However, despite having followed numerous recipes, it always came out just a bit off, until this year.

Again I found myself going down that usual road until I ran across a recipe that used an almost throwaway line in it that made all the difference.

The recipe is SUPER simple, but it included the line “which I boiled, beforehand,” refering to the potatoes, which made all the difference in the world as to how it came out in time texture and ultimately flavor.

The recipe is as follows.

INGREDIENTS

Equal parts by volume (not weight)

• Corned Beef

• Potato (Yukon gold preferred)

• Onion (Yellow)

Black Pepper to taste

Spices

• Sage (preferred)

• Ground Paprika (optional)

• Ground mustard powder (optional)

STEP 1

Cube the Corned Beef, Potato, and Onion into relatively equal pieces, keeping them separate.

STEP 2

Place the potato into a pot of room temp water and bring to a rolling boil. Shut off the heat and leave in the pot as you move on to step 3.

STEP 3

In a cast iron or heavy pan, add a bit of butter and put on a low heat just until the butter melts then add the onion. You CAN add salt to help the onions turn translucent, but it's not necessary because it might make the final dish too salty.

STEP 4

Cook over low heat, stirring every 5 minutes until the onion begins to gain a mayard reaction around the edges.

STEP 5

Drain and add the potatoes and a pinch of the spices and the black pepper. Stir until thouroughly mixed.

STEP 6

Add the Corned Beef and stir to combine. Pat down to make an even layer.

STEP 7

Allow to cook over low heat, flipping every 5-10 minutes. Taste the mix as you go, adding the spices until you're satified with the flavor.

STEP 8

When the mixture begins to show signs of the myard reaction, remove from the heat and serve.

The consistency and texture you're looking for is akin to whipped cream.

Per Portion

• 3 Apples - Any kind - peeled and chopped into pieces

• 1/2 Lemon - juiced and filtered

• 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

• 1 cup water

• 1 stick Cinnamon

• 5 Cloves

• 7 All Spice Berries

Step 1

Throw Cinnamon, cloves, and All Spice Berries into a spice blender and grind. Set aside.

Step 2

In a heavy pot (preferably glazed cast iron) add apple chunks, lemon juice, water, sugar and spices.

Step 3

Place over medium to low heat until the water beging to simmer, stir, turn down to low and cover.

Step 4

Stirring about every 5 minutes, continue to cook until the apple chunks are fork tender, meaning no resistance to being punctured with a fork, then remove from heat.

Step 5

Allow to cool about 5-10 minutes before proceeding.

Step 6a

If you're using a stick blender (preferred), pour into a quart sized jar with a wide mouth and then blend until smooth (beyond what you would get in the store. Seal up jar and set in fridge for at least 3 hours.

Step 6b

If you are using a normal blender, pour into carafe and blend on medium for around 15-20 seconds, or until smooth. Transfer into a jar and place into fridge for at least 3 hours.

I will provide further, adjusted, recipes for smaller amounts of diners shortly, with an emphasis on making these recipes Cornfree, but for now, I wanted to provide a link to the source material from our childhood.

To say the reading is both convoluted as well as confusing would be an understatement, so what your local school cafeteria did with it probably varies.

But here is the unvarnished truth about what you, and I, ate when we were growing up.

Again, I will be sorting through these recipes soon and publishing cornfree takes on some of them.

https://archive.org/details/CAT92970475/page/n55/mode/1up?

Just because you can't have corn, doesn't mean you have to deprive yourself of the flavors of fast food, however, because you're making it yourself, you can choose what you can and cannot eat.

In other words, by substituting soft flour tortillas f…

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• 2 lbs Mini Cucumbers

• 1/2 Red Onion

• 1 Jalepeno

• Kosher salt

• 2 cups white sugar

• 1 Tbsp whole Mustard seeds

• 1 Tbsp whole Black Pepper seeds

• 6 individual cloves of sliced, fresh Garlic (do not use jarred garlic)

• 5-6 whole Cloves

• 1 tsp Celery seeds

• 1 tsp ground Tumeric

• 1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

• 1 Cup White Vinegar

• 1/8 Cup Water

Step 1

Slice the Cucumbers into 1/4 inch slices, trimming off the ends.

Using a mandolin, slice the red onions and Jalepenos.

Step 2

Combine into a large bowl and add enough salt to begin the salting process. Start with 1/4 cup and mix. Note: you can't add too much salt.

