Great Grandma Palmer's Ginger Snaps

1/2 c. butter-room temp.
3/4 c. packed br. sugar
1/4 c. dark molasses
1 egg
1 t. gr. ginger
1/2 t. gr. cinnamon
1/4 t. gr. cloves
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda
white sugar to roll dough in

Beat butter til creamy. Gradually add in br. sugar and molasses until fluffy. Add egg, ginger, cinnamon and cloves; beat to blend. Combine flour and baking soda. Slowly add to butter mixture. Beat at low speed just to combine. (Dough may be refrigerated, covered, up to 5 days.) Roll into tsp size balls and coat in white sugar.

Place on ungreased cookie sheets 2 in. apart.
Bake 375 for 7-8 min.
Makes 4 dozen 2 inch cookies

Ice Cream in a bag

1 quart freezer bag & 1 gallon freezer bag

2 T. sugar
1 c. half and half
1/2 t. vanilla


1/2 c. Rock Salt or Kosher Salt
Enough Ice Cubes to fill the gallon bag half full

Any toppings you want to put on at the end

Put the sugar, half and half, and vanilla in the quart bag and seal the bag. Put the salt and ice cubes in the gallon bag. Put the quart bag in the gallon bag and shake until it's frozen. 5-10 min. You might want rinse off the quart bag with very cold water or wipe off with a towel because the outside of the bag will be VERY saltly!! Then open the bag, add your toppings and dig in. (Or you could dump it in a bowl)


We did this with all the cousins for dessert one night and they had a GREAT time!!! It was just a bummer we left all the sweatshirts in the stroller, but thanks Bets for looking all over and finding some to borrow :)

Light Granola

4 cups regular oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts or mixed)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 salt

3 T water

3 T canola oil

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup dried fruit (craisins)

Mix dry ingredients except dried fruit in a large bowl. Then add water, oil and honey and mix with hads to mix well. Bake on either oiled greased cookie sheets or parchment covered cookie sheets at 250 for 45 inutes. Midway through cooking move granola around with spatula so that you don't get dark granola on the edges. Cool and put in airtight container.

Whole Wheat Bread

5 cups Hot water

1/2 c oil

4 c. white wheat
9-11c. red whole wheat

1 c honey

1/3 cup gluten

2 T salt

1/3 cup dry milk

3 Tbsp of Yeast

You will need 4 cups of white whole wheat flour and 9-11 cups of red whole wheat flour. (If you want to use all white and no red it will be lighter.)

In a large mixer turned on low, mix water, honey, oil, salt, gluten, and milk. Mix 4 cups of white whole wheat flour, Add yeast. Add red whole wheat until dough pulls completely away from the side of the bowl. (Total cups of flour should be 13-15 cups) Turn mixer to high and knead in mixer or about 4-5 minutes . (If you don't have a mixer you can hand knead the dough until the dough has a shiny appearance and slightly tacky feel.) Turn on o ven to 170 F. Then turn dough on to lightly floured couter-top. Hand knead breifly into a ball then let dough rest on counter while dishes are cleaned about 10 minutes. Cut dough into either 4 or 5 portions depending on size of bread pans.(4 portions for 6x9 pans) Shape into loaves by folding and rolling the dough until the dough roll extends the full length of the pan (9 inches) Put bread into greased pans.

Place pans in oven and turn off oven. Let rise for 30 mintues. Turn on oven to 350F after the 30 minutes and bake for 22-26 minutes.

Betsy and Keith's Favorite Pancake/Waffle Mix

This is a hearty and delicious mix to make pancakes or waffles. It is quick, filling and healthy. I mix it and place it in a tupperware container and then it is ready quickly. The ground flax seed can be found at our costco but you can also grind your own in a coffee grinder.

4 c quick oats

4 c whole wheat flour

1 C brown sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

3 TBsp baking powder

1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp salt

1/4 ground flax seed

1/3 c powdered milk

For each 2 C of Pancake mix add:

1/4 c oil

1 c water

2 eggs

Banana Bread/Muffins

O.K. so Becca found this amazing banana bread recipe and I like to make them as muffins. It's a great after school snack for the kids and also snacking on the go! I do omit the nuts, Justin is quasi allergic, and add a 1/3-2/3 c. of choco. chips and they bake up in just 30-35 min. Don't over fill or you wont be able to make a full 24!! Stolen goods from her blog:


1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
3 mashed bananas
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash baking soda
1 cup nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Combine oil, sugar, bananas, eggs, and buttermilk. Whisk in dry ingredients until combined. Divide batter into greased bread pans (I find this recipe makes about 1 regular loaf PLUS 4 mini-loaves, or I divide the mixture evenly between two loaf pans. It's just a little too much to fit in a single bread pan). Bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (about 25 min for mini-loaves). Let cool for 5 minutes in pan, then remove loaves to cooling rack.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-2 lbs Sweet Italian Sausage
2-3 (28oz) cans tomato puree
1-2 cans Italian tomatoes
1 t. basil
2 t. oregano
2-3 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. pepper
1-2 T. sugar (depending on acidity levels)

Remove sausage from casing, toss in hot pan with olive oil, onion, basil, oregano, salt and pepper breaking up the sausage into bite size chunks. Toss in garlic once sausage is almost cooked through. (You don't want the garlic to burn)Add the cans of tomatoes and some of the sugar. Simmer 1-2 hours tasting to adjust if needed.
This is a great to make a huge batch and freeze in quart freezer bags!!!!

And it begins...

Food plays a large role in my life, the life of my family and friends. Growing up I was blessed to have a mother who was an exceptional cook and passed on her many secrets and the love of a well made, healthy meal. Not to say everything she or I cook is always healthy, but a well balanced meal was always presented night after night and I aim to carry on that legacy. This blog is dedicated to yummy food and hopefully my family members will contribute as well as some dear friends who are also passionate about cooking so the legacy of yummy food will continue for generations to come!!!! Thanks Becca for the push to get this started!!