Mommie Smith's Cupcakes

These cupcakes have been a family favorite since before I was born. They actually originate with my great-grandmother, Jesse. She used to make these for my grandpa on their farm. My mother made them often and now I make them for my girls. The recipe only makes 12, so you’ll want to double if you’re making it for a larger group. They’re simple and sweet and I always love the smell of them baking.

Mommie Smith’s Cupcakes

½ cup butter (of course!)
½ cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
Powdered Sugar Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together butter and sugar in mixer until fluffy.

3. Combine in a small mixing bowl: flour and baking powder.

4. Add eggs to creamed mixture, one at a time until well incorporated. Add milk and vanilla then stir in (recommended by hand) your dry ingredients.

5. Spray muffin tins with non stick cooking spray (or butter them, if you’re really feeling decadent!)

6. Using a spoon place batter evenly to make 12 cupcakes.

7. Bake for 20 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

8. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing cupcakes from pan. Once removed, combine your powdered sugar glaze in a small bowl. If you like it thinner, add more liquid. Drizzle over cupcakes and enjoy!

Serves 12

Chocolate Chip Snack Cake

I make this cake for my girls on the weekend or sometimes for when they arrive home from school. The smell of cinnamon and chocolate is so comforting in the house. An important thing to remember is that you don’t want to over stir the batter. If you do, it can become tough and chewy as it bakes. The walnuts are something we like, but can be omitted altogether, depending on preferences.

Chocolate Chip Snack Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
¼ cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch square baking pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup sugar and the cinnamon.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and remaining 1 cup sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, then beat in the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture (by hand!), in 2 parts until just combined. Pour half the batter into the cake pan (use a greased spatula to spread it, it will be thicker than cake batter) and sprinkle with half the cinnamon mixture and half the chocolate chips. If you are using nuts, sprinkle half of them, as well.

3. Spoon the remaining batter evenly over the filling, spread it gently. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar, chocolate chips and nuts.

4. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Serves 8

Spanish Sausage

This is a meal that my Grandma Mollie used to make on her farm in southern Missouri. I always think of her when I make it. The only person in our family that doesn’t like it is my husband and we generally choose to make this when we are having some sort of ‘girls night’ at home.





Spanish Sausage

1 ½ lb ground sausage
2 (16 oz) cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
½ cup each: onion, green pepper, celery: finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons flour
½ cup water
3 cups hot, cooked rice
Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

1. Shape sausage into 10 patties, brown over medium high heat and pour off half the fat.

2. Add tomatoes, onion, green pepper, celery, salt and pepper.

3. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

4. Put rice on a hot platter and put sausages on top of rice.

5. Blend flour and water until smooth and stir into sauce. Turn the heat up and stir until thickened.

6. Once desired thickness is reached, pour over sausage and garnish with parmesan cheese.

Gingerbread Cake

This is a new favorite for us! I always love the smell of gingerbread baking on a cold winter’s day while the family is huddled inside. Today I made this and the girls were skeptical. They just weren’t sure about the molasses. As it baked, though, I caught them checking the timer and when it went off, they wanted a piece right away. This does have to cool a bit, but it is worth the wait. As one of the girls said after she dove in with her fork: “I don’t like gingerbread, but I love this.” They confirmed it as a keeper, so it gets a space on the blog.


Gingerbread Cake

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup boiling water
Whipped cream


1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.Grease 9 inch square baking pan.

3.In a medium bowl, Stir together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.

4.In a separate, large bowl, beat softened butter, brown sugar, and molasses.

5.Mix egg into the wet mixture.

6.Add the dry mixture, alternating with boiling water, to the wet mixture, stirring until well-blended.

7.Pour into the greased pan.

8.Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees. or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let sit on wire rack (still in pan) about 10 minutes.

9.Invert cake onto wire rack and cool completely.

10.Serve with whipped cream

Cheesy Potato Casserole

This is another recipe that I often find at church potlucks and family dinners. The cornflakes on the top are a tasty finishing touch. This recipe makes a lot, but it heats up great with leftovers.






Cheesy Potato Casserole


2 (1lb) bags frozen hash brown potatoes, defrosted
½ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ cup chopped onion
1 (10 ½ oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
10 oz grated cheddar cheese
Topping:
2 cups crushed cornflakes
¼ cup melted butter

1. Combine potatoes, melted butter, salt and pepper.
2. Add onion, soup, sour cream and cheese; mix well.
3. Put in greased 9x13 casserole dish.
4. B ake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Sloppy Janes

This is one of our favorite meals (even though Dad doesn’t like it). We like it better than the stuff in the can and usually I have the ingredients stocked in the pantry. This year we had a non-traditional Christmas Eve dinner for a lot of reasons. I let the twins choose the meal and this is what we had. We had this with Cheesy Potato Casserole and Seven Layer Salad. Yum!



Sloppy Janes

2 lbs ground beef (you can also use ground turkey)
2 tablespoons minced onion (dried onion works, as well)
2 cups ketchup
2 teaspoons mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
Salt to taste
Hamburger buns

Brown the meat and onion together. Add remaining ingredients (minus buns, of course!), stirring well. Allow mixture to simmer in the skillet for a few minutes.

Serves 4

Seven Layer Salad

This is one of my favorite salads. When I was growing up it would always make an appearance at a family reunion or a church potluck. It is also a great holiday salad and looks great on a Christmas table with a sprinkling of paprika and green onions sliced on top.

Seven Layer Salad

6 cups chopped lettuce
Salt and pepper
6 hard cooked eggs, chopped
2 cups frozen sweet peas, thawed
16 oz bacon, sliced and cooked crisp
2 cups shredded mild Cheddar cheese
2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup sliced green onions
Paprika

1. Place 3 cups lettuce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the chopped eggs on top of lettuce and add more salt and pepper. Then layer your veggies in this order: peas, rest of lettuce, crumbled bacon and shredded cheese.

2. Combine the mayonnaise and sugar. Spread this over the top of the salad making sure it goes to the edges to form a seal. Cover and let it chill overnight.

3. Just before serving sprinkle with paprika and green onions.