Wanna Know a Secret?

{Meet Paulee ... Beth's younger daughter. She's absolutely enchanting and has a wonderful secret to share with everyone today!! Enjoy!!}

Want to know a secret? You can't tell.

I like cookies.

I like Granny Sue's cookies.

I want to tell you how to make cookies. Momma said no. They are a secret. I said "Don't tell me no!" And I'm going to tell you anyway. But don't tell Mommy. She'll spank me. Then I'll be mad. And have to yell at her, "Don't pank ME!" Then I'll have to go sit on my bed. And when I sit on my bed I scream. And cry. But Mommy won't come get me 'til I don't scream anymore. Then I can get down. But I'll still be mad.

So don't tell.

I found Jeffie Jean making cookies with Granny Sue and Gwynn.
She looks just like me. And she was messy!

{the next three pictures are from Christmas 2002}

I got to roll out the cookie dough. I don't get messy.

Terry helped too.

I like to lick the spoon.

So does Anderson. Doesn't Daddy have a BIG spoon?
(He likes the dough the most!)

Remember this is OUR secret!


Granny Sue's Christmas Sugar Cookies

Cookies

1/2 cup margarine

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

Frosting
1 tsp margarine (softened)
Approx. 1/3 bag powdered sugar
Add milk to desired consistency (I like it like a this syrup)

Cream margarine and add the vanilla. Gradually add the sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add in flour until it is well blended. Chill the dough for several hours, or even overnight. Roll chilled dough 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut into desired shapes. Bake at 375* for 10 minutes. Do not let edges brown. Remove immediately to racks to cool. Frost when completely cool.

Finding a Treasure

{Today's post is by sweet Beth, my sister-in-law. This week you'll meet both of her daughters ... the three of them survive in a home with SIX males. Yep, Heath & Beth have seven children and each one is absolutely precious!! Anyway, Beth is an amazing sister/friend and I adore her. In addition she can sew absolutely anything. She blogs at Sew Anyhow and everyone should read her blog! Thanks, Beth, for being the sister I longed for all my life! I love you!! ~ Teri Lynne}

When Heath and I got married, we were given a journaling book about your family's Christmas. One of the entries was to be about Christmas traditions. I honestly just stared at the page. Heath and I didn't have any traditions yet, and my family didn't either. I asked Heath, and he looked about as blank as me. Nope. We apparently were non-traditionalist. That is SO far from what I thought. I thought everything I did was buried in tradition, history, and the age old "this is how we've ALWAYS done it".

But then over the next month (We were married the second of November. On my grandparents 50th anniversary. Talk about traditions and family ties!), we began to talk about Christmas and we discovered my Christmases were really steeped in tradition. Every year since 1977 (the year I was born) we traveled up to the afore mentioned Grandparents' farm to have an entire Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve. My Grandma would have cooked everything under the sun, Grandpa would teach me some new way to play with my food (ever seen a toddler eating black olives? They make the BEST finger caps, and are great to suck right off!), my Uncle Terry was at my brother's and my beck and call, playing anything we wanted, and my Great-Grandmother would regale us with stories. It was always a surprise as to what tree my Grandma would put up each year. Sometimes it was white, once it was silver, and then there were years it was a real tree. One year, Thomas and I got to stomp through the pastures for hours to help cut one down! The ceramic nativity Grandma made would be in it's place on the half wall bar, and Grandpa would save me a seat right next to him in his recliner (it was always a joke to see if we fit!) We would open presents that evening, take baths, and wear Grandpa's t-shirts home.

Once home we snuggled into bed, and were sworn to NOT get Mom and Dad up before a certain time. No alarm clocks were aloud, and we spent a good portion of the next two hours giggling, being hushed, and finally threatened before we settled down. The next morning Thomas and I would sneak into one or the others room, check the time, "quietly" wait for the clock to strike the hour, and then sing to wake up my parents at the top of our lungs. Of course they had been up for a while, but we didn't know. Present time again, and then came the biggest tradition of them all. Daddy went into the kitchen to make our Christmas breakfast. I'm not sure how or why this got started, but it is a big deal! Daddy made us pancakes. Completely from scratch. The only pancake I will eat. And oh are they good.

The afternoon was always spent at my Dad's childhood home, with his parents, and siblings. And all the cousins. And of course there was the huge Christmas dinner. With a turkey AND a ham. 'Cause I don't like turkey. And we had to wait FOREVER before it was all cleaned up and we could open presents. And we would stay until all of us little ones fell asleep, full of food, joy, and family.

