vanilla extract – Page 4 – McGuire's Recipes

Angel Food Cake

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.

Cowboy Cookies

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.

Cow Chip Cookies

We discovered this recipe many years ago in a cookbook at Grandma Reble’s house. I do not know the name of the cookbook, but it has a bright pink cover and it is a collection of recipes from different people in CO. We try new recipes from this book every time we visit Grandma’s house.

These are larger cookies, so we usually make a half batch.

Andrea showing off a cow chip before our cow chip throwing contest.

Lemon Zucchini Bread (or Cake)

With zucchini growing nicely this year, Mom looked for a new recipe to use some of the extra up. She gave us a loaf of this bread that Adrian decided was a lot better than the chocolate cake we usually make because of the lemon.

The loaf Mom gave us was frozen and it defrosted very nicely. She recommended not glazing it until ready to eat. We decided to only make half the glaze and it was plenty.

Granola

There are so many different recipes for granola. This one is very versatile, so experiment to find favorite combinations. For example, use all pecans, or add pepitas in place of the almonds. Replace cherries with dried mango slices or peaches. Another option is to try adding hemp hearts or flax seed near the end of baking.

I would recommend keeping track of favorites, because it can become addictive, experimenting to find the perfect granola.

Custard Based Vanilla Ice Cream

Just before Father’s Day, we discovered whipping cream was on sale for almost 50% off. Mom had given me a coupon for a free 2 dozen eggs. So we decided that we should make homemade ice cream to share.

Making homemade ice cream is a special treat! Be sure to start it early, because the custard base needs to cool down before adding the final ingredients. It is not very difficult to make, but do not rush or use high heat. It is often more expensive than store bought, but you can control how many “strange” ingredients you are eating. Plus, I think it tastes a lot better!