Peanut Butter Chocolate Pizza

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pizza
Dorcas Annette Walker

Like his older brother, Eric, Aaron Hines has curly red hair. Now that Aaron has grown as tall as Eric people often get them mixed up. There is one definite factor that sets them apart. No matter how serious or grown up Aaron tries to look he can’t hide his mischievous nature. Aaron believes in playing as hard as he works. So I shouldn’t have been shocked when I was shown a picture of him hanging off the edge of a rock bluff with nothing but thousands of feet of air beneath him- I was assured that it wasn’t as bad as it looked- nor hanging midair from the bottom of the second highest bridge here in Tennessee that our area is noted for. I could only hope that his mother would be sitting down when she saw the pictures. Being an outdoors type of guy, Aaron wasn’t exactly enamored at the thought of cooking. He reluctantly washed his hands and started mixing up the ingredients I put into the large bowl, but brightened up when I handed him an egg to crack. Aaron briskly stirred up the dough despite the few pieces of egg shells that remained. After flattening out the cookie dough on the pizza pan, I showed Aaron how to make a zigzag edge. Intrigued he carefully finished off the edge. He was rather startled when I told him he had to time his pizza so it wouldn’t burn up after sliding the pizza into the oven. The cookie crust was rescued in the nick of time. Since the fellows had plans for the night I told Aaron we’d finish up his pizza the next day. Saturday afternoon after stretching some fence line along the back of our property, before they headed off town, I reminded Aaron that his pizza needed to be finished so we could have it for dessert at supper. As he started spreading layers of cream cheese filling and pudding on the top of the cookie crust, Dwight and Eric started drooling as they saw Aaron build his pizza. As a finishing touch I poured some chocolate chips into his hand to sprinkle on top of the cool whip. Holding a handful of chocolate chips Aaron suddenly remembered- to my horror and the guy’s great amusement- that he hadn’t washed his hands. He tried to assure me that no one would notice any dirt as the chocolate chips were dark anyway. Dwight nearly doubled over shouting with laughter. Thankfully no stomachs had to be pumped after eating Aaron’s masterpiece that evening. To the fellows Aaron’s dirty hands was the highlight of their entire cooking adventure.

Natural brown sugar is a name for raw sugar processed from the first crystallization of cane and is free of dyes and chemicals. Many brown sugar producers today produce brown sugar by combining molasses to white sugar, which gives it the soft texture. The molasses is usually obtained from sugar cane because the flavor is preferred over beet sugar molasses, although the Netherlands use sugar beet molasses. Brown sugar has a slightly lower calorie value than white sugar due to the presence of water, but is higher in mineral content because of the molasses. The lighter the brown sugar the more delicate flavor while the darker had a more intense molasses flavor. Light and dark brown sugar is available year-round sold in plastic bags that are sealed tightly. One cup of packed brown sugar equals one cup of granulated sugar.

This Peanut Butter Chocolate Pizza is a rich and filling dessert. The flavors of chocolate and peanut butter mixed with a cream cheese filling are a luscious combination that guarantees an instant success. Aaron’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Pizza was eaten up the second day. This Peanut Butter Chocolate Pizza recipe takes only thirty minutes to prepare and serves sixteen.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pizza

Crust:
2 c self-rising flour
½ c sugar
½ c brown sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ c peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
½ c shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Mix ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl and spread out on a greased pizza pan. Bake at 350º for ten minutes and cool.

Beat together until smooth:
1 pkg cream cheese
½ c powdered sugar
½ of a 16 oz container of cool whip
Layer over the cooled peanut butter cookie crust.

