Cranberry Mush

This is a recipe we enjoyed at a family gathering in Springfield Missouri. It has become part of our holiday buffet.

Cranberry Mush

1 lb ground cranberry

2 cups sugar

1 tall can crushed pineapple, drained

10 large marshmallows, cut up

1 pt whipping cream, whipped

3/4 cups pecans, chopped

Mix everything but cream and let set for 24 hours in the fridge. Whip cream and fold in. Enjoy!

Coconut Cookies

Over the years, I have come to make lots of cookies at Christmas time. Here is one that everyone enjoys.

Coconut Cookies

½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg, unbeaten
1 cup sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups coconut
2 cups corn flakes
2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream butter or margarine; add sugars and mix well. Add egg.

Add sifted flour, baking powder, soda and salt, mixing well.

Stir in coconut and corn flakes, then vanilla.

 Drop mixture from a teaspoon onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Note: if desired the coconut and corn flakes may be toasted, then slightly crushed before adding to other ingredients.

Enjoy!

Grandma Barfoot's Christmas Candy

My mom made lots of candy throughout the year. Things like peanut butter fudge and black walnut fudge, syrup candy, etc. Sometimes in the early 1950s she started making this candy at Christmastime and she considered it to be very special. Christmas time candy making grew and she eventually would make huge amounts, sending boxes to California to the girls. Everyone who visited was given samples. Mama got a lot of pleasure from seeing people enjoy her candy.

Uncooked Fondant

Melt in a 2 quart saucepan over low heat- 1/4 cup butter or margarine.
Remove from heat and mix in- 1 1/2 tablespoons water.
Mix in a mixture of- 3 cups sifted powdered sugar and 2/3 cup dry powdered milk.
Mix until smooth and creamy. Makes about 1 1/2 cup fondant.


Chocolate Nut Balls

Shape fondant into inch balls. Partially melt 1 package semi-sweet choclate pieces in a double boiler. Remove from heat and stir until entirely melted. Drop balls into chocolate, one at a time and remove using 2 forks. Roll in finely cut, unsalted nuts. Cool on waxed paper. Mama used black walnut meats.

Cherry Walnut Patties

Blend 1/2 cup fondant, 2 tablespoons finely cut candied cherries and 2 tablespoons finely cut walnuts. Shape into a roll 1 inch across. Wrap in waxed paper. Chill. Cut into 1/4 inch slices.

Chocolate Covered Cherries

Drain 24 maraschino cherries. Cover each with 2 teaspoons fondant. Melt 1 package semi-sweet chocolate pieces in double boiler. Drop covered cherries, 1 at a time, into chocolate. Remove using 2 forks and put on waxed paper to cool.

Coconut Patties

Mix 1/2 cup fondant with 1/2 cup finely shredded coconut.  Shape 1 teaspoon fondant mixture into ball, then flattten into round patties. Makes 2 dozen.

Enjoy!

Homemade Biscuits

When I was growing up I don't ever remember having a breakfast without hot biscuits. My favorite way of eating them was with a slice of ham in the middle. Of course we also had them with fried chicken and chicken gravy. The biscuits made a great carry out snack with a slightly salted slice of onion placed in the middle. I don't think any of them were ever wasted, but if there were enough left, Mama made a fine lemon bread pudding out of them. You could slice off a slice and run outside to eat it while playing.

Mama always insisted on soft wheat self rising flour and I do too.  She used a dough cloth which was a piece of canvas with flour rubbed into it. She used this when she made biscuits, pie crusts or kneaded yeast dough.  I use a dough cloth also and fold it up to store in a ziploc type bag.

Biscuits

2 cups White Lily (or Martha White) self rising flour

1/4- 1/3cup Crisco shortening

3/4-1 cup buttermilk

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Put flour into mixing bowl and add shortening. Chop up shortening up into small pieces (pea size or so). Add buttermilk. Stir until flour is incorporated into the buttermilk.

Turn mixture onto a dough cloth, kneading it 4 or 5 times until it is smooth.

Pat it out to approximately 3/4 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter and place on a baking sheet.

Place in oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until brown on top. Remove from oven. Enjoy!

Makes approximately 17 biscuits. I usually put a small amount more of buttermilk into my mixture, maybe 2-3 tablespoons more because I like the flavor better. More buttermilk causes the biscuits to be heavier and not rise as high but the flavor is very good.

