Recipes

There’s nothing like blessing someone with a dish of homemade food! Check back often for recipes to use for church pot lucks or outreach ministries. Catch funny and poignant stories about food in history and in Karen’s daily life. I’ll also share recipes from the past and how those dishes weave into my historical fiction.

August 27, 2019 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Angel Biscuits

Time for another recipe for ministry!

I’ve found a great recipe for a bread to make for a church dinner. Angel biscuits!

Several times, as I’m cooking for a group of people, I’ve thought that biscuits would be a nice accompaniment. But biscuits are something you make last minute and when you’re cooking for company, a church dinner, or a group of more than six people, who has time to do anything last minute? Plus, at least for me, biscuits are a little hard to double the recipe and make for a group larger than six people. Then I found this recipe for Angel biscuits.

The beauty of this recipe is that since it takes yeast, it’s made ahead, allowed to rise for one to one and a half, and then baked right before you need them. It also makes about 24 biscuits and is a lot easier to mix together than that much traditional biscuit dough. I thought they would taste more like traditional yeast raised rolls but they really do taste much more like biscuits.

The recipe says you can also refrigerate this dough up to three days. That means, you could take a little bit of dough out at a time and make just a few biscuits if you like.

Full disclosure: my recipe is adapted from a 1986 paperback edition of a Betty Crocker cookbook.

Now to find my jar of honey. Winnie-the Pooh, where did you put it?

Angel Biscuits

Are these biscuits or dinner rolls? Both! And they make a lot, perfect for a large crowd gathering.

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Prep Time 45 mins

Cook Time 14 mins

Rising time 1 hr

Course Side Dish

Ingredients

1 Tbsp (pkg) dry active yeast
1/3 cup warm water (105-115 degree F.)
5 cups flour
1 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Instructions

Soften the yeast in warm water. In a large mixing bowl, measure out andstir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the yeast mixture and the buttermilk until just combined and dough leaves side of the bowl.
Sprinkle flour on your work surface, turn dough out onto flour. Kneed about 20 strokes until dough holds together, sprinkling with flour if dough is too sticky. Pat or roll out to ½ inch thickness. Using a 2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits, placing an inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Reroll remaining scraps and cut out rest of biscuits.
Cover baking sheets with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise 1 to 1 ½ hours or until double in size. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake biscuits 12-14 minutes or until bottoms of biscuits are a golden brown. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Notes

You can place the dough in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days.

May 26, 2019 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Applesauce Cake

Applesauce cake: Raisins or no raisins.

Whichever way you like, Applesauce Cake is a winner at any family, church, or community dinner. It’s one of those classic desserts that emits strong pleasant memories of extended family gatherings and picnic suppers. It’s easy to prepare and actually tastes better the next day, the perfect make ahead dessert when you need to fit in food prep for a group gathering to your already stuffed schedule. Best known with a yummy cream cheese frosting, I dare to be different and top it with a penuche (caramel) frosting.

Just as you would do for your own family, it’s important to take into consideration your group’s likes and dislikes, allergies, and health needs. As I started to make Applesauce Cake for a recent church women’s potluck, my hand paused at my open cupboard. I like raisins in Applesauce Cake, but would others? A quick survey on Facebook revealed that most people don’t care for raisins in cake!

If I’m cooking for a crowd, does that mean I should always cater to the preferences of others?

[Read more…]

January 17, 2019 by Karen Wingate 2 Comments

Mayonnaise Cake: A Cake Meant To Be Shared

Have you ever made mayonnaise cake?

Mayonnaise cake is one of those easy, throw together kind of cakes invented in the day when people didn’t think mayonnaise was bad for you. I haven’t made mayonnaise cake since I was a teenager, but I’ve rediscovered it as a great cake to share with others. At least that’s what one old gentleman told me in the grocery store.

I never know who I’m going to run into at the store. Literally. As I turned my cart into the coffee aisle, I almost ran headlong into a cart pushed by a nearly 80-year-old man. I made my usual joke about watching out for women drivers. He smiled, paused, and then took advantage of my good humor to ask a question.

“I’m looking for cocoa mix. Do you know where that would be?”

My husband found a can of hot chocolate mix and the man put it in his cart. But he still looked unsure.

Then he told us this story.

His wife had died twelve years ago. In her final days, the excellent care she received at the local care center made an indelible impression on her grateful husband. Since her death, for the last twelve years, he has taken candy to the nurses’ station at that care center.

“Good for you,” I told him. “Church and community people in our town do lots of nice things for the nursing home residents. But I think we forget about the staff.” The old gentleman and I agreed – care facility workers are overworked, underpaid, and yet so many of them love the residents as if they are their own grandmas and grandpas. It’s a hard job and they deserve far more than a paycheck. “They’re a bunch of people that get little thanks for what they do,” my new friend said. “And they love the candy!”

Then he pulled a printed page from his pocket. “Last week, we got to talking about mayonnaise cake,” he said. “I decided I wanted to make them mayonnaise cake.”

He pointed again to the list of ingredients. Now I clued in with what he wanted. “Oh sir, you want regular baking cocoa. That would be in the baking aisle.” He went his way, I went my way, and I never saw him again.

What a great idea.

Mayonnaise cake is a super simple, very moist, no-icing needed, old-fashioned cake. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if several of us took mayonnaise cake to share with a nursing home staff this week? I’ve already taken a pan to my local care center. What about you?

If that doesn’t work for you, how about a bag of candy with a thank you note?

Mayonnaise Cake

Oh no! Someone has called you saying they need a last minute dessert for a church function! Mayonnaise Cake, an old-time dessert will make you say, "Sure! I can do that!" This very moist, delectable, and very easy cake will make everyone happy.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 39 mins

Course Dessert