Mexican Lasagna

$300 Red Velvet Cake

Preheat oven to 350
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
21/4 cup flour
1 tsp vinegar
1 oz red food coloring
1 oz water
2 tsp cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda

Cream shortening with sugar and eggs~ mix coloring with water and cocoa~add  to creamed mixture.
Mix flour, soda and salt together and add alternating with buttermilk to creamed mixture. Add vinegar and vanilla.  Beat until smooth
Bake 30 min in 2~9 inch pans.

Frosting

Taco Soup

Grandma Lou Lou's Divinity

Autumn Chowder

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup water
2 1/4 cups diced potatoes (with skins)
1 cup sliced carrots
2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillion
3 cups milk
2 - 16 ounce cans of drained whole kernel corn
1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons flour or cornsarch

Directions:

• Fry bacon until crisp, removed from pan and crumble
• Add onion to pan and brown
• Stir in water, potatoes, carrots and bouillion
• Simmr until potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes)
• Stir in milk, corn, salt and pepper
• Bring to simmer and add cheese
• Stir flour or cornstarch into 1/4 cup water, and add to chowder
• Simmer until cheese is melted, remove from heat, or set to low heat and stir frequently.

Tip: Once the chowder thickens, be sure to turn heat off or on a very low setting to keep the bottom from burning. Serve with slices of French bread or bread-sticks.

Chicken & Dumplings

• Chicken for stewing...this can be a whole chicken or two or pieces such as breasts
• Celery
• Onions
• Flour
• Eggs 
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Salt 
• Seasoning Salt

Rinse the chicken and skin it if you wish...the broth will be richer if you leave some skin on the chicken.

Place the chicken in a large stock pot and add water to cover.  I usually put in at least 6 stalks of celery and a large onion.  I season the water with the salts and pepper.  Bring this to a slow boil.  Once it has boiled....turn down the heat and simmer for several hours.

While the chicken is stewing, you can make the dough for the dumplings.  Take a few cups of the broth out of the pot and let it cool.

In a large bowl, you will take several cups of flour--making a pit in the middle of  the flour and add the eggs.  I would say for every three cups of flour you would want to add one egg. and about a cup of the cooled broth.  You will start to mix this up using either a wooden spoon or your hands.  This will start out as a sticky dough and you will most likely need to add more flour or broth as need to form a soft dough that is NOT sticky.

Once you have that dough ball formed.....you will roll it out on a large flat surface that has been thoroughly floured.  You will need to flour the top of your dough as well.  Roll this out until fairly thin....this will depend on how you like your dumplings.  The thicker they are, the longer they will need to cook.

Once this is rolled out, you can either use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut your dumplings. You can let them "dry" a little while before cooking.

Remove the chicken from the broth and let it cool before de-boning.  Bring the broth to a rapid boil and add the dumplings, stirring while you add them.  Keep this boil going while getting all the dumplings in the pot and let them cook at this rate for a few minutes and then you can turn it down to a simmer.

Let cook until the dumplings are cooked through. De-bone the chicken and either add to the pot or serve separately.