Mom's Prune Cake

"I have made this recipe since the early days of our marriage and it’s a favorite of Dad’s." - Tauna

1 C sugar                                   1/3 t. cloves

1 3/4 C flour                              7 1/2--8 oz. baby prunes

1 C oil                                            (3 jars)

2 t. baking powder                      2 eggs

1 t. soda                                     1/2 C nuts

1/2 t. salt  

                                                                    

Put dry ingredients in a bowl.  Make a well in center.  Pour in prunes, oil, and eggs, and mix well.  Add nuts and bake in 9x13 pan at 350 for 35-40 mins.

Carrot Cake

(1) Sift into mixing bowl:
2 C flour
2 C sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
(2) Add and mix well:
1 1/2 C salad oil
4 eggs, beaten in one at a time
(3) Add:
2 C grated carrots
1 C drained, crushed pineapple
1 C coarsly chopped nuts


Bake 350 for 45 mins. in 9x13”pan. 

Frost with following:   1 cube butter
         1 small pkg. cream cheese
    1 box powdered sugar
    a little milk

Aunt Katie's Pineapple Butter Cake

Mom (Cleo) always thought Aunt Katie, Uncle Boyd’s wife,  was the best cook in the family.

4 eggs

1 Duncan Hines Butter Cake

1 11-oz. can mandarin oranges & juice (cut oranges in half)

1/2 C oil

Beat together well.  Grease and flour 3 layer pans.  Bake 350 about 30 mins.

When cool, frost with:

1 tall can crushed pineapple

1 small Jello instant pudding (vanilla)

1 15-oz. container Cool Whip

Mix together and spread between layers and on top  Refrigerate.

Myrna's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Myrna Skousen was a dear friend of Nana (Cleo) and this is her recipe.  Myrna Skousen, our good friend and neighbor, is the most fun---always makes us laugh!

5 cubes butter or margarine 2 tsp. soda
3 C brown sugar 2 tsp. salt
2 C white sugar 1-2 pkgs. chocolate chips
5 eggs           2 C nuts (or more)
5-6 C flour

Cream butter and sugars and add eggs then dry ingreds. and lastly, add choc. chips and nuts.

 Bake 350 about 10 mins.

This makes tons of cookies and it’s easiest to make these in a Bosch if possible.

Mom's Pie Crust

"Mom" here refers to Cleo Turley.  This is her pie crust recipe.  Tauna says that she can never get this recipe to turn out, but it's Nana's nonetheless so we will pass it on because we love Nana.

2/3 C lard
1/3 C boiling water

Pour boiling water over lard and whip with a fork until melted.

Add: 2 C flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Mix lightly and refrigerate in Saran Wrap  before rolling out.  Bake 350 ‘til golden.

"For Thanksgiving, Mom (Cleo) used to make small, individual pie crusts and let us fill our own with different cream fillings---vanilla and chocolate ,and top them with bananas or coconut, and whipped cream." - Tauna Lowe  

Cleo's Cheesecake

Mix and press into a large pie tin:

20 graham crackers (squares),crumbed

1/2 cube soft better

2 Tbsp. sugar

Filling: 2 eggs, beaten

1/2 C sugar

1 lrg. and 1 small cream cheese

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix and pour into crust.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake 350 for 15 mins.

 Cool and top with the following mixture:

1 pint sour cream

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Bake another 5 mins. at 350.

Berried Delight

This is Krista's recipe for Berried Delight.

2  C  graham cracker crumbs
1/3  C  sugar
1/2  C margarine, melted
1  8-oz. cream cheese,softened
1/4  C  sugar
2  Tbsp. milk
8-oz. Cool Whip
2  pints strawberries  (or any berries)
2  4-oz. pkgs. instant vanilla pudding

Make graham cracker crust using first 3 ingredients.  Pat into a 9x13 pan.  Chill.
Beat cream cheese w/ 1/4 C  sugar and milk until smooth.  Fold in half of Cool Whip.
Spread over crust.  Arrange berries in an even layer over cream cheese mix.  Make pudding as directed.  Pour over berries.  Chill.  After set, spread remaining Cool Whip over pudding.               

