Pecan Pie Bars

My mother-in-love's country yard is filled

with flowers and trees.

 

Once upon a time, these flowers

gave her much pleasure, but gone are the

days of working in the flower beds 'til dark.  At 74 and not in

the best of health,

she doesn't have as much energy

to work like she once did. 

 

Among the Crepe Myrtles and Peonies stands a big Pecan tree.

Its branches spread across the grassy lawn and provide

wonderful shade on a hot summer day. 

My girls have many fond memories of playing

on the swing set there in the shade of the

big pecan tree on a sunny day and picking up pecans

with Grandma on a

chilly, windy late Fall day.

 

Every year many pounds of pecans are picked up, carried inside and the

process of shelling and cleaning begins.

At 82, Papa's eyesight is failing him and he sits in his easy chair

and shells the  pecans by feeling them, then

passes them to Grandma or one

of the grandkids to do the cleaning. 

Once they're throughly cleaned, most likely

with a toothbrush, they're put  in bags and into the freezer. 

Sometimes she'll grab out a few and stick them in the oven to roast.

Once placed on the table, the bowl is emptied

in record time.

 

~{o}~

 

This year, she sent home a large bag of shelled, chopped pecans

for my daughter to use in Pecan Pies

for Thanksgiving.

I used what was left in making these tasty bars which I

shared with friends and coworkers.

If you like Pecan Pie, you'll love this yummy bar version.

I've been making it for many years and

it's definitely a "tried and true" recipe.  

Hope you enjoy!

 

 Pecan Pie Bars

Crust:

1 (18.25-ounce) package butter-flavor cake mix
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 egg

Filling:

1 cup  sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch pan.

Combine the cake mix, softened butter and 1 egg.  Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan and a little up the sides to hold the filling.  Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven.

In the meantime, using a large bowl or your Kitchenaid mixer, combine  sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and 3 eggs at low speed until well mixed.   Beat 1 minute at medium speed or until well-blended.

Stir in pecan pieces.

Pour filling mixture over warm base. Bake an additional 30 to 35 minutes or until filling is set.  Cool completely. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

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[caption id="attachment_1098" align="aligncenter" width="257" caption="Papa & Grandma Golden"][/caption]

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

So simple yet so delicious!

~

What to to with 2 nice bunches of very ripe bananas, but bake?!  This cake is made with a recipe I've been using since the early 90's.   It is very simple, with few ingredients, but it is so delicious and moist!

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I usually top it with a Brown Sugar Glaze, but since I had cream cheese, this time I decided to make a traditional Cream Cheese Frosting for the cake.



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BANANA CAKE

1/2 cup shortening or butter (I used softened butter)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup (2 med) bananas, mashed

1 1/4 cups self rising flour

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Cream shortening (or butter) and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.   Add flour to mashed bananas and mix well.  Next, add the banana and flour mixture to the cake batter.  Stir well.  Pour into greased pan.  Bake at 350º for 45 minutes or until cake is browned on top and springs back to the touch.

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***NOTE- I used a 7 x 11 glass baking dish and the cake rose to the top of the dish and was fairly thick.  The layer could be sliced and a filling added to make a 2 layer cake.

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Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup butter
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
½ teaspoon of vanilla

 3 ½ cups of powdered sugar

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In a medium sized mixing bowl cream the butter and cream cheese together.  Add the vanilla.  Slowly add the powdered sugar.  When you are adding the powdered sugar, use a low speed on the mixer.   After you have it all in, put up on a medium to high speed.   Mix the frosting until it is fluffy.

Make sure your cake is completely cooled and spread the cream cheese frosting on it. 

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Brownies and Ice Cream

This is my daughter B's creation and attempt at food photography.   She's always photographing different dishes for my blog, so I thought I'd honor her with this post.  Great job, B - Thanks, Mom

Sugar-free Oreo Blast (low carb)

Want a quick and easy treat or a simple after-dinner dessert?  What about a Sugar-free Oreo Blast?

Sugar-free Oreo Blast (low carb)
 
1 serving Breyer's CarbSmart vanilla ice cream
1 serving Sugar Free Oreos, broken into pieces
 
Place ice cream and cookie pieces into food processor. 
Pulse until blended.  Serve in a cute ice cream dish or
small glass.  Top with 1/2 a SF Oreo. 

Now, find a nice quiet spot outside in the swing on a warm sunny day and eat slowly.

Tomorrow...an easy 3 ingredient recipe for a quick supper.

Another Brownie Recipe

Honest, that's the title of this recipe.  I considered calling it Easy One Bowl Brownies, but decided to go with what I wrote down on the card.  This is another from my vintage recipe collection.

This recipe is very forgiving and I have made substitutions in the past with great results.

Another Brownie Recipe
 
1 stick butter, melted ( I have used 1/2 cup oil or 1/2 cup applesauce)
5 T cocoa ( I used 2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate)
2 eggs
3/4 c flour
1 cup sugar (I added 1/2 cup brown sugar)
1/2 cup pecan pieces, optional

Mix all together.  Pour into 7 x11 dish for thicker brownies. 

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Special Cake with Fudge Sauce

The strawberries were gone too soon.

But, there was still plenty of Aunt Mary's Special Cake to be eaten.  I recalled my Mom's  famous Skillet Cake and Fudge Sauce that I always requested for my birthday.  This recipe is not like hers, but it was quite yummy and was gone very soon.  I even had to make another batch to finish off the Special Cake.  My oldest daughter couldn't get enough of it.  I think she had it for supper one night along with another piece (or two) for dessert!

I just kinda threw this together and here's my sketchy instructions.

