Promised recipes...

Here are the recipes that have been requested:

Norman's (DH) Red Beans and Rice

1 pk of red beans (we use Camelia light red kidney beans)

1 pound sausage  (sliced into approx 1/4 inch pieces (can slice smaller)

1 lb bacon

1 diced large onion

4-6 storks of green onion diced

1 dice green pepper

3-5 cloves of diced garlic

2-3 bay leaves

1 tbsp parsley flakes

1 tbsp dried basil

Tabasco

Worchestershire sauce

1) soak beans over night

2) rinse beans and dry them in a colander in morning

3) cook bacon medium not crisp and save bacon grease and chop bacon into approx 1 to 2 inch pieces. (Set bacon pieces aside)

4) in large sauce pan put in bacon grease over a medium heat

5) add chopped onions, green pepper and green onion and cook until onions wilt

6) add chopped sausage and chopped garlic and cook until sausage is about medium done

7) stir in chopped bacon and cook for  1-2 minutes

8) add in red beans, stir and add enough water to barely reach the top of the beans

9) add parsley, basil and bay leaves, and stir

10) sprinkle Worchestershire  ( 5-7 good shakes) and a few shakes of Tabasco ( not too much maybe a teaspoon since you can always add more later if you like )

11) stir well and cover

12 ) bring to a good boil, stir and cover

13) cook in oven ( 225-240 degrees)

14) check every 1 to 1 1/2 hrs, stir as needed

15) after about 4 hrs or so, use potato masher and smooch the beans several times to help break up some of the beans (makes them creamy)

16) overall cook about 6 hrs totally

(if beans are too thick, add 1/2 cup hot water as needed)

17) serve over cooked rice.

Sharon's Old Fashion Tea Cakes

These were made with caramel centers 

1 cup sugar

1 cup unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla (I use a little more)

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 cups flour (I use King Arthur)

Cream butter and sugar (very important)

Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition

Add water and vanilla

Stir in dry ingredients and mix into creamed mixture.

Cover and chill for about an hour

Preheat oven to 350

Cut out about 1/4 inch

Bake 15 mins. (If cutting out thin, 10 mins will do... just watch that bottoms don't get too brown).

Now tea cakes are great just plain with a little powdered sugar dusted over them (my favorite), but you can also do sugar icing or caramel centers...

Icing:

3 cups 10X sugar

3 Tablespoons butter

3 Tablespoons shortening

3 Tablespoon milk

2 t vanilla

(This makes a lot of icing, so I half it sometimes. And you can add colored food coloring if you like... say, for Christmas)

Just mix all ingredients together well until smooth

Should be thick, but not too thick to work with

(If too thick, just add more milk, if too thin, add more 10X sugar) Refrig cookies for little while after icing to set icing.

Caramel:

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (cut in pieces)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Pinch of kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan

Stirring constantly, bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture is smooth (about 5 mins)

Let cool (it will thicken as it cools)

If using for center of teacakes, make sure both teacakes and caramel are cool before putting together.  I usually put both in refrig for a little while . If caramel gets too hard, you can microwave it for a short time  (10 seconds or so) and it will soften. 

Well, those are the recipes recently requested. If there are any others, please let me know. The home-made nutty granola is really good too, but I think I posted this recipe once before. 

Closing with a pic of Tux who sneaks into my computer room whenever he gets a chance and hides out on the office chair...

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