I will continue to add recipes to this over time.

Cranberry Sauce
-1 bag of cranberries
-1 cup of sugar(plus extra)
-1 cup of water
-1 orange

In a small pot, stir together the cup of sugar and the water until the sugar has dissolved completely. Place over medium heat while you rinse the cranberries. Stir cranberries into the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat back to medium until most of the berries have popped. The sauce will turn red. Add the juice of half of the orange to the mixture and bring to a low boil, stirring frequently until sauce thickens. Once sauce has reached desired thickness, remove from heat and transfer to container. Garnish the top with slices from the rest of the orange and sprinkle with Sugar.

Simple Pie Crust
-Flour
-1/4 cup of water
-3/4 cup of oil
-pinch of salt

Pour flour into a bowl, making a "well" in the center. I never measure the flour because you need extra for dusting the rolling surface and wax paper anyway. Pour the oil and water into the well, adding the pinch of salt at the end. Mix together (preferably with hands) until dough is firm to the touch. Dust a working surface with flour. Place a sheet of wax paper over the surface, dusting that with flour as well. Place a ball of the dough onto the paper, dusting the dough with flour. Place another sheet of wax paper over the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin until you've reached desired thickness. Place into a pie pan and fill as desired. This recipe makes enough dough for one covered pie or two open faced pies.

Arroz Con Dulce (rice pudding)
-2 cups of medium grain rice
-2 1/2 cups of water
-1 can of coconut milk
-1 can of carnation evaporated milk
-6 whole cloves
-3 sticks of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon of freshly ground ginger
-1 cup of raisins
-pinch of salt

Place the rice and the water in a medium sauce pan over medium heat and cook the rice until the water is almost completely absorbed. Add the coconut and evaporated milk, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, raisins and salt. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Keep at a simmer, stirring occasionally so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, until the mixture thickens and the rice gets extremely soft. Remove from heat, take out cinnamon sticks and cloves, and transfer to a dish (like one for brownies). Press the pudding down into the dish so that the surface is flat and sprinkle the top with cinnamon and sugar. Let cool and place in the fridge to chill. To serve, cut into squares and enjoy.

That's all for now, but I have many recipes I will add later. Also, if you'd like for me to add something specifically, feel free to request.

Biscuits
-2 cups of flour
-1 tsp. of salt
-1/3 cup of butter
-1 tbs. of baking powder
-1 tbs. sugar
-1 cup of milk

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Mix together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Cut in the butter, which should be cold. You'll know it's right when the mixture looks something like large grain cornmeal. Slowly add the milk until the mixture reaches the consistency of a slightly sticky dough, it doesn't always take the full cup of milk. Flour a working surface and turn out the dough, kneading only about 15 times; too much kneading makes for hard biscuits. Pad out the dough so that it's about an inch-inch and a half thick and cut the biscuits. I use an old can with both the ends cut out. Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet that has been lightly dusted with corn meal and brush them with melted butter. Bake until the tops are golden brown.

Meaty Chili
-1lb of ground beef
-1lb of sirloin (can be a little more, usually sold as a roast)
-1 8oz. can of tomato sauce
-2 8oz. cans of water
-1 package of Sazon
-3 cloves of minced garlic
-1 small onion
-1 bag of pinto beans (or 3 cans of beans)
-4 tablespoons of chili powder
-3 tablespoons of ground cumin
-3 tablespoons of ground oregano
-Salt
-Pepper

Slice sirloin into long thin slices and then re slice them into squares. Brown the ground beef and the sirloin, drain fat. Place the meat in a large pot with the garlic, onion, sazon, salt and pepper. Cook lightly so that the onion and garlic can cook a little. Add tomato sauce and water.

If you used the bag of beans, soak the beans overnight and add the beans and half the water to the chili mixture now.

If you used the cans, add the cans with the fluid they come in to the mixture. You will also have to add 2 cans worth of water.

Add everything else and bring to a simmer. Simmer the chili, stirring occasionally until the chili has thickened and the beans are soft. If you would like a thicker chili take a couple tablespoons of flour or corn starch and mix it with water, then add it to the chili and simmer for a few more minutes until it thickens.

For hot chili, add some ground cayenne pepper or a can of Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, cut up.

Chocolate Pudding
-2 1oz. squares of bakers unsweetened chocolate (chopped)
-3/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
-1 1/2 cups of sugar
-1/3 cup of cornstarch
-1/2 teaspoon of salt
-3 cups of milk
-4 egg yolks
-1 tablespoon of vanilla

Put sugar, salt and cornstarch in a medium sauce pan. Stir to combine. Slowly add milk and then add the chocolate. Place over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens and boils. While it's boiling, stir for 1 minute. Place the yolks in a bowl, making sure that there is no shell, and begin to beat. While beating, gradually add a few large spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture. Then stir the egg mixture to the chocolate and place back over medium heat. Bring back to a boil for one more minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, chill and serve. This recipe can also double as a pie filling for a phenomenal chocolate silk pie.

Cranberry Corn Muffins
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup cornmeal
-2/3 cup sugar
-1 tablespoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-2 large eggs
-1 cup whole milk (2% is fine too)
-2 tablespoons corn oil
-4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
-1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
-1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or butter lightly. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt and whisk to mix well. In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, corn oil, melted butter and orange juice and whisk to mix well. Gently mix in the cranberries. Pour the cranberry mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the ingredients combine in a lumpy batter. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling just to the rims. If desired, sprinkle muffin tops with sugar.

Bake until edges are golden brown, the center is set, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes.

Southern Green Bean Casserole
-1/3 stick butter
-1/2 cup diced onions
-1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
-2 cups sliced green beans
-3 cups chicken broth
-1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
-1 (2.8-ounce) can French-fried onion rings
-Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder to taste
-1 cup grated Cheddar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Saute the onions and mushrooms in the butter. Boil green beans in chicken broth for 10 minutes and drain. Add the green beans, mushroom soup, onion rings, and seasonings, to taste, to the onion mixture. Stir well. Pour into a greased 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes, then top the casserole with the Cheddar and bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the casserole is hot and cheese is melted.

I. Love. Good Southern Homestyle biscuits. I had my boyfriend's mom teach me how to make them when I went down to visit over the holidays. Ahhhh so delicious. And I found out that I enjoy them with honey. So good, so good.

MCO
I like the method I listed the best because the crust comes out SO great and flaky and it's not complicated. There are so many pie crust recipes that require you to refrigerate the dough and the consistency is always really crumb like. I'm not a fan.