Poppycock- A Kline Tradition!

In our family, the Christmas Season is full of tradition. Enjoy one of our favorite recipes from Grandpa Kline. This sweet, crunchy popcorn is sure to become one of your favorites  if you give it a chance, we promise!!

1 c. butter
2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 (2 1/2 oz.) pkg. almonds (I skipped these this batch)
2 (16 oz.) pkg. pecan halves (I used 3 c.)
5 qt. popped corn (I used 6 qt.)

Here are the directions in my Grandpa's own words...

Combine butter, syrup, and the sugar carefully, keeping it from the sides of heave saucepan (this is to keep it from getting up on the sides of the pan and turning it sugary later). Then I covered the pan as it started to heat over low flame for a minute or two, until I thought the sugar was all dissolved. Bring to a roaring boil, remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and soda. Pour mixture over corn and nuts. Quickly  stir until well coated. Pour into two 9 x 13 baking pans. Bake at 250 degrees until dry. I only bake it 20 minutes though the original recipe said 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.

For those who like step by step instructions with photos...

Pop 4-6 quarts of popcorn.

I popped my own corn on the stove, but this recipe works great with bagged popcorn We have found that the buttery popcorn is delicious with this recipe!

Combine 1 c. butter, 2 c. sugar, 1/2 c. light corn syrup in a pan. Stir until melted. Cover for two minutes over low heat until sugar is dissolved.

Uncover and bring to a hard boil while stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 tsp. baking soda and 

1 tsp. vanilla.

Quickly pour mixture over popcorn and nuts. Stir until coated.

Layer onto cookie sheets or in 2-9 x 13 pans.

Bake at 250 degrees for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until dry.

Grab a friend, a couple bowls and your favorite hot drinks (mine would currently be hot chocolate with Kraft snowman french vanilla marshmallows). Fill the bowls with some of the tasty Poppycock and plop down next to the Christmas tree. Memories are in the making!

Hershey's Chocolate Cake- High Altitude

My "Go-To" Birthday Cake. Happy 3rd Birthday to my little boy. And thanks to adjustments needed at 7000', we managed to have a successful cake with no sunken hole in the middle!

2 c. minus 2 Tbsp. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. Hershey's cocoa
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. milk
1/2 c. canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9" round pans. (I also bake this in a 9 x 13 pan occasionally). Stir together sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat with a mixer for 2 minutes. Carefully stir in boiling water. Pour into pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes until toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Frost with Chocolate Frosting.

Hershey's Chocolate Frosting

The "Go-To" frosting for our "Go-To" Birthday Cake...

1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. cocoa
3 c. powdered sugar

Melt butter, add cocoa. Stir until blended. Alternate milk and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Stir in  vanilla. Makes 2 cups of frosting.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Ganache

Very few desserts are worth eating every bite, plus a little more! This is a flourless chocolate cake, covered with Ganache (what you use to make truffles). This combination of recipes is almost a death-by-chocolate experience (we have lived to tell about it, which is why I say "almost"). We first made this for a Valentine's banquet, but it has become a favorite for many special occasions! It is quite easy to make and very easy to enjoy! I could not find links to Gourmet Magazine or TV Food Network that matched these recipes, but that is where the original recipes came from.


GOURMET Magazine Flourless Chocolate Cake

8 oz. good bittersweet (not unsweetened) chocolate, chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus additional for dusting

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: 1 10-inch springform pan

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter pan. Line bottom with a round of parchment or wax paper, and butter paper.

Melt chocolate with butter in a medium metal bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and wisk in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Sift cocoa powder over chocolate and whisk just until combined.

Pour batter into pan. Bake until top has formed a thin crust and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out with moist crumbs adhering, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove side of pan. Invert cake onto a rack to cool completely. Dust cake with cocoa powder before serving OR cover with chocolate ganache.

** Just a couple of notes. Cake may be made up to 3 days before serving. Store in an airtight container. Also, I use salted butter and Ghiradelli Bittersweet baking chocolate (or 60% cocoa chips)

CHOCOLATE GANACHE (TV Food Network)

2 (12 oz) packages semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 T unsalted butter (I use salted)

Place chocolate in a medium sized bowl. Heat cream over medium low heat until it just barely begins to boil. Remove from heat immediately. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let it sit 1 minute. Gently stir until chocolate is melted and blended with the cream. Add in the butter and combine. Do not beat the mixture, you want to minimize the introduction of air bubbles. If the chocolate is not completely melting for you, place bowl over hot water on stovetop and continue to stir gently. DO NOT let it get hot enough to simmer.

To use as a glaze: Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface and let cool slightly. It must be pourable, but not hot.

To use as a frosting (which is my recommendation for the flourless chocolate cake): place a piece of plastic wrap covering the surface of the chocolate mixture and refrigerate or let sit at room temperature until thickened. Whip with an electric mixer.

