Yum Soup

This recipe is courtesy of my first grader.  They made this as part of a social studies project.  Some of the students in her class brought something to add to the pot and since it's made by kids you know it's easy and for it's simplicity it is tasty!  I use my homecanned vegetables, juice and broth in ours.

Yum Soup

1 pound cooked ground beef, drained

1 can mixed vegetables, undrained (2 if you want more veggies, drain the second one)

2 cans beef broth or ~4 cups homemade beef broth

3 cups tomato juice

salt and pepper to taste

saltine crackers 

Throw in a pot, heat, and eat!

Here is a scan of the recipe she brought home.  Luckily she was able to give me more details and measurements. 

Meringues

Meringues

3 large egg whites at room temp
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Separate eggs, one at a time into a small bowl making sure there is NO trace of egg yolk in the white.  If there is you must discard the egg white and start over.  If it is ok then dump it into a medium bowl.   After you have been successful with all 3 you can add the cream of tartar and beat on medium high speed until soft peaks form.  Slowly add sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar has been added.  Continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy. Add vanilla and beat just 30 more seconds.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.   Fill frosting bag fitted with a large frosting tip of your choice with meringue.  Pipe meringue onto parchment in 1-1/2 inch cookies.  They won’t expand much so you can put them as close as 1/2”.  Sprinkle on crush almonds or finely chopped walnuts. Bake for 1-1/2 hours until dry and crisp.  Cool.  Keep in airtight container.  

Try to use them within a day or so if you can as they will soak up any humidity around them and become sticky.  If they do you can sprinkle powdered sugar on the serving dish before you place them and sprinkle a little more on top.  Even if they aren't sticky that makes a pretty presentation.  

These simply melt in your mouth!!

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

1 1/4 cups coarsely ground cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup milk

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

8 tablespoons butter, melted --divided

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a 9 or 10 inch cast iron skillet inside.  Allow it to heat while you make the batter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar,  baking powder, and baking soda.

In another bowl whisk the milk, buttermilk, eggs and almost all of the melted butter.  Keep back about 1 Tablespoon for the skillet.

Pour into dry 

and mix. 

Remove the hot skillet from the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Dump the other tablespoon of butter into bottom of hot skillet. Use a pastry brush to brush it up on sides.  Pour the batter into the skillet and place in the oven.

Bake until the center is firm and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 25 minutes.  I found that 15 minutes was plenty for my 10" pan but each oven and pan can differ.

It is a really moist cornbread but not a very sweet cornbread so we drizzled honey on it.  YUM!!