Old Fashion Tea Cakes

 

I don't know if I've ever had a tea cake, so this recipe definitely caught my eye. I have had scones before and liked them. This recipe was easy to make and I think they came out good. Not a big flavor burst though. Just like a sweet vanilla cakey type of cookie? I think they'd even be good with some orange or lemon zest added. Just to give it an actual flavor other than vanilla :)

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Old Fashion Tea Cakes

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups flour

Beat all together well. Cook at 450º for about 5 to 8 minutes. 

*I used unsalted butter

*I used baking soda for soda.

*I sifted all the dry ingredients together before adding the wet ingredients to the same bowl.

*I used a standard sized cookie scoop and they came out the perfect size.

*I baked them for 9 minutes.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven is always a delight! I, however, cannot seem to make a good chocolate chip cookie. I have tried it all. Brown sugar. White sugar. Both sugars. Room temperature eggs and butter. Melted butter. Chilled dough. Mix and bake dough. I just can't seem to get it right. So I'm always up to trying a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

I found this one interesting because it uses Bisquick. They actually turned out good! It made a small batch, just under 2 dozen when using a standard sized cookie scoop. Now, I normally don't put nuts in cookies because my kids prefer them without so I have not tried them with just the chocolate chips. Hopefully they don't come out a flat mess! I'll definitely make these again :)

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

¼ cup soft butter

¾ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/3 cups Bisquick 

½ cup chopped nuts

6 oz pkg. semi-sweet chocolate pieces

Heat oven to 375º. Ungreased sheet. Cook 10 minutes until light brown.

*I used light brown sugar.

*I used pecans.

*Using a standard cookie scoop I made 21 cookies.

*I baked them for 12 minutes in my oven.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Mexican Hot Sauce

Chips and hot sauce. Who doesn't love that combination? Who cares that you can eat an entire basket of chips before your meal arrives? Who cares that every 4-6 chips or so is probably an entire corn tortilla? Who cares that you probably ate a 12 count package of tortillas before your meal? Cut them up, fry them, salt them and serve them to me stat! I don't judge! I've probably done it a number of times. Who am I kidding? I'm a sucker for chips and hot sauce. However, I prefer my hot sauce a bit chunky WITH cilantro and warmed up. Now, everyone has an opinion when it comes to hot sauce. Blended. Chunky. Warm. Cold. Skip the sauce and go for the pico de gallo? I do love a good pico too :)

Anyway, this recipe caught my eye for a few reasons. It doesn't call for canned tomatoes. It has Worcestershire sauce, celery salt and apple cider vinegar. And, it's got zero cilantro in it. (That part especially makes me sad). This is definitely a different recipe for hot sauce! 

Make this recipe at your own risk. Honestly, we ended up throwing it out. It was way too vinegary for our liking. The jalapeños I used must not have been hot because there was no spiciness to it whatsoever. 

Let me know if you try it or modify it in any way. Comment below on how you like your hot sauce! And if you like cilantro or not :)

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Mexican Hot Sauce

1 tsp black pepper

8 tomatoes

1 med. onion

1 or 2 jalapeño peppers (seeds out)

1 Tablespoon salt

1 tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp oregano

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp celery salt

½ c. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp red pepper

Put ingredients in blender.

Pour in saucepan & boil, simmer for 30 minutes or until sauce thickens.

*I used roma tomatoes

*I used 2 jalapeños 

*I wasn't sure what red pepper was so since it called for 1 tsp, I used paprika. 

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Chicken Fajitas

       

       

     

  

There's something about fajitas that make me want a frozen margarita...but that's an entirely different topic :P  Although these aren't the sizzling and smoky kind of chicken fajitas that you can get in a restaurant, or off your own grill for that matter, they're pretty darn good for being stovetop fajitas. Not sure if the brand of fajita seasoning had anything to do with it, but I did like the brand that I chose to use. Although a tad on the salty side, this recipe was a thumbs up for us! Let me know in the comments what kind of fajitas you prefer! Beef, chicken or shrimp :)

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Chicken Fajitas

From: Leslie Byrd

Boil chicken (or use leftovers) & cube

Stir constantly in small amount of oil, onion & bell pepper. Add chicken & fajitas mix. Simmer.

