Cherry Fluff

This recipe came from a friend who was at the church cookout mentioned in the cheesy potato casserole post. This was so, so yummy. She said it is not a secret, so I'm sharing it! : )

Kelly Bemer's Cherry Fluff
1 8 oz. container cool whip
1 regular can sweetened condensed milk
1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1 regular can cherry pie filling
1 cup mini marshmallows

Mix it all together. Let sit overnight in refrigerator. Serve chilled.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

I just made this last night for our annual Schoolyear Kickoff Cookout at church. I had never made it before but found it to be a keeper. In my haste to have it ready and still semi-warm when we got there, I forgot to add the onions. My friend Laura was actually happy about that and I have to admit, it was just as yummy without them. So, the choice is yours. I think this will be the only "cheesy potatoes" recipe I use from now on.

Cheesy Potato Casserole
2 pounds frozen hash brown potatoes (the little squares)
1 pint sour cream (light works fine)
10 3/4 ounces can cream of celery soup
10 3/4 ounces can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt, adjust to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, adjust to taste
1/2 cup butter, melted and divided
3 cups cheddar cheese, grated (I just used shredded)
2 cups crushed corn flakes (2 cups after crushing;do not have to be finely crushed)

Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix frozen hash browns, sour cream, soups, onion, seasonings, and cheddar cheese. Add 1/4 cup of melted butter to potato mixture. Spread into 9x13 prepared dish (i.e. cooking spray).

Combine corn flake crumbs and 1/4 cup of melted butter and spread over top of casserole.

Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Serve hot.

Best Ever Scones

This is a great first recipe with which to start the recipe ball rolling. I originally got this recipe from Allrecipes.com; however, I have doctored it up to our family's liking and I have to say that they are pretty fabulous! No credit to me; God gave me the doctoring wisdom.

The original recipe, Grandma Johnson's Sc*nes (no relation), was given five stars out of over 1,000 reviews, so that is pretty doggone good. BUT, the original called for just raisins and that's just plain boring. I have never even made it with the raisins, but instead jam packed it with frozen raspberries. The result? Bliss. I've also tried blueberry; wonderful! Cherries, not so great because I used canned and I just could not get enough liquid out of them to keep from making a gooey mess. That is not to say frozen cherries would not work.

Today I had a request from my mother for her favorite version, Pumpkin. She loves these. She absolutely loves them and sadly, I just don't make them enough.
I will give you the original recipe and you can make adjustments as needed based on my variations at the bottom.

Big suggestion, by the way; use parchment paper or silicone pan liners.

Scones

Ingredients

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet if not using parchment.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the raisins.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

Icing:
The original doesn't call for icing, but we like it.
Use about 1-2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp. of butter and a Tbsp. or two of milk. Mix it up well with a wisk. If it's too watery, add more powdered sugar and/or butter. If it's too thick, add a splash of milk. It's not rocket science, you just play with it until it works.

You can also substitute orange juice for milk, too. Maybe cranberry orange scones? Oh, that sounds good. With some crushed pecans on top?? That will be a variation for next time.

Variations:
Fruit versions: Add whatever kind of frozen fruit you want. I use at least 1 1/2 cups of frozen raspberries. For blueberries use a cup or add more to your liking. Don't use canned fruit.

Pumpkin: Add 1 cup of pureed pumpkin and cut back sour cream to about 1/2-3/4 cup. The pumpkin makes it very moist. Add 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice or more to your liking. Taste the batter. If the spice is weak, add more. (You can also buy already spiced canned pumpkin and omit adding the spice).

Savoring the Memories

Okay, so I've been tossing this idea around in my head for quite a while now to start a blog to store and share our family's recipes. There have been a couple of near panic moments when I could not find a recipe that is a family favorite. I thought, "Hmm. I should probably put them on my computer so I have them". Then I decided to go one step further and just create a blog with all of them. This way they can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Provided I have internet access, of course.

The beauty of this is that many times people will ask for a recipe or I have one I think someone would enjoy and instead of the usual, "Oh, yeah, I still need to get you that recipe you asked for (two months ago...)", I can now say, "Go to my blog and you can find it there", along with something else they might enjoy.


And the real, real beauty of it is that our children will not be living with us forever. Oh my goodness, that did not come out right AT ALL! I just re-read that and had a good laugh. I would LOVE for them to live with us forever. The beauty part is in the next sentence. All of the favorites they have come to know and love will be right at their fingertips, along with comments and pictures. How neat it will be, maybe years from now, to have a recipe for our Homemade Macaroni and Cheese that they love and have a picture of one of them as a child helping me make it.


I will try to get pictures of the food to accompany the dish as I can. I know I always prefer pictures with recipes.


Oddly enough, there was another blog name already taken of "Johnson Family Recipes" and the woman who created it is named Jen. Isn't that strange? So, I stuck "favorite" in the title and now we have ours. Feel free to hop over to hers as well. She has some pretty yummy sounding recipes. : )


Hopefully you will find something worth having. Think of us when you make it!


Happy Eating!
Jenn : )


P.S. Jesus is Lord!
We love Him, so I thought I'd throw that in. : )