Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

We found this Pumpkin Cookie recipe in Great Grandma's cookbook.  It was scribbled on a small sheet of paper with little instructions with "moderate oven" at the bottom.  We made them and sent them to a family member stationed on an air craft carrier and they were a hit with him and his friends.

Sarah chose to alter it a bit by reducing the cinnamon to 1/2 tsp. and adding 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice.  They are a soft cookie that Grandma enjoys as they are easy to chew -- great for toddlers, too.

Oven Baked Boy Scout Packet Potatoes

We love grilling Boy Scout Packet Potatoes outside.  We wanted a way to replicate this recipe in our weekly menu cooked indoors.  Too often when we made it the traditional way, wrapped in foil, a small tear would cause butter to drip on the bottom of the oven.  We thought we'd try wrapping them and using the 9 x 13 pan to hold them, but then decided why not just bake them directly in the pan?  Here is our indoor Oven Baked Boy Scout Packet Potatoes Recipe version.

Ready for the oven.

As you can see you can peel the potatoes or leave the peels on.  Also, some of

Rich Chocolate Brownies Recipe

This Rich Chocolate Brownies Recipe came from my desire to make brownies from what I had on hand.  I needed to use cocoa and went searching for a recipe and these are the ones I found.  I copied the recipe and can't remember for sure where it came from but it was in a Brownie and Bar Cooking booklet by Pillsbury.  I am not sure if Elizabeth changed it at all, we usually do, but here is what we do.

Check out Elizabeth's post of Step By Step Chocolate Brownies Tutorial for a

Bread Machine Wheat Hamburger Bun Recipe

Dad makes a mean hamburger!  But we never were satisfied with store bought buns for them so Elizabeth took to making up a Bread Machine Wheat Hamburger Bun Recipe to make his burgers even better.  Here is her final version.  They are a hearty, firm bun that holds up to even all the condiments Dad piles on his burger!

These will easily double in size and be sure to smash them quite flat as they will round up nicely when risen and baked -- otherwise they want to turn into balls.  Bake on greased or non-stick cookie sheets or use parchment paper.

You can read the review of the West Bend Hi-Rise Bread Machine we wrote earlier and check out all our  Bread Machine Recipes.

Check after a couple minutes of kneading and add flour or water as needed for proper texture - should be quite stiff and not stick to your finger when poked.  Add small amounts at a time—1 or 2 teaspoons.

Bread Machine Wheat French Bread Recipe

We love French Bread with many dishes from Beef Stew to Lasagna Style Pasta Bake so we always keep a loaf or two in the freezer.  Here is our Bread Machine French Bread Recipe.  We let the machine knead it, but we shape it and bake in a conventional oven.  This is a heavier, moisture texture than store bakery bread and it is important to be sure to cook it long enough -- better to err on the side of too long.  It is delicious for Party Sub Sandwiches, too.

Mini loaves shaped & ready to rise.

Bake on greased or non-stick cookie sheets or use parchment paper.

Bread Machine Wheat Dinner Rolls Recipe

Great Grandma's rolls were popular at any family gathering.  She taught Elizabeth how to make them when she was about eight and she made them often.  I on the other hand could not get them light and fluffy, so I left all bread making to Elizabeth.  Until we got our West Bend Hi-Rise Bread Machine. Now I let it knead the dough and I bake in a conventional oven.  Here is our Bread Machine Wheat Dinner Rolls Recipe.

Great Grandma used just white flour, we use a combination of fresh ground whole wheat and bread flour.  They can be shaped any way you like:  mini-rolls, round rolls, clover leaf rolls, crescent, etc.  Bake on greased or non-stick cookie sheets or use parchment paper.  Great Grandma always cooked hers in "pie tins."

You'll notice it says 2 to 3 cups bread flour -- begin with 2 and let it start kneading and add a little more at a time until the dough seems right.  The humidity in the air makes a huge difference on how these turn out.

Check after a couple minutes of kneading and add flour or water as needed for proper texture - should be quite stiff and not stick to your finger when poked.  Add small amounts at a time—1 or 2 teaspoons.

