Cherry Bars

I made these for Women's Bible Study last week.  I thought they looked so yummy.  I love shortbread, so I was imagining a shortbread crust with cherry filling.  They were good, but not exactly what I was expecting.  I think the almond flavoring threw it off a bit (for me, anyway...).  This is from the latest issue of Simple & Delicious.  They looked so nice in the pan...when I cut them up to put them on a plate, they lost a bit of their curb appeal...no picture of that though...

Cherry Bars
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cans (21 ounces each) cherry pie filling 
GLAZE:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts. Gradually add flour. Spread 3 cups batter into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Spread with pie filling. Drop remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over filling. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, extracts and enough milk to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over top. Yield: 5 dozen.

I like to be sneaky like a spy sometimes.  I was sitting with one of my friends on an upper bleacher in the gym, and I saw someone below me on a lower bleacher about to take a bite of one of my bars.  I said to my friend, in a sneaky whisper "she's about to eat the dessert I made.  Let's see if it looks like she likes it."  But the lady heard me and turned around.  So I did not get an honest opinion out of her.  So I had to be even more sneaky.  A few minutes later I saw another friend with cherry residue on her plate.  I said to her, very casually, "oooh did you have that cherry thing?"  And she was like, "yeah it was good did you try it?"  And I said "I made it!"  If she said it was gross, she and I would have both felt very bad.  So I can see that this will not be the best technique going forward.  When I went to get my (empty except one) plate after the study, a girl I don't know at all said "Oh, did you make those?  They were SO good."  So that counts as an unbiased opinion, and might make you think I don't need to be Sneaky Peeky Spying anymore.  But that is, of course, not the conclusion I have drawn.  (Cue Mission Impossible theme song)

Turkey Bundles

This is supposed to be a recipe you can use with turkey leftovers, but I didn't want to wait for that.  This is from the fall issue of Simple & Delicious, and it has a lot of Thanksgiving stuff in it.  I used chicken instead of turkey.  It starts with Pillsbury crescent dough, which I don't usually buy.  But these just sounded so yummy I wanted to try them.

Turkey Bundles
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts (I left these out)
1 green onion, chopped
2 tubes (one 8 ounces, one 4 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls (I didn't see these in 4 oz cans, so I used two 8 oz cans...after I used up all the filling, I just made the usual crescent rolls with the rest of the dough
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, beat the first five ingredients until smooth. Stir in turkey, water chestnuts and green onion.

Unroll both tubes of crescent dough and separate dough into six rectangles; press perforations to seal. Place 1/3 cup turkey mixture in center of each rectangle. Bring four corners of dough together above filling; twist and pinch seams to seal. Place on a baking sheet. Brush tops with butter; sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 6 servings.

These were tasty.  A couple of problems...#1 what to serve with them.  They are not big enough to be a meal on their own. I had some potatoes left from another recipe, so we had mashed potatoes with it.  Seems like too much starch though.  Problem #2...they were browned on top as in the picture after 15 minutes.  The fam doesn't really like things too browned, so I took them out.  Unbeknownst to me, they were still a bit doughy in the middle.  I think if I made these again, I would reduce to heat to 350 and leave them in a bit longer.

Giant Cupcake Pumpkin

This idea came out of the Simple & Delicious magazine that I just got in the mail.  I made it, with a lot of help from my bestie B-Dog, last night for home fellowship.  Autumn/Fall desserts are my fave (I have another bestie named Autumn so I would like to clarify here that I mean the season, and not the person).  This seemed like something the kids would all like and be fun to make, too. 

The original recipe had a Jack-o-Lantern face, but we don't do those, so we tried to make it like a regular pumpkin.  This was, sadly, not obvious to everyone.  Various guesses included, but were not limited to, a fallen leaf, a flower, and a butterfly.  But Barbie & I knew it was a pumpkin, and so did everyone else once we pointed it out...I think it clearly looks like a pumpkin.

Giant Cupcake Pumpkin
1 pkg spice cake mix
1 cup solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup water
2 eggs
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
2 cans (16 oz each) vanilla frosting
1 tsp maple flavoring
Orange food coloring
Reese's pieces candy

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 26 muffin cups with paper liners (we made 28, because of course as quality bakers we knew we would have to taste-test this product before delivery).  In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pumpkin, water, and eggs; beat on low speed for 30 seconds.  Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Fill prepared cups 2/3 full.

