5-Way Chocolate Cake

1 cup Blue Bonnet Margarine or Butter
2 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
2 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk or sour milk (1 teaspoon vinegar /cup of milk and let set for 15 minutes)

Cream margarine and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Pour into greased and floured pans. Bake at 350 degrees
as follows:

3 8” layer pans . . . . . . . . 30 to 35 minutes
1 9” x 13” x 2 ¼” pan . . . . . 55 to 65 minutes
1 tub or Bundt pan . . . . . . . 55 to 65 minutes
2 9” x 5” x 3” loan pans . . . 50 to 60 minutes
3 ½ dozen cupcakes . . . . . . . 20 to 35 minutes at 375 degrees

When cool frost with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

(3/4) ½ cup Hershey’s Cocoa
(4) 2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
(9) 6 tablespoons Blue Bonnet Margarine
(6-7) 4 to 5 tablespoons milk
(1 ½) 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine cocoa and powdered sugar. Cream margarine with ½ cup cocoa mixture in a small bowl. Add remaining mixture alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency. Blend in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups.
Measurements in parenthesis are for make batch and a half of icing.

Thanks to Mary Jo Hudnut for sharing this 20 year old recipe!

Green Tomato Salsa

4 cups chopped green tomatoes
1-2 cups chopped peppers (banana or red bell)
1/2 cup chopped and seeded jalapenos or something hotter
1 cup chopped onion
2 tsp. sea salt
3-4 tbsp. of sugar (if you don't use vinegar and can)
1 1/2 c. cider vinegar (only if you are canning)
3 cloves crushed garlic

Chop the peppers, onions, and garlic in the food processor and sauté in olive oil for your desired taste texture. Note: I usually sauté using the same pot where the tomatoes will be cooked and not more than 5-6 minutes.

Chop all tomatoes in a food processor and place in a pot over the sautéed onions and peppers. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low/low-medium cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the Pour salsa in hot jars (pints). Seal and water bath for 30 minutes.

Note: Tomato salsa keep best in glass bowls or jars in the refrigerator if you are not caning.

Chocolate Cake by Marie Altman

Sift these ingredients together:

2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Cocoa
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda

Now mix the above and make a well; then add below

Mix in a bowl:

2 Egg Yolks
I cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Buttermilk
1 cup Boiling Water
1/4 tsp All Spice
1 tsp Vanilla
(Batter will be thin)

Bake in glass pan at 350 for about 30 min

Use Vanilla Icing or Make a White Cream Icing

Oyster Dressing (stuffing)

This dressing has been in my family for at least 60 years and came originally from Mrs. Bliss McClintock (owner of McClintock's Grocery Store in Neosho, MO). Everyone loves this dressing and always comments it's the best they have ever made.

Combine ingredients and stuff in turkey:
4 cups of corn bread
2 cups of white bread
1 small can of oysters (drained and chopped)
2 hard boiled eggs (chopped)
1 cup celery (chopped and sautéed in olive oil)
1 tsp sage
add salt and pepper (to taste)

How to add broth and wet the stuffing:
Use equal amounts of broth* and milk (this means maybe a cup of milk and a cup chicken broth*) combined and slowly add and stir into dressing until dressing is barley moist. DO NOT WET TOO MUCH OR USE THE FULL AMOUNT

*If stuffing is baked in turkey you can make turkey broth by cooking giblets and neck of turkey in water. Otherwise use chicken broth if baking in glass pan.

For oven baked glass pan stuffing:
Layer in a glass baking pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. The dressing can be uncovered for the last 10 minutes to give it that golden crust. If cooked too long uncovered, the dressing runs the risk of losing moisture and becoming dry.

Easter Ham

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the ham in a large roasting pan, fat side up. Using a sharp knife, score the ham with cuts across the skin, about 2-inches apart and 1/2-inch deep. Cut diagonally down the slashes to form a diamond pattern. Bake the ham for 2 hours. After two hours cover the ham lightly with foil to keep it from getting too crisp.

Original Homemade Basting Sauce
2 Cups of OJ
1 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/3-1/4 Cup of Yellow Mustard

Start basting 2 hours after the ham has been in the oven. Baste every half hour or so. Cook a 11.5 pound ham for 5 hours and it will come out perfect.

Banana Bread

This Banana Bread is Good and Easy
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup buttermilk or half in half (my preference)
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup white sugar (subsitute honey for some sugar and the bread will be more moist)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, not my favorite)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf glass pan. If you use metal the bread will be dryer.

In one glass bowl combine with a masher milk, eggs, oil, vanilla and 2 bananas. Mash until little bitty chunks are left. In seperate large bowl, sift together all the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add banana mixture to dry ingredients and use a plastic spacula to fold the mixture together. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a glass pan that was sprayed with oil. Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes until golden brown, an a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.