Good Morning Food

Everyone has a favorite breakfast treat; maybe its muffins, or pancakes, or french toast, or even cold cereal. Here's a recipe I found that our family like that is something between french toast and muffins. Its easy to make and the extras (if there are any) freeze well for a quick breakfast later.

Individual French Toast Stratas

6 eggs

1 ½  cup half-and-half (or evaporated milk)

6 tbsp. maple syrup

1 ½ tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

large pinch salt

4 cups cubed (1-inch) white country bread

2 tbsp. melted butter

2 tbsp. sugar

Whisk eggs, milk/half&half, syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Toss bread with butter; divide among 12 muffin cups. Pour egg mixture over bread; let sit while you preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle bread mixture with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool on rack. Serve with more maple syrup and fresh berries.

Yankee Doodle Snickerdoodle

This time of summer between flag day and 4th of July always seems like a good time for Snickerdoodle cookies to me. There's something about the soft, crackled cookie with a sugar and cinnamon coating that calls for a cool glass of lemonade and a patriotic parade.

The origin of snickerdoodle cookies or the meaning of the name are unclear, but some think it was a German or Pennsylvania Dutch nonsense name for this sweet confection. Recipes for similar cookies called Jumbles have been found.

My favorite recipe contains cream of tarter, which seems to help keep the cookie soft. Actually, cookies don't stay around our house long enough to get hard or stale! I like to use 1/2 cup shortening (you can tell this is an older recipe!) and 1/2 cup butter.

SNICKERDOODLES

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup margarine or butter, softened

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix sugar, margarine, shortening, and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls. Mix 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon; roll balls in mixture. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 9 - 11 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely on rack.

Yield about 4 dozen.

 This is a patriotic snack that's been a favorite in my family for a long time. Snickerdoodles were even the Favorite Food Show entry of a 4-H event several years ago...

Are Cake Pops Camp Food?

Cake pops are the new dessert snack. You now see them everywhere, even at Rock Springs Camp/Conference Center. Last week when I attended Friends of 4-H Day at the state 4-H conference center near Junction City, the afternoon reception included cake pops at the dessert table along with two tables of finger food snacks and a beverage table. It was elegantly presented and a wonderful way to end a gracious day at the celebratory event.

When I was an Extension Agent, attending camp with 30 or so 4-H members was one of my duties, and I often got the job of overseeing the 4-Hers in the dining room as they set the table, served the meal, and cleared. Camp meal time was anything but elegant! This was definitely another side of camp life.

Cake pops are small cake mixtures on a stick that can be served for receptions, parties, or just for fun. A few years ago, I tried making cake balls which is the same idea in a larger serving, but found them messy to eat and make and too large a serving of a rich mixture. Cake pops are smaller, about the size of a golf ball and are easier to prepare and to eat.

The general directions are to prepare a cake mix, after baking and cooling, crumble the cake into fine crumbs and pour a can (or most of the can, mix and determine how much is needed as you go), of vanilla frosting over the crumbles. Cream this mixture together until it is gooey, but holds a ball shape. Form small balls (wear plastic gloves for less mess) and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper. For uniform size, use a small ice cream scoop to help form the balls. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. To finish the decorative desserts, remove a few at a time from the refrigerator and insert a lollipop or popsicle stick in the ball and dip in melted white candy coating. You can add sprinkles or other decorations. It helps to have a stand or piece of foam to stick them in as the coating hardens to avoid a flat side.

So, you've made a popular sweet treat. Your friends will think they're at an upscale coffee house - or Rock Springs 4-H Camp!

Pot luck Favorite - Deviled Eggs

Memorial Day marks the official start of summer, which means picnics, potlucks, and shared lighter meals. I took one of my favorite dishes to a family dinner on Monday - Deviled Eggs. I like to take deviled eggs because they're fairly easy and quick to make, I usually have the ingredients on hand, and there's never any left to bring home!

Deviled eggs are a family favorite, I remember my mother making and taking Deviled Eggs to covered dish dinners. So I wondered, why are they called "Deviled", that doesn't describe my mother's style! As I discovered, the 'deviling' refers to the seasoning, to be considered 'deviled', a food has to have a kick from something like Dijon mustard, hot sauce, tabasco, cayenne pepper or chopped hot peppers.

Eggs are also a good choice for a nutritious dish to take. They are good sources of protein and low in calories. Even those watching their cholesterol can usually sneak in half a deviled egg. And children love them! If you want to lower calories, use a light mayonnaise/salad dressing.

Everyone has a favorite way of preparing the yolks to 'stuff' into the eggs, mine includes light mayonnaise, a bit of light Ranch dressing, Dijon mustard, pickle relish, sour cream, and salt and pepper. I sometimes add other things that are handy and sound good - fresh snipped chives, bacon crumbles. There are lots of recipes available, this is one preparation I don't use a recipe for, just scoop ingredients and stir together. I spoon filling into the whites shells, but some like to pipe it in. An easy way to pipe it is to put the filling into a freezer plastic bag and cut a small tip of a corner off. My kids used to do a 4-H demonstration called "Eggs with Legs" that showed this easy way to prepare a dish to take.

The hardest part is getting the eggs hard cooked to just the right degree. Here are the directions for a fool-proof way to hard cook eggs:
Prick a hole in the bottom of each egg with a pin (to release pressure during boiling), cover with cold water in a saucepan and place over high heat. As soon as the water boils, remove the pan from the heat and cover for 17 minutes. Place the eggs in a bowl of ice water for 2 minutes to stop the cooking. Then, bring the pan of water back to a boil and add the eggs for 10 seconds to expand the shells. Return the eggs to the ice water and roll then around to crack the shells.

note: Fresher eggs will be harder to peel. Choose the older ones in your refrigerator for hard cooking.
Remember to keep eggs, and deviled eggs, refrigerated. Pack on ice packs for traveling to the picnic.