Tin Can Ice Cream

I was first introduced to tin can ice cream at girl's camp when I was 12 years old.  What a treat to have fresh ice cream while you're camping, and it is so much fun to make!  I have since made it several times with different church groups, and it always amazes me how easy it is to make your own ice cream!  This is a recipe for vanilla ice cream, but feel free to add extra ingredients to make any flavor you want.  My favorite is oreo--LOTS of oreos!


Tin Can Ice Cream
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1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla


#10 can with lid
12-16 oz. can with lid
rock salt
crushed ice


Put milk, half-and-half, sugar and vanilla into small can.  Cover the top with plastic wrap, and then the plastic lid.  Place the filled can into an empty #10 can.  Fill the empty space with crushed ice, sprinkle generously with rock salt, and cover with the plastic lid.


With a partner, roll the can back and forth to each other (this works best on cement--you only need to be a few feet away from each other).  After about 10 minutes, carefully take the small can out, take off the lid and scrape the sides (be careful not to drip any water in from the ice--it is salty!).  Put small can back in large can and add more ice and salt as needed.  Roll for about 10 more minutes and it should be ready to eat!
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notes:

• I don't ever use crushed ice, just regular bagged ice that you buy at the grocery store.  
• I forgot to bring plastic wrap to camp, so we didn't use any.  I'm not sure how important that step is. 
• Make sure to roll gently to your partner.  You don't want the lid to pop off--from the large can OR the small can.  Some people duct tape the lids on, but if you roll it gently you shouldn't have a problem.
• I usually put the oreos in with the other ingredients, but I have found that no matter how big of pieces I put in, they are completely crushed at the end.  If you want big chunks of cookie, try putting some in after the first 10 minutes when you scrape the sides.   
• It is a little difficult to find small cans these days.  I used to use baby formula cans but now they are made out of cardboard.  I ended up buying the cheapest coffee I could find and just dumping it so I could use the empty cans.    

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

These cookies won first place in the LDS Living Magazine cookie contest.  They are soooo yummy, and I will definitely be making them again!  p.s.- I doubled the original recipe and it made 42 cookies.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
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1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 tsp. lemon zest
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Chicken Wonton Salad

This is my favorite salad in the whole world.  It is always my first choice to serve at a bridal or baby shower, and everyone LOVES it.  I got the recipe a long time ago from my sister, and it is definitely one of my favorite recipes ever.  You will not be disappointed!

Chicken Wonton Salad
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1/2 pkg wontons, lightly fried and broken up
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 head iceberg lettuce
4 chicken breasts, grilled and cut into chunks
1 can sliced water chestnuts
3 green onions
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 can mandarin oranges

Dressing

1/4 cup salad oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. Accent
1/2 tsp. salt

(notes:  I fry the wontons in canola oil and usually end up using a little less than half of the package for the salad.  For the chicken, I usually just add salt and pepper and grill them.  The last time I made it though, I marinated the chicken for a few hours in 1 cup sprite and 1/2 cup soy sauce before I grilled it.  It was so moist and yummy-I will always do it that way now!  For the dressing, I double it and add just before serving.  I don't usually use all of it, but I always need more than the recipe calls for!)

Baked Beans

I have never made baked beans before and I was assigned to bring some to the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet.  This recipe came from a trusted source so I knew they would be good.  And I have to say that they were the best baked beans I have ever had!  I changed the beans a little from the original recipe according to what I could find in the grocery store, and now that I've had them I would never make them another way. 

Baked Beans
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1 lb. bacon
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, diced
2 (15 oz.) cans cannallini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
27 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
52 oz. can + 28 oz. can pork and beans
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup liquid smoke
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
Tobasco sauce to taste

Cook bacon, drain and chop.  Brown hamburger and onion, drain.  Mix all ingredients together in a 5 quart ovenproof pot with a tight fitting lid.  Cook for 2 hours in oven at 300 degrees with the lid on.  Remove lid and cook 3 more hours at 250 degrees.  If the beans are too thick you can add water to get the right consistency.

notes:

• I used my Le Creuset enameled dutch oven for this, my favorite pot in the whole wide world!
• I cut my bacon into 1/2-1 inch pieces and cooked them on the stovetop until crisp.  I drained the grease but left the little brown pieces in my pot while I browned my hamburger and onion to give it a little more flavor. 
• next time I will try to use even less white sugar--maybe 3/4 cup
• I used 6 or 7 dashes of tobasco sauce (because sometimes I am afraid of Tobasco sauce), next time I will use way more

Chocolate Sheet Cake

I don't know why I would ever need another recipe for a chocolate cake when I grew up with this chocolate cake every year for my birthday.  But many years ago, a co-worker brought this chocolate sheet cake to work, and I HAD to get the recipe.  This would be more like something I would take to a pot luck rather than make for a birthday.  It has cinnamon in it which gives it a wonderful unique flavor.  Please just ignore the fact that there are 3 cubes of butter in this recipe and enjoy it!

Chocolate Sheet Cake
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Heat in saucepan:
1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Mix in large mixing bowl the above with:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon

Blend well and add:
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix all ingredients until well blended and pour into a greased and floured Jelly Roll pan (cookie sheet with sides).  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes--test for doneness.  Remove from oven and cool on wire rack 15 minutes before frosting.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
6 Tbsp. cocoa
2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients together until smooth.

Lemon Pudding Bundt Cake

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law and it was just called Lemon Pudding Cake.  But I had to change the name just a bit so as not to be confused with these Lemon Pudding Cakes.  This is a super easy (due to the cake mix) yummy lemony cake that everyone I served it to loved.  Enjoy!

 

 

Lemon Pudding Bundt Cake
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1 yellow cake mix
1 (3 oz.) pkg lemon instant pudding
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.  Beat for 4 minutes.  Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake 35-40 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes.  Invert on wire rack and let cool 10 minutes longer.  Poke holes all around the cake with a fork and drizzle with icing.

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 Tbsp. water
1/3 cup lemon juice

notes: 

• you can make this in a 9x13 inch pan as well.  Baking time increases to 40-45 minutes.
• as you can see from my picture, I served my cake upside down.  Once I inverted it from the bundt pan, I turned it back over so the flat side was on top.  I think it looks pretty that way and I thought maybe the glaze would stay on the cake better and not drizzle off.
• I put a cookie sheet under my rack to catch all the glaze (see picture).  It makes clean-up a lot easier!
• next time I am going to follow this recipe but also add 1 cup of sour cream to the batter.  It is practically identical to my lemon cupcake recipe.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

These are the most delicious little things ever, and so easy to make.  This recipe came from a ward cookbook from many years ago.  Some people call them "scotcharoos".  They are perfect when I need to take a plate of cookies somewhere, but don't want to make a plate of cookies!

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
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1 cup light Karo syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies
6 oz. milk chocolate chips
6 oz. butterscotch chips

In large pan, bring syrup and sugar to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth.  Fold in Rice Krispies until well mixed.  Pat into a buttered 9x13 pan.  Melt chips in microwave according to package directions.  Spread over Krispies.  Cool, cut into squares.