Sweet and Salty Toffee Crackers!

 

Sometimes genius hits!  This week after realizing I was almost out of brown sugar, one of the quickest and easiest desserts was created in under fifteen minutes. The results were delicious and as our staff at school said simply addicting.  These Sweet and Salty Toffee Crackers are one of my newest dessert creations that will be at every holiday meal from now on.

The secret ingredient to these little gems are the Heath Toffee Bits - Bit 'O Brickel Toffee Bits that top off the saltine crackers.  Just recently my husband and I have discovered Heath Bars and we love them and especially in the snack size bars.  Adding these little sugary bits made specifically for baking to the crackers truly took them over the top in flavor!

 



I used unsalted butter for the best results, but you could substitute with margarine instead.  The combination of brown and white sugars worked as well along with the vanilla to flavor them.  And for the saltine crackers the cheapest costing brand worked just fine.

These crackers will keep up to two weeks covered in an airtight container and would be perfect for the holidays ahead.

So the next time you are needing a delicious, quick and easy dessert to take to a party or just make for yourself or family, here is the perfect recipe.  I literally threw this together before taking my daughter to school in fifteen minutes. You can't get any easier than that. The extra cooking time in the oven with the heat turned off was a result of her needing to be at school and using the oven timer to stop the cooking as I drove away. 

Did I tell you how much I love my cooking timer on my oven? It's a must for busy cooks and times that take you away from your kitchen. 

Click here for the recipe for The Ranch Kitchen's

Sweet and Salty Toffee Crackers!

It's like I said...you never know when genius will hit.  Sometimes it's because you are a last minute, late to school mom who needs a dessert for a potluck at school and whammo you've created something wonderful! 

This was my genius for the week.  It doesn't happen often! 

Enjoy!

Alise

 

Memorial Day Recipe Suggestions!

Memorial Day will soon be here and our thoughts range from respecting those who fought for our freedom and for those who still do.  We love this holiday in our family and the time to enjoy a long weekend either at the lake or just at home for a long break. 

School is almost out in Texas and the rains continue to come. Today was in the 60's and my garden and flours on our porch have never been greener or with more blooms. Our tomatoes are suffering some due to lack of sunshine and friends won't get their gift sacks if it doesn't come out soon.  Not that I am complaining about the great rain....but we are all reaching our saturation point and rivers and streams are starting to run over!

This weekend whether you stay at home or on a mini vacation with family and friends at the lake, beach, or camping in the woods all these recipes can be easily adapted to fit in a foil pan or foil packets or chilled in your coolers or refrigerator.  All these recipes are family favorite because most of all they aren't 'fussy' to make and left overs are even better!

Craig's UnKabobs

 

From my good friends the Berans of Kansas these can be cooked on or off the Kabob skewers!

The Ranch Kitchen's Mojito Lime Fajitas

 

Oh my how good these are...and easy to make!  Cook enough steak the night before to

use for these fajitas the next night or use brisket!

 

 

 

Garden Fresh Pasta Salad

 

My daughter Ilissa's most requested pasta everytime she comes home!

 

 

 

Sure Champ VitaFerm Enchiladas

 

My version of King Ranch Chicken Enchiladas.....just wish my picture was better....I'll work on that!  :o)

 

 

 

Stuffed Jalapeno and Cheese Chicken

 

A special meal that we enjoy for occassions when we are all home!

 

 

 

Roasted Garden Squash and Zucchini

 

Low calorie with only a few extra ingredients makes this recipe a hit with

zucchini and crook or staight neck squash.

 

 

 

Bethany's Magic Cookie Bars

 

Just made these for our big weekend and for my teachers at work today!  Proud of our students and teachers for their state testing results!  YOU ALL ROCK!  Love you all!  Thanks to my

daughter Bethany these are always a hit! And for daughter Audrey

I do half the pan without coconut.  You can add nuts, but we don't care for them.

 

 

 

 

Hope you'll give these recipes a try and check out more of them from myself, family and friends on my The Ranch Kitchen site.  Enjoy your weekend and remember why we celebrate it by thanking a veteran or member of our armed services!

Alise @ The Ranch Kitchen
 

Fort Worth Stock Show, National Hereford Show Weekend & Sure Champ's 'Sweet Treats' Blog Post

Our January was full once again this year and we love it that way.  It's completely exhausting and we miss a little bit of school and work, but the memories we make will be priceless one day. 

It's all business in the ring for our girls and especially Audrey!

Starting out with with the Fort Worth Jr. Livestock Show, our Audrey showed her Hereford heifer NH Miss Anabelle to much success.  Fort Worth has never been the easiest show for us to even place well in.  We've had some last, second to last, and more fourths, thirds and fifth places than I'd like to remember.  But with those finishes are the learning curve and realization that we don't win them all and it's one judges opinion for one day in the ring.  I want to make a tshirt one day that simply states.... 'Different Judge...Different Day.  Today I was second, tomorrow Grand Champion!' 

Showing NH Miss Anabelle to a Division Championship!

