Growing up, Mom always had some sort of cheese crackers. They were her special treat, but she would share them with us.
Fish shaped crackers are a popular treat for children, but I did not like giving them too often to my children because of all the “stuff” in them. So we found a recipe for easy cheese crackers to make instead. Often we cut these into animal shapes, but they never last as long as when they are cut into squares. The squares never last very long either, but they are a lot faster to replace.
Use your favorite cheddar cheese, we prefer x-sharp. Roll the dough thin because it will puff up. If you prefer spicy, add more spices, and feel free to bake just a little longer than required, because brown, toasty ones are extra good.
We had a friend come over who does not eat gluten or dairy. So we adapted a favorite breakfast recipe for her. It was slightly sweeter than the original, but still very good. For her, we made a quarter recipe and cooked it in a smaller casserole dish.
This is not as good as real tiramisu, but when we are backpacking, and want a special treat, this is very easy to make. Just plan ahead to find a small jar of Kahlua. The lady fingers are often hard to find, the may be in the Italian “ethnic” section or next to the powdered espresso.
Our recipe uses vanilla pudding, but we did not like this last batch quite as well as we used too. We plan to experiment with different vanilla puddings or white chocolate pudding instead.
If car camping, let this sit over ice for a little while.
This is a less spicy recipe that does not use much cilantro. Adjust the seasonings and peppers to create a spicier salsa if preferred. Just remember that the total of all the combined peppers should be between 4-5 cups, no matter what type used. Also, if desired, add a little hot sauce or extra ground chipotle to spice it up a little more.
Depending on the tomatoes used, this can be a very sweet salsa. Add a little additional vinegar if too sweet. Lastly, feel free to use lemon or lime juice instead of the apple cider vinegar for variety.
For some reason, I did not bring a chocoate chip cookie recipe when we moved to Slovakia. My friend, Joan Britton, gave me this recipe and told me the dough was really thick (her recipe called for one egg), but was the best recipe. I could not find chocolate chips there, so I just cut up chocolate bars.
We took them to work to share and I often left out the chocolate for our friend who was allergic to it. The cookies are still very good without chocolate!
When we moved overseas again, the eggs were smaller and we discovered two eggs worked very well. We also could not find brown sugar, so we started using molasses instead. Even though we can get brown sugar here, we prefer being able to adjust the molasses to our own personal tastes.
Grandma wrote this recipe for me years ago. I like fresh from the garden raw string beans. This is my favorite way to eat them cooked and I make it often in the summer.
While I kept Grandma’s original recipe, I put my changes in parenthesis. When we make this, I often use more potatoes, sometimes as much as half potatoes and half string beans, though I prefer it closer to 1:4. This is good as a soup or with less liquid as a stew.
We often garnish with cheese and bacon with tortilla chips on the side.
This is a moist, light chocolate cake. It is simple to make and tastes great plain or with whipped cream on top. While we usually serve it for dessert, the kids often ask for it for breakfast also.
The zucchini is well hidden in the cake and is a great way to use up some extra zucchini from your garden. We have been enjoying this recipe since Mom M. discovered it 2012.
Mom used to make these crackers in the fall and winter to snack on. I am not sure how long it has been since I wrote this recipe down for myself. They are good as croutons or just for eating.
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!
