Today is Pi Day! Do you know what Pi is? In basic mathematics, pi is used to find the area and circumference of a circle. Have you ever memorized Pi? When my children were at home they had fun trying to memorize the first 100 digits of Pi. Maybe you are like me and prefer to memorize pie recipes. This occupied them for hours.
I am not sure who holds the record in my house but according to the Pi World Ranking List the world record for reciting the most digits of pi belongs to Suresh Kumar Sharma of India, who recited pi to 70,030 decimal places in 2015. It took him 17 hours and 14 minutes! That’s a long day of work.
Do you want to try this with your kids? For fun check out the bottom of the page for the first 100 digits of Pi. Maybe you can make pie while they work on this today. Here’s my signature pie recipe.
Signature Desserts
Another thing we did as a family was eat Blueberry Crunch Pie. Almost any holiday or special occasion called for it! Chances are if you have visited my house you have tasted the yumminess of Blueberry Crunch Pie. This accidentally became my signature dessert. That’s how memories are made many times by accident.
Blueberry Crunch Pie is a quick dessert to make. In fact I can make it in less than 30 minutes. While the crust bakes I mix the filling and then it is all ready to go as soon as the crust is cooled. Sometimes I cheat and put the crust in the fridge or freezer to cool it faster.
Blueberry Crunch Pie
Version 2
A few years ago I made a little change to my recipe. I still use the same ingredients I just tweaked it a bit. Below you will find the Blueberry Crunch Pie Version 2 Recipe. When my children were home I doubled the recipe.
Recipe
Blueberry Crunch Pie Version 2
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup self rising flour
1 cup nuts (divided – save 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top)
1 stick margarine softened
11 oz cream cheese
1/2 lb. powdered sugar
1 can blueberry pie filling or homemade
Whipped topping 16+ ounces
Instructions:
Layer 1 — Combine flour, nuts and margarine. Press into 13×9 pan, bake until lightly browned about 15 minutes at 350° F or until lightly browned. Let cool.
Layer 2 — Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar. Stir in a cup of the whipped topping. Spread on cooled crust.
Layer 3 — Spread 1 can blueberry pie filling ( or homemade) evenly and gently over layer 2
Layer 4 — Spread with whipped topping
Layer 5 — Sprinkle with nuts.
Do you have a signature dessert? Please share it in the comments or email it to me! I love reading recipes!
Try Memorizing 100 Digits of Pi for Fun!
Here are the first 100 digits in case you want to memorize them today!
Who has ever heard of mayonnaise biscuits? I certainly had never! Read on for I am about to share the recipe. This year a friend of mine had a birthday. As is common his amazing birthday dinner was shared of Facebook complete with pictures. It was a dinner that made me jealous. Just kidding I was happy for Glenn to have an amazing birthday dinner after all he’s a pretty amazing guy. And he must have a pretty wonderful wife to do all that for him.
As I was reading the list of items on the menu something caught my attention. Mayonnaise Biscuits. I had to message Erica right away to find out if I could have the recipe. She was sweet enough to share her special recipe and a little bit of the story behind it.
Glenn’s mom used to make them for him and to make the story a little bit sweeter she got the recipe from her mom. I love to collect recipes and especially if they have stories behind them.
So today I will share this simple recipe for you to try.
Mayonnaise Biscuits
Mayonnaise Biscuits
2 c. Self-rising Flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Preheat oven at 375° and lightly grease a muffin tin.
Mix all three ingredients and scoop by the spoonful into a muffin tin each one about 3/4 the way full.
Makes one dozen.
Bake for 30 mins or until these golden brown.
These turn out to be very light.
I hope you enjoy them!! They are delicious! Thanks, Erica for introducing me to Mayonnaise Biscuits.
There are two ways to enter the contest to win a beautiful apron. Subscribe to my email list or send me a recipe with a story of why it is special to you.
I bake gluten-free cornbread for my husband. According to the last three doctors and numerous tests, they have run my husband cannot tolerate gluten. He does, however, eat corn and loves to have a nice hot skillet of cornbread to accompany a bowl of beans. The two happen to go together right?
Can you imagine I have run out of the regular cornmeal? So instead I used masa flour. He really likes it. It has a softer texture than the regular stone-ground cornmeal I have used in the past. Here is the latest recipe I have come up with based on available ingredients at home.
Easy Gluten-Free Cornbread
1 cup of instant corn masa flour
1 cup almond flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil.
Preheat oven 425°. Bake in a small oiled iron skillet or pie plate for 20 minutes or until done. The top and sides should be golden brown and it should pull slightly away from the sides.
Below is a recipe for playdough that I have used with my children for many years. You probably have all the necessary ingredients in your cabinet. This will only take a few minutes to make but will give you hours of fun!
One advantage of making homemade playdough is that you know exactly what ingredients are in it and you can create your own unique colors.
Recipe for Homemade Play Dough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
1 Tablespoon cooking oil
1 cup of cold water
food coloring
Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar. I put this in a small non-stick pan if you have one. I add the oil, water, and color and begin to stir over low to medium heat until it begins to thicken and stick together. It almost becomes a ball. I remove from heat and knead a little and set aside to cool for a few minutes. It is ready to play with now. Remember to store this in a sealed container or a sealed Ziploc plastic bag.
Let me know if you make homemade playdough and please share how much fun you had making it and playing with your kids today!
This morning I woke up early. I decided I wanted to make breakfast for the two kiddos I still have at home. (How did this ever happen that I only have two kids at home?) When I had a house full of kids my biscuit making always started with 8 cups of flour!
