Domestic Geek’s Recipe Box

Every year I mean to find the recipe that my mother had typed out and do this and every year I can't find it until after the holidays. This year I looked for it early and just found it. I decided to finally publish it here so I don't have to look for that darned card anymore.

3 C Sugar
1 C Cream
1 tVanilla
1 box of dates (1 1/2 chopped)
1 C nuts
Butter size of an egg (4 Tablespoons)

Put sugar and cream in large heavy kettle and boil 1 minute. Add dates and boil 3 minutes. Add nuts and boil 2 minutes. it will then form a soft ball.
Remove from stove after adding the butter.
Let cool slightly, then beat until stiff.
Pour it on a moist cheese cloth* and mold into roll.

*Sterilize cloth first in hot and then cool water before putting candy on it.

I found this recipe for banana bread at PurplePinkandOrange.com.

1¼ cups sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
5 mashed ripe medium sized bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Move the oven rack to the low position, so that the tops of the pans will be near the center of the oven. This makes the tops of your bread ever so fancy. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms of two loaf pans.

Mix sugar and butter in a large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moist. Stir in nuts. Alternatively, place walnuts on top after pouring in loaf pans as shown on our photo on the left. Pour in the loaf pans about 1/2-2/3 full (depending on the size of your pans and amount of mixture you have).

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, checking often after 40 minutes with a toothpick. When the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, they are done.

Yield: two loaves

Kalyn Denny rounded up a list of recipes for pumpkins on the BlogHer site. I think I'd like to try a pumpkin soup.

Recipe found on the Recipe Zaar site.

4 ice cubes, crushed
6 frozen strawberries, hulled, cut in half
2 cups frozen watermelons (seeds removed, cubed)
¾ C fresh orange juice (or ¾ C calcium-fortified frozen orange juice)
1 T fresh lime juice
Garnish: mint leaves (or verbena leaves)

1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
2. Smack your lips!

I found this recipe over at Happy Frappy. Since I love my Super Pretzels and they're cheap over at Super Target, I want to give this a try.

2 packages light cream cheese
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch mix (original)
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (to taste)
½ - 1 can of beer (to taste)

Mix the cream cheese and ranch seasoning in a bowl, then mix in beer and cheese to taste. Let it sit in the fridge a few hours to thicken up. It's wonderful with mini pretzels. Also recommend it w/ super pretzels.

A potato soup recipe from Laura.

8 slices bacon -- retain drippings
1 C yellow onion -- diced
2/3 C flour
6 C chicken broth
4 C baked potato -- peeled and diced
2 C half and half
¼ C chopped fresh parsley
1 ½ t garlic powder
1 ½ t dried basil
1 ½ t tabasco sauce
1 ½ t coarsely ground pepper
1 C grated cheddar cheese
¼ C green onion -- diced

Chop cooked bacon. Set aside. Cook onions in bacon drippings over med. high heat until transparent. Add flour stirring to prevent lumps. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until mixture begins to turn golden. Add broth gradually, stirring constantly with whisk until thickened. Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, tabasco and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes. Do not boil. Add cheese and green onion.

From Artistic-Array.org. I really want to give this a try for Thanksgiving this year.

1 lb. granulated sugar (2¼ C)
4 fl. oz. orange juice
8 fl. oz. water
1 lb. 8 oz. fresh/frozen cranberries
1 cinnamon stick
2 fl. oz. orange liqueur
2 T orange zest, finely grated
20 orange segments

1.) Combine sugar, juice, and water in a nonreactive saucepan (stainless steel); bring to a boil.

2.) Add the cranberries and cinnamon stick and simmer uncovered until the berries begin to burst, approx. 15 minutes. Skim off the foam.

3.) Add the orange liqueur and zest and simmer for another 5 minutes.

4.) Remove from the heat and remove the cinnamon stick. Add the orange segments. Cool and refrigerate.

I saw this recipe on Joelle's site and had to post it. I'll have to give this one a try come the holidays.

