Date or Raisin Filled Cookies

These cookies are good but kind of labor intensive, so I've only made them once or twice. You end up with a little (ok kinda big for a cookie) pocket full of raisin jam, like a sweet pirogi or something.

img via: Epicurious Runner

Filling:
1/2 c water
2 c dates or raisins
1/2 c sugar
1 T vanilla

Dough:
2 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 c sour milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grind water and dates/raisins. Add sugar and vanilla. Optional: add walnuts. Cook 5-10 minutes until thick as jam. Remove from heat, keep covered. 
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine butter, sugar, egg, and milk. Alternate adding wet and dry to form soft dough. Roll dough thin. For each cookie, cut two large circles. Spoon jam into center of one circle and cover with second. Seal edges, slit top. Bake 15 minutes.

Giant Macaroons

I always thought that macaroons were one of Grandma's cookies, but apparently not. They are still really good. The bottom gets all gooey-melty-carmelized, the coconut on top gets a little crispy at the ends, and the middle stays soft. Topping them with melted chocolate just adds to the goodness.

Apparently the real origin of this is, my mom bought some macaroons at a bake sale at the grocery store one day, and when she went back the next day they were all sold out. She asked the person running the table, who told the lady who had made them, who wrote my mom a letter with the recipe. She had two sons and I was in the grade between them, but this was back before I was in preschool even. I'd never seen it before, but I found while going through my mom's recipes on Mother's Day and I think it's totally cute.

14 oz shredded coconut
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
dash salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Combine all ingredients until well blended. Drop onto cookie sheets with an ice cream scoop or large spoon. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden at edges. Remove and cool on wire racks. Optional: While baking, melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. Dip the top of cooled macaroons into the chocolate.

Swedish Nuts

These are seriously addictive, and apparently originally came from my mom's cousin's daughter, aka Cousin Amy. It's on the same recipe card as Baked Apples and Danish.

1/2 cup butter
1 egg white
1/2 cup sugar
dash salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups pecan halves

Preheat oven to 300F. Melt the butter in a 9x13" pan. Beat the egg white until stiff. Add sugar, salt, and vanilla. Fold in pecan halves. Spread mixture over melted butter in pan. Toast 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Roll

My recipe card says it came from my aunt Robin, which almost certainly means it came from Bettie originally. Pumpkin roll is nice and moist, and depending on which way you roll it, you either get about 12 big slices that we usually end up cutting in half for serving, or about 25 little slices.

 img via: Very Best Baking

Batter:
3 eggs
1 c sugar
3/4 c flour
2/3 c canned pumpkin
1 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
2 T butter
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Plus about 1/4 c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 10x15 inch jelly roll sheet. Line w/ waxed or parchment paper and grease again. Mix batter ingredients & pour into pan evenly. Bake 15 minutes. Mix filling ingredients. After baking, sprinkle liberally with extra powdered sugar. Invert onto a clean dishtowel. Peel off waxed paper and spread filling evenly. Roll up and store wrapped in towel in refrigerator. Slice and serve.

Spoon Bread

This recipe came from my aunt, Helen. Not too long to prep, but always seems to bake for-freaking-ever.

img via: thrifty fun

1 c sour cream
3 T butter, melted
1 egg
1/2 c chopped onion
15 oz can kernel corn, undrained
15 oz can creamed corn
8.5 oz package Jiffy corn muffin mix

Whisk together sour cream, butter, and egg. Add onion, corn, and muffin mix. Combine well. Bake in a greased pan at 350F for 1 hour.

Crescents

I'm getting ahead of myself, because we don't make these cookies until Christmas, but that's okay. It's another from Grandma.

img via: the bon appetit diaries

2 cups ground pecans
1 pound butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 cups flour
1 T vanilla
powdered sugar (at least 1 cup)

Mix pecans, butter, and sugar together. Add flour and vanilla. Knead dough until smooth, then shape into crescent-moons about 3" high. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool 1 minute, then roll in powdered sugar. Let cool, then roll in sugar again. Makes 56 cookies.

Easy Freezy Pumpkin Pie

I think this recipe must have arrived to our house in a cookbook one of us made at school, because the girl who works at the video store knew exactly what we were talking about.

img via: food.com

2 graham cracker pie crusts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 t cinnamon
4 cups (1 quart) vanilla ice cream

Set the ice cream out to soften a bit. In a bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the ice cream and combine until thoroughly mixed. Divide evenly between the two crusts. Freeze until serving.

