VANILLA CAKE

A Vanilla Cake is in my oven right now and my kitchen is smelling pretty good.

1 1/2 cup(s) sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 cup(s) (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup(s) sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1/2 cup(s) whole milk
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8-inch square cake pan with butter and dust with all-purpose flour. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Beat in the butter one heaping 1/4 teaspoonful at a time, using an electric mixer set on low speed, until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Beat in the sugar a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture resembles fine damp sand. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and milk, and beat on medium-high, just until blended. Do not overbeat.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean — 30 to 35 minutes. Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Frost with Butter Cream Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk to start, sometimes needs a little more for proper consistency

DOWN HOME APPLE DUMPLINGS

When I was growing up, my Mama would let me pick out a favorite dessert once in awhile. I always chose Apple Dumplings. After I married, many times my husband and I would make the drive to my parents house for Sunday Dinner. I would always request Apple Dumplings.

This recipe is the closest to my Mama's recipe which I have lost. It comes from Comfort Foods a Gooseberry patch book.

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup milk

three apples, cored, peeled and sliced

Garnish: sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, diced butter

In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and spices. Bring to a boil. add butter and set aside. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; cut in shortening. Add milk; stir until moistened. Roll out to a quarter inch thick on a lightly floured surface; cut into 4 inch squares. Divide the apple slices among the squares. ; Sprinkle with sugar and spices and dot with butter. Bring all four corners together in center; pinch together. Arrange dumplings in a greased 13x9 inch pan; pour the sugar syrup over the top, sprinkle with additional sugar, Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

I love to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top when serving.

SWEET CORN MUFFINS

This is my newest cookbook find. It has some wonderful recipes in it. I of course love the cover and the illustrations are just the down home friendly kind that I love!

Sweet Corn Muffins

1 and 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 egg, lightly beaten

two tablespoons melted butter

two tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with vegetable oil. In a large bowl,stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, stir together the milk, oil, eggs, butter, honey, and vanilla until blended. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk mixture. Stir just to combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, about two-thirds full. Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before removing from the tin.

Makes 6 - 8 medium sized muffins.

These are really delicious!

Turkey Pot Pie

This recipe comes from Autumn with Family and Friends, a Gooseberry Patch cookbook

We didn't have turkey this year, so I will substitute with chicken and chicken broth.

Homemade Turkey Pot Pie
1/3 c. margarine1/3 c. onion, chopped1/3 c. all-purpose flour1/2 t. salt1/4 t. pepper
1-3/4 c. turkey broth2/3 c. milk2-1/2 to 3 c. cooked turkey, chopped10-oz. pkg. frozen peas and carrots, thawed 2 9-inch pie crusts
Melt margarine in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir in onion, flour, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute. Mix in turkey, peas and carrots; set aside. Roll out one pie crust and place into a 9"x9" baking pan. Pour turkey mixture into pan. Roll remaining crust into an 11-inch square; cut out vents with a small cookie cutter. Place crust over filling; turn edges under and crimp. Bake at 425 degrees for about 35 minutes, or until golden. Makes 4 to 6 servings

Nacho Tacos

This time of the year I always get a little sentimental about times past. I am remembering how my Mama made so many wonderful dishes with Campbell's soup as one of the ingredients. This being why I visited the Campbell's Soup recipe site today.
I think this sounds good, as at our house we like tacos just about any way you can fix them.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Fiesta Nacho Cheese Soup 8 taco shells, warmed1 cup shredded lettuce 1 medium tomato, chopped (about 1 cup)
Directions:
Cook the beef, onion and chili powder in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the beef is well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat.
Stir 1/2 cup soup in the skillet and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling.
Heat the remaining soup in a 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat until hot and bubbling. Spoon the beef mixture into the taco shells. Top with the soup, lettuce and tomato.

This recipe came from
http://Campbells.com/recipes

BEEF NOODLE CASSEROLE

1 lb. ground beef and 1/2 cup chopped onion, browned and drained

one 15-1/4 ounce can corn, drained

one 10-3/4 ounce can cream of chicken soup

one 10-3/4 ounce cream of mushroom soup

8 ounces sour cream

1/4 cup chopped or diced pimento

salt and pepper to taste

three cups wide egg noodles cooked

1 cup buttered bread crumbs

Combine all ingredients except for the noodles and buttered bread crumbs

in a lightly greased 13"x 9" baking pan. Stir in noodles. Sprinkle the buttered bread crumbs over the top of the casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.

Serves 6

ROOSTER PIE

Recently I started collecting the little cookbooks put out by Gooseberry Patch. I always liked the titles and the illustrations, the covers always caught my eye. So far the recipes I have tried are easy to make and really good.

This recipe came from
One-Pot Meals

2 cups cooked chicken cubed
1/2 cup frozen carrots
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 onion diced
3 tablespoon chopped pimentos
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
one 10-3//4 ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chicken broth
one 11-1/2 ounce tube refrigerated biscuits

Combine chicken, carrots, peas, onion, pimentos, parsley, salt and pepper; set aside. Combine soup, sour cream and broth; stir into chicken mixture. spread in a greased 13"x9" casserole dish. Arrange biscuits over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until biscuits are golden. Serves 4 to six.