Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

In our house, we love anything sweet that involves peanut butter, and we especially love peanut butter and chocolate put together.  Who doesn't?  I found a recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies in Grandma's recipe box, so I made them on Tuesday....they have been devoured.  I made the first couple batches just plain, but then I couldn't resist adding chocolate chips to the last couple batches.  This was a nice, moist, chewy cookie, and they were still fresh the next day.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup butter (My grandma has a note to cut off 2 tbsp, but I added both sticks whole.)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1 cup peanut butter (I used Peter Pan Honey Peanut Butter.)

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 cups flour

Chocolate Chips (optional)

Cream butter and sugar.  Add beaten eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla.  Sift flour and soda together, and add to mixture.  Mix well.  Roll into balls, and press with fork (My dough was too sticky to press with a fork; you might try chilling the dough, if you're not in a hurry).  Bake in pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Makes 4 1/2 dozen. 

Recipe Box: Miss Esther's Banana Bread

One of my Grandma Atkins' best friends and neighbors was Miss Esther.  Miss Esther lived just down a gravel road, not far from my grandma's house; she lived with her brother on their farm.  She sold eggs, and she weaved beautiful rugs.  My grandma used to take me with her to buy eggs, and we'd look through her rugs sometimes, oohing and aahing.  Miss Esther was a schoolteacher at one time; she taught in a one room schoolhouse, and she also wrote the local "gossip" column for the Bado community, the who was where and what they were doing column.  Our names were in that column several times....she would call Grandma to see who had come to visit that week, etc.  Times were definitely different back then; I miss them so much.  Anyway, this is one of Miss Esther's recipes, and wow, is it ever delicious.  The loaf even turned out perfectly in shape, color, and form.  It has become my new banana bread recipe.  Enjoy!

Miss Esther's Banana Bread

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

3 bananas

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Nuts (Optional; I left these out)

Mix shortening and sugar together; add eggs.  Mash up bananas, and add them.  Mix dry ingredients together; then add to mixture.  Grease a bread pan; this made one big loaf for us.  Scrape batter into bread pan; batter will be slightly thick.  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes; it took our loaf an hour or more to get done in the middle.  

Have a wonderful day!

Recipe Box: Sour Cream Chocolate Layer Cake

There's a funny story behind this cake; as a somewhat experienced baker, you'd think I'd know better....but I guess not.:)  As I was making the cake, I noticed that my grandma had baking powder written in the ingredients and baking soda in the directions....so I wasn't sure which one to choose.  Of course, I did the baking powder, and my cake turned out a pancake.  Well, that went immediately into the trash, and I started over....goodness.  You have no idea how hard it was for me to throw that cake, with all those ingredients, in that trash can....

Anyway, my second cake turned out delicious after I finally got it right.:)  It's actually from my great grandma's kitchen; in fact, my grandma has written down, "From Mother, Winnie Melton."  I'm so sentimental that I had to share that.  Enjoy this recipe; it's truly delicious!

Sour Cream Chocolate Layer Cake

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs

2 squares unsweetwened chocolate, melted

1/4 cup hot water

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In bowl stir together flour, sugar, soda, and salt.  Add sour cream, butter, and eggs.  Beat at low speed just 'til blended.  Then beat at medium speed 2 minutes.  Stir in chocolate, and add water; stir 2 more minutes.  Stir in vanilla, and pour into pan.  Now, my grandma used one long glass pan for a one-layer cake, but I used 2 round pans for a round, layer cake.  Make sure to grease pans well, and bake at 350 degrees.  When cool, frost with the following frosting.

This frosting comes from the 1969 Betty Crocker's Cookbook that belonged to my grandma, as well.  I doubled this recipe to make a bit more for my layers.

Cocoa Butter Frosting

1/3 cup soft butter or margarine

1/3 cup cocoa

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

About 2 tbsp milk

Mix thoroughly butter and cocoa.  Blend in sugar.  Stir in vanilla and milk; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.

Enjoy!  It's a decadent dessert that's filled with all kinds of chocolate happiness.

Recipe Box: Mel's Snowy Day Veggie Stew

My grandma used to make a killer vegetable soup, and I recently found a recipe in one of her cookbooks for a stew.  I don't think it was the exact one she made, but I kinda used it as a base to go off of.  My dad also makes a killer stew, his "son of a gun stew."  Oh, I love it when he makes that.  This recipe is completely my own, though, as I added things to mine just from what I can remember both my grandma and my dad adding, with a few of my own touches.  I hope you enjoy!

Mel's Snowy Day Veggie Stew

1 lb. of stew meat, browned well

46 oz. bottle of V8 Juice (my dad's idea from his stew)

1 can Italian diced tomatoes

Handful chopped carrots

3 potatoes, chopped

1 bag mixed vegetables

1/2 bag corn

1/2 onion (med. to large)

2 stalks celery, chopped

Dash of marjoram- Not too much as it could be overpowering.

Dash of thyme- Not too much, as it could be overpowering, as well.

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

Take all of these ingredients, and add them to crockpot or slow cooker.  It will fill your slow cooker up.  Stir together, and let simmer all afternoon.  It'll fill your house with a wonderful snowy day coziness.  (Hint: I made Oatmeal Bread in the breadmaker to go with this, and the meal was complete.)  

I hope your family enjoys!  This is now a family favorite around here.

I Found a Treasure

I found a treasure today....I didn't even know I had it.  Well, I knew I had it, but I had no idea what it contained or the immense pleasure it would bring me in actually looking through it.  I recently got into one of my Grandma Atkins' old cookbooks, and it had a ton of her recipes in it.  Well, I dug out the recipe box I'd kept from her, and I could not believe my eyes when I started looking through the recipes.  

I wanted to cry, I miss her so much.  As I went through, I noticed she had names on several of the recipes; some of these recipes were from people I'd known growing up, who are now gone.  They were my grandma and grandpa's close friends, like Miss Esther, Stella, Ann, etc.  I just wanted to cry because I was so excited to have found this treasure.  

I mentioned sharing my grandma's recipes on here, as she was a phenomenal cook, and she loved it just from what I can remember and from what I can tell by what she has saved in this box and throughout the cookbook.  My grandma loved, loved, loved chocolate (a trait I inherited), and there are tons of recipes for different kinds of chocolate cake (I still haven't found her Mississippi Mud Cake recipe, though).  So, inspired by the movie Julie & Julia, I'm going to take it to a deeper, more personal level, and I'm going to try one or two of these recipes every week.  I will then share that recipe on here with you, so that you can try it out for yourself and your family.  I'm so excited about this.  This is a treasure I will never let go of....I just can't describe the memories that come flooding back from this.  I could kick myself for not keeping all of her recipes she'd ripped out of magazines or written down.  When we lived in our old house, we had a mouse get into them all, and instead of keeping some of them, I felt I had to get rid of them.  I know....I am kicking myself today.  But to find this, well, it just gives me joy, and it's almost as if I can feel my grandma here with me.  Stay tuned, as we made some extra good cookies from the recipe box today and some homemade veggie stew last night; I'll be sharing.:)

Love,