Peaches and Cream Muffins

Oh my! When we were visiting Griffin the last week my grandmother made a run over to Dickie's Peach Orchard. She brought me back a large box of peaches which I brought home and sat right in my kitchen floor. I have had such a busy, busy week and it didn't occur to me to " do something" with them. So today when I started peeling and slicing they were overly ripe!

I managed to salvage about 1 quart and 2 cups that my sweet husband had not refrigerated. A couple of Internet searches later and I found an easy peaches and cream muffin recipe. Now I never prepare anything exactly from a recipe....so here is my version! Trust me, you will love this!!!!!

Peaches and Cream Muffins

2 cups Self Rising Flour
1 cup sour cream
1 stick melted butter
2 tablespoons vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Agave Nectar
2 cups diced peaches w/ juice

Preheat oven to 350 and grease or line muffin pan.

Mix in a large bowl flour, sugar, sour cream , butter, vanilla, agave nectar, stir lightly, fold in peaches and juice until just mixed.

Bake for 20 - 30 min or until golden brown.

Serve warm!!! I would add some vanilla ice cream on the side if I had any.

I generally only use fresh, or fresh frozen peaches, the flavor is better than canned. Enjoy!!!!

Searching the Family Tree

I know, I know this isn't a recipe! I am not done with the recipe box either, but I find that I phase projects like this. I fully intend to get back to loading recipes everyday :)

I started this whole project in an effort to make all the recipes available to all the family, so I will most definitely finish that one day.....

Right now I am heading down another path. It started when my son begin working on his genealogy merit badge in boy scouts, I became curious about all the many, many things I do not know about our family history. So for now my obsession is searching out information.

I know it sounds so silly, but when someone says, " Oh, so and so is working on that, call them. They have all the information." I think to myself, "No!" I don't want to just have the work someone else has done, I want to do my own research. I want to uncover the stories, not just names and dates and places of birth, death, marriage.

I am such a crazy romantic at heart that I want to know all the family stories, and the sad thing is most of the people who know those stories are no longer with us.

I will let you in on a little secret that I found, Gertrude Glover and Albert Franklin Cook lived together before they got married!!!! I know shocking isn't it???? Actually not very, it turns out that Daddy Cook worked on Franklin Glover's farm and it was to far to commute so he was a boarder. Now if I only knew all the juicy details of how Gertrude Glover became Mama Cook :)

Hey if you know those details, let me know !!!!

Love to all of you,

Jennifer

Sour Cream Pound Cake

sift All Purpose Flour 3 times, then measure 3 cups
6 eggs
2 sticks butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon flavoring
3 cups sugar
8 oz sour cream
1/4 tsp baking soda

Cream together sugar, butter. Add eggs one at a time, then lemon and vanilla flavorings. Alternate adding 1/3 cup each sour cream and flour slowing mixing well between each addition, add baking soda to the last 1/3 cup of flour.

Bake in a greased bundt pan at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours

Tea Cakes

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
3 tbs milk
1/2 cup butter

Cream all together and add enough flour to make a dough that will roll easily. Bake in 375 oven until lightly golden.

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese

1 8 oz box Macaroni
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
2 eggs
1tsp salt
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
2 cups med cheddar cheese shredded

Grease the inside of your crock pot. Cook and drain macaroni, mix all ingredients and put in the crock pot on low for 3 1/4 hours.

German Chocolate Cake

1 package sweet chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites beaten

Melt chocolate in 1/2 cup boiling water. Cool. Sift together flour, soda and salt and set aside. In a separate bowl cream together butter and sugar, add egg yolks to butter and sugar one at a time, beating mixture between each yolk. Add vanilla and chocolate, mixing well. Alternating add flour mix and buttermilk to the wet ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl beat room temperature egg whites until stiff peaks. Fold stiffly beaten egg whites into the cake mix and bake in 3 separate cake pans for 35-40 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Coconut Pecan Frosting:

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 pound margarine
1 tbsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes stirring constantly until thick, add 1 can tender flake coconut and 1 cup chopped pecans, beat into existing mixture until cool enough to use as frosting.

Mississippi Mud Cake

2 Cups sugar
2 Sticks of butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Dash of Salt
1 tsp vanilla

Cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs and blend well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for 35 minutes. When the cake is done, immediately cover the top of the cake with miniature marshmallows. Do not remove cake from pan. Pour icing over marshmallows after the cake cools.

Icing:
1 box confectioners sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons milk

Sift sugar and cocoa together, then add other ingredients and blend well. Pour over marshmallows.

