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.

Here's one buy sooo much work! Stuffed Cabbage Head From Diana Rattray, This cabbage recipe was posted by Marie. 25 to 30 Cabbage leaves 3/4 cup uncooked rice 1 1/2 pint boiling water 2 tbsp. bacon drippings 1 med. onion, chopped fine 1 stick celery, chopped fine 1 cup lean ground beef 1 cup ground pork 1/2 cup cooked ham, chopped fine 1 egg, well beaten 1/8 tsp. nutmeg 1/4 tsp. thyme 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. red pepper 1 clove garlic, mashed A large white cotton cloth about 28 " square American or Velveeta cheese to grate Immerse cabbage leaves in salted boiling water; cook 2 to 3 min. or until wilted, adding a few at a time. Avoid crowding; drain and cool. Cook rice in boiling salted water 12 minutes; drain and transfer the rice to a large bowl. Cook ground pork in bacon drippings until brown, stirring occasionally. Add slat, pepper, garlic, onion, and celery, cook 5 minutes longer. Pour into cooked rice. Combine, rice, pork mixture, ham, ground beef, nutmeg, thyme, and egg, mix well and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Spread out the cloth. In center, place 4 cabbage leaves, to later resemble growing end of cabbage. Place about 1 tbsp. of mixture in center of each leaf and spread a bit. Continue building up the the head, using up the least attractive leaves first and placing dressing over each. Then at the last try and cover top and sides with the more perfect leaves, having used up all the dressing in the center. Bring up all 4 corners of the cloth and tie a string tightly and closely to the cabbage. In a large pot, pour 1 pint or more of water; place a rack or crumpled aluminum foil in the bottom. Place wrapped cabbage on rack, cover with a tight fitting lid and cook over med. heat. When water comes to a boil, reduce heat and cook 1 hour. When it is done, turn off the heat and let set covered for 10 minutes. Then untie string, unwrap, grate cheese over top, cover again for a couple of minutes, then gently lift our cloth and slip onto a platter. Serve sliced in wedges, cut like a cake, pass your favorite tomato sauce over each helping.

Marian, I make jam from frozen fruit yearly, it's so much nicer to stand over a boiling jam pot in January than it is in July. I've not had any problems, and I just thaw the fruit, crush it or prepare it according to the recipe directions, and use it as I would fresh. It's always worked fine for me. Annie

Hand Cut French Fries with Spicy Ketchup Use direct/medium heat on grill 1/4 cup ketchup 1/2 tsp chile sauce 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar 2 russet potatoes, about 8 oz each 1 T olive oil 1 T minced garlic 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper In a small bowl mix together the ketchup, chile sauce and balsamic vinegar. Set aside Scrub the potatoes under cold running water and dry thoroughly but do not peel. cut lengthwise into 1/2" thick slices, then cut the slices into 1/4" thick wedges. Place the wedges in a medium bowl. Toss with the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Place the wedges on the grill, being careful not to let them drop through the openings. Cook directly over medium heat until golden brown, turning once, about 10 minutes. For extra crispy fries, open the grill and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, turning once. Serve warm with the ketchup. Makes 4 servings. source:Weber's The Art of the Grill My note: I tried this with one large baking potato. Sliced maybe 1/4-1/8" thick slices. Rolled them in light olive oil,garlic powder and salt & pepper. Grilled until browned. My ketchup mixture was about 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup chile sauce and I drizzled a bit of balsamic vinegar. Very good!