Heat tortilla shells & serve.

*I boiled 2 boneless, skinless breasts. I seasoned with salt (would leave out if using the Kinder's seasoning packet), pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, a dash of paprika and a dash of chili powder.

*I used vegetable oil. 

*I used the Kinder's fajita seasoning.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Garden Salad

Another day, another salad...right? I find soooo many different kinds of salads going through my recipes. Most of them are jello based but we'll save that for another day. This one, while it's called Garden Salad, does not have any type of leafy greens in it. However, it does have...vinegar! So much vinegar! Let me say that if a "salad" recipe doesn't call for jello, it calls for vinegar :) This particular salad was a hit amongst many individuals who tried it. It made a pretty big batch, so I was able to share it with others, which makes my heart happy :) Oh! And don't let the amount of green onion sway you to cut back. I was skeptical but 2 bunches worked just fine.

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Garden Salad

1¼ cup sugar

¾ cup crisco oil

¾ cup vinegar

1¼ tsp black pepper

Mix & bring to a boil & cool.

1 can shoe peg corn

1 can tiny English peas

1 can french style beans

1 small jar pimentos

1 cup cut up celery

1 cup cut up pepper

2 bunches of green onions 

Mix all vegetables, pour dressing over all & refrigerate.

*I used apple cider vinegar

*Two bunches of green onions was not too much like I thought it would be

*You can easily add more veggies because the dressing is a lot

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Basic Blender Mayonnaise

 

    

I've never made homemade mayo before so I was excited to try this recipe. I've heard it's easy and I've heard it's better than store bought. Gotta agree with both of those. Although, I tried making it in my bullet type of blender and it didn't work at all. So I busted out the big blender and ta-da! We got mayo! It was a bit salty in my opinion, but I'll definitely make this again and cut back on the salt. I would probably try using olive or avocado oil next time too in stead of the salad oil. Try this one, we liked it!

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Basic Blender Mayonnaise

1egg

2 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp dry mustard

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp white pepper*

1 cup salad oil

Combine egg, lemon juice, dry mustard, salt and pepper in electric blender jar. Cover and blend at low speed until mixed. Increase speed to high and add salad oil.

*I couldn't find white pepper so I used black pepper

*I used vegetable oil as salad oil

*Use a regular blender to make this, not a bullet style one. You'll need to slowly add the oil while blending to let it emulsify. 

*I stored it in a mason jar in the fridge.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Cheese Crisps

I'm trying to navigate my way into the world of videos and cooking LIVE on my SCK facebook page. This was my first video on my new segment called "What's Cookin' Wednesday". Needless to say, I need to learn to take more still shots. It's a learning process. 

Anyway, I thought these Cheese Crisps were going to get crunchy like an actual cracker. They're not. They're still somewhat soft and chewy but have a crunch because of the cereal. Overall, I liked them but the kiddos did not. They were expecting a crunchy treat. The boy even said they were too cheesy...wha?!?! He's a goob :P

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Cheese Crisps

Makes: 6 dozen*

From the Kitchen of Mrs. Carnes

1 c. softened margarine

2 c. shredded sharp cheese

2 c. flour

¼ tsp. hot sauce

¼ tsp salt

2 c. crisp rice cereal

Combine butter (margarine), cheese, flour, and hot sauce and salt. Mix until well blended. Gently stir in rice cereal. Shape in walnut sized balls; place on ungreased cookie sheet, flatten with fork.

Bake at 350º for 10 minutes.

*I used margarine, but would use actual butter if made again

*I shredded my own cheese

*I ended up using my hands to better incorporate all the ingredients

*I only ended up making about 4½ dozen. Maybe if I had made them smaller to get the 6 dozen, they would have crisped up a little more? Hmmmm...

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.