This was how we still did Christmas when Heath and I married. And he and his family was gracious enough to let us continue in these traditions. But then the year came when Heath wanted to be HOME for Christmas. Not just during Christmas week, but Christmas day. I really couldn't complain. We had been married for three years, and he had let me cling to my family. So this year we packed up our one year old, and drove for 10 hours to spend the week with Terry and Sue. Heath was so content, and I was SO pregnant! JJ would be born in just two months, and I was in full waddle. And minus the one phone call I made on Christmas day to shout "Merry Christmas" to all the family on Christmas day, it was a completely sad free trip. We laughed over a grandson and his Papa. I found that Sue's couch was a wonderful place to take naps. Grandparents got to watch their unborn granddaughter jump and kick. And I got to share my family tradition with the Busters. Pancakes on Christmas morning. And we started a new tradition as well. But even though that was the year it started, it's not my story to tell. You'll have to wait a day or two for that one.

So don't misunderstand me. While this was a hard first for me, it is one I cherish as well. I love every minute I get to spend with Heath's family. Sometimes, there can be little bit of sadness with it, just because of things missed. I think that is how it goes with most people as well. Twinges of sadness over Christmases past, family that has gone home, ones that couldn't make it that year. But that's how it was the very first Christmas as well. There was a sadness at a Son that was not home, and a sadness over the time to come. But oh the joy over the birth of the King. The shout of angels as they proclaimed the fulfillment of prophesy. The Messiah has come. And no matter where your Christmas is spent, that is still the Joy that is heard, felt, and shared.
So this Christmas, I share with you my Christmas treasure. Pancakes may not seem a treasure to most, but those made with my Daddy's hands, and out of his love for us, are priceless to me.

Daddy's Christmas Morning Pancakes

1 egg (seperate whites from yolks)
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Separate egg whites from the yolks. Beat the whites until fluffy and soft peaks form.

Add approximately 3/4 of the buttermilk to the dry ingredients and then add teh oil and egg yolks.

Stir the mixture, adding enough buttermilk to obtain a semi-runny texture (this usually requires adding more buttermilk than listed for me). Should the mixture become too runny, add enough flour to correct the texture.

Fold in whipped egg whites.

Wipe a slight amount of oil on the griddle (or pan) and cook over medium heat until upper side of the cooking pancakes begin to break the bubbles that have formed. Flip and finish cooking the pancakes through.

Makes approximately ten 4" pancakes. (I triple this for my family. But we are huge. And the kids eat like they may never eat again. But growing up with just the four of us, Daddy would usually double the recipe. You just can't help grabbing one everytime you walk past the plate!)

Enjoy!

My Mom

{Written in honor of my mom, Marian Sue Reagan Buster. Married for 38 years to the youngest son of Charlotte, Molli's brother, Terry. ~ Teri Lynne}

Three generations ... Momma, Casiday & Me

Where do I even begin? We don't ever get to spend Christmas together ... we live so far away from home that it's just not feasible. But my mom always sends presents or waits until we can be together to celebrate. She's never made me feel guilty about not being there ... she's just always said, "Christmas isn't a day ... it's when we are together!"

My mom is an amazing person! She's more beautiful and talented than she will ever understand. She's funny and smart ... and I love her!!

In February of this year, she and my dad were able to come and spend a week with us. We had an amazing time. My mom and I shopped and laughed. And we talked ... really talked.

You know those totally great talks that happen between parents and their grown-up children.

It was an incredible week. I cried when they left ... I wished they could just stay forever.

My mom is a fabulous Granny Sue! Casiday adores her ... and every year in August when the Costume Express catalogs start arriving at our house, Casiday picks out her Halloween costume. And Granny Sue makes it for her. This year she was a gypsy ...



Clearly, Granny Sue goes all out for her grandchildren.

But there's something else you should know about my mom ... she's real. She's broken and fragile yet strong and capable. She's honest ... and she loves deeply. She has this "realness" ... that is open to new challenges and new ideas. She admits she's not all she could be ... but she's also not content to stop growing.

I was once asked what the most important lesson I learned from my mom was ... I've thought about this a lot and my answer might be a little surprising ... but I learned that failing at something doesn't make you a failure. My mom taught me, through her words and her life, that not accomplishing a goal isn't the worst thing that can happen ... it's never setting the goal that is the failure.

