Valentine Sugar Cookies

Such a good recipe. A great find on the the internet. Nana did not have a tried and true sugar cookie recipe in her file, but had one from the food network, so I will post that one also. Meanwhile this recipe makes soft, moist sugar cookies that are so good. The dough holds its shape well too, so if you are using big cookie cutters, they don't break trying to put them on the cookie sheet to bake. I did use a spatula to help and it worked great. 

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 C. Sour Cream

2 C. Sugar

1 C. Shortening

4 Eggs

1 t. Vanilla

6 C. Flour

3 t. Baking Powder

1 t. Baking Soda

1 t. Salt

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Combine first five ingredients and mix well. Slowly add the dry ingredients until everything is well mixed. Let the dough chill for about 15 minutes.

Form dough into small balls, or use fun cookie cutters. When rolling dough, use a floured surface and dough should be rolled to about a 1/4" thick. 

Bake until LIGHT golden brown - no more than about 10 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, they may seem underdone, but they aren't. Just let them cool on the pan and you will find that they are perfectly soft and moist. I baked mine on a silpat for 11 minutes as they were on the large side. If you prefer sugar cookies that are a little crunchier, just bake them a little longer and maybe roll your dough a tad thinner.

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

This recipe is one Nana found from the Food Network. She had a great eye for good recipes, so this one will not disappoint I'm sure. 

1 C. Butter (unsalted)

1 C. White Sugar

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

1 t. Vanilla

3 C. Flour

2 t. Baking Powder

1 t. Salt

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla. In a second bowl, combine and mix well the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into the creamed mixture about a cup at a time. Chill dough for 3 to 4 hours.

Roll out dough to about 1/4" thick and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. You might want to leave out this process if you are going to frost your cookies. Bake on parchment lined sheet pans, or on a silpat. Oven should be preheated to 350º. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. Remove from sheet pans to a rack to cool completely. 

Walnut Chicken Salad

Another of Nana's sandwich spreads from her wedding catering days. People loved her little sandwiches because the fillings were so yummy. 

1 Whole Chicken (cooked and diced)
or 5 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

cooked and diced

1 C. Celery (chopped)

1 C. Walnuts (chopped)

2 T. Diced Pimentos

1/4 C. Dill Pickle Relish

Salt & Pepper

1 C. Mayonaise (approximate measure)

Sour Cream (optional)

If you love cheese you can always add grated cheese to this recipe. 

She never made it with cheese as it just made it more expensive to make. 

In a mixing bowl combine chicken, celery, nuts, and pimento. Toss until well blended.

In a smaller bowl combine mayo, pickle relish, salt & pepper maybe a little sour cream and a sprinkle of pickle juice. Stir with a wire whip until blended. Pour over chicken and mix well. Adjust mayo and ingredients to taste. Good to make ahead as flavors will marry well. If spread needs to be loosened up, use more mayo or sour cream until the consistency is good. 

Great on different breads, Nana would use pullman loaves sliced lengthwise instead of the normal crosswise slices to make her wedding sandwiches. She would put a long wheat slice down, put on the spread and top it with a long white slice. Then the crusts were cut off all four sides. Then she would cut it in half lengthwise and pull the left half up slightly taller than the right. Now she would take the electric knife and cut diagonally across both sides making the sandwiches have diamond shapes. I remember cutting so many sandwiches once I lost feeling in my thumb and index finger for a few days. I can't even imagine trying to do it without an electric knife. 

Green Chile Cheese Pimento

Nana's cheese filling for the "little sandwiches" at wedding receptions and luncheons. It is addicting and certain people have been known to just eat it with a spoon. Here it is from her files…

2 lbs. cheese (long horn, cheddar, nothing too sharp)
1/2 small jar diced pimentos
1 small can diced green chiles
1/2 t. tobasco or other hot sauce
1/4 t. garlic powder (optional)
mayonaise
pickle juice
salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Shred cheese with a regular size grate. The fine shred is too fine. In a large bowl toss cheese, pimentos and diced green chiles. In a small bowl mix about 1 1/2 C. mayonaise with the hot sauce and if you wish the garlic powder. Add about 1/4 C. dill pickle juice and blend well. Pour over cheese mixture and mix well. The mayo and pickle juice measurements are pure speculation. I just put in what I think, taste it and decide if it needs more of anything. Salt and pepper to taste. I don't add any pepper and rarely add any salt. Best if made the day before your planned use so flavors can blend well. Often the cheese will sort of "soak up" some of the moisture. To loosen up the mixture to spread on sandwiches, or to use as a dip for crackers just add some pickle juice, or maybe some cream or half & half. Even a little more mayo will sometimes do the trick. Up to you.

The Best Potato Soup Ever!

One of the family favs, I need to give Aunt Leslee credit. Her home is forever open to guests, she is the ultimate hostess. There is always something on the stove or in the fridge for whoever is there and is hungry. She made a big batch of this wonderful soup when we were up there visiting one fall and I had to call her later for this soup recipe. She said she got it from a church cookbook, but had a few alterations all her own. I bought the book and copied down her way. I just made a few gallons of it for Lacy's wedding and everyone seemed to like it, so here is the recipe tried and true.

12 medium potatoes
1 C. chopped onion
1/4 C. butter or margarine
2 C. cream
3 C. milk
1 T. salt
2 C. grated cheddar cheese
4 green onions, finely sliced
1 pound bacon, fried crisp, drained and crumbled
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel and quarter potatoes and place in a large pot. Fill pot with water just to cover potatoes. Put on lid; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Saute chopped onions and butter or margarine until onions are tender and browned. Remove potatoes from heat and drain. Add cream and stir together. Mash potatoes until mixture is smooth. Stir in milk, salt and onion/butter mixture. Return pot to stove and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch carefully to avoid scorching. Turn down heat if necessary. Use cheese, green onion and bacon for topping each bowl as it is served. Makes about 12 cups.

Leslee's way:
just peel a couple of potatoes and saute with the onion and butter until tender. Make a couple of packages of the mashed potato flakes (of course with more water or milk for a soup consistency) in a large pot. Add chunky potatoes/onion/butter mixture to pot and add the rest of the ingredients. more cream=thicker soup. more water = thinner soup. I think Leslee puts the green onions, and the bacon into the soup. Garnish with cheese, sour cream, more bacon crumbles, whatever. The bacon bits from Hormel/costco are just fine.

Sherry's speedy for a large crowd way:
Get 1 package (per Gallon of soup you are making) Ore-Ida diced (hash browns) frozen potatoes. NOT the O'Brian kind, just plain. Saute the onions in the butter until tender. Add a little more butter to the pan and saute the hashbrowns just a tad. Not to full browned state, just tender. Then follow the rest of Leslee's way and the soup is delicious and pretty quick. When boiling the water for the potato flakes, you can substitute chicken broth for more flavor.