Fried Okra

Fried Okra

10-15 okra pods, cut in 1/2 inch pieces

1-2 eggs, beaten

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup to 1 cup vegetable oil

1. Soak okra in egg for 5-10 minutes.

2. Combine cornmeal, salt and pepper.

3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.

4. Dredge okra in cornmeal micture; coating evenly. Carefully place okra in oil, stir occasionally. Reduce heat to medium when okra first starts to brown and cook until golden brown.

5. Drain on paper towels.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

I know this recipe is a little late, but I have a bunch of summer recipes to share with you that have been piling up. Just thinking about these yummy cucumbers makes me foreget there's 3 inches of snow on my driveway right now!

Enjoy!!

Creamy Cucumber Salad

1 cup sour cream

5 tablespoons whote vinegar

3 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced

1/2 small onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

In a covered container, stir together the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, salt and celery seed. add cucumber and onion; toss to coat. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours, stirring once in awhile. Stir before serving.

Peach Pie

I love this pie! It's so easy and tastes so good! I use canned peaches (not the pie filling), but you can use fresh peaches, too. It's hard for me to find fresh peaches where I live for more than a couple months out of the year and for some weird reason, I crave this pie when peaches are out of season. Enjoy!

Peach Pie

Dough for a double crust 9-inch pie

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teasopoon ground cinnamon

dash salt

2 cans peaches, drained

2 tablespoons butter, cubed

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Line a 9-inch pue pan with half if the dough. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt in bowl. Stir in peaches.

3. Spoon peach mixture into pie pan.

4. Sprinkle butter cubes over the top of the peaches.

5. Place top crust on pie and cut slits for steam to escape.

6. Bake for 45 minutes or until crust and topping are golden brown.

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Rice

This is an easy and quick meal and tastes really really good!

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Rice

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-seze pieces

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups instant white rice, uncooked

1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed

1/2 package (5 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

1. Cook chicken in a large skillet on medium-high heat until done.

2. Stir in broth and bring to boil.

3. Add rice and cover. Let cook until rice is almost done.

4. Add Velveeta and broccoli. Stir until cheese is melted and mixture is well blended. Add more broth or water if needed.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This pie recipe is coming to you a little out of season, but I had to search hard for a strawberry rhubarb pie recipe that I thought I would like for my dad's birthday at the beginning of the month because that is his favorite kind of pie. He said it was pretty good so I'll share it with you. It's a combination of about 4 different recipes so I was pretty happy when he said it was good. Just remember to chop the rhubarb into very small pieces so it will cook all the way through.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped into tiny pieces

3 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

9-inch double pie crust

2 tablespoons butter

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons raw sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.

2. In a large bowl, mic flour and sugar. Add rhubarb and strawberries. Toss with sugar and flour and let stand 30 minutes.

3. Pour pie filling into pie crust. Dot top with butter and cover with top crust. Seal edges of top and bottome crust with water.

4. apply yolk to top of pie, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with raw sugar (regular sugar can also be used). Cut small holes in top to let steam escape (if you aren't doing the top in a lattace pattern).

Bake at 400°F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly and brown.

Silicone Bake Ware & Brown Sugar Cake

Sorry I haven't been around very much lately. It's been a busy summer. I have a bunch of recipes to share with you though.

As a wedding gift, I received a bunch of these silicone bake ware. I have a bread pan, muffin pan, a fluted tube pan and a cupcake size rose shaped cake pan. I think this is the first post of where I tell you I'm not really excited about the gadget. The tube pan and rose cake pan are nice and work really well, but I have to spray the bread pan and muffin pan (which you aren't supposed to have to do) and it's kind of annoying having to put them on a cookie sheet to put them in the oven. I spray all of them a little since I have had so many issues with the bread pan and the muffin pan. I would say, if you're trying to decide between a regular piece of bake ware and a silicone piece of bake ware, go with the regular.
Below is a VERY good recipe for Brown Sugar Cake. I modified it a little from the original recipe I found like I do a lot and it is now one of our favorite cake recipes! Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Cake

1 package yellow cake mix

1 package vanilla flavor instant pudding

4 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon sprinkled in the pan after spraying it with cooking spray

1. Heat oven to 350° F
2. Beat first 6 ingredients with mixer until well blended. Add brown sugar and mix well.

3. Pour into 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

4. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cook cake in pan 15 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan and invert onto wire rack. remove pan and cool cake completely.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I don't like peanut butter cookies - unless they are made from this recipe. This peanut butter cookie is nice and soft and has a good peanut butter taste. They're a lot of fun to make with kids, too.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Extra granulated sugar or Raw Sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter with a mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer and stir in the remaining flour. If necessary, cover and chill dough until easy to handle. (I usually chill them for about 10 minutes.)

Shape dough into 1-iknch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten by making crisscross marks with the tines of a fork dipped in flour or powdered sugar to keep the fork from sticking to the dough. Sprinkle granulated sugar or raw sugar on top of the crisscross patterns.

Bake in a 375° F oven for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

Drizzle with some melted semisweet chocolate for something different.