I'm thankful for my mom ... I'm thankful for her friendship, for her love, for her support. And I am thankful that she has always let me be me ... even when she didn't understand!

I love you, Momma!! So much!!

And I'm sharing with all of you a Christmas staple at my mom's house ... her mom used this recipe, Momma and I both make it every year. Casiday will become the fourth generation to make fudge from this recipe. I hope you enjoy it!!

Mom's Fudge Recipe
(from her mom, my Mema)

Ingredients:
3 c. sugar
2/3 c. cocoa
1/8 t. salt
1-1/2 c. milk
1 stick butter or margarine
1 t. vanilla

In heavy saucepan combine sugar, cocoa, and salt. Stir in milk. Cook over medium heat. Stir constantly to FULL boil. Boil without stirring to soft ball stage. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. Beat until thick and no longer shiny.

This is without question the best fudge recipe ever!! I know not one person who has tasted it who has disagreed with that assessment! Enjoy!!

Christmas Sweets

{These are some of Molli's favorite Christmas recipes ... foods she makes every year - or close to it. Enjoy!}

Cool Whip Candy

3 (8 oz) Hershey bars
2 cartons Cool Whip
1/2 cup vanilla wafer crumbs or cookie crumbs or chopped nuts

Melt chocolate in microwave. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Stir in Cool Whip. Drop by teaspoons into crumbs or nuts. Place on waxed paper. Store in refrigerator.

Sugar Bacon
{Yep, bacon for dessert ... does it get any better?}

1/2 pound bacon at room temperature
1 cup (okay, who am I kidding, I always use more!) brown sugar

• Roll, pat, or shake the bacon in brown sugar. (I coat it big time!)
• Place bacon strips in flat pan with sides.
• Bake at 300 degrees until bacon is well done, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove with tongs and drain on brown paper bags.
• As it cools, bacon will get hard and can be broken into smaller pieces or served whole.

Tiger Butter

1 pound white chocolate or white almond bark
1 (12 ounce) jar of peanut butter
1 pound semisweet chocolate, melted

• Combine white chocolate and peanut and melt in microwave.
• Spread mixture onto a wax-paper-lined jellyroll pan.
• Pour melted semisweet chocolate over peanut butter mixture and swirl with knife.
• Chill until firm.
• Break into pieces.
• Store in refrigerator.

Divinity

2 & 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla

• Heat sugar, corn syrup and water in a 2-qt saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved.
• Cook, without stirring, until temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 260 degrees or until a small amount dropped into very cold water forms a hard ball.
• Remove from heat.
• Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Continue beating and pour hot syrup in a thin stream into egg whites.
• Add vanilla; beat until mixture holds its shape and becomes slightly dull.
• Drop from a buttered spoon onto waxed paper.

We hope you enjoy these recipes. Check back every Friday for more of our favorite holiday sweets and treats.

What are some of the favorite foods in your home at Christmas?



This post linked up with the ever so delightful Lisa at Stop & Smell the Chocolates! Go visit her for more dessert ideas ... Teri Lynne has linked her Red Velvet Cake recipe there!!

My Son of the South

I’m a southern girl. I was raised primarily in the mid-west (a perfectly wonderful place to grow up and be from, I might add) but our home was a southern home. My mother’s family is from the south and my daddy’s is from the mid-west and I have always believed that I grew up with the best of all possible worlds. When I moved to Alabama in 1986, it was as comfortable as an old shoe. I had come home.

My life in Alabama had some unpleasantness (that is how we southerners like to refer to lots of things…including what some textbooks call the Civil War) and within a decade, I found myself the single mother of a son going off to college and a teenaged daughter. I was unprepared for such a life, but I put on my big-girl panties and pulled from my strong Midwestern resolve and my Rebel pride and decided that some unpleasantness was NOT going to ruin my life.

Little did I know what God had in my path, just around the bend. Earlier this week, I shared about my first kiss with Ed, on a chilly Sunday evening. I’m not kidding at all when I tell you that my heart skips a beat after more than a few years just thinking about that slow, sweet first kiss.

I suppose I should just go ahead and confess that the person involved in the unpleasantness was a Yankee. Yes, believe it or not, my first marriage was a mixed one. A Southern/Midwestern girl married to a Massachusetts Yankee. He pahked his cahr in the yahd. Everything he did, he did intensely and most of it quickly. He walked fast, he thought quickly and he talked fast. He kept my little ole head spinning at times.It was an interesting time that ended up, as I said, unpleasantly.

