Quick Banana Pudding

Mom doesn't make banana pudding often, but when she does it's fabulous and gone in a flash.  She had a very complicated recipe that involved preparing her own pudding from scratch, but ditched it after making my Aunt Lisa's version.  Here's how she does it now.

Chocolate Pie

 

Based on the advice of the local weathermen, we planned on being snowed in today and tomorrow, which, of course, means dessert consumption.  This week we chose chocolate pie as our sugar victim.  It's another of those classic family recipes that is always fabulous.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

This is the world's best chocolate cake and has been my birthday cake since I was old enough to tell Mom what I wanted.  I wish my mom or grandma could take credit for the recipe, but they can't.  It comes from an old cookbook from the '40s or '50s that first belonged to my Mam-Maw and now belongs to my mom.  The author of this recipe is Mrs. Mae Brewer of Riverside, Oklahoma.

My Mam-Maw - a good cook and a total hottie

Even though my family can't claim this recipe, it has been part of our family gatherings forever.  Every time my grandparents had company, Mam-Maw made this cake.  And because Mam-Maw wanted everyone to like everything she cooked, she would put pecans on top of one end of the cake and leave the other half without nuts.  If only that trait hadn't skipped a generation.

Every time we have a "special occasion" meal at our house, I request this cake.  It's chocolatey, with a little cinnamon, very moist, and dangerously tempting because we walk by and grab "bites" every time we're in the kitchen to get coffee or water. 

I really can't stress how much I love this cake.  If I'm ever in a position to choose my last meal, this is all I will request.  It's the perfect combination of tasty food and great memories for me.  I hope you enjoy it!

Fudgy Brownies

A friend made a special request for a brownie recipe, so I don't have a picture of these at the moment.  This is my grandmother's brownie recipe.  It's the brownie recipe that I grew up eating and I still make it any time I think I need a brownie.  It's fudgy, chocolatey, and just incredible.  Enjoy!

Creamy Salted Fudge

Over the past several months I've been an avid Weight Watchers follower.  The major flaw with me and any diet plan is my deep, unwavering love of chocolate.  It has been the wall between me and thinness forever.  Of course, the beauty of Weight Watchers is that it doesn't deny you the things you love, but teaches you to prepare them in a more healthful way.  This recipe is the perfect representation of that characteristic.  This fudge doesn't have any fake sugar or nasty aspartamey aftertaste.  In fact, nothing about it tastes "diet" or "healthy."  I love it and it is the perfect tamer of my chocolate cravings.

Pumpkin Scones

First, enjoy this recipe, as it's the last sweet recipe that will be posted for some time.  Remember how I said in my last post that Mom and I are being healthy this year?  Well, we fell off the wagon in a serious, serious way with these scones.  Now we've decided we won't bake again until my birthday in February.  I guess we'll have to see how long that lasts.

The wagon-falling began innocently enough.  We had some leftover pumpkin from Sunday morning's pumpkin pancakes and didn't want it to go to waste.  You can do a lot of things with pumpkin, many of which are probably healthy, but, as you all have surely figured out by now, that's not how we roll at the Lindsey house.  We made double-frosted pumpkin scones.  They're INCREDIBLE and I suggest you don't make them because you can't not eat them.  I also suggest you go to the kitchen, prepare them now, and enjoy them for breakfast tomorrow morning.  I promise to be sympathetic when we run into each other at fat camp.

Cold Oven Pound Cake

This is a classic Mom recipe.  She has been making this pound cake for longer than I've been alive and it's fabulous.  We've been talking about it quite a lot recently and she finally made it today after seeing Paula Deen make something similar this morning.  It was a very pleasant surprise when I got home for school this afternoon.

Cranberry Pecan Swedish Tea Ring

Mom is still dealing with her cold, so she decided not to make her more-fabulous-than-fabulous cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning.  She's so delirious, drugged out on NyQuil, that she decided I should cook Christmas breakfast.  Not being brave enough to attempt her cinnamon rolls, I decided on this cranberry pecan Swedish tea ring, a recipe that I found in Healthy Cooking.  Having never cooked something that involves yeast and rising, it took more than one attempt to get it made, but I finally succeeded.  It's delicious, so it was worth the effort.

Divinity

Divinity is another incredible, high maintenance Christmas candy, but Mom loves it as much as I do, so she never complains about making it.  While we do have a traditional family recipe for this, Mom prefers the recipe that is included in her mixer's cookbook.

Fair warning - Mom considers divinity "high maintenance" because it's difficult to make.  It's very finicky.  The humidity has to be very low, you have to whip it just enough, you have to use a candy thermometer to get the temperature just right, and pastry chef terminology (hard ball, soft peaks, etc.) comes into play.  It's something I'm afraid to try to make.  Fortunately, I don't have to because I live with Paula the master chef.

Peanut Brittle

Traditional peanut brittle recipes are difficult to make, requiring constant vigilance, stirring, and precise temperatures that can only be maintained with a candy thermometer.  Mom's recipe is the complete opposite and requires only a microwave and a few minutes of your time.  That, of course, makes it both fabulous and easy.

Chocolate Turtles

Mom hates making turtles because, as she says, "They are a pain in the butt."  Sadly for her, they are my favorite Christmas candy and it doesn't seem like Christmas until she has made them.  Every year when I request them, she whines a bit and then declares that it's only fitting that her high maintenance daughter's favorite candy is the most complicated of her recipes.  Then I tape her mouth shut and lock her in the kitchen, forcing her to ransom herself with said turtles.  Because I'm such a good daughter (and because I want to learn how to make them myself), this year I offered to assist in the candy's preparation.  It's not even close to being as complicated as she said, so don't be intimidated.

Christmas Chocolate Candy Balls

Every Christmas that I can remember has involved mountains and mountains of Mom's (via her mom, my Mam-Maw) homemade Christmas candy.  The chocolate candy balls are my third favorite of her candy recipes.  Last night, for the first time ever, I was allowed to help make them.  Although there were hints of disaster and lots of Mom telling me I wasn't quite competent enough to know all the techniques involved, they turned out as well as could be expected when I am fiddling with a family tradition.