That exact qoute pretty much sums up my middle daugther Bethany's freshmen year when a second place heifer in Fort Worth garnered a Grand Champion win in Houston. Different judge, different day for sure and we realize with each show that this is just how it is.  It's not about the ribbons, but how you got there with your family in tow.

So this year we were thrilled with our first Division Championship in the Senior Hereford Heifer with Audrey's heifer.  It'll be Anabelle's last show as she is heavy bred, but she has been the type of heifer we felt confident in Audrey showing win or lose because of her temperment. 

Audrey at the Fort Worth Jr. Hereford Livestock Show.

A bit weary and with the 'Fort Worth Crud' (that's the term for a cold from the show barn), we turned around the next weekend and returned to Cowtown for the National Hereford Show weekend with a full line up of our Texas Hereford & Polled Association, Texas Hereford Auxiliary, and Texas Pollette meetings.  Audrey serves this year as our Texas Hereford Sweetheart and got to assist with the Commercial Heifer Show, Replacement Heifer Sale, Cowtown Select Sale and our annual meetings all weekend long. 

I was extremley honored and humbled to be asked to be the speaker at my Texas Hereford Auxiliary Annual Meeting and tell about the process I went through beginning my The Ranch Kitchen Blog and adding my additional recipe site.  It was fun to get to tell about my recent Chobani Greek Yogurt  - #Delicious Bowl challenge for the Super Bowl and to also thank them all for their support over the years for my blog and site.  Special thanks goes to Tonya Perez and Nia Hill of Agtown for helping me created my additional recipe site to seamlessly merge with my blog.  These families, our events and their impact on my cooking is undeniable.  It's the truest compliment when a Hereford junior like Ryon Cox continually tries my recipes while off at Texas A&M and messages to let me know.  And to my daughter's added surprise when their friends tell them, 'Hey, I made your mom's recipe!' 

It's also fun each year to know that my Chicken Spaghetti for a Crowd has become a favorite and expectation on Sunday for lunch.  It's certainly not the easiest thing to plan and cook to feed the mounds of people we do on this day, but it's filled hungry kids and dad's tummies and made memories we wouldn't trade for.

This batch of Chicken Spaghetti weighed seriously 60 pounds. Thank you Ryon for not dropping it!
As you said, you would have NEVER have lived it down!

 

This momma also enjoyed dolling up her newest teenager  Audrey in her new blazers, hat with crown and sash this weekend as Texas Hereford Sweetheart.  It's not always easy getting ready in a barn, but we've learned to adapt over the years and pull it off.  I'm so glad daddy doesn't mind all the 'hair and makeup' over these last 27 yeards of marriage and kuddos to him for being the most wonderful example of a husband, dad and friend. We celebrated 27 years the Thursday he left to go back up to the Open Show and I'm looking forward to many more ahead with God's will.

We loved having Ilissa's friend Stewart with us for the weekend! 

Hannah Schneider our Texas Hereford Queen and Audrey as our Texas Hereford Auxiliary Meeting. Hannah has been so great with Audrey!

Each Grand & Reserve winner this weekend
received this beautiful Henry rifle specially made for the
Texas Hereford Association.

All our Texas Hereford and Polled Queen's, Sweethearts and Princesses along with Katie Nolles our National Hereford Queen holding the National Hereford Women's Original Oil by Bud Snidow which
was auctioned off at the Cowtown Select Sale.

National Hereford Show Texas Hereford Royalty

 

Thanks for Jack Chastain for this family shot during the Texas Hereford Social.

Happily, we closed our weekend with a Reserve Division in the National Hereford Bull Show with our newest bull NH Bam Bam with half interest while there sold to Langford Hereford Ranch of Oklahoma.  Audrey loves her bull Bam Bam (can you tell she named him) and was not very happy with her father for the partnership until she realized she couldn't show him at our state and Jr. National Hereford Expo this summer. 

As a ranch we are very excited to have our bull show this next fall at the National Hereford Shows and are excited about our newest partnerships with Langford Herefords. 

NH Bam Bam recieves a first in class and Reserve Division at the National Hereford Show shown by Langford Herefords.

Had to snap this of my husband Scott.  Very rarely will you find him without
dirt or God knows what else on him. Hard working for sure and this picture
taken just after getting the cattle show ready!







Holding those Grand and Reserve banners.







Grand Champion Drive - with NH Bam Bam to your front far left.  Proud, proud moment!


This Monday, as soon as we arrived home and Audrey began to catch up on her homework and came down with the 'vicious virus' as I hate to call it, I sat down finally to finish my Sure Champ Blog for February.  I decided to share dessert recipes that we take to our stock shows each year that everyone seems to enjoy.  These are also recipes that I have made for Valentine's Day parties, and are easy to transport and keep well for the week in my big black 'meal' box on wheels.  Years ago my husband surprised me with my box for all my cooking aparatuses and home baked goods.  Because of it I'm more organized at shows and can do my part in serving our family and friends over a cookies or my Chicken Spaghetti for a Crowd. 

My Chicken Spaghetti for a Crowd with Bam Bam looking on. 