One of my prayers at the end of that marriage and the beginning of the rest of my life was that if God had another mate for me, could he please, Please, PLEASE be a Southerner? You know what? God really does answer prayers, and sometimes He answers in spades. The deliverer of that sweetest of first kisses is now the love of my life and the man of my dreams. Also the answer to my prayers, as he was born in Macon, Georgia (doesn’t get any more Southern than that, I tell ya!) and lived in Memphis, Tennessee from the time he was 12 until he graduated from college. I am happily ever after-ing in the Camelot subdivision with a true Son of the South! Seriously a Southerner!

His Mother doesn’t care much about cooking, and I don’t think I’m talking out of turn, because she says the same thing. Neither did her mother. But, I’m told that his paternal grandmother, Ma, was an exceptional southern cook. And he sure does love him some Southern Cooking. I’m going to share one of his favorites with you, because you just might have a Son of the South that you’d like to please. The recipe below is for Pecan Tarts. The first bite will make you hear the soaring ovation from ‘Gone With the Wind’. You just want to eat them slow and savor all the goodness.

Go ahead…try it. And, y’all come back, ya hear?

~ Mollianne

Pecan Tarts

3 whole eggs

1 cup white corn syrup

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sugar

¼ cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

16 tart shells (from the frozen foods section at the Piggly Wiggly, y’all!)

Mix all ingredients well for about 2 minutes with a mixer. Pour into raw tart shells and cook very slowly at 300 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Apples, Apples, Apples

Photo by scrumpyboy

Is there anything quite as good on a cool fall day as the crunchy sound a crisp, tart apple makes and the rush of liquid sunshine into your mouth as you taste its tart sweetness? Maybe a thing or two, but I think that apples are one of the most delicious gifts of fall. I wonder sometimes if the appeal of the apple had anything to do with Eve’s decision to take that first bite? I’ll have to admit that on more than one occasion, something made with apples has deterred my diet plans. I could sure use a caramel apple made in Mother’s kitchen about now.

I spent the autumn of 1981 in Syracuse, NY. I was a military wife at that time, and we were stationed at Hancock Field. It was a magical fall, with all of the northern colors of leaves and many quaint places to explore. My ex-husband worked shift work and was often home during the daytime and we would pack up the little car with the children and just drive.

One afternoon, we came upon an apple orchard that had a little stand in front where they were selling apples. We bought a bag and stuck up a conversation with the man who owned the orchard. He asked if we would like to see what he had in the barn behind the stand. Curious, we said of course we would. He had a very old cider press, and was actually making cider. He invited us to put a cup under the spout and have a taste. I have never had a beverage that was more satisfying. Fresh from the press, that cider was the stuff that dreams are surely made of. It was like a 4^th of July explosion in my mouth. Of course, we bought a gallon, and were quite disappointed that it was empty by the time we got home.

We became very regular customers of that apple orchard that fall. We learned to take our own containers, and stock up, because we almost always emptied one container by the time we arrived back at home.

What precious memories of a fun time. I can close my eyes and see that old stand and barn at the orchard. I have spent years trying to recapture the taste of that freshly pressed cider…and nothing ever lives up to the mark.

My, oh my! I do love apples and apple cider. Below is the most amazing apple cake I have ever had. Another staple at my house in the fall, this is one that is sure to please anybody with a sweet tooth.

Hoping that today, you will find delight in an apple!

~Mollianne

Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting

1 ½ cups salad oil

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 cup pecans

3 cups chopped raw apples

Prepare raw apples and set aside. Measure salad oil into large mixing bowl. Add sugar and eggs. Beat until creamy on low speed with electric mixer. Sift flour with salt, soda and baking powder. Add a small amount of flour at a time to the creamed mixture. Beat well after each addition. When all the flour has been added, or when batter becomes very stiff, remove electric mixer. Fold in chopped pecans and chopped apples. Spread evenly into a 9 x 13 inch pan (or 2 9 inch pans) lined with wax paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 or 60 minutes. turn onto cake rack, remove wax paper, cool and frost.

The apples should be tart and crisp for this recipe.

Caramel Icing

½ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup milk

1 box powdered sugar

Cook butter and sugar together until well blended. Add ¼ cup milk and one box of powdered sugar. Mix and add just enough to spread.

