3 Bean Salad

This is little Raine's favorite salad right now and it is super easy to throw together quickly. She ate it just about as fast as I could make it this weekend. It only takes a little planning to make sure it sits long enough for the flavors to mix well. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.


Needed:

1 can green beans-drained
1 can cannellini beans-drained
1 can kidney beans-drained
1 cup Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
1/2 cup sugar
1 clove of garlic-minced
4 basil leaves-sliced

Mix Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing, sugar, and garlic together until sugar dissolves. Place beans in a bowl and pour dressing over them and stir to mix. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Coffee Cake

I love coffee cake with it's ribbon of goodness calling my name. They smell soo good baking in the oven and besides, Fall is just around the corner. Make a strong pot of coffee and bake this cake and you will feel all warm inside. This is What's Coookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

Topping

1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 T cinnamon
6 T butter-melted

Filling

1 cup brown sugar
6 T butter

Cake

3/4 cup butter
1 t salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 t baking powder-I only use Rumsford
1 T vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups milk
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Make the topping and your filling and set both aside. Now you will make your batter. First cream both sugars with your butter and egg, then add vanilla, milk, and sour cream. Now sift your flour with your baking powder and salt. Add this a cup at a time until all is mixed in. Pour half of this batter in a 9x13 pan, now sprinkle filling evenly over the top of your batter. Cover filling with the remaining half of batter. Sprinkle topping on the top of your batter and bake at 375' for 1 hour.

Zucchini Bread-Paula Dean style

If you are anything like me, you can use as many zucchini recipes this time of year as you can get. This one is so moist and sweet that you will be glad you made it. I like this toasted with cream cheese and a hot cup of tea. I bake mine in loaf pans but you could just as easily bake this in a 9x13 pan. This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s Creek today.

Needed:

3-¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ t salt
1 t nutmeg
2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1-cup vegetable oil
4 eggs-beaten
2/3-cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 t lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix dry ingredients (except for nuts) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Fold into dry, and add nuts. Bake in 2 loaf pans at 350’ for 1 hour, or until done.

Fried Crawdads

I had never eaten a fried crawdad until I married my husband and this is now my favorite way to cook them. The cornmeal gives them the best taste and with a bowl of pinto beans, there is nothing finer. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
3 pounds of *see note below* clean SMALL crawdads with third tail piece and head removed
4 cups of white cornmeal
1 cup of all purpose flour
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Place about a 1/4" of oil in a cast iron skillet and heat over a medium burner. Now place the cornmeal, flour and salt in a mixing bowl and mix well. After cleaning crawdads, place in the cornmeal mixture and coat well. Just as you would do when frying fish. Cook in a single layer in your skillet and brown on each side for about 5-10 minutes per side, depending on your heat source. That usually happens in about 10 minutes at my house but make sure you don't burn the little critters. Seems odd to eat shell and all but this is because you only fry the small size crawdads. When eaten this way they have a nice crispy crunch similar to fried shrimp.


*This is how we clean our crawdads after we have cleaned our crawdads, Hee hee. Bring water to almost a boil in your tea kettle. Now pour hot water over your prepared crawdads and mix them around in the water. Pour water off and then cook crawdads as you like.

Homemade Salami

My mom made this every Fall and I always loved it with a strong mustard and some crackers. This is a lot like summer sausage so if you are a fan of it, you may want to try this. You can make this with venison but I used hamburger this time. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

4 pounds hamburger or venison
2 T Garlic Powder
2 T Accent
1 T Onion Salt
1 t Liquid Smoke(NO MORE THAN A TEASPOON!!)
2 T crushed (or whole) Peppercorns

Mix all of the ingredients together very well. Now form into 4 logs and wrap tightly with Saran Wrap and place in the fridge for 24 hours. Bake at 225' for 3 hours. Cool completely before eating or slicing.

Jalapeno Jelly

This jelly is so good poured over some cream cheese on your favorite cracker...Yummy! Be careful when you make this, the fumes from the vinegar and peppers will take your breath away. I left my kitchen exhaust fan on high. This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s Creek today.

Needed:

2 pounds of jalapeno peppers
1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
6 cups of sugar
1 box pf pectin

Cut tops off of peppers and place jalapenos in your food processor and process until fine. Now add your vinegar and process a little more. Now place this mixture in a heavy bottom pot and add pectin, mix very well. Now you will add your sugar and boil for 2 minutes. Watch your jelly very carefully because it can boil over quickly and oh what a mess that is. Ask me how I know this….. I strained my jelly but you don't have to. I like jelly opposed to jam in this case. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Process in a hot water bath for 12 minutes.

Canned Tomatoes

When tomatoes are coming out of your ears what do you do??? You can them. I can a ton of tomatoes each year and by winter's end, I'm out. Tomatoes are one of the easiest things to can and are the very first garden item that I ever canned. I use my canned tomatoes for chili, salsa, baked tomatoes, tomato dumplings and many other things. They are so good sprinkled with sugar and eaten right out of the jar too. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

20 pounds of tomatoes
10 t lemon juice
10 quart jars-sterilized


Place tomatoes in a large stock pot and cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes and then remove tomatoes from pot. I place mine in a large bowl to cool. Once cooled core and peel tomatoes, the skin will just slip off. Place 1 t of lemon juice in each jar and pack with tomatoes. When I say pack I mean PACK your tomatoes in. Now place your flats in a pan and pour water over them and bring to a low boil for 1 minute. Seal jars with flat and ring. Place in a water bath after canned and process for 12 minutes.

Pear-Licious Cake

This cake comes from Paula Dean's Kitchen Classics cookbook. Raven loves to cook and actually cooks quite well so she took the reins on this recipe. I just don't let her cook that much and probably should give her the kitchen more often. To me this cake tastes like a moist apple cake but better, make any sense? Anyway this is a good cake that I am sure you will enjoy. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.