Microwave Fudge Sauce

1 square of semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/3 stick butter
1/4 cup cream or sweet milk
powdered/confectioner sugar (as much as needed for taste and consistency - I think I used a cup or more)

Place chocolate, butter, and milk in a microwave dish.
Cook on high for 2-3 minutes.  Stir until chocolate is melted and sauce is smooth. Begin to add confectioner sugar, stirring after each addition until desired sauce consistency is achieved.

Butter Pecan Creme Brulee (Low Carb)

When my sister-in-law blessed me with two dozen farm-fresh country eggs yesterday,

I started digging through my old low carb recipes.  I had a breakfast custard recipe in mind, but ran across this creme brulee recipe.  I would love to find out the recipe creator, so I can give them thanks and proper credit. *Updated - I found out the recipe's creator is named Roni.  Thanks that for info, Linda Sue.

I found this particular recipe several years ago on one of my favorite low carb sites.  Some of the absolute best cooks congregate on the recipe board at Low Carb Friends!

I used my Pampered Chef Prep Cups (with storage lids) to bake the creme brulees.  Not fancy, but servicable.



I sprinkled a little nutmeg on the creme brulee before baking, like the breakfast custard recipe calls for.  Not sure why, since I planned on topping them with praline pecans. Don't you just love the sound of praline pecans?!



Butter-Pecan Creme Brulee

2 cups cream
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Dash of salt
2 tablespoons Splenda (I used 1/2 cup granulated Splenda)

Heat cream over medium heat, just until bubbles start to form.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, vanilla, salt and Splenda.
Gradually whisk in cream. Strain mixture.
Divide into four custard cups.
Bake in a water bath for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.  (I baked mine for 50 minutes in a toaster oven.)
Custards should be set, but still jiggly.  Chill for one hour.
Make butter-pecan topping and divide between between cups.
Refrigerate for four more hours or overnight.

Butter-Pecan Topping:
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 cup pecans - finely chopped
1 teaspoon Splenda

Melt butter.
Stir in pecans and Splenda.
Heat just until nuts begin to color, being careful not to burn.

This is definitely a keeper! The butter pecan topping is delcious!  I think I will double or triple the topping recipe next time, so it will completely cover the top of each creme brulee dish.

See another low carb dessert.

Aunt Mary's Special Cake with Strawberries

Several years ago I had a chance

to go through Aunt Mary's little recipe box.  I copied down the recipes that I thought I might like to make and read through those that I remembered her making.  There was Date Nut Cake, Chess Pie, Pecan Crisp Cookies and even a recipe on stationery sent from a friend along with a greeting and personal  note.  One that stood out to me was hid near the back of the box, with no name other than Cake.  Not wanting it to get lost in my files I renamed it "Special Cake". 



Over the years, I've made Special Cake several times, usually during the summer to go with strawberries and fresh whipped cream.  My oldest daughter happens to love Strawberry Shortcake. 



I made it again this weekend and decided to use my new bundt pan (can you call it a pan if it's ceramic?) from Williams-Sonoma that was a gift from my dear youngest brother.



My cake wanted to stick a little and didn't brown as well as the one on the cake pan lable, even after baking for 45 minutes.  I took a slice of it and cubed it up for Strawberry Shortcake Trifle. 



Don't you just love spring?  Spring brings us those delicious little red bits of delectable fruit we call strawberries.  Aunt Mary brought me a Special Cake recipe to use with that delicious fruit,  along with many wonderful memories.



Happy Spring and happy Strawberry Shortcake Season!

Read more about Aunt Mary's life and recipes

Southern Pecan Pie

I have a young daughter that is an aspiring chef. 

She is only 11 but loves Martha Stewart and is always ready to help out in the kitchen.  She loves to peel, chop, flip, scrape, mix... and lick the bowl.  Whether it be making cucumber salad or baking a pie, my youngest is always ready.

A few weekends ago, my oldest daughter was visiting friends so B (also for Bossy) decided she wanted to bake a pie with a homemade crust.  We had all the ingredients, so I loaded Martha on the laptop and took her to the kitchen with us.  The pecan crop has been abundant in our area this year so we decided the pie would be Southern Pecan Pie.  I discovered my glass pie dish was left at Mom's house at Thanksgiving, so we ran to the store and picked up some foil pie plates and some more sugar. 

Back home we got all of our ingredients out and I did the measuring while B started putting the crust ingredients into the food processor.  As the crust chilled, we put together our pie ingredients.

We couldn't wait until it cooled to cut it, so that's why it's falling apart in our first picture.  ( I think it even steamed up my camera lens.)  The Southern Pecan Pie was divine!  The filling was light and and the crust flakey.  Well done, my Valentine!



Southern Pecan Pie

3/4 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pecan halves
3 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine corn syrup, sugar, beaten eggs, melted butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl; mix well. Stir in pecan halves. Pour into prepared pie crust and bake for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350°F and bake an additional 35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of pie.  Cool on wire rack before slicing, if you can.

Pate Brisee (the French version of classic pie or tart pastry, courtesy of Martha Stewart)

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies.

· 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 teaspoon sugar
· 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
· 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

Chocolate Fudge Pie

 

With work slowing down, we've found ourselves home more during the week.  What better to do than bake?!

I found an easy recipe for My Handyman to make while I was doing other fun stuff, like folding laundry and helping the girls with their lessons.  I thought he did a great job and by that evening most of this delicious pie had vanished.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE PIE

1 c. sugar 4 tbsp. flour 4 tbsp. cocoa 1/2 c. milk 2 whole eggs 3 tbsp. butter, melted 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring chopped pecans (optional)   Dump all ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat well. Pour into an unbaked pastry shell. We sprinkled a few pecans in the bottom before pouring in the batter. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool before slicing.  Top with freshly whipped cream.