I always serve biscuits when I make fried chicken. In the winter I make homemade applesauce with this meal and in the summertime I make creamed corn.

It's ok to make bunny biscuits too!

Chicken Pilaf

This is a recipe I tried several years ago and we've enjoyed it ever since. It's a good dish to take to a pot luck and can be served hot or at room temperature.

Chicken Pilaf

 Chicken:                                    

 2  whole chicken breasts with bone

 1   rib celery, chopped

 1   carrot, pared and chopped

 ½  small onion, chopped

 1   stick cinnamon

 4 cups water

 ½ tsp salt

Marinade:

3   cloves garlic, crushed with 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 ½ lemons, juiced

Rice:

1½ cups rice

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

chopped parsley

 Add first 7 ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Cover, turn to low heat and cook until chicken is falling off the bones. Remove the chicken from the pot and set it aside to cool. Reserve the broth and refrigerate until you prepare the rice.

Combine the marinade ingredients. Once cooled strip the chicken from the bones and toss with marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

About 45 minutes before serving, skim fat off broth and measure reserved broth, adding water or chicken broth to make 3 cups then place in a pot and heat. Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add rice and salt. Stir rice until all grains are well coated with oil. Pour in hot broth and bring to a boil. Cook until the broth  level is just above that of the rice. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes and then turn off heat. Uncover and place paper towel across top of skillet and replace lid for 5 minutes.

Heat chicken and its marinade in the microwave or on the stove. Mix rice and chicken together, taste for seasoning. Heap mixture on a platter or in a bowl and garnish with toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley. Serves at least 6-10. I serve it with my salad and some good french bread. Enjoy!


(sorry for the BAD pic but I took it without my photographer!)

Aunt Bessie's Coconut Cake

Momma always made a coconut cake for Christmas. It started with fresh coconut with the eye poked out, the juice drained, then she broke the shell with a hammer. My job was to grate the coconut. I never liked that cake because the 7 minute frosting she made was too sweet for my taste. About 35 years ago I ate Aunt Bessie's coconut cake at a friend's house. Wow! The best coconut cake I've ever tasted.

1 cup Crisco Shortening
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup sweet milk
2 cups self rising flour
2 teaspoons coconut flavoring

Turn on oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 3 cake pans by rubbing with shortening or margarine then dust with flour. Cream together crisco and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Alternate adding milk and flour, ending with flour. Add coconut flavoring. Beat for a minute or so, then put in cake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and turn out on cooling rack.

Icing
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
1 cup sweet milk
1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup crisco
1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
1 bag of flaked coconut

Melt margarine on low heat, add flour and stir in milk. Continue stirring until very thick. Remove from heat and cool.

Put sugar and crisco in mixer and beat until creamy. Add cooked mixure, heat until the consistencey of whipped cream. Add coconut flavoring.

Frost between layers, top and sides of cake then sprinkle with coconut.

Can be made as a sheet cake or cupcakes. Enjoy!

Spicy Lasagna

I never liked lasagna because I found it to be too bland. However, this recipe is a winner! It was requested for our October birthday celebration.

Spicy Lasagna

1 lb. ground turkey

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon whole fennel seed

½ teaspoon crushed fennel seed

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 16oz can stewed tomatoes
2 6oz cans tomato paste

1 Tablespoon dried basil leaves

½ teaspoon dried oregano

6 lasagna noodles

3 cups ricotta cheese

½ cup grated Romano cheese

2 eggs, well beaten

2 Tablespoons parsley flakes

½ teaspoon black pepper

8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Crumble turkey into skillet, add next 6 ingredients and cook over medium heat until done (turkey no longer pink).

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cook noodles according to package; drain and set aside.

Combine ricotta, Romano, eggs, parsley flakes, and pepper in a mixing bowl; mix well.

Place half the noodles in a 13 ½-x8- 3/4 x 1 3/4- inch baking dish; spread with half the cheese mixture. Top with half the mozzarella cheese and half the meat mixture. Repeat layers; bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

Yield: 8 servings

Carol's Spaghetti Sauce (aka Lil Granny's Sketti Sauce)

Back in 1959 when I got married, some dear soul gave me a red and white checked Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  It was a godsend because I really didn't know how to cook. This is my version of their spaghetti sauce, and although it doesn't photograph well, it is a family favorite.

1 large onion, sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 lbs. ground round or low fat ground turkey ( I use turkey.)