You can read the review of the West Bend Hi-Rise Bread Machine we wrote earlier and check out all our  Bread Machine Recipes. We love using the machine to do the kneading for us and we then shape and bake.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread ~ Bread Machine Recipe

We eat a LOT of sandwich bread in our family.  We have found the easiest way to keep up with having fresh Whole Wheat bread in the house is to use the West Bend 2.5 Pound Hi-Rise Bread Machine.  This is our Bread Machine Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Recipe that Elizabeth developed.

It is not 100% Whole Wheat as we have not been able to develop a recipe for that to use in this machine.  We are willing to give up the 100% whole wheat in

Nut Cookie Recipe

We took the original Nestle Toll House Cookie Recipe and tweaked it by reducing the sugar and adding a bit of whole wheat flour.  When using Chocolate Chips we have won a blue ribbon at the county fair.  This is our Nut Cookie Recipe version.

The color in this image is a bit wonky, sorry about that.

We prefer walnuts over pecans in these.

Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

Moist and spicy Pumpkin Muffin Recipe.  We substitute about 1/3 of the flour with whole wheat.  The original recipe was from a Betty Crocker cookbook, I believe, and we tweaked it a bit.  Here is where you can find Elizabeth's Step By Step Pumpkin Muffins Instructions.

Christmas Citrus Salad Recipe

This is the Christmas Citrus Salad recipe we use each year.  It is simple and super healthy and perfect for vegan friends.  It is a fun salad to work on together around the kitchen table.  It comes from Grandma and Grandpa's tradition, but where it started I do not know.

The bananas tend to float that is why it looks like so many.

Here is the ratio of fruit we use, but any will do and anything can be left out.  Grandmama cannot eat grapefruits because of the interaction with some of her meds so we leave those out of her

M&M Cookie Recipe

This is the third recipe we tweaked from the original Nestle Toll House Cookie Recipe.  Just like our Chocolate Chip and Nut, this M&M Cookies Recipe is one of our favorites.  We include them in all of our Christmas Cookie packages & baskets.

Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe

This Soft Sugar Cookie recipe originated from Elizabeth's Great Grandfather.  He was born in 1899.  He got the recipe from a Civil War widow, so we imagine it has been around for quite some time.  He used to make them and mail them at Christmas, packed in popcorn, to all of his grandchildren.  He also sold them, along with homemade bread, when his health caused him at a young age to have to stop dairy farming.  Click this link to see the Story of The Sugar Cookie Recipe post that Elizabeth wrote earlier.

Sprinkled with white sugar (left) and decorative sugar sprinkles (right).

Note:  The larger these are made the softer they will be.  They should just

Snickerdoodles Cookie Recipe

This rich cinnamon flavored Snickerdoodles Cookie Recipe is one we tweaked from a friend's recipe.  We make these each year at Christmas to include in our cookie giveaway baskets.

These tend to burn easily on the bottom because of the cinnamon.  Be sure not

Simple Pork Brine Recipe

After years of eating dry pork we learned about using a Pork Brine to moisten it.  Wow, it really works.  Even very thin pork chops can be tender and moist.  This is our simple brine recipe.

For very large roasts you may need to double the recipe depending on the size of the container you put the pork in -- it must be covered completely.

Peanut Butter Cookies & Peanut Blossoms Variation Recipe

There is nothing like a homemade Peanut Butter Cookie.  This recipe was in Elizabeth's grandmother's recipe box.  It was typed up decades ago and had her hand writing with the triple recipe amounts--she did everything big!  It probably is an original Hershey's Peanut Blossom recipe but I have no way of knowing.

Tripling amounts are in the [brackets].

Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

This chocolate chip cookie recipe was tweaked from the original Nestle Toll House Cookie Recipe.  It won a blue ribbon in the local county fair--the largest in our state.  We enjoy them frozen, too!

You can also add one cup of nuts if you'd like.

Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

Chewy, not too sweet Oatmeal Cookies.  Makes 8 dozen -- amounts for 4 dozen in ( )'s.  We adjusted a recipe we found in the Betty Crocker cookbook.

We use old fashioned oatmeal, not instant.

Bread Stick Topping Recipe

We love making homemade pizza and breadsticks.  This is the topping we put on our soft breadsticks.  We prefer to not return them to the oven, but they can be for a short time.