Tuesday, May 26, 2009




I love Primitive Country things and also Antiques here are a couple of the things in my house ...enjoy :-)

Monday, February 16, 2009

My Favorite Piece of Furniture

Photobucket

This is my favorite piece of furniture and my favorite Antique/collectible. This is one of 4 Pie Safe's I own . Yes, I do have a thing for Pie Safes !
You can never have too many !!! Ü

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake


From the kitchen of Santina Mullins Hale



1 1/4 cups sugar (divided)
1 cup all purpose flour
7 tablespoons cocoa (divided)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups hot water
whipped topping


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl, stir together 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into an ungreased 8 or 9 inch square baking pan. Stir together remaining sugar, brown sugar and remaining cocoa; sprinkle mixture evenly over batter. Pour hot water over top; do not stir. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Let stand 15 minutes; spoon into dessert dishes, spooning sauce from bottom of pan over top. Garnish with whipped topping.

Caramels (Makes about 180 pieces)

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 cups light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Tempered chocolate for dipping, if desired

Line a 12×17 inch jelly roll pan with heavy duty aluminum foil, fitting the foil well into the corners and sides. Butter the foil very well, coating the entire bottom and sides. Set aside.

In a 1-quart saucepan over low heat, combine the cream and the condensed milk, whisking very well to blend. Allow the cream mixture to become hot, stirring often, but do NOT allow the mixture to boil.

Meanwhile, in a tall 4-quart saucepan, combine the corn syrup, water and sugar. Stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar, bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. If sugar crystals appear around the edge of the boiling surface, wipe the pan sides with a damp (not wet!) pastry brush.

Clip on your calibrated candy thermometer and reduce heat to medium. Continue to boil gently until the syrup-sugar solution reaches 250 degrees (F). Add the butter and pour in the warm cream mixture. The temperature of the solution will immediately decrease. Stir constantly to blend the mixture, then occasionally until the mixture reaches 244 degrees (F).

Remove from heat and carefully pour the hot caramel into your prepared jelly roll pan, tilting the pan to even the mixture. Do not scrape the pan — even though scraping will not cause crystallization the stuff on the bottom of the pan has cooked longer, is tougher and will leave hard spots in the batch.

Leave the caramel completely alone for 24 hours at room temperature. This waiting period not only reduces the stickiness, but makes the candy much easier to cut. (Once the caramel has cooled and the pan is no longer warm, cover the pan with plastic wrap.)

Lift the hardened caramel from the pan using the edges of the foil. Using a clean, sharp knife, cut the caramel into approximate 1-inch pieces. (If the caramel begins to stick to the knife, rinse the knife well under hot water, dry and butter the knife, then resume cutting.)

At this point, you may dip each piece into tempered chocolate and allow them to rest on a wire rack for 4-6 hours until the chocolate has hardened. Store these dipped caramels on sheets of waxed paper in an air-tight container, at room temperature, for up to one month.

For plain caramels, wrap each cut piece in a 4-inch square of plastic wrap, twisting the ends tightly. Store the wrapped caramels in an air-tight container, at room temperature, for up to one month…if they last that long.

TIPS:

If you like nuts in your caramels, pour a layer of chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, etc. into your prepared jelly roll pan before pouring in the caramel.

Want to make caramel apples? Merely twirl apples on a stick into the mixture, instead of pouring it into a pan. Place the coated apples on a waxed paper lined sheet and place into the refrigerator for one hour to harden, then wrap each apple well in plastic wrap, tied with a bow to seal. Be certain to consume these as quickly as possible (no more than 3 days) to enjoy the best flavor of the apples.

This same recipe can be poured into a buttered 9-13 inch dish, allowed to cool for 24 hours, cut into 1×4-inch logs, then rolled in minced pecans to make pecan logs. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to one month. The logs may also be cut into 1/2-inch slices, wrapped in plastic, etc.

This caramel be poured by hot spoonfuls onto a grouping of whole pecans (place in a triangle or “X” configuration), allowed to harden, then cover the caramel with a dollop of tempered chocolate to make Turtles. Store on waxed paper sheets in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to one month.