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

5 cans of whole tomatoes, cut into small chunks, 14 oz. size cans (I used 4 cans + 1 can of diced tomatoes)

4 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce

2 6 oz. cans tomato paste

2 cans beef broth

1 handful dried parsley flakes

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon thyme

2 large bay leaves, or 3 small ones

2 cups burgundy, (I use Livingston Cellars)

24 oz. button mushrooms, (Sam's has them.)

Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat, add oil, then onion and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add 1/2 meat, brown then remove from pot. Add remaining meat and garlic, brown. Return meat and onions to pot. Add everything else, except mushrooms. Bring to a slow boil, turn to lowest heat and simmer for 2-3 hours. STIR OFTEN, DO NOT LET IT STICK TO BOTTOM OF POT. Tomatoes burn easily, then have a bad taste.

Clean mushrooms, slice and cook in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet. Add to sauce about 20 minutes before it is ready to serve. Taste sauce for seasoning, add a little salt if needed. Serve over spaghetti, cooked in a big pot of boiling water for about 13 minutes, Serve with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

12-14 servings. Freeze leftover in portions, add a little water when you reheat it. It's nice to have this in the freezer, by adding salad and garlic bread, you can have dinner on the table in 20 minutes.

(Lessons Learned... Spaghetti is not a photo friendly food... it is never a good idea to photograph red sauce on a purple plate... or a white plate either... big shards of Parmesan/Romano cheese sprinkled on top of your red sauce just looks silly... flourescent lights are evil.)

Barfoot/Nichols Family Genealogy Blog

If you want to know more about my Barfoot and Nichols family go to the following link:

http://mybarfootandnicholsancestors.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Carol's House Salad

Dressing

1 tsp salt

2 tsps dried oregano

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix. Makes enough for several salads. Store in covered glass container in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator at least 20 minutes before using to allow olive oil to liquify. Then stir or twirl to mix.

romaine lettuce,

red leaf lettuce,

escarole (my favorite),

prepackaged spring mix or baby spinach.

Wash and tear up the amount you want of each item and put in a salad spinner. Then add

2 green onions, sliced

2 radishes, sliced

8-10 thin slices cucumber

1/4 cup green bell pepper chopped

Add to salad spinner and spin vigorously to spin out the moisture.

Place ingredients in large salad bowl. Cut one red ripe tomato cut into chunks and add to salad bowl along with about 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese.

If you want to kick it up a notch and add more protein slice and smash 1 clove of garlic and a hard boiled egg in the bottom of your salad bowl.  Cut up shrimp is also a good addition. Enjoy!

Grandma Barfoot’s Noodle Soup

When I was very young, instead of pasta my mom put homemade dumplings in her tomato soup. At this time the only store bought food we had was flour, sugar, salt, pepper and vinegar. Using the food grown on the farm and those few store bought ingredients my mom was able to make everything we ate. Pasta was a luxury item that was not bought until I was older. It's one of those comfort foods served on a cold night.


Grandma Barfoot’s Noodle Soup

6 cups of water

1 ½ tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika

2 Tbsp margarine/Smart Balance or Butter Buds

2 cups uncooked macaroni

48 oz can tomato juice

½ - 1 teaspoon baking soda

Small can fat free evaporated milk

Bring the water to boil. Add margarine and seasoning salt and spices. Add macaroni return to boil and turn heat down to medium. Cook for 15-20 minutes, checking occasionally to see if there is enough liquid and add more water if needed. Add tomato juice and baking soda then turn down to lowest heat for 10-15 minutes. Then slowly add in evaporated milk being careful not to let it boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or so on lowest heat. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy!

My Fried Chicken

In the early spring my dad always ordered 100 baby chickens. The mailman delivered them in a cardboard box, with holes in it. We kept them by the heater in the sweet potato house until it was warm enough for them to run around outside... where they ate bugs, worms, cracked corn and rocks.  When they weighed  about 2 pounds each, they became Sunday dinner, with two of them killed at a time so there would be enough for all of us to eat. Those chickens, always fried - and with chicken gravy, were our entree on Sundays until the next spring.  As they got bigger, one was enough to feed us all.

Mama would pick out the victim, grab her and quickly wring her neck, put it in a big pan and pour boiling water over it and pluck off the feathers. She would then crumple up several sheets of newspaper, set it afire, hold the chicken by the feet and the head and rotate it over the flame so all the tiny hairs were singed off of it.  All of the chicken went into the frying pan, except the head, feet and guts.

