Ranch Rolls

Anna brought these wonderful rolls to a dinner I attended, so I had to have this recipe. Anna laughed and said the recipe originally came from Charlene, who is a fantastic cook. I love good recipes, so thanks to you, Anna, for a sharing heart.

Ranch rolls

2 (1/4 ounce) packages dry yeast, dissolved in
1 cup warm water
7 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups buttermilk (dry may be used after you add the water)
1/2 cup vegetable oil


Directions: Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
1. In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water. 2. In the same bowl mix all the rest of the ingredients. 3. Let the bowl of dough sit for about 1/2 hour, but you do not have to--you can bake them right away. 4. Roll to 3/4" thickness and cut with biscuit cutter. 5. Make as many as you want; the rest can be saved for another time. 6. Place on ungreased sheet and bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. 7. LEFTOVER DOUGH--store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks in an airtight container making sure there is enough room in it as it grows.

Iron Skillet Apple Pie

Talk about a fantastic, delicious recipe...this one is a blue ribbon winner. Our new preacher's wife, Jana, brought this pie to third Sunday dinner. What caught my eye was the presentation, a big black iron skillet. So many of us love cast iron to cook in, and I have several pieces. She graciously shared the recipe with me. You will not be disappointed in this pie.......

Iron Skillet Apple Pie

7 apples (Granny Smith if possible)
1 cup Sugar (less if the apples are not tart)
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Flour
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Line skillet with pie crust (or use a Pillsbury Refrigerated Crust)
Add filling and top with second crust. Seal the edges together.
Bake until almost brown, and then add the topping for the last
ten minutes.

Topping

Mix together and sprinkle on top....

1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup of pecan pieces
1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream

I always bake my pies at 350 degrees. This recipe did not have
a temperature, but I am sure this will bake perfect at this one.
I smile when I think of how all us ladies looked when we saw
this beautiful pie in the cast iron skillet....reminded me of
my Grandma, that was all she cooked with.....

Pear Mincemeat and Pear Conserve

My dear friend Barbara sent me a letter this week...enclosed was their family recipe for Pear Mincemeat. I will definitely make this next year. I have to post my recipes here or I loose them. I have recipes in boxes, plastic boxes, plastic envelopes, recipes from auctions, I will soon need a forklift to move the piles, but I love recipes and sharing good ones is a blessing from one friend to another.

Pear Mincemeat
(Recipe from the Robinson family)

10 pounds pears (peeled and cored)
3 oranges (peel and pulp)
3 lemons (peel and pulp)
3 Delicious apples with peel
2 pounds raisins

Grind all the above together and add:
1 (24 oz.) bottle of Grape Juice
1 #2 can of crushed Pineapple
5 Pounds of sugar
1 Tablespoon each of cloves, nutmeg, all-spice, and
cinnamon
Mix all the ingredients and cook 30 minutes, stirring to
keep it from sticking.
Add 1 pound margarine or butter. Cook about 15 minutes
more. Seal in canning jars.
One pint will make 1 pie......


This recipe was shared on Homesteading Today by Granny Sue. I
made this and it is wonderful I also tried it with apples and
it is a beautiful blend, looks so pretty in the jars. I changed
the recipe up just a little and used two jars of marischino cherries
(drained) as I wanted a lot of color.She used candied cherries in
her recipe.


Pear Conserve

4 cups of peeled, cored and finely chopped pear
(the type of hand chopper often used for onions worked great for this)
1/4 cup chopped, candied cherries
1/2 orange (juice and rind)
1 box fruit pectin
5 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Prepare and measure the pears into a large saucepan. (If there is little juice, add 1/4 cup of water.)
Squeeze the juice out of the orange and into the pears in the saucepan.
Grate or zest the orange's peel into the mixture. Add the chopped cherries, spices and pectin and heat to boiling, stirring constantly.
Add the sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir constantly to prevent scorching.
Cook to a full rolling boil. Boil one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir and skim off foam for 5 minutes.
Ladle into hot sterilized jars. Clean jar rims carefully, put on lids and turn upside down for twenty minutes to aid the sealing process.
Return to upright position, tighten lids and check for seal as the jars cool.

