Here are a few recipes that I make using Buttermilk. As mentioned above, if you don't have buttermilk just add a little fresh squeezed lemon juice to your milk. Let it sit for a minute or two to thicken. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Almond Cake From Albufeira, Portugal ==================================== Bon Appetit, November 1977 1 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup melted butter cooled to room Temperature 2/3 cup sliced almonds Hot Almond Syrup (recipe follows) Hot Almond Syrup 3/4 cup granulated sugar 6 tablespoons water 1/2 teaspoon almond extract . Preheat oven to 350* F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Beat egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract together until smooth. Stir in melted butter. Add flour mixture and mix with spoon until nearly smooth. Turn into a buttered 9" springform pan. Bake until center of cake springs back when lightly touched, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven. While is hot, cover top with sliced almonds. Slowly pour Hot Almond Syrup even over, letting syrup soak into cake. Broil about 6" from heat until almonds are lightly toasted. Cool on rack 15 minutes. Using knife or spatula, loosen sides between pan and cake, then cool completely before releasing springform pan. Almond Syrup In 1-qt saucepan combine sugar and water. Boil until mixture reaches 220* F on candy thermometer*. Remove from heat and stir I almond extract. Edited: January 22nd, 2006 Be careful not to over cook the syrup or it will harden on top of the almonds rather than get absorbed into the cake. I don't use the thermometer. I just bring the syrup to a boil and cook for about one minute. There is so little syrup that it doesn't take long. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Oatmeal Pancakes ================ Http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001893dees_oat meal_pancakes.php Do you love oatmeal? Do you love pancakes? You should try them when they are one and the same. Seriously. Dee Johnston whipped up her favorite family recipe for a recent gathering of friends and this is now my new favorite pancake. Great smothered with butter and maple syrup (of course) and also leftover strawberries from strawberry shortcake. A little advanced planning is necessary as the oats must soak in buttermilk overnight. Yummmmm.... 2 cups oats (the regular kind - Old Fashioned or Quick, not steel-cut and not instant) 3 cups buttermilk 3 eggs, well beaten 1/2 cup flour 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder Dash salt 1 tablespoon peanut oil Butter or extra vegetable oil for the griddle Optional A basket of strawberries - stems removed, sliced, and macerated with 2 Tbsp of sugar for an hour, then slightly mashed Maple syrup Butter 1 Put oats into a large bowl, add the buttermilk. Let the oats soak in the buttermilk overnight. 2 Mix in the eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and peanut oil. Oatmeal-pancakes-1.jpg oatmeal-pancakes-2.jpg Oatmeal-pancakes-3.jpg 3 Then proceed as with any pancake recipe. Heat a flat iron surface - griddle or large pan - to medium high heat. Oil the pan with either a Tbsp of butter or vegetable oil. Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle to the desired size, usually about 5 or 6 inches wide. When air bubbles start to bubble up to the surface at the center of the pancakes (about 2-3 minutes), use a flat spatula to flip them over. After a minute, peak under one for doneness. When golden or darker golden brown, they are done. Note that cooking the second side takes only about half as long as the first side. And the second side doesn't brown as evenly as the first side. Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve. Serves 4-6. Serve with butter, maple syrup, and macerated strawberries. Country Biscuits ================ 2 cups of flour 1 Tablespoon of baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup shortening, lard, Crisco or butter (I use butter) 1 cup of milk (cream) or buttermilk if using buttermilk add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda) Optional. Add a little sugar if you prefer sweet rather than savory. Mix the flour with the baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter/shortening until it resembles coarse meal. Stir milk or cream in to flour mixture. Mix quickly with fork until dough comes together. Using hands gently pat the ingredients together. Fold over once or twice or even three times if necessary. Do not over-handle. Pat out to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board. Cut with biscuit cutters and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes at 450°F. TIP: Using your finger push a little dent into the middle of the biscuit. This helps the biscuit rise straight and prevents it from tipping over as it rises. If making cheese biscuits add the mustard and cayenne to the dry ingredients and add the cheese after the shortening has been cut into the flour. Tip: An easy way to cut the butter into the flour is to use a box grater. The large side of the grater makes the perfect size pieces of butter. Options: You can use any favourite cheese. Gorgonzola and other blue cheeses are wonderful with the addition of black pepper. Cheddar cheese is good with chives or green onions. Sometimes I add dry mustard and cayenne pepper. Or bacon or ham.

