Piccolini Carbonara a.k.a. Mini Farfalle or Mini Bowtie Carbonara

8 ounces piccolini or mini farfalle (bowtie) pasta cooked (usually half the box)

1 lb. Italian ground sausage

½ ham, chopped finely

½ teaspoon sage

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon Tone's Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning

8 oz. Shredded Asiago cheese

Boil the pasta in a pan.

Brown and crumble the ground sausage until well browned.

Add ham and brown a little more.

Add the sage, pepper, and Spaghetti Spices and stir well.

Drain the pasta and add to the skillet of of meat mixture.

Stir.

Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring constantly. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs.

Add the Asiago Cheese and stir well.

Serve and enjoy.

Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Please note, this is a great tasting cookie recipe. The frosting recipe is not included. Use your own favorite. But if you are needing a sugar cookie in which the shape of the cookies hold the sharp definition of the details, this will not work. But if you are just wanting great taste, this recipe is wonderful.  Thanks to my aunt, Maxine Hooper, for the basic recipe ingredients.  I have updated the instructions to include using parchment or a silicone baking sheet on top of your cookie sheet.

• 2 ½ sticks of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3 cups of flour
• extra sugar for sprinkling

1. Cream sugar and butter together.
2. Add milk, beaten eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
3. Add baking soda, salt, and cream of tarter and stir well.
4. Add the flour a little at time, mix well by hand, but don't use a mixer. Overmixing could result in a tough cookie.
5. Form three balls of dough and return to the mixing bowl.
6. Cover the dough and refrigerate overnight.
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Line cookie sheets with parchment or a silicone baking sheet.
9. Roll out dough in small batches. (Keep the rest of the dough refrigerated until needed.)
10. Cut into rather small cookies. You can also use larger use larger cookie cutters, but you will need to increase baking time.
11. Use a food lifter (like Rachel Ray uses) to transfer cut cookies for baking.
12. Leave plenty of room between cookies as these spread a bit.
13. Sprinkle extra sugar on the cookies before baking.
14. Bake 375 degrees for 6 minutes for small cookies (longer for larger cookies). They should appear just beginning to brown slightly at the edges.
15. Remove from the oven.
16. Cool three minutes on the pan before removing.
17. Transfer to racks to continue cooling.
18. After cookies are cooled, frost and decorate as desired.

Macaroons

• 1—14 oz. bag shredded coconut
• 7 oz. Eagle sweetened condensed milk (½ of a can)
• Maraschino cherries (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix the two ingredients until well combined.
4. Using a one tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the mixture and put on the cookie sheet about an inch apart. Make sure the cookie is well packed when placed on the sheet. These cookies do not spread much.
5. Press maraschino cherries into cookies if desired.
6. Bake 16 minutes. Check to see if tops are browned. If not pretty enough, turn the boiler on and watch until they are. Do not leave them. Things will happen quickly. It should not take more than a minute or two.
7. Remove and allow to cool 5 minutes. Then transfer to cooling racks.
8. Enjoy. 

Cashew Brittle

• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups light corn syrup
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups cashew nuts
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 teaspoons baking soda

1. Put parchment paper on two cookies sheets. It is easier to use ones that have the sides, I think, but flats ones should work, too, if you are careful.
2. With a wooden spoon in a saucepan, heat sugar, corn, syrup, water and salt over medium heat while constantly stirring until sugar has dissolved. Turn to high heat, and keep stirring until mixture reaches 290 degrees Fahrenheit (also known as the hard crack stage).
3. Add the cashews and butter and continue cooking to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in baking soda for 30 seconds. The mixture will be rather bubbly and airy.
4. Pour quickly into the parchment lined pans and spread evenly as quickly as possible. Let cool, harden, and then break apart.  Enjoy.

