Blackberry Cobbler

I found this recipe in a book called Three Hundred Years of Carolina Cooking, put out about 40 years ago by a Junior League in South Carolina.  It is the perfect cobbler.  I have tried others but this is the perfection that the others just don't reach.

Crust
1/4 Cup butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3/4 Cup milk

Filling
16 oz bag of frozen blackberries-thawed (or 3 or 4 cups of fresh berries)
1/2 Cups sugar

Cream the butter and sugar for the crust.  Add in the dry ingredients and the milk.  Beat until smooth.  Pour into a 8X8 inch pan sprayed with Pam.  Pour the blackberries with any juice on top of the batter.  Spread  1/2 Cup of sugar on top of the berries.
Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or bake at 325 for 35 minutes in a convection oven.
You can use other kinds of berries or fruit.
As the cobbler bakes, the berries drop down to the bottom as the crust rises to the top.  Serve with a scoop of Blue Bell Home Made Vanilla Ice Cream if you really want to make yourself happy.

Hoppin' Marty-John

Marty is always in charge of cooking the Hoppin' John at our house every New Year's Day. When we were first married, he made me eat pickled herring in a sour cream sauce as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning. After proving to him that this did not bring good luck- I was able to introduce the southern tradition of black eyed peas and I have had great luck ever since! (at least I have been lucky enough to avoid pickled herring!)

1 pound of bacon 1 pound black eyed peas
1 large yellow onion diced fine Fajita spice mix

Cook the bacon in frying pan slowly until it is cooked. Take out the bacon, add the onions to the pan and cook them until they are tender.
Meanwhile boil the black eyed until tender. Drain. Put the bacon/onions on top to the black eyed peas and cover with chicken broth add fajita spices and salt to taste. Simmer for about an hour. Serve with rice or eat alone.

CHOCOLATE MELTING MOMENTS

1 cup butter softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour
Mocha Filling (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat 1 cup butter, confectioners' sugar and cocoa in large bowl until fluffy. Blend in flour until smooth. Shape dough into inch size balls. (If dough is too soft to handle, cover and refrigerate until firm.) Place on cookie sheets. Press center of each ball with knuckle of finger to make indentation.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until set.

Prepare Mocha Filling. While cookies are still warm, spoon about 1/2 teaspoonful filling into center of each.

MOCHA FILLING

2 tbsp butter or margarine
6 tablespoons unsweetened chocolate
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp hot postum or pero

Melt 1 tablespoon butter and chocolate in small heavy saucepan over low heat; stir until melted. Blend in powdered sugar, vanilla and enough postum to make a smooth filling.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

April's Chili

A few years ago a friend of mine gave me her award winning chili recie  I can't guarantee that I always win the prize with this but I really like it.  Sometimes I alter the ingredients a little.  Last time I made it I added 1/4 Cup of BBQ sauce so that I could have a little bit of a smokey flavor but I usually don't.

2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 C chopped onion
5 minced garlic cloves
1 Chopped  green pepper
1 C choppeed celery

Saute, then drain off grease.

Then add the following 14 oz cans:
1 can black beans
2 cans ranch style beans
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can rotel
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can low sodium chicken broth or beef broth

Then Add:
1 t worstershire sauce
2 T chili powder
1 T oregano
1 t corriander seeds
1 t basil
2 t salt
pepper to taste
1/2-3/4 C Brown Sugar
1 T vinegar
1/4 C catsup
Dash of tabasco

Bring to a low boil then simmer for a couple of hours.

Fudge

I have been making this fudge for years. Years ago I wanted to make some fudge and looked through tons of recipes. Most of my results turned out grainy. I finally found a recipe and through out the years, I have modified it to my family's tastes. This fudge is really easy and it is never grainy.

1 can sweetened condensed milk.
3/4 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips I use either (Guittard or Ghiradelli)
3/4 bag of milk chocolate chips
a dash of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat the condensed milk in a medium to large sauce pan until it is warm/hot. Stir while heating so that it doesn't scorch. Take the pan away from the heat and add the chocolate chips. I never really measure but I try to add about 3/4 of each bag of chocolate chips. Stir the chocolate in the warm/hot milk and let it set until it melts. Stir until it is well blended. If the milk wasn't hot enough to melt all of the chocolate chips, you can heat the pan on low for a minute of two. Add the salt and the vanilla. Pour into a wax paper -or plastic lined--8" X 8" pan. Chill until set, about 3 hours. Cut into pieces and store in a plastic zip lock bag.