I have four extra copies of The Farmgirl Connection™ Cookbook that need four pairs of floury hands to break them in. (I’m not parting with my copy.) Have you heard of …
… our Farmgirl Connection Chatroom™? The title derives its name from an idea I had a few years back—to provide an online chatroom for farmgals from all over the world, whether you have a houseplant on your patio or 80 head of cattle, to share hardships and wins, get advice, and support one another.
Have you noticed that you can oftentimes tell the worth of a book by how “well loved” it looks? For me, those books that are water-logged, boasting ripped (and taped back together) pages and a seriously curling cover are the first I gravitate to. Be prepared to show this cookbook that same kind of love because the recipes were put together by the lovely women of the chatroom who are so dear to my heart—and pretty durn good when it comes to kitchen duty!
To win, all you have to do is share what your favorite recipe is—and why (feel free to post the recipe)—and my grandgirl StellaJane will pick four winning names from a hat.
Click here to see our winners!
My Favorite all time recipe has to be for my grandmothers homemade Blueberry Pie. Why you ask? Simple- it was made entirely from scratch, using GIANT blueberries grown in my grandpas garden. He used to grow blueberries the size of quarters, and my oh my, were they sa-weet!. Of course all of the love that grandma added when she was baking the pie helped too!
As simple as it is, my favourite recipe is for Red Lentil Soup. The best ingredients make this a real tasty treat and the best part is… My kid loves it! I can slip in all the vegetables I want and she will gobble it up. The key to making it delicious is loads of garlic and the finest chicken stock you can get. 8 cups of stock to 2 cups of dried red lentils and add whatever veggies and spices you like (oregano, rosemary, corn and carrots are great!) Simmer away until lentils are soft and soup is thickened. Best served with fresh bread and your favourite cheese…mmmmm. It is a great way to eat up your lentils!
I was a single mom most of my kids’ growing up years and very often we did not have food money, so I literally had to make something, worth eating, out of very little. That is how “SlimPikins Casserole was born. I almost always had some form of cheese, pasta, or rice on hand. It was an all time favorite with my kids; they still ask for it when they visit me. My daughter has incorporated into her family traditions, as well.
It is very simple to make…prepare rice or pasta ahead of time then throw in a cup or two (depending on your family size and what you have available) of leftover meat, any kind any style. Then a cup or two of whatever veggies you have on hand, canned, frozen, leftover, is thrown into the mix. Dump in any cheeses you have left, and a cup or so of milk and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, and VOILA! Dinner!
I also used this one but always seemed to have a box of jiffy corn bread and mixed it up and poured over mixture , then baked. 6 kids always cleaned it up. fun and easy!
My Grandma Joan’s Irish soda bread is the best! I’ve been making it with my mom since I was a young girl, and now I make it with my young girls. Sour cream is their secret ingredient. We listen to Irish music and dance in the kitchen while we’re making it. I love keeping our family traditions alive & well. My mom & her mom are from Ireland and I love talking to them about what life was like on their farm. They are great storytellers & awesome bakers! I’m so grateful to have such special memories and recipies.
Slainte,
Ellen
My favorite recipe is a crockpot chicken caccitore. Why is it my favorite? It doesn’t take much effort, but the results are fantastic.
My grandma’s rice pudding. My mom always used that recipe to make it for me when I was down or didn’t feel well. Now that my mom is only here in spirit, I make for those blue days. Always brings back happy memories and a warm feeling that I’m being hugged by my mom. 🙂
My favorite recipes tend to be easy and good for you. By good for you, I mean that I use organic ingredients. Those ingredients may include organic, uncured Sunday bacon. I do believe that bacon is good for you, because it makes you happy (giggle). I deciphered a potato salad recipe over a few years by tasting and tasting some more until it tasted “right.” It’s a spin on German that has a distinctive Southern flare…and, of course, bacon. I will share the recipe later because I will actual have to sit down and figure out what I put in since I “eye” things a lot. I will post it as its own thread on the chatroom as cottagefarmgirl. If you like potato salad, I guarantee that you will love it.
