Homemade Peppermint Patties

Homemade Peppermint Patties
brought by Linda Matheny to my party 12/17/05.

Mix together well:
1 lb. xx sugar
3 TBS butter
1/2 tsp. peppermint OIL
1/2 tsp. vanilla
about 3 TBS water.

Mix up into a smooth ball.
Make little same-size balls, 1 tsp. or 1 TBS.
Refrigerate balls a little while, not very long
Smoosh balls into patties with the bottom of a glass. If they are too hard, warm the ball in your hand and hand-smoosh. Smooth out the edges if they crack (crack less if not too chilled).
Chill again, about 20 minutes.
Melt any kind of chocolate that you like (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips) in a double boiler over hot water. Dip the patties in the chocolate and set aside to harden.

Heavenly Baked Apples

Heavenly Baked Apples

2 apples (Rome are my preference)
1/4 c. raisins (optional)
1/3 c. chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Peel, half and core the apples. I use a melon baller to neatly core apples.

Lay apples in a shallow baking casserole, preferably one with a cover.

If desired, drop 3-4 raisins, and pinch of chopped nuts into each apple's hole.

Sprinkle each apple with about 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar (or even less) and cinnamon, to taste.

Cover casserole and bake 20-30, til apples are cooked but not mushy.

Pumpkin Cookies with Chocolate chips

Pumpkin Cookies with Chocolate chips

1 large can pumpkin
3 cups sugar (or I have been known to substitute 2 1/4 cup honey)
1 cup Crisco (I prefer to substitute butter)
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
6 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 large bag of chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup nuts

Cream sugar and Crisco. Add eggs to pumpkin. Sift together all dry ingredients. Mix all together. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Grease lightly the pans. Makes 65 cookies, dropped by tablespoon.

-- a specialty of Rose Robinson, mama to Walnutt

Maple-Balsamic Chicken

Maple-Balsamic Chicken

This recipe's prime virtues are tastiness, speed, and ease!

4 skinned, boneless breasts, cut into "chicken tender" style strips
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 (14/5 oz.) can chicken broth
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Preheat a large non-stick frying pan and add chicken. Sprinkle with approx. half the salt, paprika and thyme. Cook til golden brown, several minutes. Turn, sprinkle and brown the second side. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer on low 20 minutes.

-- adapted from a recipe in Southern Living Magazine (unknown issue 2004 or 2005, probably) article "Fast Chicken and Rice" contributed by Jim Pleasants--Williamsburg, VA

"Ol' Fashion" Chicken Noodle (or Rice) Soup

"Ol' Fashion" Chicken Noodle (or Rice) Soup

This is my trusty chicken soup recipe.
The soup's latest claim to fame?

Walnut Grove Band played SpaghettiFest in October 2005 and some friends and I brought extra, extra, extra food along with us to sell, including this soup recipe. SpaghettiFest is a warm-spirited, albeit chilly and rainy early fall music camping festival. The music was great, and we made sure the food tent was well situated -- on high ground with a view of the stage! We made a lot of friends, worked hard, and had a lot of fun that weekend! SpaghettiFest ('04) pix.

1 whole chicken
1-2 stalks celery, with leaves (whole or partially chopped)
2 carrots (whole or partially chopped)
1onion (cut in quarters)
bay leaf
2 tablespoons vinegar (this helps get the nutritional goodness out of the chicken bones)

Before you do anything else, make sure you have removed the giblets from inside the chicken and save them for another recipe. Place the ingredients in a large stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer til chicken is well cooked and bones are breaking apart. Strain and separate chicken and vegetables from broth. Discard the veggies. Let chicken cool a bit so you can pull it off the bones with your fingers. Be careful to get out all the bones!!

Place chicken and broth back in stock pot and return to heat. Add:

1 thinly sliced onion
3-4 cloves garlic (or even more if you like it, to keep you well!)
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
dash of ground red pepper
a few (3-4) peeled, diced potatoes are a nice option here, although they weren't in the festival recipe

Simmer until vegetables are done. Soup is ready. Boil 8 oz. medium wide egg noodles or rice. Add noodles to each bowl as soup is served. If you use rice, add it individually to servings, as well.

If one is a purist, one will wish to make one's own noodles from scratch or adorn the soup with dumplings. Bless your heart! Invite me to supper! However, personally, I find these treats to be unappreciated by many, so I generally use either the store-bought egg noodle option or rice.