Thank you for signing up for my newsletter! Below is the link to the cookbook and some favorite family recipes:
Roxanne Rustand …and twenty-three other authors created a 100 page cookbook you can download for free!(Permission is given to reprint if you include a link and credit. Please include the excerpt from the book, and the author bio if you choose to print only an individual recipe.)If you want to have the downloadable version of the cookbook, you will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.Click this button to download the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe.
Download Free E-Cookbook Now
Or you can view the whole book as a web page here (be patient, it’s a bit large)
Now…for some of our favorite family recipes!
I’m going to start sharing some of my favorites here. If you have some you’d like to post, that would be great!
So for starters…this one has always been a great hit with my kids, and with their friends. The butter (no substituting!!) and brown sugar give these bars a wonderful caramel taste.
CARAMEL BLONDE BROWNIES
1/2 cup melted butter (no substitute!)
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp REAL vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup M&Ms
Combine first four ingredients and beat really well, then stir in dry ingredients. Don’t overbeat. Add the M&Ms last.Pat into a well-greased 9×13 pan, then bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Do not overbake–these should be nice and chewy, so watch them carefully!
Hope you enjoy these, and come back again for other recipes. And if you’d like to share a favorite, that would be great!
And this next one is absolutely wonderful!
BANANA CREAM PIE FOR A CROWD
CRUST:
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup real butter
FILLING–layer #1:
1 ½ cups whipping cream–whipped
4 oz cream cheese (reduced fat is okay–but not fat free)
½ cup powdered sugar
FILLING–layer #2
Two small boxes sugar free instant vanilla pudding
2 ½ cups skim or 1% milk
TOPPING-layer #3
2 bananas, sliced thin
1 cup whipping cream –whipped
½ cup pecans chopped, toasted
2/3 cups flaked coconut, toasted
1. Mix crust ingredients, pat into well greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees until browned. Cool completely.
2. Beat the 1 ½ cups whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Soften the cream cheese, beat with sugar until very light, then fold gently into whipped cream. Spread on the cool crust.
3. Make the vanilla pudding with just 2 ½ cups milk (NOT the amount listed on the boxes) and spread over cream cheese layer.
4. Spread thinly sliced bananas over the pudding.
5. Whip the final cup of whipping cream, fold in the pecans and spread over the bananas–making sure none of the banana is peeking through, or it will turn dark. Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top. Chill for several hours.This recipe is best with real butter in the crust, because it then has a “short” type of crumb, like Scottish shortbread, and has that great taste as well. Margarine doesn’t work as well.You could substitute thawed, frozen whipped topping in layer #1, if you wanted to save fat and calories, but for company, I’d recommend that you at least use the real whipped cream on layer #3.
Even people who don’t care for banana cream pie will probably really love this!!
I bake all of our bread…except during the high heat of summer. Here’s my family’s favorite recipe. It keeps wonderfully fresh for days, if you keep it sealed in ziplock bags. Sometimes I put the extra loaves in the freezer. I use my big KitchenAid mixer.
WONDERFUL HOMEMADE BREAD
Combine the following in the mixer bowl:
3 pkg regular yeast (or 2 Tbsp + 3/4 tsp, if you buy it in jars)
1/4 cup bread flour
1 Tbsp white sugar
1/2 cup warm water
Let the yeast mixture bubble for five minutes, while measuring all of the following into a separate bowl:
2 cups Quick Oatmeal
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten
1 Tbsp + 3/4 tsp salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cups canola oil
4 1/2 cups warm water
Add the above mixture to the yeast mixture, and mix well. Then, using a dough hook to knead, mix in the following and mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will still be sticky, not dry….but the amount of flour needed may vary, depending on the humidity of the room.
4 cups whole wheat flour
6 cups bread flour
3/4 cup chopped walnuts and/or pecans
1/2 cup cracked wheat
(I sometimes vary the ratio of that final 10 cup addition of whole wheat and bread flour to 50/50, or just add bread flour at that stage for a lighter loaf–though we really like a higher ratio of whole wheat. Sometimes I add in flax, wheat germ, or bran.)
Pour dough into a huge, well-oiled bowl, and turn the mass of dough in the bowl to coat with oil. Cover loosely with a damp, clean tea towel. Let rise an hour, or until doubled in size. Dump it out onto a large cutting board or clean counter. Cut in sections, and place in oiled bread pans.I cut it in fourths, for my larger 10″ x 4″ bread pans. Let rise again for an hour.BE SURE to preheat the oven fully to 350 degrees. Bake 35 minutes.Brush tops well with butter and let cool in pans for ten minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Make sure the loaves are completely cooled before placing in zip lock bags. This recipe also makes yummy dinner rolls.
tt