Sweetening up this holiday season with OHS teachers
By Alivia Williams
Image provided by stockvault.net
With the 2022 holiday season approaching, it is time to pull out those recipe books for tasty dishes and desserts to share with friends and family. This year, I asked a few OHS teachers to share their favorite holiday treat recipes.
Mrs. Bowman’s Cranberry Fluff
Kresta Bowman is an English II teacher here at Owasso High School, and she also teaches Yearbook. Mrs. Bowman takes a light, but still sweet perspective on Christmas dessert with her Cranberry Fluff. The recipe is as follows:
Ingredients:
1 package of cranberries
1 cup sugar
4-6 bananas
1 tub of Cool Whip
Miniature marshmallows
Instructions:
Wash and grind 1 package of fresh cranberries in the blender.
Add ½ cup to 1 cup of sugar and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day cut up 4 to 6 bananas, and add to cranberries.
Mix in 1 large tub of Cool Whip.
Add as many miniature marshmallows as it takes to fill the bowl full.
Chill and enjoy!
Mrs. Turner’s Cheddar Apple Bread
Kim Turner teaches Adv. English I on the OHS west campus. She shared with me one of her favorite holiday bread recipes.
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cups sugar
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cups milk
½ cup of margarine, melted
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups chopped, peeled apples
¾ cups chopped nuts
Instructions:
Combine dry ingredients.
Add combined eggs, milk and margarine; mix well.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Spoon into a well-greased and floured 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees, 65-70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let stand for 5 minutes; remove from pan.
Makes 1 loaf.
Mrs. Copeland’s Fudge
Michelle Copeland, a Physical Science teacher on the West Campus
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ stick butter
Small can of evaporated milk
1 ½ packages of chocolate chips
1 jar of marshmallow creme
½ tsp vanilla
1 cup of nuts
Instructions
Cook sugar, evaporated milk and butter at a boil
Once at a boil, let cook for 5 minutes `1 stir
Then, add chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, vanilla and nuts
Finally, pour into buttered dish and refrigerate
Mrs. Derby’s Family Favorite Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Kimberly Derby teaches AP Language and Composition, along with English IV. Mrs. Derby sent a very special recipe– one that her family absolutely adores.
“My boys, Quentin and Evan, LOVE Pineapple Upside Down Cake and will battle it out over who gets the last cherry off the cake! Enjoy this easy-to-make and yummy sweet treat!” she explains.
Her recipe goes as follows:
Ingredients:
Classic Yellow Cake Mix
20 oz. can of Pineapple Slices
½ cups Vegetable Oil
3 Eggs
Jar of Maraschino Cherries (My boys believe the bigger and more the better!)
½-1 Cup of Brown Sugar (Most recipes call for ⅓ of a cup but the more the yummier!)
1 Stick of REAL Butter -NO MARGARINE ALLOWED!!!!
Mrs. Derby’s Steps:
There are many ways to make this cake; however, follow my steps for the sweetest and most delicious cake!
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Grease the bottom of a cake pan by unwrapping a stick of butter and putting it in the cake pan. Put the cake pan in the oven and let it melt until it turns golden brown-BUT DO NOT LET IT BURN!!!! LET IT GET BEAUTIFUL BUT NOT BURNT!!!!
Use a colander to strain a can of sliced pineapple. Before straining the juice from the pineapples, put a bowl under the colander to catch the juice.
Once the butter is melted and golden, remove the cake pan from the oven. Place the pineapple slices in the bottom of the cake pan.
Open the can of maraschino cherries and place cherries creatively around and inside the pineapple slices. Again, the more cherries the better according to my boys!
Sprinkle the brown sugar ½-1 Cup on top of the pineapple slices and cherries. Again, the more brown sugar, the yummier and sweeter the cake. Most recipes call for ¼-⅓ C but that is NOT sweet enough for the Derbys!
In a large mixing bowl combine the cake mix, 1 Cup of pineapple juice (if you do not have enough, substitute what you are missing with water), vegetable oil, and eggs until combined. LOVINGLY beat with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Pour batter on top of the butter/pineapple/cherry/brown sugar layer. DO NOT MIX. Gently pour on top of the bottom layer to keep the pineapples and cherries at the bottom of the pan.
Bake at 350 F for 29-33 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
As soon as you carefully remove the cake from the oven using your oven mitts (so you do not burn your hands), use a spatula to pull the cake away from the sides of the pan.
Have a cake plate/carrier prepared to turn the cake pan upside down so that the bottom of the cake will become the top of the cake and the cake will gently release itself from the cake pan. Again use oven mitts so you do not burn your hands when you turn the cake pan upside down to put the cake onto the cake plate.
Now you have a beautiful and yummy Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Be prepared to have to fight for a piece of this brown sugar-covered cake as it will disappear very quickly. My boys fight over the sugar and the cherries! Enjoy!