We are packing to move and to go on a month long mission trip. I have been trying to use our perishables before we go. Today I took a little extra time and carefully worked the butter into the flour mixture and it was well worth the effort. On busier days I confess I take the lazy way out and do a quick drop biscuit. These turned out so well that I think this will be my regular biscuit recipe for awhile for the small batch and they were really easy to make actually.
2 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons of chilled butter
3/4 cup of milk
Preheat your oven 425°. Combine the dry ingredients and then cut the butter into small pieces and then work it into the flour until the butter pieces are pea size or smaller. I do this with my hands, you can use a pastry blender or two forks if you wish. After this is done quickly add the milk without over stirring and then knead for a few minutes until smooth (not too much). Then pat out the dough and cut out with a biscuit cutter. Mine is already packed so I used this small square Rubbermade container which is probably used for salad dressing. I placed each cut biscuit into my iron skillet. Placed the skillet in the hot oven for about 12 minutes or until done. These were very good with boysenberry jam.
While the biscuits were cooking I scrambled a few eggs. Just a simple breakfast but still really good. Even with only two kids at home I turned around and the skillet was empty.
Today I made some no bake coconut bonbons. These are gluten-free. I found a recipe at My Incredible Recipes and as many of us do and changed it up a bit to make Tiffany’s birthday bonbons.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Coconut Bonbons
The original recipe for No Bake Coconut Snowballs can be found here:
Use the ingredients for the recipe for No-Bake Coconut Snowballs and add about 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice and a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring to the original recipe. I put everything into the food processor and processed. I then made balls and refrigerated them. I dipped them in white chocolate ( 1 melted about 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips) and put back on my parchment paper and I put it in the freezer for a few minutes. Enjoy!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Coconut Bonbons
Make a second batch and add only vanilla flavoring to the batch. Make the balls and refrigerate until firm. Now dip them in semi-sweet chocolate (melt 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips) and place on the parchment paper and back in the refrigerator until set.
This is a cake that I have made for many years. I have made it for potlucks, church camp, and just company dessert. If you have ever been to our house for a “singing” you may have sampled this cake. I usually keep the ingredients on hand so that I can put together a cake quickly if the need arises. It is not only quick but economical. A big plus is that everyone who likes chocolate will love this cake!
Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups white sugar 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 cup water 1/2 cup shortening or cooking oil 1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa unsweetened 1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk that has been soured) 2 eggs 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
6 Tablespoons milk
4-5 Tablespoons cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powder sugar
Finely chopped walnuts if desired 1/4-1/2 cup
Directions For 15 Minute Chocolate Sheet Cake:
Mix flour and white sugar and set aside.
In a small saucepan boil 1/2 cup margarine, 1/2 cup shortening, 1 cup water, and 4 Tablespoons cocoa.
Pour cocoa mixture over flour and sugar mixture. Stir in buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well and pour into a greased jelly roll pan (17 in X 11in)
Bake in preheated oven 350°- 400° degrees oven for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Frosting: 5 minutes before cake is done bring to boil 1/2 cup butter, 6 Tablespoons of milk, and 4-5 Tablespoons of cocoa. Remove from heat and immediately stir in 4 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, and beat or stir until smooth. Immediately pour frosting over cake. Sprinkle with nuts. Enjoy warm or cooled. The frosting tastes like chocolate fudge. This is a very yummy cake and it is very hard to eat just one piece.
I believe I received this recipe in 1980 while at Freed-Hardeman College from a cookbook put together by the Preacher’s Wives Club.
While in the Northeast recently I came across a lot of whoopie pies! One of the ladies from church brought some to share AND she was willing to share her recipe with me. Well, actually it was her mom’s recipe. She brought two kinds of whoopie pies to share: these yummy chocolate ones and some zucchini ones.* I got permission to share her recipe. Thanks, Beth!
Mom’s Whoopie Pie
(Boy, these will take you back to the good ole days!)
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
Sift the flour, soda, and salt together. Mix the cocoa and sugar together and combine with the flour mixture. Beat the egg slightly and add the vanilla and milk to it. Combine with other mixtures. Finally, add the oil and mix well. Drop on a baking pan. 2 Tablespoons for each cake. 12 cakes to a pan. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.
Whoopie Pie Filling
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup confectioner sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tsp. marshmallow fluff
Beat butter, Crisco, sugar, and vanilla with an electric beater. Fold in fluff. Spread between halves of the whoopie pie cakes. Wrap in plastic to store.
Marie Hazelton passed this along to her daughter Bethany Guion and we appreciate that for sure. Keeping passing those recipes down folks! Share your stories!
You can find the Zucchini Whoopie Pies here: https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipes/zucchini-whoopie-pie-cookies
There are many reasons to make your own seasoning mixes. First, it is much more economical to put together your own seasoning mixes. You should check for places that sell herbs and spices in bulk for added savings. You may want to divide the cost with a friend. You can make a whole lot of taco seasoning in a few minutes and save some money too. Secondly, you know the ingredients and can adjust for those who have allergies. Many taco seasoning packets have gluten in them.
Today I will share a couple of Taco Seasoning recipes.
Taco Seasoning Mix (Recipe I believe originally came from Gentle Spirit Magazine back in the early 1990’s )
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons minced onions dried
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch ( I would omit this)
This was the original recipe I used. I multiply this and keep it in a glass jar.
This will season 1 lb. of ground beef which has been cooked and drained. Add 1/2 cup of water and original recipe of the seasoning blend. ( About 2 Tablespoons) Simmer 10 minutes. This will make enough meat for 8-10 tacos
Here is the latest recipe I have started using. You can find it at the web address below.
