Great Grandma's Devil's Food Mayonnaise Cake

This cake is an old family recipe that was quick and cheap to make, which is always important when feeding a big family.  With this mayonnaise it really shows this family's Midwestern roots.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup luke warm water

Mix all dry ingredients together, then mix in wet ingredients

Pour into a greased pan

Bake at 350 for 25-30 mins

I topped the cake with a dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Diane's Egg Rolls

This is the first time I have every deep fried anything! Let me tell you I was super nervous to fry.  I had my bag of flour on the counter at the ready in case of fire, luckily there was no issues and I would deep fry again! 

Ingredients:

Meat: You can use any kind of meat you like, I used shrimp

1 can of bean sprouts

1/4 onion

2 med carrots

1/2 cabbage

2 celery stalks

Seasonings to taste:

salt

pepper

soy sauce

garlic powder

 grate all the vegetables

Add in shrimp, I sauteed everything for about a minute, then let mixture cool

On a egg roll wrapper place a heaping tablespoon of mixture on corner

Roll corner over mixture

Fold corners over mixture to the center and roll until only a little corner shows

Use an egg yoke and brush it on the corner

seal egg roll

Use mixture to make all egg rolls

In a large pot, using candy thermometer and heat oil to deep frying temp

When oil reaches correct temp, carefully drop in a few egg rolls, you want to fry in small batches so that you don't over crowd the pot and lower the oil temperature to much

Carefully remove browned egg rolls and place egg rolls on a paper towel to soak up extra oil

Enjoy!

Grandma's Sweet and Sour Carrots

This side dish of grandma's was a perfect salad to take on a picnic, becuase it has no mayo.  You can also take this salad and add some pineapple and chicken or pork for a yummy sweet and sour dish.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup vinegar

1 tsp salt

1Tblsp worchestire sauce

1 cup sugar

1 can tomato sauce

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp dry mustard

5 cups sliced carrots -cooked but firm

1 small green bell pepper -sliced into strips

1 large onion -sliced into strips

Peel carrots and slice into small rounds, blanch carrots in boiling water for about 5 mins.  The carrots should still be firm.

combined all ingredients except for carrots, green pepper and onion in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Slice the green pepper and onion into strips and mix in a bowl

Add in cooked carrots

After sauce comes to a boil pour over carrot, pepper and onion mix, refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Kristen's Pancakes

Pancakes are Kristen's specialty, I was lucky enough to have her make me a batch for dinner one night!

 Ingredients:

Pancake mix

Water

follow instructions on box to make batter

Heat pan and add in batter

pancake is ready to flip when bubbles form on the surface of pancake

the pancake will start to puff up, it only takes about a minute to finish

*Sometimes they get a little over cooked and undercooked at the same time

Thanks Kristen

Add butter and syrup and Enjoy!

Grandma's Crescents

These cookies are a Christmas staple in our family, and my grandmother's favorite cookie.  I really think she made these for herself because these cookies always seemed to be hidden the best. I say hidden because my grandma loved to make all these Christmas cookies and then immediately package them up in Tupperware and poke them in the closet and then get mad at us for wanting to eat them. :) Needless to say we always had leftover cookies after Christmas. 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for coating cookies after baking

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugar together then add in vanilla and flour

Fold in nuts

roll out and shape in to crescents

Bake at 

Let cool for a little bit then roll in powdered sugar

Let cookies cool on rack 

Enjoy!

Shannon's Salsa Cheesecake

I know when you hear the words cheesecake you think dessert but this is an amazing savory appetizer that is always a hit wherever I take it. Make it the night before.

Ingredients:

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

2 cups sour cream - divided

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup salsa - hot works best

1 (4 oz) can chopped green chilies, drained

Guacamole

1 medium tomato, diced

Tortilla chips

Mix cream cheese and Monterey Jack cheese until light and fluffy.

Then add in 1 cup of sour cream mix until combined

Then add in eggs on low

add in salsa and chilies

Pour into a greased 9 in springform pan. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 40-45 mins until center is almost set.  Remove from oven and immediately top with remaining cup of sour cream. Cool of wire rack for about 1 hour then refrigerate overnight

Remove springform ring add guacamole and add diced tomatoes.

Slice and serve with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!