Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

I have made the Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and I've made Bacon Puffs! I've tried a lot of combinations including biscuits with bacon, but I've never been satisfied with the bacon flavor in the biscuit itself. Well, last night the light bulb went off! Take out the oil and substitute the grease/oil rendered from cooking the bacon! No one can yell at me about this one, because you are only subbing one oil for another! Nothing wrong with bacon "oil"! :-)

2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoons Salt
1/4 cup Crisco Shortening
2/3 cup Milk
1/4 cup Bacon Grease*
1 Egg
1 pound Bacon, fried and crumbled**
1/2 cup Onion, diced small
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a fork or your hands, cut in shortening until all combined. Add the bacon, onions, and cheddar cheese to the flour mixture and stir to coat with flour.
Combine milk, bacon grease, and egg in a separate bowl. Whisk together.
Combine flour mixture and milk mixture in a large bowl. Stir gently until all combined.
Spoon batter into greased mini muffin tins. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes on 375 degrees until golden brown. Remove from pan onto a wire rack. Cover with a towel and serve warm.

* Reserve the grease after cooking the bacon and cool.

 ** I only use one cup of crumbles bacon, but the guys eat some every time. So, I cook the entire package!

Vidalia Upside Down Cornbread

Here's a twist on your usual cornbread. It's great with a big ole bowl of chili or chowder! Yum!!! When Vidalia Onions are not in season, I use any sweet onion. They all work, but my favorite is the Vidalia! 

I didn't quite let the onions cook long enough.
I should have put them on the

bottom rack to get more color.

1 stick butter, melted
3 large Vidalia onion, sliced 1/2 inch thick
   (or enough to cover the bottom of the pan)
3 (8 ounce) packages cornbread mix
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup whole milk
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a 13x9 pan, add melted butter and onion slices. Bake for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the cornbread mix, egg, milk, sour cream, cheese, and salt. Remove the onions from the oven and add the cornbread mix over the top. Bake for 30 minutes, until set and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean. Loosen the edges with a knife and invert on a serving plate. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into squares.

This is a mini version,

I made in my little cast iron skillet!

Just For Fun ~ What it takes to make 15 Gallons of Mama's Slaw

30-32 large heads of Cabbage

5 lbs of Carrots

3 or 4 gallons of Mayonnaise

(Depends on the yield from the cabbage)

1 bottle Lemon Juice

1 bag Sugar

Salt and Pepper

Multiple Coolers and Zip-Loc Bags

3 stations:
Peeling and cutting Carrots and Cabbage
Grinding Carrots and Cabbage
Mixing (Notice that I had to use one of the babies' chairs
 as a stool because the bowl/tote was so big! LOL)

Elliott took the pictures, 

but he was on the Cutting and Peeling Station.
The hubby was grinding and I was mixing.

And, THIS is the look I get 

when I try to tell him how to do something! LOL

Strawberry Poke Cake with Powdered Sugar Glaze!

My house smelled totally AWESOME when this cake was baking! It smelled like sweet, hot strawberries!!!

Cake:

1 package white cake mix

1 small package strawberry gelatin

1 cup water

1/2 cup oil

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup mashed strawberries

Glaze: *
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Milk or Water

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine dry cake mix, gelatin powder, water, oil and eggs. Beat on low speed 1 minute or until moistened; beat on medium until well blended. Don't over mix or the cake will be tough. Fold mashed strawberries into cake batter. Pour into greased and floured 9X13 baking pan. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Slowly poke holes in the cake, as many as you want. Remove from pan and place on serving tray.

Mix powdered sugar and water (or milk) to make a glaze. Generously pour over the cake, filling the holes! Cool completely and cut and serve!

*Glaze can be doubled if you need more. 

Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls

This is a monster 12" cake pan!

For the dough:
1 package active dry yeast
¾ cup warm water
1½ cups warm milk
½ cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon salt
4½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
¼ cup shortening, melted

For the filling:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the glaze:
1 cup 10X sugar
1 tablespoon milk

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir until dissolved. Add warm milk, ¼ cup of the sugar and salt. Stir in 3 cups of the flour. Mixture will be very wet. Let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.
After the first rising, stir in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar and melted shortening. Add remaining 1½ cups of flour. Dough will still be wet. Let rise until double, about an hour. 

Mix together the cinnamon, sugar and flour and set aside.

Mix the sugar and milk in a small bowl and set aside.

After the second rise, the dough will be very wet. Dump dough on a well-floured surface and divide in half. With a floured rolling pin, roll each half into a large rectangle, about 18 inches long. Spread each rectangle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll them up tightly. Cut into 1 inch slices. Place them in well greased cake pans and let rise until doubled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle with any of the sugar mixture that escaped when rolling and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and all puffed up in the center. Drizzle glaze over hot rolls!

Hot Pepper Jelly

Hot Pepper Jelly

2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
8-10 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 teaspoon butter

1 package Sure-Jell
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Stem and seed the peppers. Cut them into chunks and put the peppers and the vinegar in a food processor and chop them to small pieces. Pour the puree into a large pot and add the butter and sugar. Bring to a boil, and boil for 4 minutes. Stir in the pectin, and continue boiling for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes. Pour into hot sterilized jelly jars. Place them in a hot bath for 10 minutes. Store in a cool place.

Brown Box Veggies and a Pick-up at Four Oaks Farm Store!

Last month I won a Farm Photo Contest in two categories. The prize for winning was a gift certificate to Brown Box Veggies. Since I won two categories, I received two gift certificates! This post is about the first certificate.

Since the closest pick-up point was over 50 miles away, I got my step-daughter to go pick it up from Four Oaks Farm Store for her and her family. They are in love now! They plan repeat trips! It is awesome and only about 6 miles from their house! How is that for convenience? Their young son Jack was amazed at the colors, textures and FOOD! They didn't get a chance to see everything, but they plan an extended visit next time! Thanks for a great experience for them Four Oaks!

"Having an affordable service that allows folks to purchase fresh produce, being able to buy as much as we can find from local farmers, and teaching families good eating habits is what Brown Box Veggies is all about."

Corn, Potatoes, Onions, Cabbage, Zucchini, Apples, 

Peaches, Tomatoes, Blueberries, Bell Peppers, 

Green Beans, Okra, and I believe Parsley...

Jack at the pick-up location
Four Oaks Farm Store!

It is an awesome/fun store!

Their bounty!
Beautiful!
All at an awesome value... $27
But FREE through my gift certificate!!!