If a recipe can tell a story, my Aunt Dixie’s Divinity recipe written on the back of an envelope with a birthday card inside just might do that.  

Thank you for letting me close out the Great Soup Round-up by sharing my special recipe with you.  

                                     – Jodi Thomas

 Aunt Dixie’s Divinity

Put in a quart size pan—works best in heavy pan, medium heat:

2 cups sugar   

½ cup water   

Dash of salt

Bring to a boil—should be rolling boil but not a crazy boil that climbs up the sides of the pan are you’ll have a mess.

Boil stirring most of the time and watching ALL the time for about 6 to 8 minutes until the mixture will go soft ball stage.  (That means when you drop a drop of it in a small bowl of cold water, you can push it around with your finger and make a sloppy ball.)  Once that happens I usually let it boil for another minute just to make sure it’s ready.

Next:  Pour over marshmallow cream from a small jar 8 ounces,  and start to mix on low for about 30 seconds, then kick it up to high for about 4-6 minutes.  Sometime during this add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Stop mixing when it starts to thicken, losses its shine, or the ripples the mixer makes stay up for three seconds.

Add a cup of chopped nuts and make a few more rounds with the mixer

Or

Wait and add a nut on top of each piece.  May also add a cherry on top if you don’t like nuts.

Late: Using two spoons drop candy on waxed paper. 

If the first few drops go flat, slow down a bit and give the candy time to cool a minute.  Once the candy looks right coming of the spoon, move fast.

This makes about three dozen candies.  The first few will be flat, but they still taste just as good.  The last few may be stiff so eat them first.  If you decide to put the nut or cherry on top be sure to dry the cherries on a paper towel first and put them on as soon as you drop all the candy.

Never double the recipe.  It won’t turn out.

Love you, kid, and remember, divinity is like birthdays, not everyone turns out perfect.

Aunt Dixie Kirkland

 What Kids Learn from Cooking –

Found in an old cookbook, source unknown.

Fractions – Have them measure ingredients, dry and liquid. Have them use two half-cup measuring cups when the recipe calls for one cup.

Addition: How many ingredients in all? How many minutes longer will the cornbread be in the oven?

Subtraction:  Count the eggs in the carton, and have them count out the number needed for the recipe. How many eggs are left in the box?  

Multiplication and division:  If I cut this plan of cake into four squares across and five down, how many squares will I have in all?  If everyone gets two slices of cake, how many people will this pan feed?

Geometry:  Circular pans, square and rectangle pans.

Reading:  Have them read the recipe to you. Teaches new words and how to follow directions.

Telling time:  The cake needs to bake 30 minutes.  It’s 3 o’clock. When will the cake be ready?

Science:  The three forms of matter … solid (flour, sugar), liquid (water, milk), gas (steam from the heat of the oven), as well as simple machines, levers and planes, and countless other science experiments.  Coming to mind to me is buttermilk and baking soda.                             

READ PINK — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Each day we fight on, we’re one more day closer to the cure.

In wars heroes are born who give us all hope, and in this fight against cancer the same is true.    As we move into Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I hope all will join me in not only helping others but in supporting the battles today and those to come.  Each army begins with one, and I pray for and look forward to the day when we win the war and Breast Cancer is only a memory.

In loving memory of my mother, I am happy to support READ PINK.   Jodi Thomas

Starting October 1, Penguin Group and eight bestselling authors will join together in a campaign to support The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Penguin will reprint special editions, including WELCOME TO HARMONY, featuring READ PINK seals on their covers. When you see READ PINK, buy
books and join us in the fight—Jodi 

My new release Somewhere Along the Way is available for preorder now at Somewhere Along the Way

Potatoes are one of my absolute favorite foods, no matter how they’re cooked, baked, fried, mashed, or chowderfied. This is a variation of my mom-in-laws recipe.
Ingredients:

5 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cubed (I use brown/golden potatoes)
4 stalks Celery, diced
1 tsp Onion Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1/8 cup Chicken Soup Base (or two billion cubes)

4 cups Half and Half
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1 1/2 lb Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp Paprika

**Optional**
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (for spice fiends like myself)
Four strips of bacon, chopped and fried to a crisp
Small Sour Dough Bread Rounds

Add potatoes, celery, onion salt, pepper and soup base to 1 quart water. Water should just cover the potatoes. Bring to boil. Boil approximately 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Add Half and Half, Cream of Celery Soup, Cheese, and Paprika (Cayenne Pepper optional). Cook over medium low for another 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

We love the sour dough bread bowls. Slice off the top of the round, pull bread from immediate center, not too close to the crust (we place that bread around the plate to dip in the chowder), fill with chowder, top with bacon.

