Giveaway: My Favorite Church Cookbook

My name is Barb and I'm a cookbook addict.  My kitchen cookbook shelf is more than full, and the collection has spilled over into the dining room as well.

When it comes to cookbooks, there's nothing like a church or community cookbook to give you an idea of the flavor of a neighborhood.  So when our parish decided to reprint our wildly popular "Casey Collection" cookbook, I purchased an extra copy to give away to one lucky Mom's Fridge reader.

In this cookbook you'll find several of my recipes--all of which are also on the blog.  There are also some Polish specialties like Golabki (yum), Pierogi (yum), and Babka (yum)!  You'd expect nothing less from a cookbook originally published in St. Casimir Church.  Not into Polish food?  No problem; there are also recipes for Anise Toast, Cuban bread, and all sorts of other delicious favorites.

Would you like to WIN this cookbook?  Here's how to enter:

1.  Mandatory entry:  Leave a comment on this post with the title of YOUR favorite cookbook!
2.  "Like" Mom's Fridge on Facebook, and leave a separate comment here telling me you did so.
3.  Subscribe to the Mom's Fridge RSS feed (or "follow" the blog), and leave a separate comment here telling me you did so.

This contest closes at 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, November 17.  One set of entries per person; USA readers only.

UPDATE:  Contest closed.  And the winner is....

Peg at Just Plain Insane!  Congratulations!

A Contest!

If you'd like a chance to win the church cookbook I picked up on vacation, just pop over to my SFO Mom blog and find out how to enter. Bonus entries are also available! Contest ends Friday, August 7 at NOON Eastern.

(I disabled comments on this post. If you want to enter the contest, you have to follow the link above. Thanks!)

Buttermilk Baked Chicken and Baked Potato Wedges

Two great tastes that go great together! And they bake at the same temperature (for the same time, if you use BIG pieces of chicken) so it makes dinner prep really easy.

Both these recipes came from Alicia's Recipes. I'm copying them below and in the case of the chicken, including the changes I made.

Buttermilk Baked Chicken
vegetable oil for baking sheet
1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
salt and pepper
4 pounds chicken parts, rinsed and patted dry

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F. Generously rub a baking sheet with oil. In a large bowl, stir together the buttermilk, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the buttermilk mixture, turning to coat evenly. Working with one piece at a time, remove chicken from liquid, letting excess drip back into bowl; dredge in the bread crumb mixture, turning to coat evenly. Place coated chicken pieces on prepared baking sheet. Bake until chicken is golden brown, about 35 to 50 minutes (depending on the size of the pieces). Leave enough space between the chicken pieces so that they crisp evenly all the way around. Serves 8.

Baked Potato Wedges
3-4 med. potatoes
2-3 tbsp. melted butter
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 dashes parsley
Salt and pepper

Instructions
Scrub potatoes. Do not peel. Cut each potato lengthwise in quarters. Stir together melted butter, garlic powder and parsley. Arrange potatoes skin side down on a shallow baking pan. Brush seasoned butter over cut surfaces of potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for about 1 hour or until golden brown and tender when pierced.

A Cookbook Contest

The How To Cook Like Your Grandmother blog is hosting a contest! The prize: the ILLUSTRATED edition of the cookbook of the same name.

I have the non-illustrated edition and it's great. Adding pictures is the icing on the cake!

Go here to find out how to enter. Three lucky winners will receive a copy of the cookbook--well worth the purchase price, illustrated or not.

Cooking with Alicia & Annie: Asiago Cheese Bread

Today I made the Asiago Cheese Bread from Alicia's Recipes. I am addicted to the Asiago Cheese Bagels at Panera, so I was hoping that I could learn to make some Asiago bread at home. Even with the pricey cheese, it's easier on the budget to make my own.

Find my version of the recipe along with photo and nutrition information at Cook and Count.

Cooking with Alicia & Annie: Amish Cornbread

Tonight I thought cornbread would be a nice addition to the Taco Skillet we were having for dinner. I'm a fan of corn muffins, and am always in search of the Perfect Corn Muffin. But sometimes muffins are a pain. You have to have the little Muffin Papers, and there are always drips on the muffin pan. Cornbread is just like a big muffin without the hassle.

I found a recipe for Amish Cornbread at Alicia's Recipes.

1 c. sifted flour
1/4 c sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1 egg, well beaten
1 c. milk
5 tbsp. shortening, melted and cooled

Instructions
Sift first 4 ingredients. Mix in cornmeal. Blend egg, milk, shortening until mixed. Add to dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Use greased (bottom only) 8x8x2 pan. Bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

The only change I made to this recipe was to use an 8-inch round pan rather than square, because my square pans have gone, full of treats, to a friend's house.

