February 10, 2014

Recipes Full of Memories

You know those certain recipes that never fail to bring back floods of memories? The ones that take you back to childhood road trips, family holidays, or week night dinners? We've all got them, and they're without a doubt some of the most comforting foods you can experience. 

Today we'd love to share two of our favorite recipes with you! These are really great. Pulled lovingly from the memory of Robin's mom, Phyllis Pegg Toney. When sharing the recipe Robin couldn't help but recount memories of her mom making batches of these cookies for family road trips. Packed along side homemade pimiento cheese stuffed in celery sticks, chicken salad sandwiches, and deviled eggs all waiting for a roadside picnic. 

Mom's "Aggression" Cookies: A delicious and true old-fashioned oatmeal cookie. Simple, pure ingredients mixed by hand (hence the name! They're sure to work out any built up frustration you might be feeling). 

Dough:
3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 cups butter
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 Tbl soda
3 cups all purpose flour
6 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked

Toppings:
Butter 
Sugar

Put everything together in a big bowl and mash, squeeze, and knead until it becomes a well-mixed dough. The more you work it, the better! 

Form dough into 1" balls and place on an un-greased cookie sheet.

Flatten with the bottom of a glass that has been buttered and dipped in sugar. (The glass only will need to be buttered a few times, but dip in sugar for EACH cookie!).

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Do not overcook as cookies become crisp as they cool. 

Yield: 15 dozen. Store in airtight container.

Stovetop Hot Chocolate: The perfect companion on a cold snowy morning or a cozy evening with a good book! This recipe is an absolute favorite for children and is perfect topped off with marshmallows and whipped cream. 

½ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa of choice (I often use Hershey’s!)
Dash salt
1/3 cup hot water
4 cups milk (I use 2%, but skim or whole are fine as well!)
¾ tsp vanilla extract

Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in saucepan. Stir in hot water to make a paste. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture boils. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Stir in milk and continue stirring frequently until mixture is steaming…but DO NOT BOIL! Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Yield: 6 servings. 

For those times when you're in need of just your own personal cup, here are the measurements for a single serving! 

2T sugar
2T cocoa 
Dash salt
1/8 cup hot water
1 cup milk 
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Yield: 1 serving. 

Robin shared these recipes a few weeks ago on WFMY NEWS2. In case you missed the video be sure the check it out below!