Recipes

My mother and mother-in-law are wonderful cooks.  Women growing up in the 40's and 50's aspired to be good cooks.  Most women of this time did not work outside the home.  The home and children were  their job.  I have worked all but 2 years of my daughter's life.  I never aspired to be a good cook.  Cooking was another job to be done when I got home from my paying job.

We had not had cable in about 20 years, but 4 years ago we decided to  have it again.  So I have been inspired by a lot of cooking programs!  I have also learned to like a lot more foods and be more adventuresome in what I will try.  My husband is NOT a picky eater and will eat whatever I want to make.

We grew up in the mid-west.  Meat and potatoes. Of course one of my favorite meals is roast beef with mashed potatoes/gravy and biscuits.  That does not get made too often at my house!  We are trying to eat healthier, less red meat, etc.  Since our daughter is a vegetarian now, we eat a lot more fish. Since she has moved home we are trying to eat more vegetables, too!  I tried brusssel sprouts for only the second time in my life and they were pretty good.

I have a box full of recipes from my mother, mother -in-law, other family and friends.  My mother is known for her cookie baking and she is happy to share her recipes for these.  I have decided to include these recipes from my box a couple of times a month.

Let's not allow cooking to become a lost art- and do our mothers proud!

side note- when I got married I did not know how to cook and received at least 5 or 6 cookbooks from my husband's side of the family- guess they felt sorry for him! :-) 

Happy cooking !

This recipe is from a dear friend I met at Hillsdale College in Michigan, Ellen Williams.

I have made these muffins many times through the years and they are always a hit and easy to make!

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY MUFFINS

2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 c. peanut butter (creamy works best)
3/4 c. milk
2 eggs
preserves or jelly or jam

preheat oven to 400.

Combine flour sugar, baking powder & salt in a mixing bowl.
Cut in peanut butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives, until it resembles course crumbs.
Add milk and eggs all at once.
Stir until flour is moistened.
Place 2 tablespoons of batter into greased muffin cups or papers.
Place 1 teaspoon jelly of choice on top of battter.
Add 1 heaping tablespoon more of batter on top of the jelly.

makes 12.    Bake   14-16 mins.

                                          
                                          
       

This is a pastry blender.

Any time you want to make something with coarse crumbs

this is the tool to use! 

An absolute must for pie crust.

All mixed together.

Even if you use papers you should use cooking spray in the bottoms.

I used more than a teaspoon of the raspberry jelly, I think!

These are oven ready. 

Try to cover over the jelly, or a lot will run out.

Because it sneaks out any way!

Ready to eat!

So yummy!

P.S.  In this batch I substituted agave nectar for the sugar.

Experiment with your favorite sweeteners!