Some serious cooking

Wow, I think I’ve definitely made some yummies over the past week that have not been posted so put your seatbelt on. We’ve got recipes to discuss.

 

As I sit here typing away, I’m listening to one of my favorite bluegrass songs, “I Saw the Light” and I’m a fan of David Crowder Band’s rendition. Listen to it. It’s sure to make you start slapping you knee and take away any melancholy feelings you may have. Good for a rainy day. J

 

Back to recipes…

 

Last night I made Grandma Thelma a Coconut Pound Cake for her birthday. I made a mini bundt for myself and everyone else to have a little taste. Yum! Saturday I made a Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad and Butter Pecan Cookies. Sunday night I made Chili (recipe given in a previous post) and my mom’s Cornbread. So let’s get started…

 

Coconut Pound Cake

¾ butter shorting

1 c butter

3 c sugar

5 eggs

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

3 c flour

1 c milk

2 tsp coconut extract

3.5 oz can shredded coconut

 

Preheat the oven to 300. Mix the butter, shortening and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs in, one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt and alternately adding that and the milk to the butter mixture. Mix in the extract and stir in the coconut. Prepare a bundt pan and pour the cake batter in and smooth it out. Bake in the oven for at least an hour, checking every 5-10 minutes after that  until a cake tester comes with moist crumbs. Let the cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes on top of a wire rack. Invert the cake onto the rack so it cools completely. Feel free to put a glaze over it with some toasted coconut if you so desire, but it doesn’t need it. Yum!

 

Karen’s Cornbread

5 T melted butter

1 ¾ c yellow self-rising cornmeal

2 c buttermilk

2 large eggs

 

Mix everything together, but make sure the butter has cooled at least a little bit so it doesn’t cook the eggs when combined. Preheat the oven to 400 and prepare your muffin tins or 8x8 baking dish. Pour in and bake 20-25 minutes (for muffins). Delish!

 

Butter Pecan Cookies

1 1/3 c pecan halves

2/3 c light brown sugar

2/3 c white sugar

1 stick butter

½ c vegetable shortening

½ tsp salt

½ tsp espresso powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla

¾ tsp butterscotch, vanilla-butternut or butter-rum extract

1 tsp vinegar, cider or white

1 egg

2 c flour

1 1/3 c butterscotch chips

 

Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350. Toast the pecans until dark and fragrant. Check them often so they don’t burn. Then either chop them or leave them as is. But let them cool before adding them to the batter.

 

Blend together, shortening, butter, sugars, baking soda, salt, espresso powder and vinegar. Beat in the egg. Then add the flour and stir in the butterscotch chips and pecans.

 

It’s best to then let the cookie dough sit in the refrigerator to harden a bit so they stay in cookie shape. But I baked them immediately. They spread out a bit, but it doesn’t change the flavor!

 

Bake 10 minutes and let cool. Enjoy!