The Wilkes Team

Here is a real tasty and fruity dessert! 

This is a family favorite over here for the 4th of July. From the thin crust, creamy filling to the delicious fruit on top! We thought some of you might enjoy it too!

Pizza Crust:

Cream spread:

Then add your favorite fruit toppings and enjoy with your family and company!

5 Comments » | posted in Family News, Recipes

Earlier this winter, Mom and I found a home made hot cocoa recipe. We tried it out on the family and there were oohs and ahhs over the delicious taste. After a snowy adventure or game of soccer in the cold outdoors, this recipe is one every one will definitely enjoy!

Homemade Hot Cocoa 

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1 cup of sugar

2/3 cup of cocoa

1/4 teaspoon of salt

8 cups of milk

2/3 cups of water

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, cocoa and salt in a large pan. Stir in milk and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and stir in extract. Serve in your favorite mugs with a few little marshmallows on top to finish it off. Yields: 10 servings (some of you may have to double it )

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Virginia’s large game hunting season ended January 5th. The men of our household were planning to go to a hunter’s dinner at a local church. This did not work out so we decided to have our own with everyone. Markie and I worked together on decorating the room with hunting gear. There were antlers around the table, arrows on the wall, gun shells, and more. Markie was a big help!

Mom prepared a family favorite casserole of venison burger and vegetables. When everything was ready, we dressed in hunting gear and sat down for a scrum-dilly-licious meal.

We learned a lot of valuable lessons this year. Several people gave us advice on how to hunt better. As a result, this was our best hunting season ever.

Venison Burger Casserole

In a 13×9x2 glass pan, spread 1 ½ pounds of ground venison, put in 2 small cans of green beans for the layer number 2, pour in 1-2 cans of tomato soup depending on how runny you prefer, and then spread about an inch of mashed potatoes on top. Sprinkle a little paprika seasoning for additional flavoring and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

5 Comments » | posted in Family News, Recipes

Over the past weeks we have been VERY busy in the kitchen cooking up cookies, fudge, lemon cream loaves, snicker doodles, chocolate crinkle cookies, candy cane bark, and more! A favorite family tradition of ours is giving out Christmas goodies to family, friends, and neighbors. We all enjoy making the special treats. This year I was able to make fudge for my very first time. It can be very tedious work and requires that you don’t give up!

When everything was finally ready we piled into the car and spent yesterday afternoon making the special deliveries. There was not enough time to make it to every house we wanted to so we may do a New Years Delivery too. I was encouraged by all the effort that was put into baking and shopping for needed supplies. Thank you Wilkes Team for the joy that you put into this special tradition. I can’t wait till next year.

NEVER FAIL FUDGE

5 cups of sugar
1 can of evaporated milk (12 oz.)
1/4LB. butter of margarine
12oz. Marshmallow puff
1 teaspoon salt
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1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 large packages (12 oz.) of Semi-sweet Chocolate chips

Combine first five ingredients in large sauce pan. Stir over low heat until blended.

Bring to boil over moderate heat  being careful not to mistake escaping air bubbles for boiling, THEN BOIL SLOWLY , STIRRING CONSTANTLY FOR 5 MINUTES.(use soft ball test)

Remove from heat, stir in chocolate and vanilla until chocolate is melted. Pour into 2 buttered 9 by 9 inch pans and cool.

Tips: I usually put the fudge in a 15 by 9 inch pan instead of two 9 by 9 inch pans. This will yield approximately 5 pounds.

2 Comments » | posted in Family News, Recipes

Lately, I have been trying out different recipes for ice cream. Here is one that I’d like to share with you. What is nice about this recipie is you do not need an ice cream maker.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of milk (any type of milk should be fine)

2. 2 tablespoons of sugar

3. 1 teaspoon of vanilla

4. 3 cups of ice cube

5. 1/4 cup of salt (any type of will work)

6. Add any extra flavors at this time. We like to add either strawberries or crumbled oreos.

In a quart size ziploc bag, mix together the milk, sugar and vanilla. Seal the bag tightly, without leaving lots of air inside (If you are a little concerned about it leaking out, feel free to tape it up!). In a gallon-sized ziploc bag, mix the ice and salt. Place the sealed quart-bag inside the gallon-sized one.

Now comes the teamwork part. For the next 10-15 minutes thoroughly shake the bags (the more the better). Continue until you have a milk-shake consistency. I have been blessed to have many helpers every time I make the ice cream. Everyone works hard for the tasty treat at the end. Usually, the end result is more like a milk-shake but still extra tasty!

4 Comments » | posted in Recipes