FRANKLIN LIVING MAY/JUNE 2018 —

Peabody Muffins

Yield: 24 muffins

2 eggs

2 cups sugar

¼ pound melted butter

4 cups sifted flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottom of muffin tins.

Sift flour with sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add melted butter to milk and eggs and beat with fork to mix well.

Make a well in center of flour mixture and pour in milk mixture all at once. Stir quickly with fork until all dry ingredients are moistened; do not beat because the batter will become lumpy.

Quickly dip batter into muffin tins, filling each slightly more than half full. Bake 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

Corn Muffins Clanlo

Yield: 12 muffins

1 cup corn meal

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon sugar

¾ cup orange juice

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons grated orange rind

12 sugar cubes

Mix corn meal, baking powder, flour, salt and sugar. Add half of the orange juice, egg and melted butter and mix well. Add orange rind.

Fill 12 well-greased muffin cups with batter. Dip sugar cubes in remaining ¼ cup of orange juice and place one cube on top of each muffin and press down slightly. Bake about 20 minutes in a 425-degree oven.

French Muffin Loaf

1 quart flour

4 eggs

1 cup warm water

1 cake yeast

2 scant tablespoons lard

4 heaping teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup milk

½ teaspoon soda

Dissolve cake yeast in warm water. Mix all ingredients except soda. Place in a warm spot to rise overnight.

Next morning add soda, sifted in. Beat again, then pour into greased loaf pan and set to rise. Bake slowly in 275-degree oven until very thick crust forms and loaf is pierced at center for doneness. Slice and serve hot with honey and butter.

Bran Muffins with Dates

Yield: 12 muffins

1 cup Bran Buds

¾ cup milk

1 egg

¼ cup shortening

1 cup sifted flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup sugar

½ cup chopped dates

Combine Bran Buds and milk and let stand until most of the moisture is soaked up. Add egg and shortening and beat well.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and add to first mixture, stirring only until combined.

Fold in dates. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Makes nine muffins about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

White raisins or chopped nuts may be substituted for the dates. These muffins freeze well.

Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

2 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon soda

¾ cup shortening or lard

5 1/2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend flour, sugar, salt and shortening. Make a well in dough and add eggs, buttermilk which has had the soda added and dissolved and vanilla. Rework ingredients.

Chill dough at least one hour or longer. Roll dough out ¼-inch thick and cut into desired shapes. Sprinkle tops with granulated sugar. Bake at 425 degrees on greased cookie sheets for about 10 minutes.

This is my Grandmother’s recipe. I loved to eat one after school with cold whole milk, fresh from the cow that day.

Stuffed Yellow Squash

8 medium yellow summer squash

6 strips bacon

2 small onions, chopped

1 small bell pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch each of thyme and marjoram

1 cup or so of bread crumbs – enough to stuff with

¼ cup butter

Parboil squash in salted water, removing before it becomes soft. Scoop out centers and place in colander to drain.

Cook bacon until crisp then crumble. Sauté onions and pepper in a small amount of butter, then combine bacon, onions, pepper, cheese and seasoning with the meat of the squash that has been drained and mashed. Fill shell with mixture, sprinkle top with bread crumbs and dot with butter. Bake in oven until top is brown and squash is well heated.

I like to add shredded cheddar on top and place back in oven until cheese is melted.

Peabody Stuffed Onions

6 large onions

1 garlic button

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup cooked ham, ground

1 cup cooked spinach

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup bread crumbs

1 beaten egg

1 cup chicken stock, or bouillon cube dissolved in one cup of hot water

Salt, pepper and sage to taste – I use teaspoon of each

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Cut onions in half and carefully remove centers, leaving a shell about ¼ inch thick. Boil onion shells until tender.

Sauté the bits of onion removed from center with button of garlic in butter until tender. Combine ham, spinach and rice. Add onion and garlic mixture. Stir in ¼ cup of bread crumbs and beaten egg and moisten with the chicken stock or bouillon. Season to taste with salt, pepper and sage.

Fill pre-cooked onion shells, mounding on top, and cover the entire onion. Mix ¾ cup Parmesan cheese with ¾ cup fine dry bread crumbs and sprinkle mixture over tops of onions. Brush with melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees until brown on top.