NUT SQUARES

1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
6 T flour
1/4 t soda
1 t vanilla
pinch of salt
1 cup chopped nuts

Beat egg until light.  Add sugar and beat until well mixed.  Sift dry ingredients and add to egg mixture.  Add vanilla and stir in nuts.  Bake in buttered 8 X 8" pan at 300 for 25 minutes.  Upon removing from oven, spinkle top with powderes sugar.  When cool, cut in squares and if desired roll in powdered sugar.  These keep pretty well in a covered tin box.

This is one of the easiest and fastest desserts I've made from her recipe card file so far, and pretty good too!  I think I'm going to keep this one as I usually have all these ingredients on hand anyway, and they would be easy to whip up in a jiffy.

Looks like I got a little carried away with the powdered sugar, but I like them like that!

HERB SEASONING SALT FOR FRENCH BREAD

Mix together in a jar:

1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
1 t pepper
1 T thyme leaves
1 T salt
1 t season salt
2 T marjoram
2 T oregano
2 T rosemary leaves
2 T basil
2 T parsley flakes
3 T sesame seed

Shake in jar until well blended.  Can also be used on white fish, chicken or omelets and vegetables.

Stir 2 tsp into 1 cup soft margarine.  Spread on french bread.  Rewrap in foil and bake in 400 oven for 15-20 minutes.

Really good and handy to have on hand.  I just mixed it up in a tupperware container so I could easily identify it and store it.  Tastes good.  I bet you could also sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top of the herb seasoning too.

SPINACH LASAGNA

SAUCE:
Saute in a little oil:
1/2 chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1 carrot
1/2 bell pepper
2 T chopped parsley
(optional - ground beef, good without meat)

Add and Simmer 1/2 hour:
2 cups chopped tomatoes
12 to 16 oz. tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 t oregano
1/2 t thyme
1/4 t basil
1 t salt
shake of pepper
1/4 t honey

Slice and set aside:
1-1/2 lbs. jack cheese (enough to layer pan twice)

Make spinach "filling" by mixing together:
20 oz. chopped spinach, thawed
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 beaten egg

Grease or Pam Spray baking dish.  Layer items as follows:
1/3 sauce
a layer of uncooked lasagne noodles
1/2 spinach filling
a layer of jack cheese slices
1/3 sauce
a layer of noodles
1/2 spinach filling
a layer of jack cheese
1/3 sauce
a good sprinkling of parmesan cheese

Bake at 375 covered with foil for 45 minutes
Remove foil and bake another 1/2 hour
Let stand 15 minutes before slicing and serving

I thought this was really good.  It looks intimidating because it's so long, but if you just get each part ready and then assemble, it's really not.  I added a pound of ground turkey into the sauce in the first step just because my boys always say they want meat!!  We had leftovers for a few days afterwards, and it held up well.  I was a little leery about putting the uncooked noodles in, especially because they weren't the special kind they make now that advertise that you can use them raw, but they cooked just fine, maybe a little crisp in the very corners, but nothing really bad.  (P.S. - this recipe card says it came from "Adult Retreat"......That must've been fun!)

DIVINITY

2 cups sugar
2/3 cups light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 large stiff beaten egg whites
1 t vanilla
1 cup chopped walnut meats

Combine sugar, corn syrup and water and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Boil to 270 degrees.  Slowly pour over stiff-beaten egg whites beating constantly with rotary beater or electric mixer.  Beat candy until it is cool and holds its shape.  Add vanilla and nut meats and drop by teaspoonfuls on greased pan or waxed paper.  If desired, pour on greased plate or pan, cool, and cut into squares.  Makes about 3 dozen pieces.

My sons had never even heard of divinity before, so this was a new eating experience for them!  I don't think this candy is made much anymore, which is not to say it's not good.  It is, it's just not popular and hard to find anywhere.  It's important to have the egg whites already beaten in the mixer on stand-by while you bring the sugar mixture to a boil.  Then you can pour it in, and it happens very quickly so be ready to spoon it out onto your pan that you've got ready to go also.  I made larger pieces than teaspoonfuls because I could feel that it was hardening fast.  It might be better to pour it all in a pan at once and cut into squares later, but I did manage to get it out in larger spoonfuls quickly before it was too late.  Tastes like a remember from my childhood!  I forgot to take a picture...my bad....

PRUNE NUT BARS

1-1/2 cups chopped, cooked prunes
1/2 cup margarine (room temp.)
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/3 cup sifted flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 t lemon juice
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup flaked coconut
powdered sugar

Mix margarine, sugar, and 1 cup flour until crumbly.  Press into greased 9" square pan.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Sift remaining 1/3 cup flour with the baking powder and salt.  Gradually beat sugar into eggs.  Add flour mixture, mix well.  Add lemon and vanilla, nuts, coconut, and prunes.  Spread over baked base.  Bake at 350 30 to 35 minutes.  Cool.  Cut into bars and roll in powdered sugar.  Makes 2 dozen.

My first reaction when I saw this one was why???? You're going to make cookies.  Why make prune nut bars?  I can only reason that prunes were a lot more popular then than they are today.  They don't even call them prunes anymore, only dried plums.  Well, these are all right, not as bad as I thought it would be.  I'm not going to make these again just because it makes everybody a little squeamish when I say what kind they are, and frankly there's just better cookies in this world to make.

COCONUT OAT DROPS

1 egg beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1 t shortening
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup coconut
1/4 t salt
1 T honey

Beat egg.  Add sugar gradually, then shortening and vanilla.  Combine with remaining ingredients.  Drop by tsp. on a greased cookie sheet and flatten with fork.  Bake in moderate oven 375 ten to 12 minutes.  Makes 60 1" in diameter.

These are all right.  I wouldn't really make them again.  What I got a kick out of was that this was a handwritten recipe card in someone else's writing (don't know who), so she got it from someone, and the person wrote on the top of the card "Good luck"!  I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean...

IRISH SODA BREAD

4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup raisins
1 large egg
2 cups milk

Mi together dry ingredients.  Cut in butter and then add raisins.  Beat egg into milk and add to other ingredients.  Pour into greased 9 x 11 pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Insert toothpick to test for doneness.

This is all right, has a nice flavor, although sadly it's very dry.  It was the best right out of the oven with lots of butter, but then there's no staying power after that.