Bake 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes back clean.  Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

In a large bowl, beat frosting and flavoring.  Tint frosting orange.

On a large platter, arrange four cupcakes in a row.  Continue with a row of 5, a row of 6, another row of 5, and ending with a row of 4 cupcakes to form a pumpkin.  Place 2 cupcakes at the top in the shape of a stem.  Spread frosting over cupcakes.  Decorate with Reese's pieces candies as desired.

These were really good.  Really good.  Maple frosting was new to me.  But I liked it.  It let out a nice maple-y aroma while it was on the counter at Lisa's house, too.  Easy and fun.

English Muffins 2.0

I have tried making English muffins before, and it was in January of 2010 according to this trusty blog.  I just reread that entry and saw that I had planned to make them a few more times before I made my final decision about them.  I never made them again, til now.  And using a different recipe.  My sister in law did send me an English muffin recipe, but I lost it.  When I saw this one in the Southern Living cookbook, I decided to try it again.  This one is a bit different, because it does have cornmeal on the bottoms, like Thomas English muffins do.  Still no nooks or crannies, though...

English Muffins
1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tbsp shortening
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
6-7 cups all-purpose flour (I hate ranges like that...I used 6 cups)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cornmeal

Combine yeast and warm water in a 1 cup liquid measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes.

Combine milk, shortening, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan; heat until shortening melts, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and let cool to 105-115 degrees.

Combine yeast mixture, milk mixture, and 3 cups flour in a large mixing bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended.  Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (5-10 minutes)(I never knead that long, maybe 1 or 2...).  Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down; turn out onto lightly floured surface, and knead 4 or 5 times.  Divide dough in half.  Place half of dough on a smooth surface that has been sprinkled with 1/4 cup cornmeal.  Pat dough into a circle 3/4" thick; cut dough into rounds with 3 1/2" biscuit cutter (cut carefully, as leftover dough should not be reused).  Repeat procedure with remaining dough.

Sprinkle 2 baking sheets (I only did one big one) with remaining cornmeal.  Place rounds, cornmeal side down, 2 inches apart on baking sheets (1 side should remain free of cornmeal).  Cover and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Using a wide spatula, transfer rounds to preheated, lightly greased electric skillet (350 degrees)(I used just over medium heat in a regular skillet), cornmeal side down.  Cook 5-7 minutes on each side or until golden (that was too long for almost all of them...).  Cool on wire rack.  Yield: 8 muffins

Yep, all that work for 8 English muffins.  I actually got 9 out of this batch, but still.  They only cost like $1.49 at the bread store.  They tasted good, toasted with some of my homemade (but quite runny) freezer jam that I posted a few weeks ago.  But this was a lot of work for this amount of muffins.  Also, weirdly, while they were in the skillet, it smelled like I was making popcorn, because of the cornmeal. 

Maple Bacon Oven Pancake

We had this for supper last week, and I haven't had a chance to post.  It sounded really good on paper.  It wasn't really what I was expecting, but it was okay.  From Southern Living.

Maple Bacon Oven Pancake
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Bisquick
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth (I just used a wire whisk).  Stir in 1/2 cup cheese.  Pour into greased 9x13 baking dish.  Bake at 425 for 12 minutes.  Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese and bacon (as you can see from my picture, there are those here that do not like cheese or bacon, so I sprinkled accordingly); bake 3-5 more minutes or until toothpick comes back clean.  Cut into squares and serve with maple syrup.

We had this with yogurt and fruit.  It was okay.  Not something we'll have again, though.  I like regular pancakes with bacon on the side better, I guess...

Rosemary Focaccia

Apparently focaccia is not very photogenic.  I took 6 pictures of the finished product, and posted the least bad one here.  Everyone really liked this, but it doesn't look very good.  It smelled fabulous while it was cooking, so we knew it would taste good, too.  Interestingly, the picture in the cookbook looks pretty good.  But who knows what tricks and what kind of professional photographer Southern Living has?  I have none of those bells and whistles.  I have no tricks, and a cell phone camera.  Also, instead of using fresh rosemary, which I have no way to "finely chop" as the recipe directs, I used Italian seasoning.  I figured that would make it more palatable for the younger set, too.  The other modification that I made to this was to replace the olive oil and minced garlic with Garlic Infused Oil that I just got from Tastefully Simple (a friend of mine recently started selling...let me know if you want more info and I can get you her number).  This made it so much easier, since I didn't have to mince garlic (which actually isn't that hard but still) and it eliminated that step.  We had this with stuffed shells, which is one of Steve's favorite meals.  The kids really like it, too.