*** Note: When I use as frosting, I let it cool to room temp and then put it in an ice bath to whip...to a spreadable consistency. I use a whole recipe for one cake. It is thick, but delicious. Whip up some extra cream to serve with the cake! Yum Yum Yum. A small piece goes a long way!!!

Peanut Butter Pudding Pie

Found this in Taste of Home a few years ago. Perfect for the peanut butter lover in your home!

Ingredients:
2 c. milk
1 pkg. cook and serve vanilla pudding
1 c. peanut butter chips
1 9" graham cracker crust (I like the chocolate kind)
2 1/2 c. cool whip
1/3 c. milk chocolate chips
1 tsp. shortening (I use butter)

In saucepan, whisk milk and pudding. Cook and stir over medium heat until it boils. Reduce heat, stir in chips until melted. Pour mixture into pie crust.
Cover and refrigerate until set.
Top with cool whip.
Melt the chocolate chips and butter--drizzle over the top.
It will look like a million bucks!! Dare you to try it!

Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies

Chewy, monster-sized oatmeal cookies stuffed with nuts and chocolate chips, enhanced with a hint of cinnamon.
Makes about 36

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups butter (at room temperature)
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups sweetened flake coconut
2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in bowl. In 8-quart bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 minute. Gradually beat in sugars; beat to combine, 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake for 17 to 19 minutes, until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. Remove cookies from rack to cool. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.



NOTE: For 6 dozen (72) smaller cookies, use 2 tablespoons dough for each. Bake at 350 F for 15 to 18 minutes.

Strawberry Shortcake

It is strawberry time, and I love strawberry shortcake. My favorite way to have it is the "Bisquick" way. By the way, why not try some shortcake for breakfast soon. Can't be worse for you than pancakes and syrup! Here is the Bisquick recipe:

4 C. sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 c. sugar

2 1/3 c. original bisquick mix
1/3 c. milk
3 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs butter, melted
1 8oz container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Mix strawberries and sugar together and set aside, preheat oven to 425 (I do mine at 400)

2. Stir bisquick, sugar, butter and milk together to form a soft dough.
3. Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet

4. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown (I don't like mine to get too done, so I keep an eye on them pretty closely--I start checking at 8-9 min.)
5. Split warm cakes, fill and top with strawberries (lots) and cool whip
** note...you can use the heart healthy bisquick (follow recipe on box) and fat free cool whip to make a very low fat dessert that still tastes yum and worth the calories!

Hot Fudge Sauce

This is so quick...I try to keep the ingredients on hand. Unfortunately sometimes I run out of ingredients, usually when I am craving some :)!

4 baking squares of semi-sweet chocolate
2 Tablespoons butter (I cut this in half or so)
1 Can sweetened condensed milk

Melt butter and chocolate squares over low heat (I, of course, am not very patient and do this over medium and just keep stirring). Add can of sweetened condensed milk and heat until warmed through. I love this over ice cream with strawberries. It is sort of fudge-like! Refrigerate leftovers, add a little drop of water and reheat in microwave (careful...it will heat fast. Don't want to burn it...you hate to waste this stuff)!

Mt. Dew Apple Treat

A great, easy recipe that is sure to disappear. Not low in calories, but we aren't counting on this one. Thanks to Lisa Bundrick for sharing!

2 Granny Smith Apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter (I used 1)
1 1/2 c. sugar (I used half this amt)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can MT. Dew (I used 1/2)

Peel and cut each apple into 8 slices. Roll up one slice of apple in each crescent roll and place in greased 9x13 pan. Melt butter, and then combine it with the sugar and vanilla. Spoon mixture over crescent rolls. Pour Mt. Dew around edges (but not over). Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until golden. Serve with ice cream if you like :). I also like to give them some time to sit before I serve....the juice gets "gooier."

Another helpful hint: These can be baked ahead and then reheated before you serve them. (I have done in the night before for serving the next evening). Cover in foil until you reheat and serve!

Almond Crusted Torte

1 2/3 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter, melted
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. almond extract (or 1 Tbsp vanilla and 1 Tbsp. almond)
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/4 sliced or slivered almonds
Stir together all ingredients, except almonds. Pour into greased 10” pie plate. Sprinkle almonds on top.

Bake 350 degrees for 40 mintues.

This is an EASY recipe--wonderful with Cool Whip on the top!

Poogan's Porch Bread Pudding

1/2 loaf-day old bread, in chunks (Best Country White)
1/2 c. raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 stick butter, melted
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. milk

Place bread, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter in bowl and mix together. In a separate bowl, beat sugar and eggs until well combined. Heat the milk but do not boil. Add egg mixture to hot milk, mixing well. Add bread mixture and stir. Pour all into a greased casserole dish. Place the dish in a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with water halfway up the dish, taking care, Carrie, not get any water into the casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Bourbon Sauce

1 stick butter
1 cup 10x sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp. bourbon

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add sugar and cook, stirring constantly until glossy. Remove from heat. Whip in the egg with a whisk. Add the bourbon and stir until well blended. Serve over bread pudding (drizzle it with a spoon).