POSTUM Drink

I have many memories of my father heating up a quart or two of hot water after ice fishing on Deer Creek Reservoir.  He added to that water a drink unlike anything else I have tasted.  It is not hot chocolate, nor is it coffee like some people incorrectly assume.  It is Postum.  It is a caffeine-free drink that would warm us to the very core.  It is made from whole wheat, wheat bran, and molasses.

We of course did not drink it straight.  My father would add a healthy amount of evaporated milk, and a few spoonfuls of sugar.  This turned it to a light caramel color that I have always associated with Postum.  My Aunt is also a big Postum consumer, and drinks it several times a week at night.

Not everyone likes it, but it is a safe drink, and 100% Kosher.  And it tastes great!  At least the way my father made it. :-)

Here is an approximation of my Dad's formulae:

1. Procure a container of Postum.  
2. Boil 16 oz. of water; remove water from heat
3. Add two rounded teaspoons of Postum
4. Mix until fully dissolved.
5. Add 1/3 cup Evaporated Milk
6. Add 1½ tablespoons Sugar (more or less to taste)
7. Stir until mixed.  Serve hot!

Serving Size: 2

NOTE:  Kraft ceased manufacturing of Postum back in 2007, but "Eliza's Quest Foods" purchased the recipe and Postum Trademark from Kraft and manufacture it once more, albeit on a more limited scale.

Guittard Shortbread Rounds with jumbo Chips

 Little Cookies with big chocolate chips that melt in your mouth!

Here's another recipe I recently picked up, and which found success at work.  I took it from the outside packaging of Guittard Chocolate Baking Chips.  These chips are jumbo sized, and seemed the perfect remedy (i.e. comfort food) to the cold I was coming down with.  They turned out different than I was expecting, but extremely easy to make.  Think of the shortbread cookies with almonds pressed down in the center, and you will have the foundation flavour that these cookies are built on.  Sprinkle them with powdered sugar when they are fresh out of the oven, and it's a tasty alternative to the traditional Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (6 oz.) jumbo Milk Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
2. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at low to medium speed until light.
3. Gradually add flour until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
4. If dough seems dry or crumbly, it will stick together when shaped with your hands.
5. Using the palms of your hands, roll rounded teaspoons of dough into 1-inch balls.
6. Place dough balls on ungreased cookie sheets and bake 13 - 15 minutes.
7. Cookies will still be pale.  Let stand 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
8. Dust with powdered sugar for a touch of sweetness.

Yield:  3 dozen 1-inch round cookies

Oatmeal Cranberry (Craisins) White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Here is a delicious recipe for White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies!  I came across this earlier this year (2015) when in the mood for white chocolate chip cookies with a fruity burst of extra flavour.

This is more of a gourmet cookie recipe, but without the difficulty often associated with such confectionery delights.

Not fully content with the original recipe, I modified it some, but have unfortunately forgotten what each of those modifications were.  I added vanilla, of course, and some wheat flour.  I do recall that this recipe was an instant success with my entire family, and my colleagues at work were raving about the cookies all day long.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1½ cups white flour
• 1/4 cup wheat flour
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2/3 cups Craisins (aka dried Cranberries)
• 2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 365 degrees 
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well.
4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate mixing bowl.  Combine the oats.
5. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.
6. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
7. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top, and the edges are set.
9. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes, and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
10. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies.

The baking time is very important with this cookie recipe. You must watch the cookies closely! Take the cookies out of the oven at between 9 to 12 minutes. The cookies will appear soft and undone in the centers, but will eventually firm up as they set.  Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet after you remove them from the oven.

Additional Notes:

If you have them, use silicone baking sheets!  We acquired our first silicone baking sheet as a gift sometime around 2010.  The difference in baking was incredible!  I quickly purchased a second baking sheet the next summer.  The cookies will not flatten out as much, the sheets do not require greasing, and the bottoms of your cookies will bake to the perfect firmness without burning.

NOTE:  I have located the other recipe I had referenced when I first baked these cookies, and attempted to recreate the perfect recipe from both.  I will test and update my own recipe the next time I bake it, as I will likely remember what I changed.  This recipe is close.  The extra wheat flour accounts for altitude, and add a smidgen of healthiness.  ;-)

Banana Shake

Here is an approximate recipe for the Banana Shake that I remember Dad making for us whilst living in Orem.  Perhaps Mom made it as well, but my memories were of Dad blending it up on many a hot summer day.

