The Chrestmans

Macey Chrestman, 15, received three blue ribbons and sister, Madison, 20, won four in last week’s Calhoun County Fair baking exhibits. The Chrestmans, of Bruce, had more fair entries this year and have been participating about five years. Mother, Jeannie, says she just coaches them when they prepare for the fair.

They agreed that they say, “Okay, it’s fair time, let’s decide what to make,” and that sometimes it’s hard for them do that. Madison’s entries were Amish Homemade Peanut Butter Fudge, Flourless Peanut Butter &?Chocolate Chip Cookies, Caramel Cake (Aunt Carolyn Greene’s recipe), Brownie Bottom Squares, which were all blue ribbon winners, and Italian Knots.

Macey, Jeannie and Madison Chrestman

It was her first time to make the brownie squares. Macey’s blue ribbon entries were S’mores Cookie Bars, Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread (a recipe of Jeanne Cole, who was Jeannie’s former home ec teacher) and Sausage Muffins (Connie Rogers). She also entered Chocolate Cake Cheesecake and Cornflake Candy. Each of her entries was a first time try.

“The fun of it for them,” said Jeannie, “is trying a recipe for the first time.”
Chocolate and chicken are favorites of the females in the Chrestman home. According to Jeannie, the girls’ cooking all started with sugar cookies and peanut butter balls.
She bought slice and bake cookie dough and showed them how to use shaped cutters.

As a child, Jeannie’s mother, the late Erma Brown, taught her to make peanut butter balls, so she did the same with her daughters. Husband and father, Kevin, prefers eating them before they are dipped, because he doesn’t like chocolate as much as they do.

They make their own marinade for chicken–which usually consists of A-1, worcestershire and bbq sauces, and sometimes Tony Chachere’s, honey mustard, garlic or cumin–then Kevin does the grilling. Madison likes pizza and peanut butter in addition to chocolate and chicken, and Macey, vegetables. Jeannie learned to cook vegetables and cornbread when she was young from her mother, and wishes she could make chocolate boiled cookies like her mother did.
At Ellard Baptist Church, where Kevin is pastor, Jeannie and Madison work with the youth and children on?Wednesday nights. The ladies let the kids decorate baked sugar cookies at Christmas to wrap and give to the adults, and Jeannie also makes a dark chocolate cake with chocolate sour cream frosting for their monthly birthdays.

Peanut Butter Balls
(Jeannie Chrestman from Erma Brown)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 box confectioner’s sugar
2 sticks margarine, melted
3/4 cup peanut butter
12 oz. pkg. milk chocolate chips
About 1/4 block paraffin
Mix first four ingredients well. Roll into balls, and chill to set. Meanwhile, melt chocolate and paraffin in double boiler. Dip balls in chocolate and place on cookie sheet to set.

Amish Homemade Peanut Butter Fudge
(Madison Chrestman)
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 stick unsalted butter (melted)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Use 8×8 nonstick pan or dish?(use glass in microwave.)?Melt butter in glass dish in microwave. Remove from microwave and add all other ingredients. Stir together and pour into prepared dish. Place in fridge for at least two hours. Cut and enjoy.

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread
(Macey Chrestman from Jeanne Cole, Calhoun Cares cookbook)
3/4 cup butter softened
1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Beat butter and cream cheese on medium until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. In another bowl, combine flour and next three ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture just until blended. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Spoon into three greased and floured 8×4 loaf pans. Sprinkle one cup pecans evenly over batter in pans. Slightly press them into batter. Bake at 350 for one hour or until tests done. Cool 10 minutes in pans and remove to wire racks to cool.
Orange Topping: 2 Tbsp. orange juice, 1 tsp. grated orange (optional), 1 cup powdered sugar. Mix together all ingredients while bread is cooling. I have found it easier to brush on topping with pastry brush. Let cool at least 30 minutes before wrapping or slicing.