YUM

To comment on Patricia Potter’s recipe, click here.

I call this dish Bunkhouse Stew because it will feed a bunkhouse full of hungry hands.

It’s really a version of Brunswick Stew, a southern/southwest delicacy. Its origins go back to early frontier hunting. Those returning with game would throw their bounty in a large pot along with any available vegetables. I’ve seen photos with huge pots prepared for community gatherings.

There are many versions throughout Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Some are more soup than stew, others more stew than soup. I’ve taken parts of different recipes for my own version and always serve it at large family gatherings. It makes a great dish with Texas toast or hot loaves of bread.

A warning: I cook to taste rather than by recipe. In other words, I keep tasting until I find the right mix, especially with spices. I also always make a large recipe because I freeze what is left in individual portions and enjoy it all fall. For a smaller stew, you can halve the ingredients.

Two-third pound of ground chuck or ground round.

One-third pound of ground pork

One large onion (chopped)

Four ears of corn (shave kernels from cob. Better than canned corn).

Three large baked potatoes

Eight or nine large fresh tomatoes or four cans of stewed tomatoes. Optional: other vegetables such as lima beans and carrots

Spices: two tablespoons of garlic powder/Cajun seasoning to taste/a pinch of basil and oregano. I also use one jalapeno pepper (optional).

Chicken broth.

I use a large crock pot. Wash the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook on medium heat until meat is falling from bones and there’s several inches of broth. Debone the chicken while leaving the broth in pot. Cut the chicken in small pieces and replace in pot. While potatoes bake, brown ground beef, pork and onions with a little garlic and seasoning in frying pan and add to crock pot.

Add the tomatoes/stewed tomatoes, other vegetables, garlic, salt and pepper, basil, oregano and Cajun seasoning to taste. When potatoes are baked, cut them up and add to crock pot. Allow to simmer for several hours. Add chicken broth as needed.

If my company is coming early in the afternoon, I often cook the chicken the evening before and reserve both it and the broth in the fridge. I then heat both up in the crock pot in the morning before adding the other ingredients. I add chicken broth if the stew gets too thick.

To comment on Cheryl Pierson’s, recipe, click here.

4 Teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/2  cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup shortening

Sift flour with sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir in cornmeal.  Add eggs, milk, and shortening.  Beat with rotary or electric beater till just smooth. (DO NOT OVERBEAT.) Pour into greased 9x9x2-inch pan.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Butter and serve warm.  Good with soups, chili, beans–ANYTHING.

Corn Sticks:  Spoon batter into greased corn-stick pans, filling 2/3 full. Bake in 425 degree oven 12-15 minutes.

Corn Cakes: pour onto hot griddle as you would pancake batter.

You can also use a cast iron skillet.  My grandmother used to pour a small amount of oil in the bottom of a cast iron skillet, heat it in the oven, then when it began to smoke, pour the batter into it.  It will bubble up around the edges, and this makes it “crusty” on the bottom and sides.  Then put it into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or so. If you do this, make this easy substitution: rather that using 1/4 cup of shortening, use 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the batter, and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the bottom of the cast iron skillet when you heat it.  This is equivalent to 1/4 cup of shortening. 

(My mom used to break up leftover cornbread into a glass of milk for a treat and eat it with a spoon. This was a habit from when she was growing up–in her large family, their “dessert.”)

To comment on Stacey Kayne’s recipe, click here.

Love and Laughter in the Old West

Confession time:  Cooking is not my thing.  I came to that realization the day my then five-year-old daughter rushed home from kindergarten raving about the cafeteria food.  To add insult to injury she couldn’t believe that the Jello kept its shape.  That was the day I stopped slaving over a hot stove and took up writing, instead. She’s now a certified professional chef and has cooked for U.S. presidents.  This only proves one thing; if you want to raise a chef, stay out of the kitchen.

