Blueberry Muffins

From the Joy of Cooking. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift together in a medium bowl:
1-3/4  cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar--all right, I heap it a bit.
2 teaspoons baking powder

In a small bowl mix well:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
3/4 cup milk
dash or two of vanilla--my addition.

Combine the liquid and the dry ingredients, giving a quick stir or two. Add 1 cup drained canned blueberries or fresh ones. Fresh will make prettier muffins in my opinion since they won't turn the batter purple as easily. Continue stirring quickly with a few more swift strokes until ingredients are fairly well combined.. Don't over stir.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins. The original recipe makes 2 dozen 2-inch muffins. I use my jumbo muffin pan and get six nice-sized muffins. At this point batter can be topped with a streusel topping of sugar and butter.

Bake about 20 minutes or until tops are lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean.

Mayo Cake

First started baking when I was nine years old. This recipe was the first cake I baked all by myself. It's an oldie but still a goodie. It's very moist and is delicious with or without frosting.

Chocolate Mayo Cake

1 c. mayonnaise or  

       Miracle Whip

1 c. water

1 c. sugar

½ c. cocoa

2 c. flour

1 t. soda

1 t. vanilla

Dash salt

1. Mix mayo, water and sugar; add other ingredients.
2. Pour batter into greased and floured 13x9” baking pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes at 350⁰.

Apple Butter

This was my Great-grandmother Nancy Aria Elizabeth Palmer Stough White's recipe. She was the only great-grandparent I knew well, and I loved her dearly. That makes this a good recipe to start out the new year. 

Granny Aria’s Apple Butter

3 c. sugar

1 t. allspice

½ t. cloves

½ t. nutmeg

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. salt

Apples—enough to make 1 gallon after peeled and cored

1. Peel, core, and slice apples; add just a little water and cook until tender;  run through  colander or blender.
2. Mix all dry ingredients with apples.  Place in baking dish and bake at 225⁰ for 2-2½ hours.  Stir several times during baking.  It thickens as it bakes.
3. Can in small jars.

Note:  More of the spices can be added if you like spicier apple butter.  The above ingredients are Granny Aria’s original recipe.