Rosemary Focaccia
2 pkg active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp)
2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves, divided
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp finely ground pepper

Combine yeast and warm water in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes.

Place 4 cups flour in a large bowl; make a well in center.  Add yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms.  Cover and let rise in a warm place (no problem yesterday) free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in bulk (dough will be spongy).

Sprinkle remaining 2 cups flour on a flat surface.  Turn dough out onto flour and knead until all the flour is incorporated to make a firm dough (harder than it sounds but I managed).  Gradually knead in butter, 1/4 cup rosemary, and 1 tsp salt (crazy messy--Nathan was laughing at me, and kept saying things like, "I can't believe you're doing that!").  Knead until dough is smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes), adding additional flour if necessary.

Brush 2 15x10-inch jelly roll pans with 2 tbsp olive oil (here I used the Garlic Infused Oil).  Set aside.  Divide dough in half.  Roll each portion into a 15x10 inch rectangle, and place in prepared pans.  Cover and let rise in a warm place 30-45 minutes or until dough is almost doubled in bulk.

Using fingertips, dimple the dough all over in both pans; sprinkle with minced garlic and remaining rosemary.  Drizzle with remaining 6 tbsp olive oil (here again I used the garlic oil and skipped using any minced garlic), and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until golden.  Cut or tear into squares (I tore it--one less knife to wash).

So this took a little while, and was messier than I planned on.  Also I was kind of waiting for it to brown up, and because of that I think I might have left it in the oven a bit too long, so it was a bit drier and firmer than I think it should have been .  But overall it was good, and everybody liked it.  I was excited to use the new oil, too.

Cinnamon Toasty Fruity Delight

This is kind of a cross between french toast and pancakes.  I said we could call it Francakes.  One of the kids said we could call it Pantoast.  I think I like Francakes better, although they both sound weird.  I don't like the original name either, though, it sounds too...I don't know.  Something.  This recipe came from Southern Living.

Cinnamon Toasty Fruity Delight
2 cups pancake mix
1 1/2 cups water
(instead of buying pancake mix, I used my own pancake batter recipe, then added the vanilla and cinnamon)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
8 cinnamon bread slices
2 bananas, sliced
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Maple syrup

Whisk together the first 4 ingredients.

Melt 1/2 tbsp butter and 1/2 tbsp oil in large skillet over medium heat (I just used cooking spray and sprayed in between each one).  Dip 2 bread slices in batter; cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden.  Repeat procedure with remaining butter, oil, bread slices, and batter.

Top with bananas and pecans.  Serve with maple syrup.

So good!  Of course not everyone had the bananas and pecans. Sam said blueberries might be yummy instead of the bananas.  I think they would be, too.  I did this in a skillet, like it said, and I could only make 2 at a time.  That annoyed me, and next time I will use my griddle and do 6 pieces at once.

Orange Blueberry Freezer Jam

We have our own blueberry bushes, and every year we get a lot of berries from them.  I make pies, crisps, cobblers, coffee cakes.  I add berries to yogurt, make Blueberry Fool.  All kinds of things.  I saw this recipe in Simple & Delicious, so I thought I would try it.  Freezer jam is easier than regular jam, I think.  I had to buy jars.  And sterilize them.  And in the recipe it says to use plastic jars, but Hannaford only had glass jars that said "Freezer Safe."  So I called my mom, who was eating lunch with my sister at Red Robin in Augusta.  It was very noisy.  She said it was fine, and she always made her freezer jam in glass jars.  So I proceeded.  I made a big mistake though, at the beginning.  Where it says "blueberries, crushed" I forgot to crush them, but didn't realize my mistake til the last step.  This resulted in another call to my mom, who did not have much hope for this jam.  But I give you the recipe anyway, in case you're better at this than I am...just for extra fun, I decided at the outset to double this recipe since we have such an abundance of blueberries.  So, double the fail...

Orange Blueberry Freezer Jam
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 medium orange
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, crushed
1 pouch (3 oz) liquid fruit pectin

Rinse four clean 1-cup plastic containers with lids with boiling water.  Dry thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 250.  Place sugar in a shallow baking dish; bake 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, finely grate 1 tbsp peel from orange.  Peel and chop orange.

