Skor Cookies

These Cookies are delicious, super soft but thin, with a little crunch from the Skor (Heath) Bars. 

Jodi's siblings Marcus and Sarah are away at school and playing hockey, this is her most requested care package item from the two of them. Even when Sarah would go on hockey trips while she was still living in the Valley she would still request a batch of Skor Cookies to remind her of home.

And we all know how we at the Nostalgic Cook like to be reminded of home, so why would we not make Skor cookies. These will surely remind you of home or grandma's home. We are firm believers in  cookies and milk, you definitely can't have one without the other.


2 1/4 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 C sugar
1 C butter, softened
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 C skor chips or heath bar chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour and baking soda, set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine sugar, butter, egg and vanilla.

Add flour mixture into sugar mixture gradually. When mixed well, add Skor chips. drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Bake for 8-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Leave on for a minute or two until cookies are firm enough to remove to wire rack.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

See absolutely perfect to be placed in a small box and sent to some loved ones, even if they live just next door.

Chicken Posole

Chicken Posole is an absolutely divine cold weather soup. And it is super simple to put together so it could even be done on a weeknight. 

A squeeze of lime, sprinkle of cheese, dollop of sour cream, diced onions, avocado and cilantro. 

Ingredients 

6 cups chicken stock (leave aside 1/2 cup)

2 dried ancho chilies, rehydrated for 45.       
    mins in hot water 
1(28oz) can hominy
1 (14oz) can hominy
Shredded rotisserie chicken

Handful of cilantro, chopped

Toppings

1 lime

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

1/2 onion 

radishes

cabbage

tortilla chips or corn tortillas 

Directions

Rehydrate chilies in a small saucepan of simmering water or soak in a bowl of with boiled water.

Add chicken stock (1/2 cup reserved) hominy and chicken to a pot. Let simmer.

When chilies have softened, remove stems and seeds. Place in blender with the reserved chicken stock. Blend until smooth. Add puree to pot. Simmer a few minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste (usually about 1 tsp salt). Add cilantro. Serve.

*add more or less hominy, chicken or stock. If I add more stock (more soupy) I still only use only 2 chilies.

Serve with onion, sour cream, tortilla chips, grated cheese, lime wedges, radishes and cabbage. 

Grandma Ople's Apple pie

Any recipe that has Grandma in the title you know it's going to be a good one. This one is no exception, it is divine. I was once in a pie baking contest and lost to this recipe, so I had to try it. Since then I have never turned back. No pie tastes as good as this recipe that I was given by my friend Piper Anderson. This pie, is made differently from any other apple pie I have made, you make the crust and fill it with the plain apples and then make a caramel sauce to drizzle over it, the tartness of the Granny Smith apples combined with the sweetness of the caramel sauce is out of this world, the amount of butter you use also sweetens the deal.

 Pie Crust:
  3 C All-purpose flour
  1/4 C sugar
  1/2 tsp table salt
  3/4 C unsalted butter (cold & cubed)
  1/2 C shortening
  3/4-1 C ice cold water
  1 tsp distilled white vinegar

Stir together flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter cut into the butter and shortening until it is peas sized.

In a cup combine the water and the vinegar then while stirring gently slowly add the water to the flour/butter mixture, adding only enough to hold the dough together. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least an hour (at this point you can freeze it and thaw in the fridge before rolling).

Roll out on a lightly floured surface being careful to handle the dough as little as possible to avoid over working it.

Pie Filling:
  1/2 C unsalted butter
  3 T All-purpose flour
  1/2 C white sugar
  1/2 C packed brown sugar
  1/4 C water
  8 Granny Smith apples

Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mound slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust.

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste, add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil . Reduce temperature and simmer for 5 minutes.

Gently pour the sugar and butter mixture over the crust and into the apples, pour slowly so it doesn't run off.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F, and continue baking for 35-45 minutes.