Molasses Ginger Cookies

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon hot water
• 1 ½ teaspoons white vinegar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• Extra sugar for sprinkling

1. Let the butter slightly soften. (Cut the butter stick in 8 pieces and wait about 10 minutes.)
2. Cream the sugar with the butter.
3. Stir in the molasses and egg.
4. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. Add to the mixture and stir.
5. Add vinegar and stir.
6. Add vanilla, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir.
7. Stir in the flour gradually until completely mixed, but be careful not to overstir. (Overstirring can ruin the chewy texture of the of the cookie.)
8. Cover the bowl and chill, preferably overnight, but at least 4 hours.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degree.
10. Line cookie sheet with a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper.
11. Make nickel marble sized balls of dough and place on the sheet. These cookies are small, but spread considerably, so I only baked 15 (3 x 5) at a time.
12. Return the dough to the refrigerator.
13. Slightly flatten the balls and sprinkle with some extra sugar.
14. Bake on the oven center rack for 12 minutes.
15. Remove and cool for 5 minutes.
16. Transfer to racks to continue to cool.
17. Let the cookie sheet completely cool between batches.
18. Repeat the baking process until all cookies have been baked.

Serve and enjoy.

Key Lime Pie

• 6 egg yolks
• 2 cans Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
• ½ cup Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice
• 1 prepared graham cracker crust

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk slightly the six egg yolks.
3. Add 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk and whisk.
4. Whisk in gradually ½ cup of the Key West lime juice. It will not be green. If your juice is green, it is not real key limes.
5. Pour into the prepared graham cracker crust.
6. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
7. After 20 minutes, shut oven off and open the door and let it cool gradually for 30 minutes. If it cools too suddenly, it will crack.
8. Transfer to a baking rack outside the oven to continue cooling for another 20 minutes.
9. Refrigerate several hours before serving
10. Slice, serve on plates, and enjoy.

Delta Hot Tamales

For years, I have wanted to learn to make tamales. My first attempt tasted more like a flat tire and from what I understand, I was making Mexican tamales. I heard there was a version of the tamale that was made in the Delta, so I decided to give them a try and I am so glad that I did. There are as many recipes as there are cooks perhaps, but these ingredients make it a Delta Hot Tamale. They are made with yellow corn meal instead of masa. They are also simmered instead of steamed. And they typically are a bit more spicy than the Mexican version. They are a little time consuming, but definitely worth it. Notice, this recipe uses butter instead of lard and I think it also adds flavor to the tamales.

24 husks, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes

1 ½ tablespoons of chili powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons sugar

¾ teaspoon pepper (I reduced the black pepper to ½ teaspoon because I knew my family would not tolerate it hotter.)

¾ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (I cut this back to ½ teaspoon also.)

Blend spice mixture with a fork.

2 ½ cups of yellow corn meal (not masa)

1 tablespoon baking powder

Mix in the food processor.

12 tablespoons butter

1 ½ tablespoon of spice mixture

Cut into mixture. Pulse several times.

1 ¼ cup of water. Process about 30 seconds.

Reserve ½ cup of mixture.

1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop to make rounds for each tamale. 24 of them

Meat mixture:

1 lb. 85% ground beef

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons water

and the ½ cup of the corn meal mixture

2 cloves minced garlic

1 ½ tablespoon of spice mixture.

Wipe off corn husks to dry them.

Spread a 3 ½ inch square in one corner of the husk. It can be on the edge on the side edge, but ¼” from top edge. Roll one portion of the meat into a log. Place on the mixture. 

Roll the tamale in the husk and fold the bottom of the husk upward. Lay to the side. Repeat 23 times.

Put in bunches of six and tie with a string.

Place the remaining 2 tablespoons of the spice mixture in the bottom of a pan that is at 5” high. Place tamale bunches around the sides. Place 6 cups of water poured into the center of the bunches (or until it is 1 inch below the top of the pan, but not covering the tamales completely or it will wash the filling out. Bring to boil and lower heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. The corn meal should start to separate from the husks. Use tongs to transfer to a platter.

Crank the heat up on the sauce.

Snip twine and spread the tamales out on a platter. This recipe made more than we would eat for one meal, so I unwrapped the ones that we were eating immediately.

Add a 4 ounce can of tomato paste and stir until well blended. Add ½ teaspoon salt and stir.

If the sauce is too thin, add a slurry of 1 teaspoon cornstarch and two tablespoons cold water. Whisk it into the sauce and let it thicken about a minute. Pour over tamales and serve. (Reserve enough sauce for leftovers.)