Powdered Sugar Doughnuts

One of my dads favorite foods was home-made doughnuts.  We used to make them for him on his birthday or anniversary. My dad passed away, but we still make a batch of doughnuts on those special days. It brings back warm and wonderful memories of a man who worked hard to support his family and loved us dearly. 

Ingredients

1 Tbs. yeast or 1 pkg.
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/4 cup milk, scalded
1 stick butter or 1/2 c. margarine or shortening
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
3/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
4-5 cups flour
vegetable oil for frying

 Directions

In a large mixing bowl, mix the yeast, warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar together.  Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes in a warm location to bloom or to see if the yeast is active.

In a small saucepan, warm the butter and milk to 90° or 105° over low heat. Butter does not need to melt. 

Pour the warmed milk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt, nutmeg, and 1 cup flour in with the yeast mixture.  Stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes. You can also use the mixer with the dough hook attachment.

Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can until a dough forms.  The dough will be sticky. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes adding more flour as necessary. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky. The dough should be smooth and elastic. If you touch the dough with your finger, it should bounce back.

Form the dough into a ball. Lightly oil the bowl that you mixed the dough in and place the dough ball inside. Turn the dough over so that all sides of the dough is lightly oiled. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap or a tea towel. Place the bowl in a warm location and let rise until doubled in size. This takes about an hour.  

Punch the dough down and place the dough onto a well floured surface. Roll the dough out until it is 1/2-inch thick. Cut doughnuts with a doughnut cutter. 

Place the doughnuts and round doughnut holes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave 1-inch of space between doughnuts. Let rise in a warm location for about an hour or until doubled in size. 

**  I usually put the doughnuts on one cookie sheet and the doughnut holes on another cookie sheet so everything gets done at the same time. You can also save the doughnut holes and reroll them out to just make the large circle doughnuts.  

Decide if you want to bake the doughnuts or fry them. 

Baking

Preheat oven to 375°. 

Fill a paper sack or a bowl with powdered sugar. 

Bake the doughnuts for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up. Let the doughnuts slightly cool on the cookie sheets, then dip the warm doughnuts into the powdered sugar, turning the doughnut to coat all sides. Sometimes, you may want to redip the doughnuts in the powdered sugar for a second time after they have cooled more. 

If the powdered sugar does not want to stick, lightly spray the doughnut with cooking oil or melted butter and then dip in the powdered sugar. 

Deep Fry

You can also use this same recipe to deep-fry the doughnuts too, if you prefer. 

Heat a few inches of oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, a heavy large cast iron skillet or an electric fryer.  Heat the oil to 350° to 375°.

Carefully place the doughnuts in the hot oil and fry until golden brown about 1 1/2 minutes per side.  The doughnut holes take less time to fry about 30 per side. Do not crowd the doughnuts or the oil will cool down too much and then, instead of cooking the doughnuts, they will soak up the oil.

Remove the doughnuts with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels to drain off excess oil. Dip the hot doughnuts into the powdered sugar turning to coat.

Whichever way you choose to make doughnuts, serve and then enjoy.

Top Me Twice Cake

Top Me Twice cake is from my grandmother's recipe box and is a nice variation of the pineapple cake. It is a cake she made for special occasions or when she had company coming over.  It is best served and eaten on the day it is made and most times, that was about as long as it lasted at her house.

Ingredients

1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. flour
13 oz. can crushed pineapple

Topping

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. coconut
1/2 c. pecans, chopped

Sauce

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. light cream
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease the bottom only of a 12 x 8-inch pan or a 9-inch square pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, vanilla, and eggs.  Beat 2 minutes at medium speed.

Turn the mixer speed to low. Mix in soda, salt, flour and pineapple.  Mix for 1 minute.

Pour into prepared pan. 

Sprinkle the brown sugar, coconut and pecans over the top of the batter.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, Cake is done when the top springs back when lightly touched in the center.

Just before the cake is done, prepare the sauce. 

In a small saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in cream, sugar and vanilla.

Pour over the cake while it is still warm.

Cool before serving.

Beef Enchiladas

My family loves these enchiladas. They are spicy and full of flavor.  If you want a recipe that is quick and easy, this is the one.  Serve with refried beans and Spanish rice, and you have a great meal.

Because my son did not like beans at all, I had to get crafty. I mashed the beans up and added them in the recipe for added flavor.  He never knew the difference and both my kids thought they were the best.  They ask me to make this recipe often!

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 to 2 hot peppers
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbs. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 can Mrs. Grimes Spicy Hot Chili Beans in Chili Sauce
enchilada or tortillas, warmed
salsa
shredded cheese
sour cream
tomatoes, diced
shredded lettuce

Directions

In a heavy cast iron skillet, brown ground beef, onion, hot peppers and garlic until no longer pink. Drain off excess grease.

Mix in chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.

In a separate bowl, mash up the Mrs. Grimes Spicy Hot Chili Beans in Chili Sauce with an immersion blender, or you can use a regular blender. Blend until most of the beans are mashed.  Pour this into the ground beef. Bring to a bubble and then turn the heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes. 

Heat  enchilada shells. You can heat them in the microwave, but I heat mine in a skillet and turn the enchilada once when it begins to brown. 