Pecan Pie

Another recipe from Grandma. The first set of measurements is for a 9" crust, the ones in parenthesis are for an 8" crust.

1 pie crust
3 eggs (2)
2/3 cup sugar (1/2)
1/3 t salt (1/4)
1/3 cup melted butter (1/4)
1 cup dark syrup (3/4)
1 1/2 cups pecan halves

Put the crust into a pie dish. Beat together eggs, sugar, salt, butter, and syrup. Put pecans into the crust, then pour mixture over. Bake 40-50 minutes at 375 degrees.

Cherry Pie

My grandma was a big fan of baking, and she gave my mom a lot of sweets recipes. Thanksgiving, of course, is pie season.

2 cans sour pitted cherries (not cherry pie filling - look in the canned fruit aisle)
1 cup sugar
1 t salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 T butter
1 t almond extract
2 pie crusts

Put one crust into a pie dish. Use a knife or small cookie cutter to make steam vents in the other crust, then set it aside to be the lid. In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine sugar, salt, cornstarch, and the liquid from the cherries. Stir constantly until the liquid becomes thick and clearish (about 15 minutes). Add the butter, almond extract, and cherries. Mix, then pour into the pie dish. Cover with the top crust, seal the edges, and sprinkle with sugar. Cover the edges loosely with a strip of tin foil to keep the crust from burning. Bake 30 minutes at 425. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

We made this recipe off the back of the can of Dunbar Yams for years, until one day... there was a new recipe. We ended up calling the 1-800 number on the can, and waited while the lady on the other end rummaged around the office and found it for us. I have to admit that I prefer the pecan topping to the marshmallows some people put on their sweet potatoes, because marshmallows kind of freak me out.

Casserole:
40-oz. can sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup butter
1 t vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg whites
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter

Combine all the casserole ingredients in a bowl and pour into a shallow baking dish. We usually use a square 9" pan about 2" deep. Combine the topping ingredients - I like to melt the butter so it mixes better - and crumble/spread over the casserole. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Broccoli-Chicken Braid

A recipe from from a Pampered Chef catalog that converted to vegetarian quite nicely. It was our main dish for Thanksgiving yesterday.

img via: taste of home

3 Morningstar Farms soy chik patties, cooked and chopped
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 t dried dill weed
2 8-oz. packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 T slivered almonds

In a large bowl, combine: chik patties, broccoli, bell pepper, cheese, garlic, mayonnaise, and dill weed. Open the crescent rolls but do not separate. Arrange the dough on a cookie sheet and press to seal the perforations. You will end up with one large rectangle of crescent dough. Every 1.5" on the long sides, make a cut going 3" in from each edge. Spread the filling evenly over the center of the dough. To braid, bring each strip to center, giving it a half-turn. Tuck ends together and brush dough with egg whites. Sprinkle with almond slivers. Bake for 25-28 minutes at 375 degrees.

Birthday Party Stuffed Mushrooms

There's a very good reason "Wings of Life" is at the top of our cookbook list. Another time-intensive-but-totally-worth-it hippie food.

img via: a farm girl's dabbles

2 pounds large white mushrooms
3-4 cloves garlic
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, scallions or cilantro
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper
paprika

Gently wash the mushrooms, then pull the stems out of the caps. Put the caps upsidedown into a greased baking pan, packed close together so they can't roll around, and set them aside for now.

Chop the stems and fry them in olive oil. Add garlic and fry a little more. Remove from heat and add everything else: bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, and cheeses. Add a bit of salt and fresh black pepper. Mix together well and fill each mushroom cap with the mixture. (My father, being the practical man that he is, has determined that this is easiest to do with a pastry bag, aka a ziplock bag with one corner cut off.)

Sprinkle with paprika and more parmesan cheese. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Party Spinach Dip

Apparently from a Jenny Craig cookbook, this dip is my mom's trademark dish and everyone's favorite at potlucks. Best part is, it's even pretty healthy.

12 oz. 1% cottage cheese
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach
8 oz. can chopped water chestnuts
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
1/4 cup dry vegetable soup mix (Knorr)
2 t onion, grated or finely minced
1 t lemon juice

Thaw and squeeze the spinach dry. Drain and chop the water chestnuts some more. Blend the cottage cheese in the food processor until smooth. Put everything together in a bowl and mix well. Cover and chill at least 3 hours before serving.

Serving ideas: party rye and pumpernickle slices, water crackers, melba rounds, hollowed bread bowl with cubed bread, Fritos (seriously, they are kinda perfect)

1 T has aprox: 9 calories, .3 gram fat