Make Ahead Gravy or Do Ahead Gravy

Last year, the week before Thanksgiving I posted a recipe for Make Ahead Gravy. I want to draw attention to it this week (and will probably mention it next week too!) because I've noticed a lot of people on the internet searching for versions of this. The only real trick to make ahead gravy is that the rue is made from flour and butter so it doesn't separate like a corn starch thickened gravy will.




I started making this back around 1991 and it is by far the absolute best tasting gravy I've ever had. I'm always trying 'new' recipes through out the year just to make sure I'm serving my family the best of everything - but I always go back to this one. Thanksgiving will never be celebrated in our home without this recipe!

The link is above by clicking on the words. You can make it now and refrigerate in a tightly sealed container in the coldest part of your refrigerator or freeze it until you need it.

Seasoned Pretzels

Around this time of year I start to crave snack mixes like the ever-popular and ever-traditional Chex Mix and the ranch oyster crackers, seasoned pretzels, etc. I think it's both the colder weather and the holidays that make it seem 'right' for this kind of snack.

I bet most of my readers have had seasoned pretzels and a good portion of those people don't know how to make them or have just never 'thought about it'. But once you see how easy and quick it is you'll see that even an elementary school child can make them.

Enjoy!


Seasoned Pretzels (onion flavored)

1 1/4 c butter or margarine
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
1 (16-ounce) bag pretzel rods, broken into 1 inch pieces or small original pretzels

In microwaveable bowl, melt the butter. Stir in soup mix. Return to the microwave for about 30 more seconds and stir until well mixed. Add pretzels; toss to coat. Spread pretzel mixture in a baking pan. Bake at 250' for 1-1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool. Store in an airtight container.

Honeybun Cake (Cinnamon Swirl Cake)

Honeybun Cake

1 yellow cake mix with pudding
1/2 c oil
4 eggs
16 oz sour cream
1 c brown sugar
4 t cinnamon
1 c powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
2 T hot water

Mix cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream and pour half of the mixture into a greased 9X13 inch cake pan. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly across batter. Pour the other half of the batter on top and bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes until it tests done in the center.

Glaze: Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla and start with just one tablespoon warm water. Glaze should be thin enough to spread on warm cake, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons water if necessary to get a drizzle/spread effect.

Apple Stack Cake

Back in 1999 a good friend of mine that lives in Atlanta, GA was looking for a certain recipe to make for her Mother. It seems their Grandmother used to make a delicious Apple Stack Cake with layers and layers of thin cake with some kind of apple filling between them. My friend hadn't had it since she was a very young child and her grandmother had long ago passed away. She wanted to surprise her Mom by making this favorite cake for her but had no idea how to find the recipe.

The internet was not nearly as complete as it is now - it was just a 'baby' of sorts. So she and searched the internet as well as cookbooks at the library and my own very large collection of cookbooks trying to find one that sounded like the one her Grandmother made all those years ago. In the end she found out that her Mom had a copy of it - she just never liked cooking or baking so she had never made it. My friend copied down the recipe and made the cake for Mother's Day that year.

Here we are not even 10 years later but recipes are so easily found on the internet! Still... I cherish the handwritten recipes from the old box of my Grandmother more than I do any generic recipe on a website.

Apple Stack cake


1/2 c shortening
3/4 c sugar
1 c. molasses
1 egg beaten well
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 t vanilla
3 1/2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t cloves
1 t cinnamon

Filling:
Equal amounts of apple butter and apple sauce mixed together. (Use one jar each.)


Cream sugar and shortening. Add egg, molassas, vanilla and buttermilk. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 9 inch circle. Add flour when rolling and cutting so the dough is nice and stiff. Makes as many thin layers as you can - try to get 12-14. Bake each at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 mins. and let cool. When cool stack with a thin layer of apple mixture between each layer. Let stand overnight before serving.

Removing Fat From Broth

That's not ice cream!

Whether you have a whole chicken, parts or just breasts, a simple broth is made by simmering your chicken in water just to cover and when you remove the chicken, save the water you cooked it in!

A more flavorful and rich broth is made by adding some celery, onion and carrots to the water while it's cooking as well as a tiny bit of sage or thyme perhaps. If you've roasted a chicken and only need part of the juices that run into the pan be sure you add that to your broth or freeze for future use. You don't even have to use the broth right away. Pour it into a container of almost any type and put it in the freezer for a future date! You'll have the best soup, gravy or sauce when you start with real, homemade broth.

Now, what happens if you use a whole chicken and when you take your broth out of the refrigerator or you thaw it from the freezer and you see a thick layer on the top? That's the fat. As the broth cools the fat rises to the top and you are left with a clear, delicious and healthy gel on the bottom layer. Simply scrape or 'lift' the top layer off and discard. You now have a wonderful chicken broth to work with.

See how easy that was?