It is raining! It is pouring. I am not snoring. I got out of bed and cleaned my room. Hmm that doesn’t work. However, this recipe of my great-grandmother’s certainly does…perfect for a rainy day or any day. Easy. Quick. Yummy. And…you have all the ingredients on hand! You can skip the nuts, but some lightly toasted pecans are superb in these.

Cinnamon Muffins

1½ cups sugar
3 cups flour
½ cup butter
1 cup milk
Pinch salt
7 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups nuts

Cream butter and sugar and prepare as any other muffins.

More complete instructions: Cream butter and sugar. Mix flour, salt, cinnamon together. Add to butter/sugar alternately with milk. Mix in nuts. DO NOT OVER-MIX. Over-mixing kills muffins. Just until moist. Don’t worry about lumps.  Pour into greased muffin tins/liners. Bake at 350 F. for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Another cheese straw type recipe. Sorry about the lack of instructions. Basically the same as the cheese daisies, cream together flour, salt, cayenne, butter and cheese, slice (or drop by rounded spoons), stick a pecan on top, bake in a moderate oven. Getting the feeling that I might be a Southern girl yet?

Cheese Tea Cakes

2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne
1/2 cup American cheese
3/4 cup butter
1 egg, slightly beaten

Brush top with beaten egg, top with half pecan. 300 degrees 15 to 20 minutes.

Yum. A favorite! No idea where this originally came from but my great-grandmother made them often. Warning: these are highly addictive.

Cream ¾ cup butter with 1½ cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese and ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese. Sift together 1½ cups flour, ¾ teaspoon paprika and 1 teaspoon salt. Add to creamed mixture and stir well. Pat the dough in a cooky press. Press out on baking sheets, in shapes to your fancy. Bake in a moderate oven, 350° F. for 12 minutes. If no cooky press is available, chill the dough and shape into a roll, chill again and slice, but they won’t look like daisies of course. Makes about 2 dozen cheese daisies.

Update

A picture and someone…seems a bit fond of them…and won’t share any more of them than she already has.

We wrap up the year of Modern Family Cookbook menus with this recipe. Grab some nice butter and molasses to serve on top. Heating the pans beforehand really gives a nice texture to the finished product. So, give it a try and give the Jiffy folks a day off. It really is a satisfying thing to make corn sticks from scratch.

Corn Sticks or Muffins

¾ cup all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ cup yellow or white corn meal
1 egg
1 cup milk
¼ cup melted shortening

Sift flour, measure and resift 2 times with next 4 ingredients, the last time into mixing bowl. Beat egg well, stir in milk and melted shortening, and pour all at once into center of dry ingredients. Stir quickly until dry ingredients are just dampened, then give 3 or 4 more stirs. Batter should not be smooth. Spoon quickly into greased, hot corn stick pans or muffin pans, filling about â…” full. Bake in a hot oven (425° F.) about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and serve at once. 10 to 12 medium-sized muffins. The Modern Family Cookbook

Some of you believe in that whole fiber is good thing. Ok, we all do. Whole grains get better all the time and you may just find you like them. This is a quick easy way to add a little whole grain to your diet. If you want, you can brush the tops with butter and throw some wheat germ on top for some extra goodness. Best served with honey butter.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
â…“ cup butter or shortening
¾ cup  milk

Combine the dry ingredients and mix well. Cut in the shortening and add liquid to make a soft dough. Place the dough on a lighlty floured board, and pat out or roll until  3/4 inch thick. Cut into biscuits. Bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.

I love coffee cake. I should really make it more often. Homemade tastes so much better than store bought.
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
½ cup milk
¼ cup shortening
1½ cups chopped tart apples

Streusel topping:
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Sift flour, measure and resift 3 times with baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Beat egg, add milk and melted shortening, and pour into dry ingredients; then add the raw apples and mix well. Turn into a well-buttered 8-inch square baking pan. Mix together ingredients for streusel topping to make a crumbly mixture and sprinkle over top of batter. Bake in a moderately hot oven (400° F.) about 30 minutes or until done.  The Modern Family Cookbook

I like doughnuts. I really like homemade doughnuts-but hate the mess. On a day like today, I think donuts might just hit the spot-mess or no mess. Try it with the nutmeg-optional but really makes this donut I think.

