A few extra LITTLE hands in the Kitchen!

Well, it's spring break and I managed to make my way out to East Texas. While Haley was off relaxing  down in Fredricksburg enjoying the break with a few other friends, and apparently spending time being quite the equestrian (boy I sure wish I could of seen her getting on and off a horse, ha :-)  I was posted up at Nanny's house scrapbooking, and finding time to cook a few things! Since Haley was gone I had to find a few other helpers to stir alongside me therefore, I reached out to my cousins Madison (3yrs old) and Lauren (going on 2yrs old) for the all the stirring and pouring assistance I needed. I added a small video clip debuting the "Little Baker" herself...Madison Grace giving us all the necessary components for our "No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies."

In Case you didn't catch all that :-) Here is the written recipe...especially for you, "Gotta see it written down before I can understand it" kind of people

1 stick of REAL butter
2c sugar
3tbsp of coco (I prefer to use Hershey's CoCo
2tbsp of corn syrup (makes the cookies good and creamy)
1/2c of milk
1/4 Heaping cup of Peanut Butter
1c of oats
1tbs of vanilla
**Make sure in the midst of getting your ingredients out that you lay out a good size piece of wax paper to plop the cookies on when the no baking is done **

                                                  















Melt one stick of butter in a pan on low heat (make sure the stick of butter actually gets melted and the little hands that are helping you aren't trying to eat the stick of butter.)

Once the butter is melted start adding first the coco, sugar, milk, and corn syrup. Once those things are added turn heat up to about medium high and wait about 5-6 minutes until your delicious chocolate mixture starts to boil, stirring periodically.
**In a short time of simply boiling chocolate for 5 mins I got a little taste of what it's like to be a grandmother, and to have a little tot hanging on your leg beggin to be picked up... it's a tough job but somebodys gotta do it.

Once the mixture is at a good boil pull the pan off the burner and add... in this order (Nanny's orders) first the peanut butter, followed by the vanilla, then the oats.

Stir quickly... Put a little elbow grease into the stirring while your at it... let me quickly say...True story... I once thought elbow grease came in a can, I was lookin for it in the garage, where I was quickly corrected by my pops who said "You're suppose to be a country girl, elbow grease means  put a little hard work in to it...embarrassing moment I know!!! Anyways moving on.. After the help of elbow grease, and everything is mixed in take the pan over to your wax paper and start droppin and ploppin those cookies down!! They will harden quickly and in an instant they will be creamy, hot, and ready to devour!!!

                        




*** Best enjoyed with a big ole glass of cow milk... or a Jug of it if you prefer :-)

Mom's Chicken & Dumplings

If you're anything like me, whenever the weather is a little chilly, you crave comfort food.  One of my guilty pleasures will always be chicken and dumplings. Here's the recipe I grew up on.

1. Cook a pound of chicken in a dutch oven filled with boiling water and a dash of salt and pepper
2. Leaving the water in the pot, cut up your chicken into bite size chunks
3. Cut up at least a couple cans of biscuits into quarter size bites
4. Put biscuit dough back into the pot (the water is now your chicken broth)
5. Add 1/4 cup to a 1/2 cup of milk
6. Keep stirring!
7. Dumplings will start to puff up
8. When the dumplings puff down, put chicken into the pot with dumplings
9. Add more salt and pepper to taste, if needed
10. Scoop out a healthy bowl
11. Sit down in front of the tv and turn on Real Housewives
12. RELAX AND ENJOY!!

Comfort in a bowl.

Crock Pot Roast!

I know what you're thinking.... it's been FOREVER!  Please forgive us!

  However, you must know that we have been cooking.....we just haven't been blogging about our latest cooking adventures.  Also, we feel it's important to remind you that not all of our cooking attempts will turn out as great we'd hoped.  Therefore, rest assured that even if we don't provide you with fabulous recipes you'll want to use time and time again, we will share our screw ups and occasional blonde moments.  Today's blog is a lesson in what you should not do to a roast.