I love anything you can cook in a crockpot. I love the easy way you can throw a crockpot recipe together and let it cook all day while you go about your business. Then it makes your whole house smell scrumptious!
My favorite recipe isn’t really a true recipe, but here goes. My birthday is the first day of summer, June 21st. My birthday dinner has always been “Cornchicky hot hot hot”. It’s just BBQ chicken and fresh corn on the cob, usually the first of the year. Why the name? You know how when you are little, when your mom gives you hot food she tells you so? Well the corn and chicken hold the heat and I always burned my tongue on them anyway. 😉
If pressed, I’d say my favorite recipe is for breakfast strata. My husband and I have made it a Christmas morning tradition every year we can’t get home to have a big, calorie-laden Christmas breakfast with my family. I love the fact that there are infinite variations and possibilities – good local eggs and good local bread are must-haves, though.
I have had so many recipes that I love so to pick one is difficult, but lately I think my favorite is the rustic bread I make. Here is the link that I got the recipe from. http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2010/2/26/amazing-artisan-bread-for-40-cents-a-loaf-no-kneading-no-fus.html But I have changed it some to suit my family. My hubby loves wheat bread so I divide the flour(King Arthur) into 2 cups of wheat flour, 2 cups of bread flour and 2 1/2 cups of white flour. I also spray the tops of the loafs with water from a spray bottle instead of putting water in the oven. This bread is the easiest I’ve every made, also every time you make a new batch don’t wash the container, Hubby said that with every batch my bread taste better and better. Even the ladies that say they can’t make bread, can make this one….give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
I also wanted to say, that my favorite cookbook is just as you described, taped together, pages falling out and stained from things being spilled on it while using it. I’m so lucky to have my Momma’s favorite cookbook. I love this cookbook, thank MaryJane for sharing and offering this giveaway.
Absolutely, positively: my mom’s BBQ ribs — MMMMMMMMM!!!!!
My biscuit recipe is my favorite recipe. It is the one recipe that all of my kids have asked for as they have left the house, even my oldest, who is a classically trained chef, wanted this recipe when he went out on his own. It is part of my oldest, most charished recipes, handed down from my grandmother to my aunt and then to me. It is a staple of our Sunday family night dinners for over 20 yrs. now, so I would say it is our family comfort food, the one that always reminds us that we are loved and blessed to have eachother.
I would say one of my favorites would be my Grandma’s chicken noodle gravy! It’s such a great comfort food, simply make a gravy with chicken noodle soup and pour over biscuits. It is amazing!
My family’s (and mine) all time fave is meatloaf and cheesy potatoes. It’s my go to recipe. In the summer and for gatherings, I make cheesy potatoes in the crockpot and maidrites.
My own thrown together recipe for crockpot baked potato soup that even my pickiest grown son goes back for seconds!
My All time favorite is Mile High Chocolate Pie
http://dollyiscooking.blogspot.com/2012/01/mile-high-chocolate-meringue-pie.html
I have so many but that has to be my favorite.
Thanks for the giveaway MaryJane! I would love to be entered.
Dolly
My favorite recipe is for homemade bread…there is nothing quite like the aroma of fresh baked bread…everyone in the family smiles and heads straight to the kitchen as soon as the smell greets them at the front door 🙂
Right now, my favorite recipe is Cinnamon Rolls made with my sourdough starter. Yum! What flavor the starter gives the dough! I make two pans just about every weekend and I have family and friends waiting for me to share:)
My favorite recipe is my family’s beef & noodles. My grandma used to make them and my mom has been teaching me. They are a lot of work, but so worth it.
My favorite recipe or I should say my three daughters favorite recipe is my chocolate chip cookies. It is the only recipe I have memorized. Whenever my girls come home it is what they ask for every time!!
My favorite recipe would have to be my Big Grannys Cobbler. She lived in a 3 room house there was always a pot of pinto bean on the stove. Sometimes as many as 30 family members and friends there. Always a dessert, cold bread puddin, Banana puddin or cobbler. Loved the cobbler here’s the recipe.