Set aside and mix again every half hour or so.

Do this for between 2 to 4 hours, mixing every half hour.

Step 3

Towards the end of the last half hour, combine the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pan and put it over medium/high heat, mixing with a whisk once or twice to combine.

Step 4

While that's heating up, pour the veggie mix into a colander, juice and all, and rinse the veggies under running water for about 5 minutes (you cannot rinse too long at this stage, and it MUST be running water, you'regetting rid of excess salt in this step).

Step 5

When the mix on the stove begins to simmer, stir again, set a clock for 2 minutes, and allow it to come to a boil.

Step 6

After two minutes boiling, add the veggies, without adjusting the heat, stiring until generally submerged and allow to come up to temp where bubbles begin to come up on the sides.

Step 7

As soon as that happens, shut off the heat, mix again once, and allow to cool to room temp (about 2 hours).

Step 8

Jar up in mason jars, making sure that you add enough syrup to cover the veggies, lid the jars and place into the fridge for at least 2 days.

Enjoy!

• 1 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk

• 2 Cups Heavy Cream

• 1/2 tsp Instant Coffee grounds (or 1/2 Cup Iced Coffee, see below)

• 2 Tbsp Chocolate Syrup (look for Hershey's Simply 5)

• 2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

• 1/3 Cup of prefered flavored simple syrup (up to you as far as flavor is concerned, I prefer Salted Caramel)

Put everything in a blender and blend on low no more than 30 seconds, but just long enough until what coats the side is consistent in color, no streaking, and no longer, otherwise you'll end up with a thin mousse unless you add the whiskey (described below) to make a Bailey's clone or you substitute 1/2 cup of iced coffee in the recipe.

Pour into a quart sized Mason jar, seal it, and place into fridge.

FOR THE BAILEY'S CLONE

• 1/2 Cup Irish Whiskey

When adding the whiskey, the first step is to blend ONLY the Sweetened Condensed Milk first until smooth, then add the other ingredients and blend again.

Add or subtract how much whiskey you want, depending on how strong you want it.

• Equal weights (50g each) Mayonnaise, Buttermilk, and Sour Cream.

• Dried Parsley (3g)

• Garlic Powder (3g)

• Dried Chives (3g)

• Dried Minced Onions (3g)

• Onion Powder (1g)

• Fresh Cracked Black Pepper (3g)

• Salt (2g)

The amounts listed above are merely a suggestion, adjust accordingly as you make it and find your own preferences.

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly, then chill for at least 4 hours.

It is recommended that you make this at least 24 hours prior to serving to allow the flavors to meld and the sauce to thicken up.

You CAN make this and serve it immediately, however, the flavor just won't be the same and it will be a little on the runny side. Also, the dried herbs won't be the same.

One of the ways you can join the party is if you bring along a bowl of an appetizer spread you made yourself to enjoy with others who don’t care about corn.

This simple recipe can be prepared the night before it is to be served, then left out to be soft when served.

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz block of cream cheese

• I tsp minced garlic (preferably fresh, but from a storebought bottle is OK)

• 1 tsp chives (preferably fresh)

• 1 tsp basil

• 1 tsp cilantro (optional)

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Step 1

Remove cream cheese from fridge and allow to come to to room temp.

Step 2

Throw all ingredients into a mixing bowl and, using a fork, break up the cream cheese block and combine all ingredients into a paste.

Step 3

Transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve with crackers, bread, toast or veggies or any combination.

Also goes well with Keilbasa sausage, sliced.

It's not, it just takes time, and not all of that time includes you doing anything, just waiting.

Fried chicken is a perfect example, where it looks time consuming, but it's really not really, with most of the time spent waiting.

What you'll need.

Chicken

Either pieces purchased separately or butchered yourself (something you should REALLY learn how to do since whole chickens are a LOT cheaper)

Marinade (per pound of chicken)

• 1 cup of Buttermilk (either store bought or Leftover from making butter)

• 1/2 tsp MSG

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (NOT bought as preground)

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp dried basil

• 1/2 tsp dried chili powder

• 1 tsp minced dried onion

• 1 tsp minced dried chives

• 3 Tbsp hot sauce

Coating (ingredients per pound of chicken)

• 1 cup of AP flour

• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tsp salt

Oil

neutral, enough to cover the chicken pieces in a pot such as Peanut oil

Step 1 -

Make the marinade by combining all marinade ingredients in a bowl big enough to cover all the chicken. Whisk to combine.

