Mother Jewell's Chili

3 Cups pinto beans

2 Quarts water

Cook on low over night in crock-pot – if not tender, turn to high

1 Pound ground beef – browned

1 Teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon brown sugar / or white sugar

1 Medium onion

1 Package Chili seasoning – Schilling

Oregano and rosemary to taste – optional.

1 Big can V-8 juice

Sautee all ingredients together…. When beans are tender, add to beans and add 1 can V-8 juice.

Remove lid to thicken.

Best Ever Chocolate Cake

This cake was served at my wedding party as the groom’s cake. Remember? Stan LOVES chocolate and got this recipe from a friend at work. This is so NOT Texas fudge...

1 C Shortening

2 ½ C Flour

2 C Sugar

2 tsp. Baking soda

½ C Cocoa

½ tsp. Salt

1 T Vinegar

1 C Hot water

1 C Milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 Eggs

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cocoa and blend well. Mix vinegar and milk together for a while (usually a couple of minutes works). (Buttermilk can be substituted). Add flour, soda, and salt alternately with the milk and vinegar mixture. When well blended (don’t beat the heck out of it), add hot water and vanilla. Once again, don’t mix excessively, just enough to blend. Pour into a 9x13” greased and floured pan or 2 - 8 inch round cake pans (PAM works fine). Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

Frosting

8 oz dark chocolate (the finer quality chocolate, the better the frosting) (I use Hershey Special Dark or Dove)

6 oz milk chocolate (Hershey or Dove Mike Cho)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Chop chocolate finely. Heat cream until simmering. Pour over chocolate and stir until smooth. Refrigerate approximately 1 hour.

Beat 1 cup heavy whipping cream until soft peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture and spread on cake. You can add flavoring to this such as vanilla, orange, or mint.

Caramel Brownies

Mother Jewell used to make these for us when we were kids, remember?

1 German Chocolate cake mix (I use Pillsbury)

3/4 C. margarine or butter, softened

2/3 C. evaporated milk (1/3 for cake mix 1/3 to melt caramel)

1 (16 oz.) bag Kraft caramels

1 (6 oz.) bag chocolate chips (I sometimes mix milk cho. and semi sweet)

Chopped pecans -- optional

Mix together the cake mix, 3/4 cup margarine and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Batter will be thick. Spread half of the batter into ungreased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 6 minutes. While that is baking, melt caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk over medium heat stirring often! Pour caramel over baked portion of brownies. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Then drop and spread remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over the top of the brownies (will not cover the entire top—but will fill in as it is baking).

Bake 18 minutes at 350°.

Eat hot with a spoon, or cool and cut. Yummy either way!

Spinach Salad

From Lydia and Sam Jarman. As I remember it, they got it from a friend who loves to entertain somewhere in Heber Valley… or Alpine?

Salad

“Spring Mix” Lettuce

Baby Spinach

Grapefruit

Avocados

Raspberries

Apples (Gala, Fuji, or Jonathan)

Craisins

Fetta Cheese

Candied Almonds or Pecans (chop nuts, put in coated fry pan, pour on an equal amount of sugar—one cup sugar to one cup nuts, stir until sugar melts—use medium heat. Place nuts on wax prepared cookie sheet)

Optional: Mushrooms, Arugula and Pears

Dressing

½ Cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Grated Onion

½ Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Oil (Canola)

1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

¼ Cup Red Wine Vinegar

1 Teaspoon Dried Mustard

¾ Teaspoon Poppy Seeds

1 Tablespoon Frozen Raspberries

Shake in quart jar or mix in blender

MEXICAN SALAD BAR (similar to Café Rio and Bajios)

This post is a recipe I stole from Hannah Stoehr’s (pronounced STEER) blog. Looks delicious! She has a photo on her site – I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.

MEXICAN SALAD BAR (similar to Café Rio and Bajios)

Tortillas (uncooked from Costco)
Pork, chicken or beef
Grated cheese
Lime cilantro rice
Romaine and/or red leaf lettuce
Pinto or black beans
Corn, frozen, thawed (Costco)
Guacamole or avocadoes
Tomatoes
Mango or other salsa
Olives
Lime cilantro dressing

PORK, CHICKEN OR BEEF

4 lb. meat (approx) – cook on medium heat in crockpot all night, break apart next morning and add:
1 qt tomato sauce or enchilada sauce or salsa or tomato soup, diluted
2 garlic, pressed
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 T. cumin
3 c. Dr. Pepper or Coke (2 cans)
3 T. molasses
½ t. salt
Continue cooking on low for a few hours