3/4 stick of butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour all purpose (in the south we use self rising no salt or baking powder)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fruit
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
melt butter in baking dish in which cobbler is cooked.
in another bowl mix sugar, flour, baking powder, salt ,milk pour over butter
add fruit on top. do not press around edge. bake 350 for 30 minutes.
Also great in a dutch over over camp fire. Yummmmmmmmmmmm 🙂
My favorite recipe was for my Great-Aunt’s sugar cookies, thin and crisp but chewy, too, lemony with a slight crunch of sugar on top. The perfect compliment to a cup of stove-top brewed coffee. Unfortunately, she made them so often she kept the recipe in her head. So, when she passed the sugar cookie recipe passed with her. I have never been able to duplicate them, and believe me, I’ve tried!
My grandmother was a depression-era frugal farmgirl who never had a farm. She did have a large city lot though and was able to keep chickens, a large garden, grapes, and a few fruit trees. I remember grandma sitting on a bench outside her backdoor pitting cherries for cherry cobbler in the warm summer sunshine. This is her recipe. The recipe calls for a number 2 can of sour cherries for those of us who don’t have a cherry tree in the backyard.
Grandma Sillman’s Cherry Cobbler
Serves 6
Sour Cherries ( No. 2 can)
½ cup Sugar
1 Tb. Cornstarch
¼ tsp Salt
1 Tb. Lemon juice
1 Tb. Butter
Biscuit Topping:
1 ¼ cups Flour
1 ½ Tb. Sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
4 Tb. Shortening
1/3 cup Milk
Cook 1 cup juice, cornstarch, sugar, and salt until it boils 1 minutes. Add lemon juice and butter. Put cherries in greased casserole and pour liquid over it. Top with biscuit topping. Bake 400° for 20 to 25 minutes.
Of course, this recipe would be perfect if adapted for use with the Farmgirl Budget Mix.
My favorite recipe(s) are those shared with me by my Husband’s Aunt Rosie on her visits to our small Texas ranch from Long Island NY. There is nothing written down and some ingredients are a challenge to find but I love being able to bring the Country Italian foods that my husband grew up with to our table.
I make something called Brownie Delight that starts with a large baked brownie, and then chocolate pudding, cream cheese and cool whip are added on top! it’s a hit every time I take it to a dinner!
On the mornings I don’t have to rush, I like to make a one dish skillet wonder, by frying some bacon, then frying a small potato with a little onion in the bacon grease, green pepper, and mushrooms,(if available) until done. Beat an egg with a half teaspoon of water and pour over the hot potatoes. The egg will cook quickly. Lay a slice of American cheese over the top and with the heat off place a lid over until the cheese melts. Serve with the bacon, and a hot buttered biscuit and some fruit. You can cook a little sausage instead of the bacon, leaving it in the skillet while cooking the potato and all. Yes, this is hearty, I usually follow it by eating a much lighter or no lunch and when I have hard work to do.
My all time favorite recipe has no official name, it is simply referred to as “the fish dish”. I learned it from a college roommate who learned it from her boyfriend. It’s so simple, and yet, its freshness and adaptability make it my “go to” recipe. Many of the ingredients can be increased or decreased as desired. I tend to be heavy-handed with the garlic, basil and feta.
It never fails to impress-I’ve used it at home to cook for my parents, for other friends and a boyfriend. The ease means you can spend more time socializing and the simple ingredients make it easy on the budget.
It tastes like a warm spring or summer day on an Italian coast.
Directions:
Choose a light tasting, boneless, white fish (i.e., orange roughy, cod, halibut, sole, tilapia) (you can also substitute chicken)
In a large skillet, in 2 tablespoons olive oil, saute 1 large sweet onion and 1-2 cloves of garlic 3-5 minutes or until onions halfway cooked.
Add 1-2 large cans of chopped, peeled tomatoes (depending on the amount of fish/chicken you have to cook) and bring to a light simmer.