Prepare one box of instant chocolate pudding as directed and spread over cream cheese layer. Then spread the last half of the cool whip over the chocolate pudding. Garnish with chocolate chips or shaved chocolate curls. Chill and serve!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a freelance writer, author, columnist, and photographer from Jamestown, TN. If you have any cooking tips or favorite recipes you are welcome to contact me by mail at: Dorcas Walker, 929 Wildwood Lane, Jamestown, TN 38556 or email me at: dorcaswalker@yahoo.com. For more information about the Walker family and Dorcas’ books check out her website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com or htpp://dorcasannettewalker.blogspot.com for other Creative Mountain Cookin recipes.

Hash Brown Pizza

Hash Brown Pizza
Dorcas Annette Walker

Eric Hines, the oldest son of Mark and Cindy Hines, lives on a farm in the Northern part of Indiana. His family farms close to 1,200 acres of flatland each year. From early on, Eric learned the meaning of hard work involved in farming corn, soybeans, and wheat. The success of his family farm, aside from long hours of work, depends mainly on the fickleness of the weather, rising costs, inflation, and finding the right market to sell their crops. Today’s small farmer works hard to keep his farm afloat. Eric is a steady dependable fellow that is the joy of every parent’s heart. His serious demeanor hides a quick sense of humor and brilliant mind that is crammed full of facts. One night Eric was enlightening us on the merits of different combines. I was soon lost in the maze of company names as prices were flashed back and forth only to be informed that the reason one combine was not as efficient in harvest as another was due to the way the corn hit the rotor blades. Not only does Eric help out on the family farm but he also hires out to other farmers in the area as he is competent in handling any farm machinery. So it was quite interesting to observe Eric in the kitchen on a Saturday morning as he fixed a Hash Brown Pizza for brunch. He confessed up front that he didn’t know anything about cooking but was good at following directions. To his surprise browning hamburger in a cast iron skillet is a lot easier than handling a large combine during harvest season and spreading hash browns on a greased tray is a snap compared to planting acres of straight rows with a tractor and corn planter. The best part though, hands down, was eating up the results of one’s cooking.

Our ancestors made soup from various ingredients often having a soup pot sitting on the back of the stove where leftover broths and juices would be added daily until the cook decided it was time for soup. The last harvest of gardens would yield a large canner of vegetable soup that was canned in quart jars and stored in the cellar for winter days. Campbell Soup is credited with creating canned condensed soups that rapidly became a household staple saving hours of time in the kitchen. John Dorrance, who held a chemistry degree and Ph.D from the University of Gottengen in Germany, turned down prestigious positions to work for his Uncle, who was the company president of Campbell. He discovered that by removing water the soup could be condensed, packed into smaller cans, and sold at lower prices than other canned soups thus insuring Campbell’s success. By 1922 Campbell formally accepted Soup into its name. Condensed soups are prepared by adding water or milk and only needs to be heated up to be ready to serve. These soups also became popular as a base for homemade soups and casseroles.

Hash Brown Pizza is a quick, easy-to-make, breakfast recipe. It is ideal for a weekend breakfast or brunch and is filling. Sausage can be substituted for hamburger for a zestier taste. My Hash Brown Pizza takes around forty-five minutes (baking time included) to prepare and this recipe serves twelve. Leftovers can be frozen and reheated in a microwave for another morning.

Hash Brown Pizza

1 pkg (40 oz) frozen hash browns (thawed)
1 can mushroom condensed soup (undiluted)
2 lb browned hamburger
2 cans condensed tomato soup (undiluted)
¼ c chopped onion
1 tsp chili powder
¼ tsp garlic salt
2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Combine thawed hash browns and can of mushroom soup in a big bowl. Mix well and spread on a large greased cookie tray. Bake for thirty minutes at 350º. Meanwhile brown hamburger in an iron skillet. Add tomato soup, onion, chili powder, and garlic salt and let simmer. Spread over hash brown crust and sprinkle on cheese. Bake for ten more minutes until cheese is melted. Serve hot!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a freelance writer, author, columnist, and photographer from Jamestown, TN. If you have any cooking tips or favorite recipes you are welcome to contact me by mail at: Dorcas Walker, 929 Wildwood Lane, Jamestown, TN 38556 or email me at: dorcaswalker@yahoo.com. For more information about the Walker family and Dorcas’ books check out her website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com or htpp://dorcasannettewalker.blogspot.com for other Creative Mountain Cookin recipes.