Wonderful Wednesdays

I like Wednesdays. Wednesday is the day that reminds me that anything meaningful I want to do this week better get done, and also that the weekend is coming if I can just hang on. I work in a large church and Wednesdays are our busy day. There is always lots of activity in the building on Wednesdays. We host a Wednesday Night Supper, so there is always a wonderful blend of fragrances in the hallway as our chef prepares the meal. Mmmmm!

Three of my co-workers and I share a meal at lunch every Wednesday. We take turns preparing for each other. It has been a delightful experience for us. We have a bit of down time in a busy day. We don’t grab fast food. We have tried (notice I say tried) to have healthy food. Everything about the experience has been good. I thought I would share with you today a recipe that I’m going to make the next time it is my turn. With the cooler weather, my thoughts have turned to soup, and this one is a dandy.

Happy Wednesday to you!

~Mollianne

Southwest Chicken Soup - in the Crock pot

Put: 2 pounds chicken (I know people who buy rotisserie chicken from the store, but I just get a few breasts and thighs and bake them the night before) cut into bit size pieces in the Crock pot.

Add: 1 package dry ranch dressing mix and 2 packages of taco seasoning and mix with the meat.

Add:

1 chopped onion

1 can of black beans, drained

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 can shoepeg corn, drained

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilies

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

2-3 cans chicken broth (depending on how soup-y you want it)

Simmer for 2 hours or longer on low.

Garnish with sour cream, cheese, tortillas strips or chips, cilantro, etc.

For more great Works for Me Wednesday ideas, check out We are THAT Family!

Did I mention that I love this time of year?

Image from bing.com

It is another glorious autumn day here in the Heart of Dixie and as I looked out my bedroom window this morning, I saw some exciting changes of color in my yard. Once again, my cheeks were cool and the air was crisp as I walked to the car. The hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth” has been in my heart and on my lips all day long.

It is just the sort of day that makes me so grateful for the senses of sight, smell, and touch. There is a glory in the colors as they change delight my eyes. The fragrance of apples and cinnamon and pumpkins is such a treat. The feel of a leaf that I pick up to examine is luxurious.

Today, I want to celebrate God’s bounty and share with you a wonderful recipe that satisfies my senses of sight, smell and touch. May you ‘taste and see that God is good’ today.

~Mollianne

Fried Apples (from Cracker Barrel)

6 tart apples, sliced

1 tsp Lemon juice

¼ cup Bacon drippings

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 dash nutmeg

In a large skillet, melt bacon drippings. Pour apples evenly over skillet bottom. Sprinkle lemon juice over them, then brown sugar, then salt. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes until apples are tender and juicy. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.

(You won’t be sorry you made these…I promise!)

It's Here

Photo by elbfoto

Autumn is here.

Really, truly here and I LOVE it!

While some, including my darling husband, find that Autumn is the prelude to winter, cold and darkness, I find that I come alive and am at my best when the morning air is crisp and my cheeks are cool. I love the colors of autumn. I love the smells and the food and the gathering of family and friends to watch football, go trick or treating. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The food is great, the expectations and obligations are much less than that of Christmas and there is something so wonderful about a day to eat and be thankful for all of God’s bounty. I love that Columbus Day is a holiday for me and I almost always do something just for me on that day! I love that we honor our Veterans in the autumn (another day off for me). I fell in love with Ed in the autumn and every year, I get that catch in my throat and remember the first sweet kiss that happened on a chilly Sunday evening. It really is my favorite time of year.

In honor of the fact that I wore my boots and a wrap to church this past Sunday morning so I’d be warm, I would like to share one of my all time favorite autumn recipes with you. It is a tradition in my home and as long as I am able, I will celebrate the first cool days with gingerbread. Whenever possible, I have a piece with apple cider, fresh if I can get it, and heated if at all possible! Autumn Blessings to you, each and all!

~ Mollianne

Gingerbread

½ cup oil

1 cup sugar

½ tsp. salt

3 tblsp. molasses

1 egg

2 cups flour

½ tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

¾ tsp. baking soda

1 ¼ cup buttermilk

Beat the first four ingredients together. Add the egg and beat again, till smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flour with spices and soda. Add flour mixture to first mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating after each addition.

Bake in a greased and floured baking dish (or use muffin tins…my favorite way to eat them) at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.