Add and cook your protein in the tomato base-the sauce should just cover the protein
cover with a layer of fresh basil, stems removed, cut in small slivers chiffonade-style (amount to your liking, I use at least 1/3 cup).
A few minutes later, heavily sprinkle crumbled feta cheese (again, I like a lot), cook just until the feta melts, no need to cover the pan.
Add fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste.
Serve over steamed rice or potatoes.
It even tastes great as leftovers-if there’s any left.
I would have to say my favorite recipe is for lasagna. I love all the tastes that come together. I could eat it all the time with homemade garlic bread. Just thinking of it makes me hungry.
My family always requests my chicken n dumplings and yeast rolls. Thin dumplings are my secret and the rolls are Gran’s recipe since she was 14. Always a crowd pleaser.
I have so many favorite foods. The main thing is that they must be home made from scratch using Organic ingredients and farm fresh raw dairy products. No GMO grains and as local as I can find or grow myself.
The freshest greens from my garden made into a quick stir-fry. Winter soups made from my frozen or home canned veggies and locally grown organic grass fed, no grain fed beef. Home grown eggs and chickens. Summer cold soups made from freshly juiced ingredients. Raw borscht is one! Apple Pie for me Cherry pie for my husband. How on earth do I pick just one. In winter a fresh hot home made soup. In Spring a fresh greens salad or stir-fry , in summer a fresh fruit and cottage cheese salad, in fall hot squash soup with crusty home made bread to sop it up.
ONE of my favorite recipes is my grandpa’s favorite cookie. They were sugar cookies that we made the dough for and then made a raisin filling for them. We’d lay a sugar cookie dough circle down, add a spoonful of the raisin filling and then put another circle on top. Seal the edges, brush with water and then sprinkle with sugar and bake. They are so soft and yummy. We always make them at Christmas and they remind me of my grandpa who has been gone for many years.
What a fun giveaway! My current favorite recipe is this one: http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2012/01/crusty-bread-in-five-minutes-son.html. I’ve tried and failed at bread for years, and this is the first recipe that’s given me confidence to try again!
My favorite recipe from family is my Mom’s fried chicken cooked in a cast iron skillet. My favroite recipe that is “my” recipe is pineapple upside down cake — also cooked in a cast iron skillet. I do most all my cooking in cast iron.
An obvious choice for those with a little Norwegian in their background, but an inexplicable mystery to others. Favorite has got to be LEFSE. This description will do it no justice, but it’s a thin “tortilla” made w mashed potatoes, spread w butter, and sprinkled w sugar. Then it is quartered and rolled. And don’t be skimping on the butter and sugar. It’s still a staple at holiday meals and am fortunate to have a sister willing to carry on the tradition.
My favorite recipe is 878-2583 Okay okay it’s actually the telephone number of my favorite Chinese restaurant I call for take out but in my world it’s a recipe to me!! lol
My favorite recipe is any NEW one I can get my hands on from my mom’s TOP SECRET recipe box.
hugs
-missy-
LOVE COOKBOOKS!!!!!
I want to put my floured hands on it! I remember helping Mom in the kitchen, making pot pie and some people call it dumplings. But I loved rolling out the dough. She kept things in her head. Little of this and that.
too many favorites!!! my mothers pot roast, my grandmothers fried chicken, her cinnamon rolls which none of us have been able to copy since there was no recipe and she used potato water and mashed potatoes in the dough. no bake cookies, my mothers choc chip cookies, mine are never the same, recipe on the chip bag, must be the difference in ovens? my grandmothers lep cookies which spent the fall in reused pickle jars in the attic so they could “age”. another recipe no one else can master.
I have so many favorite recipes…I’ll share one of my favorite chicken recipes with you. It’s easy and delicious! Take boneless chicken breasts, pound them into thin cutlets, and dip into a mixture of melted butter and fresh garlic. Then dip into a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Roll up, secure with a toothpick, and bake in a 350 degree oven until done (approx 25-30 min). I hope I win one of your cookbooks; I’m a recipe and cookbook fanatic! 😉
Oh I’d love to put floured hands on one of the cookbooks! I have a lot of favorites ~
for winter it has to be Caesar Salad 101 by Martha Stewart ~ with extra garlic!
