Red Velvet Cupcakes

Directions

For the cake:

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Either 2 ounces red food coloring for deep red color.

or 1 ounce for lighter red, which is what I use.

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Line cupcake pans with 24 liners.

2. In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter.

4. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time.

5. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk.

6. Beat in food coloring and vinegar, then add vanilla.

Divide batter evenly in the cupcake pans.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

For the Frosting:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, softened

1 pound box confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter. Beat in confectioners' sugar until fluffy. About 8 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Place frosting in a pastry bag or plastic bag with small corner cut out and ice half the cupcakes.

On the other cupcakes take a sharp knife and cut a cone shape out of the center of each cupcake. Take the underside and reserve for crumbs. Fill each cavity with frosting and top with the cap. Dust with powderd sugar. Use the crumbs to top the iced cupcakes.

Place in refridgerator for a few hours before serving.

Christmas Cookies, Chewy Ginger Cookies

These are one of my favorite cookies. Chewy Ginger Cookies! Spicy and Sweet! Click on image to enlarge, then save or print for your own recipe box.

Christmas Cookies, Magic Cookie Bars

This is one of Eli's favorite Christmas cookies. My aunt Alma made these. Click on the image to enlarge and then save or print for you own recipe box.

Chocolate Pots de Creme

Have you ever seen a more satisfied expression on someones face eating chocolate? Below is a wonderfully easy chocolate recipe.



Chocolate Pots de Creme – makes 4 servings
1 14 ounce can of full fat coconut milk
6 ounces dark chocolate, I prefer mine to be sweet, not too bitter
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

- Break the chocolate up into pieces, put it into a food processor along with the agave nectar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon – don’t process it just yet.

- Bring the coconut milk up to a simmer on the stove, and then pour it over the ingredients in the food processor

- Blend everything together until smooth and creamy, pour into ramekins or coffee cups, and chill for about 5 hours until firm and creamy.

Fried Green Tomatoes

This is one of the cards from the family cook book, and all of my Grandchildren will get a copy of all the recipes. I thought I would share it with others.

Zucchini and Green Tomato Relish

I used my food processor with the blade attachment and pulsed the vegetables to small pieces. You can also use a knife to do this, just takes more time.

Ingredients:

* 4 1/2 cups ground zucchini, about 2 1/2 pounds
* 2 cups ground green tomatoes, about 1 1/2 pounds
* 1 large red bell peppers, ground
* 1 large onion, peeled, ground
* 1/3 cup pickling salt or kosher salt
* 3 cups cider vinegar
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 2 teaspoon mixed pickling spices
* 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Preparation:
Put ground vegetables in a large stainless, enamel or glass container with salt; gently stir to combine. Top with about 3 cups of ice cubes, cover, and let stand for 3 hours. Drain and lightly rinse.

In a large, stainless, enamel or glass kettle combine the vinegar, sugar, spices, and garlic. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add drained vegetable mixture and bring slowly to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Pack into clean jars. Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth and seal with 2-part lids. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Makes about 5 half pints.

Girls, canning is no big mystery. Get a "Ball Blue Book" and follow the directions. It is very satisfying to fill your pantry with home canned food from your own garden, and hunting.

Poke Salad Recipe

Poke Salad

a mess of poke
2 pieces of bacon fried crisp and crumbled.
1 small onion, chopped
salt and pepper

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add poke. Let boil for 10 minutes. Drain. Rinse leaves in a colander and rinse out the cooking pot. Add more water to the pot and bring to second boil. Add poke and boil for another 10 minutes. Drain. Rinse leaves again and squeeze out the excess water like you would with spinach. Cook bacon in a large skillet till crisp, remove and crumble. Add onion to bacon fat in skillet and cook till soft. Add poke to skillet with the bacon, onion and the fat. Cook down a bit and season with salt and pepper.

This is what it looks like when it's not fit to pick...Please make sure you know what you are picking. Poke is poison when it gets over a foot or so high.

Grandma picked poke and other greens like lamb's quarter, cressy greens, and water cress.