Caramel Corn

This treat was a family staple when I was growing up. Our weekends usually consisted of a batch of this yumminess and rootbeer floats. It was also one of the treats I remember my grandma,June Hessing, frequently making for us at large family gatherings as well.

1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 t. Vanilla
1/2 t. Salt
3 gallons popcorn

Stir and bring butter, sugar and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. Add milk slowly and simmer, stirring constantly for just a couple of minutes until it boils again. Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt and stir well. Pour over popcorn and mix to coat.

Great Harvest Whole Wheat Cookies

I don't know where I found this recipe...somewhere on line I am sure.  So sorry, I don't know who to give credit to.  Don't let the whole wheat scare you.  These are so good!

Great Harvest Whole Wheat Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp soda

¼ tsp salt

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 cups rolled oats

2 eggs

2 Tbsp Molasses

1 Tbsp Milk

Lots of raisins (the best way to eat these)

and/or....

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I make ½ with chocolate chips and ½ with raisins)

Combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt.  Beat together sugar and butter until well combined.  Add oats, eggs, molasses and beat well.  Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture.  Beat until blended and stir in chocolate chips.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (longer if bigger), until just starting to brown around outside edge.  Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet and remove. 

Chili

picture does not do it justice :)

I got first place, two years in a row, at our wards Chili Cook-Off.  Of course, I could brag if it was my original recipe, but it is not.  It came as an insert in one of my Taste of Home magazines years ago (probably in 1998).  It is the only chili recipe I have made since.  It is much loved.

West Coast Chili

1½ pounds ground beef

2 medium onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves

1 cup BBQ sauce

1 cup chili sauce

½ cup honey

3 (16 oz) cans diced tomatoes

4 beef bouillon cubes

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp Chili powder

1 Tbsp Baking cocoa

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1½ tsp. Ground cumin

3 cans kidney beans

Cook hamburger.  Remove from pan.  Saute onion and garlic until soft.  Return hamburger to large pot with onion and garlic.  Add all the remaining ingredients except kidney beans.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for an hour.  Add beans and heat through.  Top with cheese and Frito's (a revolt will ensue if there is not Frito's served with this at my house :) 

Rice Pudding

Another Lion House classic. I just took photos of the recipe because the image itself is nostalgic for me.

Cream Pies

Around here, cream pies are the "end all be all."  You put a pie in front of Lance and Zac and they become very possessive and unwilling to share :)  Mom requested pies for her birthday dinner yesterday.  So I pulled out this cookbook...Lion House Recipes.  When mom brought this cookbook out as a kid, I knew it meant nothing but deliciousness.  Found among its pages is the best cream pie recipe you will find (at least according to my family).

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup half and half cream
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whip cream
Baked 9" inch pie shell

Mix cornstarch, sugar and salt in a saucepan.  Add milk and cream and cook over medium heat until smooth and thick, stirring constantly.  Pour small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; blend thoroughly, then pour back into saucepan.  Cook another 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.  For all recipes below-except the chocolate-cover the cream with wax paper or plastic wrap (making sure it touches the cream everywhere because you will get a hard skin on top if it doesn't) and put in fridge to completely cool.

For Banana Cream:

Once cream filling is cooled, slice 2 bananas in the bottom of the pie pan and scoop chilled cream filling on top.  Whip the whipping cream and spread on top.

For Coconut Cream:

Mix 1/2 coconut with the chilled cream filling and scoop into the pie pan.  Whip the cream and spread on pie.  Toast coconut and sprinkle on top.

Chocolate Cream pie:

While cream filling is hot, add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and stir until it is melted.  Chill and then add to the pie pan.

Raspberry cream:

In small saucepan, mix 1 1/2 cups water with a box of raspberry Danish Dessert.  Bring to a boil and it will thicken.  Add a bunch of raspberries (fresh or frozen).  Chill.  Scoop cream filling in to pie pan and top with chilled raspberry sauce.