Grandma Peterson's Saltine Cracker Toffee

Elanore has become a big fan of—and an expert at making—this recipe from our friend Laurie Jones.

1 sleeve saltine crackers (or enough to line your pan)
1 C. butter
1 C. brown sugar
2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 C. chopped pecans

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

3) Line saltine crackers in a single layer on the foil-covered cookie sheet.

4) In a small saucepan, combine sugar and butter and bring to a boil.

5) Once mixture is at a boil, continue boiling for 3 minutes. (It should be a deep caramel color.)

6) Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely.

7) Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. (It will get all bubbly.)

8) Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit a couple of minutes to melt.

9) Spread melted chocolate into an even layer, then top with chopped nuts.

10) Cool completely (we put it in the freezer) and break into pieces to serve.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix for Camping

We love to have hot cocoa while we're camping, which in the past has meant Swiss Miss instant powder. I'm wanting to avoid all the additives and the powdered milk, so we're trying this homemade mix this year. It looks delicious, and it will be so nice to add just a tidge to your coffee and milk for a yummy, homemade, Starbucks-style treat by the campfire!

3/4 C. chocolate chips, frozen
1 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

To make the mix:
1. Freeze the chocolate chips for at least 10 minutes or they will melt as you process them! Pulse in a food processor until they are small crumbles.

2. Mix together with other ingredients and store in an airtight container. Makes about 4 C. of mix.

For each serving of hot cocoa:
2 Tbsp. hot cocoa mix
1 C. milk
whipped cream or marshmallows for garnish
flavored International Delight Coffee Creamer for flavors, if desired

This original recipe appeared on the wonderful food blog, Crazy for Crust.

Borax Ant Killer

It makes me cringe to think of posting a recipe for ant poison here on our recipe blog, but it works!!!  I want to share it with any of you who may also have problems with ants in the kitchen as soon as it gets warm outside. The original post appeared on a blog and came to me via a friend on Facebook. (And did I mention that IT WORKS?!!!)

1/8 C. sugar
1 tsp. Borax (laundry aisle)
1/2 C. water

1. Boil water, then pour in empty jar.

2. Add sugar and Borax to hot water and stir until completely dissolved.

3. Soak cotton balls with mixture and place on a piece of aluminum foil.

4. Place near the path where you have ants coming in. 24-48 hours later, they're gone. (Truly!)

I didn't believe this, really. I'd tried Combat and Raid Ant Bait traps. I'd tried Ant Terro. I'd tried natural remedies. I'd tried wiping everything down with vinegar-water. I'd tried spraying ant killer outside along the perimeter of the house. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has ever worked before to kill the ants. This works. YAY!!

Update NOTE: This absolutely worked amazingly the first time I tried it. Then, two weeks later, the ants were back. I pulled the leftover poison jar back out, and it didn't work at all! It seems to be important for the poison to be fresh, so I've cut the quantities way down in the recipe. Just make a fresh batch each time you need it.

Buttermilk PIe

This recipe originally appeared in the William and Mary Cookbook. It indicates that an alumnus in Iowa created it because she was longing for the Lemon Buttermilk Pie from the Old Chickahominy House in Williamsburg. It's really delicious. Though  my mother likes it warm, the rest of us prefer it chilled, as its delicate sweetness is enhanced that way, and something neat happens to the texture of the top when it crystallizes in the cold. It rarely makes it long enough to get to the fridge, though. As the recipe tagline in the cookbook says, "Better make two!"

1/2 C. butter, softened
1 1/3 C sugar (original calls for 1 1/2 C.)
3 Tbsp. flour
3 eggs, well-beaten
1 C. buttermilk
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice (original calls for 1 tsp.)
1/2-1 tsp. freshly grated lemon rind, optional (good both ways)
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
freshly grated nutmeg, for topping (I usually omit this because I usually don't have it.)
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

NOTE: This recipe makes a regular-size pie. If you want to make a deep-dish pie, you need to make half again as much filling. It sets up fine even with 1 1/2 times the filling called for above.

1, Cream butter and sugar together.

2. Add remaining ingredients except nutmeg.

3. Mix well and pour into pie crust.

4. Sprinkle with nutmeg and bake at 375 degrees until pie is set and top is golden brown, usually 45-50 minutes. It can handle cooking longer at 350, and I've even cooked the deep-dish version for an hour at 375. It's pretty forgiving.

Blueberry Pie

Philip's request for one of the Easter desserts this year...

"I didn't know you liked blueberry pie," I said.

"I've never had it," he said, "and I figured it was high time."

I couldn't find my good recipe from years back—it was from the mother of a friend from junior high, Diane Whitehurst, whom I haven't kept up with. My kids suggested I call her and ask her for her mom's blueberry pie recipe, but I do not have contact information for her, and even if I did, I figured Easter morning wasn't the time for a conversation along the lines of, "Hi. We haven't talked for 35 years or so. May I have your mom's blueberry pie recipe?"

So, I did what everyone does in the absence of a good, tried-and-true recipe... I looked it up online and chose one that looked good. It set up nicely and filled a deep dish pie pan, my two criteria for this go round. It was also delicious, so it's a keeper until Diane Whitehurst's mom's recipe comes back around sometime. I modified the original a bit, and the new version appears below.