Spinach Stuffed Squash
(Jeannie Chrestman-Bell’s Best 2 Cookbook)
12 medium yellow squash
2-10 oz. pkgs. frozen chopped spinach
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Seasoned bread crumbs
Grated Parmesan cheese
Cut squash in halves lengthwise; scoop out seeds and discard. Cook in salt water until tender. Cook spinach; drain well and squeeze out moisture. Combine spinach with sour cream, butter, salt and pepper. Stuff squash; sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Potato Chowder
(Jeannie Chrestman from Joy Foy)
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 qt. water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 small onion
1 large can white chicken
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
1 can cream of chickens soup
Boil potatoes, water, and bouillon cubes until potatoes are tender. Add remaining ingredients and simmer to blend flavors.

Chocolate Almond Brownie Bottom Squares
(Madison Chrestman)
1 pkg. Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge brownie mix
1 large egg
1/3 cup coffee (I used water)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Cake layer:
1 pkg. Duncan Hines Fudge Marble Cake Mix
3 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups water
1 can Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Frosting Starter
1 packet Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Chocolate Almond Flavor Mix
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 9×13 pan. Mix Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge brownie mix, egg, coffee and vegetable oil. Pour brownie batter into pan and smooth into even layer. Prepare fudge marble cake batter as directed on package. You will have one bowl vanilla batter and one bowl chocolate batter. Spread 3 cups of vanilla batter on top of brownie layer. Use up to 3/4 of chocolate batter, dropping it by spoonfuls on top of vanilla cake batter. Using the tip of a knife, swirl chocolate batter into vanilla batter. Take care not to swirl into the brownie batter. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Let cake cool completely. Pour packet of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Chocolate Almond Flavor Mix into can of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Frosting Batter. Stir until evently blended. Frost top of cake with Chocolate Almost frosting you just created. Chill  30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve. Tip: Chill dessert first, then use sharp knife to cut, wiping clean between each cut. Yield: 20 servings.

S’mores Cookie Bars
(Macey Chrestman from Hope E. Anderson, Pinterest)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (Hershey bars)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of it on the bottom of the pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side. Spread marshmallow creme on top of the chocolate. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small squares and laying them together). Bake for about 30 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cheesecake-Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cake
(from myrecipes.com, Jeannie’s version)
Unsweetened cocoa
Devil’s Food cake mix
3.4 oz. pkg. chocolate instant pudding mix
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
5 Hersey bars, chopped
16 oz. can homestyle cream cheese frosting
24.3 oz. tub Philadelphia ready-to-eat cheesecake filing
Smucker’s Hot Fudge Sauce
Grease 2-9” round cake pans and dust with cocoa. Beat cake mix and next five ingredients at low speed for one minute; then beat at medium speed two minutes. Fold in three Hersey bars. Bake at 350 until done. Wrap and chill cake layers at least one hour. (This enables you to split layers with ease.) Slice layers horizontally to make four layers. Spread cheesecake filling on top of each layer (except top layer) and sprinkle with remaining two chopped Hersey bars. Frost sides and top of cake with frosting. Drizzle warm hot fudge sauce over cake, letting it drop down sides. Store in refrigerator.
OPTION: Mix together cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Substitute a 6 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips for candy bars, and use Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting: 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp. salt, 2 3/4 cups confectioner’s sugar. Melt chocolate and butter together. Let cool and blend in sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar until frosting is spreading consistency.

Chicken Empanadas
(Jeannie Chrestman)
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1-8 oz. pkg. shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese blend
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1-15 oz. pkg. refrigerated pie crusts
Water
Preheat oven to 400. Lightly greased baking sheet. In large bowl, combine chicken and next 7 ingredients. Unroll one piecrust onto lightly floured surface. Roll into 15” circle. Cut out rounds, using a 3” cookie cutter. Re-roll dough as needed. Repeat procedure with remaining piecrusts, making 12-15 circles total. Arrange one round on a clean, flat surface. Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of the round.?Fold dough over the filling, pressing edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with remaining rounds and chicken mixture. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made ahead and frozen for up to one month. Arrange empanadas on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. OPTION: Can make as a whole pie, if time is a factor.