. Layer chicken over cream cheese and then pour the pepper sauce and ranch over the chicken. Top with shredded cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbling. Serve with vegetables, crackers or crusty bread. Can also be made in a small crock pot. Just layer and let heat for a couple of hours on low.

Summer is here which means time for barbecues, picnics and hanging out with friends and family. This pasta salad is one of my standbys. Filling, colorful and lots of different flavors and textures make for a great pasta salad.

• 1 lb tricolor pasta
• Chopped cauliflower (or broccoli, but I prefer cauliflower)
• Chopped peppers (I typically use orange or yellow but any color or combination will do)
• Sliced Grape tomatoes (red and yellow)
• 8 oz mozzarella cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• Hard salami also cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• Shredded Parmesan (the real stuff not the preshredded)
• Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
• 1/2-1 tsp of basil
• 1/2-1 tsp of oregano
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to package directions. While it’s cooking, start chopping. Once pasta is drained and cooled, place in serving dish. Add your chopped veggies, salami and mozzarella. Toss to combine, then add dressing. I tend to eyeball the dressing. Start with less than you think, you can always add more. Add basil, oregano and salt & pepper. Combine and refrigerator for an hour. Give it a stir and taste it. If it needs more dressing you can add now. Finally top with shredded parm and you’re all set.

Like any recipe, feel free to tweak it to make it your own. The friend I got recipe from used broccoli instead of cauliflower and also added mushrooms and olives. All three things I don’t like so I don’t include them 

Peanut butter blossoms have long been a favorite in our house, but when we found out my son was allergic to tree nuts and peanuts I had to start looking for safe options. After playing around with different recipes this is one we came up with that he really likes. I hope you will too.

1-3/4 cup butter softened

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 bag Hershey Kisses

Preheat oven to 375F

In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Stir into the butter mixture until well blended. 

This is my go to dessert when I need to bring one to a fall pot luck.  I’ve brought it to every Thanksgiving I’ve attended since my friend first gave me the recipe years ago.  It’s super easy as it is more of a crisp than a pie, and is always well received.  For the record, I am not Swedish, neither is my friend, so not sure where the name is from.  She got it from a Girl Scout cookbook her troop put together.

5-6  Macintosh apples

2 sticks butter

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Peel, core and cut apples into chunks.  Put into a 9×9 baking dish.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar so all apples are covered.  Combine egg, flour and sugar.  Melt the butter and add that to the sugar mixture.  Pour on top of the apples to cover.  Spread out the flour/sugar mixture with a spatula if needed. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Bake for 35-45 minutes (until golden brown) and a little crisp on the edges.Let cool a little and serve with vanilla ice cream

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is based on the “Neiman Marcus” recipe that went around back in the 90s. Over time I’ve tweaked it. I’ve shared the basic recipe with people in the past and were told that their cookies didn’t turn out as well as mine. I’m not sure why, but this time I’m including all my little tricks. It’s a time consuming process but well worth it.

Ingredients
1 cup butter (melted)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups blended oatmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda 
9-12 oz Nestlé chunks
9-12 oz semi-sweet chips (I use Ghirardelli)
9-12 oz milk chocolate bar chopped into chunks (I usually use Lindt, Milka or Dove)

Blend oatmeal using a hand blender. Sift through a sieve to remove any big chunks. This is a time consuming but necessary part of the recipe. Put in a medium sized bowl along with the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well.

Chop chocolate bar into chunks. Combine in a small bowl with about 9 oz each of chocolate chips and Nestlé chunks.

In a large bowl combine sugars and melted butter. Mix well. Stir in beaten eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture a little at a time. Once batter is all mixed, add chocolate and mix well.

I usually refrigerate the batter overnight before baking the cookies but you can make them right away. Letting them sit overnight allows the butter to soak into the batter and gives it a slightly caramelized flavor.

Preheat oven to 350. Place small balls of cookie batter about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. As I am making the balls I squeeze more chocolate into the balls from what I hadn’t mixed in yet.

Bake for 6 minutes. The key is to underbake these slightly so they stay soft. They shouldn’t be darker coming out of the oven than going in. 

These cookies can dry out quickly if not handled properly. When the cookie sheet is cool enough to touch, but cookies aren’t completely cool, transfer to wire racks for about 5 minutes. The chocolate will still be a little melty. After another 5 minutes or so move then to a Tupperware container to keep them moist.