Special K Special

This is Mom's (Tauna) recipe.  A classic for sure!!

1 cube butter

1 cube margarine

¼ c. brown sugar

¾ c. white sugar

24 large marshmallows (3 ½ c. mini)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. nuts (pecans)

6 c. Special K cereal

Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Do not overcook.  Add vanilla.  Pour over Special K and nuts.  Mix well.  Pour onto waxed paper to cool.  

Butterscotch Pumpkin Bundt Cake

This is a cake recipe I got out of a magazine or the Nestle website or something years ago and has become a fall staple for Halloween parties and fall get togethers and church parties.  The butterscotch sauce is super yummy and the pumpkin cake is really moist!  The most important thing here is the allow the eggs to warm to room temperature and butterscotch chips to cool to room temperature after melting. Otherwise you can get either a little "scrambled egg" in the mix or the butterscotch chips get too cool and don't incorporate well.  Wait the extra 10 or 15 minutes to mix the batter until they are room temp - it's worth it!

Ingredients:

1 2/3 c (11-oz pkg) Butterscotch Morsels

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 ¾ c. granulated sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 c. Pumpkin (Libby’s canned)

½ c. vegetable oil

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Powdered sugar (optional) 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.  Microwave 1 c morsels in small, microwave-safe bowl on medium-high power for 1 minute; stir.  Microwave at 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Cool to room temperature.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in medium bowl. Stir together melted morsels, pumpkin, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract in large bowl with wire whisk. Stir in flour mixture. Spoon batter into bundt mold.  Bake 40- 50 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in mold on wire rack. Turn out of mold and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with Butterscotch Sauce. 

Butterscotch Sauce 

1/3 c Evaporated Milk

2/3 c butterscotch morsels 

Heat 1/3 c evaporated milk in saucepan over medium heat just to a boil; remove from heat. Add remaining morsels; stir until smooth. Return to heat. Stirring constantly, bring mixture just to a boil. Cool to room temperature. Stir before serving. 

Nordstrom’s Crème Brulee

This is another favorite recipe of ours.  We made this for Dad (Bryan) once and he talked about it for days!  It has simple ingredients and is not too difficult.  The vanilla beans add fantastic flavor and it is NOT the same with vanilla extract so splurge for the beans!

Ingredients: 

6 large egg yolks

¾ c. sugar, plus more for sprinkling

3 c. heavy whipping cream

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

½ pint raspberries

3 Tbsp. shaved white chocolate

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 300°.  Have ready six ¾-cup ovenproof custard cups or ramekins set in a baking pan large enough to hold them without crowding.  
• In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and ¾ cup sugar until pale yellow and fairly thick.  
• In a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and vanilla bean and heat just until steam rises.  Cover the pan, remove from the heat, and let steep for 10 minutes.  
• Remove the vanilla bean, and with the flat side of a paring knife, scrape out the seeds.  Return the seeds to the cream and discard the pod.  
• Whisking constantly, gradually drizzle the cream into the egg yolk mixture, continuing to whisk until smooth and well blended.  (If the cream is too hot, the eggs will curdle.)  
• Divide the cream mixture evenly among the custard cups.  Pour hot water into the baking pan to reach halfway up the sides of the bowls / ramekins.  Bake the custards until they are just set – a little wobbly in the middle but definitely not runny when the baking pan is nudged – 25 to 30 minutes.  
• ***If your oven heats unevenly, you may need to rotate the pan 180 degrees at the halfway point.  Remove the ramekins from the water bath, let cool on wire racks, and then cover and refrigerate until the custards are chilled.  
• About 10 minutes before serving, adjust the oven rack so it’s 5 to 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the broiler, OR use a crème brulee torch.  Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar evenly over the top of each custard.  Place the custards under the broiler and, watching carefully, broil until the sugar is caramelized and a thin, glasslike coating forms on top, 1 to 2 minutes.  If using a crème brulee torch, torch each custard until you get the same result as using the broiler.  Serve at once, garnished with raspberries and white chocolate.  Makes 6 servings.

