Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Lately, I have been craving chocolate and peanut butter. As you know, nothing will stop that craving until you have some. So I made my homemade Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. They are better than the real Reese's. If you don't believe me, make them for your family and decide for yourself.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 pound box confectioners sugar

1 cup peanut butter (I use Jiff creamy, but you can use crunchy)

1 large plain Hershey Bar (7-8 0z.)

Melt butter in microwave for about 1 minute. Add peanut butter and mix together. Add confectioners sugar and mix. You will probably need to use your hand and knead like dough to get it mixed good. Press mixture in a 9 x 13 pan. Melt Hershey Bar in microwave for about 1 minute and mix until completely melted. Pour over the peanut butter mixture. Let it cool for about 1 hour. Cut into squares and then put in refrigerator. You will have to cut squares again before serving.

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

The very first post I did on this blog was my Pork Chop and Potato Casserole. My daughter-in-law, Brandi, told me she had a great pork chop recipe that her family and friends love. Brandi shared the recipe with me and I'd like to share it with you. I made it and it is very good, especially if you like cooked apples. I think it would be delicious with any of your favorite apples and not just Granny Smith apples. Now that fall is approaching, apple season will be upon us. I think this will be a good recipe for your family to enjoy.

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

4 - 6 pork chops

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Garlic salt to taste

Pepper to taste (I added a little bit of salt, too)

4 Tablespoons butter (I used a little less)

4 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced

Heat oil in a large skillet and brown chops for 1 minute on each side. (Brandi said she actually skips this step, but I didn't.)

Place pork chops in a 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper (and salt if you'd like).

In medium size skillet melt butter and add brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook 1 - 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove from stove and add apple slices. Stir to coat and pour this apple mixture over the pork chops.

Bake, covered, at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes or until done.

Grits

While at the wedding in Birmingham, I received a frantic call from my son in Charlotte. "Mom, how do you make your grits? It's not on your blog." So here is the way to make creamy, delicious grits.

I use Quaker Quick Grits. Do not use the instant grits. The most important thing to remember is that you use 4 times as much water as grits. So if you want 1 large serving of grits, you use 1 cup water and 1/4 cup grits. If you use 1/2 cup of grits, use 2 cups of water. I don't follow the directions on the package. Here is what I do:

Put the amount of grits you want and 4 times the water in a pot. Add a small pat of butter and add salt to taste. Mix together and let everything come to a boil. I will usually mix it a couple of times before it comes to a boil. When it boils, cover and turn heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Don't peek! After 5 minutes, remove from stove, uncover and stir. After stirring, recover and let sit for 5 more minutes. Stir again and serve. I like to put butter on the top. My kids and grandkids love to put cheese on the top.

As you can see in these pictures, my granddaughter, McKinley, loves Nana's grits.

Rachel's Poppy Seed Bread

I went to Birmingham, Alabama over Labor Day weekend for my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful affair. When we arrived at our hotel and checked in, we were given a wonderful hospitality bag full of all kinds of goodies. One thing in the bag was my cousin's homemade poppy seed bread along with the recipe. Of course, the first thing I did was take a picture and then I had to cut me a piece. It was delicious and can't wait to make one for my family. I wanted to share the recipe with you. So here is Rachel's Poppy Seed Bread.

Rachel's Poppy Seed Bread

3 cups all purpose flour

2 1/3 cups white granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 Tablespoons poppy seed

1 1/2 teaspoon each: vanilla, butter, and almond extracts

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. Mix all ingredients with a mixer. Pour mixture evenly into pans and bake 1 hour or until golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes and pour glaze (see recipe below) over bread in pan. Leave in pans about 1 hour.

Glaze Recipe

1/2 teaspoon each: vanilla, butter and almond extracts

1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup white granulated sugar

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan on low heat until the sugar dissolves. Pour over bread and let set for 1 hour before removing bread from pan.

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Well, this recipe is not very quick, but it certainly is worth it. I think boiling the chicken and cutting it up is the hardest part. Of course, you could boil the chicken the night before and it would be quick to put together the next day. My family likes this recipe because it is different from regular spaghetti--it's creamy, not made with tomatoes, and has chicken not beef--plus it has mushrooms and we love mushrooms. It really is delicious!

(You can leave the mushrooms out if you're not a mushroom person.)

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

8 ounces of spaghetti

4 Tablespoons of butter (I use only 2 Tablespoons)

1 small onion chopped

1/2 cup celery chopped

3/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 large (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

2 cups cooked chicken

(I usually boil some chicken pieces in salted water with an onion and a piece of celery in it)

Preheat oven to 350. Cook spaghetti per directions on the box. Rinse and set aside.

