Momma Lorraine's Sugar Cookies

We have several sugar cookie recipe's in our house.  This one is my mom's recipe that Im sure was passed on to her from someone else!

Cream Together:
1 1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Crisco
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Corn Syrup

Sift Together:
3 Cups Flour
3/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp Soda
Add to creamed mixture.
Chill dough, Roll out 1/4" thick.
Using your favorite cookie cutters - cut them out.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Cool + Frost.

Frosting
2 Tbsp. Butter, Melted
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
pinch salt

Add enough milk or water to make spreading consistency.

Momma's Rocha (Toffee)

 

This toffee is a newer holiday tradition at my parents house.  Super easy to make and so yummy.  

Here is what you need to know - It hasn't ever flopped on my mom, but she ALWAYS uses a Cast Iron Skillet!

Grease a cookie sheet so that it is ready for the completed toffee.

In this order place in your hot cast iron skillet:

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Butter - No substitutes - otherwise it will flop

On High you are going to bring this to a boil for 3 minutes.  Just adjust your temperature to make sure that you don't scorch it but don't go below medium high.  Stir this constantly with a very heat resistant spoon. 

Have hot pads handy.  When the color changes you will know that it is ready for the Vanilla.  It will start to have darker amber swirls, add 1 Tsp of Vanilla, and stir it up.  Pour immediately onto the greased cookie sheet.  Wait a few seconds and sprinkle with chocolate chips over the top. When they look glossy you will use your spoon and spread out evenly over your toffee mixture.  You can add nuts to the top now if you prefer.  Let it cool and break apart. 

So here are the notes momma gave me - 

ALWAYS use cast Iron

ALWAYS use a very heat proof utensil.

Have a hot pad handy.

If you would like to change it up a bit - you can omit the vanilla and replace with a rum flavor, and add almonds to the toffee before pouring onto the cookie sheet.

Hungry Momma Spice Cookies

This is Santa's favorite cookie at our house!  We hope He enjoys it at your place too!
They get eaten so quickly that I often double the batch because they are a perfect gift and no one eats just one.  They are thin, chewy and crispy on the outside - Perfection in a cookie!



Makes 36 * Prep time: 25 minutes * Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon (heaping)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/4 cup Molasses

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350*. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.

2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined. Beat in egg, and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients, just until a dough forms.

3. Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 tablespoon. Roll balls in reserved sugar to coat.

4. Arrange balls on baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges are just firm, 10 to 15 minutes (Cookies can be baked two sheets at time but they will not crack uniformly). Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely. Store in air tight containers, 3-4 days.

Mexican Corn Casserole

This is one of those dishes that is a holiday tradition, but isn't necessarily a holiday dish!  It's just one that Cousin Pat Eichenberger always brought to Christmas gathering and we loved it. I would love to see her and all my Arkansas family.  I miss them so much especially in the fall and Christmastime.  So today while I think about them - I will share her dish with you!

5  cans shoe-peg con drained
2 pkg *8oz  cream chease
1 cup warmed milk
1 1/2 stick of butter
1 cup jalapeño peppers (chopped)
3 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. salt

Melt cream cheese and butter in microwave; Stir until smooth.  Add Milk, flour, and Salt, Mix Well. Stir in Corn and Jalapeños.  Pour into a 9x13 baking dish and cook at 350 for 30 minutes.

Party Cheese Ball

1 cup crushed pecans (I like to toast mine)
2 8 oz cream cheese
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 T onion
1T bell pepper
1 T pimento
2 tsp Worcestershire
2 tsp lemon juice
Mix cream cheese and grated cheddar cheese
In food processor (i use my little cheap one for this) blend your onion, pimento, bell pepper, Worcestershire and lemon juice
When blended and diced very fine add to cheese mixture

Form ball with hands then roll in crushed pecans! Serve with wheat thins
Instead of balls I have also shaped it into hearts, bells, Christmas tree...whatever the season requires! This makes 2 balls. It is best on the second and third day after the ingredients have blended together well.

Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is my brother's favorite cake, or one of them anyway! I made this for the holiday weekend. I hope you enjoy it.
When baking this cake you can make it as cupcakes and bake it at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  Or if making it into a 13x9 you will need to bake it for much longer.  Your times will vary depending.  Always just check the center of the cake with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.

3 1/2 cups Grated Carrots
1 cup oil
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1 20 oz  can of DRAINED Pineapple

Mix all together and Bake at 350 until done!

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 stick of butter
8 oz cream cheese
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 Cups of Powdered Sugar

Blend this all together and frost the cake after completely cooled.

This is a very runny batter.  That is normal for this recipe.

Turnberry Sandwich

This is my favorite turkey sandwich! (This week anyway!) We had a Deli in Iowa that was just nummy!  Everything there was delicious.  They served this sandwich and It is perfect for Holiday leftovers!

Using your favorite wheat berry bread, on one slice spread softened cream cheese.
Layer with yummy leftover turkey.
On the opposite slice of bread, spread on cranberry sauce. Stack it all together and eat up! YUM!
So delicious!

Apple Butter

OK...here it is!  This is from a little lady we always stayed with  in Goshen, Indiana on choir tour. Her Apple butter rivals Cracker Barrel's and Silver Dollar City's.  It is my favorite, and I am picky about my apple butter!  She just bought apple sauce at the store, & it doesn't matter if it's a major brand or not.  She washes the jars that it comes in...yep, you heard me...and puts it right back into those same jars!  With those same lids!! And they seal.  They really do!  (And if they don't, well...those are the jars that you stick in the refrigerator and eat!   We rarely ever have one that doesn't seal.  You just wash the jars, and have them good and hot, (I put them in the oven for a few minutes on a cookie sheet tray, this gets them to the temp. that they need to be, plus it sanitizes them too.)

4   50oz. jars of apple sauce
5   lbs. brown sugar
3  tbs. cinnamon
1  tbs. cloves
1 1/2  cups apple cider vinegar

Put these ingredients in a large roaster pan.
Stir well, and bake in 350 degree oven for 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
Put into hot clean jars, and top with the lids that you have cleaned, and warmed in a pan of hot water. 
Close tightly, and leave sitting on a towel, out of drafts.  When they cool, they should seal. (you know, the tops will sink down in the middle.) Just make sure that you do not touch the middle of the lid while they are
trying to seal...you want to REALLY know that they have sealed on their own, and you cannot know
that If you've poked it down yourself!   
Easy, Easy, Easy!

You can make these pretty by washing off the labels (you might need some Goof Off) and you can tie a pretty ribbon around the top.  You also can put this apple butter in regular canning jars that are cleaned and prepared the same way.
I got the notion a couple of years ago after tasting Williams Sanoma's Pumpkin butter, that it could also
be made the same way, with canned pumpkin, adjusting the spices (adding ginger to the mix), and
tasting it to adjust the flavors before it was baked.  I haven't tried it as of yet, but I know it could be
done!  And man, wouldn't that be good?????  

Coconut Macaroons

 When I was a little girl my grandparents lived in Conway Arkansas.  They had a fabric store downtown on Main Street which was very close to a yummy shop called Ed's Bakery.  Among the many yummy things they served was a phenomenal Macaroon.  I have been trying to find a recipe that resembled theirs for quite some time.  I think this one that I made up taste like what I remember.  I would love to have some of my Arkansas family members make this (that remember Ed's Bakery) and tell me what they think. 

Here is what I did:

In a Food Processor I put a small bag of coconut and 1/3 cup of flour.  I did a small chop on these to just make the coconut a bit smaller.

Next I took three egg whites at room temperature and beat them until soft peaks  formed.  Then I slowly added 1 cup of sugar while still beating with my electric mixer. 

 Next I folded in the Coconut flour mixture and added a splash of Vanilla.  

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes on Parchment paper and allow to cool completely.

Eat up these are yummy!

Spice Cake

Here at the Hungry Momma we apparently LOVE cake!  So many recipes here!
This is for my Daddy - He LOVES LOVES LOVES this spice cake.

