More Sweets!

In case you did not get enough calories in over Thanksgiving, here's a classic recipe from my mom!

THE BEST BROWNIES

(source: The Fanny Farmer Boston Cookbook)

2 squares unsweetened chocolate OR 6 Tbl. unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup butter 6 Tbl. butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup walnut pieces

Melt chocolate and butter (or cocoa and butter) over low heat in heavy pan. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Spread in well greased 8x8 square pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, until a straw inserted comes out clean and top is dull and dry. Do not overcook. Cool for 10 minutes, then cut into 16 squares.

Thanksgiving Favorites

I decided to post the Creamed Onions recipe because it is such a Grammy dish, to me. I remember many holidays when she would make this in her electric casserole -- white with a clear top. Amy Daisy asked for Tollhouse Pie and Peppery Turnips, so two bonus recipes for your holiday meal. Enjoy eating and being with loved ones. I am always thankful for our fun and wild family, but this is a good day to bask in the love, whether you are near or far.

Creamed Onions

(source: Louise, the Queen, Heard)

2 T butter

4 T flour

1-2 c light cream (mixed with milk if you want a slightly lighter version)

salt and white pepper, to taste

4 jars of Aunt Nellie's Holland style onions (white, pearl-sized) -- This brand always reminds me of Nell O'Connell.

Make sauce -- melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until a thick paste forms. Slowly add cream/milk (about 1/2 c at a time), stirring with a wire whisk until each addition is fully incorporated and sauce is smooth. Take your time and get rid of lumps. Add salt and white pepper, if desired. When sauce is about the consistency of gravy, add drained onions (reserve water for gravy). Let simmer at lowest possible heat until dinner. If sauce gets too thick, add some onion water.

Peppery Turnips

(source: Good Food Book by Jane Brody)

2 t butter

2 T honey

1 pound turnips, peeled and finely diced

1/2 t freshly ground pepper

1 T minced fresh parsley (optional)

In a saucepan or skillet, melt butter and honey over moderately low heat. Add turnips and pepper. Cover pan and cook until turnips are tender, stirring once, about 12+ minutes (turnips should brown slightly). Sprinkle turnips with parsley before serving.

Tollhouse Pie

(source: The Red Barn, Milbridge, ME -- first discovered during blueberry raking season)

2 eggs

1/2 c flour

1/2 c white sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 c butter, melted then cooled to room temperature

16 oz package chocolate chips

1 c walnuts, chopped

1 - 9 inch pie shell, unbaked

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs until foamy (I use a wire whisk). Add flour and sugar -- beat well. Mix i melted butter, then chips and nuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake for one hour. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream or both!

Frosting to Compliment the Cake

Cream Cheese Frosting

(source: Cooking Light)

1/2 c butter (one stick)

1 block reduced fat cream cheese

4 c sifted powdered sugar

2 t vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and beat until well-blended. Add vanilla and beat well.

Recipe can be halved if you need less frosting, but extra can be frozen until next time you make cake!

Where to start? Cake, of course!

In an attempt to make the family recipes accessible and available to present and future Heard cooks and others, here is the first (any maybe the best), the quintessential Heard recipe served at many birthdays and family parties.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

(source: Christine Heard)

2 1/2 c sugar

1 c oil

2 eggs

2 1/2 c flour

1/2 c cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 t salt

1 c buttermilk (or 1 c milk with 1 T white vinegar stirred in)

1 t vanilla

1 c boiling water

2 t baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream sugar, oil and eggs together with a hand mixer in a large bowl. Mix flour, cocoa, and salt and add one-third alternately with one-half buttermilk (or soured milk) and vanilla, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat each addition until well incorporated into batter. Add boiling water and baking soda and beat until smooth.

Pour batter into well-greased pans -- 3 - 8 inch rounds, 1 - 9x13 rectangular, 2-3 cupcakes or any combination. Bake for 30-40 minutes depending on size of pan. Done baking when cake tester comes out clean from center.

Cool in pans 5-10 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Frost (Cream Cheese Frosting) or dust with confectioner's sugar.

Try not to eat too much!!

(recipe can be halved; works well for cupcakes)