Which brings us to recipe week at Wildflower Junction: My daughter saved the day (and probably national security) by generously offering to whip up a recipe to share.   You and your health provider will be glad she did.  Incidentally, if you need help with menu planning, holiday party tips or simply have a cooking question, you can reach Chef Robyn at www.chefsline.com.  Just mention burnt orange juice.  She’ll know her mom sent you. 

Fool’s Gold Salad

By Robyn Fennessy  C.C.

Ingredients       

2 medium cans of black beans, drained and rinsed in cold water

2 medium cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed in cold water

2 cups frozen corn (Trader Joe’s has frozen roasted corn). Use either white or yellow.

*If roasted corn is not available: place corn in skillet. Heat and stir until roasted.

1 medium red onion. diced

1 medium tomato, diced

1/8 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

2 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

2  teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup red vinegar

¾ cup of salad oil

2 whole limes (squeezed)

1 whole avocado diced

Method:

Gently toss beans, corn, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro together.  Combine vinegar, oil, limes, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper in a jar and shake well.  Pour over bean/corn mixture.  Toss until all ingredients are coated. Chill.  Add avocado just before serving

A Suitor for Jenny (A Rocky Creek Romance) 

When looking for a husband it’s best to go where the odds are in your favor.

The stew I want to share today is absolutely the easiest recipe ever created.   Whether you’re cooking for just you and your DH or the church choir, hopefully, it’ll become one you’ll add to your recipe box.  How many of you still have recipe boxes anyway? 

Texas Tamale Stew

Serves 2 to 200 … depending on the size of the cans used.

Put the following, with juices, in a heavy stew pot:

1 can               Chili

1 can               Tomato (crushed or diced)

1 can               Pinto Beans

1 can               Corn, whole kernel

1 can               Hominy (optional)

Heat until it’s hot, then add:

1 can               Tamales, cut into bite size

 Heat only until tamales are hot or they will break down.

Serve with cornbread.

Can Size Number                 Volume of Food         Weight of Food

No. 1 picnic                             1 1/4 cups                   10 1/2 to 12 ounces

No. 300                                    1 3/4 cups                   14 to 16 ounces

No. 303                                    2 cups                                     16 to 17 ounces

No. 2                                        2 1/2 cups                   20 ounces

No. 2 1/2                                  3 1/2 cups                   27 to 29 ounces

No. 3                                        5 3/4 cups                   51 ounces

No. 10                                      3 quarts                       6 1/2 pounds to 7 pounds and 5 ounces

I love to cook (it’s the cleaning up after part I hate!).  And I confess, too, that I like to experiment in the kitchen.  I call it being creative.  My less generous friends call it my inability to let well enough alone. <g>    Anyway, I especially like hearty dishes that I can make a big batch of and freeze portions of for later use.  The recipe below is one such.

Gumbo is, of course, known as a cajun favorite, and every cajun cook has her own recipe.  For instance my momma’s gumbo was quite different from my grandmother’s, and mine isn’t like either.  And this version is different from any of the above.  For this one, I’ve added a bit of chili powder and tomato paste to give it a little western twist (not entirely my idea – I saw the concept in a magazine and then added my own spin to it). 

Gumbos are very versatile – I just use whatever meats I have on hand (For instance, it’s a great way to use leftover turkey from those holiday meals!)

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup butter or vegetable oil
• 2 tblsp flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper
• 5-6 cups chicken or seafood stock (can substitute water if this is unavailable)
• 1 can (12-15 oz) diced tomatoes (if you’d like an extra kick, use the kind with chopped green chilies or southwestern style)
• 1 can (6-8 oz) tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespons Worchestershire sauce
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 lb sliced okra (best if sauteed separately with ½ teaspoon vinegar until ‘slime’ is gone)
• 4 lbs meat – any one kind or a combination of your favorites.  Meats that work well in a gumbo are Sausage (cut into ½ inch slices), deboned chicken or other fowl, pork, shrimp, crawfish, crab or even game meats
• Tobasco sauce or liquid crab boil to taste (optional)