3½ cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, optional
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
Fat for deep frying

Sift flour and resift 3 times with baking powder, soda, salt and nutmeg. Cream shortening, blend in sugar thoroughl, then add beaten eggs and vanilla. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 3 or 4 portions, stirring only until well mixed. Chill dough befoure rolling. Remove only part of dough from refrigerator at a time. Roll dough out on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth from ¼ to â…œ-inch thick. Cut out doughnuts with floured cutter. Fry in deep fat heated to 375° F. Fry only until underside is golden brown, then turn and brown on other side. Lift doughnuts out with slotted spoon or in a wire basket. Drain on paper toweling. Put granulated sugar, XXXX sugar or cinnamon and sugar into a paper bag, place doughnuts in while warm and shake to coat. 36 doughnuts. The Modern Family Cookbook

This lovely breakfast bread makes a nice change from your usual cinnamon rolls or coffee cakes. Give it a try.

Apple and Pineapple Roll

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt
â…“ cup shortening
â…” cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
¼ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
1½ cups chopped peeled apple
1 No. 2 can crushed pineapple
1 tablespoon melted butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Sift flour, measure and resift with baking powder and salt 3 times. Cun in shortening with pastry blender or 2 knives. Add milk all at once and stir just until dough stiffens; then turn out onto floured board, knead a half a dozen times, and roll out in rectangular sheet ¼-inch thick. Spread with 2 tablespoons melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Mix apple and pineapple and sprinkle over dough. Roll dough up tightly like a jelly roll starting at the wide side. Pour the 1 tablespoon melted butter into bottom of 9-inch square baking pan, and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over it. Cut roll in 1-inch slices, and place close together in baking pan, cut-side up. Bake in a moderately hot oven. (425° F.) 25 to 30 minutes or until done and well browned. 9 to 12 slices, depending on size

This roll may be served as coffee cake or with whippped cream as a dessert for luncheon or dinner. The Modern Family Cookbook

You know they are good for you…well sometimes…the huge ones you get these days at the grocer and at bakeries are not so good, so you think about eating them. But, did you know they can taste yummy and are super good fresh out of the oven?

Try these! Get your whole grains a tasty yummy way.

For the bran you can crunch up some shredded wheat or use bran flake or whatever bran you have on hand. I would substitute some applesauce for the shortening maybe if I was in an extra healthy mood. (or actually if I was in an extra healthy mood I would make the oatmeal raisin cookie muffins the recipe doctor Elaine Magee created) Also, sift only once or not at all unless you really dig sifting or have a child who does. I am not a fan of the over- stirring of muffins either. I am of the belief that they should be mixed like biscuits…just until wet and big clumps are gone.

Bran Muffins

1 cup buttermilk
2 cups shredded whole bran
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
â…“ cup shortening
â…“ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
3 tablespoons dark molasses
â…“ cup plumped molasses

Grease muffin pan with 12 medium cups. Start oven 10 minutes before baking; set to moderately hot. (400° F.).

Measure buttermilk into a bowl. Stir in bran and let stand a few minutes. Sift flour, measure, resift 3 times with next three ingredients. Beat shortening and sugar until creamy using rotary beater. Add egg, beat until smooth and fluffy. Beat in molasses. Clean off beater, use wooden spoon. Add flour and bran mixture alternately in 3 portions, beating until smooth after each addition. Fold in raisins. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot. The Modern Family Cookbook

The bacon haters will hate this recipe. Bacon lovers may even pause. Reconsider. This is a tasty, easy recipe.

Bacon Muffins

2 slices bacon
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk or â…“ cup evaporated milk and â…” cup water
2 tablespoons melted bacon drippings
Pan broil bacon until done; drain thoroughly and crumble Sift flour, measure a, and resift twice with salt, baking powder and sugar; add crisp bacon and stir until well-distributed. Beat egg and combine with milk and melted fat; add to dry ingredients all at once, and stir quickly until they are just dampened; then give 3 or 4 more stirs. Do not stir until smooth. Spoon into greased muffin pans, filling them â…” full. Bake in a hot oven (425° F.) 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve piping hot with butter. 12 medium-size muffins. The Modern Family Cookbook