Cooking With Margaret

Cornbread With Green Chiles Makes 2 Loaves Ingredients 1 3/4 cup cornmeal 1 1/2 all purpose flour 2 1/2 teaspoons salt  1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder  1 /3 cup sugar 3/4 cup butter  3/4 cup sour cream 3 eggs  3 cups buttermilk  If you don't have buttermilk measure out the amount of milk and add 2 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice, stir and let set for 15-20 minutes Or equal parts plain yogurt and milk mixed together 3 small cans of diced green chiles  1 1/2 cups of corn (if frozen thaw, if canned drain)  2 cans of creamed corn  Directions  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Grease pans with softened butter (this works much better than any spray that I have used)  A pastry brush makes greasing the pans with the softened butter much easier (swipe your pastry brush upwards to help your bread rise better) Line the bottom of two loaf pans with parchment paper (liners on the bottom are crucial) In a bowl combine cr...

Penuche Frosting This recipe is from my Mom. It’s a recipe that is used to make boxed cake mixes that extra something when you need something to add to them when you don’t have enough time to make and frost an entire cake! A single batch of frosting will frost the top of a 13x9 cake  Ingredients   1/2 cup of butter  1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup of milk 1 3/4-2 cups of powdered sugar Pinch of cinnamon (optional) Directions Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Then add the brown sugar.  Boil and stir over low heat for two minutes.  Add the milk and bring back to a boil stirring constantly.  Then cool to lukewarm.  Gradually add the powdered sugar while beating with an electric mixer.  Then spread on a cooled cake.  Makes enough to frost the top of a 13x9 cake (Best on spice or carrot cakes) 

No Sugar Added Applesauce     Makes about 7 cups                  Ingredients  4-5 pound of mixed apples, halved and seeded (leave peels on)  2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt  Water, to cover          Directions Add apples to heavy bottom pot Cover with water  Cook over medium/low heat, until apples are completely cooked through, and starting to break down (1-3 hours)  Remove pan from heat Using a slotted spoon/spider transfer apples to food mill Process through food mill, in batches (make sure you remove excess buildup of solids before adding next batch so your food mill continues to move around smoothly)  Add cinnamon and salt Stir  Enjoy!              

Tips And Tricks To Making Boxed Cake And Brownie Mixes Taste Homemade Everyone loves a good cake, or a delicious brownie, but quite a few people can be intimidated by making a  (or just baking alone) recipe from scratch based on all the measurements and “work” that can go into just cake.  Which is why many choose to use box mixes for a shortcut or just because they don’t have time. This post is to help those who use boxed mixes make them taste homemade. Everything below are tips and tricks used by friends, family and myself when using a boxed mix.  **Some of these changes may alter the cooking time of the cake Sift the mix, this allows all of the ingredients to get recombined after sitting on a shelf, in a box, for who knows how long  Oil vs Butter Now when it comes to using boxed mixes it should always be a 1:1 ratio of whatever fat you use, but changing out the oil for butter that has been melted, then cooled, can make a delicious difference  Water vs Milk, Cr...

This is a cookie recipe that I am always looking for during the holidays. I love to add these cookies to my cookie platters during the upcoming holiday season, and they are a favorite of friends and family! Hope you like them!  Coconut Oatmeal Cookies  Ingredients 1 cup shortening 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs Sift together  1 1/3 cup flour  1 teaspoon baking powder  1 teaspoon baking soda  1 teaspoon salt Stir  In 2 cups oatmeal  2 cups coconut Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees  Cream together shortening, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Add 2 eggs, one at a time Gradually add the sifted ingredients until combined (do not over mix)  Stir in oatmeal and coconut  Form cookie dough balls into size of 1/2 a golf ball, spacing them about 2 inches a part as they are cookies that spread Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are golden brown Transfer to a cooling rack, allow...

This recipe was given to my mom by a close family friend. I’ve tweaked it and changed some ratios on add ins and other things, so enjoy!  Here is the story it came with: "A woman from the American Bar Association called Mrs. Fields Cookies and asked for the recipe. She was told there was a "two-fifty" charge for the recipe. She assumed it was $2.50, and charged it to her Visa. When she received her statement and discovered that it was indeed "two-fifty"; Two HUNDRED and Fifty dollars. In order to get her money's worth she is passing it on to everyone. Make a copy and give it to a friend with a blessing."  Mrs. Fields Cookies Preheat oven to 375 degrees  2 cups Butter, room temperature  2 cups Sugar 2 cups Brown Sugar 4 eggs, room temperature  1 tablespoon of vanilla  3 1/2 cups flour 6 cups ground oatmeal  (put small amounts into a blender and blend until it turns to powder. Measure first, then blend) 2 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoon baking powder 3 teaspoon...