Banana bread

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 medium bananas, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Biscuits

(I make a double batch for the 10 of us)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

Sugar cookies

This recipe for sugar cookies is PERFECT for making cookie-cutter cookies.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

ICING:

Ingredients

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• assorted food coloring

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

Daddy's Amazing Salsa

This is another one of his recipes that isn't exact and he just plays around with it a bit each time.

4 tomatoes
1 green pepper
3 spicy peppers (jalapenos, chilis, etc.)
1-2 c peaches
1/2 onion
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tsp salt (level)
1 Tsp black pepper (heaping)
1/4 Tsp thyme
1 Tsp oregano
1 Tsp parsley flakes
1/4 c brown sugar (packed)

Roast tomatoes and peppers, then add onion & blend in food processor.  Combine all ingredients in large pot and simmer. Once he got enough salsa to make 10-12 quarts (approx. 3 batches) he then adds 1 shot of gold rum and 2 shots of red wine. Continue simmering until desired consistency is obtained.

Daddy's Delicious Pasta Sauce

He's tinkered around with this recipe for awhile and some of the measurements aren't exact (like tomatoes - you have to go by individual size, etc.) but pretty close.  He likes to try different things and measurements, but this basically it.

4 tomatoes (est)
1 green pepper
1/2 onion
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tsp salt (level)
1 Tsp black pepper (heaping)
1/4 Tsp thyme
1 Tsp oregano
1 Tsp parsley flakes
1 Tsp creole seasoning
1/4 c brown sugar (packed)

Blend tomatoes, pepper & onion in a food processor. Combine all ingredients in large pot & simmer.  Once he got enough sauce to make 10-12 quarts (approx. 3 batches) he then adds 1 shot of gold rum and 2 shots of red wine.  Continue simmering until desired consistency is obtained.

Molasses cookies

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups margarine, melted
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 egg
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup white sugar

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted margarine, 2 cups sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; blend into the molasses mixture. Cover, and chill dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Roll dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks.

Olivia's 9th birthday

Olivia requested our favorite cake (Recipe here) for her birthday, as 'mom's cake is way better than cake from the store!'  Bless her!  However, she had one request...she wanted CHOCOLATE buttercream icing.  So, that's what she gets :)

1/4 cup butter


2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1.Mix together all ingredients. May need to add more milk (slowly) until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.
 
DELICIOUS!!!