Place the enchilada on a plate and add some of the beef and bean mixture.  Add some shredded cheese and salsa if desired.  Roll up the enchilada and tuck in the ends. Top with more salsa, cheese, sour cream, diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce.

Some people bake their enchiladas, but I do not. I serve mine this way and my kids love them.

 

BBQ Texas Chicken

My kids and I love BBQ chicken. We used to buy the dry mix that you shake with the chicken in a bag and then put it in the oven to bake.  But those got expensive to buy, and they don't taste as good as they used to. It is easy to make barbecue sauce at home, and it tastes so much better, too! It really doesn't take a lot of time to mix some up. 

Serve BBQ chicken with coleslaw, baked beans and mashed potatoes for a delicious easy to fix meal that your family will enjoy.

Ingredients

1 chicken, cut up
1 to 2 Tbs. oil or shortening
1 onion, chopped fine
1/4 c. celery, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1 Tbs. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/4 c. ketchup
1/3 c. vinegar
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. butter
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a heavy cast iron skillet, brown both sides of the chicken in oil. Remove from the skillet and place in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan in a single layer. 

In a saucepan, combine onion, celery, garlic, brown sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, dry mustard, cayenne, ketchup, vinegar, water, butter and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter is melted.

 Spoon the BBQ sauce over the chicken. You can keep some back to serve with the chicken when it comes out of the oven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is done.

Notes:

If you have a large skillet that you are browning the chicken in, no need to remove the chicken pieces and use the baking pan.

Slow Cooked Italian Beef

 The roast is tender and juicy and has a delicious Italian flavor. Serve the shredded beef on rolls or buns for an easy meal. To complete the meal, have a salad and mashed potatoes or French fries along with a bowl of peas. For dessert, have some cut up fruit.

Ingredients

2 to 3 lb. rump roast
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 bay leaf
2 to 3 c. water
1 pkg. Italian dressing mix

Directions

In a sauce pan, combine salt, parsley, garlic, pepper, oregano, basil, bay leaf, and Italian dressing. Pour in the water, stirring to mix.

Bring to a boil. Pour over rump roast in a crock pot. Cook until fork tender, about 8 to 10 hours on low, or bake the rump roast in a covered Dutch oven at 200° for the same length of time. 

Remove from oven. Shred the beef with a fork and return to the crock pot or oven and cook another 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

Serve on hard rolls. You can add sautéed mushrooms, green peppers, onions, or cheese on top.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is another handwritten recipe  from my mother's recipe box. The handwriting is not hers and there is no name on it, but the recipe card bears the stains of being used a lot. I remember these cookies while growing up. They were always a special treat for an after school snack or for after coming in from playing outdoors. She always packed some in my dad's lunch box, so he would have a delicious treat while hauling gravel.

Ingredients

1 c. margarine
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour
1 c. oatmeal
1 pkg chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° Lightly grease cookie sheets.

Beat margarine, sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and eggs until creamy.

Stir in baking soda, salt and flour.  Stir into the batter until moistened

Mix in oatmeal.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 12 to 13 minutes. Remove from oven when the cookie edges start to brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

 

Tender Juicy Pot Roast With Gravy

 

You can get a tender, falling apart pot roast by cooking it low and slow.  By baking at a lower temperature, the meat will cook evenly throughout.  

If you bake the roast at 350°, it will get done faster, but the interior is not going to cook at the same temperature as the outside of the pot roast. This results in uneven heating or cooking. The exterior will be well done while the center is still rare.  By cooking at a higher temperature, your results may turn out to be a dried out, tough pot roast that no one will like.

Ingredients

1 3 to 5 lb. beef roast (We use what ever is the cheapest.)
salt, pepper garlic and onion powder
2 Tbs. oil
1 to 2 onions, quartered
15 or more baby carrots or 6 large carrots cut into 2 inch pieces
4 or 6 potatoes, quartered or halved
4 c. beef stock or broth (you can substitute 1 cup  broth for 1 cup red wine)
1 tsp. thyme leaves (optional)
1 tsp. rosemary (optional)

Gravy

2 3/4 c. meat broth
1 Tbs. cornstarch or 2 Tbs. flour
1/4 c. water

Directions

Preheat oven to 200°

Pour the oil into the bottom of a Dutch oven or a roasting pan. 

Season all sides of the beef roast with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.  I did not give amounts for the seasonings. Everyone has a difference preference of who much they want to use. 

Place the seasoned beef roast, fat side up, into the Dutch oven.

Add the onions, baby carrots, potatoes around the beef roast. 

Pour in the beef stock or broth. Add the thyme leaves and rosemary.

Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven. 

Bake 8 to 10 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 145°.  If the roast is larger, it may take an up to 15 hours.  

To make gravy

Remove the meat, potatoes, onions and carrots from the Dutch oven or roasting pan. Try to skim off as much of the fat as possible from the liquid.

Use the meat broth left in the Dutch oven or roaster to make gravy.  You  will need at least 2 3/4 cups broth to make the gravy.  If you don't have enough, just add some more broth. 

Put the Dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat and bring it to a simmer.

In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour in a 1/4 cup of water.  Stirring constantly, slowly pour the cornstarch mixture in bubbling beef stock. Cook and stir until it is thickened to your liking.  If it does not get thick enough for you, mix up some more flour or cornstarch mixture and add that slowly into the bubbling gravy.

You can also use this same recipe in a slow cooker and get the same results.