I have no idea where Mom found this recipe years ago. I am pretty sure it was in a “how to Mom” type book. We rarely made chocolate chip cookies growing up, but we made these often. Usually we made them drop cookies, but bar style gets them done a lot faster! They are a dryer, crispier cookie, so add a little extra water if desired.
While you can use any type of cereal, corn flakes or rice cereal is the best. One day I made them for the family I was babysitting and used Cheerios. Dom informed me that I could put most anything I wanted into the cookies I made for them, but NEVER use Cheerios again 🙂
Use 1 cup of your favorite “fillings”. Growing up we usually used half unsweetened coconut flakes and chocolate chips. But mix and match with walnuts, pecans or other favorite nuts, raisins, craisins or dried cherries (or other dried fruit sliced in small pieces) and your favorite chocolate chips.
At a Christmas party this year, one of my children tried store bought egg nog. He was so disappointed that it was nothing like this recipe that Allan has been making us for years. He was sure to request that Daddy make some “real” egg nog soon.
I know that some people prefer alcohol in egg nog, but I think it is non essential! Using freshly grated nutmeg is the best, but use powder if that is what you have.
If you are concerned about eating raw eggs, either buy pasteurized eggs, or look online on how to make them yourself.
When we first started learning to make desserts, this is one of the first, and easiest truffles we learned. Have fun experimenting with your own variations!
I grew up on canned cranberry sauce. I was never fond of it even though I enjoy the tart taste of cranberries. Then one day, I discovered homemade cranberry sauce!
After much experimenting with different recipes, Andrea and I settled on this one as an easy favorite. Feel free to make it a few days early and store tightly covered until needed. We almost always double the recipe and rarely have leftovers.
Aunt Bonnie made us these cookies for the first time nine years ago. She told us that “if you break them into three pieces without talking, your wish comes true”. It has never been proven, since my kids can’t stop talking long enough to break a cookie into three pieces 🙂
This last weekend, we were able to buy a bunch of eggs on sale. Once I returned home, I realized that I already had a few dozen in the refrigerator. Not wanting to waste eggs, I asked Andrea to please make this recipe, twice.
When I was first given this recipe, by another para I worked with, I did not make it. I had been told that angel food cake was hard to make and finicky. A few years ago, Andrea and I started making it together. It is not a super hard recipe to make, but works best on dry days and when you have a little extra time to let it cool properly. Be sure not to get any yolk in with the egg whites and the pan you use is not greasy.
We almost always use an angel food pan for this recipe. If your pan does not have a removable bottom, line your pan’s bottom with parchment paper. We have also made this with a small lined bread pan with success.
This cake is good plain, for strawberry shortcake, with custard and with ice cream. It also freezes well if you have extra.
Allan and I discovered this recipe in Grandma Reble’s collection when I went to Colorado with the McGuire’s for the first time. Since getting married, we go to Colorado every few years and usually make at least one recipe from Grandma’s collection.
As you can see from the notes, Grandma thought they were “very good”. We still make them often because they have always been one of our favorite cookies. Years later, Oma gave Andrea a very similar recipe.
In our family, we do not use butterscotch chips. If we use chocolate chips, they are “Cowboy Cookies”, but if we use M&M’s they are “Cowgirl Cookies”. I can not remember who insisted on that name change, but it was probably Andrea.
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.
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.
