Hello Again

 I've decided to revive my first blog.  Nothing earth shattering, just looking to share more of the everyday aspects of life here, rather than on my "art blog". I'm also in the process of sprucing things up around here and at my art blog. It's good to freshen things up now and then.

I thought I'd kick things off by sharing a favorite recipe--Blueberry Buckle. Really, it's just a fancy name for coffee cake. Normally I make it with blueberries, but at this time of year I like to use fresh rhubarb.

Blueberry Buckle

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter 

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Mix sugar, butter, shortening and egg with spoon. Add milk and vanilla. Stir. Add remaining dry ingredients. Spread in ungreased 8 inch pan. 

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries or other fruit. Rhubarb is a great choice! I'm not much for measuring the fruit--I just load it on (especially the rhubarb)!

Mix until crumbly: 

1/2 cup sugar 

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

Sprinkle above mixture over blueberries or fruit. Bake 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.  You can also double the recipe and use a 9x13 pan!

Blueberry Buckle

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Mix sugar, butter, shortening and egg with spoon. Add milk and vanilla. Stir. Add remaining dry ingredients. Spread in ungreased 8 inch pan. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries Mix until crumbly: 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup flour 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened 1/2 tsp cinnamon Sprinkle over blueberries. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.


This is one of my favorite things to bake in the summer...or any time really. I was going to make it this morning, but didn't have any baking powder! But that has now been remedied, so Sunday morning we'll be enjoying some Blueberry Buckle (it's a coffeecake).

Spicy Christmas Shortbread

Merry Christmas to all! Here's a Christmas favorite that has become part of our holiday traditions. If you want to bake a little something that will make your house smell like Christmas, and tastes great--here it is!

Spicy Christmas Shortbread

2 sticks (1 cup) butter at room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

1-2 tablespoons grated orange peel (optional)

2 tablespoons ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

pinch of granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325. Have two 8-9 inch round cake pans ready (do not need to grease).

2. In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, orange peel, spices and baking soda with mixer or by hand, until fluffy. Gradually add flour, beating until just blended.

3. Divide dough in half and press evenly over bottom of ungreased pans. Sprinkle dough with sugar.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes until tops look dry and edges are slightly higher than centers.

5. Cool in pans on wire rack for 5 minutes. Cut while still warm. Store airtight up to two weeks (if it lasts that long) or freeze.

Tastes delicious warm or cool. When warm, melts in your mouth. When cool, it's wonderfully crunchy.

Calico Beans

Calico Beans

1 lb hamburger
1 lb bacon
2 cans dark red kidney beans
1 large can of baked beans
1 can lima beans
1 can northern or butter beans
small can of tomato sauce or ketchup
brown sugar (1/2 cup or so)

Brown hamburger as you fry the bacon. After hamburger is browned, add all the beans, tomato sauce and brown sugar. Crumble fried bacon into beans. Simmer at low heat. Yum! Yum!

This is a favorite family dish that makes an appearance at every big family gathering. Full of protein and iron. (The only downside is that too many beans will make you toot--so avoid being downwind from your loved ones!)

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

(chocolate chips recommended)


1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda in 1/4 cup hot water
3 1/2 cups flour
optional, but recommended: chocolate chips

Cream sugars, shortening and eggs. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Add salt and baking soda, mixing before adding flour. Add chocolate chips if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.



These cookies are a little piece of heaven when you eat them fresh from the oven--still warm of course! This is an old recipe that my mom used to bake. If you want to bake just peanut butter cookies (sans chocolate chips), you can roll the dough into balls and flatten with a fork. Also, no need to be that exact on the peanut butter...I just take a big scoop and throw it in.



Yes, Stacy, I'm bringing a few to work! If Joel saves you a few!

Blueberry Buckle

Blueberry Buckle

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Mix sugar, butter, shortening and egg with spoon. Add milk and vanilla. Stir. Add remaining dry ingredients. Spread in ungreased 8 inch pan.

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Mix until crumbly:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Sprinkle over blueberries. Bake 45-50 minutes.

O.k. another blueberry recipe to enjoy this season. Who makes Blueberry Buckle? It's actually just another name for coffecake. This recipe I've been making for years ( I even modified it once and used rhubarb for the fruit). It's actually a recipe I got from one of those recipe packs you pick up in the Dairy Building (Empire Commons) at the State Fair (only 11 days till the Fair opens on 8/23! Yippee!)

Recipe of the Week

Cornmeal Blueberry Pancakes

This is a relatively new recipe that I found in the paper and decided to try. A couple of helpful hints: Prepare the batter the night before, if possible, to allow the cornmeal to soften a bit. Also these are best if made as small pancakes--they are somewhat delicate and don't flip easily.

1 cup flour
6 tsp baking powder
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tbls sugar
1 cup boiling water (perhaps a bit more)
1/2 cup milk
8 tbls (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
fresh blueberries


In a large bowl, stir together cornmeal, salt and sugar. Add boiling water, stir and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in milk, butter, and eggs. Add flour mixture and stir until smooth. Add additional water/milk to obtain desired consistency. When making pancakes, pour batter on hot griddle and then sprinkle with blueberries. YUM!

Recipe of the Day

Sugar Cookies

2 cups white sugar
1 cup margarine or butter (pick your poison)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 egg yolks (nope, not the healthy part of the egg)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda

Cream sugar, butter, oil and egg yolks until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and dry ingredients. Roll in balls and place on cookie sheets. Press with a fork or meat hammer. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 35o degrees for 10-12 minutes.

I have a rather haphazard filing system of my favorite recipes. It's comprised of handwritten recipes on various note cards or paper, tucked into various cookbooks. When I was in high school, I typed (yes, with my "new" electric typewriter) a bunch of favorite family recipes onto recipe cards--for my mom's Christmas present. I still have some of those cards. A few years back I started compiling recipes into books for my kids; a project still in progress (maybe they'll be done this Christmas).

I think the recipes & favorite dishes that a family shares has a lot to do with family culture, tradition, and memories. My kids ask for the same things for the holidays, birthdays...and I happily oblige. It's those holiday traditions I provided them that I hope provide more lasting memories than the doll or legos they received. I hope someday they might do the same with their kids, but I'm not so sure either one of them will do much baking. Who knows, that might change some day.

But I thought I would throw a recipe on here from time to time. These are cookies I started making some 30 years ago. I found the recipe in some church cookbook. I was trying to duplicate favorite sugar cookies that I always picked as a girl at a local bakery.

I think these come pretty close to those bakery cookies. You can't really go wrong with these--there's such a high fat content, they simply melt in your mouth (right onto your hips). Like I said, I've been making them for some 30 years and they have certainly become a part of our family history.

I recently made them for our family reunion and also took some in to coworkers.
Enjoy.