Cowgirls in the Kitchen

Cowgirls in the Kitchen with Nan Reinhardt

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I was thinking about recipe what I wanted to share with y’all and immediately, my mom came to mind. She was a fabulous cook–not fancy, but always wholesome comfort food. Her mac and cheese was to die for and so was her chocolate wacky cake. So many memories of her are about food and meals together, either in the little house I grew up in or around a campfire in Michigan, where we went camping nearly every weekend all summer long when I was a kid.

One my favorite of her dishes was her pork and beans. I have such fond memories of Mom’s pork and beans, made with a pork roast and beans you’d soaked overnight, then mixed with catsup and mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and spices. She’d plop that roast down in a Dutch oven, fat side up, pour the bean mixture over it, cover the pan, and bake it low and slow. The scent filled the house. She served it with corn bread—not sweet corn muffins, real corn bread. Man, that was good.

My sister PJ and I talk about Mom’s pork and beans often, and we’ve both tried to copy it because we don’t have anything written down from her. The recipe was in her head and she just tossed it together. As kids, we didn’t pay attention to how she did it and when I called her for the recipe when I was new bride, her instructions were what you see in the paragraph above.  I think I’ve pretty much got it now, though, so here you go… see what you think.

Mom’s Pork and Beans

1 large package of dry great northern beans
1 pork shoulder roast–good sized with or without a bone
1 onion, chopped
1 bottle of catsup
1 Cup of canned beef broth
2 Tablespoons of yellow mustard (to taste)
2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce (to taste)
1/2 Cup brown sugar (to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste, along with whatever spices you choose–I add Morton’s Nature Seasoning and a dash of thyme

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 275-300 degrees F

Soak the beans overnight, drain and sort to take out any stones or detritus. Set aside and in the bean pan cook the chopped onion in a little butter until translucent. Remove from the stove and add the beans and all other ingredients except the roast. Mix it all together well.

In a separate large Dutch Oven, place the pork shoulder roast. Now here’s a step that is entirely optional: Sear the roast on all sides in a little olive oil. Mom never did, but I’ve done it both ways and it’s tasty seared or not. Your call.

Either way, with the roast in the Dutch oven, pour the bean mixture over the top of of it, covering the roast. Bake it low and slow for about 6-to-8 hours or until tender (roughly 1.5 hours per pound), or until the internal temperature reaches 200°F (93°C) and the meat shreds easily with a fork. Your bean mixture will thicken as it cooks, but check it now and again and if they appear to be drying out too much, add a little water or extra beef broth and stir to mix it in.

Enjoy! And if you think of it, give Mom a little nod up there in heaven. She’ll appreciate it and be really glad you’re enjoying her pork and beans!

P.S.: Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of this dish–we’re too busy eating to think of photographing it. But if you make it, take a picture and show me, and I promise, next time I make it, I’ll take one and post it to my social.

 

Cowgirls in the Kitchen – Sarah Lamb

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Welcome to my kitchen! Some of you might know there are food allergies in our house. Just to name a few are eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, and every legume but soy. To further complicate things, as an adult I developed an avocado allergy. So, cooking in our house can get kind of…difficult. However, there’s a recipe that I discovered and I’ve been wanting to try, and I thought I’d share it with you, since it’s a cookie with a pretty unusual ingredient, and only five ingredients total, unless you want to add a topping, then it’s just two more.

Ready?

I’m here to introduce Italian Cinnamon Olive Oil Cookies!

This recipe comes from this website here, and so you can print out the recpie if you are interested in trying this yourself!

As I said, super simple ingredients.

  • 2 ¼ cups All-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup Regular olive oil
  • 2 / 3 cup Granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoon Mandarin zest or orange zest
  • 1 / 8 teaspoon Kosher salt

If you want a topping for the cookies, you’ll need:

  • 2 tablespoon Granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all of the dry ingredients, and make a little well in the center.

Add the zest and olive oil, and mix.

Let the dough rest for 10 minutes, then test it. If you can squeeze it together and it doesn’t fall apart, it’s ready. If it does, add 1-2 more tablespoons of olive oil and mix well.

Roll the dough into a ball, and, if desired, sprinkle your sugar and cinnamon on the top. It’s easiest to blend the two together before sprinkling.

Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes, or until the bottoms brown.

Cool 5 minutes on the sheet, then 10 minutes on a rack and sample.

Don’t forget the last step. If you don’t sample, how will you know if it’s good for whoever you are making it for? Always sample, my friends!

