Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are different from yams. If you go to walmart, they don't make that distinction, because in the south, sweet potatoes and yams are considered the same. But they are very different. Winco has both kinds...sweet potatoes and yams. Sweet potatoes are the pale yellowish root-looking potatoes. Yams are the red/orange root potatoes that are often canned under the name of sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes

3-4 large sweet potatoes

1 cube butter

Canned milk if needed

Do yourself a favor and do not try to peel these before you boil. What a colossal pain that is. Wash them well and cut into 3"-4" sections. Boil in a pot of water for about 30 minutes until a fork pierces the center easily. Drain carefully. Peel the hot potatoes at this point by slitting one side with a sharp knife and pulling the skins free.

Place a cube of butter in the bowl and plop the peeled sweet potatoes on top of it to melt it. When they are all peeled, mash them with a masher and blend them up with the butter. You can use an electric mixer if the potatoes are a little stringy or lumpy, but usually a masher works well. Add canned milk a tablespoon at a time if the potatoes appear dry. These kinds of potatoes can vary in consistency...different crops can be dry or moister, depending on the growing conditions.

Keep warm until ready to serve. The flavor of these is like a slightly sweet mashed potato but not as starkly sweet at candied yams. Yes, I make both on holidays....my husband likes the yams and me and my daughter like the sweet potatoes. Enjoy!

Candied Yams

Mashed, candied yams like Trent's mom used to make. Can be made before hand, just don't add the marshmallows until they are reheated and ready to serve.

2 cans Princella Cut Sweet Potatoes in light syrup (29 oz each)

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup condensed milk

mini marshmallows

Drain potatoes but don't rinse. Mash in a 4 qt saucepan. Add melted butter, brown sugar, and canned milk. Cook on low/med stovetop until sugar is dissolved and incorporated. Don't be afraid to use an electric hand mixer to mash and blend, these can be slightly lumpy and stringy so an electric mixer is the way to go.

Place into a serving dish, a casserole, or foil pan (the round foil ones like they give at Bajio's work perfect.) Cover with foil and bake at 350 or so until the potatoes are heated through. Cover with a layer of mini marshmallows and bake until the marshmallows are puffy and very slightly browned.

Grandma Helen's Cheese Soup

As I've mentioned before, I didn't appreciate my first mother-in-law as I should have, she was an incredible babysitter for my daughter Shea! And, among other talents, she was a great cook and had great recipes and I learned so much from her....her cheese soup was fantastic! The only problem was, I was a naive twenty-something when I knew her so I never really appreciated her as I should have. Regret.

BUT...sadness aside...this cheese soup is her recipe, Helen Gertrude Henrie Gohr's. And let me tell you it has caused riots...there was an actual documented kidnapping over this recipe. It involved a ladyfriend coffee cup, gagged and tied I'm sure, held for ransom until this recipe was divulged to a very shrewd relative, of whom we will not identify. She knows who she is :)

Cheese Soup

4 russet potatoes

2 large carrots

1 large onion (I use sweet a sweet onion)

water

1 or 2 bricks velveeta (32 oz each)

1 pint half and half

Peel and shred carrots, peel and shred potatoes, peel and shred onion. I use a salad shooter to shred it all...works great.

Place in a stew pot. Cover with water, to about 1/2 inch above the vegetables. Do not add salt! Bring to boil and keep at a low simmer until vegetables are completely done, about 20 - 30 minutes. Turn heat down to very low.

Add cheese. Grant uses one brick, and the soup is delicious but a bit thin. I use about one-an-a-a half bricks for my big pot. You can always thin it with more water. Cut velveeta cheese into 1/2 inch cubes. Gradually add to the pot with the vegetable mixture. This soup should never boil after adding the cheese, boiling will ruin the texture. Keep cooking on low, stirring frequently to incorporate the cheese to make a creamy soup. Add half and half as a thinner if needed.

Delicious. Thanks Grandma Helen.

Peppermint Pistachio Chocolate Bark

This is a CUTE gift! Easy, we're talking a couple of steps, some chilling time, and the kids can help. I plan to do these for neighbors and co-workers this year. Oh, and it's delicious, my kids couldn't stay out of it tonight. Success.

2 bags Milk Chocolate Chips

2 bags White Chocolate Chips

4 regular size candy canes

about 3/4 cup Pistachio nuts (shelled) (Winco bulk food, of course)

Line a cookie sheet (preferably a jelly roll pan) with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with a light coat of Pam (y'know, or the cheap stuff from Winco. Whatever!)

Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave. I did 50% power (medium) in a glass bowl for one minute, stirred, then did another minute. After that do 15 second intervals until it's nice and melted, stirring each time.

Spread the milk chocolate onto the tin foil in a sheet with a scraper or a spatula, I used this **awesome** scraper thing I have that has a flat edge. A thin even layer just about filled a full jelly roll pan, not quite but pretty close. Try to get it even, working quickly because the chocolate will start to cool. Put the pan in the refrigerator. It will take 45 mins to an hour to set up.

While you're waiting for the first layer of chocolate to set up, smash the candy canes inside a ziploc bag. Don't quite pulverize it, you want a few "crunchable", recognizable pieces. Set aside.

Chop the pistachios with a knife on a cutting board. Set aside.