 I had never in my life cooked a roast before this attempt.  However, since my brother has recently moved to town. I figured I should make him a home cooked meal like he was used to eating.  I bought this special seasoning from Homemade Gourmet called "Sunday Roast Seasoning".  Everyone at school was raving about it, so I figured it was worth a try.  I pretty much followed the recipe on the seasoning packet.  I use the term "pretty much" because I don't know what I was doing when I added water to the crock pot.  Did you know you can add to much water?  Well, you can.  As you can see below, I cut up a couple pounds of roast, carrots, red potatoes, and green beans.  Personally, I was not a fan of fresh green beans with my pot roast, but figured I'd give it a try.  Next time, I will not be adding the green beans to the mix.  

The picture below illustrates how water happy I became during this process.

Regardless of a possible roast drowning, we still managed to keep this 

cowboy going back for seconds!  

Mom's Buttermilk Pie

Buttermilk Pie.... my mother's specialty!

One of my favorite things for my mom to bake is a Buttermilk Pie.  I remember always hoping she would have one cooling on the stove whenever I drove home from A&M for a visit.  Who can resist the creamy, rich satisfaction you get in every bite?  Try it, you'll keep comin' back for more!

Pie Filling Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup buttermilk (or 2/3 cup milk + 2/3 TBSP. vinegar)
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 
  

Pie Crust:

Mash together the following with a fork...

1 3/4 cup flour

1/8 tsp. salt

2/3 cup. Crisco

Then add 4-5 tbsp. COLD water!  

Sprinkle flour on wax paper and roll out dough.

Obviously, at this point you'll want to put the dough in a pie plate.

Wondering how to make the pie edges look pretty?  Stay tuned!

I rarely have buttermilk on hand, so I usually use vinegar and regular milk to get the buttermilk taste.  Works like a charm!

Shh!  Don't tell my mom, but I used a pre-made pie crust this time!  Hers is clearly much tastier, and doesn't break apart like this one.

Look who I caught getting every last drop of the delicious buttermilk pie filling!

Perfection!  Now all we need to do is figure out how to make our pie crust look pretty.  All Southern Belles should be able to do that, right?

Nanny's Chocolate Chip Cookies

After making a short weekend trip to Carly's ol' stompin' ground, we decided we couldn't wait till our next trip east to eat more of Nanny's chocolate chip cookies.  

Check out the Kitchen Aid... every female needs one.  It just makes me happy to look at it.

Carly is geared up for cooking her grandmother's cookies in her blanket/makeshift apron.

Here's the recipe Nanny uses for her chocolate chip cookies...

2/3 cup butter (real butter... we had quite the debate about what is considered real butter this evening)

2/3 cup Crisco

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

Mix with mixer.... clearly Kitchen Aid is preferred

Add 2 eggs & mix again

Add 1 tbl. vanilla (I prefer Mexican vanilla) & mix again

In a separate bowl combine...

3 cups sifted flour

1tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Slowly add flour mix to "wet" mixture

Add 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips and nuts if desired

Bake in the oven at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes

Cravings, New Beginnings, and Laughter....

That's what this blog will most likely bring to you!  We're just a couple of small town, country girls lookin' for a good time and a good meal.  We are on a fearless mission to find the most delectable recipes to add to our growing recipe boxes... and hopefully yours!  Some of our tasty treats will be tried and true by the best chefs in the world, and some will most likely come from the best chefs we know... our grandmothers, mothers, and friends.  We hope to raise the bar and master some difficult cooking techniques along the way.  Fear for your lives, whole chickens!  We will be buying you by the dozen!  There will most likely be a lot of laughter (and hopefully a lot of heavy cream) on this journey.  Think of our blog as a wrap around porch you can swig sweet tea on, and get your hands a little dirty shellin' purple hull peas.  By all means, feel free to drop by and sit awhile!  


Stay spicy,


Haley & Carly