 

If you have a favorite type of cookie, I’d love to hear it. I really like oatmeal raisin or oatmeal chocolate chip or plain old sugar! Those are my favorites. What is yours?

Cowgirls in the Kitchen – Winnie Griggs

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I really love this year’s Cowgirls in the Kitchen theme—cookies featuring an unexpected ingredient. Lots of really yummy recipes have been shared already. When it came time to choose my recipe, I wanted to share something that reflected my Louisiana roots, and I think this one fits the bill perfectly.

Since TABASCO® has been made exclusively on Avery Island, Louisiana for more than 150 years, I couldn’t resist adding a dash to a classic chocolate chunk cookie. The result isn’t a spicy cookie. Instead, the TABASCO adds just a subtle hint of warmth that enhances the rich chocolate flavor and keeps you reaching for another bite.

Growing up in South Louisiana, TABASCO wasn’t just a condiment—it was a staple on our family table.

 

Sweet Heat Bayou Cookies

A classic chewy chocolate chunk cookie with a Louisiana twist.

Ingredients

  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp TABASCO® Original Red Sauce
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1½ cups dark chocolate chunks
  • ½ cup caramel chips
  • Flaky sea salt (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 375°F.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
  3. Cream butter and both sugars for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in vanilla and TABASCO.
  5. Add eggs one at a time.
  6. Gradually mix in flour mixture just until combined.
  7. Fold in chocolate chunks and caramel chips.
  8. Scoop rounded 2-tablespoon portions onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
  9. Sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt if desired.
  10. Bake 9-11 minutes, until edges are lightly browned and centers still look slightly underdone.
  11. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.

 

Cowgirls in the Kitchen – Karen Witemeyer

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There is something special about family food memories. I used to love visiting my maternal grandma. She was a no-nonsense woman who shared her love through food more than words. She made the best jams and jellies from fruit grown either in her garden or wild berries my grandpa gathered down by the creek. But my favorite food memory with Grandma was her persimmon cookies. She would keep persimmon pulp in her freezer just so she could make my favorite treat whenever we visited. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time. I just knew she made the best cookies that were soft and just a little sticky and so yummy. They were small drop cookies with persimmon moistening the batter much like pumpkin does in pumpkin bread. Add some sugar, cinnamon, and raisins and they became a delicious treat.

When she passed (at age 102!), I asked my uncle to send me her recipe if he could find it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find it. A few years later, I found a recipe online that created a very similar cookie. It might not be exactly the same, but it is close enough to elicit those tender memories.

Persimmon Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup persimmon pulp*
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup raisins

*Note – Use hachiya persimmons for baking. They are the more elongated ones. (Think Roma tomato as opposed to a round, garden tomato.) Let them get overripe (you’ll need about 3) and squeeze the pulp right out of the skin and puree with a blender or food processor.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, salt and spices; set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, cream the shortening with the sugar using a hand mixer. Beat in egg then beat in persimmon pulp. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until everything is combined. By hand, stir in the raisins.

4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. They can be placed close together because these cookies don’t spread much.

5. Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 24-36 small cookies

Do you have special family food memories?

Cowgirls in the Kitchen – Shanna Hatfield

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Howdy!

I love to bake and often experiment with ideas to come up with new cookie recipes. Or try out unusual ingredients.

Root beer is a well-liked flavor at our house, so when I saw a recipe for Root Beer Cookies, I knew I had to give them a whirl!

Root Beer Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup butter

1 egg

¼ cup buttermilk

2 teaspoon root beer extract (or concentrate)

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375?.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add egg, beating well. Beat in buttermilk and root beer extract.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. (I like to line mine with parchment.)

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Remove to wire racks to cool.

Root Beer Frosting

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter (softened)

1 tablespoon root beer extract

Mix powdered sugar with softened butter, and root beer concentrate.

Frost cookies.

Store in airtight container up to five days.

Yield: approx. 24 cookies

NOTE: You can cut back the root beer extract to 1 teaspoon. We like ours with extra “pop!”

Have you ever baked with soda pop?

Cowgirls in the Kitchen – Making BACON COOKIES by Cheryl Pierson

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Hi everyone! Cheryl Pierson here, and today I’m bringing you a recipe  for BACON COOKIES for our COWGIRLS IN THE KITCHEN segment!

If you’re like me, you think bacon makes everything better. Well, I must admit, I never thoght about it making a COOKIE better, but I have to say, these do look delicious.

I haven’t made these yet, but I’ve got everything I need to do it with–yes, even that 1/2 cup of bacon grease, which we know is a staple in any southern kitchen. So there is no actual bacon MEAT involved, just the bacon fat renderings.