*This recipe often takes almost 50 minutes to bake.  Keep an eye on it and check it about every 5 minutes after 25 minutes.

Mandy's Chunky Crock Pot Applesauce

This recipe comes from Amanda Short.  Her family loves to make this in the fall with fresh cream poured over it.  It's delicious with a scoop of ice cream on it when it's warm.  We like it as a fall dessert alternative to a cobbler or pie sometimes.  You can also cool it after cooking for some fresh, homemade applesauce the next day.  While it cooks the large chunks just cook down to the texture of applesauce with a few bigger bites in it.  

8 apples

½ to ¾ c. water

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ to 1 c. sugar or ½ c. maple syrup

Peel and slice the apples in large chunks.  Stir together with the water and sugar.  Pour into crock pot.  Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours.  Serve warm.

Sprinkles Cupcakes Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened 
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 
1 teaspoon milk 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1/8 teaspoon salt Directions: 

1 In a bowl combine butter, sugar and salt. Beat till blended. 

2 Add the milk and vanilla and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy. 

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

This is Best Chocolate Cake EVER!  My friend Sonya gave this to me when we lived in Dallas and it soon became a favorite, especially for birthdays.  It's a good knock off of a Nothing Bundt Cake.  Just substitute cream cheese frosting for the glaze if you want to make an NBC knock off.  The glaze is yummy though too!  The batter makes a bundt and then 6-12 cupcakes.


1 box of Devils Food Cake 
1 box of chocolate instant pudding (3.9 oz)
2 cups of Sour Cream (16 oz tub)
1 cup butter melted
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups semi sweet mini chocolate chips


Mix cake mix and pudding mix in a large bowl.  Mix sour cream, butter, eggs, and vanilla in a medium size bowl.  Make a well in the middle of the cake/pudding mixture in the large bowl.   Pour sour cream mixture into the well.  Use mixer at medium speed.  After a couple minutes of mixing, add chocolate chips.  FYI..this batter is very thick! 

Butter and flour bundt cake pan.  There will be more than enough batter so DON'T over fill!  Leave 1 1/2 inches from the top of the pan.  Take the extra batter and make cupcakes, small round cake or whatever you desire :)  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 min depending on your oven.  Let cool atleast 10 minutes before removing from bundt pan. 

Glaze: 
3/4 semi sweet chocolate chips
3 t butter
1 t light corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
 
Melt chocolate chips in microwave (be careful, don't over cook).  Add butter, corn syrup, and vanilla. Work fast then drizzle on top of bundt cake. 


ENJOY! then head to the gym shortly after :)

Easy Mini Cheesecakes

April Lowe

(Makes about 2 dozen)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup margarine or butter, melted

3 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 (14 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT Evaporated milk)

3 eggs

2 teasp vanilla extract

1 (21 oz) can Pie filling or Topping, any flavor or berries to top each one

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 300.  

2.  Combine crumbs, sugar and margarine; press equal portions firmly onto bottoms of 24 mini-muffin cups.  Demarle silicone molds work best for popping these out when they are chilled.

3.  In large mixer bowl, beat cheese until fluffy.  Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth.  

4.  Add eggs and vanilla, mix well.  

5.  Spoon equal amounts of mixture (about 3 tablespoons) into prepared cups.  Bake 20 minutes or until set.  Cool.  Chill, Top with filling, a raspberry, or mini chips.

**  I often make this in my food processor and just drizzle the milk in while it's running.  It's super fast that way!

Chocolate: Melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips; add to batter.

Evil Apple Dip

April Lowe


This dip was served at April's bridal shower.   Her Aunt Peggy named it Evil Apple Dip because it's addictive - truly evil!

                                           

 Ingredients:

1 c. brown sugar

¾ c. powdered sugar

1 block cream cheese, softened

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 bag Skor Bits

Mix together all ingredients and chill.  Serve with apples or other fruit.