The next time you purchase a carton of buttermilk, use what you need for the recipe, and then freeze the rest in ice-cube trays. Store the ice cubes in the freezer, and use them whenever you need buttermilk. One ice cube is equal to about two tablespoons of liquid. But, since not all ice cubes were created equal, measure how much liquid can be stMaking Buttermilk Substitute There are several ways to make buttermilk substitute, and each one is easy. But, just like buttermilk, not all ingredients will be on hand, so itÂs smart to keep this list in your recipe book. You never know when youÂll need a buttermilk substitute when next you decide to start baking. Buttermilk Substitute Number One By adding acid in the form of either one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk, you can create buttermilk. Unfortunately, the rich tang that is found in true authentic buttermilk will not be present. Vinegar works best, but lemon juice will work in a pinch, so never discount it. Buttermilk Substitute Number Two Use the same amount of plain yogurt that you would need of buttermilk. Again, the tang found in buttermilk will not be present, but since yogurt is also rich the recipe will not suffer. Of course, youÂd never want to use flavored yogurt or yogurt with fruit, as that would change the entire recipe. Buttermilk Substitute Number Three Make a mixture of half plain yogurt and half whole milk. Sounds easy enough, doesnÂt it? And it will work, too. But, as noted above, buttermilk has a tang that is not easy to duplicate. You may want to add one half teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to this mixture as well. Buttermilk Substitute Number Four Milk. ThatÂs right, plain milk. Buttermilk is simply the liquid that is removed in the butter making process. Buttermilk is actually low in fat, which most people donÂt expect.

I hope this helps... Here's the recipe I use for lemon squares. 1 1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp AP flour 1/2 cup confectioner sugar 3/4 cup cold butter 4 eggs, beaten 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp baking power 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice Additional powdered sugar for garnish Combine 1 1/2 cup flour, powdered sugar and cut in the cold butter until crumbly. Press into a 9 x 13 greased pan. Bake for 15 to 20 mins until brown around the edges. Combine the other ingredients and pour over the baked crust. Bake 20 mins. Cool and cut into squares and sprinkle with powered sugar. Makes 24 to 36 squares. Linda P

Sheesh, my father told my grandmother (his mother in law) to do that with her sour cream sugar cookies, which did him out of cookies! My grandfather only liked the first cuts, and dad got the second cuts, so after dad told grandma to just cut them square, he didn't get as many cookies! :) Carolb_w_f, it isn't so much flavor, as mine are good taste wise. It's the fluffy texture that I am looking for. That tender center, not really flaky, with the slightly crisp top and bottom. I will eventually get all three posted recipes tested. Today is going to be a lazy day. It is Fat Tuesday, and I have been to the Polish Bakery to get our Pazcky. Not sure I spelled that correctly, but it is pronounced Poonchki. DH is Polish. DS has worked for the bakery for about 3 years now, and as he finally got a decent paying full time job in maintenance at a Senior Living facility that he really loves, his last day was last Sunday. It has been tradition for the last 5 years to go stand in line (out the door and down the sidewalk) the morning of Fat Tuesday for Pazcky. They bring in accordian players, one of the local news channels, and usually a local radio station in the morning. They set up a tent right outside the door in the parking lot with patio heaters for the line to wind in and out of to help us stay warm. Boss is quite often to be found socializing with the customers while offering shots of Vodka and samples of fresh warm Pazcky. They also had a Polish king and queen socializing and dancing the Polka. I also need to figure out what I am going to do with an overflowing room of craft supplies & bedroom furniture so we can get window estimates on Friday. That is frying my brain!