Directions:

• Use flour and oil or butter to make a roux. 
  Do this by combining the two ingredients in a heavy saucepan and cooking over a low heat,  stirring constantly until the mixtures turns the color of a copper penny (about 15-20 minutes).
• Add garlic, onions, green onions, celery and bell peppers.  Cook until tender
• Add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT okra (and shellfish if applicable) and bring to a boil. 
• Reduce heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes
• Add okra (and shellfish if applicable).  Return to a boil. 
• Reduce heat and simmer for another twenty minutes.
• Remove bay leaves, skim excess oil, and serve over rice.

Leftovers (if there are any!) can be frozen for later consumption.

I’ve got a true frontier bread recipe for you to try today. I wish I could claim this was handed down from mother to daughter from my great-great-grandmother, but I can’t. Since Linda beat me to biscuits, and Cheryl has a delicious-looking cornbread recipe coming on Friday–and I rarely plan far enough ahead to make yeast rolls–I had to go hunting. Luckily, there are some excellent cowboy cooking sites on the internet. So here’s Frying Pan Bread, from the Legends of America site, to go with Pam’s Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup and Elizabeth’s Stampede’s Comin’ Chili. I added a few suggestions of my own [in the brackets], but the link for the original recipe is at the end. Enjoy!

Frying Pan Bread [also called Bannock]

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Water

Thoroughly mix dry ingredients. Add just enough cold water to make a stiff dough. [something under ½ cup for me]. Now let the dough rest while you heat up your skillet to medium, then add a little butter or bacon fat so the bread doesn’t stick.

Working dough as little as possible, form a 1-inch thick cake. Lay the cake on a greased, pre-warmed skillet. Brown the bottom of the cake lightly and flip or turn with a spatula to brown the other side. When both sides are lightly browned, prop the skillet in front of the fire [or slide it into a 375-400 degree oven] and let it bake [for 10-15 minutes]. Test for doneness by thumping the cake with a spoon handle or stick. A hollow ringing sound indicates doneness. An alternative test is to jab the cake with a twig or matchstick. If the twig comes out clean (no clinging dough), the cake is done.

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-frontierrecipes4.html#

This recipe is fast, easy, healthful and tasty.  I keep the ingredients on hand for unexpected company.  My family loves it.

1 pound ground meat (I like ground turkey, but beef works)

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 16 ounce carton fresh cut salsa (I like Rojos Garlic but your favorite will do)

2 16 ounce cans low sodium beans with liquid (1 can red, 1 can black is nice) 

Brown meat with chili powder, drain off fat.

Add salsa, beans, and a little water if needed.  For variety you can add some frozen corn.

Mix and simmer about 20 minutes.  Mash some of the beans with a fork or potato masher to thicken and flavor the liquid.

Serve and enjoy (you won’t believe how good this is).

I don’t reckon most cowboys in the Old West had ever heard of tortellini, and I’d bet my favorite western it was never eaten out on the range.  But I do know sausage and pasta has been a favorite through the ages, so here’s a soup I’ve made for my family many times over that I’d love to share with you.  Add some crusty bread or  garlic breadsticks for a delicious meal!

1 lb. Italian sausage

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 – 14 1/2 oz. cans beef broth

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup dry red wine

28 oz. can Roma tomatoes

1 cup sliced carrots

1/2 tsp. basil leaves

1/2 tsp. oregano

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 pkg. tortellini, cheese or meat

1 green bell pepper

1 cup zucchini, sliced

Parmesan cheese

If sausage is in casing, remove.  Brown sausage in 5 qt. Dutch oven.  Remove from pan, reserve 1 Tb. drippings in pan.  Saute onion and garlic in drippings until tender.  Add next 8 ingredients, plus sausage.  Bring to boiling, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Stir in tortellini and green pepper.  Simmer until tortellini is cooked.  Add zucchini last 15 minutes.  Top with Parmesan cheese.

Note:  1 can of sliced carrots may be substituted.  Use the water in the can and omit the 1/2 cup of water listed.  Also, 3 cups of bow-tie or spiral pasta may be substituted.