German "Popeye" Pancakes & Coconut Syrup

These are super easy, super fast, and super yummy!

6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
dash of salt

Preheat oven to 400. Cut up 1/2 cup butter (1 cube) into tablespoon size pieces and place in 9 X 13 inch glass pan. Place in oven and melt butter.
*You can also half the recipe and make in 9 X 9 pan as shown in picture.

Combine eggs, flour, milk, and salt until well blended with a whisk or in a blender. Pour into pan with melted butter.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, and/or lemon juice. We also like ours with coconut syrup.

**Coconut Syrup

2-3 Tbls. butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1/8-1/4 tsp. almond flavoring
1 tsp. coconut flavoring

Melt butter and add sugar and buttermilk.
Heat until sugar is dissolved, but NOT boiling.
Take off heat and add baking soda, almond flavoring, and coconut flavoring.
Enjoy!

**As the syrup cools, the frothy foam on top will go down and can be whisked into the syrup.

Aunt Mamie's Banana Bread

What do you do with old, yucky, over-ripe bananas? Make Banana Bread, of course! This is an old family recipe and quite honestly, I've never tried another. I've made it quite a bit lately and have had a request or two to put it on here, so here you go!

Banana Bread

2 1/2 cups flour + a little more

1 tsp. soda 

1/2 tsp. baking powder 

3/4 cup butter, softened 

1 1/2 cups sugar 

2 eggs 

1/4 cup sour milk (about 1 Tbls. vinegar + milk to equal 1/4 cup)

1 1/4 cups ripe mashed bananas (I mash mine with a pastry blender)

1 cup nuts (optional)

Mix flour, soda, and baking powder in a small bowl. (I put mine in a sifter) Mix butter, sugar, and eggs; then add milk and bananas. Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended.

For bread without nuts: fill loaf pans about 2/3 full. 

For bread with nuts: fill loaf pans about 1/3 full, sprinkle on nuts, fill with other 1/3 then sprinkle nuts on top

Pans filled 1/3 full

Ready for oven

I use 4 small loaf pans and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If using a large loaf pan, bake for about 1 hour. (Small loaf pans tend to bake more evenly and don't get as dry. I've also used small round cake pans if I don't have enough loaf pans)

Remove from oven and lay on one side for 5 minutes, then the other side for 5 minutes before you gently tip them upside down. They should then easily come out of the pan. Serve warm with butter.

**Make sure you cool completely before placing in a plastic bag for storage...if there's anything left to store! :)

💗Aunt Mamie

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

A neighbor and good friend brought this casserole to us during one of our "life challenges" and it's been a family favorite ever since! 

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole 

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can cream of chicken soup 

1 can evaporated milk

2 cups shredded or 1-12.5 oz can chicken

14-16 oz. frozen peas 

1 box Mrs. Cubbison's Cornbread Stuffing 

1 cup butter 

 1. Put 1 cube butter in a medium bowl and melt. Add one BAG stuffing mix and stir to coat with butter. Spread in bottom of casserole size pan.

2. In large bowl, mix soups, milk, chicken, and peas. Spread over stuffing mixture.

(Sorry, I forgot to take the pic before I did the next step, but you get the idea.)

3. Repeat step 1 and spread over sauce layer.

4. Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour. Easy and yummy! Thank you, Lori!

💗Lori Huffaker

Oatmeal Scotchies

Before cooking

After cooking

After sending 3/4 to Elder Partridge, and snitching some as a family, this is all that's left. :)

We usually make these as cookies, but last week I didn't have time to bake them as cookies, so I made the "pan cookie" variation. So much faster and just as yummy!

Oatmeal Scotchies

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 2/3 cups (11-oz pkg.) Nestle Butterscotch Morsels

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 7-8 minutes for chewy cookies; 9-10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Pan Cookie Variation: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread dough into prepared pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

**Recipe from back of Butterscotch Morsel recipe

Oops!

So back in October, I posted a recipe for Pavlova that we LOVE! Tonight I had the desire to make the little mini-melt-in-your-mouth "cookies" with green food coloring added for St. Patty's Day. I got the recipe from the blog and started making them, only to realize that I had left a major ingredient off the recipe...SUGAR!!! So if you've made the recipe already, and liked it, imagine how much better it will be when you actually have all of the ingredients! Sorry! Please try it again!

Stuffed Manicotti and Homemade Breadsticks

This is something new that we tried last week and LOVED, even W who doesn't like cheese!

We found out that nearly everyone likes it a different way, so tonight we made individual

Stuffed Manicotti's!

Stuffed Manicotti

Spaghetti sauce of choice

Alfredo sauce of choice

1 lb. Ricotta cheese

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, well beaten

2 Tbl. chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp. Thyme

1 tsp. Marjoram

salt and pepper to taste

8 ounces manicotti

Romano cheese

In medium bowl, mix Ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, beaten egg, Parsley, Thyme, and Marjoram. Add salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Cook manicotti in boiling salted water until al dente; drain and rinse in cold water. Put cheese mixture in quart size Ziploc freezer bag and cut off one corner. Use as a pastry bag to stuff manicotti with the cheese mixture.

Pour small amount of spaghetti/alfredo sauce in bottom of 13X9 baking dish. Arrange the stuffed manicotti in a layer on sauce, overlapping slightly. Pour remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle with Romano cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

For our individuals, I put 3 manicotti per mini loaf pan. There was just enough filling for 12 shells. We like it served with our homemade breadsticks. Yummy!

Homemade Breadsticks

2 1/2 cups hot water

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, oil, lard, or Crisco

2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Tbls. yeast, Saf instant

5+ cups of flour

In a bowl add water, sugar, oil, salt, 2 cups flour. Mix well with a spoon and add yeast and 3 cups of flour. Mix well and then dump out on a floured surface. Start kneading by folding the closest edge to you away from you towards the furthest edge. With the ball of the hand, press the folded edge into the dough, turning the dough around as you complete the fold. Keep repeating the process adding flour as needed, being careful not to add too much flour. After the dough is well kneaded, about 6-8 minutes, place in oiled bowl and cover and let rise to double. Punch down. Divide dough in 1/2. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Cut into strips with pizza cutter. Place on jelly roll pan. Melt 1 cube butter and brush onto each breadstick. Sprinkle with garlic salt and cheese if desired. We use Mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

(Recipe from Chef Brad)

"Mangiamo!"

Baked Spinach Dip Mini Bread Bowls

Sunday we tried these and they were so YUMMMMMY! Definitely going to make them again soon!

Coming soon to the recipe blog list, stuffed manicotti and homemade bread sticks! Mmmm, can't wait!

*Tip: The recipe calls for only 3 ounces of cream cheese. We thought we'd try 4 so that there wasn't 1 little ounce left over, too cream cheesy. Also, next time we're going to try 12 bread bowls instead of 10.