2/3 C. white sugar
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 C. fresh blueberries
1 pastry recipe for a double-crust pie
1 Tbsp. butter

1. Combine first four dry ingredients and sprinkle over blueberries in a bowl.

2. Line deep dish pie crust with one pastry crust. Pour berry mixture into crust and dot with butter.

3. Cut remaining crust into 1/2-inch strips and form a lattice top to the pie. Crimp and flute edges.

4. Bake pie at 375 degrees until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, usually between 50 minutes and one hour.

Cheri's Homemade Marshmallows

This is Alton Brown's recipe for homemade marshmallows, which Cheri used for Evie's wedding. These were my favorite part of the Hot Chocolate Bar. They were absolutely delicious, even all by themselves...and melting into the hot cocoa, they were heavenly! 

(One deviation from the original Food Network recipe: she finished them on a cookie sheet to have more surface area and thus smaller marshmallows. The original, as indicated below, calls for a 13x9, which makes a bigger marshmallow... and I’m told by reliable sources that they toast nicely.) 

Ingredients

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 C. ice cold water, divided
12 oz. granulated sugar (appx. 1 1/2 C.)
1 C. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 C. confectioners' sugar
1/4 C. cornstarch
nonstick spray

Directions

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 C. of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 C. water, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Place over medium-high heat, cover, and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan, and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees, approximately 7-8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12-15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping, prepare the pans as follows.

For regular marshmallows:
Combine the confectioners' sugar and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13x9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar/cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

For miniature marshmallows:
The original recipe gives directions for some other method for making the marshmallows miniature, but Cheri simply followed the above procedure except she used cookie sheets to make the marshmallows thinner, and she cut them smaller at the end.

Cheri's Blueberry Tea

This is the delicious blueberry tea that Cheri made for Evie's wedding. The quantities appearing at the end are for a large crowd. (Just in case you're ever serving tea to 200 and don't want to have to do the conversions for yourself! This parenthetical version makes 240 6-oz. servings.)

2 C. water

4 Celestial Seasonings blueberry teabags*

1/8 - 1/4 C. sugar

2 C. cold water

Boil 2 C. water and add teabags to steep for 5 min. Add sugar and stir. If making ahead, leave the tea out to breathe. Putting it in the refrigerator makes it cloudy. For final mixing, put cold water in first and then add the concentrate or the concentrate will stay on the bottom and not mix well. Add ice to serve.

For a crowd: 180 C. water = 240 6-oz. servings; 9 boxes = 180 teabags

* Celestial Seasonings made the beautiful color. We tried other blueberry teas and they were not nearly as pretty or tasty.

Cheri's Citrus Punch

This is the yummy citrus punch Cheri made for Evie's wedding. The quantities in parentheses are for a large crowd. (Just in case you're ever serving punch to 200 and don't want to have to do the conversions for x16 yourself! This parenthetical version makes 254 6-oz. servings.)

3 C. pineapple juice (384 oz, buy 10 46-oz. cans)
2 C. cranberry juice cocktail (256 oz, buy 5 64-oz. bottles)
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (96 oz, buy 9 12-oz. canisters or in bulk cartons)
1 liter sparkling water (512 oz, buy 20 bottles)

 Mix all juices, chilled. Add sparkling water just before serving or you will lose the fizz.

Creamy Hot Cocoa

This recipe is from Allrecipes.com and we didn't modify it in any way--save massively increasing the quantities! It was delicious just as originally published, and folks have asked for the recipe we used at Evie's wedding. This is it, though it was the homemade marshmallows and other toppings that made it so over-the-top special! (That and the amazing decorations!)

Ingredients

1/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 C. white sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 C. boiling water
3 1/2 C. milk
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 C. half-and-half cream

Directions

1. Combine the first three ingredients in a saucepan.

2. Blend in the boiling water. Bring the mixture to an easy boil while you stir.

3. Simmer and stir for about two minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch!

4. Stir in the milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil!

5. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

6. Divide between four mugs. Add the cream to the four mugs to cool it to drinking temperature,

For our purposes at the wedding, we massively increased the quantities, stirred in the cream at the end, and served it in a large sterno-heated carafe made for this purpose, which we rented. You cannot serve it in a large carafe like coffee is normally served in, as the direct heating element will scorch and burn your cocoa.

Ham and Cheese Egg Cups with Hash Brown Crust

These were served at Evie's wedding on the table with the finger sandwiches and the hot hors d'oeuvres. They were cooked in those stand-alone silver muffin cups that allow you to cook muffins without a muffin pan. That enabled us to do the quantity we needed that day on large cookie sheets. 

We cooked them ahead of time, froze them, and reheated them the morning of the wedding. (They can be reheated from frozen or thawed. Reheat, covered, until thermometer inserted in center reads 160 degrees.) 

They're good if cooked, frozen, and reheated once. They are not good if frozen a second time and again reheated!

Ingredients

• 3 C. frozen shredded hash browns
• 1/4 C. butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1- 1 1/2 C. finely chopped ham
• 1/4 C. finely chopped onion
• 1/4 C. finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 3/4 C. eggs
• 1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line regular muffin cup pan with foil muffin liners and spray with oil. In medium bowl combine potatoes, butter and salt; mix well. It works well to let them defrost 15 min or so.  Scoop ¼ cup hash browns into each muffin cup. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

2. Sautee onion and pepper in a little olive oil.  Cook until tender. Mix with the ham and fill each cup equally with meat and veg mixture.

3. Stir eggs as if to scramble. Pour over meat mixture, filling each muffin cup equally. Sprinkle with cheese and a bit of Italian seasoning. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.