In a large bowl, combine the blueberries (which should be crushed by now), warm sugar, grated peel, and chopped orange.  Let stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the pectin; stir constantly for 3 minutes to distribute pectin (by the end of the 3 minutes I realized my mistake...).

Immediately fill all containers to within 1/2-inch of tops.  Wipe container rims; immediately cover with lids.  Let stand at room temperature until set, up to 24 hours.  Jam is now ready to use.

Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 12 months.  Thaw frozen jam in refrigerator before serving.

Okay, here's what I did at the end of the 3 minutes, when I realized this just looks like blueberries floating in white syrup.  #1: Panic.  #2: grab the potato masher and go crazy smooshing berries  #3: enlist the husband's help smooshing berries; he's stronger than I am.  #4, after realizing mashing them wasn't working:  Pour mixture, in two batches, into awesome Cuisinart blender and hit "puree."  Mixture looks more promising at this point, although still not like the picture in the magazine.  Proceeded to fill jars and hope for the best.

Right now it is 7 hours post-pour and the jam has still not "set."  I think when I tip a jar the "jam" inside shouldn't move.  Mine still does.  Besides not crushing the berries and not getting the sugar all blue, I also did not do either thing "immediately" that I was supposed to.  My mom says the worst case scenario is that this becomes ice cream topping instead of jam.  But I don't want 8 jars of that.  Maybe by morning it will look right...

 

Sour Cream Cinnamon Buns

I don't like sour cream as a condiment.  It reminds me way too much of mayo.  But I have discovered through the making of many new recipes that cakes and pastries made with sour cream are usually very good.  So I decided to try these this morning.  Now, when I say "this morning," I mean "they were done before noon so technically that's still morning."  I had grand plans to be up early, not too early because it is Saturday, but not too late either.  Well, I made it to the kitchen by 8:45...made coffee, had to put the clean dishes away, because I can't cook until I do...these were ready by 10:30.  Everyone had already had breakfast by then (except me), so we had these for more like an early lunch.  Instead of using the icing that it says to, I used leftover caramel frosting from last night's cookie recipe.  From Southern Living.

Sour Cream Cinnamon Buns
8 oz sour cream
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 pkg (or 2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk

Heat sour cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat to 105-115 degrees (that was so gross).  Combine warm sour cream, 2 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp sugar, salt, and baking soda in large mixing bowl.  Add egg and yeast; blend well.  Add 1 1/2 cups flour; beat at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended.  Gradually stir in remaining flour.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly 4 or 5 times.  Cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Roll dough into 18x6 inch rectangle; spread 2 tbsp softened butter over dough.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Roll up dough, starting with short side, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam to seal.

Slice roll into 12 (1 1/2 inch) slices.  Place slices, cut side down, in greased muffin pan (here I had a problem, as the diameter of the slices was larger than the diameter of my muffin pan holes...I would put them in but they wouldn't fit, and the centers were sinking down in...I knew they wouldn't look right or rise right if they were all crumpled up, so after the third one I decided to place them on a cookie sheet...they spread kind of a lot, but at least they kept the right shape).  Cover and let rise 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 12-15 minutes or until golden.  Remove buns from pan immediately; let cool on wire rack.  Combine powdered sugar and milk; drizzle over buns.  (I served mine warm...)

So.  These were good.  But not great.  A lot of work.  I wanted "wow" and for them to basically melt in my mouth.  It didn't really happen that way.  Steve really really liked these.  I think, though, that I shall not make them again...also I don't like how the picture makes them look...see how they spread out?  But they would have looked deformed if I'd done the muffin-pan way.  So oh well.

Caramel-Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies

I made these for home fellowship.  It seemed like something everyone would like, and that I should not make just for our own family's consumption.  I completely forgot to take a picture of them, but just imagine little whoopie pies, but the cakes are chocolate chip cookies and the filling is caramel frosting.  This one came from Simple & Delicious.

Caramel-Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Filling:
6 tbsp butter, cubed
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp 2% milk
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, then honey and vanilla.  In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For filling, in small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in brown sugar and milk; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cook and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat; cool to room temperature (oops, somehow I overlooked this part and it wasn't cooled...I ended up using almost double the powdered sugar to get the right consistency...oh well it all ended up fine).  Beat in enough confectioners' sugar to reach desired consistency.