After the milk chocolate has set up well, melt the white chips the same way. Pour it IN LINES on top of the milk chocolate, meaning pour it all out at once so you can spread it, but pour in two or three lines to keep the heat distributed so you don't melt the milk chocolate too much. Quickly quickly quickly use a spatula or the cool scraper edge thing (that I have!) to spread the chocolate evenly over the milk chocolate. You MAY have some bleed through here with the milk chocolate, but a little is ok. Just work fast, because you want the white chocolate on the top...not a big deal if it's a bit swirled though. It's just prettier if the white stays on the top.

Sprinkle the crushed candy canes onto the white chocolate layer first. Then sprinkle the chopped pistachios on the top. When the chocolate cools a little, press the peppermint and pistachios into it, so it is firmly in the chocolate. Refrigerate until firmly set, 2 hours at least.

Break the chocolate into pieces. You can do this by breaking with your hands or cutting with a sharp knife. Pack into gift boxes! I used the chinese take-out style cartons at JoAnn's fabric for 80 cents each with some tissue paper. Cute, cheap gift for family and friends!

Shea's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not a chocolate chip cookie fan. I know, how Un-American is that? But...my family is. I just never found a recipe that I was interested enough to make, poor deprived family. So, Shea took charge. Last year she found a "recipe in a jar" gift that she made for everyone for Christmas. We made the cookies and they were so good! I know this is on every post I type.....but it's......wait for it......Trent's favorite :) Thanks Shea!! Oh, a note about the margarine...DON'T use butter here (wait, have I EVER said that before?!!?) Use margarine..oh that's painful to say...but true. Use room temperature margarine sticks, much better cookies are the result. But just for these! Ow. Ok, better now.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 - 3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp soda

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar lightly packed

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup margarine, softened ( one and a half sticks)

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips (you can use 1/2 choc and 1/2 white chips for fun)

Mix flour, soda, salt, brown sugar, and sugar in a bowl. Add room-temperature soft margarine, egg, and vanilla until it's a dough consistency. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets in heaping tablespoon-full sized portions. Bake 350 for 12-14 mins.

Note to self: Trent likes 14 mins...it's a crunchy/chewy texture he preferred to the 12 min soft cookie that I did first.

Makes around 2 dozen.

To do the recipe-in-a-jar gift:

Place brown sugar in the bottom of a jar, then the flour/white sugar/salt/soda, then on the top put a cup or so of chocolate chips. (I added more when we made them). Add a tag with directions to add one and a half sticks of margarine, an egg, and a tsp vanilla. Bake 350 for 12- 14 minutes.

Flaky Pie Crust

Pie Crust

First pie crust I’ve tried that wasn’t the pre-made kind, and it is very good. Highly recommended for sweet pies. This is the recipe for a single crust pie, double this for a covered pie. The refrigeration chill time is 4 hours, so plan accordingly. Don’t skip the refrigeration process, as it is necessary for the gluten to develop.

Keep in mind that a pie crust is flaky because of tiny pockets of cold butter that melt during the cooking process. It’s important to keep this cold and not overwork the dough. Run hands under very cold water before kneading to preserve cold temperature.

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
½ cup butter, very cold and diced
¼ cup ice water/vanilla…place 1 tsp vanilla in measuring cup, add very cold water to make ¼ cup total.

In large bowl, combine flour,salt, and sugar. Cut in very cold, diced butter with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add water, one teaspoon at a time, and toss with a fork, until all the water is incorporated. There should be small bits of butter visible. Run hands under cold water, then gather the crumbs into a flat ball, kneading only a little. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Roll out on lightly floured surface, and line pan with the bottom crust, fill with pie filling. Make an egg wash with 1 egg and a few tablespoons water, beaten together very well. Brush edges with the wash and add top crust. Crimp, fold, or decorate edges as desired. Don’t forget to cut a few vents. Bake as directed by pie recipe.

Pie tip: I always cover the outside edge with a gently pressed on lining of tin foil and let it the pie bake halfway and then pull the foil off so the edges don’t burn. Also, I egg wash the top of the pie with a light layer and sprinkle sugar on top before baking, looks pretty!

Million Dollar Fudge

Use a big pot to make this hot mixture.  I also tried this last night and this particular fudge is not temperamental when using metal. I used a metal bowl and a metal pan to set it. It was fine. Refrigerate several hours before cutting into neat squares, it has to be set very well before it will cut, use a hot knife.

Million Dollar Fudge SINGLE RECIPE

Makes one 13x9 baking dish about half full
23 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or coarse chopped chocolate
1 jar marshmallow crème (7 oz)
4-1/2 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. very good Mexican vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

Million Dollar Fudge DOUBLE RECIPE

Makes one 13x9 baking dish very full, I prefer to make this thickness of fudge.
2- 23 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or coarse chopped chocolate
2 jars marshmallow crème (7 oz each)
9 cups sugar
2 cans evaporated milk (12 oz each)
4 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. very good Mexican vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Butter a 13 x 9 baking dish.  If desired, line with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper lightly. 

In a large bowl stir together chocolate and marshmallow crème. Set aside. In a 4-qt or bigger saucepan, mix sugar, milk, and butter. Over low heat, gradually bring mix to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves, scraping down the sides if necessary. Boil for 6 minutes while stirring constantly without touching the sides of the pot, use the hot mixture to melt itself off the sides.  Pour hot mixture over the chocolate mixture in the bowl. Add vanilla and salt. Stir until smooth. Spread into buttered pan. Cool in refrigerator until set.