1 C amaretti cookie crumbs (about 32 large cookies)*
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Vegetable Non Fat cooking spray
2 C unsweetened canned pumpkin
1 1/3 C 2% low-fat milk (or skim)
½ C firmly packed brown sugar
1 T all-purpose flour
3 T amaretto
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon almond extract
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 egg, lightly beaten

Combine crumbs and 1 egg white in a bowl; toss with a fork until moistened. Firmly press into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes; let cool on a wire rack.

Combine pumpkin and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour pumpkin mixture into prepared crust. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean; let cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

WW POINTS: 3 PTS per slice

NUTRITION PER SERVING (According to Cooking Light)
CALORIES 170 (14% from fat); FAT 2.6g; PROTEIN 3.2g; CARB 29.1g; FIBER 2.6g;

Credit: Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 1995

* Joelle used some swiss almond cookes from Trader Joes that worked really well. She couldn't find the ones that they called for in the recipe, but says these work great if you make sure to crush them all to hell.

This recipe was provided by LaLaGirl.

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 (26 to 28 oz) jar tomato pasta sauce
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
½ (9 oz) pkg. (about 8) no-boil lasagna noodles
1 (1-lb) jar Alfredo pasta sauce
12 oz (3 C) shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ C. grated Parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef and drain.

Spray a 4 to 5-quart crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Spread ¾ C of the tomato pasta sauce in the bottom of the sprayed crockpot. Stir the remaining tomato pasta sauce and the can of tomato sauce into the ground beef.

Layer 3 lasagna noodles over the sauce in the crockpot, breaking noodles as necessary. Top with 1/3 of the Alfredo pasta sauce, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with 1 C of the mozzarella cheese. Top with 1/3 of the ground beef mixture, spreading evenly.

Repeat the layers twice, using 2 noodles in the last layer. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.

Cover and cook on low for 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours.

This is a recipe that I'd like to try that I found at On My Own, I'll Dream My Life Away, a Blogathon 2005 weblog where the author's charity is the National Kidney Foundation (in honor of her friend David). It sounds yummy.

26 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 T olive oil - I really like Kalamata (and lately Zoe or Serendipity when I can get it) oil for this, but use what suits you best.

2 T butter
2¼ cups onions, thinly sliced
1 T chopped fresh thyme
18 cloves garlic, peeled
3½ cups chicken stock (Note: you can substitute vegetable stock and it still tastes great!)
½ - ¾ cup heavy cream (to your taste)

½ cup finely grated Parmesan (I've also found that Piave Vecchio works nicely, as does very well aged Fleur du Maquis.)

4 lemon wedges

Creamy Garlic Soup (adapted from a recipe found on Epicurious some years ago)


Preheat oven to 350°F. In a glass dish, combine the 26 unpeeled garlic cloves with the olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Cover tightly and bake til garlic is golden and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool until you can comfortably squeeze the cloves out of their skins. Set aside.

In a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onions and thyme, cook until onions are translucent. Add roasted garlic, peeled raw garlic and chicken stock, simmer until raw garlic is very tender. (20 minutes or thereabouts).

Working in batches, puree soup in blender until very smooth. Return to pan, bring to simmer, add cream, a bit more thyme, some salt and pepper to taste, and once again bring to simmer. Allow to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

To serve, divide grated cheese among 4 bowls, ladle soup over, and squeeze one lemon wedge over each bowl. Garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme or a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan. This is an awesome first course, or a nice light lunch with some crusty bread and a crisp white wine.

1 small can tomato paste
2 cans Italian style stewed tomatoes (already has green peppers and a little Italian spices)
2 cans dark red kidney beans
1 lb. ground beef
1 yellow onion
¼ C celery
1 bay leaf
1 tsp chili powder (Mike adds more)
2 tsps sugar
½ tsp garlic
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp cayenne pepper (Mike adds more)

Brown beef with onion and celery. Combine all ingredients in crock pot and keep on low simmer at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally.