Green Tomato Pie

I love finding uses for green tomatoes because it always seemed like such a waste to be waiting for tomatoes to ripen in the summer. Of course at the end of the season, it seems as if you only get green tomatoes. This recipe for green tomato pie provides you with another option. It makes sense really. I mean, they say tomatoes are really a fruit after all.

Green Tomato Pie Recipe:

• 1 1/3 cups of granulated sugar
• 6 2/3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 1/3 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/3 teaspoon of nutmeg or cinnamon
• 4 cups of green tomatoes, washed and chopped
• Pie crust - top and bottom
• 4 tablespoons of lemon juice
• Lemon rind
• Butter

1. Turn on the oven to preheat at 425 degrees F.
2. Mix the sugar, flour, salt and spices together. Then mix in the tomatoes.
3. Place in the pie crust and add in the lemon juice and rind.
4. Dot with butter.
5. Place the top crust on.
6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

Fairy Cookies

Fairy cookies don't get their name from their shape. To be honest, I'm not sure why these cookies are called fairy. Whatever these cookies are called or why, they taste great!

Fairy Cookies Recipe:
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of butter
2 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
flour - enough to make soft dough

Cream the sugar and butter together until fluffy.
Add in the eggs, sour cream, baking soda and vanilla extract.
Mix enough flour until it becomes a soft dough.
Drop in spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F. until done, slightly brown.

You can add in dried fruit, add nuts, garnish with sugar, etc...

Church Window Cookies/Candy

With this recipe for Church Window Cookies you can use white marshmallows or colored marshmallows to make a more "stained glass" looking cookie. While these are called cookies, I think they really classify more as candy. In any case, who doesn't love both?

Church Window Cookies Recipe

• 12 ounces of chocolate chips
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 package of large marshmallows of choice
• 1 cup of chopped nuts
• powdered sugar for dusting

1. Melt the chocolate chips and butter together. It is best to use a double boiler so the chocolate doesn't scorch.
2. Place the nuts and marshmallows in a large bowl. Have this handy before the chocolate and butter completely melt.
3. Pour the liquid over the marshmallow and nuts. Stir until well coated.
4. Place 1/2 of the cookie mix onto wax paper that is coated with powdered sugar.
5. Form the "dough" into a roll and powdered sugar the other outside.
6. Now, do the other 1/2 of the mix.
7. Wrap the rolls with wax paper and store tightly in the fridge until firm.
8. Slice and serve.

Buttermilk Fudge

Buttermilk fudge can provide you with an alternative to your holiday candy platter. Buttermilk fudge will also help you use up that buttermilk that's been lingering around in the fridge. This brand of fudge is tangier and more caramel like than chocolate.

Buttermilk Fudge Recipe:

• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 3 cups of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of white corn syrup ( I use Bob White, but lots of people prefer Karo)
• 2 cups of pecans, pieces or chopped
• 1 teaspoon of butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

1. Combine the buttermilk, sugar, baking soda and syrup in a heavy bottom sauce pan. Cook until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage.
2. Cool the mixture slight and mix in the nuts, butter and vanilla extract.
3. Beat the fudge until it appears creamy, then pour the contents into a buttered dish.
4. After cooling, cut into squares and serve.

*If the candy appears soft, drop it out onto wax paper by the spoonfuls instead of the buttered dish.

Mayonnasise Cake

Mayonnaise Cake is a great substutitue when you are out of eggs and milk. There are several times I've went to make a cake for a special occasion, only to find the egg carton with 1 lonely egg and a tiny chug left in the milk carton. Mayonnaise is made of egg whites, making it perfect for making cakes!

Mayonnaise Cake Recipe:

2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of flour
1 cup of cold water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of cocoa
1 cup of mayonnaise

Mix and back at 350 degrees F. for 35 minutes. How simple is that? Top with your favorite icing or the one below.

Icing:
1/4 cup of cocoa
1/4 cup of milk
1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of butter

Bring contents to a boil and remove from heat. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and our over the cake while it's still warm.

Canning Green Tomatoes for Frying

Fried green tomatoes are a southern tradition, but it's harder to get your hands on a decent batch in the winter months. Many people are unaware that green tomatoes can be canned for frying at a later date. It's very easy to canned green tomatoes slices!

Simply wash and slice the tomatoes the right thickness for frying. Place the slices into sterilized mason jars. Add 1 teaspoon per quart and fill the jars with water. Seal them by boiling the jars in water for about 10 minutes. Tomatoes are very easy to can, ripe or green.

The Best Coconut Creme Pie!

I've been on a search for the best coconut creme pie ever. I love coconut creme pie, but only when it's good. So many have been such a let down. I felt like Dexter trying to find Camilla the best key lime pie. It was near impossible. So far, this recipe has been the best I've found. I'll stick to it unless I find one that tops it, yet that is unlikely.

The Best Coconut Creme Pie Recipe:

1 cup of sugar
2 cups of whole milk
1/3 cup of flour
3 egg yolks, beaten
3 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
9 inch baked pie shell

Mix the sugar and flour together. Stir in the milk and cook in a sauce pan on low heat, until thickened. Stir in a little of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Then add the egg yolks into the hot mixture. Cook for about 2 or 3 more minutes. Mix in the butter, coconut and vanilla extract. Pour the filing into the pie shell. Add meringue if desired.

Meringue:
3 egg whites
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Mix the ingredients and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread over the top of the pie. Brown at 350 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully! You can sprinkle coconut on the top before baking or after.

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Disclaimer for Recipes of the Heart valid from 09/10/10

The blog Recipes from the Heart is written by Valerie Parrish. The site does accept payment from Ads that appear on the site. However, this has no influence on the content or opinion of the writer. The post made in Recipes from the Heart are the opinions of the writer and therefore should not be considered fact. The writer will not endorse products unless she believes in them. The writer does not take responsibility for the recipes on this site. Use them at your own risk.

Deep Fried Coca-cola?

What in the world is fried cocoa-cola? When I first seen this term, I could for the life of me imagine this product. So I looked the product up and learned that it was basically a funnel cake with cocoa-cola in the ingredients. Then to top it off coca-cola syrup. It is all the rave at fairs and carnivals nationwide. I was interested in making this, so I got the recipe for the cake part but couldn't figure out where to get the syrup. Anything I looked up the net was either syrup to make an actual coke or cough syrup. So I dug deep down in my recipe books and found an actual recipe for coca-syrup. This was perfect for the topping.

Recipe for deep fried coca-cola and syrup

Brine a Turkey

So how do you get a moist, delicious turkey? According to some research on the internet, many people brine their turkeys ahead of time. This is a method of a soak with kosher or sea salt in ice water along with some spices. Not only does it make a turkey more juicy and helps the gravy come about, it also makes a turkey cook much faster.

How do you brine a turkey

Seven Minute Icing

Seven minute icing is a popular icing that you have probably eaten on several occasions, whether you realized it or not. It's really commonly put onto coconut cakes. It's that fluffy, white icing that is not super sweet. I really enjoy eating it, because I like the lightness of it and the texture. It's really easy to make, and is perfect in those times that you don't have any powdered sugar. Since it made with plain ordinary sugar, it might save you a trip to the grocery when in a pinch. It doesn't require a double boiler and hand mixer though.

7-minute icing is called just that, because it takes 7 minutes of cooking time. Many people also call this icing everything from boiled icing, fuzzy frosting and even sea foam. The sea foam, from my understanding is made from brown sugar instead of white, but I've seen many recipes for sea foam that call for white sugar... so please feel free to comment if you know the difference, if any.

Seven Minute Icing Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• Dash of salt
• 1/3 cup of water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of clear vanilla extract

Put all of the ingredients, EXCEPT the vanilla into a double boiler. Beat it with a mixer for about a minute.Cook over boiling water in the double boiler.
*Make sure the water is boiling before you place and don't allow the boiling water to touch the bottom of the pan for best results.
Keep the frosting over the boiling water for 7 minutes, beat on high for the entire duration.Then, mix in the vanilla extract.

Orange Slice Cake

Every fall in my grandmothers grocery store, we would receive huge 30 lb boxes of orange slices for the holiday season. We would have to bag them into individual packages of 1 lb each. Many nights my grandmother would go home, fix my grandfather supper, only to return back to the store to bag candy. She must have really enjoyed that store.

This recipe for cake actually calls for orange slices. A traditional Christmas candy for our family.

Orange Slice Cake Recipe:

4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of butter, melted
1/2 cup of butter milk
3 1/2 cups of self rising flour
1 box of dates
1lb of orange slices
1 cup of coconut
2 cups of chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix all of the ingredients together and put in a 9X13" cake pan. Bake slowly at 200 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

Topping:
1 cup of fresh orange juice
powdered sugar

While the cake is still warm, pour the orange juice over it. Then dust it with powdered sugar.

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Cookbooks

The best cookbooks to have on hand is those sold with local organizations as fundraisers. The church ones are especially good, because many woman will put their potluck specialties in the books. Usually these recipe books have great home cooked recipes, that call for items we can actually find in our local grocery stores. Since we live in rural Kentucky, the cookbooks we find around here will usually have some canning recipes and tips as well.

