Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients

4 cups of sugar
1 stick of margarine
1 cup of evaporated milk
1 tbs white vinegar (DO NOT SKIP THIS)
1 tbs white corn syrup
1 7oz jar of marshmallow fluff
2 cups (18oz jar) of smooth peanut butter

Mix the first five together and bring to a rolling boil.

Boil for exactally 9 minutes and remove from the heat

add peanut butter and fluff and mix well. The mixture should be very smooth w/o lumps.

Pour into a lightly buttered pan.

Snickerdoodle Party Mix

This is a recipe that I got from a magazine that I modified. It is very very easy and is a great party option, especially since it is Gluten Free.

1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 cups cinnamon chex type cereal
4 cups popped popcorn
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted

1. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in one container
2. Mix cereal and popcorn in a microwaveable container
3. Pour butter over the cereal mixture and make sure it is mixed in well.
4. Microwave on high (uncovered) for one minute. Stir and sprinkle the cinnamon mixture over it
5. Microwave for another minute.
6. Spread on a large cooksheet or over papertowels to cool.
7. Store in an air tight container.

Easy Dumpling....really, no joke

I have not been able to make dumplings the way that my mother in law does. It seems that I do not have the knack for her recipe. So, I found another one that works really well. I actually took a few and meshed them together. These dumplings are really easy and that fact suprised me.

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of shortening
3/4 cup of buttermilk

Combine the first four ingredents until it forms a coarse meal.

Add buttermilk SLOWLY stirring with a fork until it is moist

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly about 4-5 times. You want to be careful not to overwork the dough.

You can use a rolling pin here but I find that hands are the best tools and you have more control. Either way the dough needs to be about 1/4 of an inch thick.

You can pinch off pieces but use a pizza cutter to cut your pieces up. Try to keep them 1-2 inches.

Let the dumplings set for about an hour and then add them to boiling broth. Make sure the broth is at a rolling boil. Of course homemade is best but if you do not have that go with a store stock.

They will need to stay in the pot for at least 10 minutes. But the time really is based on how big your pot is and how big your dumplings are. So use your judgement. They should be light and fluffy.