I had a little technical difficulty when I poured the melted shortening, which was, I guess, not cool enough, into the cold milk and beaten-egg mixture. That was a mess. The shortening immediately solidified in little pieces. So I put the whole bowl into the microwave to warm it up and stirred it until it was smooth(er).

The texture if this cornbread was very cake-like. It was a moist, smooth texture with a fine crumb. But the cornbread itself seemed to be "missing something." I think it might be good with butter instead of shortening--so I'll try this again.

This post is an entry in the Amanda's Cookin' "Cooking with Alicia & Annie" Contest.

Cooking with Alicia & Annie: Apple Muffins

Apple Muffins



I made this recipe for the Cooking with Alicia & Annie contest. Here's the original recipe:

Wet Mix
2 cups grated raw apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Dry Mix
1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1 cup self-raising flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, prepare pans. Thoroughly combine the wet mix ingredients. Combine the dry mix ingredients and mix thoroughly into the wet mix. Spoon into pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. Makes 12. Nice sprinkled with equal parts degrees F brown sugar and spice. These are lovely moist muffins and hardly need to be buttered. They will keep will, but are best kept refrigerated and then warmed before eating. Variations: Apple Raisin and Nut: Add 1/2 cup chopped raisins, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and 1 Tbsp grated lemon or orange rind to the wet mix. Apple and Date: Add 3/4 cup of finely copped dates and 1 Tbsp grated lemon rind to the wet mix. Apple and Bran: Substitute the wholemeal and self-raising flour with 1 cup of flaky bran and 1-1/2 cups degrees F self-raising flour.

Changes I made: I used regular all-purpose flour since I did not have self-rising flour. I added 1 1/4 tsp baking powder and 1/9 tsp salt to make up for that. I also added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts to the wet mix.

My review of the recipe: As I was mixing this up, the batter seemed REALLY thick. Too thick! It was more the consistency of chocolate-chip cookie dough than muffin batter. I had to actually use 2 spoons to get it into the muffin cups. I looked at some other muffin recipes that I have used in the past and noticed that all of them contained between 2/3 and 3/4 cup milk for every 2 cups flour.

The batter TASTED fabulous and I was so optimistic that I had found the recipe for the delicious apple-nut muffins that were sold at the bakery where I worked in high school. But the finished product was too dry. I'm attributing this to the lack of milk in the recipe.

I will definitely make this recipe again, adding the milk that I think is missing.

Meanwhile, I think I'll make a little bread pudding or something with the muffins that didn't quite work. There's no sense letting all those good ingredients go to waste!

Cool Contest! Cool Prizes!

dddiva at MyLoonyverse is hosting a back-to-school contest with two terrific prizes:
a BACKPACK FULL OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES
and
a BENTO LUNCHBOX!

Check it out!

This is a blog to add to your daily feed-reader, folks! She has heads-ups on all kinds of great contests, and periodically she hosts her own.

Thanks, dddiva, for hosting this contest!

Apron Contest

The Apronista is running a contest where you can win a vintage apron AND an autographed copy of The Apron Book by Ellynanne Geisel. You have until Friday to enter! Post about it on your blog and get an extra entry.

Contest at 5 Minutes for Mom!

You can win all sorts of great prizes in their contest! Check it out!

Christmas Giveaway at 5 Minutes for Mom

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting a Christmas Giveaway! Every day until November 24, a new contest will be posted. Leave a comment to enter. Get there by clicking the image above.

And there's also a Pedal Car giveaway going on at the same site. Use this link to reach that giveaway. Again, leave a comment to enter.

Contest!

Lindsey at Enjoy the Journey is having a contest! The prize is an ebook called

A Recipe for Christmas Joy by Mary Beth Whelan

Enter here!

UPDATE: Contest is now closed. Congratulations to the winner!

Tote Bag Contest

These are some gorgeous totes! I'd be heading to the library in high style with one of these, for sure.

Enter the contest by visiting this post and leave a comment, and link at your blog (if you have one).

Contest hosted by Musings of a Housewife.

Contest for Homemakers!

Check out this contest over at Mrs. Pear's blog! She'd like some input on a book she's preparing to write, geared toward women who would like support in staying at home with their families.

To enter, just read the question in each post and answer it in her comments box.

Prizes include some really interesting books. Two of them are cookbooks (my favorite!)