Hardtack

My daughter's school does a reenactment of the Civil War. My oldest daughter fought for the North. Since my younger daughter wanted to fight for the same side as her sister, she was undecided. She wanted to talk to her sister first. She took to long deciding what side to pick so by default she became a Southern. Most of my daughter's friends had picked the North. (We do live in Maine.) Since my husband and I were both born in New England, I reminded her that her Grandfather is a Southern and one of her Aunts were born in the South so she should fight for them. We did get a photo of her with President Lincoln so I think her fellow Southerns believed she was a spy anyways. Also, she was seen often speaking with a lot of the Northern soldiers. Part of the experience is all the soldiers had to eat what the soldiers were served back during the Civil War. If for some reason you need a recipe for hardtack, this is the place to find it. I will admit I felt bad for all the soldiers if they had to live off of hardtack. Hardtack is hard and salty. Now, these crackers were fresh so I could only imagine how hard they were when the soldiers did receive them.

Hardtack
4 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
2 Tbsp vegetable shortening
2 tsp salt
1 to 1 1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour, shortening, and salt.
3. Slowly, pour in the water while pulsing.
4. Continue adding the water to form a stiff but not sticky batter.
5. Knead several times.
6. Roll the dough onto an ungreased baking sheet to 1/2 inch thickness.
7. Bake the dough for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven.
9. Cut the dough into 3 inch sections. 
10. Using a fork, punch several rows of holes into the dough.
11. Flip the dough over so the punched side is down on the baking sheet.
12. Bake the dough for another 20 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
13. Turn off the oven and allow the oven to cool.

Recipe adapted from American Civil War Recipes.

One year ago........................I made Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.
Two years ago......................I made Feta Topped Chicken.

Did you already know...........
-The hardtack was issued to Union soldiers as part of their rations.
-Due to lack of proper storage, the hardtack often arrived infested with bugs called weevils. 
-To make it easier to eat, many soldiers would dunk it into a liquid to soften it or cook it into a mesh with grease.

Molasses Spice Cookies

Recently, my friend had surgery. I wanted to bring her something more than just flowers so I made her cookies. I knew she would like these cookies so I had to make them for her. I shared some with my sister and she said they taste like gingerbread. My daughter loved them. I mean loved them. Since there was no chocolate in them, I even shared one with our dog. He instantly became my best friend. He already was my friend but I think it brought us closer. I think it doesn't hurt that I also give him pieces of cheese, apples, and carrots (his all time favorite snack) but the cookie helped our friendship.

Molasses Spice Cookies
10 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided

Directions:

1. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the egg and molasses.
4. Add 1 cup of sugar and mix until incorporated.
5. Add the cooled butter and mix until incorporated.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix well. Scrap down the bowl.
7. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix well. Scrap down the bowl.
8. Add the remaining flour mixture.
9. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
10. Remove the dough and form about a Tablespoon of dough into balls.
11. Place the dough onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
12. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
14. Place the 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl.
15. Roll each ball of dough into the sugar to coat.
16. Flatten the balls slightly.
17. Space the dough about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
18. Bake the cookies for 5 minutes.
19. Rotate and bake the cookies for another 5 minutes or until the cookies are dark golden brown.
20. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from the Standard Baking Co. Pastries Cookbook by Alison Pray and Tara Smith. 

One year ago........................I made Peanut Butter Cup PB Cookies.
Two years ago......................I made Mahogany Cake.

Did you already know...........
-Molasses is the byproduct of the extraction of sugar from sugarcane and sugar beets.
-The Molasses Act of 1733, the British imposed a tax on all non-British imports of sugar and molasses to the colonies.
-On January 15, 1919, a large molasses storage tank collapsed in the North End of Boston creating a two story flood causing the death of 21 people and about 150 injuries.