Mix together these dry ingredients:
2 cups of Flour
1 cup of Sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cloves
3/4 tsp cinnamon

Beat together for 2 minutes:
2/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup Buttermilk

Add and beat 2 more minutes:
3 Eggs

Combine the wet and dry ingredients. 
Nuts *optional

 Bake at 350 - about 35 minutes (possibly less depending on your oven)


Icing:
1/2 - 3/4 cup Butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup of Shortening
Pinch of Salt
1 lb Powdered Sugar
Vanilla and enough half and half to make it spreadable - add it a Tablespoon at a time.

Fresh Orange Italian Cream Cake

Blame it on her roots that my oldest who just turned 10 wanted a Fresh Orange Italian Cream Cake. She likes to eat grown up foods like this - it isn't something most kids would choose for a birthday cake. Her friends were less than impressed that I had worked forever on it.
I will tell you that this cake is a labor of love.  The first time I ate it was at my sweet Friend Leah's house.  Leah is one of the biggest givers I know.  She wanted our time together to be special so she slaved over this cake for us to eat when we were passing through Oklahoma one time.  I had never had it before and was so delighted with my very first bite.  It was like I had died and gone to heaven.  Why does cake make you feel this way?  Good cake anyway?
You will also need to pull up the post Fresh Orange Curd, Glazed Pecan Halves, and Toasted Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting.

You will need to start this cake a day ahead because the Fresh Orange Curd must chill for 8 hours.
Yeild: Makes 12 - 16 servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups of sugar
5 large eggs separated
1 Tbs vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup sweetened flaked  coconut
Fresh Orange Curd
3 cups Toasted Pecan Cream Cheese Icing
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut lightly toasted (optional)
Glazed Pecan Halves (optional)

Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.

Gradually add sugar, beating well.

Add Egg yolks one at a time, beating until blended after each addition.
Add Vanilla; beat until blended. 

Combine flour and soda; add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Beat at low speed until blended after each addition.  Stir in one cup of Flaked Coconut.








Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter. 

Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Spread 3/4 cup chilled Fresh Orange Curd between each layer.

Spread the remaining Fresh Orange Curd on top of the Cake. (The Fresh Orange Curd layer on the top of cake will be very thick.)
If desired, loosely cover cake and chill 8 hours.  Chilling the cake with the curd between the layers helps keep the layers in place and makes it much easier to spread the frosting.





Spread 3 cups Toasted Pecan - Cream Cheese Frosting on the sides of cake

reserving remaining frosting for another use. 

Sprinkle Toasted coconut over the top of the Fresh Orange Curd.
Arrange Glazed Pecan Halves around the top edge of Cake. If desired store in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Fresh Orange Curd

This Recipe Goes with Fresh Orange Italian Cream Cake which was passed on to me by a dear friend Leah.  She made this for me while I was expecting my third child, and I thought that I had died and gone to Heaven.  My oldest is turning 10 this week has requested this 2 years in a row now for her Birthday cake.  To say that she has adult taste buds is no understatement!   (Yes, she comes by it honest loving food from the time she was born! Its in her blood!) 

Yield: makes about 3 cups



Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups fresh orange juice (about 4 pounds navel oranges)
3 Eggs, lightly beated
1/4 cup butter
1 Tablespoon grated orange rind

*you can substitute reconstituted orange juice for fresh; however, squeezing navel oranges only takes about  15 minutes and can male all the difference in this cake's fresh flavor. (so please just do it right and let it be a labor of love for whoever you are cooking it for and juice those babies!)

Juice your Oranges!

 Lightly beat your eggs.

Measure out your Sugar, Corn Starch, Butter, and Orange Rind

 Combine Sugar and Cornstarch in a 3 qt sauce pan.

 Gradually whisk in Fresh Orange juice.

 Whisk in lightly beaten eggs.

 Bring to a boil (5-6 minutes) Over medium heat whisking constantly.

 Cook whisking constantly 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture reaches a pudding like thickness.

 Remove from heat and whisk in butter and grated orange rind.

Cover placing plastic wrap directly on curd and chill for 8 hours.

The curd that is left over from the cake is delicious on a biscuit or toast the next morning!