Spread 1 1/2 tsp filling (I certainly did not measure) onto bottoms of half of the cookies; cover with remaining cookies.

We had some of the filling left over, so I used it the next morning on cinnamon rolls, and it was good.  These cookies went fast, and the finished product was so scrumptious.  I will say the cookie dough did not taste anywhere near as good as the dough from my usual recipe, so I consumed much less.  Depending on what day it is, that could either be very good or very bad.   We will definitely have these again.  Yum yum.

Hot Brown

I have never heard of a Hot Brown.  It is, I learned through the blurb under the recipe, a hot sandwich made famous by the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.  It sounded like something we would like.  I really like hot turkey sandwiches made with Thanksgiving leftovers.  So we had this one...from Southern Living.

Hot Brown
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp salt
8 slices bread, toasted
1 pound sliced cooked turkey breast
8 slices bacon, cooked and drained
4 slices tomato (nope...I don't like raw tomatoes...)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring til smooth.  Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Gradually add milk and broth; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly.  Stir in cheddar cheese and salt, and continue stirring until cheese melts.  Remove from heat.

(The following directions confused me, and a trip to Google didn't help...so I don't know if I did the assembly right...) Cut 4 slices of toast in half diagonally.  Place 2 halves, cut side in, with 1 whole slice in center, on an ovenproof plate or 15x10 inch jelly roll pan.  Repeat with remaining toast (ummmm, okay...).  Top each with turkey, cheese sauce, 2 slices bacon crisscrossed, tomato slice, and 2 tbsp parmesan cheese.

Broil 3 inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes or just until bubbly.  Serve hot.

Okay.  Sam loved this.  I thought it was weird.  It looked like gravy but tasted cheesy.  The bacon was good, but weird with the sauce.  The parmesan cheese added another layer of "what???"  Nathan pulled his turkey out, scraped everything off it, and only ate that.  Emma did okay.  It was definitely a fine meal, would be good for a lunch or something, but I still don't know if I liked it.

Stuffed French Toast

Another good Breakfast For Supper recipe.  We had this with bananas, and it was a complete meal.  Fruit salad would be good with it, too.  It had a bunch of steps, but not really hard ones.  Most of the stuffed french toast recipes I've seen have cream cheese filling, and I don't really like cream cheese like that, so I've avoided making them.  These are stuffed with ham and cheese though, and are sort of like a Monte Cristo type thing.  From Southern Living.

Stuffed French Toast
1 loaf (16 oz) french bread, sliced into 18 slices (I bought "wheat" french bread and it was only 13 oz and I only got 14 slices out of it)
1 lb thinly sliced deli ham, diced
9 slices swiss cheese
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, divided
Powdered sugar and syrup for serving

Place 9 (or 7) bread slices in a single layer in a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish; top evenly with ham, cheese, and remaining bread slices.

Whisk together eggs, milk, orange juice, and vanilla; pour over bread slices.  Let stand 10 minutes, turning once.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in large skillet over medium-high heat; add half of the french toast and cook 1-2 minutes on each side.  Place on a lightly greased 10x15 jelly roll pan.  Repeat procedure with remaining butter and french toast.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes (mine only took 15 so be careful) or until golden.  Serve with powdered sugar and syrup.

So my youngest immediately pulled his apart, just ate the ham, and declared himself done.  I did convince him to eat one bite of the the french toast part, which after two chews he said he liked, but after a few more said "no, I don't."  The rest of us really really liked it.  It was a bit hard to flip the sandwiches over without the ham and cheese falling out, but I managed.  This would be really good with bacon, too, but you'd have to precook it.

Skinny Parmesan Twists

These are not healthy.  They are thin-in-diameter breadsticks.  I didn't want the name to mislead you.  From Southern Living.

Skinny Parmesan Twists
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp caraway seeds or grated Parmesan cheese

Combine butter, 1 cup cheese, and sour cream, beating well at medium speed with an electric mixer.  Combine flour and Italian seasoning.  Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until smooth.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; divide in half.  Roll 1 portion of dough into a 12x7-inch rectangle, and cut into 6x1/2-inch strips.

Twist each strip 2 or 3 times, and place on greased baking sheets.  Repeat procedure with remaining dough.

