Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies (Christmas Ornament Cookies)

Sift together:     3 cups flour
                          1 tsp. baking powder
                          1 tsp. salt

Cream         2 sticks butter (soft)
                   1 1/2 cups sugar

Add            2 eggs (at room temp) one at a time, beating well after each.
Add            2 tsp. vanilla

Add dry ingredients gradually, mixing after each addition but not over-beating.
Chill thoroughly.

Roll 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and cut out. Sprinkle with colored sugar. It works well to put parchment paper under the cookies on the baking sheet.

Bake at 400° 6-8 minutes.
Makes about 5 dozen.

Note: Mama said she often used her hands to mix the dry ingredients into the creamed ingredients. She felt it was the most efficient way to do it.

White Chocolate Cake

This is a white chocolate cake that Mildred added to her repertoire in the sixties. The frosting is similar to the one my Aunt LaVece used for a red velvet cake.

White Chocolate Cake

 
Cream: 1 cup butter (room temp) and 2 cups sugar
Add: 4 eggs (room temp,) one at a time. Beat well.

Then add: 1/4 lb. white chocolate, melted over hot water
Sift together: 2 1/2 cups cake flour 1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
Add alternately to the creamed mixture with 1 cup buttermilk.  
Then add: 1 tsp. vanilla
Fold in gently: 1 cup angel-flake coconut and 1 cup chopped pecans

Pour into 3 greased and floured 8 or 9 inch cake pans (line bottoms with wax paper) Bake 30-45 minutes in 350 degree oven. Joan’s note- I bake in a sheet cake pan and watch carefully and remove when a toothpick came out fairly clean.

When cool, frost with this icing:
3 Tbl. flour 
1 cup milk 
1 cup sugar 
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla

Cook flour and milk until very thick, stirring constantly. Cool.
Cream sugar, butter, and vanilla. Add to first mixture and beat until well-blended. It should have the texture of whipped cream.

Grasshopper Pie

Mildred got this recipe from Jean Beaman Walker, mother of her son-in-law Henry. It became a favorite recipe for her.

2 c. miniature marshmallows
1/3 c. half and half
3 or 4 T. creme de menthe
2 or 3 T. creme de cacao
1 c. whipping cream
green food coloring, if desired

Dissolve the marshmallows in the half and half in a double boiler over hot water, stirring constantly. Cool slightly, then stir in the creme de menthe and cacao and cool completely.
Whip the cream and fold into the cooled mixture.
Pour into a chocolate crumb crust.

Asparagus Casserole

Mildred in the Kitchen from joan Walker on Vimeo.
video by Henry Walker

Asparagus Casserole

½ cup cracker crumbs
melted margarine or butter
1 can asparagus, drained
½ cup slivered almonds
1 glass Old English cheese or your favorite cheese
4 T. butter or margarine
3T. flour
1 ½ cup milk
1 tsp. salt

Combine the cracker crumbs with the melted butter. Line the bottom of a baking dish with a cup of the buttered crumbs. Spread the drained asparagus over the crumbs and then sprinkle the almonds over it. Make a sauce with the butter, flour, milk, and salt, then add the cheese and stir until smooth. Pour over the asparagus and top with the remaining crumbs.

Bake at 450℉ for 12 minutes.

Note: Mildred said this is a dish that even people who do not like asparagus will like. The cheese referred to  was (is?) made by Kraft and packaged in a glass that can be saved to use as a juice glass. 

Cornish Hen

Note:  Mama did a wonderful job with Cornish Hens. We could not find a recipe in her handwriting that matched our memory of what she would cook. We did find a recipe which she cut out of McCalls’ magazine. We know some of the changes she made and have changed the recipe we found to reflect that (i.e. using pecans instead of walnuts and serving with wild rice). I’m not sure about the currant jelly, as I do not remember her having that on hand. I will have to experiment some to see if I can recreate what I remember.

