Mom's Famous Caramels

These Caramels are to die for! I can seriously eat the whole pan if I let myself. When the boys were first born I would always sneak a caramel during the midnight feedings, and it was so worth getting up just to sneak a caramel :). The trick to these is to not over cook!! Get a candy thermometer and test it out before you make the caramels by boiling water, water boils at 212, so if your water boils at a different temp then you know how far off your candy thermometer is. Enjoy!

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. light Karo Syrup
2 c. light cream
dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla

Butter sides of heavy pan and combine sugar, karo butter a 1 c, cream. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Slowly stir in remaining cream and cook over medium heat till 242 temperature. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into buttered 9 x 13 pan. Mark into squares when partially cool. Cut when cold. Easier to work with when made a day ahead. Wrap cut caramel into waxed paper.

Pumpkin Roll

I know its not Fall anymore and not that many people cook with pumpkin, but in our house is it an ingredient that we use all all year round! I love pumpkin, and anything that calls for cream cheese, well you know it makes it that much better. I have always been afraid to make pumpkin rolls because the cake would always break on me, but this recipe never fails me! 

Pumpkin Roll

3 Eggs

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Cooked Pumpkin ( canned)

1 tsp lemon Juice

1 Cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

Powdered sugar

Filling:

1 C. powdered Sugar

6 oz cream cheese

4 T. Butter

1/2 tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. In mixing  bowl beat eggs for 5 minutes. Beat in sugar until smooth. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, spices and salt and stir. Fold dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture. Spread mixture in pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove cake and turn it onto a dishcloth dusted with powdered sugar. Starting at long end, roll up together and cool. While cooling make filling mixture. Mix filling ingredient together until smooth.  Unroll cake and spread with filling within 1 inch of edge. Roll up cake and chill for 4 hours. Dust with powered sugar before serving. And enjoy this yummy dessert! 

Deviled Eggs

I'm cheating a little here.  Deviled eggs are not in the family cookbook, but they are a family recipe from my Bendheim side.  As I'm sure a lot of you are sick of eating your plain hard boiled eggs you colored for Easter - here's another yummy snack for your kids to try.  Here's what you'll need...

18 hard boiled eggs

6 TBS Mayonnaise (I used light)

2 tsp. Mustard

3 tsp. pickle juice.

Salt and Pepper

1/2 a stick of celery - finely chopped

2 kosher dill halves - finely chopped

Paprika for dusting

For hard boiling eggs, I put eggs and water in a pot and bring to a boil, then turn off the flame, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes.  They come out perfect every time.  

Next cut your eggs in half and pop out the yolks .

 Add mayonnaise, mustard, salt pepper and pickle juice (add more or less to get the right consistency)

 Last add your pickles and celery.  Then scoop the mixture into your empty whites.

 Give it a final dusting of paprika and they are ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Dip

I call this dip the 7 layer dip. This is one of the best chip dips I have ever tasted. There is something about a crunchy chip dipped in such a yummy mixture of pure heaven! haha. I make this for all sorts of parties. It is always requested for super bowl, anytime we make tacos, and basically whenever Chase feels like it he will say "oh that dip would go perfect with..." he loves it just as much as I do. So enjoy!

1 28 oz can of refried beans or 1 can of frito-lay bean dip

Mix Together: 3 medium avocados, 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

Mix Together: 1 c. sour cream, 1/2 of mayo, 1 pkg of taco seasoning

1 bunch of green onions
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 small can of chopped olives ( I dont like olives so I never do this layer)
8 oz of cheddar cheese

Layer as Follows:
Spread bean dip on bottom of platter or pizza pan. Cover with avocado mixture. Then cover with sour cream layer. Sprinkle chopped onions, tomatoes, olives, then Cheddar Cheese. Chill and Serve!

Strawberry Freezer Jam- Lower sugar version

My mom's homemade strawberry jam is always a hit! Especially when combined with her crescent rolls ( I will make those at some point in time ). The secret is that the recipe comes from the sure-jell box! Yes, it is true. Not an original recipe, but still worth sharing. I wanted to try the lower sugar version the last time we made jam and I was pleasantly surprised about how good it was! It still has sugar in it, just not as much. It has more strawberry taste since it calls for more fruit. I may actually like this version more, so I wanted to share it with all of you. This jam is super easy to make. We made about 14 jars in just over an hour.

Low Sugar Version:

4 cups prepared fruit (we use the frozen strawberries from costco and defrost them)

3 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

1 box SURE.JELL For Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes Premium Fruit Pectin

1 cup water

make it

RINSE clean glass jars with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.

CRUSH strawberries thoroughly. I used a blender and just pulsed to make sure there were still pieces of berry. You don't want to blend it too much. Measure exactly 4 cups crushed/blended strawberries into large bowl.

MIX sugar and pectin in large saucepan. Stir in water. Bring to boil on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add strawberries; stir 1 minute or until well blended.

FILL all jars immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of jars; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using."

For the original full sugar recipe... click here.

CHOCOLATE MINT BROWNIES

These were a perfect treat for St. Patty's Day! The recipe comes from my Aunt Nancy. I changed nothing because I didn't want to mess with something so perfect! I gave these to my visiting teachees and they all loved them. Haws loves the chocolate and mint combo, so I knew the ones we kept around the house wouldn't last long. And between the two of us they didn't :)

Now if you are looking to whip up some brownies really quick, this is not the recipe you are looking for. But if you have the time, they are worth the effort. I split it up into two days. I made the brownies one day and then did the frosting and chocolate layers the next. This made it a lot easier. Here is what it looks like out of the freezer. Don't you just want to dig right in???

Brownies:

1 1/2 c. melted butter

3/4 c. cocoa

3 c. sugar

6 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 tsp salt

2 1/4 c. sifted flour

Frosting:

3/4 c. butter, softened

3 T. milk

3 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

green food coloring optional

Chocolate layer:

2 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 c. butter

Whisk together melted butter and cocoa. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Mix well, then stir in flour by hand. Do not over mix. Spread in greased 12x17-inch cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 25-30 min. Cool and then put in the freezer for 20 min. For frosting, mix butter, milk, powdered sugar and extract. Can color with green (or red) food coloring if desired. Frost brownies and then put in freezer for another 20 min. Melt chocolate chips and butter in a double boiler and spread on top of the frosting layer. Freeze another 20 min to set.