Millicent Matheson’s Cheesecake

Make a day ahead (or at least 8 hours)
CRUST:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs, very fine
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp melted butter
Pat crust into 9 inch springform pan
Preheat oven to 350°

FILLING:
Mix together until smooth and the pour over crust
24 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Bake 35 minutes, then immediately refrigerate for 30 minutes to stop cooking process.

Mix together until smooth:
1 pint sour cream
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Carefully spread over cake and return to oven (350°) and bake 5 minutes. Immediately return cake to refrigerator.

Serve plain or with fruit or favorite topping.

Oatmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal Pancakes
Adapted from the Inn at Fordhook Farm

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups buttermilk
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
splash of milk 
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted but not hot
Oil spray 

The night before:
Combine the oats and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Stir to mix. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

The morning of:
Take the bowl of buttermilk and oats out of the fridge. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Add the eggs and melted butter to the oat mixture, and stir well. Add the flour mixture, and stir to blend. The batter will be very thick. Add a splash of milk to thin it out. 

Warm a griddle over medium-high heat, and spray with oil. Cook until brown and edges and solidified showing some bubbles. 

Yield: about 12-14 pancakes (but they are thick and filling and go a long way)! 

Egyptian Brownies - Aunt Betty

1 C. Butter, melted
3 C. White sugar
1 T vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
1 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 C. Semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Combine butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Gradually stir mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Remove and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Aunt Betty's Lemon Bars

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 cup butter

4 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1-2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
1/3 cups lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

In a medium bowl stir together the 2 cups flour and the 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture clings together. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 13X9 in baking pan.

Bake crust in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, beat together the eggs, granulated sugar and lemon juice. Combine the 1/4 cup flour and the baking powder; stir into the egg mixture along with the lemon peel. Pour over the baked crust.

Bake bars in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes more. Cool on a wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over the top of bars. Cut into bars or into 2X1 2/4 inch diamonds -- Makes 30 bars.

Homemade Pita Bread

1 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/2 tsp white sugar

1 cup warm water (110 degrees)

2 cups all-purpose flour, more if needed

1 cup pastry flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 TBSP applesauce

1 TBSP olive oil

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. 

2. In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, pastry flour and salt. Stir in the yeast mixture and applesauce and knead. Dough shouldn't be sticky, but it shouldn't be dry either. If too sticky add 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour until you get the right consistency. If too dry, add 2 tablespoon of water t a time until you get the right consistency. 

3. Roll the dough out into a rope and cut into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and roll out to a 6- to 8-inch circle. 

4 To bake pita: Preheat oven to 500 degrees and put a pita on a wire cake rack. Place the rack in the oven and cook for 3 minutes or until the bread stops puffing up. When you take it out, smash down the pita (careful - it's hot) and quickly put it in a plastic freezer bag.

5. To fry pita: In a skillet over high heat, heat oil. When almost smoking, place a pita in the pan and cook for a few minutes on each side, until brown spots begin to appear. Put in a plastic bag one it has cooled a bit.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 red bell pepper
6 TBSP tahini, stirred well
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 (14 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed (about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp table salt
Pinch cayenne
3 TBSP lemon juice from 1 to 2 lemons
2 TBSP sliced almonds, toasted
2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped


1. Roast the pepper: Place pepper directly on a gas flame or on a chili roaster (or under broiler). Roast until completely black, turning to char all sides. Transfer pepper to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When the pepper is cool enough to handle, remove the charred skin. Cut the pepper down the middle and open flat. Remove the stem and scrape out seeds (discard seeds). Chop, set aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together tahini and 2 tablespoons oil.

3. In a food processor, process chickpeas, roasted red peppers, garlic, salt, and cayenne until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula  With machine running, add lemon juice in steady stream through feed tube. Scrape down bowl and continue to process for 1 minute. With machine running, add oil-tahini mixture in steady stream through feed tube; continue to process until hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.

4. Transfer hummus to serving bowl, sprinkle almonds and parsley over surface, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until flavors meld, at least 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with pita bread.

Mom Whiting's Never Fail Pie Crust

Makes 6 pie crusts or 3 double crust pies

6 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups butter very cold/frozen
1 1/3 cups milk
1 Tbsp cooking oil

Mix flour and salt together
Grate butter into flour a little at a time (the colder the crust, flakier it will be)
Mix in milk and oil (should be barely moist enough to hold it all together). Mix as little as possible
Divide and roll, or freeze

Tip: use generous flour on counter to roll. To transfer into pie pan, roll sheet onto rolling pin and reverse into the pie pan.