This recipe comes from my good friend Val.  It has become a Christmas favorite. Friends and family ask for it every year. I hope it will become a holiday tradition for you as well. Ingredients: 8 qts popped popcorn ½ cup corn syrup 1 cup butter 1¼ cups red hot candies Directions: Sift out unpopped…

This is my all-time favorite bean cake. It is rich, moist and tasty. Serve it topped with either Orange Glaze or Cream Cheese Icing. Either one will make this a delicious dessert that your family will ask for again and again. Ingredients: 2 C (480 ml) flour 1½ C (360 ml) sugar 1 Tbsp baking…

After several tests, I think this is the best recipe for gooseberry pie. It will also work well for pretty much all berries: blackberries, blueberries, June berries and even tart cherries. Ingredients: 1 9” inch double piecrust 3 C gooseberries 2 C sugar ¼ tsp salt 1 tsp nutmeg ½ tsp almond flavoring (optional*) 3…

Oranges and citrus fruits are on sale this time of year. It’s a good thing too.  In the dead of winter our bodies need all the Vitamin C they can get. But don’t throw those peelings away! Try making this wonderful treat with these peels: Candied Orange (or Lemon) Peels. Don’t say “yuck” yet. You know who…

This year was good for our currants. These pretty, brilliant jewel-red berries are a treat. They make just about the prettiest red jelly you can imagine and the flavor is wonderful. Last year I had just enough for a batch of jelly. This year I made two batches of jelly and two pies. Red Currant Pie…

This warm pudding is so quick to make and is perfect on a cold fall day. If you normally don’t like bread pudding, try this recipe. It just may make a convert out of you. Ingredients: 2 C half and half 1 15-ounce can pureed pumpkin OR 1 2/3 C pureed cooked pumpkin from your…

You know all those zucchini that you miss and don’t find until they are the size of a three-month old baby? Well, here is the perfect use for them. Zucchini is the tofu of the vegetable world. They take on the flavor of anything they are cooked with. Trust me, these gummies are amazingly yummy.…

Oh my! This is such a tasty bread, perfect for desert or breakfast. I found the dough fit better into a 9×9 baking dish than a 9×5 loaf pan. But you can still make it into a loaf; just cut the streusel topping in half. This works well as a breakfast muffin. Just scoop into…

This is the one recipe that requires you to carefully monitor the temperature. Even so, it’s not that difficult and I have never had a failed batch. It is a family favorite and my boys won’t let a Christmas go by without making at least two batches. Nuts are optional but we like this with…

This fudge proves the rule that anything will taste good with enough sugar and chocolate. It may not at all healthy for you, but then what fudge is? OK, it does have dietary fiber and protein, which you won’t find in any other fudge, so score one for the diet. Make a couple batches of…

Once you’ve tasted pumpkin pie made from scratch, you’ll never want the canned stuff again. The flavor is so much better than anything from a can. If you planted pumpkins this year in your garden, you’ll have plenty to make wonderful pies. If you didn’t grow any yourself, you can buy pie pumpkins at the…

This treat is good in so many ways: sweet without adding any sugar, filled with the good nutrition of fruit and nuts, so quick and easy to make and flexible ingredients. It’s a great way to use the dried fruits and any nuts you have in your food storage. You’ll want to make this a…

This spread couldn’t be easier to prepare and even better, it’s a tasty nutritious treat your children will love to eat. Serve it with animal or graham crackers. Ingredients: 1 15-oz (350 ml) can chickpeas 1 Tbsp peanut butter 3 Tbsp oil ½ C (120 ml) cocoa powder ½ C (120 ml) sugar 1 tsp…