Canning Time

Fall months means lots of canning and dehydrating around here. Praise the Lord for generous friends who share as well. I had a call a couple weeks ago to "come get these pears". There were at least four bushels of them. I gladly went and got them, and am doing the last batch today. I mostly make Pear Honey, Benny's favorite. It is just pears cooked down with sugar until thick, then add a can of drained crushed Pineapple and continue to cook down till ready to go on a biscuit...LOL...nice and thick. Yesterday, I added marischino cherries and left off the pineapple, and this morning I plan to make Pear Compote...Pears, Marischino cherries, some orange juice from one orange, and the orange zest. I have been making labels for the jars...I am not that creative, but this is so easy...clip art, then cover front and back with clear packing tape, draw on my circles for wide mouth or regular jars, and cut them out, place on the top of the band and screw down the ring...I have been doing all my jars that way this year, lots of beautiful designs, and they are really cute.


This is how the labels look when I am working on them....


This set is from Debbie Mumm's Little Cowboy which is quickly becoming one of my favorite clipart sets....

Still have lots of apples to dehydrate. One of my neighbors has a wonderful apple tree. She allows me to have all the apples that fall on the ground. I have made applesauce, applebutter, and now am dehydrating them. My old dehydrator gave up the ghost, I cannot complain, it lasted me over thirty years. I bought a new one, and it is on the porch, ready to be opened and put to work.
My sister-in-law came to visit last week...she fell in love with the dehyrdated tomatoes, and she loved the apples, told me she was going home and order a dehydrator for herself.

Chocolate Torte

Another fantastic chocolate recipe for chocoholics...my friend Linda makes this for third Sunday dinners and it is gone before you can get to the dessert table. I have also heard it called Chocolate Delight, but I will eat it either way I can get it....and so she graciously gave this recipe hound her recipe to share...Enjoy...with thanks to Linda !

Chocolate Torte

2 sticks margarine
2 cups flour
3/4 cup pecans
1 (8 oz.) package of Cream cheese
1 cup powdered Sugar
1/2 large carton of Cool Whip
2 large packages of Instant Chocolate Pudding
3 cups milk
Chocolate chunks

Mix margarine, flour, and pecans. Press into baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool.
For second layer, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and Cool
Whip. Pour into cooled crust.
For third layer, mix Instant pudding with milk. Pour over
the second layer. Top with the rest of the Cool Whip and
sprinkle with Chocolate chunks.

Swedish Pineapple Cake

Today was third Sunday at church, a time of "shaking salt" together, sharing our love of friends, and recipes. How many times have you brought home a recipe written out on a napkin ? LOL...this happens often to me, the recipe hound...I love to find out who made that fantastic dish...Sharing is caring....and this recipe belongs to the new minister's wife, Jana, a fantastic cook....I will be making this often, believe me, it is so wonderful, and a rich, tasty, creamy, dessert. And as Jana put it, "no eggs and no oil in it".

Swedish Pineapple Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 large can crushed Pineapple
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Topping (On hot cake )

8 ounces Cream Cheese
1 stick margarine or butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup pecans

Crab Apples

I am really crabby today....LOL....My dear friend Karen has a tree full of crab apples. She had picked all around the tree...her height's worth, and asked me if I wanted the rest of the apples, from the middle up...so funny...and of course, I never turn fruit or veggies away. Benny got a ladder, and we spent the morning getting the tiny green fruits pulled off the branches. This tree is one of the old Pioneer type...tiny and green...but still make wonderful jelly.

I love the little glass cutting boards (Dollar General)...
I watch my favorite TV shows and slice the blossom end off and pull out the stems..It takes a LONG time to do these tiny little tart apples. After rinsing them with water, I use a cup of water to start with, add more as they cook, and it took a long time to cook these little ones. I let the pan cool overnight, and this morning, I drained the juice off them. I had two whole cups ! I added equal amounts of sugar and started the batch. Crab Apples have their own pectin, so Certo is not needed. However, these apples were soooo sour, I had to add more sugar than the usual one to one ratio. I cooked them till the jelly dribbles off the spoon, and then threw in a few sprigs of Chocolate Mint leaves from the garden. I ended up with four pints. I have now finished the rest of the apples, and will make more tomorrow. Benny loves homemade jelly, so he is happy.