Needed:

1 1/4 cups oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
2 cups chopped canned pears, well drained but save the juice for glaze
1 cup pecans-chopped


In a mixing bowl, combine the oil, sugar, and eggs, and beat well. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add this to the creamed mixture and stir until blended. Stir in vanilla. Fold in the pears and pecans. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan or Bundt cake pan and spoon in batter. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes at 325'. I had to bake mine for 1 hour and 30 minutes so just make sure your in done. Cool cake completely and then pour glaze over top. Glaze recipe follows.

Glaze:

1 T butter-at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powder sugar
2-3 T juice from pears

Mix butter and sugar first and then add juice a little at a time until you can pour it.

Grandmother Paul's Sour Cream Pound Cake

I like to watch Paula Dean on the Food Network and decided to try some of her recipes. Stay tuned, there will be more. I bought the Kitchen Classics Cookbook for my dad and of course borrowed it and found some good recipes. This pound cake is good on it's own but with homemade ice-cream would be the bomb!! This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

2 sticks butter-softened
3 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 t baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 eggs
1 t vanilla

Cream butter and sugar together, add sour cream. Sift flour and baking soda together. Add to creamed mixture, alternating with eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add vanilla. Pour into a greased tube pan or angel food pan and bake at 325' for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

Crock Dill Pickles

This recipe comes from a friend that I went to middle school with. Hi Tammy! I changed a few things around to suit our tastes. It is so refreshing when you find out people share the same interests as you do. Tammy and I both are home canning moms and we also homeschool our children. This recipe is so much like those store bought refrigerator pickles that you will feel silly for not making them all along. I know I did. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.


10 lbs cucumbers(I quartered some of mine because of their size.)
4 T dill seed
4 T pepper flakes
1 1/2 c pickling or canning salt
2 c white vinegar
16 c water
12 garlic cloves

In a large clean crock or glass or food-grade plastic container place cucumbers, garlic, and spices. Now heat to a boil the vinegar, salt, and water. Once boiling remove from heat and let cool completely. Pour over cucumbers. I placed a plate on top of mine to weigh them down. Cover with plastic wrap to keep any air out. Let sit in brine for 2- 3 weeks at 70'-75'. Mine were done in 2 weeks but my friend Tammy, the one who gave me the original recipe for these pickles, is still waiting on hers after 3 weeks. Temperature really does make a difference on curing.

To can:

Strain brine. You will pack your cucumbers into sterilized jars and cover with strained brine. You need to heat your strained brine to a roiling boil and then pour over cucumbers and seal with your lids. I processed mine in a water bath for 15minutes.

English Toffee Bars

When I saw this recipe I thought I hit the mother load. It comes from 1001 and Cookie Recipes, a gift from my husband when we were first married. I am a toffee lover and these bars are so good you will be making them all the time, at least I am. I think they would be the best ice cream sandwich cookie but have not ventured that far with them yet. This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s Creek today.

Needed:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 t cinnamon
1 cup Crisco
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream Crisco and brown sugar, now add egg yolk mix until creamy. Now add flour, cinnamon, and nuts, mix well. Pour into a 9 inch square pan, dough will be thick. I flattened mine in the pan with parchment paper.. Bake at 275’ for 1 hour.

Butterscotch Cookies

Can you tell I grew up not eating sugar? See I have had Type 1 diabetes since I was 5 and really cannot believe how many sweets are listed on this blog. Shame on me! Hee hee... No, really I am a healthy diabetic and sugar is not an issue anymore. I should be thankful for that I guess. We like cookies around here and we have several Cookie Monsters to deal with. This cookie went very fast and by that I believe it must have been good. I ate one but that was it, the rest magically disappeared. This is What’s Cookin on Beaty’s Creek today. By the way, this would make a great lunch box cookie too. That is if they last that long.

Needed:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
¼ t salt
½ cup butter-softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs

Cream butter, eggs, and sugar together. Now add eggs one at a time along with the salt. Sift flour and baking powder together and add a cup at a time. Wrap dough formed into a log in plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight. Slice ¼ inch thick and bake at 375’ for 14 minutes.

Fudge Brownies

As if we needed another brownie recipe. This recipe is crunchy on top and chewy inside, just the way a brownie should be in my opinion. Ice-cream would be really good on top of this sucker too. This is What's Cookin on this HOT August day on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:

1/2 cup Crisco
2 t cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 bag of milk chocolate chips

Cream Crisco and sugar together until creamy, now add your eggs and vanilla and mix well. Lastly add your flour and pour into a 9 inch pan and bake at 350' for 25 minutes. Make sure you don't over bake these, they dry out if over baked. When you remove them from the oven sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Peach Upside Down Cake

I was craving something sweet and thought a peach upside down sounded like a winner. In this recipe I use a homemade yellow cake but you can use a store bought one. I will tell you that my recipe for this yellow cake is pretty good and should be tried. This cake is so moist you will not need anything else but some vanilla ice-cream on top! This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.





Needed for Cake Batter

2 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 cup butter-softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs-I use free range
2 t vanilla
3/4 cup milk

In bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt with a whisk, this is just like sifting. Now cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time along with the vanilla. Now add in this order, flour, milk, flour, and then end with milk. Now you will do the bottom of the pan the following way.

Needed for the peach "bottom"
4 cans of sliced peaches-drained
2 sticks of butter-melted
2 cups brown sugar

Mix melted butter and brown sugar together and pour into your 9x13 pan. Now place your peaches in a pretty pattern and pour batter on top of this combo. Bake at 350' for 35-40 minutes. Start checking at 25 minutes. Sometimes mine is ready then. Let cake cool completely and then flip onto a platter.