Chocolate Sausage

Rolled into a sausage shape and then cut, this is a simple and very customizable treat.

MCCC Scones

These scones were a favorite treat at Allan’s coffee shop. They are super easy to make, but also super easy to mess up.

Be sure to start with cold butter and cold whipping cream. The less the dough is handled, the better the scones will be. Feel free to make the dough and place in the refrigerator a few hours or over night before baking. Remember that a cold dough and a warm preheated oven help these scones stay nice and flakey.

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Years ago, Allan owned a coffee shop. He enjoyed the people he worked with and got to know many of his guests. It was a simple shop, but the foods were good and he worked hard. This was our children’s favorite soup and often requested it when we went to visit Daddy.

Vodka Sauce to Can

We tried vodka sauce when a we had a coupon for a name brand jar. We liked it and bought it a few times. Then we discovered how easy it was to make. This sauce is great plain, but it is even better when cream is added. We often use it instead of pizza sauce.

Some simple recommendations for this recipe:

If you can, use at least half Roma or Amish tomatoes. Then mix and match assorted tomatoes for a fuller flavor. Different amounts of tomatoes will product different amount of liquid in the sauce, so you may need to strain it or boil it longer.

Adding olive oil is optional, but I recommended it.

Use a cheap bottle of vodka. What you do not use in the sauce, use for vanilla extract 🙂

Feel free to adjust seasonings, but do not alter amounts of tomatoes or onions if you plan to can the sauce.

Cream Puffs

When Andrea was nine years old, she discovered cream puffs.  She wanted to learn to bake them and would keep asking for me to teach her.  Finally, I gave her a recipe for French  Profiteroles and let her make a batch.  Was she surprised to learn they were cream puffs.

While we usually eat these with whipped cream and homemade nutella or chocolate sauce, they are also very good with vanilla ice cream.