Cucumber Sandwiches

Cucumber sandwiches are truly the lightest most divine sandwich, perfect for a spring day. They only require a few ingredients and a couple of minutes. Even if you don't have all the ingredients you can always substitute. Sprouts are also a great addition that we didn't have on hand but we love adding them. 

Ingredients:

 bread

 laughing cow cheese (any flavor) 

 cucumber 

 avocado

 salt and pepper

Directions: 

 Spread the laughing cow wedge onto your bread, add sliced cucumbers. Mash the acocados but not too much you want it to be a little chunky, add salt and pepper to taste. Add the avocado to the sandwich. And serve. 

Irish Soft-boiled Eggs and Soldiers

 Soft boiled eggs and soldiers an Irish breakfast staple

Ingredients:
eggs
bread
butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place eggs in a pot and add enough cold water to cover, turn heat to high. Set timer for 9 mins. Water will come to a boil continue cooking until timer goes off, about 2 minutes.  Drain water and run the eggs under cool water to stop the egg from cooking through. Place in egg cup and cut off the top portion of the egg, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cook toast as desired, butter and cut into strips.

 Dip toast into eggs and enjoy.

Tuna Tetrazzini

This recipe is the definition of classic comfort food, it's perfect for a cloudy day while snuggling with the ones you love. Mind you we haven't had many of those days this year this recipe happened to land on the perfect day in need of some warm comfort food.

Tuna Tetrazzini

Ingredients
1 1/2 C chopped onions
1 1/2 C frozen peas
6 T unsalted butter
1 tsp minced garlic
1 lb white button mushrooms, ends trimmed, sliced
1 1/2 tsp Emeril Esence, recipe follows
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C dry white wine, can substitute with additional chicken stock
2 C chicken stock
1 3/4 C. heavy cream
16 oz wide egg noodles
4 (6-oz) cans of solid tuna
1 T chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C bread crumbs

Directions
Saute the onions in 6 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over high heat until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add the mushrooms, Essence, and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft and have released their liquid, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and chicken stock and cook, stirring, until smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and very flavorful, 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the egg noodles until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and set aside. Spray casserole dish with non-stick spray and set aside.

When the sauce has thickened, add the noodles, tuna, peas, parsley, salt, black pepper, and Parmesan to the skillet and stir until thoroughly combined. Transfer to the prepared casserole and top with the bread crumbs. Bake uncovered until bubbly and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Emeril's ESSENCE
2 1/2 T paprika
2 T salt
2 T garlic powder
1 T black pepper
1 T onion powder
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
yields 2/3 c

Raisin Scones and Irish Nana's Blackberry Jam

These scones are essentially glorified biscuits, they are lightly sweetened and the raisins incorporate just the right amount of chewy texture. The blackberry jam is sweet with a little bit of tart and a hint of warmth from the cloves. Jodi says these go great with tea and I enjoy them with a glass of ice cold milk.

Raisin Scones
Ingredients

• 4 C. plus 1 T flour 

• 2 T. sugar plus extra for sprinkling 

• 2 T. baking powder 

• 2 tsp. kosher salt 

• 3/4 lb cold unsalted butter, diced 

• 4 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 C. cold heavy cream 

• 3/4 C. raisins, heaping 

• 1 extra-large egg beaten with 2 T milk or water, for egg wash

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine 4 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, and salt in an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment. Blend in the cold butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is pea-sized. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add to the flour/butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Combine the raisins and 1 tablespoons flour and then add to the dough and mix quickly. The dough will be a bit sticky

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and be sure it is well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough out to 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick. Cut into squares and then diagonally to make triangles. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the outsides are crisp and the insides are cooked

Irish Nana's Blackberry Jam 
Ingredients

• 1 qt. fresh ripe blackberries, hulled 
• 1/2 c superfine sugar 
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice 
• 3 cloves 

Directions 
Put the blackberries in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a large skillet and stir in the sugar, lemon juice and cloves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, and cook until the jam is thickened about 10 minutes. Pick out cloves. Transfer to a bowl and let come to room temperature.

Hulling the blackberries.