White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together butter, shortening and sugars, add egg and mix well. Slowly add flour, baking soda and salt and continue mixing. Stir in vanilla and chocolate morsels. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

Blackberry Cobbler

Filling...
4 cups blackberries, fresh
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
1-1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp butter, melted
Cream & sugar

Pastry...
1-3/4 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening
6 Tbsp whipping cream
6 Tbsp buttermilk

Place berries in a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish. Combine sugar and flour; add water and lemon juice, mixing well. Pour syrup over berries; bake at 350 degrees F about 15 minutes while preparing the pastry. Place pastry over hot berries; brush with melted butter. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown.

Pastry: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in whipping cream and buttermilk. Knead dough 4 or 5 times; roll to about 1/4" thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut dough to fit baking dish.

Serve cobbler warm with cream and sugar.

Cheesecake Cupcakes

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
vanilla wafers
1 can (21 ounce) cherry or blueberry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat cream cheese until fluffy, add sugar and continue beating. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans. Place one vanilla wafer in the bottom of each liner. Fill each liner with 1/4 cup of the cream cheese mixture. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. When cool, place spoonful of pie filling on top of each cupcake. Refrigerate.

Lemon Chess Pie

9 inch pie crust
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbsp cornmeal
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix butter and sugar together. Mix in the eggs, cornmeal, lemon juice and vanilla. Pour mixture into pie shell and bake for 45 minutes until pie is nicely browned.

Quick & Delicious Jello Dessert

Just before supper, pour one cup of boiling water over a package of raspberry gelatin crystals and stir to dissolve. Add a package of frozen raspberries and stir to defrost them. As they defrost, the gelatin sets. Put in the fridge until it is time for dessert. Serve plain, or with whipped cream.

Pineapple Icebox Cake

1-3/4 cups milk
1 (1 lb.) pkg. miniature marshmallows
1 cup drained, crushed pineapple
1 cup cream, whipped
2 diced bananas
1/2 cup drained maraschino cherries
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Graham cracker crust

Bring milk just to boiling and pour over the marshmallows. Stir until marshmallows are melted. Add pineapple. When the mixture has cooled, fold in the whipped cream, bananas, diced cherries and chopped nuts. Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with graham cracker crumbs, reserving 1/2 cup for top. Pour fruit mixture into pan, top with remaining crumbs. Put in refrigerator until ready to serve. Makes 10-12 servings.

Making cookie crumbs

To make 1 cup of finely crushed crumbs, use the following amounts (amounts are approximate)...

14 Oreos
14 graham cracker squares
15 gingersnaps
28 saltine crackers
22 vanilla wafers
24 Ritz crackers
3 cups corn flakes

Cake Baking

When making a cake, have all of your ingredients at room temperature.

Better Baking

You should leave 2 inches of space between the oven walls and your baking sheet for good circulation.

Basic Pie Crust

2 cups flour
Pinch of salt
1 cup shortening, chilled
1/4 cup water

Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Remove 1/3 cup of the mixture and set aside. Add the chilled shortening, and using a pastry cutter, incorporate until shortening and flour become pea-sized; set aside. Use reserved 1/3 cup of flour/salt mixture and 1/4 cup of water; mix to make a paste.

Using hands, add paste to flour/shortening mixture and work it just enough for paste to cover everything - don´t work it too much. Roll out dough, and then transfer dough to a pie plate. Fill with your choice of pie filling.

Filling a pastry bag

The neatest way to fill a pastry bag is to stand it upright in a tall glass (a pint sized beer glass works perfectly), then fold the top edges down over the glass, and fill. Both hands will be free.

Easy Chocolate Mousse

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup boiling water
1 egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put chocolate chips and boiling water in a blender; mix at high speed for 15 seconds. Add egg, cream and vanilla and blend until well mixed. Pour into serving bowls, chill until firm.

eye level measurment

Measure liquids at eye level. In other words, place the cup on a flat surface and look at the same level as the cup in order to make sure you have the correct amount.

Espresso Mousse

1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin
2 Tbsp water
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1-1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small saucepan and let it soften for 2 minutes. Add the milk and the espresso powder and heat the mixture over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until the powder is completely dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and set the pan in a bowl of ice and cold water, stirring the mixture every few minutes until it is thick and cold. In a small bowl beat the cream until it just holds stiff peaks and fold the coffee mixture into it gently but thoroughly. Chill until ready to serve.

Baked Pears

3 or 4 ripe pears, peeled, halved and cored
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place pears in a baking dish. Place a small amount of butter in the center of each pear half. Sprinkle a small amount of lemon juice on each pear. Combine sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle on top. Bake for 20 minutes.

Baking Chocolate Substitution

Substitute 3/4 cup cocoa (unsweetened) and 1/4 cup Crisco for 4 squares (ounces) of chocolate.

Measuring Shortening

To measure shortening, pack firmly into dry measuring cup. Level with spatula or back of knife and then remove with rubber scraper. (You can also line cup with plastic wrap overlapping cup and it will remove easy with no mess.)

Moderate Oven

When you come across a recipe that says to bake in a moderate oven, preheat your oven to 325-375 degrees.

Easy Sifting

If a recipe calls for sifting several dry ingredients, it´s simpler to put everything in a bowl and stir with a whisk.