Step 2 -

Add the chicken pieces an roll, being sure that all pieces are covered.

Do this the night before, DO NOT do this with any less time, cover with plastic wrap, and place in fridge overnight.

Step 3 -

Wait 18 to 24 hours

Step 4 -

Mix the coating ingredients. Whisk to combine.

Step 5 -

Remove chicken from the fridge and roll around each peice so fully coated with marinade.

Step 6 -

Add each piece to coating ingredients, being sure to coat all sides and place each piece onto a rack to allow time for the coat to attach to the chicken.

Step 7 -

Heat up the oil to 325-350F

Step 8 -

When the oil is up to temp, redredge the chicken in the coating mix already used and carefully place in oil, not crowding the pan, and so each pice is not touching another (this will require multiple batches)

Step 9 -

After 10 minutes on the first side, using tongs, flip each piece and allow to cook another 10 minutes.

Step 10 -

Remove chicken pieces, place on a cooling rack, and repeat steps 8 and 9 until all chicken is cooked.

Step 11 - Wait at least 30 minutes after first cooked for each piece, plate, and serve.

Unfortunately, here in America, most cereal that is made contains corn, and a lot of it.

Whether it’s the main base of the cereal, such as corn flakes or corn puffs, or it’s the inevitable HFCS that covers the flakes or puffs or is a main part of the other “goodies” mixed in, cereal just is too dangerous an aisle to walk down, especially with children as all those bright colorful boxes are psychologically aimed at getting a customer to subvert their biases and reservations and just grab a box.

But what would you say if not only could you fill not just one, but two of your missing links to the American diet by making one simple thing?

Yes, Granola is the answer.

In the case of the following recipe, a friend of mine recently passed along this recipe, and it’s pretty darn good.

Although, if I’m being honest, like when I attempted to replace all grain chips with tortilla chips, the first taste far exceeded the second.

So I have broken down the recipe into 4 parts and ratios, all using the amount of Oats as the base units.

Oats - 4 cups total
Thickeners - 1 cup total
Additions - 2 cups total
Liquids - 1 cup total

As you can see, the total amount of oats needs to be the same as the total amount of other ingredients, and the total amount of liquids and thickeners needs to be half of the the total amount of oats.

I know it’s confusing when you’re first looking at it, but believe me, it makes sense once you make your first batch, and knowing this ratio will allow you to make proper adjustments going forward.

So this is a case where fiddling around with the recipe is not just advised, it is recommended to meet you and your family’s personal taste.

And, as far as the coconut is concerned, I don’t know about you, but having a corn allergy makes me reluctant to purchase anything in a box or bag because of manufacturers attempt to extend the shelf life of their products using chemicals, usually derived from or entirely made out of corn.

So, if you are interested in producing your own, made from scratch, shredded coconuts, check out this video from YouTube, although there are a couple adjustments I would recommend.

Instead of using a paring knife while separating the meat from the shell, used a standard butter knife as you WILL be struggling a lot more than it shows in the video and you don’t want to be doing so with a super sharp object, even using a butter knife my be a little dangerous.

Also, when the chef gets to the part after the washing of the peeled meat, instead of using the peeler to get large, thinly peeled wedges, simply break out your food processor with your shredding disc, make sure you remove the blade attachment from the container, and go to town.

Is this recommended by chef’s?

Certainly not, but believe me, when we spend all the time we do in the kitchen, just being able to shortcut a few minutes at a time where we can is appreciated.

And believe me, although this video makes it look so quick and simply, the separating part is a definite struggle, and you can clearly see how the video skips over this part on the second half of the shell.

Ingredients (as Sent to Me)

Oats

4 cups oats (do not use instant or quick, use old fashioned)

Thickeners

1/2 cup dry milk powder
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax meal

Additions

3/4 cup nuts or peanuts (I used pecans because, well, they’re my second favorite)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Liquids

1/3 cup Maple Syrup
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Mix the Oats, Thickeners, and Additions in a large bowl.

In a sauce pan. combine the Liquids and, over low to medium heat, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and stir.

Immediately stir into the mix and combine. I used a stand mixer with a dough hook on the lowest setting to do so. it took about a total mix time of 2 minutes before it looked completely mixed with no areas of dryness.

Turn out onto a foil lined cookie sheet with raised sides and spread out to cover the whole sheet and place in oven.

