Family Cookbook Lemon Blossoms

Ingredients:

1 18.5 oz pkg yellow cake mix
1 3.5-oz pkg instant lemon pudding mix
¾ cup veg. oil
4 large eggs

For glaze:
½ cup fresh lemon juice
grated zest of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp veg. oil
3Tbsp water
4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350o. Spray mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, and oil and blend with a mixer until smooth. Pour one tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 10-12 minutes (tops should not brown). Turn out onto a towel or wax paper. To make the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, vegetable oil, and water. Mix until smooth. Dip the muffins into the glaze while still warm covering as much of the muffin as possible. Place on wire rack with wax paper underneath to catch excess glaze. Let the glaze set (about an hour) before serving or storing.

Family Cookbook Cinnamon Bread Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

1 loaf cinnamon swirl bread, cubed
8 eggs
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, cubed
2 cups milk
1 stick butter, melted
½ cup maple syrup

Directions:

Layer a 9x13-inch pan with half of the cubed bread. Sprinkle with cream cheese cubes, then layer the rest of the bread on top. Mix eggs, milk, butter, and maple syrup in a bowl. Pour mixture over the bread and mash down with a spatula. Refrigerate overnight, covered. Uncover and bake at 350 o for 30 minutes.

Notes: Freezes well. Top with more maple syrup if desired!

Family Cookbook Reuben Casserole

Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 loaf dry rye bread
1 12-oz can corned beef, chopped
1 16-oz can sauerkraut, drained
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
8 oz shredded Swiss cheese
¼ cup butter

Directions:

Mix sour cream, onion, sauerkraut, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Spoon the mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the corned beef over the sauerkraut mixture. Crumble bread in a food processor (or by hand), and spread the crumbs over the top of the casserole. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Melt the butter and drizzle over the casserole. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until top is browned and casserole is bubbling.

Family Cookbook Mushroom Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 loaf French bread, cubed
1 Tbsp garlic salt
4 stalks celery
1 Tbsp curry powder
3 sticks butter
2 tsp black pepper
1 (10 oz) pkg sliced white mushrooms
2 large eggs, beaten with 2 Tbsp water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250o. Scatter the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake until dried out, but not browned (approx. 40 minutes). Let cool. Increase oven temperature to 350 o. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, and mushrooms, cooking until softened. Stir in garlic salt, curry powder and pepper until combined. In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with the beaten egg mixture. Add the vegetable mixture and toss until well combined. Spoon the stuffing into a buttered casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

Family Cookbook Pumpkin Pie Spread

Here's a recipe perfect for this time of year. I've heard there's a canned pumpkin shortage this year. You can easily substitute fresh roasted pumpkin. Just cut a pumpkin pie pumpkin in half, and remove the seeds. Place cut-side down into a casserole dish filled with 1 inch of water, and bake at 400 degrees until soft. Fork mash.

Ingredients:

1 pk cream cheese, softened

1 cup canned pumpkin

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 ½ Tbsp orange juice
2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

Whip ingredients together until fully combined and smooth. Serve with gingersnaps.

Family Cookbook Cranberry Spread

Ingredients:

1 pack cream cheese 1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate
Zest of 1 orange ¼ cup pecans, finely chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries crackers

Directions:

In an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, juice, cinnamon, and sugar. Fold in orange zest and pecans. Refrigerate. Serve with crackers.

Family Cookbook Green Bean Casserole

Chris got this recipe from a potluck at work. It is probably the most high-calorie green bean casserole recipe I have ever seen, but it is absolutely worth it once a year on Thanksgiving. =)

Chris' Green Bean Casserole

3 cans French cut green beans, drained
½ lb. Velveeta cheese, sliced
6 oz. sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 packages Town House or Ritz crackers, crushed
2 sticks of butter
Garlic salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix sour cream, mushroom soup, and garlic salt and pepper. In a baking dish, layer the green beans and soup mixture, and top with the Velveeta cheese slices. Melt butter and mix with crushed crackers. Spread cracker mixture on top of cheese. Bake at 350o for 30-45 minutes until golden brown.

This also works great with light sour cream, light Velveeta, Reduced Fat Ritz and margarine substituted for the originals!

Family Cookbook Focaccia

Focaccia Bread

Ingredients:

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme ½ tsp dried basil
1 pinch black pepper 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water 2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese


Directions:

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.
When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Family Cookbook Recipes

A few years ago when my cousin got married, I compiled family recipes in a scrapbooky recipe book for him and his wife. I meant to also create one for each member of the family, but I just haven't done it yet. I'm not a scrapbooker, sadly, so that kind of thing is really hard for me and time consuming. Just the other day I got the idea to just post all of the recipes here to benefit everyone. I have no clue what the frequency of posting these recipes will be, so if you're a family member and have a request, let me know, and I'll get to it. Have fun on your sneak-peek into our mostly German-inspired family cookbook.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

Heavy whipping cream Chocolate chips

Directions:

This recipe calls for a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to cream. Heat one part cream in a sauce pot. When it reaches a boil, remove from heat, add two parts chocolate chips and cover. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove the lid and stir with a whisk until all of the chocolate is incorporated.

Notes:

I use this recipe for chocolate fondue as is. You can also use it to make chocolate covered goodies by dipping in the ganache, placing on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet, and refrigerating until solid. (I would recommend using ¼ of the whipping cream for chocolate-covered things.) If you whip the ganache, it can also be used for icing on cakes. I make this all the time for various things.