Combine egg yolk and water; brush over breadsticks.  Sprinkle with caraway seeds or additional grated Parmesan cheese (I used garlic salt).  Bake at 350 for 10-11 minutes (mine took more like 15 but I used stoneware) or until golden brown.

These came out awesome!  We had it with pasta and sauce.  They weren't as "bready" as you'd think a breadstick would be.  The texture was smoother, and the flavor was awesome.  I'm glad I went with garlic salt on top.  I did have some caraway seeds, but that is the part that I usually pick out of the sausage on pizza, so I didn't feel like adding it to breadsticks.  I'm sure sprinkling them with more Parmesan cheese would have been yummy as well.  We will have these again for sure.

Four-Way Cincinnati Chili

I have no idea why this is called "Four-Way."  I have never made Cincinnati Chili before, so I don't know what "One-Way" Cincinnati Chili would be like.  My best friend from junior high's mom is the first person I knew who made this, and she posts quite often on her facebook wall about making it still.  When I saw this recipe in the Southern Living cookbook I'm going through, it made me think of her fondly.  So I decided to try it.

Four-Way Cincinnati Chili
1 pound ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp pepper
2 (14 1/2 oz) or 1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped (I did this right in the pan, I'll tell you when)
8 oz uncooked dried spaghetti
Condiments: shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onion (nope, then the kids wouldn't eat it), oyster crackers

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large skillet; cook over medium heat until meat is cooked through.

Stir in cinnamon and next 9 ingredients (dump in the tomatoes, then break them up into pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula...I have a nylon Pampered Chef knife that I used).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While beef mixture simmers, cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain and return to pan.

To serve, place pasta on individual serving plates; spoon beef mixture over spaghetti.  If desired, top with cheese, onions, and oyster crackers.

This came out SO GOOD!  It's not spicy at all, like you think chili will be.  The cinnamon and nutmeg et al gave it a very sweet delicious flavor.  Everybody liked this, although the two youngest didn't like the tomato chunks.  When I make "regular" chili, they don't like the beans, so they really liked that this one didn't have any beans to pick out.  It was different having it over spaghetti, almost like it wasn't even chili, but spaghetti and meat sauce.  Seriously, so good.  We're definitely having this again.

Gingerbread Scones

Breakfast for supper happens a lot around here.  We had these this week with scrambled eggs and bacon.  I really like the spices and flavors involved with gingerbread.  I remember my mom making gingerbread sometimes when I was young, in an 8x8 pan, and she would serve us squares of it with whipped cream on top.  Yum.  So I wanted to try these, even though I wasn't sure how the kids would receive them.  From Southern Living.

Gingerbread Scones
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup milk

Combine first 5 ingredients together; cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.  Combine molasses and milk; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened (I had to add a few more drops of milk to get to this point).  Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly 4 or 5 times.

Divide dough in half; shape each portion into a ball.  Pat each ball into a 5-inch circle on an ungreased baking sheet.  Cut each circle into 6 wedges, using a sharp knife; do not separate wedges.

Bake at 425 for10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Serve warm.

Yum.  Kind of like gingerbread biscuits.  I put them upside down on plates and spread the bottoms with butter before serving them.  Everyone liked them.  I had two the next day for breakfast and they weren't quite as good, but they were still okay.  A very good breakfast food.

Cracker Snackers

This is the thing I ended up bringing to the baby shower since the Mocha Macaroon Cookies were a fail.  I was planning on bringing this anyway, but this became my only contribution.  Oh, and Coffeemate.  This one is from the Southern Living cookbook that I'm working through.

Cracker Snackers
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
11 oz pkg oyster crackers (these are smaller now...I think the bag I got was only 10 oz)
1 envelope (0.7 oz) Italian dressing mix (they recommended Good Seasons so that's what I got)
1 tsp dried dill weed
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Combine oil and garlic; let stand 30 minutes.  Discard garlic.

Place crackers in a bowl; sprinkle with oil.  Combine dressing mix, dill weed, and garlic powder; sprinkle over crackers, stirring well.  Let stand 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  Store in air-tight container.  Yield: 6 cups

This was nice and easy.  The perfect thing to do while waiting for mocha macaroons to set (which they never did).  This came out crazy garlicky.  That's good if you like garlic.  I munched on a couple to taste them, and I thought they were good.  I had a few at the baby shower, and they were good.  I came home with about half of them, so they weren't a huge hit.  The next day I had a small bowl of them, and that wasn't good.  So these are only good in small doses.  