After 10 minutes, remove, stir and put back in oven.

Do this every 10 minutes for a grand total of about 45 minutes or the granola looks slightly darker than you are used to, but only slightly.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes and then put in an air tight container.

This should keep for a week or so.

Remember, since this is fresh it doesn’t have any of the preservatives that you find in mass produced Granola, so it won’t keep as long.

This is a sort of trial post for me to attempt to add YouTube videos that have the recipes I've tried, and are successful at producing myself.

Let me know in the comments if this does or does not work for you.

This one, being about making sweetened condensed milk has been wildly successful for me, simply because I hate using any sort of canned or pre-manufactured product where there's even a remote possibility that some form of corn could be used, and let's face it, here in America, if it can be used, it will be used.

This should help you to avoid corn syrup in recipes that call for sweetened condensed milk in them, like pies, cakes, and, as mentioned in this video, ice cream, which once you consider corn off the table for you or a loved one, most store bought ice cream is non consumable.

Now brown sugar is made up of just two ingredients, plain white sugar and molasses, a byproduct of the whitening of sugar.

The only problem with many molasses’ on store shelves is that they include corn syrup or High Fructose Corn Syrup to lower the cost, not to you, the consumer, but to the manufacturer.

As such, for me at least, being highly allergic to corn means I can't simply grab a bottle of molasses and go to town with it.

I need to research it by either looking it up, or actually getting on the phone with the manufacturer to ask.

If they hem and holler and avoid answering the question, I simply avoid using their product.

To be frank about it, because corn is not seen as an allergenic, most companies will avoid listing it if they can, and often do.

So, how do you actually make brown sugar at home?

It's easy, to a cup of sugar in a bowl, add 1 Tbsp of molasses if you want light brown sugar, 2 Tbsp if you're looking for dark.

Now, one thing I've added to my kitchen repertoire in recent years is latex gloves, and it I'm going to be doing anything that involves getting hands dirty, I put one on either the hand about to get messy, or both hands, and for this use, I recommend both hands.

Now get in there and mix, by first making sure the molasses is covered with sugar and slowly breaking the molasses clump up.

It should take around 2-3 minutes before the sugar turns into what you would normally thing brown sugar should look like.

Now just funnel it into a qurtsizes mason jar and use it as you would normal brown sugar.

Best part about this?

Everyone has a bottle of molasses sitting in their cupboard from the holiday season they never get around to using until next holiday season and now you have a use for it instead of spending $5 at the store for a box that will clump up on you as soon as you reach for it.

Light Brown sugar - 1 cup of sugar + 1 Tbsp of Molasses

Dark Brown sugar - 1 cup of sugar + 2 Tbsp of Molasses

Now, you have to understand it's not cheaper than what you can purchase in the store, but it's on par for the cost and worlds better tasting, and the total time invested is less than 30 minutes.

But this recipe does call for a relatively expensive kitchen appliance that would at first seem an extravegance, but what you will soon find is an almost unparalleled investment as you begin to make your way with it, a Kitchenaid stand mixer.

Now this mixer I had difficulty in finding a justification for ponying up the significant cost of acquiring, but, looking back on it, I wish I had purchased much earlier.

You see one on every, not just many, but EVERY cooking show you've ever watched, and there's a reason for this.

A stand mixer is an essential part of any kitchen it's a part of, and much more versatile than it first seems.

There are a ton of different attachments that you can get for it, none the best device for what they do, but they all start at good and go up from there.

And once you start using it, what you spent on it in the first place melts into the amount of money you will save down the road by using it, and two of those items are Butter and Buttermilk as you'll soon see.

The other thing you'll need for the recipe is Heavy Cream, preferably one that contains at least 36% fat.

Now if you're worried about your fat intake, remember, that has dropped dramatically once you had to avoid any and all products that contain corn because a vast majority of your fat intake came from those foods.

Besides, we're not talking about health food here, we're talking about avoiding corn.

And I can't separate making butter from making buttermilk because all you're really doing to make both is separating one from the other.

So grab your stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment and throw them in the fridge for an hour to get them cold.

Then install them both on the mixer and pour in your cream (portions don't really matter here, but don't fill the bowl more than a quarter full or you'll have a mess on your hands).

Begin the mixer on level 1, and once you start to have a good froth going turn it up to level 3 and let it go for a few minutes until the whipped cream begins to thicken then crank it up to 6 or 7 and let it go.