Pie Crust

1 cup flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/8 cup of milk

Mix together and roll

Brownies

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup self rising flour
4 tbs cocoa
4 eggs
2 sticks butter
1 tbs vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix ingredients and bake in a 15 inch brownie pan @ 350 for 30 minutes.

Frosting:

1 stick butter
2 tbs cocoa
1 10 oz box 4x sugar

Mix and place in the top of a double boiler, bring to a bubble but not boiling, pour over the top of the brownies.

Pecan Pie

1 Cup Sugar
2 Cups Dark Karo Syrup
6 eggs
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 unbaked pie shells


Mix sugar and syrup and cook until medium hard ball stage, stirring constantly. Add butter to sugar and syrup. Beat eggs separately and mix slowly into the hot mixture. Return to heat and cook until mixture boils add vanilla and pour into pie shells and arrange pecans on top of pies. Bake in oven @ 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the pie shells are brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

"Special" Banana Bread

Okay one more recipe of mine that I was making today and decided to share with you. I found this recipe on the Internet and added a few ingredients to make it special to me. You can make it with our without the extras and it turns out so yummy and moist, it is almost pudding like.

First "regular" banana bread.....very good!
3-4 really, really ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chopped nuts ( optional)- walnuts, or pecans

Mas bananas in a large mixing bowl, mash in melted butter until smooth, add sugar,egg, and vanilla. Add in all purpose flour and nuts, then sprinkle baking soda and salt over the top, mix well. Pour into a greased pan and bake at 350 until golden brown, approx 30-40 min.


Special Banana Bread:

3-4 really ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 shots Irish cream liqueur
1 tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Mash bananas and melted butter in the bottom of a large mixing bowl, mix in sugar, egg, vanilla, liqueur until mixed well. Add in cocoa powder and flour mix well, sprinkle the top with baking soda and salt, mix together well. Bake @ 350 degrees until toothpick come out clean. Approx 30-45 min.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you are eating wonderful goodies, gathered together with your family and friends!

Dressing

Tonight I am going to give you one of my recipes, I wanted to give you something besides sweets today and I couldn't find a recipe in the box for dressing. I know Mama Cook made dressing and like everything else she cooked, it had to be good....but she obviously didn't need a recipe for it.

I don't either, but I will tell you what I do. Every time I make this, it is a little different, I don't measure my spices, or my milk or my oil, or well....mostly anything.

Dressing is a southern thing, but you should really try it if you have never had it because it is the single reason to eat in my family during the holidays!

This recipe will feed a large crowd, if you need a smaller batch, just half everything I have here.

Step 1:

In a LARGE mixing bowl combine

4 cups White Lily Buttermilk Cornbread Mix
approx 2 tbsp garlic powder
approx 1 tbsp celery seed or powder
approx 2 tbsp oregano
approx 2 tbsp Mrs Dash
1 large onion diced
2 stalks of celery diced
4 eggs
approx 1/2 cup oil ( canola, vegetable, peanut, coconut....whatever you normally use)
stir this together and then add slowly add milk to make the mixture approximate 1 to 1 1/2 cups, you should be able to scoop up on the spoon and it should be just thin enough to slide off the spoon easily. Bake this in a large greased frying pan or 2 depending on the size you own @ 350 degrees until golden brown. Let sit overnight.

Step 2:

3 cans of Progresso cream of mushroom soup
3-4 large containers of Chicken Broth ( I use whatever is the least expensive but has NO MSG)
1 stalk of celery
2 eggs
1/4 cup of oil
garlic powder
celery powder
basil
onion powder
1 tsp sage

In a large mixing bowl combine crumbled cornbread mixture, soup, broth, eggs, oil, chopped celery. Add enough broth so your dressing mixture is the same consistency as your cornbread from the night before (okay this part is weird....bare with me :) Smell your mixture...... then add garlic powder, celery powder, basil, onion powder by small doses until your mixture smells savory and yummy. I know this sounds weird but I cook a lot by smell, and it works really well.

Bake this mixture in a 350 degree oven for approx 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until set on the edges and golden brown on top. Don't overcook or it will dry out.


I think you will love it. Don't over season the mix! Enjoy!

Biscuits and Divorce????

When my parents divorced I spent a lot of time between my paternal and maternal grandparents. Both of my parents worked a lot and when I was growing up you were most likely "baby sat" by family. I loved going to Mama Cook's house. We didn't do any TV watching during the day, but there was a huge farm to run around. We played horse on the gas tank in the back yard, we built " houses" in the trees where we pretended to live, we ran and climbed and pretended all over that place!