Thanks for your generous giveaway! Blessings from across the ridge, Cathy
How perfect! A tried and true collection of simple, real home recipes! My favorite basic no nonsense recipe is my great aunts buttermilk biscuits. There is nothing unique or really original about it but it always makes good flaky biscuits. My great aunt taught me to make them one visit to the farm more than 35 years ago during the cow slaughter time. (on an interesting note my aunt was blind, her husband, my uncle was deaf. They were happily married more than 60 years and lived forever on a decent sized vermont dairy farm.)
Mary Jane, my favorite recipe is baked pork chops. Place 4 pork chops in a baking dish, cover with 1 can mushroom soup & 1 can milk. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetable or salad. I love this dish because it has so much flavor. It’s comfort food and makes you feel good. Thanks! 🙂 Teri
My favorite recipe is a Pistachio Cake recipe that was my grandmothers. She made the cake for special occassions all the time. I feel so blessed to have that part of her with me still. She passed away in 1991. My kids never got to meet her , but i share stories about her everytime i make the cake. They feel much more connected to the wonderful woman i knew!
My favorite recipe? You do this to me every time with these “favorite” questions. I have top tens of everything because I can’t pick a favorite book, food, color, etc., Or, I have subcategories with a favorite in each category. Fav dessert, fav veggie side, fav quick bread, fav soup, fav tray bake, fav pizza – you get the idea. But, I want to earn a copy of this Farmgirl Connection cookbook (Oh boy, do I want a copy!) so I’ll spin my recipe box and see which recipe it points to. Be right back…
Ok, I’m back. My recipe spinner picked “Spaghetti Carbonara”. I never had this dish growing up. But, ever since getting my own hens and fresh eggs, I have recently learned to make this incredibly comforting, easy and delicious food and it has skyrocketed to the top of our family’s favorite list. Because really, who can resist bacon and eggs pasta? Genius!
Spaghetti Carbonara
1 lb dried spaghetti or other pasta like bucatini or fettucini, cooked according to package instructions in salty water. Reserve a cup of hot pasta water before draining.
1/2 pound of bacon, cooked ’til crisp, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus more for serving
Handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
3 eggs plus 1 egg yoke
splash of cream, half n half or milk
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
In a large heatproof serving bowl beat the eggs, egg yolk, cheese, & cream. Work quickly to put the hot drained pasta into the egg and cheese mixture and stir vigorously to allow the heat of the noodles to cook the sauce without making scrambled eggs. Use some of the hot reserved pasta water as needed so that the pasta looks evenly coated with the sauce. Stir in the bacon, tomatoes and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
My favorite recipe is probably my coconut macaroon’s salad.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper or well-greased aluminum foil.
Stir together until well combined:
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
Stir until well blended:
3 1/2 cups flaked or shredded sweetened coconut
Drop the dough by scant measuring tablespoonfuls onto the sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies are nicely browned, 20
to 25 minutes. Remove the sheet to a rack and let stand until the cookies are completely cool. Carefully peel the cookies from the paper or foil.
oops I didn’t mean salad on my comment
My fav. has to be German Chocolate Pound Cake-the “real” one from years ago. The one from Adam’s Best Flavorings/Extracts that you could pull a copy of the recipe off a pad in the grocery store. It’s gooey moist at the top center (if you don’t over cook it), not too sweet, and very addictive! It’s a childhood memory recipe and I still love it! You can still get it on their website. YUM!
My favorite recipe is my mom’s chocolate chip cookies…basically just the recipe off the Tollhouse chocolate chips bag! They’re so good though, and have to be made by my mom to taste the sweetest to me!
My favorite recipe is my very own chicken pot pie from scratch. Love it, love it, love it, oh and did I say love it.