Scrap down the bowl with a rubber or silicone paddle after a few minutes.

While that is going, grab a large bowl and fill it with ice water, and I mean water with chunks of ice, you need it to be as cold as possible.

Also grab a cheese cloth and a large strainer and another wide bowl and line the strainer with the cheesecloth and place it over the empty bowl.

Keep a watch on the mixer as around the 10 minute the butter will start magically separating from the buttermilk and the whipped cream foam will give way to butter and buttermilk and start to slosh away in the bowl.

You'll know when it's time to turn off the mixer once the splashes start hitting thee counter instead of the side of the bowl.

Then pour everything through the cheesecloth strainer making sure the butter goes into the cheesecloth.

Once the buttermilk drains through the cheese cloth, fold the cheesecloth over and dunk it into the bowl of ice water and begin to massage the butter, using you palms for pressure for around 30 seconds to a minute, or until the butter stops releasing buttermilk into the water.

At this point you can shape the butter however you like or even add other ingredients to it if you’re looking to make a compound butter.

Skies the limit here.

From here on out treat it as you would any other butter, however know this, because it doesn't have those preservatives you would normally get in a storebought stick, it won't last as long.

Returning to the bowl of buttermilk, jar it up and throw it into the fridge and allow it at least 8 hours to sit before it has the same consistency of buttermilk you get at the store.

And remember it is NOT cultured so it won't have that almost sour buttermilk flavor you're used to, it'll taste much fresher than that.

I you want you can inoculate it with sourdough culture starter, just make sure whatever you use for that doesn't contain corn starch.

And that's it, that's all it takes to make your own fresh butter and buttermilk.

Learning how to make it seems difficult at first, and it can be, especially if you want to make it in the traditional way.

I've spend countless hours whisking away, attempting to emulsify the proteins of the egg with the oil, and my arm has gotten to the point where it feels like it's about to fall off.

Then it occured to me that maybe there might be an easier way.

So, as most now do when searching for a better way, I decided to enter Google University to search for an easier method.

I found a few that utilize a Kitchenaid Stand mixer with the whisk attachment, which basically does all the whisking for you, but still leaves you at the mercy of a broken emulsion if you're not careful.

Then I stumbled across a recipe that took the half hour project and made it in less time than having to wait for a microwave to bring a cup of water to a boil!

It requires the use of a stick blender and the measuring cup that comes with it, that's all!

If you do not still have the measuring cup, you can use any glass or container that is just wide enough to be able to firmly place the bottom of the blend on the bottom of the container as called for in Step 2.

As long as you have an egg and lemon on hand, you will have mayonnaise at the ready.

That assumes you have a fully stocked pantry, which, if you're trying to cook without corn you probably already have without thinking.

Now, this recipe calls for a dab of mustard, which can be made at home, and a recipe for that will be available shortly through this substack, however I haven't seen a mustard that utilizes corn on the shelf at the local market, so if you have a container of French's, you're good to go with that one.

This recipe also calls for oil.

For the oil, you want to use what is called a “neutral-flavored” oil, or one that will not impart its own flavor. I recommend Avacado or Grapeseed, as those don't have corn in them.

And as far as eggs go, the fresher the better.

Mayonnaise Recipe

1 egg

1 cup oil

1 Tbsp (14.4g) lemon juice

1 tsp (4.8g) vinegar (preferably white)

1/4 tsp (1g) mustard

1/4 tsp (1g) salt

Step 1 - Into the measuring container, add the egg, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and salt, then pour the oil over.

Step 2 - Insert the stick blender all the way down into the egg, and firmly on the bottom of the container.

Step 3 - Activate the blender while holding firmly to the bottom until the emulsion that forms has grown to the top of the oil.

Step 4 - Slowly begin to move up and down while keeping the blender submerged and until the entire mixer emulsifies.

Step 5 - Disengage the blender, remove and stir.

Step 6 - Serve

Remember to cover and refrigerate for up to a week before discarding.

With from scratch cooking, we have become used to to a more flavorful taste each and every time we eat.

Think of it as a benefit, one of the few, of having a corn allergy.

The following is a recipe I found quite by accident for an office as a way to say thank you to them.

Months later they were still raving about these cookies, so about every six months or so I like to whip up a batch for them as a way to keep them happy.

For all intents and purposes, the resulting cookie come out like a cookie shaped cupcake.