LIME CILANTRO RICE

1 qt. water, boil
2 T. butter
1 t. salt
½ t. cumin
1 lime, juice from
2 T. cilantro, finely chopped
2 c. rice – simmer for 20 minutes

LIME CILANTRO DRESSING

1 package ranch dressing mix
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. mayo (half can be sour cream)
1-2 garlic, pressed
5 green onions or 2 T. finely chopped onion (opt)
½ bunch cilantro, finely chopped or use food processor
2-3 tomatillos, finely chopped or salsa verde
½ lime, juiced
4 t. sugar
½ t. salt
½ jalapeno or 1/8 t. cayenne or other

PINTO OR BLACK BEANS

2 c. dry beans, cook on high in crockpot over night in abt 6 c. water, drain and rinse, then add:
3 c. tomato juice or tomato soup, diluted
4 garlic, pressed
2 t. cumin
1 t. salt
¼ c. olive oil
¼ c. chopped cilantro and 1 onion (opt)
Cook on low for a few hours.

Orange Chicken Chili (Don’t know why it’s called that.)

This is the famously delicious meal Mark and Julie have generously prepared and served at their home on occasion for missionary comings and goings -- as transcribed by Julie.

The Big Batch!

(Feeds 35 hungry teachers)

Sorry guys, this is as much as I could get from Mark

Big bag of fresh boneless skinless chicken thighs at Costco

8 14 oz. cans of 33% reduced sodium chicken broth

6 large onions cut up in long thin slices—purple onions are better but more expensive

1 cup olive oil

1 rounded T chopped garlic (Costco) Or do it yourself—we like the stuff we found at Cotsco because our fingers stay out of the fray – and it lasts forever so you always have garlic on hand. But not on finger :)

1 bottle Cholulah hot sauce—with the wooden knob. (Maceys)

8 cans of black beans, strained and rinsed.

3 cans Orange Juice 12 oz.

Approx ½ container of Tones chicken base (Costco)

6 red peppers sliced into strips (Costco)

3 bunches of Cilantro (chopped)

Lots of limes

Sour cream

Avocados (Blech!)

Serve over Rice. Fancy Brown/Wild mix from Costco, or just plain old white.

Ready? OKAY!

In a LARGE stockpot combine oil and garlic--watch and stir ‘til fragrant but not browned.

Add chicken and coat it with oil and garlic and brown it a little—we never have time for that but it would be cool.

Add broth and onions and Choluah and simmer until chicken is almost fall-apart tender. (The longest part.)

Then add the orange juice (no water) and the red peppers (you add the OJ later than everything else so it won’t burn, and the peppers late so they are not mushy.) Add the beans now too—because you have to add them sometime. Simmer awhile longer and then start tasting it. It will probably need salt but don’t add it--instead add about ¼ container of Tone’s chicken base. Mark used between a ¼ and ½ of it. He’s not sure. Just add it until it tastes right.

Somewhere in the middle of making all this, try and remember to get the rice going.

If you decide to make the fancy brown/wild rice remember it takes a lot longer than white rice. Also, I like to add the Tone’s chicken base to the rice as well because it rounds out the flavor.

When you serve it, make every one squeeze a lime on it and add the sour cream, chopped cilantro and avocado to the top. Unless they hate and despise avocados then they can leave them off—but encourage them to at least try the lime and sour cream and cilantro because it just makes the whole thing taste perfect.

Sugar Cookies - Fast and Easy (no refrigeration required) and Yummie Frosting Emily and Mary

I have been on the hunt for the perfect sugar cookie. This may not be perfect depending on your taste, but it's close! I made a visit to Mary's house in Dallas and she had made a version of this recipe -- I added my tweaks and here you have it!

I suggest you play with it to come up with your perfect cookie. Roll it thinner (my taste) for crisp cookies, and thicker for a moist mouthful

Sugar Cookies

1 C Sugar

1 C Butter

3 eggs

Drizzle Mexican Vanilla

Drizzle Almond Extract

4 C Flour

3 t Baking powder

Cream: sugar, butter, eggs and flavorings. Add dry ingredients and mix. Dough will be soft and does not hold shape well… but great for round cookies!

Roll to desired thickness then bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

*Do not refrigerate OR add more flour.

Frosting:

1 Stick Butter

3 Tablespoons Milk

3 Tablespoons Maraschino Syrup (I found it at Albertson’s in the specialty drink section. If you can’t find it in a bottle, you can use the stuff the cherries are in)

1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract

4 C + 3 T Powdered Sugar

Whip it good! The maraschino syrup makes it the perfect pink.