Chocolate / Oatmeal / Strawberry Breakfast Bar

Sometimes, I need an excuse for eating a load of sugar - and I'm out of ice cream.

• 1/2 C oatmeal
• 1 t brown sugar
• 1/2 t butter (margarine, if you want to be healthy)
• 2 t strawberry jam (grape jelly, what have you fruit + sugar topping)
• Chocolate syrup (Hershey's is best)

1. Mix oatmeal and brown sugar.
2. Mash butter / margarine / jam / jelly into oatmeal.
3. Pour / squirt chocolate syrup to top.
4. Bake in an oven, until dry / hard - or just eat with a spoon.
5. Instant sugar rush.

Red Eye Gravy (Easy Version)

After an evening of St Patricks dinner, there's corned beef fat, to be had. And always leftover coffee.

• Corned beef fat.
• Coffee.

1. Heat a chunk of fat in a pan - maybe a minute or two in the microwave, until it turns to liquid (aka grease).
2. Add coffee to taste.
3. Some recipes call for added salt, pepper, and / or sugar, when you use bacon or ham. With corned beef, that's your choice. I didn't add anything.
4. Simmer a few seconds.
5. Pour over grits.
6. Yer done. Grits are healthy. Red eye gravy ain't healthy. If y'all want healthy, try black eye gravy.

Grits (Easy Version)

No self respectin' Southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits.

Maury Chaykin, My Cousin Vinnie

I take pride in my grits, too, but in California, instant grits may be the only choice. You can still cook them southern style - slow and easy.

This is one large serving (says 2 servings on the package, but that's California).

• 1 1/2 C water.
• 5 heaping T (1/3 C) grits.
• Salt and pepper.

1. Put water in microwaveable pan.
2. Add salt and pepper.
3. Add grits.
4. Cook in microwave oven - 6 minutes @ 100%, 14 minutes @ 30%.
5. Remove from oven, stir, scoop onto plate (southern style, you eat with a fork).
6. Add black eye gravy or red eye gravy (or butter if you're in a hurry).

Grits are healthy - neither red eye gravy (aka grease and coffee) - nor butter (aka grease) is. But boy, is it good.

Christmas Jello Salad

I imagine the flavours - and colours - could be varied, too. Maybe lime gelatin instead of strawberry, for 1/2 the recipe.

• 2 C boiling water
  
• 12 oz Strawberry gelatin
  
• 32 oz frozen strawberries
  
• 20 oz can crushed pineapple
  
• 16 oz sour cream
  

1. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.
   
2. Add strawberries, cut into small cubes to help unfreeze faster.
   
3. Dump in pineapple.
   
4. Work quickly before gelatin thickens.
   
5. Pour half of gelatin mixture into a 16" x 2" flat pan.
   
6. Spread sour cream over top.
   
7. Pour other half of gelatin mixture over sour cream.
   
8. Refrigerate.
   

Peanut Blossoms

4 cups sugar
16 tbsp. milk
4 cups brown sugar
4 tsp. vanilla
4 cups shortening
14 cups flour
8 eggs
4 tsp. soda
4 cups peanut butter
4 tsp. salt

Shape dough into balls. Roll in sugar and bake on ungreased cookie
sheet at 375 F. for 10-12 minutes. Immediately top each cookie with a
Hershey's kiss or star pressing down firmly to crack cookie. Makes a
heck of a lot.

Marshmallow Fudge

1/4 C butter / margarine
13 oz (1 can) evaporated milk
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 C sugar
12 oz chocolate chips
3 C miniature / 24 full size marshmallows
1 C chopped nuts - pecans / walnuts
1 t vanilla

• Combine butter, milk, salt, and sugar in a 3 quart casserole or mixing bowl. Loosely cover with lid or plastic wrap.
  
• Microwave on High (100%) for 3 to 4 minutes, or until boiling. Uncover.
  
• Microwave on High (100%) for 12 to 20 minutes (depending upon power of oven), testing every 2 or 3 minutes, looking for soft ball stage.
  
• When soft ball stage is reached, stir in additional ingredients, until cholcolate and marshmallows melts evenly.
  
• Pour mixture into a well greased baking dish, 12" x 7' x 2" size or thereabouts.
  
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours (at least) or overnight (best results).
  

Kahlua Cake

Kahlua, and everything else, is not healthy - but it has chocolate. Enough said.

Allow 2 days to make this, the results are worth it.


Ingredients

• 1 Cake, German Chocolate or Dark Chocolate
• 1 C Kahlua
• 1 - 2 7 oz Cans whipped cream
• 6 - 8 Heath bars

Preparation
I highly recommend using genuine Kahlua - accept no substitute.

1. Cook cake until dry (add 1/3 extra cooking time over instructions).
2. Let cake cool overnite in pan. (That's one day).
3. Poke holes in cake thoroughly, pour Kahlua over cake.
4. Let Kahlua seep into cake well (Overnite is best - and that's the second day).
5. Cool Heath bars overnite in refrigerator (they crumble better).
6. Crumble / crush Heath bars into crumbs.
7. Crumble cake with fingers (the fun part), and layer in glass bowl (3 - 4 layers), each layer in proper order.
   
   • Cake.
   • Whipped cream.
   • Heath bar crumbs.
8. Lick fingers when done (the best part of preparation).
9. Serve quickly (if you can wait).