Recipe Day

I get requests for my recipes so much I decided I needed to just start writing them down. So one day a week I will put one or two of my recipes on the blog. This week it is Thursday - I am not sure if it will stay on Thursdays or not.

Blondies
1 stick butter (Butter is best but stick margarine will work)
1 pound brown sugar (2 cups packed as tightly as you can get it in the cups)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups flour

Set your oven for 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a 3 quart saucepan. When the butter is completely melted, take off the heat and add the brown sugar to the saucepan. Mix completely. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix quickly and completely (so you don't get scrambled eggs). Add the vanilla, baking powder and salt and blend in. Add the flour and stir just until blended (I find it is best to mix it in as I measure it, 1 cup, then 1/2, then 1/4 cup. It is much easier to mix this thick batter then). Spray a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray especially for baking. Pour the batter in and make sure it is evenly spread over the bottom of the pan. Bake for 25 minutes. When you take the blondies out, score them with a pancake turner deeply in the amount you want. If you don't do it right when you take them out - they are much harder to cut later. If you have done this right, in about an hour, you can pop them out of the pan and break them apart along the 'score' lines into bars. Enjoy. Whatever is not eaten today, seal in a plastic bag for tomorrow.

These are my most requested item other than my 10 bean crock-pot dish at Church. It is in our ward cookbook but it is easier for me to make it. As a variation you can add, nuts, chocolate chips or raisins. However my family has always preferred them just plain and apparently so does the Newport Ward.

Ham and Potato Chowder

In a 3 quart saucepan, drop in 3 cups of cut up potatoes. Add enough chicken broth to cover them and simmer until the potatoes are tender. With a potato masher, coarsely mash the potatoes (you don't want this overly smooth but you don't want big chunks either). Add 2 Tablespoons of flour and mix well. Let the mixture come to a boil (you might have to add a bit more broth at this point - you want it thick but not too thick). On medium low heat add one cup milk, 3/4 cup cheese (I usually use a combination of cheddar and Swiss) and anywhere from 3/4 to 1 cup of cubed ham. Blend until the cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Do not let the soup boil or the milk and cheese will curdle and it will not be appealing to eat (learned the hard way). Serves 3-4 generously.

This is a great dish if you have leftover ham from a big dinner. I have even used leftover potatoes in it. I have also used processed cheese slices when I realized that is all I have had - with good results.

I make this so much that I don't even have the recipe written down anywhere. I do it completely by look and taste now.

I am grateful for good food to eat, a warm place to live, sweaters, flannel pajamas and family love.