Another thing I like about this recipe is you can substitute gluten-free flour for the rebular flour, which, in our household, is a must if either of my kids is here to help us eat these!

Recipe and pictures are from a wonderful cooking website called CAKED BY KATIE! Here’s the link if you would like to see more of her wonderful creations.

https://cakedbykatie.com/

Bacon Cookies

  • Author: Katie
  • Total Time: 20 Min
  • Yield: 2 Dozen

Thick and chewy bacon cookies filled with sweet butterscotch chips and salted peanuts. Salty/sweet fans this cookie recipe is for you!

  • 1/2 cup bacon fat, room temperature

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar

  • 1 large egg, room temperature

  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

  • 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour *can sub gluten-free flour 1:1 baking blend

  • 1 cup butterscotch chips

  • 1/2 cup salted peanuts, chopped

Instructions

EQUIPMENT:

  • Mixer

  • Cookie sheet

  • Spoon or cookie scoop

  • Parchment Paper

  • Spatula

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream bacon fat and sugar on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

  2. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

  3. Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt into a bowl and mix on low until fully incorporated and dough forms.

  4. Mix in the butterscotch chips and chopped peanuts by hand with a spatula.

  5. Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop onto parchment-lined cookie trays approximately 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown and the centers appear just slightly under-baked.

  6. Let cool on the tray for at least 10 minutes before removing it to a cookie rack. Enjoy!

I would love to know if you make these and what you think of them. I can already tell my family is going to be huge fans when I get them made–probably this weekend. I saw so many unique cookie recipes that I wanted to try when I was decidong which one to include in this post. Do you have a favorite cookie recipe? I’m a cookie freak–I think I love them better than cake! I’m off to find my bacon grease!

Cowgirls in the Kitchen With Linda Broday

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Hi everyone, I’m Linda Broday and welcome to my little kitchen. I am not the best cook and I have to confess I don’t even really like to cook. My mama, God bless her heart, sure did try to instill some of her love for cooking in me but it just wouldn’t take. She was one of the best cooks and everyone loved to go to her house and it wasn’t for the candy she hid under the sofa. LOL My mama sure did love her sweets, and unfortunately, that got passed on to me. I’ve made these cookies so you know they aren’t very difficult. I did get some a little bit brown. Ha!!! Typical.

POTATO CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup (133 g.) light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup (65 g.) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups (180 g.) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 3/4 cups (145 g.) crushed kettle-style potato chips, divided

Directions

Step 1 In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat brown sugar, butter, granulated sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Beat in egg, vanilla, and baking soda until combined, then reduce speed to low and beat in flour just until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips and 2 cups potato chips. Cover bowl and refrigerate 1 hour.

Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 3/4 cup potato chips in a small flat dish.

Scoop dough into balls about 3 tablespoons (2 ounces) each. Roll in potato chips, gently pressing to adhere. Arrange on prepared sheets, spacing about 1″ apart. With a clean palm, flatten balls into pucks about 2 1/2″ in diameter.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets top to bottom and back to front after 7 minutes, until puffed and golden brown around the edges, 11 to 14 minutes.

Let sit 2 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Enjoy!

These will store in an airtight container for 3 weeks. I tell you they are so tasty. But don’t expect a soft cookie. These are crunchy sweet goodness.

What are your cookie favorites? Have you ever made any unusual kind?

Cowgirls in the Kitchen – Pam Crooks

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The fillies love sharing their favorite recipes, and I’m happy to be the first to kick off our new “Cowgirls in the Kitchen” series featuring cookies with a little bit of a different flair.

I found my Peanut Butter and Cheez-It Cookie recipe in a Midwest Living magazine recently, and the combo immediately caught my eye.  Who doesn’t love peanut butter and cheese together? These still taste like peanut butter cookies, and the crushed crackers blend in beautifully.  Add in the peanut butter chips (I also had chocolate chips), and what’s not to love?

 

Peanut Butter and Cheez-It Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter, plus more for topping
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 1/2 cups bite-size cheese crackers, crushed
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter-flavor chips
  • 16 whole bite-size cheese crackers for topping, if desired

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line two or three cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine peanut butter, granulated sugar, butter, and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

  2. Add milk, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and salt; beat on low to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by flour, beating on low to combine after each addition. Stir in crushed crackers and peanut butter chips.