Red, White, and Blue Cake

Memorial Day signifies many things to many people. My Grandmother would visit the graves of family members. For others, it is the parade and remembering lost service members. For us, it signifies my husband's birthday since often his birthday falls on the holiday. Well, I had to make him a patriotic cake. My sister found the idea on pinterest and sent it to me. I decided to try making star shapes. I did learn that the cake needs to be frozen so it is easy to cut out the shapes. Also, I used the rest of the red and blue cake to make my bottom layer so I didn't waste any cake. I liked the affect. I used this cake recipe.  The best part of making this cake is my daughter helped.

Red, White, and Blue Cake
1 baked red cake
1 baked blue cake
1 white cake batter

Directions

1. Freeze the red cake and the blue cake for 1 hour.
2. Cut out the star shapes from the frozen cake.
3. Place the cut out cooked red and blue cake stars into the white cake batter.
4. Make sure the cut out star shapes are covered by the white cake batter.
5. Bake the white cake as normal.
6. Once cooked, frost as desired and serve.

Recipe adapted from Recipebyphoto.

One year ago.................................I made a Star Cake.
Two years ago...............................I made a Stuffed Burger.

An example of my cut out blue star.

Did you already know...................
-Memorial Day once was called Decoration Day.
-Decoration Day began to remember all the fallen Civil War soldiers.
-On May 5th, 1868, the Union Veterans decided to establish a day to decorate the graves of the fallen soldiers with flowers.

Black and White Pudding Squares

My son has been asking for me to make this dessert. He saw the recipe at the grocery store. On three separate occasions, my son would pick up another card. We would pick up the ingredients but Oreos do not last long at our house so we would have to wait until next time. Finally, we made it. It is very good. The puddings will still be soft and creamy. I wanted a little more flavor so I used Mint Oreos.

Black and White Pudding Squares
24 Mint Oreo Cookies, finely crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 package (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened and divided
1 package Vanilla Instant Pudding
2 cups cold skim milk, divided
1 package Chocolate Instant Pudding
Toppings: whip cream and crushed Oreo cookies.

Directions:

1. Combine the Oreo cookies with the melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 8x8 baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, beat 4 oz. of the cream cheese with the vanilla pudding package and 1 cup of milk.
3. Spread the mixture over the Oreo crust.
4. In the bowl, beat 4 oz. of the cream cheese with the chocolate pudding package and 1 cup of milk. 
5. Spread over the vanilla pudding mixture.
6. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
7. Before serving, top with whip cream and crushed Oreo cookies.

Recipe adapted from Kraft recipe card but also found at Jell-O. 

One year ago...........................I made Banana Muffins.
Two years ago.........................I made Pickles.

My daughter assembled her piece

Did you already know................
-In 1897, Pearle Wait trademarked his Jell-O desserts. 
-In 1936, Jell-O introduced chocolate instant pudding.
-Jell-O brand is part of Kraft foods.

Blue Cheese Dressing

My friend at work gave me her favorite blue cheese recipe. I kept meaning to make it but I haven't been cooking lately. I have been lucky since my husband has been the one making supper. Well, I decided we were going to have salads for supper. Of course, I couldn't find her recipe. I remembered the main ingredients and I looked everywhere. She did tell me the site that she found the recipe but it didn't help since there a lot t review. I really need to be more organized. I will probably find it now that I found this recipe. So, I picked one. My children told me this recipe was there favorite dressing recipe of all time. My husband had to agree. I loved it but I liked garlic. This is a creamy recipe.

Blue Cheese Dressing 
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup buttermilk 
3 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
1/8 cup dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
2. Allow to chill before serving.

Recipe adapted from All Recipes.

One year ago...............................I made Dulce de Leche Flan.
Two years ago.............................I made Baguette Bread.

The kids loved using my little container to pour their dressing. I guess it is the little touches that make supper entertaining. They insisted that I should take their photo to share with you. My two cuties!

Did you already know.....................
-The mold spores of Penicillium are used to make blue cheese.
-Early blue cheese makers used moldy bread to create the mold spores in caves which the mold is naturally present.
-Today the mold is injected into the cheese or mixed with the cheese curds.