Taco Pizza

Taco Pizza
Dorcas Annette Walker

Labor Day weekend found a couple of Dwight’s friends down from Indiana at our house so I got the brainstorm of having each one do up a pizza that I am going to feature this month. Dwight’s friends were hesitant, but I assured them that my recipes were not difficult and would be easy to make. For some reason my son, Dwight, groaned and shook his head causing flickers of alarm to appear on both of his friend’s faces. I pulled out the big guns after they had stuffed themselves on my homemade lasagna, garlic bread, and Ice Cream Cake asking them how wimpy could they be when all they had to do was make one pizza while I cooked how many meals for them. With that threat hanging over their heads they disappeared from my house the next day to go exploring out in the woods, uh, maybe to bolster up their courage. They were gone all afternoon and it was getting close to suppertime when I called Dwight on his cell phone to remind him that I wanted to have the Taco Pizza for supper. He asked how long it would take, and since he was going to do the honors, he wasn’t too worried and told me that they were heading back. A half an hour later I buzzed Dwight again. They had stopped to check out a cave and found a really neat spider that was huge, but he assured me they were on their way home. My husband had already wandered to the kitchen a couple of times wondering how late supper was going to be and fortifying himself by snacking. Another thirty minutes passed without any signs of my fellows so I called again. Dwight said that they were almost to the main road- they had stopped to get some really neat pictures of his friend’s 4-wheel drive truck going over some rocks. I started browning the hamburger. It was almost 7:30 pm by the time they made it back to the house. In high spirits Eric and Aaron razed Dwight as he put together the Taco Pizza. We made a double batch and sat down to eat our evening meal at eight o’clock. Needless to say the Taco Pizza disappeared like the wind- I managed to get one piece- along with the Dirt Pudding I had made up earlier.

Did you know that lettuce is a member of the sunflower family and is one of the oldest known vegetables believed to be native in the Mediterranean area? The ancient Greeks believed that lettuce induced sleep so they served it at the end of their meals and the Romans continued the custom until their dictator, Emperor Domitian, started serving it at the beginning of his feasts to torture his guests- thinking to force them to stay awake in his presence. Ceasar Augustus even put up a statue praising lettuce because he believed that it cured him from an illness. Lettuce was introduced to the New World as early as 1494. Thomas Jefferson had nineteen varieties of lettuce growing in his garden at Monticello. Our ancestors ate Lamb’s lettuce, also known as field lettuce, that grows wild and I discovered that there is even an Opium lettuce. The USDA found red, yellow, and blue-green varieties of lettuce while accumulating a worldwide gene pool. There are four main types of lettuce: Butterhead, Iceberg, Looseleaf, and Romaine. Iceberg lettuce was called Crisphead until 1920 when it was renamed after California began transporting large quantities of lettuce underneath mounds of ice to keep it cool as lettuce is one vegetable that is immune to any form of preservation. Lettuce is the second most popular fresh vegetable in the United States. Americans eat thirty pounds of lettuce each year. The darker green leaves are more nutritious than the lighter green ones. Almost all lettuce is packed right in the field- which is why you should wash all lettuce before eating it.

My Taco Pizza takes around thirty-five minutes to prepare and this recipe serves eight. Sometimes I add a layer of refried beans, which makes the Taco Pizza even more filling and healthful. Have fun experimenting with different toppings.

Taco Pizza

Crust:
1½ c self-rising flour
½ c cornmeal
1 pkg yeast
2 tb cooking oil
½ c warm water
Knead together and let rise for ten minutes. Roll out on greased pizza pan and bake at 350º for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown.

Brown 1 lb hamburger.
Add:
1 tsp chili powder
1 c salsa
Simmer together and spread on top of baked crust.

