My Amish Friend's Carmel Corn

I got this recipe off of Allrecipes. com. I made just a few changes. It's the best carmel corn.

Ingredients:

7 quarts plain popped popcorn ( I use corn pops located in the chip aisle because there are no kernels or hulls to deal with and my family just prefers it over regular popcorn in this recipe.)

2 cups dry roasted peanuts, optional ( I use 1 cup pecans and 1 cup almonds)

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup margarine ( I use butter)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Place the popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans and add peanuts if using. Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, margarine and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans and stir to coat. Don't worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Line counter with waxed paper. Dump the corn onto the wax paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.

Seafood Gumbo

This is my mom's recipe for gumbo. She was born in New Orleans, LA. This is a wonderful recipe. We have gumbo at every holiday meal because that was the tradition passed down in my mom's family. Unfortunately, measurements were never used, it is just thrown together. I don't measure either except for the butter and flour for the roux. So, the measurements listed are just estimates. This makes a large batch. Also, chicken can be substituted for all the seafood in this recipe for a batch of chicken gumbo. Another version I make is shrimp and chicken. For the batches made with chicken, I just use 5 or 6 uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts cut up into bite size chunks.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

1/2 to 1 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

1 to 2 tsp of dried garlic pieces, if using fresh garlic I use 3 or 4 cloves

1 to 2 bay leaves - I always use 2

3 to 5 teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning ( I just sprinkle it out of the can so I have never measured this, I just know when it looks right)

1/2 lb smoked sausage, cut into bite size pieces

8 cups chicken broth

2lbs peeled, uncooked shrimp

1lb crab meat( I get this at Sam's club in the meat department)

2 to 3 teaspoons of File (I buy Tony Chachere's Gumbo File in the spice aisle and I just sprinkle it in just before serving and have never measured this)

3 to 4 teaspoons of Kitchen Bouquet - this is for coloring and making the gumbo a more brown color.

1 - 2 teaspoons of cajun spice, optional( This is something I don't measure either and just sprinkle in just a bit, we don't like our gumbo too spicey but we do like to have just a tiny bit of spice.)

Cooked white rice

Melt butter in large stockpot and add flour. When roux is the color of peanut butter add green peppers, onions, celery, and garlic. Cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add bay leaves, Old Bay seasoning, cajun spice and sausage. Cook until sausage for about 5 or so minutes, you just want to brown it a bit. Then slowly add chicken broth. Stir in kitchen bouquet until a nice brown color. You do not want to add too much as it will change the flavor of the gumbo so it is best to start out with a teaspoon or 2 and stir. If the color is still too light continue to add some kitchen bouquet but make sure to stir after each addition. Then add peeled, uncooked shrimp and crab to gumbo(or chicken if using instead of the seafood). Allow to simmer for 2 hours. Just before serving add the gumbo file. Serve over cooked white rice.

No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

I found this recipe a few years ago on Christmas-Cookies.com but they call them Peanut Butter Oatmeal Drops. They are a peanut butter version of the chocolate no bake cookies. These are a family favorite and well liked whenever I bring them to potlucks.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup milk or evaporated milk (I always use milk)

pinch of salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups quick cooking rolled oats

Line two baking sheets with waxed paper. In a large heavy saucepan combine the butter, brown sugar, milk and salt. Bring mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Without stirring, let mixture boil for exactly 3 minutes. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until peanut butter has melted. Quickly stir in oats, mix well. Working fast, drop mixture by tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets. Allow to cool and become firm(this doesn't take long).