Blueberry Crumb Cake

Ingredients

Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups blueberries (I've used fresh and frozen. If using frozen, dust lightly with flour to prevent batter from turning all grey.)

Crumbly Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add dry mixture to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, mixing until smooth. Gently fold in blueberries. Spread batter into a lightly oiled 9x13 baking dish.

To make the topping, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Use your fingers to cut the butter in so that mixture resembles sand. Sprinkle over batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Oatmeal Molasses "Breakfast" Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup fat-free chocolate milk
1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks (optional; you can substitute Craisins or raisins )
1/2 cup chopped buts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda and powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix sugar, oil, molasses, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in flour mixture and rolled oats, and milk. Then stir in raisins/chocolate/nuts, and mix well.

Drop cookie dough in tablespoon-ful lumps onto a well-greased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake until light brown, about 10-15 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe calls for a little of this and a little of that. It's always a crowd pleaser for kids and adults alike. Serve with warm rolls.

Saute about 1/2 of a chopped onion, about 1 clove of garlic and a generous handful of chopped celery in olive oil, pepper, and some celery seed. Add chicken stock (just eyeball it - I usually use about six cups) and raw chicken chunks. Bring to boil and then lower to simmer. I usually let it simmer for an hour or two to really infuse the broth with all the flavors. Add a package of frozen veggies (use any variety your family likes). About 10 minutes before serving, bring broth back to boil and add egg noodles (I use an entire 16 oz. package). Cook as directed, usually for about 8-10 minutes or so and then bring back down to a simmer to keep warm and serve. Enjoy!!!

NOTE: you may need to add more chicken stock since the noodles may absorb some of it.

Apple Loaf

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups apples, diced
3 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon-sugar mixture

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, butter, and eggs. Add vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon, flour, and salt to egg mixture and blend well. Stir in diced apples. Pour mixture into well-greased loaf pans. (The original recipe says it makes two big loaves, but in my kitchen where the cooks sometimes lick a spoonful of batter since we use pasteurized eggs to bake, it makes one big loaf and one to two mini loaves.) Sprinkle loaves with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake big loaf for about an hour; smaller loaves take about half the time.

Avocado Dressing

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados
Juice of one lime
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
A generous sprinkling of low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Tabasco hot sauce

Place the first six ingredients in a food processor, and turn it on. While the blade is spinning, stream in the extra-virgin olive oil and add the hot sauce. Stop processor, taste dressing and adjust seasonings as needed.

The dressing goes well on spinach or romaine. I serve it over a bed of greens, a sliced hard-boiled egg, and shredded cheddar. It's also delicious on a cobb salad.

*Adapted from Rachael Ray.

Norwegian Lace Cookies

These pretty cookies are super easy to make and go well dipped in vanilla ice cream or served with tea. They have a delicious chewy caramel crunch and they come out as see-through cookies with a delicate lacy look (thus, the name).

Ingredients:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
6 T. unsalted butter
3 T. honey
1 T. heavy cream
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup regular rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with aluminum foil and grease. In a saucepan, combine sugar, butter, honey, cream, salt, cloves, and ginger. Heat over medium heat until bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in flour and oats. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 4 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for about 6 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks to cook for 1 minute. The slip foil, along with cookies, onto a counter to cool completely. Peel cookies from foil.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Source: The Christmas Cookie Deck (Chronicle Books)

Sugar Cookies for Every Season

1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla (you can also use almond extract)
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder

Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla. Sift flour, salt, baking powder; add to wet mixture. Chill at least one hour. The dough is easier to cut into shapes when cold. Bake at 375º` for about 8 minutes. Keep an eye on them so as not to burn. Makes 3 dozen cookies. Dough freezes really well.

White Chocolate Frosting

4 two-ounce squares of white chocolate
1/4 cup of whipping cream
Food coloring (I used red to make red and pink frosting and then kept some of it white for our Valentine's Day cookies.)

Microwave chocolate and whipping cream in glass bow at 50% for about 3 minutes, stirring once. Add food coloring to achieve desired color. Warm in microwave if frosting hardens.