Sour Cream & Cherry Coffee Cake

18 oz pkg white or yellow cake mix
8 oz sour cream
3 eggs
1/4 cup water
1 can cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. Mix together cake mix, sour cream, eggs, and water. Spread mixture in prepared pan and drop cherry pie filling over the batter in spoonfuls. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool in pan.

Chewy Peanut Butter Blossoms

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups Bisquick mix
1 tsp vanilla
48 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Heat oven to 375.
Beat milk, peanut butter, Bisquick, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Shape into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven, immediately press chocolate kiss in center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Makes about 48 cookies

Apple Pie Jam

6 cups peeled and diced Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp butter
3 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
2 small boxes powdered fruit pectin

Cook apples, water and butter over low heat, stirring until apples are soft but not mushy. Stir in pectin and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add sugars and cinnamon and bring back to a boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Pour into hot jars, leaving 1/4" head space. Process jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes (7) 1/2 pint jars.

Note: 6 cups of diced apples = 6-7 medium size apples

Charleston Cheese Dip

1/2 cup mayonnaise
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated monterey jack cheese
2 green onions, finely chopped
dash of cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
8 ritz crackers, crushed
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, mix the mayonnaise, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, green onions, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Transfer the mixture to a shallow baking dish(I used a pie plate). Top mixture with cracker crumbs and bake for 15 minutes, or until heated through. Remove the pan from the oven and top with the bacon. Serve immediately with corn chips, bagel chips or crackers.

English Muffin Toasting Bread

3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbl sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Diastatic Malt Powder (optional)
1 Tbl instant yeast
1 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup water
2 Tbl vegetable oil
Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, diastatic malt powder and yeast.
Combine the milk, water and oil and heat to 120-130 degrees. Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Beat at high speed for 1 minute. The dough will be very soft. Lightly grease and loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal (optional). Scoop the dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible. Cover the pan and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the pan, about 1 hour. Remove the cover, and bake bread for 20 - 22 minutes at 400 degrees. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Apple Cider Donuts

Apple Cider Donuts


2 cups sugar

1 Tbl plus 2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups apple cider

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups flour

4 Tbl unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

6 cups vegetable oil, for frying



1. Line baking sheet with parchment. Line a large plate with paper towels. In a paper bag, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon; shake to mix well. Set aside.

2. Bring cider to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cider has reduced to 1/2 cup, about 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

3. In a large bowl, whisk baking powder, salt, 1 cup flour and remaining sugar and cinnamon until well combined. In a small bowl, whisk butter, eggs, yolk and cooled cider mixture until well combined. Add cider mixture to flour mixture; whisk until smooth. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups flour and mix until just combined. Dough will be slightly sticky. Refrigerate 10 minutes.

4. Pour oil into a large pot and attach a candy thermometer to side. Heat oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 375, watching and adjusting as needed to keep oil from overheating.

5. Turn dough out onto a well floured counter top and coat finger-tips with flour. Pat dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. Using a doughnut cutter or 2 round cookie cutters(one large and one small), cut out doughnuts and holes. Transfer both to lined baking sheet. Gather scraps and re-pat dough, cutting as many doughnuts as possible.

6. Working in batches, carefully slide doughnuts into hot oil. After about 1 minute, doughnuts will rise to surface and begin to brown. At that point, turn over and fry 1 1/2 minutes longer. Transfer to lined plate to drain. Bring oil back to 375 before frying another batch. When doughnuts have cooled 1 minute, add to bag with cinnamon and sugar and toss to coat. Remove to a clean plate and serve.



Makes about 15 doughnuts and 15 doughnut holes.

Root Beer Barbecue Beef Sandwiches

1 boneless beef rump roast (4lbs)
2 cups barbecue sauce
1 cup root beer
sandwich buns

In a 4 quart slow cooker, place the beef. In a 4 cup measuring cup or bowl mix 1 1/2 cups of the barbecue sauce and root beer; pour over beef.
Cover; cook on low heat setting 10-12 hours.
About 20 minutes before serving, remove beef from the slow cooker; place on large plate. Pour juices from slow cooker into 12 inch skillet. Cook over medium-high heat about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until juices are thickened and reduced to about 3 cups. Meanwhile, shred beef with 2 forks; return to slow cooker. Stir remaining 1/2 cup barbecue sauce into reduced juices in skillet; pour over shredded beef in slow cooker. Spoon about 1/2 cup beef mixture into each bun.