Old Soul, Young Heart

  Snickerdoodles Recipe from: Lori Leake Directions: Mix together... ½ cup softened butter ½ cup shortening 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 ½ cups sugar 2 eggs Sift together and stir in... 2 ¾ cups flour 2 teaspoons cream of tartar 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt Chill dough Roll into balls and roll into a mixture of... 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon Place on ungreased cookie sheets Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes until lightly brown, but still soft A Christmas classic! I'm always amazed when a recipe is so spot on. This made exactly 3 dozen cookies and the amount of sugar/cinnamon to roll them in was perfect. I baked mine for 8 minutes, but probably could've gone slightly less.

Microwave Fudge Ingredients: ¾ cup butter 3 cups sugar 5 ½ oz evaporated milk 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips 6 oz milk chocolate chips 7 oz jar marshmallow creme 1 teaspoon vanilla Directions: Microwave the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk on high for 12 minutes, stirring after each 4 minutes Add the chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, and vanilla; stir until melted Pour into a well-greased 13x9 pan Cool and cut Freezes well! A very delicious chocolate fudge. I like mine with nuts, so I put walnuts in some of it. You can also swap the chocolate chips for 2 cups of creamy peanut butter for a pb fudge!

Apple Pie Recipe from: Susan Scheffert Directions: Stir together: 3 lbs apples (peeled and sliced at ¼ an inch) ½ cup flour Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg  I used about ¾ teaspoon cinnamon and a good pinch of nutmeg Then add: 1 ¼ cups sugar 1 stick melted butter For crust, mix and roll out: 2 cups flour ½ cup oil ¼ cup water or milk 1 teaspoon salt Place apple mixture in a large glass dish and then lay crust over top Cut slits on top and sprinkle lightly with sugar Bake at 350° for 45 minutes This recipe is from my Grandma Scheffert--my dad's mom! Grandma lived upstairs at our house with us, which was a full apartment. We were very close to her, especially my brother. She cared for us when our parents were working (we never had a babysitter), dropped us off at and picked us up from school (we never rode a school bus), and took us on adventures during the summer. She loved reading and gardening and birds. She was a very active grandma and we were lucky to have her. I have lots of...

Chocolate Sour Cream Cookies Ingredients: 1 cup sugar ½ cup butter (softened) ½ cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs 2 ¼ cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ cup cocoa Directions: Combine first five ingredients (sugar, butter, sour cream, vanilla, eggs) and blend well Stir in remaining ingredients Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls two inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes Good if frosted These were one of my oft requested items and I've made them a few times in the past. I just love a chocolate cookie, what can I say? Frosting on these is a must, in my opinion. I had another coworker birthday coming up, so I made these for Ian. He's not a fan of store-bought frosting (well, la-di-da...just kidding...kinda), so I also made homemade frosting for these. I have a few frosting recipes in my mom's recipe book, but Ian provided his mom's recipe for me and I made that kind. The recipe for the frosting is below. I didn't ...

Lasagna Recipe from: Kris Baugh (a State Farm colleague of my mom's, I believe) Ingredients: 2 lbs ground beef 1 large jar Prego spaghetti sauce 1 large container cottage cheese 1 egg 4 cups mozzarella cheese ½ cup parmesan cheese garlic salt seasoning salt onion salt Directions: Make a day ahead! Brown the ground beef Season the ground beef with garlic salt, seasoning salt, and onion salt Drain off grease Add the spaghetti sauce and mix well Mix in a large bowl: cottage cheese, egg, and parmesan cheese Spray large 13 x 9 pan with Pam Layer lasagna noodles, cottage cheese mixture, ground beef mixture, mozzarella cheese, and sprinkle some extra parmesan cheese; repeat 3 times Bake at 350° for 1 hour I do not do well with unprecise information, like "1 large jar spaghetti sauce." I'm not a confident cook or baker, so I need things to be exact. I made some guesses here and it turned out well. I used a 24 oz jar of Prego and a 24 oz container of cottage cheese. I also use...

  Monster Cookies Recipe from: Lori Leake (my mom's friend from work) Ingredients: 6 eggs 2 cups brown sugar 2 cups white sugar 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla 1 ½ teaspoons Karo syrup 4 teaspoons baking soda 1 cup softened butter 24 ounces peanut butter 9 cups oatmeal 8 ounces chocolate chips 8 ounces m&ms Directions: Mix above in a very large bowl in order given Place about 6 large scoops of dough on each cookie sheet and flatten Bake at 350° for 12 minutes (no flour; do not overbake) Monster cookies were such a treat when we were kids. These were the cookies we would request when we were able to take birthday treats to school. They are definitely a crowd pleaser. The combo of peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and m&ms... you can't really go wrong. And the size of the cookie is impressive, especially to a kid. Of course I had to decorate the cookies like my mom did--it was always three m&ms on top, spaced evenly, and preferably three different colors. Do I get my p...

  I definitely wanted my second recipe to be a treat like the first one I posted since this girl's got herself such a sweet tooth, but I realize I should have a good mixture of items here. So here we go with... Chicken & Rice Bake Ingredients: 2 cans chicken soup 1 cup water ¾ cup rice seasoning salt 6-8 boneless chicken breasts Directions: Spray glass dish with Pam Mix soup, water, and rice in dish Place chicken breasts on top of rice mixture Sprinkle with seasoning salt Cover Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until done The chicken looks pink, but I promise it was done! This was a Scheffert household dinner staple. I had never made it before, but I can see why it was a popular one because the ingredient list is short, the prep work is as about as simple and quick as it gets, and it uses only one dish. About halfway through baking, the house started to smell like it and it was such a familiar smell which was interesting. 😊 I've never purchased "chicken soup" before, so...

This time of year has become increasingly difficult for me. The couple of weeks leading up to Mother's Day and then the actual day on Sunday--it's a lot. Advertisements for gift ideas in my email, on tv, in the stores, on social media. The card aisle lined with glittery pink and purple designs filled with words I wish I could say to my mom. The posts on social media from friends and companies. I dread it and just want the day to be over. You'd think it would get easier as time goes on, but grief is a funny thing. Hilarious , in fact. The past two years on the Saturday before Mother's Day I've participated in a Zoom call for motherless daughters, hosted by Hope Edelman who authored a book many years ago by that name. I was so moved last year to be in the company of hundreds of women who get what it is to lose their mom, whether it was 60 years ago or just a few weeks ago. In the call this year, Hope suggested that we think about a characteristic of our mom that we...