Layer toppings:
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 c bite-size lettuce pieces
1 c chopped tomato
½ c sliced black olives
Serve warm with sour cream or taco sauce!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a freelance writer, author, columnist, and photographer from Jamestown, TN. If you have any cooking tips or favorite recipes you are welcome to contact me by mail at: Dorcas Walker, 929 Wildwood Lane, Jamestown, TN 38556 or email me at: dorcaswalker@yahoo.com. For more information about the Walker family and Dorcas’ books check out her website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com or htpp://dorcasannettewalker.blogspot.com for other Creative Mountain Cookin recipes.

Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza
Dorcas Annette Walker

Summer vacation is over, kids are back in school once again, and families have to readjust to school schedules. So I thought this month I’d feature different kinds of pizzas that are sure to please even the picky eater in your family. Who doesn’t like pizza? Pizzas are a good way to sneak in some extra vitamins and get your family off to a healthy start for the school year. When you are worn out from the daily activities and don’t know what to make for supper, rally the troops to the kitchen and engage the entire family into helping make a pizza. You might discover a budding chef. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Most important of all you will make memories as you strengthen family bonds.

Pizza, consisting of a shallow bread-like crust covered with seasoned tomato sauce, cheese, and other toppings, has been considered a peasant’s meal in Italy for centuries. It was eaten by the working man and his family because it was thirty and convenient. Pizza was also eaten by many people in the Mediterranean including Greeks and Egyptians. The modern pizza has been attributed to baker Raffele Esposito of Naples where in 1889 he baked a pizza for the visit of Italian King Umberto I and Queen Marghertia. The Neapolitans take their pizzas very seriously. An authentic Neapolitan pizza must be baked in a wood-fired dome at 485C for no more than 60 to 90 seconds. The base must be hand-kneaded and can’t exceed 35 cm in diameter or be more than a one third of a cm in the center. Pizza, known as Tomato Pie, made its first appearance in the United States with the arrival of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. The first pizzeria was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi in New York City. The first Pizza Hut chain restaurants appeared during the 1930’s. Americans eat approximately 350 slices of pizza per second with pepperoni pizza being the top choice topping. India’s top choice for pizza is pickled ginger, minced mutton, and paneer cheese, Japan uses a combination of mayonnaise, potato and bacon with eel and squid being favorite toppings, Brazilian’s love green peas on their pizzas, while Russians go for red herring pizzas. Whew! I’ll take a good ole American pizza any day.

My Veggie Pizza is easy to make and you can mix and match or increase ingredients to your delight. Depending on how many veggies you want to include it may take up to one hour for the preparation time. My Veggie Pizza recipe is considered mild and makes one pizza that serves sixteen. Veggie Pizzas are ideal for parties and get-to-gethers. I just made a Veggie Pizza for our monthly church birthday celebration Sunday night that disappeared fast.

Veggie Pizza

Take one jumbo (16 oz) can of buttermilk biscuits and spread thin over round greased pizza pan. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes. Let cool.

Beat together until smooth:
1 (8oz) cream cheese
1 c Ranch Buttermilk bottled dressing
Spread on cooled crust.

Sprinkle on:
1 c chopped tomato
1 c broccoli heads cut small
½ c shredded and chopped carrots
½ c chopped green pepper
½ c chopped mushrooms
¼ c minced onion

Garnish with:
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
½ c bacon bits
1 c sliced black olives
Chill and serve!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a freelance writer, author, columnist, and photographer from Jamestown, TN. If you have any cooking tips or favorite recipes you are welcome to contact me by mail at: Dorcas Walker, 929 Wildwood Lane, Jamestown, TN 38556 or email me at: dorcaswalker@yahoo.com. For more information about the Walker family and Dorcas’ books check out her website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com or htpp://dorcasannettewalker.blogspot.com for other Creative Mountain Cookin recipes.