HAND ME DOWN COUNTRY RECIPES and TIPS

This article is about some of those delicious down home recipes that I have loved all my life. I have included cooking tips and quips within each recipe handed down to me through my Mother and Father, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, Cousins, and friends. As with all recipes I have added or deleted amounts and ingredients to suit my own taste; so fill free to do the same. This has always been something so special about down home cooking; not only is it delicious but it lingers in everyone's mind for their lifetime. I hope that I have included some recipes and tips that you have not been able to find or remember.

FRYE BREAD
First you take about 21/2 cups of all purpose flour and mix in about 1/2 teaspoon of salt (to taste) and then add you some brown sugar; oh about a tablespoon or so, then stir in 31/s Tablespoons of baking powder. Put that aside for a minute. Now beat you up one whole egg until it is blended and bright yellow. Now whip up the egg white of one more egg so it is full of air and light; now you can add it to the whole beaten egg and stir lightly. Next you will add about a 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon and a dab or two of white sugar with your flour mixture. Be sure to fold it when you put all these ingredients together; don't beat it to death;be easy when you are a stirring it. Add a little milk at a time to that combined egg and flour mixture and stir it lightly until all combined really good and is soft and airy. Let it rest in the bowl for about 5 minutes. You will knead this dough on a lightly floured surface and then pat it out with your hand until it is about 1/2 inch thick throughout and cut out your favorite shapes; mine are triangles. Rest it. Put ya some of your favorite oil,(mine is Canola), and a pinch or two of real butter in your iron skillet and turn it on medium heat. Test your oily butter with sprinkling a couple drops of cold water in it; if it talks back to ya then your skillet is hot enough, if it screams back at ya and pops all over the place then its to hot, if it does nothing then its not hot enough t o fry bread. Place your dough shapes into your medium hot iron skilled one at a time and leave space between them; let them brown on both sides. You will now be careful and drain the oil off them. ALWAYS SERVE THEM HOT AND WITH A LITTLE MELTED BUTTER WITH CINNAMON IN IT AND SPRINKLE POWDER SUGAR ON TOP OF EACH PIECE OF FRYE BREAD. Of course you can change any of this recipe to your own liking with your favorite seasonings.

BRIAR DOUGHi know you all probably have these everytime you go to a country recipe or when you fix old time noodles but I thought it would be fun to add this to my article for those you ain"t got a clue how to fix them. When you make this noodle dough handle it easy so the noodles do not get all tough on ya. Mix ya about 2 cups of flour with 3 clumps of cold butter and then take your knife and cut that butter into the dough; do not mash the clumps all out; just cut them until they are little bits of butter. Now put about a teaspoon of salt in with 3 tablespoons of oil and 3 beaten eggs.; stir in up good and slowly add it to you flour and butter mixture. Refrigerate it covered for about 15 minutes or so. Now coat ya a place to knead the dough with some flour. Easily pat your dough into a ball and put a little flour on your hands and knead your dough by pushing down lightly with the palm of your hand; now just turn that ball around and fold the edge up to the middle and press down again; when you go all around your dough then you are done kneading it. Now grease the dough lightly with butter and let it sit in a covered bowl to rest for about half an hour or so. Now ya might want to flour your hands when you take it out of the bowl in case it sticks to you. Now take a few ice chips and stick them down in the dough ball or about 6 chips I reckon. Roll this dough out to 1/4 inch for noodles, 1/2 for dumplings. Sprinkle a little flour on your cut dough pieces; that way your broth will get thick. Drop them individually intohot boiling broth and cook until they come to the top of the broth and are tender to the taste. Don't cover them while they are cooking. If you like them chewy cook them about 10 minutes or so if you want them softer test them at 10 minutes and change the time to your own taste buds. I love to cook them in beef or chicken broth, or cooked fruit, and even vegetables; its entirely up to you; plain with broth, with meat, or fruit or vegetables; whatever you prefer.

FRIED MATER'S AND FLOWERS
First off pick you some very fresh green tomato's or dandelions; or both if ya like. Clean them in cold water and throw off the bad parts. Slice your green tomatoes to how ever you want to eat them and then dip them into beaten egg mixture and roll them in crushed crackers(I like all kinds of crackers but Townhouse is my favorite one to use. Now dip them again in beaten eggs and coat them again with crushed crackers. Heat ya up some buttery oil in an iron skillet, salt and peeper your tomatoes or dandelions and fry them until they are a Little crispy and brown. I like sweet hot mustard or horseradish sauce with them; add whatever suits ya.

TA-TOR Casserole
I scrub and rinse off my baking potatoes; I use white, yellow, and/or sweet potatoes; all mixed together or separately depending on what I am hungry for at the time. I grease my baking potatoes with a little butter and salt and bake them until they push in on the ends and in the middle; soft to the touch. Now I mash up unpeeled sweet potatoes and add a little Cinnamon and brown sugar with butter and then add ya a little cream. Stir them cook til they are smooth and put them in a greased casserole dish.Bake till done on top. Now mix ya some honey and marshmallow and stir them into your casserole as soon as it comes out of the over; then sprinkle a little sugar and Cinnamon on top. Serve hot For my yellow potatoes I add some garlic butter, some mushrooms, and shredded cheese of whatever I have around at the time; then I stir in some salt and pepper and grate some garlic bread crumbs on top with a Little bit of fried bacon bits. I bake it until its brown on top. Serve hot. For my white potatoes, I bake them the same as sweet and yellow potatoes; leaving the skins on them; and I mash them up with cream, butter and then I add some kind of cooked meat, like hunks of ham hocks, or pieces of pork steak, or whatever left over meat I got at the time; I cut up some green onions and stir them in when it comes out of the oven.

Okay now you got ya some Hand me down old time recipes; I will write some more later as I think of them; let me know if ya liked them and if there are any of your favorite old fashion food you want me to write a recipe for you.