Of course I do have some more fancier cookbooks for when I want to try something new or from a different region.

Food for College Life

My grandmother attended Western Kentucky University's teacher program in the 1940's. This was during the war, and there was a storage of teachers. She studied and received a certificate to teach school. She taught at one room schools for about 5 years.

She said that while attending college her favorite thing was to go to down town Bowling Green. She would get a grilled cheesed sandwich, topped with bread and butter pickles. Then she would return to her dorm, where she would down a sleeve of Ritz Crackers. She loved eating these items even when she was older. I especially remember her eating bread and butter pickles with nearly everything, including cakes. I also remember her first trip to Mariahs, a famous restaurant in Bowling Green, she ordered a grill cheese sandwich. She was just as happy with the grill cheese as the most expensive entree.

Pinto Bean Cake

My grandmother ate pinto beans nearly every single day of her life. When I found this recipe, it reminded me of her. Of course she always ate her pinto beans with some sort of sweet relish, be it pickle, carrot or squash. So I guess this recipe makes since to take the taste of beans and mix it with something sweet.

It's also a perfect way to get your children to eat their beans. Trick them with this pinto bean cake recipe.

Pinto Bean Cake:

1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of pinto beans, unseasoned, drained and mashed -save the juice for later use
1 egg
1 cup of self rising flour
2 cups of apples, sliced thin
1 cup of nuts
1/2 teaspoon of cloves
1 cup of raisins
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Pour the cake batter into a cake pan and bake for about an hour at 325 degrees. Prepare frosting.

1 box of powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of the juice from the beans
1/2 cup of butter
1 tablespoons of milk
1 tablespoon of vanilla

Cream and spread on cooled cake. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Casserole

My grandmother, Juanita always loved eating sweet potatoes. She usually would just cook them in season by baking them, or boiling them. When at work she would even cook them in the microwave with some butter and sugar. However, on special occasions my mother or aunt would make her a sweet potato casserole aka sweet potato souffle. She absolutely adored it.

Sweet Potato Casserole/Sweet Potato Souffle Recipe

• 3 cups of mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 of milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
2. Mix all of the ingredients and place into a buttered casserole dish.
3. Prepare the topping.

• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of self rising flour
• 1 cup of pecans or nuts of choice (optional)
• 1/3 cup of butter, softened

Combine the ingredients and sprinkle over the top of the sweet potato casserole. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Try to avoid over baking. It will make the top too crunch and it will have a charred flavor.

Tang Pie

My son loves this pie. My grandmother found the recipe for this one in a cook book she bought for a charity event. It's so quick and easy to make. I really like cream pies that require no cooking.

Tang Pie Recipe:

• 1/3 cup of orange Tang drink mix
• 8 ounces of sour cream
• 8 ounces of whipped topping, divided
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 graham cracker crust

Mix the Tang, sour cream, 1/2 of the whipped topping and condensed milk together. Spread it into the pie crust. Top with the remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before serving.

Old Fashion Raisin Pie

My grandmother loved raisin pie. I am not a big fan of raisins myself, however she absolutely was. This is a very old fashion recipe. Not a lot of spices but you know, back in the day spices where hard to come by and expensive.


Old Fashion Raisin Pie:

• 1 1/2 cups of seedless raisins
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1 cup of chopped nuts
• Grind rind of lemon
• 2 -Unbaked pie shells (not frozen)

1. Wash the raisins and cook them in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water. Boil until the raisins become tender.
2. Combine the flour and sugar, then slowly add to the raisins. Stirring until it thickens.
3. Add in the lemon juice, rind and nuts.
4. Pour the filling into the pie shell.
5. Top with the other pie shell and make vents so steam escapes in the oven.
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F. Then reduce the heat to 325 and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

New England Squash Pie

This taste just as good as pumpkin or sweet potato pie. I know during the summer months with the garden, we always had a time using up all that yellow squash. This recipe took care of that. It's very yummy!

New England Squash Pie Recipe:

• 1 3/4 cups of squash, cooked and mashed
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger (I have substituted the spices with pumpkin pie spice before)
• 1 tablespoon of butter, melted

1. Mix all of the ingredients with a mixer. I use the rotary tool on my Kitchen Aid mixer for this filling.
2. Put the filling into an unbaked pie shell.
3. Bake at 425 degrees F until done. Should be about 45 to 55 minutes. A knife will come out clean on the side when the pie is done. The center might look a bit soft still.