It is a fast, easy recipe, and I realized this evening that it had been a long time since I last made it for my children... possibly since before Sariah was born.  To many a happy smile, I blended it up as an appetizer for my kids while the casserole cooked...  Sariah was my official taste-tester, and after a sip (that turned into a long gulp), she immediately responded, "I want my own, Daddy!"

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 2 cups milk
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 6 ice cubes

Directions:

• Cut each banana into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Drop banana segments into your trustee Oysterizer blender.
• Add sugar and milk, altering milk quantity as needed for banana size variance, and desired concentration.
• Start blending, and add ice cubes a couple at a time.
• Serve to smiling faces.  Or, watch as a happy smile appears. :-)

NOTE:  While many Banana Shake/Smoothie recipes do not call for vanilla, I have always considered it an essential ingredient.  First, I love vanilla in deserts and drinks.  Second, while the banana flavour does over-power even a healthy dose of vanilla, the richness that results from using it is unmistakable.  Yum!

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

This is one of the easiest Dutch Oven Cobbler recipes I have tried, and recommended for a no-fail cobbler. I recommend you start with it.  Success in the Dutch Oven is easy!  And certainly very tasty after a long hike, or when the air becomes cool.

Ingredients:

   *  1/2 package Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix
   *  1 large can sliced peaches in heavy syrup
   *  1/4 stick butter, cut into thin slices
   *  lots of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Be sure to gather the following items before leaving on your trip:
      a.  ten inch Dutch Oven, oven gloves, lid lifter, long tongs, and lid stand
      b.  bag of charcoal and charcoal chimney
      c.  mixing bowl, can opener
   
2. Once at your destination, determine where you will cook and place the pot of finished cobbler.
      a. A metal pizza pan placed on top of trivets works well.  You'll need one for each Dutch Oven dish.
   
3. Start the charcoal in the charcoal chimney, or in the fire pit if one is available.
   
4. Open the box of cake mix and pour half of it into a bowl.
   
5. Slice the butter int thin slices and place them in a container of ice water (to prevent melting)
   
6. Place one ring of charcoal briquettes under the dutch oven
   
7. Open the can of peaches, and pour the peaches and syrup into the bottom of the Dutch Oven.
   
8. Add the cake mix evenly over the top of the peaches.  Do not try to stir the cake mix and peaches together.
   
9. Place the slices of butter on top of the cake mix in a checkerboard pattern.
   
10. Sprinkle everything with lots of cinnamon.
    
11. Place the lid on the Dutch Oven and put 1½ rings of charcoal on the top lid.  It should produce about 350 degrees.
    
12. Cook for approximately 40 minutes, rotating the lid about 180 degrees about half way through to make sure heat is oven. 

NOTE:  I make no claim to the originality for the actual recipe.  There are variations on it in some form in almost every Dutch Oven cookbook.  This happens to be one of the easiest cobbler recipes, and it is tasty and sure to please!

Cache Valley Chocolate Chip Cookies

I picked up this recipe from a friend in the Hyrum 14th Ward, Shauna Johnson, while exchanging recipes for a Ward Cookbook.  She also happened to be the photographer of our Family Portraits on two occasions.  Just because she was a great photographer does not mean that I promise these to be the best Chocolate Chip cookie recipe you have ever eaten.  I'm sure that the Mackay family recipe (also contained within this recipe blog) is, in fact, superior.  

But, I needed a quick recipe when my decades old recipe book went missing.  The cookies from this recipe are decent, especially if you follow the tasty enhancements I have introduced. ;-)  Some day I will find the recipe that my sweet sister (Michelle) sent me while on my mission.  It's a hot pink recipe card, and is the Chocolate Chipper recipe our multi-talented Mom mastered! :-)   I rather thought I had entered it here already (to no avail), so I will have to add it when I come across it again.  Then you can decide which recipe you like best.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 5 cups flour (4 cups white, 1 cup wheat)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 12 - 16 oz. chocolate chips
• 2 cups rolled oats (raw, not quick cooking)

Directions:

• Cream shortening, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy.
• Mix in baking soda, salt, and four (just a little at a time), until well-blended.
• Mix in Chocolate Chips.
• Bake at 370 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes.
• Cool for 3 - 5 minutes; move to wire rack for cooling.