One day I was in the kitchen with Mama Cook and she was beginning to make lunch, I loved to help her cook. I was fascinated with all that she did, cooking, sewing, gardening, all of it. Anyway she started a batch of biscuits, just like she did every day, and I said " Mama Cook, why do you make biscuits every day?" (Nobody else I knew made biscuits everyday!) She responded " If I didn't have biscuits on that table every meal I think your Daddy Cook would divorce me." I laughed with her, but it made me stop to think. This couple was invincible, there was no such thing as divorce in their world. They had raised 7 kids, took in family members, weathered loss and love and need and there was just no way they would give up, especially over biscuits. But just in case they were there every day!

Christmas Drop Cookies

Well it is the time of year for this one right. This recipe card is from Aunt Evelyn, and I am sure it is delicious! Just a note, that this makes LOTS of cookies, 12-15 dozen, so you may want to trim it down based on your need. Also this recipe is not one of those quick and easy one bowl jobs....but the results will be worth it!

Step 1

In a large bowl mix together:

2lbs candied cherries cut in 3 pieces drained
2lbs candied pineapple chopped drained
1lb dark raisins
1lb light raisins
6 cups chopped pecans
1 cup flour

Step 2

Cream together in a separate bowl 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, 1 stick butter, 3 tbsp sweet milk ( condensed milk)

Step 3
Mix together 5 cups self rising flour, 3 tbsp baking soda, 1 tsp each allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg

Step 4
Add ingredients from Step 2 & Step 3 alternating with 1 cup pineapple juice.

Step 5 add batter to fruit and nuts from Step 1 mixing with hands.

Drop by teaspoons on cookie sheets

Bake on cookie sheet # 300-325 until light brown.

Chocolate Pie

Yes this is the one! I think ;) it is the only one I can find so far!

4 tbs cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup milk
2 tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs separated (whites reserved for meringue)

Mix all ingredients except egg whites in a double boiler and cook over low heat until thick.

Brown pie crust in oven

Make meringue by adding room temperature egg whites in a large mixing bowl first, beating until just frothy, then slowly adding sugar by the tbsp until the meringue is smooth and forms stiff peaks.

Pour cooked pudding in the browned pie crust , cover with meringue and bake @ 350 until meringue is browned.

Apple Cobbler

3 cups of chopped apples
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 stick - plus 2 tablespoons butter

Simmer 3 cups of apples with 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of butter until fruit is tender.

Melt 1 stick of butter in a deep dish ( casserole dish),
Make batter from 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup milk pour batter over melted butter and fruit on top and bake at 350 until golden brown, approx 30 min.

Banana Pudding

This one she was famous for!

Banana Pudding
3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour (all purpose)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs separated
1 tsp vanilla
36 vanilla wafers
3 bananas

Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour, salt, milk, egg yolks, vanilla together and cook on low in a double boiler until the pudding becomes thick.


Meringue: 2 egg whites at room temperature, 1/4 cup of sugar. Begin by beating egg whites only in a bowl until they become frothy, slowly add the sugar about a teaspoon at a time, beating continuously until your meringue forms soft peaks. ( when you lift your mixer and soft peaks of meringue stand up where your beaters were)


In a baking dish place vanilla wafers and bananas in alternating layers. Cover with the pudding and top with a meringue made with beaten egg whites and sugar. Bake at 350 until golden brown on top.

Welcome

Welcome to Mama Cook's Recipe Box! For years I have been in possession of two metal recipe boxes that belonged to my paternal grandmother Gertrude Cook; who we all lovingly called Mama Cook. I have thought over the years that I would create a cookbook for all of our large extended family. But we all know how that goes, I got busy, didn't have time, etc. Then recently I had the idea to create a blog where I could list a new recipe from the box frequently. I would love to do one daily, but we will see how that works out.

I would invite all my cousins, aunts, uncles, etc....to share stories about Mama Cook, the family, the wonderful food she created, etc. I will include those in this blog as well.

I know that everything that Mama Cook, cooked for us, is not included in this box. Most of the great food that we all enjoyed from her was not made from a recipe. For instance, I once asked her to please give me the recipe for her chicken soup. She replied, " I just cleaned out the refrigerator". She just added all those yummy vegetables that she had cooked during the week into a pot with some noodles and chicken. It was the best chicken soup I have ever had :)

I dearly loved my grandmother and I miss her presence in my life!

I look forward to sharing these wonderful recipes with you.