TURKEY

Author: The Caldwells // Category:
Yummy, juicy turkey. This is the 3rd year I have done this turkey and it always turns out so juicy and yummy!! My parents bought us a roaster oven and we always cook the turkey in this. The vegetables help add some water to the turkey and cooking it breast side down helps the juices run into the breast instead of away from the breast making it really moist and yummy!!! If you buy a larger or smaller turkey adjust cooking time by 15 min./pound.

1 turkey, approx. 15 lbs.
Juice of a lemon
Salt and pepper
melted butter
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
Tops and bottoms of a bunch of celery
2 carrots

1- To start, if the turkey has been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before cooking. Keep it in its plastic wrapping until you are ready to cook it. While in the refrigerator, and or while you are bringing it to room temp, have the bird resting in a pan, so that if the plastic covering leaks for any reason, you are confining the juices to the pan. If you get a frozen turkey, you will need to defrost it in the refrigerator for several days first. Allow approximately 5 hours of defrosting for every pound. So, if you have a 15 pound turkey, it will take about 75 hours to defrost it in the refrigerator, or around 3 days.
2- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
3- Remove the neck and gilbets. Wash out the turkey with water. Pull out any remaining feather stubs in the turkey skin. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Lather the inside of the cavity with the juice of half a lemon. Take a small handful of salt and rub all over the inside of the turkey.
4- In this method of cooking a turkey, we don't make the stuffing in the turkey because doing so adds too much to the cooking time. For flavor, put in the inside of the turkey a half a yellow onion, peeled and quartered, a bunch of parsley, a couple of carrots, and some tops and bottoms of celery. You may need to cap the body cavity with some aluminum foil so that the stuffing doesn't easily fall out. Close up the turkey cavity with either string (not nylon string!) or metal skewers. Make sure that the turkey's legs are tied together, held close to the body, and tie a string around the turkey body to hold the wings in close.
5- Rub melted butter all over the outside of the turkey. Sprinkle salt generously all over the outside of the turkey (or have had it soaking in salt-water brine before starting this process). Sprinkle pepper over the turkey.
6- Place turkey BREAST DOWN on the bottom of a rack over a sturdy roasting pan big enough to catch all the drippings.
7- Put the turkey in the oven. Check the cooking directions on the turkey packaging. Gourmet turkeys often don't take as long to cook. For the 15 lb butterball turkey, start the cooking at 400 F for the first 1/2 hour. Then reduce the heat to 350 F for the next 2 hours. Then reduce the heat further to 225 F for the next hour to hour and a half. (If you buy a 12 pound turkey you would take 15 min. off of all 3 cooking times reducing the cooking time by 45 min. Same goes for if you buy a 18 pound turkey except you would add 15 min. to all 3 cooking times cooking the turkey for an additional 45 min.)
8- Start taking temperature readings with a meat thermometer, inserted deep into the thickest part of the turkey breast and thigh, a half hour before the turkey should be done. The dark meat in the thigh should be about 175 F. The white meat in the breast should be 160 F to 165 F. 9- Once you remove the turkey from the oven, let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Turn the turkey breast side up to carve it.

Yield: 12-14 servings (if using the 15 lb turkey)

Peanut Butter Bars

Author: The Caldwells // Category:
In elementary school we had an awesome lady, Betty Foote (and a handful of other ladies), who served us up some good food! This recipe is close to one of the things she would serve us (of course, I must have really liked it because it is the only thing I could tell you I ate for school lunch!! The poor playground duty, Mrs. Strong, who had to deal with us wild children after eating!

1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons peanut butter


In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan. In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Yield: 12 servings

Tender Flank Steak

Author: The Caldwells // Category:
1 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 beef flank steak (1-1/2 pounds)

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the soy sauce, lemon juice, honey and garlic; add steak. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 6-8 hours.
Drain and discard marinade. Broil 4-6 in from the heat or grill over medium heat for 8-10 min. on each side. Thinly slice steak across the grain.

Yield: 6 servings

Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes

Author: The Caldwells // Category:

6 large baking potatoes
8 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 pound sliced bacon
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of white pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 375. Scrub and pierce potatoes; rub each with 1 teaspoon butter. Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour or until tender.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels; drain and dice.
When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut a thin slice of the top of each and discard. scoop out pulp, leaving a thin shell. In a medium bowl, mash pulp with remaining butter. Stir in the milk, egg, salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese, bacon and onion.
Spoon filling into the potato shells. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.

Yield: 6 servings

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Author: The Caldwells // Category:

YUMMY!!! This is a no bake dessert that is super easy and super good to make

4 ounces package cream cheese
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
8 ounce package frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (9 inch) prepared chocolate graham cracker crust

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon into two 9 inch graham cracker pie shells; cover, and freeze until firm (about 1 1/2 hours).

Bread Bowls

Author: The Caldwells // Category:

3 1/2- 3 3/4 cup bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/2 cup very warm water
1/2 cup very warm milk
1 large egg
Mix 2 cups of the flour, sugar, butter, salt and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water, warm milk, and egg. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 min then medium speed 1 min, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead about 5 min. or until dough is smooth and springy. Place dough in large greased bowl. Cover bowl loosely and let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until double. Separate dough into 6 balls. Place on greased baking sheet. Cover loosely and let rise for 30 min. or until double. Heat oven to 375. Bake for 15-20 min. or until golden brown. Let cool completely. With a butter knife cut a circle around the top at least 1/2 inch from side. Pull off top and some of the inside and place on the plate next to bread bowl. Fill with soup or fondue and serve.
Yields: 6 bread bowls

Clam Chowder

Author: The Caldwells // Category: ,
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, sliced
3/4 cup butter, cubed
2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
3 cans (6-1/2 ounces each) minced clams
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 quart half and half cream

In a large saucepan (I use a 4 quart pot), saute the onion, carrots, and celery in butter until tender. Stir in the potato soup and 2 cans of undrained clams. Drain and discard the juice from remaining can of clams; add clams to soup. Combine cornstarch into 1/4 cup of cream and stir until smooth; stir into soup. Add the remaining cream. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Yield: 9 servings

Molten Chocolate Cake

Author: The Caldwells // Category:

The kids devour these! They are so simple and don't take up a lot of time!!

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces (I used 1/2 semi-sweet and 1/2 bittersweet)
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Generously butter 4 - 3/4 cup molds, ramekins, or custard cups and dust the insides with granulated white sugar. Place the prepared molds on a baking sheet and set aside while you make the chocolate cakes.
In a stainless steel bowl suspended over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and set aside while you whip the egg yolks.
In your electric mixer beat the egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar until thick, pale, and fluffy. (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) Beat in the vanilla extract and then fold in the melted chocolate mixture.
In another clean bowl whip the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to whip until soft peaks form. Gradually add the 1 tablespoon of granulated white sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula or wire whisk gently fold the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture, just until incorporated. Do not over mix or the batter will deflate. Divide the batter between the prepared molds, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the outside edges of the cakes are set but the middle still looks a little wet. You may have cracks on the top surface of the cakes.
Immediately remove from oven and let them rest for a minute or two. Run a sharp knife around the edge of each cake and then invert onto the center of each serving plate. Carefully remove the mold. Sprinkle the top of each cake with confectioners sugar and place a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on top of each warm cake.