Lemon Delight Dessert

Why not make individual desserts that guests can carry home for your next party or luncheon???

I usually make this dessert in a 9 x 12 inch pan. 

But, it worked perfectly to make in these 4 Rubbermaid glass containers instead!

Start by chopping up 1/2 cups nuts.  

I like to chop these very fine. 

Combine the pecans with 1 1/2 cups of plain flour and 

2/3 cup melted butter. 

Press this mixture in the bottom of pan (or in this case pans) and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

Next cream an 8 oz pkg cream cheese with 1 cup powdered sugar and 1cup cool whip. 

Spread this mixture over the top of the crust. 

Blend 3 cups milk with 2 small packages Lemon Instant pudding. 

Spread this mixture over the cream cheese.

Top with cool whip. 

Add some lemon zest or other decorations if you like! 

I added some rosemary sprigs and a slice of lemon. These turned out so pretty. 

I added a little velvet ribbon just for fun!

This dessert is great for a light treat at the end of a meal. 

Cinnamon Ornaments

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas in the Big Woods.

I just love the smell of Cinnamon Ornaments in the house.

These ornaments are super fun and easy to make.

Especially when you make them with someone else.

My daughter helped me with these.

These are the necessary ingredients...

1 cup cinnamon

3/4 cup applesauce

2 Tablespoons white glue

1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, ground nutmeg, or ground cloves

Mix together, then roll out to 1/4 inch using cinnamon to keep the dough

 from sticking to your dough board. Cut our with cookie cutters.

Let dry for 24 hours or longer.

Remember to use a small straw or something to make a hole in the top for hanging with thread.

We have so many cookie cutters.  

But, we decided to stick with stars, angels, and trees.

I used the stars to decorate this little tree in my kitchen.

I used the trees on my kitchen cabinet doors.

Such an easy and fun Christmas craft.

Fried Apple Pies at Christmas

Today has been a day for making fried apple pies. 

I tried using less crisco today when making my crust. 

The result is a crispier pie that is easier to hold in your hand. 

Follow this link for the recipe:

                           Fried Apple Pies Recipe

Apple Pie

This apple pie was a joy to make!  

We picked the apples ourselves while visiting 

Haney Apple Orchard in Somerset, Kentucky. 

I think they are McIntosh. 

The recipe, as you can see here, is an old one. 

It is a recipe that my Mother (Mary Lantz) used to win blue ribbons at our county fair. 

I have adapted it to be easier for me to make today by 

using two bought crusts. 

I followed her directions for making the filling, and then placed that filling in a bought pie crust. 

I then inverted the second pie crust on top of the first and placed them in the oven like this for the first 10 min of baking. You then remove the top pan and take the pie out of the oven to flute the edges. 

The top crust will fall perfectly on top of the bottom crust. It will be cool enough that you can flute the edges together. 

Then, add a little sugar and cinnamon to the top before returning to the oven. 

Finish baking until the crust is golden brown. 

This pie was so easy and very delicious. 

Your guests will think you made the crust by hand. 

Enjoy!

Improved Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Let me introduce you to two secret ingredients for making your chocolate oatmeal cookies so much better. 

Since I have started using Califia OatMilk and Gluten Free Quick Oats, I have noticed a delicious taste and texture to my chocolate oatmeal cookies. 

And…they are now gluten free! 

I also used chunky peanut butter in these. 

You can see the peanuts in the cookies. 

I always place my cookies on waxed paper to cool. 

These were ready to move to a plate about 30 minutes after I made them. 

Here is my recipe again:

2 cups sugar

3Tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup OatMilk

1 stick Parkay Margarine

Bring to a full boil for 2 minutes

Remove from heat and add:

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

1teaspoon Happy Home vanilla

3 cups Gluten Free Oats 

Drop by large spoonfuls onto wax paper. 

Enjoy!

Sausage Rice Casserole

These are the ingredients needed to make this delicious casserole:  

1pound sausage

1cup chopped Onion

2cups mild Cheddar cheese

1 can Cream of chicken soup

1 can Cream of mushroom soup

1cup uncooked rice

Cook the rice. 

Brown the sausage and onion together in a skillet and drain. 

Then, mix all ingredients together saving back 1/2 cup of cheese. 

Bake at 375 degrees in a casserole dish for 25 min. 

Remove from oven and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and return to the oven for 10 minutes. 

I made this casserole with turkey sausage. It was soooooo good. This is one of those comfort food dishes. Enjoy!

Blackberry Cobbler

We just celebrated July 4th in the Big Woods. 

Once July 4th is here, people in Tennessee start looking for wild blackberries to make a cobbler.

I don't always find them, but this year, I found some growing around the edges of the farm.

It takes about 2 cups of berries to make a good cobbler.

We hit this just right with our picking.

I think I managed to pick these without getting any chiggers or briar scratches.

Once I got them back to the kitchen, I washed them through at least 4 clean water cycles, being careful to handle the berries with care and remove any stems.

I started by making biscuit dough, but adding a little more Crisco than I would if making biscuits.

2 cups  self-rising flour

1/3 cup Crisco (This is what I used.)

2/3 cup milk

I pinched off a baseball size piece of dough to save for the top crust and then rolled the rest out to less than a quarter inch thickness.  I cut this into strips to be ready to pinch off for dumplings.

The berries are put in a pot and covered to the top with water.

I brought them to a boil, and then added 1 1/2 to 2 cups of sugar.

I let this cook for about 10 minutes...maybe a little longer...at medium high.

Then, I brought the berries back to a full rolling boil and added a half stick of butter.  Then, I start adding the dumplings.

You add the dumplings by taking a strip of dough and pinching off pieces and dropping in the liquid.

I would carefully stir the dumplings to be covered by the juice as I went.

After cooking the dumplings for about 10 minutes, I poured the mixture into a casserole dish.

That extra dough I saved back gets rolled into a crust and cut to fit the top of the dish.

The last step is cutting some slits in the top and sprinkling a small amount of sugar over the crust.

I baked this one at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Some people like to add butter to the top and eat their cobbler just like this.  

We like to add vanilla ice cream to ours.

Enjoy!

Blackberry Cobbler

2 cups self-rising flour

1/3 cup Crisco shortening

2/3 cup milk

2 cups blackberries

1 1/2 -2 cups sugar

1/2 stick butter

Make biscuit dough.

Save back dough for crust and roll and cut remaining dough for dumplings.

Bring berries to a boil with water covering.

Add sugar and cook on medium 10-15 minutes.

Bring back to a boil and add butter.

Drop in dumplings and cook for 10 minutes more.

Pour into casserole dish and add crust sprinkled with sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.