And the use of a scoop here is quite critical as it keeps the cookies themselves uniform in size, and is a technique you should really consider for all the cookies you make.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup lard

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup white sugar

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 egg

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¾ cup buttermilk

• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  ---

Mix all together in a bowl or stand mixer and mix.

After mixing, cover and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

While the mix is cooling, pre-heat the oven to 400F (200C).

Using a scoop, place four balls of dough on a cookie sheet relatively far apart, but equal distance from this other cookies as from the edge. Really what you are doing here is figuring out how large they will become when fully risen in the oven.

On the second pass you can crowd more on the sheet far enough away from each other so as to spread out without touching.

Place in the oven for 8-10 minutes, then remove, allow to cool on the sheet for about 2 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.

either serve as is or top them with a frosting (a recipe for which will be coming soon.

And the appetizers is usually top of the list.

Share

This is one recipe that you can make from scratch and will give you at least one thing that, while at a party, you can share.

Although the actual assembly takes less than 5 minutes, you will need to start by leaving out the cream cheese overnight prior so it is soft enough to mix as well as allow the flavors to mellow another 8 hours.

You can put this spread on anything, bread, crackers, or veggies, although this is a bit thinker than your average dip, so when serving it is advised to be at room temp.

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon dried parsley

• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme

• ¼ teaspoon dried basil

• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Put all into a bowl and mix.

Place back into the fridge for another 8 hours.

Be sure to remove for at least an hour prior to serving to allow it to come to room temp before serving.

It really is that simple.

And welcome to the holiday season!

Whether you celebrate Christmas with the smell of a pine tree standing in your home, Chanukah with the odor of Goose and Latke’s, or another holiday that your family celebrates in December, everybody gets that warm, down home feel when those scents start flowing.

For myself, it’s just not the holiday season without the odor of homemade apple spiced cider brimming in a crockpot.

It can be smelled throughout my place when I have company over for the holidays.

And it is super simple to make.

Grab your crock pot or slow cooker and fill it with the apple juice of your choice.

Here in America, it can be either apple juice or apple cider, as both are non alcoholic here in the US.

Overseas, however, the difference between Cider and juice is that Cider contains a certain percentage of alcohol, but don’t worry about that, we’ll get to that in a moment, fellow Americans.

To the liquid, add a combined 2 Tablespoons of whole All-spice berries, cinnamon (preferably whole and not ground), cloves, Nutmeg (again, not ground. I usually will have a nub or two from ones I have used for other recipes sitting in the jar. DO NOT USE a whole nutmeg in this.) a couple of shreds of orange peel (or another citrus fruit you have access to), and a ginger clove.

The amounts don’t need to be exact and should be adjusted for your family’s tastes.

Bonus points for those that have small cheese cloth bags to hold the spices in so that they are not floating around in the liquid when it’s time to drink.

Do this in the morning before everyone arrives and set it on low.

By the evening time your home will be transformed into a holiday wonderland.

You can also drink it cold by putting it over ice, or warm by pouring it into a mug.

And parents, I hinted at this earlier, you can turn these into adult cocktails by adding in a shot of Apple Jack liquor.

Try this once, and I dare you to not do it again in the future, it just sets the mood perfectly.

However, I don’t know about you, but I get a little skittish when it comes to anything premanufactured that is sweetened.

And this recipe is not that difficult to make, but I would recommend you try to make it at least a couple days prior to needing it if you haven’t made it before, just so you have a good batch ready to go.

Ingredients

800g Whole Milk
110g Heavy Cream
230g Sugar

Into a decent sized pot whisk together all to combine, then put over medium heat.

Remember, milk is loaded with proteins, so it WILL bubble up quite dramatically.

Although you do not need to continuously whisk it, don’t let it go for more than a minute, at most, between whisks as it is coming up to temp or else it will burn.

Once it starts to boil, start a timer for 25 minutes, although use your judgement as the final determination.

It should boil down to about a cup and a half and turn a light golden brown color.

Once it looks good, remove from the heat and pour into a jar and seal it, I like to use a quart sized mason jar for this.

It shouldn’t have to be refrigerated, but I like to do that just to be safe, after all, food made from scratch does not last as long and the premade shelf stable stuff, not by a long shot.

That’s it!

That’s all that’s needed to make your own Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk.

And here you thought it was going to be a laborious process, didn’t you?

And another thing, how much did it actually cost?