Yield:  6 - 7 dozen.  This recipe makes a lot of cookies, so plan on sharing!

Tips:

• If you have never used oatmeal in cookies before, try it!  It add's a thick fluffiness to the cookies that is both rich and satisfying.  No more flat cookies, even on the silicone sheets!  I added 2 cups rolled oats, whereas the original recipe rolled none.
• I swapped 1 cup of butter for the 2 cups of shortening.  Although fat is never healthy, natural fat seems desirable over artificial fat.  Shortening is best on a monetary budget, but sacrifices taste.
• I also replaced 1 cup of white flour with wheat flour, hoping to add a touch of nutrition.  2 cups wheat with 3 cups white would probably still taste great, but too much wheat flour tends to make your cookies increasingly thick and dry.  Find the balance that is right for your house.

NOTE:  Mom may already have posted the recipe I've been searching for... Oatmeal Chocolate Chippers

Katie Richey's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Here is a great recipe from a friend in our BYU 93rd Ward... where Mary and I attended while newly married.  Celeste was less than a year old at the time.  This easy-to-make treasure is from a friend of ours, buried in our Ward Cookbook all of this time.

Although the recipe calls for a chocolate cake-mix, it has the consistency of brownies, similar to most other "bar" confectioneries you may have tried.

Ingredients:

• 1 Chocolate Cake Mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips (semi-sweet)
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup Chunky Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup Water

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together cake mix (dry), eggs, and oil.
3. Mix in Peanut Butter
4. Stir in Chocolate Chips
5. Pat the mixture into a 9" x 13" pan.
6. Bake 14 - 17 minutes or until golden brown!

Please note that I added water to the mixture, which the original recipe did not ask for.  Depending on elevation, cake mix, and size of your eggs, this may not be necessary.  If you don't like how it turns out, try dropping/altering the amount of water you use.

Twice-Baked Potatoes (Speed Nuke Method)

Yes indeed, it is the delectable flavour of Twice Baked Potatoes... but in half the time!  Less than that, actually.  Thanks to the modern technology of microwave ovens, this is a recipe that produces potatoes that honestly taste every bit as good as the 2½ hour conventional oven approach!

In my opinion, the end-result is every bit as moist, creamy, and flavourful in the Microwave oven, and my children love them!  So unless you fear radio-active side-effects, this recipe is a great time-saver when you are scrambling for something to make when 6:00pm rolls around.

Ingredients:

• 4 - 6 large baking potatoes
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese + extra grated cheese!
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 4 strips of crispy bacon, crumbled or sliced (Michael's addition)

Directions:

1. Scrub and prick potatoes with a fork
2. Place on a glass plate or microwave-safe dish
3. Cooke 3 - 4 potatoes at a time on high for 6 - 7 minutes
• Cook until potatoes are tender!
4. Cut cooked potatoes lengthwise.  Let sit five minutes to cool.
• This is to avoid burned fingers in the next step! ;-)
• You still want the potato innards hot enough to melt the butter...
5. Scoop potatoes from shell into a mixing bowl.
6. Mash potatoes and mix with butter, milk, sour cream, shredded cheese, salt, and pepper.
7. Place potato skins on the glass plate or dish.
8. Fill skins with mashed potatoes mixture
9. Add bacon pieces/crumble to the tops of the potatoes
10. Sprinkle with additional shredded cheese
11. Microwave on high 1 - 2 minutes or until cheese is melted
12. Prepare to double the recipe next time when your family asks for more!

Recipe Etymology:  This recipe comes from a cook-book Mom gave Mary last Christmas as a gift for her birthday.  I first tried this last month whilst Mary was face painting, and I needed to make something quick for the family upon arriving home from work.  Entitled the "Quick & Easy Cookbook," it was just what I needed.  It has some great recipes within, including this one!   Yummy-yum yum!

Oh, and here is how they should have looked, were I to have used fuller sized potatoes,  took more time artistically placing the grated cheese, and adding the fancy green onions for a final garnish...