Here are a few recipes that I make using Buttermilk. As mentioned above, if you don't have buttermilk just add a little fresh squeezed lemon juice to your milk. Let it sit for a minute or two to thicken. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Almond Cake From Albufeira, Portugal ==================================== Bon Appetit, November 1977 1 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup melted butter cooled to room Temperature 2/3 cup sliced almonds Hot Almond Syrup (recipe follows) Hot Almond Syrup 3/4 cup granulated sugar 6 tablespoons water 1/2 teaspoon almond extract . Preheat oven to 350* F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Beat egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract together until smooth. Stir in melted butter. Add flour mixture and mix with spoon until nearly smooth. Turn into a buttered 9" springform pan. Bake until center of cake springs back when lightly touched, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven. While is hot, cover top with sliced almonds. Slowly pour Hot Almond Syrup even over, letting syrup soak into cake. Broil about 6" from heat until almonds are lightly toasted. Cool on rack 15 minutes. Using knife or spatula, loosen sides between pan and cake, then cool completely before releasing springform pan. Almond Syrup In 1-qt saucepan combine sugar and water. Boil until mixture reaches 220* F on candy thermometer*. Remove from heat and stir I almond extract. Edited: January 22nd, 2006 Be careful not to over cook the syrup or it will harden on top of the almonds rather than get absorbed into the cake. I don't use the thermometer. I just bring the syrup to a boil and cook for about one minute. There is so little syrup that it doesn't take long. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Oatmeal Pancakes ================ Http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001893dees_oat meal_pancakes.php Do you love oatmeal? Do you love pancakes? You should try them when they are one and the same. Seriously. Dee Johnston whipped up her favorite family recipe for a recent gathering of friends and this is now my new favorite pancake. Great smothered with butter and maple syrup (of course) and also leftover strawberries from strawberry shortcake. A little advanced planning is necessary as the oats must soak in buttermilk overnight. Yummmmm.... 2 cups oats (the regular kind - Old Fashioned or Quick, not steel-cut and not instant) 3 cups buttermilk 3 eggs, well beaten 1/2 cup flour 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder Dash salt 1 tablespoon peanut oil Butter or extra vegetable oil for the griddle Optional A basket of strawberries - stems removed, sliced, and macerated with 2 Tbsp of sugar for an hour, then slightly mashed Maple syrup Butter 1 Put oats into a large bowl, add the buttermilk. Let the oats soak in the buttermilk overnight. 2 Mix in the eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and peanut oil. Oatmeal-pancakes-1.jpg oatmeal-pancakes-2.jpg Oatmeal-pancakes-3.jpg 3 Then proceed as with any pancake recipe. Heat a flat iron surface - griddle or large pan - to medium high heat. Oil the pan with either a Tbsp of butter or vegetable oil. Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle to the desired size, usually about 5 or 6 inches wide. When air bubbles start to bubble up to the surface at the center of the pancakes (about 2-3 minutes), use a flat spatula to flip them over. After a minute, peak under one for doneness. When golden or darker golden brown, they are done. Note that cooking the second side takes only about half as long as the first side. And the second side doesn't brown as evenly as the first side. Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve. Serves 4-6. Serve with butter, maple syrup, and macerated strawberries. Country Biscuits ================ 2 cups of flour 1 Tablespoon of baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup shortening, lard, Crisco or butter (I use butter) 1 cup of milk (cream) or buttermilk if using buttermilk add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda) Optional. Add a little sugar if you prefer sweet rather than savory. Mix the flour with the baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter/shortening until it resembles coarse meal. Stir milk or cream in to flour mixture. Mix quickly with fork until dough comes together. Using hands gently pat the ingredients together. Fold over once or twice or even three times if necessary. Do not over-handle. Pat out to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board. Cut with biscuit cutters and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes at 450°F. TIP: Using your finger push a little dent into the middle of the biscuit. This helps the biscuit rise straight and prevents it from tipping over as it rises. If making cheese biscuits add the mustard and cayenne to the dry ingredients and add the cheese after the shortening has been cut into the flour. Tip: An easy way to cut the butter into the flour is to use a box grater. The large side of the grater makes the perfect size pieces of butter. Options: You can use any favourite cheese. Gorgonzola and other blue cheeses are wonderful with the addition of black pepper. Cheddar cheese is good with chives or green onions. Sometimes I add dry mustard and cayenne pepper. Or bacon or ham.

Had to tell you that I used your recipe for the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie in a purchased pie crust and it was absolutely yummy. This was the first time I've ever made a Strawberry Rhubarb pie and my very picky DH liked it so much he had 3 slices of it this afternoon and evening. I'm ashamed to admit that I had 2 slices of it. Oh, I did substitute ClearJel for the cornstarch. Thank you so much for posting your recipe.

Caminnc, wow azaleas already in bloom! My daffodils and crocuses are peeking up from the ground but I think the cold days we've been having in the meantime have been keeping them in check. You're welcome for the recipe. If anyone wants a copy of the book I got it from, it came from the Dollar General and it's called Quick And Easy Family Baking-Cakes, Cookies, Pies & Breads That Anyone Can Bake. It's a brand new book (Copyright September 2011) and it has all sorts of hints and tips along with the recipes. In an earlier post of mine, someone mentioned they enjoyed my threads. I thank you and everyone else who's been helpful and kind to me here and the rest of GW. I just wanted to say cooking and gardening are two of the brightest spots in my life right now. I enjoy these hobbies with utmost happiness and I'm always glad to help out everyone in any way I can. I'll cherish them for as long as I can. A funny story about the cake mix and the pie filling. They're slightly larger than what the recipe calls for. The pie filling can is 21 ounces and the cake mix box is 18.25 ounces. A little more to go around LOL :). Brad AKA Moonwolf

Alison's Dad's Fruitcake 3 cups halved red and green glace cherries 2 cups candied mixed peel 2 cups dark seedless raisins (such as Thompson) 2 cups golden raisins 2 cups dried currants 1 cup brandy 1 cup slivered almonds 1 cup pecan halves 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 5 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. almond extract 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 3/4 tsp. each ground nutmeg and mace 1/2 tsp. each baking soda and salt 1/2 tsp. ground allspice 1/4 tsp. ground cloves In very large glass bowl, combine cherries, mixed peel, dark and golden raisins, currents and 3/4 cup of the brandy. Cover and let stand, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours or overnight. In a bowl, toss together the almonds, pecans and 1/2 cup of the flour. Toss with fruit mixture. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat butter with granulated sugar until light. Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla and almond extract. In separate bowl, whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, baking soda, salt, allspice and cloves; stir into butter mixture until combined. Scrape over fruit mixture; mix well. Scrape batter into 13 x 9 inch parchment paper-lined metal cake pan; smooth top. Set shallow pan on bottom rack of 300 degree oven; pour in enough water to come halfway up sides of pan. Bake cake on center rack of oven for 1 hour. Lay foil loosely over cake; bake until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Let cool in pan on rack. Remove cake from pan; peel off paper. Soak double-thickness 32 x 16 inch cheesecloth in remaining brandy; wrap around cake. Wrap in plastic wrap, then foil. Refrigerate for 1 month or for up to 3 months. Cut crosswise into 6 bars. Cut bars into 14 slices each.