Clementine's Butterscotch Brownies

As my two children grow bigger and bigger, I am finding myself going through larger and larger amounts of snacks. I am diligently trying to cook from scratch as much as I can, both for health and my checkbook. Snacks are a recipe category that I am always trying to find new options that taste good and can be an occasional treat for my family.  My local newspaper, the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail, had a re-printed recipe for Clementine's Butterscotch Brownies that looked perfect for family snack.

This is a truly easy brownie recipe. The brownies only require two bowls for preparation and the ingredients I already had in my pantry cupboard. I recently bought an oven thermometer to accurately gauge my disco-era oven's temperature more effectively. My brownies for this recipe took 5 minutes less than the suggested 25-30 minutes of baking time. Other than the temp difference I made no other substitutions or adjustments to the original recipe.

These brownies are a great combination of sweet and salty. I find regular chocolate brownies to be overly sweet at times and these ones were just right. I would definitely make these brownies again, they are a quick and easy family friendly snack.

For the recipe you can go to the original link at the Los Angeles Times website: Clementine's Butterscotch Brownies.

Cream Scones with Currants

I have tried just about every scone recipe that I have in my large cookbook collection. Some have been great, some just mediocre. My main complaint has been with the prep work, which can be hassle. Last Sunday the Charleston (WV) Sunday Gazette-Mail had one that looked intriguing.

This is the easiest scone recipe that I have ever tried. There are very few ingredients and most can be found in your pantry. The prep work is minimal and the total time involved short. I did have to add more flour than suggested in order for the dough to not be overly sticky. I also increased the baking time for the tops to brown.

This is a recipe that I would use again. The scones were light and tasted great, with little time spent. The one thing that I would change next time would be to brush the tops with heavy cream instead of milk to promote the tops to brown more.

The Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail does not have the recipe on their site, but it can be found here.

Apricot-Peach and Gingersnap-Crusted Baked Ham

Every Easter we purchase the same spiral ham from Sam's and pretty much prepare it the same way. Last year we tried a county ham, which I thought was too salty, my husband on the other hand liked it, This year we decided to try something different to see if we could come to a compromise. Using a recipe from the April 10, Charleston (WV) Sunday Gazette-Mail, I prepared Apricot-Peach and Gingersnap-Crusted Baked Ham.

This recipe was fairly simple to make. I did have to substitute the apricot-peach jam, to half apricot and half peach jam respectively, Additionally, the 8 pound boneless ham that I was able to find was not a traditional spiral cut.

This recipe turned out okay; not great, not bad. The pan sauce was the best part of the dish and compensated for the ham that was less than stellar in terms of quality. My husband thought the skin was tough and I thought the ham was salty. This was a fun recipe to try for a change, but I think next time I would make the pan sauce and use something else to bast the ham.

I was unable to find a link to the recipe on the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail's website, but it can be found here Apricot-Peach and Gingersnap-Crusted Baked Ham.