Now, the next time you are in the store, check out what they’re charging for a small can of the stuff.

That’s the great thing about cooking from scratch, it saves on the pocketbook.

Now I have seen quite a few clone attempts for this fairly peculiar Garlic Bread Recipe, and none of the ones I attempted were close.

Some of them attempted to substitute Kraft Mac and Cheese powder for the cheddar cheese powder, some completely ignored the the flavor of the smoked Paprika, and some of them didn’t include the various little steps involved in creating an actual clone.

They were close, but painfully missed the mark.

This is a garlic bread that I grew up eating and loving.

our family would have it along side steaks and baked potatoes.

And this is, hands down, the single best garlic bread I’ve ever had, and you too came make it yourself.

And the best part?

it has zero corn in it if you make the sourdough from scratch, although this recipe does not address that part.

1 loaf of sourdough bread, sliced in half (usually found in the deli section of the local grocery store)

1/2 stick butter (use only butter, and room temp, I leave mine out overnight)

2 teaspoons jarred chopped garlic

1/3 cup of Hooser Hill Farm Cheddar Cheese Powder (available on Amazon)

1/4 cup Kraft Parmesan
2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika (MUST be smoked, not regular)

Mix the garlic and butter in a ramekin.

Put the the cheddar cheese, parmesan, and paprika in a quart sized mason jar, or anything sealable and shake to combine, taking car to make sure it collects into small clumps. DO NOT smooth those out.

Slice the bread into a top and bottom.

Spread the garlic butter evenly on to all parts of the bread.

Pour the cheddar cheese mix evenly over the spread.

Wrap both sections with aluminum foil by placing both halves side by side on a sheet of aluminum foil, with some space between the halves to be able to fold the loaves together after you have taken the outside edges and fold them over the top of the cheese spread.

place into an oven for 15 minutes at 350 F

Remove from the oven and crank up to broil.

Once up to temp, open up the loaf and remove the foil.

Place the loaves onto a cookie sheet and place on the top rack under the broiler.

Broil for 30 seconds, rotate, and broil again for 30 seconds until some of the edges of the cheese blacken, but the top is still mostly orange.

Remove and slice on the bias, and serve

It took me over 15 years to hack this recipe, but at this point, I would put in front of anyone and challenge them to figure out if it is real, or a clone.

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Add to that it’s versatility as both a supper side dish as well as a Breakfast one, with only minor differences.

This recipe dates back to the mid 1700’s as a recipe for a dripping pudding.

Now if you’ve never heard of it or had it before, it’s very similar to a popover, where the very loose dough puffs rather dramatically when it cooks.

It depends, as the original recipe suggests, on drippings, or the fat that renders out of the meat during a long roast, which is why it is usually served at dinner time with a rib roast.

It stems from Great Britain as a way to extend all of the parts that are cooked.

Remember, in days of yore, people used all the parts of nearly everything they could gain from food stuffs.

They weren’t as finicky as people today are.

If it was edible, it most likely got eaten, even the parts we now a days simply throw away.

(Hint - Soups used to contain many of the parts we would now find “inedible”.)

But getting back to the subject at hand, the Yorkshire pudding starts out with around two or 3 Tbsp of rendered fat from the roast in a casserole dish.

Place that dish into a 425 F oven while you prepare the mix.

Set a timer for 15 minutes to allow the dish to come up to temperature.

Then, in another bowl or blender mix together 3 eggs, 200g milk (preferably whole milk although skim milk and even water can be used), 100g AP Flour, and a pinch of salt.

Mix together until very smooth, if doing by hand a whisk helps a lot, if in a blender, then pulse about 5-6 times.

After the timer goes off, make sure the oven is up to temp, and carefully remove the dish from the oven.

Make sure you use a towel or other cloth to keep the counter from burning and pour the mix into the dish, careful as you return it to the oven for 22-26 minutes.

When the edges have turned dark brown, remove it from the oven and allow the center to collapse.

Remove the cooked mix from the dish careful about the bottom sticking to the dish, even though it was coated in rendered fat, and serve.

If you are not cooking this to go with a large roast, you can substitute the fat with lard.

And if you would like to serve it for breakfast you can add 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 Tbsp Vanilla extract with just a pinch of cinnamon to the mix prior to blending.

Also, the egg is CRITICAL to create the rise on this dish, so don’t think you can skip that ingredient and come anywhere close.