Diane - A word of warning on the pecans...they will not keep long if they are cracked unless you freeze them. Of course that may not be a problem, if you are eating them that fast. LOL The reason that I know this is that my niece gave me a bag of cracked ones one time and I left them in the bag for a little too long. One day I opened the door to the room where they were and I had about a thousand littles moths flying around. They had hatched out and been well fed in the bag of pecans. Diane - You have come to the right place for the piecrust. I cannot even stand the thought of using lard and I think it would be way to much trouble if I had to do the frozen chipped butter thing, or the ice water thing that some people do. Warning: You are going to think this ingredient list looks funny, but give it a try. Make sure you have waxed paper. 2 cups flour (scant) 1 teaspon salt 1/2 cup cooking oil 1/4 cup buttermilk You can stir this with a spoon and it should be a soft dough. It will be much softer to roll out than most pie crusts. The trick is in handling the crust, so read this part carefully. Take out a little more than half for the bottom crust and place it between two sheets of waxed paper. Roll out with a rolling pen. After you have rolled it to the proper thickness, remove the top sheet of paper by carefully pulling it from one side. Lay it back down on the dough again. That was just to release it from the paper and make it release better later on. With both sheets back in place, flip the entire thing over so the bottom piece of paper is now the top piece. Remove the paper that is now on top and set it aside. Now here is the tricky part. Pick up the dough, still on the paper, by using both hands placed about 2/3 back on the crust and your pie pan in front of you. Let 2/3 hang toward you and let the 1/3 drop back over your hands. Starting with the 2/3 part, place it in your pan with the paper still attached. As you lay it down, the paper is now on top. Now slowly peel off the paper. This sounds like it slow process, but it really isn't after you get the hang of handling the dough. If you have a problem, just patch it. Since you didn't add more flour in the rolling out process, you can throw the scraps back into the bowl and use them as part of the next crust. I have quadrupled this recipe several times without any difficulty but I would suggest you make it as a single pie the first time so you know how the dough should feel. I predict you will never go back, once you have tried this one. Very little mess to clean up since the rolling pin never touched the crust, and there is no flour mess to contend with.

Deanna, that was my recipe all right. Grandma made it when I was growing up and it was always one of my favorites. Soonergrandmom, I don't know about the nuts changing texture, I almost never add the nuts because I don't like nuts baked in things. Not in banana bread or in cookies or in that hot fudge pudding cake, not even in fudge. Odd, I suppose, since I like nuts by themselves. Hmmm..... OK, a cake recipe for that 8x8 pan. Oh yeah, gingerbread! I just love it, and I love maple too, so this was right up my alley.... OLD-FASHIONED GINGERBREAD WITH MAPLE WHIPPED CREAM Yields one 8x8 inch cake. If you like, dust the gingerbread with confectioners' sugar and present it on a platter. It's homey enough though to serve straight from the baking dish. 1-3/4 cups plus 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda 2-1/4 tsp. ground ginger 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground cloves Pinch salt 5 Tbs. butter, softened at room temperature 1/3 cup sugar 1 large egg 3/4 cup dark molasses 3/4 cup cold water 1 cup heavy cream (not ultra pasteurized, if possible) 1/4 cup maple syrup Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8x8 inch cake pan. Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pour in the molasses in a slow, steady stream, beating all the while. Add half of the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until well combined. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Slowly pour in the cold water and stir until well incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan about 1 hour before serving. Beat the cream until thickened. Slowly pour in the syrup and continue beating until the cream holds soft peaks. Cut the cake into squares; serve with the whipped cream. I also use a small pan like that 8x8 pan for fruit cobblers and crisps, since there are only Ashley and I here. Grandma's Blueberry Crisp would fit in nicely, can be adapted to use apples, peaches or cherries or whatever else you like and can get readily. I use frozen fruit all winter to make it too. Blueberry Crisp-Grandmas ================ 3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, unsweetened 2 tbls lemon juice 2/3 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup quick oats 1/3 cup butter, softened 3/4 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt . Heat oven to 375. Arrange berries in ungreased square baking dish (8 inch) and sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine remaining ingredients until crumbly. (I use a pastry blender, grandma used two knives). Crumble topping over berries and bake until topping is lightly browned and berries are hot, about 30 minutes. Makes 4-6 servings. Annie

Have you tried a Costco? Restaurants use paper "souffle cups" in various sizes and some of the smaller ones buy them at the warehouse stores. Usually in tubes of 100 or 250 depending on the size.

This is a classic British recipe I've used for years. DH is a big fruit cake fan (me, not so much, or at all, even) so I make this once a year. It keeps well and you don't eat a big slice so it lasts well too. This makes a fairly large, dark cake (10" square) but it keeps for months. You could also cut it down or bake it in smaller tins. Cher's Christmas Cake Recipe 2lb currants 12 oz white raisins 12 oz dark raisins 4 oz candied cherries, quartered 6 tablespoons brandy (I use Irish whiskey as that's DH's tipple) 1lb all purpose flour 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 tsp mixed spice (you could sub pumpkin pie spice if you wanted, I think) 1lb butter 1 lb soft dark brown sugar 8 eggs 4 oz blanched almonds, chopped 1 1/2 tablespoons black treacle/dark molasses grated rind of 2 lemons grated rind of 2 oranges Baking time 4-5 1/2 hours approx The night before: Place dried and candied fruit and grated rinds into a bowl with the alcohol and cover. Leave overnight. On the day: Line a 10" square 3" deep pan with 2-3 layers of paper and grease well. Preheat oven to 275F. Sift together the flout and spices. Cream the butter and sugat until light and fluffy. Beat eggs and add to the creamed mixture a little at a time, adding a little flour if it looks like curdling. Gently fold in the flour then stir in the soaked fruit and the nuts. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread the top smooth with the back of a spoon. You can decorate this with a pattern of blanched almonds laid very lightly over the top, if you're not icing the cake (if you were you would use royal icing, or fondant). Cut a square of greased paper to cover the top, with a hole about the size of a walnut in the centre to let the steam out. Place in the oven to bake. Do not peek for at least 4 hours or it may fall in the middle. When it is fully bakes, remove the cake from the oven and let it get cold in the tin. When it is cold, remove the cake from the tin and place in an airtight storage container. You can "feed" the fruit cake with more alcohol ever two or three days, sprinkling a few teaspoons over the cake for about three weeks. I admit I tend to be a bit heavy handed with the extra alcohol, even though we're not big drinkers :-) Enjoy!