Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup soft margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375.

Beat together margarine and peanut butter

Add and mix sugar, baking powder and soda

Beat in honey, eggs and vanilla

Gradually add flour and mix well

Form into balls and place on cookie sheet, criss cross with a sugared fork

Bake 7 to 9 minutes, just until bottoms barely start to brown

Peanut Butter Chex Mix

LeRoy's absolute favorite snack. He has loved this from his first Christmas with my family in 1990 (mom makes it every year for Christmas). He makes it for every Super Bowl, Thanksgiving, Christmas and any other occasion that he can think of. He makes it so often that I had never actually made it until October when I made it as a Halloween surprise for him (that's when I took this picture). I haven't made it since because he always beats me to it.

2 cups corn chex

2 cups rice chex

2 cups rice crispies

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

Mix all the cereal in a large bowl and set aside.

Bring the sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Remove from heat and add peanut butter. Pour over cereal and mix together. They can be formed into "cookies" (as pictured above) or eaten straight out of the bowl (which is how LeRoy likes it). Keep in airtight container to maintain gooey-ness.

Individual Peach Upside-Down Cake

It is my Mom's fault (and I think my Grandma's) that I occasionally make peach cobbler for breakfast. Some of the kids friends think it's silly or see it as a dessert but my kids still ask for it. I was watching Good Eats one evening and Alton Brown made this recipe. It is delicious! The best peach cobbler I've ever had (no offense, Grandma). Even though it is done in individual ramekins, I've also doubled the recipe and done it in a 9 x 13 and it turns out just as great (just not as fun).

3 tbsp butter, divided

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 medium peaches, peeled (or 1 can of peaches)

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk (I've always used regular milk)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Divide 2 tbsp of butter between 4 (6 oz) ramekins. Melt the remaining tbsp of butter and set aside.

Evenly divide the brown sugar between the ramekins; sprinkling it into the bottoms of the dishes. Cut each peach into 12 to 14 pieces. Lay the peaches on top of the sugar; evenly dividing them between the dishes. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the sugar, milk, vanilla and melted butter. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until combined. Pour the batter over the peaches; dividing the mixture evenly between the dishes. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees on an instant read thermometer (or use the toothpick method just through the cake, not the peaches).

Remove from the oven to a rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each dish and turn upside down onto a serving plate. Serve immediately with whipped cream or ice cream (or as we did growing up: put in a bowl and top with canned milk).

** This can also be made with fresh apples and a little cinnamon. I've never tried it but Alton says its great.

Nathan's Birthday Fruit Pizza

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 - 8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla


Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Mix in egg. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Press dough into an ungreased pizza pan. ** The dough is kind of a pain to work with because it is sticky. The easiest way I found is to roll it with parchment paper on the top and bottom instead of using the rolling pin on the dough. When you take off the top paper to bake it the dough is super thin and you have to use a butter knife to pull it off the paper. It looks terrible but I promise that a super thin, weird looking dough cooks into a perfect cookie. Bake it directly on the parchment paper and remove it after it has cooled a little.


Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool. ** Mine takes about 12 minutes but be careful not to overbake or it will be be crispy instead of soft.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla until light. Spread on cooled crust.

Arrange desired fruit on top of filling and chill. ** Don't put fruit on until right before serving or the crust will go soggy.

It is fun to google pictures of the fruit pizza to see different ways to decorate it. Lots of fruits are optional.

Popcorn Balls

One of my favorite childhood traditions was having carmel popcorn almost every Sunday. The only thing greater than that is the side order of homemade fudge that came with it and the games we played while eating. Silly me, I haven't taught my daughter to make a whole lot of meals but she can whip out carmel popcorn in no time.

1 cube butter
1 cup corn syrup*
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
10 quarts popped popcorn** (approx)

In a saucepan over medium heat bring butter, sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Add the milk and bring to another boil. boil to softball stage (just barely softball if you like it to still be gooey after a few hours). Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over popcorn.

If forming into balls be sure not to press them tight together - this makes them hard to pull apart or eat. Our family likes to just get bowls of it or to eat it out of the mixing bowl. . . we're to impatient to make balls.

* I use 1/3 cup molasses and 2/3 cup corn syrup. I reminds me more of the popcorn we had growing up and gives it a little more carmel flavor

** We like to mix corn chex with the popcorn to give a little crunch to it

Surprise Brownies

20 oz package fudge brownie mix

12 Nilla wafer cookies

12 caramels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownies according to package instructions. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray and place one wafer cookes each in bottom of tin.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of brownie batter over each wafer. Unwrap caramels and place one in the center of each brownie, topping with small spoonful of batter.

Bake brownies 22 minutes. Cool for about 10 mintues, remove from tin, and serve warm (if you let them sit the caramel will be chewy again).

Apple Pie Filling (Bottled or Frozen)

Back in about 2005-ish I had a neighbor bring me 4 buckets of apples. I stared at them, wondering if I should dump them before or after they all rotted because I didn't know what to do with them. Then another neighbor saved me with this awesome recipe. It is great for pie, apple crisp and to top ice cream with - I've even caught one of my kids eating it straight out of the jar.

I have no idea what kind of apples we were given so all I can offer is the recipe. It seems that any crisp apple would do. Also, if you have the freezer space and would rather freeze the filling,

I found the same recipe but with a little different instructions - Go here!

Mix and cook (boil) until thick in a large saucepan:

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
10 cup water
*after it has thickened, add 3 drops of yellow food coloring

Peel and slice apples, about 6 lbs. for 6 quarts. Pack apples into quarts-you'll want it packed tight because the apples reduce down as they cook. Pour mixture over apples and remove air bubbles with a butter knife. Secure hot lids on jars with rings. Water bath quarts for 20 minutes.