Mama always kept about 12 or so of the new hens to be the laying hens for the next year. The old fat hens who had stopped laying became chicken and dumplings... but more about that later.

This is the way I make my fried chicken.

Fried Chicken

plain flour

Lawry’s seasoning salt

cayenne pepper

1 lemon

small chicken cut into pieces, skin and remove as much fat as possible

canola oil

nonstick skillet or frying pan

Pour small amount of canola oil in a nonstick frying pan (just until bottom is covered). Season chicken lightly with lawry’s seasoning salt and cayenne pepper. On wax paper next to pan, dredge chicken pieces in plain flour. Heat pan over medium heat and when oil gets hot, place chicken into hot oil. After all chicken pieces are in the pan, cover with lid. After 4 minutes or so of cooking, pour juice of ½ lemon over chicken, cover. When chicken browns, turn it over and add juice from the other lemon half over the chicken and cover. When chicken is done, place on paper towel covered serving dish. Enjoy!

To make gravy, sprinkle 2 Tbsp plain flour into drippings. Let the flour brown lightly (dark browning just tastes like burnt flour). Pour in 2-3 cups milk and stir. Allow to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In the summertime I serve it with hot buttermilk biscuits, creamed corn and fresh tomato slices. In the winter I serve it with hot buttermilk biscuits and homemade applesauce.

Chicken Cacciatora

I have made this recipe for more than 50 years  and we still enjoy it.

Chicken Cacciatora

2 1/2-3 pounds chicken thighs
1 large yellow onion
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup flour
1- 14 1/2 oz can whole tomatoes
1 large green pepper
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp oregano
6-8 mushrooms, quartered
salt and pepper to taste
Skin the chicken, season with salt and pepper (I sometimes use cayenne pepper) and roll lightly in the flour. Heat the oil in the skillet over medium heat  (I use a nonstick skillet) and brown the chicken on all sides for about 10 minutes. Stem, seed and slice green pepper lengthwise. Peel and quarter the onion. Put green pepper, onion, garlic, oregano, tomatoes,and the chicken into the skillet. Cover and simmer slowly for 40-50 minutes. Add mushrooms and simmer covered for 15 more minutes. Taste for seasoning. Serve hot over rice. Serves 4-6 depending on how many thighs used.

Enjoy!

My Sweet Tea

Back in 1968, when we lived aboard the Marine base at New River, North Carolina, I started to look for a mint plant because I wanted to try a Mint Julep. I looked at all the places that sold plants but couldn't find any mint for sale. In fact, there were no herbs for sale at that period of time. In the spring of 1970, we were living aboard the base in Quantico, Virginia and when my husband mowed the lawn for the first time, the aroma of mint was overpowering. I had finally found my mint!  I named it "Hyatt's Virginia Mint".

When we moved back to Alabama that August, I dug up some mint and brought it with me. I've had Hyatt's Virginia Mint ever since and put it in my tea every time I make it. Still haven't had the Mint Julep though...

5 cups of water
8 regular sized Luzianne tea bags
1/2 cup sugar (add more sugar if you like sweeter tea)
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 six inch sprigs of Hyatt's Virginia Mint (Spearmint)

Bring the water to a rolling boil, put in the tea bags,and turn heat to lowest temperature for 8 minutes. Put lemon and juice sugar and mint in a 2 quart glass pitcher. Muddle with a long metal spoon. Leave spoon in pitcher and pour in the hot tea, discarding tea bags. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add water to make 2 quarts. Pour over ice. Enjoy!

Grandma Barfoot's Icebox Pie

My mom started making this recipe when I was a child, before we had electricity. She froze it in the ice trays of our kerosene refrigerator. When my own children were small she always kept some available in her freezer. It was the first place they headed when we visited her. Sixty years later, it is still a favorite dessert.

1 large can of evaporated milk, chilled
scant cup of sugar
2 large lemons, juiced (about 1/2 cup juice)
3 cups of vanilla wafer crumbs

Whip evaporated milk until stiff. Continue beating and gradually add sugar, then lemon juice.

Cover the bottom of a 3 quart glass dish with about a third of the vanilla wafer crumbs. Cover this with half of the whipped pie filling and smooth. Scatter another third of the crumbs on top of pie. Cover with the remaining pie filling. Top with remaining vanilla wafer crumbs. Freeze. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving. Can either be spooned out or cut.

Enjoy!