Carrot Cake + Cream Cheese Icing

"Who knew a cake with a vegetable as the star ingredient would be enamored by so many? Trust me - it's a winner and a half. This carrot cake has long been a favored family recipe. It's rumored to have originated from The Broadway years ago and I've made it a goal to pass this recipe along as much as possible because it's a sure fire hit wherever it lands!"

3 c grated carrots (4 lg carrots)
2 c sugar (granulated)
2 c flour
4 eggs (beaten)
1 1/2 cups Wesson oil (can use apple sauce)
8 oz pkg cream cheese (softened)
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped walnuts (can add more)

Beat together sugar, eggs, cream cheese. Add carrots, flour, oil. Mix the soda, salt, cinnamon in separate bowl then add to mixture. Add vanilla and nuts. Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 55 min @ 350 degrees (approximately 40 mins when split in two 9 x 13 pans.)

Cool and frost with Cream Cheese Icing...

1 lb powdered sugar
1/4 c butter (softened)
8oz pkg cream cheese
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together butter and cream cheese, add sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Spread on cooled cake and between layers.

Source: Family archive, possibly originated from The Broadway.

Rainy Day Beef Stew

"I'm determined to make a good beef stew become part of my cooking repertoire and upon recommendation from someone who I deem a good cook, I embarked on following the recipe from The Joy Of Cooking to get some practice. Three attempts in and I'm still perfecting it, but this recipe seems to be a good base for making a great beef stew best enjoyed on a rainy evening like tonight."

Recipe variations are limitless, but we'll start from here:

Trim and pat dry and cut into 2 inch cubes:

2 lbs boneless beef stew meat (chuck, short-rib meat, bottom round)

Season with:
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried herbs
(thyme, marjoram, savory, oregano, and/or basil)
1/2 teaspoon salt (seasoned salt preferred)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Dredge in:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Shake off any excess flour. Heat in dutch over over medium-high heat:

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Add the meat in batches and brown on all sides, being careful not to crowd the pot or scorch the meat. Remove with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pot or add more if needed). Add:

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 small rib celery, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped

Cover and cook, stirring often, over medium heat until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add:

2 bay leaves
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried herbs, same as above
1/2 teaspoon salt (seasoned salt preferred)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Add enough to cover the meat at least halfway:

2 to 3 cups beef or chicken stock or broth, dry red or white wine, or beer

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently until the meat is fork-tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add:

2 to 3 carrots, cut into chunks
2 to 4 boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 to 4 ribs of celery, cut into chunks

Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, skim off any fat from the surface, and remove the bay leaves. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Thicken sauce with cornstarch if necessary.

Source: The Joy Of Cooking, Beef Stew, page 479 of 75th Anniversary Editon

Hearty Meatball Soup

"They had Premium saltines on sale at Ralph's one day so I picked up a box. I happened to check out the recipe on the back a few days later and miraculously had all of the ingredients at home to make it and a beautiful new Martha Stewart Dutch oven begging to be used, so I ventured to make this hearty soup. Took it to work the next day, as I'm virtually incapable of cooking in volumes less than feeding an army, and the entire office ate it for lunch and loved it. It's kind of an Americanized version of Mexican Albondigas soup. Phil even suggested I make Homemade Soup Wednesdays a weekly routine!"

[this is the doubled recipe with added beans and veggies]

1 lb lean ground beef
2 cups chopped onion, divided
6 cloves garlic, minced, divided
4 teaspoons dried oregano leaves, divided
40 PREMIUM saltine crackers, finely crushed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cans (14 oz) broth (beef, chicken, veggie)
2 cans (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, washed and drained (optional)
1 can cannelini white beans, washed and drained (optional)
1 pkg (10oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
*fresh chopped spinach can also be used
1-2 small zucchini, sliced thin (optional)
1-2 small yellow squash, sliced thin (optional)

1. Combine meat, 1/2 cup of the onion, 1/3 of the garlic, 1 tsp of the oregano in a large bowl. Add cracker crumbs and egg; mix well. Shape into 1-inch balls; set aside.

2. Cook and stir remaining onion and the remaining garlic in hot oil in dutch oven or a large saucepan on medium-high heat 3 to 5 minutes or until onion is tender (nearly translucent). Add broth, tomatoes with their liquid, spinach and the remaining oregano; bring to a boil. Add meatballs one at time keeping soup at constant boil. Reduce heat to low and stir in veggies and beans; cover. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

3. Serve with additional PREMIUM saltine crackers. Enjoy!

Makes: 10-12 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30-45 minutes

Source: PREMIUM saltine crackers back-of-the-box Quick & Easy recipe.

Cowboy Cookies

"I wanted to make cookies one night, and was thumbing through the All Recipes Cookie Lover's cookbook trying to find a recipe that called for ingredients that I had on had and their recipe for Cowboy Cookies fit the bill! Little did I know it would turn into the most favored cookie recipe I've ever made. I've probably made over a thousand of these cookies since (many times upon request) and they always appease the sweet tooth."

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups rolled oats
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1-2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Grease baking sheets. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients. Stir in the rolled oats and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on to the prepared baking sheets.

3. Bake in preheated over for 8 to 10 minutes (until bottoms are lightly brown and tops are dull rather than shiny - they firm up as they cool). Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: 5 dozen
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook time: 60 minutes total

Source: All Recipes Cookie Lover's Cookbook, page 9, Cowboy Cookies III

Snickerdoodles

"I'm a big fan of all things cinnamon sugar. Cinnamon sugar on buttered toast. Churros at Disneyland. Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Cinnamon Twists from Taco Bell. Cinnamon Sugar pizza with vanilla bean ice cream from Lazy Dog Cafe. With crispy edges and chewy centers, these Snickerdoodles are a crowd-pleasing cinnamon sugar cookie!"

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F).

2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.

3. Mix together 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake in the preheated over for 8 to 10 minutes or until set bu not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets; cool on wire racks.

Yield: 5 dozen
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes total

Source: All Recipes Cookie Lover's cookbook pg 22 Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles.

Me, My Pans, And I

I'm getting over my fear of kitchen failure one successful recipe at a time and this blog shall note my successes as they come. For every entry that appears here, it's safe to assume a solid 5 recipes failed either due to a) my inability to translate a good recipe into good cooking or b)my testy palette not pleased with the final product.

So what you see is the cream of the crop - in my opinion. The fool-proof dishes that the novice of novices can even pull off and the ones that survived both me, likely my co-workers, and possibly my family and friends and got the two thumbs up worthy of making this blog. I'm a picky eater that sticks to the basics so you're likely going to see items made from chicken, beef, pork, basic veggies and a whole lot of sweets. I'm a lover of sweets. Beyond that - you're on your own.

I get giddy with the purchase of each Calphalon pan, Cuisinart accessory and little OXO gadget. Really, it's somewhat ridiculous. I buy numerous recipe books that other people recommend and then more than half of the time end up pulling recipes from the internet. Go figure. I'm on a mission to use these tools to their utmost potential and maybe, just maybe, someday I'll actually have conquered enough of a volume of recipes to be deemed...a good cook.

Let's begin in no particular order...