So now as I sit here blogging about my week, I realize yet again how very lucky we are to be a part of the agriculture and Herford family.  It's full of work, we spend probably way too many weeks and weekends away from home, but it's afforded our girls a work ethic and friendships that will carry them through their lives ahead. 

Friend Eric Debord, Scott and Steve our Ranch Manager
looking on as their kids show in the National Hereford Show.

Our next big show will be the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and I'm already planning toward it.  Warmer weather and spring break looks pretty good to this true southern girl who's a little tired of the cold winter we've experienced so far. 

Before the Grand Champion drive...one last moment to visit.



It was great having Katie Nolles back in Texas as our National Hereford Queen.  She did a wonderful job all weekend and always represents the Hereford breed so well!

 

So enjoy February and Valentines Day.  And if you are knee deep in stock show season like us, best of luck! 

And we hope you'll try some of the sweets on the Sure Champ blog Recipes from the Ranch post for this month entitled 'Sweet Treats for Your Sweetheart'.  None of these recipes are difficult to make and we promise you'll love them as much as we do.  It's been a lot of fun blogging for Sure Champ VitaFerm this last year! 

Click here for the Sure Champ's Recipes from the Ranch 'Sweet Treats for Your Sweetheart' February Blog post!

Happy Valentines Day from our ranch to yours!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

One of the very newest additions to our Hereford family is Bode, son of dear family friends Jason and Jaci at his first National Hereford Show in Fort Worth!  He was a trooper and slept through much of the show. 

Homemade Double Chocolate Fever Ice Cream

Homemade Double Chocolate Fever Ice Cream

This is one of my first guest blogs from my good friend Paula Acheson from Kansas!  She is a wife, mom, cancer survivor and cook extraordinaire!  She makes anything she does look easy and she is one of my biggest supporters of my blog.  I know that if Paula gives me a recipe it's 'golden' as they say.  Paula and I forged our friendship over the backs of our cattle stalls years ago while feeding our hungry state associations.  She shared with her the fruit cup recipe I have on my blog that you can find on the recipe page under Paula's Fruit Cups.  They are healthy and a refreshing treat for breakfast or anytime of the day. 

Paula gave me this recipe a couple of months back and I apologize for taking so long to get it in.  Today, we made our second batch of this ice cream with Devil's Food chocolate pudding mix and we are still licking the bowl. Last time we used vanilla pudding mix to equally good results!  I used a fine grade of Mexican vanilla that we think really made a difference and reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup.  The girls helped mince Hershey's bars into small bits and we place 1 1/2 bars into the mixture before we poured it into the ice cream maker.  With the Cuisinart we allowed the ice cream to freeze for 1 hour. 

Today I had to precious little helpers with my daughter Audrey and niece Zoe.  They love to help me cook and when I mentioned ice cream they ran screaming into the kitchen!  I used my Cuisinart Ice Cream and Sorbet machine that thanks to Paula I am finally using after 3 years in my cabinet! 

Paula's guest blog:

Its County Fair time here in central Kansas and the one thing we all look forward to at one of our evening get togethers is Sandy's Fresh Peach Homemade Ice Cream.  Gets everyone excited for one of our county 4-H's Annual Ice Cream Social that is the week end following the fair.  So many flavors to choose from you may just have to go back.

The girls nicknamed this ice cream because it is super chocolatey they say!

Homemade Ice Cream

2 1/2 c. sugar (I use less - taste it & use what your family likes) - today we used Devils Food (Alise)
1 Lg. or 2 Sm. boxes instant pudding (vanilla, chocolate, whatever you like)
4 cups heavy (whipping) cream (I also use less unless for a special occasion)
3 Tblsp. vanilla
Milk (I have used choc. milk for deeper choc. flavor

Mix sugar, pudding mix, cream, vanilla & part of milk in a mixing bowl. Pour into freezer can; add additional milk to fill can to within 3-4 inches of top. Place in freezer; start motor, add ice & salt (5:1 ratio) and freeze. When motor stops, remove paddle, drain excess water, add more salt & ice, cover with towels or blankets, & allow to ripen for several hours (or eat immediately if you must!). Makes 1 1/2 gal (6 qts).

Variations:


Peach: Best with big, juicy Colorado peaches in August/September! Cook 10 large very ripe peaches (peeled and diced) with some of the recipe's sugar until soft, then cool (or process in blender or food processor); proceed with vanilla recipe using 2 T. vanilla and 2 T.
almond extract.

Rocky Road: use choc. pudding, 16 oz. mini marshmallows,
16 oz. cocktail peanuts (chopped), 1 bag (10-12 oz.) mini choc. chips (cut back on sugar due to marshmallows). Very chunky.
Frosty: use choc. pudding, less sugar, add malted milk powder to taste.

Strawberry: mash very ripe strawberries & mix with a bit of sugar, allow to stand for 15-30 minutes to juice up, proceed with vanilla recipe.

Can make about any flavor you can dream up with this one.

Paula Acheson

Kansas Fair and Paula's friends enjoying the Peach Ice Cream!

 

It's finger licking good!

This is my ice cream maker without the top on.  You'll notice the extra milk added...just a tad!