Roast Cornish Hens with Pecan Stuffing

6 (1 lb. size) frozen Rock Cornish hens, thawed        Preheat oven to 400℉

Stuffing
3 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 cup chopped onion
6 cooked bacon slices, crumbled
3 cups small dry bread cubes
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1. Make stuffing: Sauté chopped onion in bacon fat until tender.

2. Add vegetables to the rest of the stuffing ingredients and toss lightly with a fork to mix.
Use the mixture to stuff the hens. Close the openings in the hens with wooden picks and tie the legs together.

3. Arrange hens, breast side up in a shallow roasting pan without a rack.

4. Make basting sauce (recipe below). Brush some over the hens and roast for 1 hours, brushing occasionally with the rest of the sauce, until golden.

5. Discard string and picks. Keep hens warm while making the Wine Gravy. Serve with wild rice and the gravy. Makes 6 servings.

Basting Sauce

½ cup butter
½ cup white wine
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 ½ teaspoon salt

1.Melt the butter in a small skillet then remove from heat.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing well.

Wine Gravy

3 tablespoons flour
1 cup white wine
1 cup currant jelly
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt

1. Pour off drippings in roasting pan, then return ⅔ cup to the pan. Gradually add the 3 tablespoons flour and stir to make a smooth mixture.

2. Add white wine, jelly, dry mustard, and salt. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring to loosen any brown bits in the pan.

3. Reduce heat and simmer the gravy, stirring occasionally, until it thickens.

Kentucky Country Ham

Mama always cooked a country ham at Christmas time. Sometimes she would also cook one in the summer. She liked an old fashioned Kentucky country ham that was 2 years old. We have to make do with somewhat "younger" hams, but we are able to get good Kentucky hams from Newsom's Old Mill Store in Princeton, Kentucky.

Baked Kentucky Country Ham

Have butcher cut off end of hock (not absolutely necessary if ham can fit into covered pan without cutting it off) and trim off excess fat.  Scrub with scrub brush.  Soak overnight in cold water, turning it once.  Drain water. 
Preheat oven to 350°.
Add 1 cup or so of water to the pan, making sure the bottom of the pan is covered well.
Cover pan and put ham in oven.
Reduce to 280° after you hear the ham sizzling (after about 30 minutes).
Bake 20 minutes per lb. (start timing after you turn the oven down). 
It’s done when the bone starts sticking out, and is loose when poked with a kitchen fork. 
Take out of oven.  Let set until it can be skinned comfortably.  Skin it.  Remove part of fat, leaving a good covering layer for scoring.  Score the fat.  Cover with brown sugar.  Place a clove at each intersection where scores meet.  Pour off fat, drippings.
Put uncovered in 300-310° oven for about 45 minutes, until sugar and fat form a glaze.

Note:  Always slice VERY thinly.  A sharp knife is essential. 

(Added note from Joan: Alton Brown suggests cooking till the deepest part of the ham registers 140 degrees. For those of us who don’t have the “ham” sense that Mildred had, this tip can help us avoid overcooking.)

Bread and Butter Pickles

An appropriate recipe for high summer. Look for local pickling cucumbers at the Farmer's Market.

Bread and Butter Pickles

10 cucumbers   6 onions    2 greens peppers

Slice cucumbers very thin—slice onions and green peppers.  Add 1/2 cup salt and mix in.  Add two trays of ice cubes—cover with a weighted lid.  Soak about 2 hrs.  Drain well.
Combine:  2 cups apple cider vinegar,  1 3/4 cups water, 1 1/2 cups sugar, about 1 1/2 teaspoon each celery seed, mustard seed, and powdered ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric.

Let the mixture reach the boiling point.  Add the drained cucumbers, onions, and peppers.  Let it come to a slow boil.  Cook until they are heated through and lose the bright green color.  Seal immediately in sterilized jars.  Make 5 pints.

(Note: Two secrets that make these pickles so crisp and tasty is slicing them very thin and making sure that you don’t cook them too long.)