2 Frosting recipes for Holiday or Other Baking

Neither of these will break the bank.  Easy enough for a beginning cook, both recipes are ancient.  


2-3-4 Frosting:
2 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons cream
4 Tablespoons sugar


Place ingredients in a double boiler and heat over hot water until near boiling and sugar is melted.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and powdered sugar to desired consistency.  


Lucille's cinnamon Butter Icing 

4 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups powdered sugar
hot water
chopped nuts (if desired)


Heat butter in top of double boiler over hot water.  Add cinnamon and sugar; add small about of hot water slowly until icing is the right consistency for spreading.  After spreading on cake, bars or bread, sprinkle with chopped nuts.  This would be yummy on banana, cranberry or blueberry breads.    


Holiday  baking can be expensive, so start looking for sales in mid-November.  Butter can be frozen.  Keep nut meats in the fridge or even the freezer.  Wal-Mart had Gold Medal Flour for an unbelievable price this week. Chocolate chips are frequently on sale.   Save up coupons for dairy products, baking products and even waxed paper and baking parchment.   You should be able to cut your baking costs by these simple but frugal acts.  


My most important kitchen tip is to prepare the right amounts of food so as not to waste.  If you need to freeze leftovers, make sure to label them well with contents and date  and to use in a timely manner.  


We have discovered Dr. Oetker's frozen pizzas which are absolutely delicious but rather costly.  We have also collected coupons for them and waited for store specials.  With a store sale and a coupon, you are golden. 


 Remember that normally, your home-baked goods will be tastier, cheaper and more nutritious than store-bought.
 That being said, we bought a wonderful open-faced apple-cranberry tart and Trader Joe's this week for $6 and change.  We did this rather than stop for dessert.  It made six servings and was really good.  Everything is relative. I could have cooked it for a little less, but when time is of the essence, learn to make good choices.

My Grandma, she of the 2-3- 4 frosting, and me in Kansas eons ago

The Cheeseparer

Barley, a cheap nutricious food

This week I made herb-basted chicken and barley with root vegetable pilaf.  This was hearty fare that we got three meals out of with three (big) chicken breast halves.  Never expected to have it stretch so far for two people. 
I used onion, carrot, parsnips and butternut squash for the veggies and used about 2 cups instead of 1 1/2.  Used fresh thyme from the garden but substituted my own dried rosemary for fresh.  Stuck in a garlic clove for the hell of it.  The bacon really perked the barley up!  Root vegetables are cheap and the chicken breasts were on sale for a good price. 
A one pound bag of barley (did not by the fancy organic)  has a lot of mileage in it, and my next barley meal will be a vegetable beef soup with barley, also cheap with a lean cut of beef, more root vegetables and the barley, of course. 


In case you're salivating already, here is the recipe: Herb Basted Chicken with Pearl Barley, Bacon and Root Vegetable Pilaf



Winter demands hearty fare.  Soup is wonderful.  Eat more soup.

Yummy Hors d'oeuvres - Rum Sausages

For those of you who eat pork,  this recipe is a keeper.  The Brown and Serve Sausages  can often be found on sale, but don't buy the cheapest brand.  Any old rum will do.  Yar!  


Rum Sausages


1 pound package brown and serve sausages
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce  ( I use the reduced salt variety)
1/2 cup golden rum ( or any rum) 


Mix sugar, soy sauce and rum.  Brown sausages on one side, turn and cut into thirds.  Cover with rum mixture and summer, turning sausages occasionally so they absorb the sauce.  May be made ahead and reheated.  Serve with toothpicks. 


This recipe is from my mom and is nice around the holidays. 

Christmas Cookies revisited

The Basic Butter Cookie recipe from my mother, a master baker who loved anything with a sugar molecule in it.

Butter Cookies

2 sticks butter (I always use unsalted)

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vinegar

½ teaspoon soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups flour

Cream together the sugar abd butter.  Add the other ingredients and mix.  Drop by teaspoonfuls on a cookie sheet and bake for twenty minutes at 300 degrees F.

Chopped nuts (pecans would be good) can be added if you like.