Saute' onions, celery and mushrooms in butter. Blend in soup and mix together. Add milk slowly, mixing as you go. Add cooked spaghetti and chicken to this mixture and put into a casserole dish.

Put shredded cheddar cheese on top. Then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 until bubbly and cheese is melted--about 30 minutes.

Yeast Rolls

Okay, here it is Labor Day. Do you have everything?

Oh no, rolls--we need rolls!

Don't sweat. Quickly go to the grocery store and buy a bag of

Sister Schubert's Yeast Rolls.

They are as good homemade rolls--well, almost.

If you haven't tried them, now is the time. Mmmm, so good!

You'd think they were homemade!

Happy Labor Day!

Mom's Potato Salad

My potato salad is must at your labor day celebration. Everyone raves about it and I hope you will enjoy it, too. My daughter-in-law does not like potato salad, but she loves mine--that's why it's called Mom's (rather than Nana's) Potato Salad.

Mom's Potato Salad

6 - 8 medium to large potatoes

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped onion ( or more if you like onion)

3 - 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 - 2 Tablespoons sweet pickle cubes

2 Tablespoons pickle juice

1/4 - 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 - 1 teaspoon mustard

Peel potatoes and cut into pieces. Put in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on medium low heat for about 30 - 40 minutes. Now the first secret here is the salt. Salt the water enough so that the potatoes will have a good taste when they finish cooking. Drain and set aside to cool a little.

In a large bowl put the potatoes, eggs, celery, onion, pickles, pickle juice, mayo and mustard and mix together. The second secret is to put everything together while the potatoes are still a little warm. When the potatoes are warm they mash together a little bit and you don't have to use as much mayonnaise. Taste it and see if it needs salt. Add the salt if needed.

**My husband loves my potato salad, but he doesn't like the mayonnaise because he says it 's not healthy for him. So, we use Vegenaise with Grape Seed Oil (get it at a health food store) and it is delcious--plus it is healthier.

Pistachio Cake

Here's a delicious, moist pistachio cake that will be the hit of any picnic or barbecue. Actually, it's a hit any time.

Pistachio Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix (I use the butter kind)

4 eggs

1/2 cup of orange juice

1 box of pistachio pudding mix

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

2/3 cup of chocolate syrup

Mix cake mix, pudding , eggs, water, orange juice, and oil. Using an electric mixer, beat for 5 minutes. Pour 2/3 of batter into a greased and floured tube pan. Mix together the remaining batter and the chocolate syrup and pour on top of the batter in the pan. DO NOT STIR! Bake at 350 degrees for 50 - 55 minutes.

If you're like me, I usually buy the plain yellow cake mixinstead of the butter kind by mistake. So here is another pistachio cake recipe that uses the regular yellow cake mix and is delicious, too. Your family will love either one of these cakes.

Pistachio Cake # 2

Regular yellow cake mix (I like Duncan Hines)

1 package of instant pistachio pudding

4 large eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together in bowl the yellow cake mix, pudding, eggs, oil, water, and vanilla. beat for 4 minutes. Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans. Put in a bundt pan and bake for 1 hour.

**Optional: Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of cake after baking. I usually do, but forgot to do it on the cake pictured above.

Nana's Banana Pudding

Here is a fantastic Banana Pudding recipe for your family to enjoy this Labor Day holiday. My family enjoys it any day of the year!

Nana's Banana Pudding

3 packages of French Vanilla Instant Pudding

5 cups milk

8 ounces of sour cream

1 small container of Cool Whip

1 box of Vanilla wafers

6 Bananas

Using a mixer, mix together the 3 packages of pudding and the 5 cups of milk. Mix until thick (about 2 minutes).

Add the sour cream and mix together. Stir in the Cool Whip. (I use the mixer for this part, too.)

Line a large dish (I use a 9 x 13 glass pan) with vanilla wafers, then bananas and 1/2 of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layer of wafers, bananas and the rest of the pudding mixture. I like to crumble some vanilla wafers on the tope to finish it off. Chill in refrigerator overnight.

**The longer it sits in the refrigerator, the better it is.

Broccoli Salad

Here is a tasty side to go with your Labor Day picnic or barbecue. You'll have to plan ahead with this one because you need to refrigerate it at least 2 hours before serving.

Broccoli Salad

2 pounds of broccoli (about 2 bunches)

10 slices of bacon

1 red onion (chopped or sliced thin)

1/2 cup of dark raisins (or more if you like raisins)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cut, wash, and drain broccoli florets. The florets should be bite-size. Fry bacon crispy and crumble for salad. Chop or slice (thin) red onion and mix with broccoli, raisins and bacon. In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar and pepper. Pour over broccoli mixture and stir. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

**The original recipe had double the mayo, sugar, vinegar and pepper. I think it makes it too soupy, so I just halved that part of the recipe. My family likes it better with less, too.