  3. Divide dough into 16 equal portions (about 1/2 cup per cookie). Shape into 2 1/4- to 2 1/2-inch balls. Place balls about 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Slightly flatten each ball into a 3-inch round, reshaping edges if needed. Top each cookie with a dab of peanut butter and a whole cheese cracker.

  4. Bake one sheet at a time, until light brown and centers appear set, 18 to 22 minutes. (Internal temperature of cookies should be at least 160°.) Cool on cookie sheets 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Notes:

Be sure to beat the dough for the five minutes instructed. It really does change the texture of the dough, making it creamier, and the cookies bake up nicely.

Sometimes instructions confuse me.  🙂  So when it said 3 1/2 cups crackers, crushed – does that mean 3 1/2 cups BEFORE crushing or after?  So I measured out the 3 1/2 cups of crackers and THEN crushed them.  Worked perfectly.

I baked the cookies in two sizes – 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup portions – before rolling into balls and flattening them.  The 1/2 cup size bakes up like a monster cookie, and both portion sizes are thick and chewy.  I did use my thermometer to check for temperature since the dough was so thick.

My grocery store didn’t have peanut butter chips, only a  peanut butter chip and chocolate chip combo.  I love the addition of the chocolate!

Also, I garnished the bigger cookies with a dollop of peanut butter and a cracker as suggested, but I didn’t bother with the smaller sizes.  Totally your preference!

As the instructions state, this batch only makes 16 cookies if you make them full size.  More, of course if you use smaller spoonfuls.  I hope you enjoy!

Cowgirls in the Kitchen – Cathy McDavid

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I mentioned in my last blog that I was going through all my closets and reorganizing. Whew! Thank goodness that huge job is over and done with.

One of my many interesting discoveries was my late mother’s “The Good Housekeeping Cook Book”. The moment I unearthed this treasure I was hit with a thousand memories of her cooking up some delicious meal or dessert with this book propped up open on the counter. Until I opened the cover and read the handwritten inscription, I don’t realize it had been a wedding gift from my mom’s younger sister­—something that makes this keepsake even more special.

What I love about this cookbook is not only does it have more recipes than I could possibly make in a lifetime, it also includes sections on how to use leftovers, home canning, wines, box lunches, entertaining, meals for the business girl (I need to check this one out), dinner planning tips, and a guide to properly serving meals. And while dated and old-fashioned in many ways, the book is nonetheless charming and a look into life seventy-five years ago. There are also many wonderful recipes that I can’t wait to try. Here’s a twist on the classic sweet potato casserole I might make for Thanksgiving.

 

What’s the old saying? Everything that’s old is new again? It’s true for me when it comes to this cookbook. All these old recipes are brand new to me again. I’ll think of my mom every time I use one.

How many of you or your mother or grandmother had this cookbook in their kitchen? I think it was a staple back in the day 🙂

Cowgirls in the Kitchen – Karen Kay

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Howdy!

Here’s hoping you’ll excuse my late response.  Too much going on over the weekend, and for some reason I did not list it on my calendar that I work off of.  So, please forgive.

This following recipe is an easy one and what my grandson requested for his birthday this year…which we celebrated yesterday.

So, here we go:  This is a recipe from an older version of the Fannie Farmer cookbook, but is not now in my newest edition.  It’s a brownie recipe, but it’s one my grands love the best.  Now, I’ve made several other brownie recipes, but this one is their favorite:

 

Parker Brownies:

Oven temperature 300 degrees

2 Oz. unsweetened chocolate (can substitute 3 tblsp. cocoa and 1 tblsp. butter for each oz. of chocolate)

1/4 cup butter

1 cup suger

1 egg

1/’8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. vanilla

Confectioners Sugar

 

Directions:

  • butter and lightly flour a 8 inch square pan
  • Bake 30 minutes — no longer
  • Decorate with confectioner’s sugar on top

Easy meezy.  This year, because my grandson had requested brownies, I made 2 batches in 2 separate pans, although you could double the recipe, using a 9 in by 13 in pan.

I’ll get this posted and then come in and say a little more.

Addition:

Yesterday, I topped one brownie on top of the other and added homemade ice cream on top.  Here’s this very, very, very, very simple and easy recipe for homemade ice cream:

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup maple syrup — it must be maple syrup and not sugar.  The sugar will not work with this recipe

2 egg yoks

1 tbsp. vanilla.

Directions:

Put in a blender or Food Processor.

Blend until firm and then freeze in a large, square pyrex bowl.  There will be a thin line of butter milk on the bottom of the ice cream.  In truth, this thin line of buttermilk my grands often say they love best.

Enjoy!

Petticoats & Pistols