Mocha Macaroon Cookies

I love cooking and baking, and I've gotten pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.  But every once in a while there comes along a very humbling recipe, the kind where I call my mom and say "what do I do now?"  This was that kind of recipe.  I attempted to make these for a baby shower.  Since they are mocha flavored, I knew they wouldn't be a hit at home, plus I wasn't sure how the coconut would go over.  I've never made regular macaroons, which would have perhaps helped me with this adaptation.  Here is the recipe, even though I am not endorsing this one.  From Simple & Delicious.

Mocha Macaroon Cookies
2 tsp instant coffee granules
2 tsp hot water
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 pkg (14 oz) flaked coconut
2/3 cup white baking chips, melted
Plain or chocolate-covered coffee beans (omitted by me, but the recipe went south long before this omission)

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, dissolve coffee granules in hot water.  Stir in condensed milk, melted chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt until blended.  Stir in coconut.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until set (what if this is never?).  Cool on pans 1 minute.  Remove to wire racks to cool completely.  Drizzle tops with melted baking chips (I never got to this step...actually I never got them off the cookie sheets); top with coffee beans.

Okay.  So I didn't use parchment paper.  BUT I almost never do (unless I'm making pumpkin whoopie pies) because I always use Pampered Chef stoneware baking sheets and nothing sticks to them because they are awesome.  The real problem here, however, was not that they stuck to the cookie sheets, but that they never "set".  There was no real baking to do here, because there was no flour or whatever else.  All they really had to do was go into the oven to like dry out or something.  I cooked them long past 10-12 minutes, but they started to smell burnt, even though they weren't set.  I took them out and let them sit a L-O-N-G time on the cookie sheets, but whenever I tried to remove even one cookie from the sheet, it would smoooosh all together.  The stoneware cooled completely, which I thought may have been an issue because they do stay warmer longer than metal cookie sheets.  This didn't make a difference.  I called my mom, but she said she's never made macaroons because Dad doesn't like coconut.  Fair enough.  She did say I could bring them crumbled and serve them with a spoon, but I opted not to do that.  So off I went to the baby shower, with the cookies still on the cookie sheets.  When I got home, I noticed one of the cookie sheets had been scraped clean.  Steve had taken them to a camp out, where he says they were enjoyed by all, and that you couldn't even taste the coffee part of them.

Chicken & Apple Salad

This was another quick one I threw together after church on Sunday.  Sundays are starting to be "quick lunch days" because I have been working every Sunday afternoon.  This one looked yummy and I knew it would be fast...from Simple & Delicious.

Chicken & Apple Salad
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp curry powder, optional (I used about 1/4 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Salad:
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 medium apples, chopped (I used gala, my current favorite)
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
10 cups torn mixed salad greens (I think that's way too much)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (I used pecans because I love them, and because I already had some)

In a large bowl, whisk vinaigrette ingredients until blended (I always put it in a Tupperware cup with a tight-fitting lid and shake it like crazy).  Place greens on a large serving plate; top with chicken, apples, and onions.  Drizzle dressing over salad.  Sprinkle with nuts.

Of course you could make these individually, too, and not on a large serving platter.  That's what I did.  This tasted quite good.  I didn't like it as well as the one with cherries I had made the week before, and also I thought this vinaigrette was unnecessarily complicated.  I have made very yummy vinaigrettes before with only like 4 or 5 ingredients.  But overall a fast yummy lunch, which is what I was after.

Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits

I really like biscuits.  I like them for dinner on my birthday, with mom's meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  These are more breakfast-y.  We had them with eggs, bacon, and sausage, but we had them at dinnertime.  I saw somewhere, I can't remember where, they were calling it Brinner when you eat breakfast for dinner.  I don't really like that name.  We call it "breakfast for supper," because that's what we always called it.  This recipe came from the Southern Living cookbook I'm going through.  In the past, after several bad experiences, I have shied away from recipes where you have to roll out the dough.  Usually for biscuits, though, you can make them "drop" biscuits instead of rolling them out.  I decided to just make up the dough and see how it was, and proceed from there...

Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (I had some of this leftover from a birthday cake I made, so I used it...I don't know that I would buy it just for this, next time I'll try it with 3 cups of all-purpose and see how it is...also I didn't sift it, even though it says to)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
1 cup raisins
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup sifted powdered sugar (again, I didn't sift it)
1 1/2 tbsp milk

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; cut in 3/4 cup butter with pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.  Add raisins and 1 cup milk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.  Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, and knead 4 or 5 times.

Roll dough to 1-inch thickness (at this point I discovered I could just flatten it out with my hands...this made me happy...it was easy to flatten and stretch the dough into a big circle and cut from there).  Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter (I used the bottom of a glass because I still don't have a real biscuit cutter; maybe I'll get one now though).  Place on greased baking sheets.  Brush with melted butter.  Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Combine powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tbsp milk, stirring until smooth.  Drizzle glaze over warm biscuits.  Yield: 15 biscuits.

These came out perfect.  Just right.  And, I had the leftovers on the 3 following mornings.  I wrapped 2 of them in a paper towel and warmed them up in the microwave for 1 minute and they tasted just as good as the first night.  That is not typical of biscuits at all (at least not mine) so maybe there's something to be said about using cake flour?  I don't know...really good recipe, and definitely one we'll have again.

Cherry-Glazed Chicken with Toasted Pecans

Second recipe this week with both cherries and pecans.  I am on a roll.  This once came from Simple & Delicious, and indeed, it sounded very simple, which I appreciate.  I don't mind complicated recipes, if I'm in the mood and it's not 95 degrees out.  I did have to have the oven on for this, but I didn't have to be in the kitchen once I threw it in there, so it was fine.

Cherry-Glazed Chicken with Toasted Pecans
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup cherry preserves (I used Polaner All Fruit)
1 tsp onion powder
2 oz fontina cheese, thinly sliced (I used provolone, since I didn't see fontina at Walmart...and why would I?  I was at Walmart...I used my smart phone right there in the store to see what a good substitute was)
2 tbsp chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 375.  Place chicken in an ungreased 11x7 baking dish (I did spray it with cooking spray because sugary things stick to dishes when they cook...).  Top with preserves; sprinkle with onion powder.  Bake, uncovered, 18-22 minutes or until 165 degrees.

Top with cheese; bake 4-6 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with pecans.

Of course I liked this one.  I left one piece of chicken plain, with no cheese or nuts, and scraped the preserves off, for Nathan.  He liked it.  I didn't put any pecans on Emma's...she still didn't like it.  Sam had everything on his, and he didn't really like it (but he did eat it because he's awesome like that).  Steve and I both thought it was great!  Alas, I cook for everyone, not just he and I, so I won't be making this one again, at least not anytime soon.

Bread Fish Fry

In the spirit of "there's a first time for everything," here is my first recipe containing fish on New Recipe Night.  I have well over 600 posts on here, and none of them have been for fish or contain fish.  I do not like fish.  At all.  I don't like how it smells or the texture of it.  We had it a few times growing up, and nothing bad ever happened to me from eating it (unless you count gagging) but I have never developed a taste for it.  Because of this, many of my children also think they do not like fish.  My oldest has tried several varieties of things at buffets, and likes crab rangoon and scallops now.  Good for him.  My two youngest have never tried anything up to this point. 

So why the change?  Well, my sweet youngest, who is 6, had a chance to go fishing with his dad and an older man that goes to church with us and also works with my husband.  They caught 8 fish.  I tried to encourage them, prior to the trip, to catch and release, so that I wouldn't have to do anything with fish that they would potentially bring home.  That is apparently not the kind of fishing that George does, though.  However, he is a full-service fisherman.  Not only did he take all 8 fish home, chop off whatever parts needed chopping off, scale them, gut them, whatever it is you do to get them ready for eating, he did all that.  He brought them to work, on ice, for Steve the next morning.  And, he hand-wrote a recipe for what to do with them.  You may be thinking at this point that I would have had to cook them.  But, glory be, I had to work!  So Steve made this!  He said it came out awesome.  Nathan had seconds.  Sam liked it.  Emma said the more she ate it, the less she liked it.  But she did eat some.  They brought some to Grampie, who called later to say how much he liked it.  So, due to the rave reviews, I said I would post the recipe on the blog.  Here it is, typed out in George's format.

Bread Fish Fry
1. Put 1/4 cup milk in a bowl and set aside.
2. Put 3/4 cup of flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp basil in small bag (like gallon ziploc) and shake it up
3. Place either bread crumbs or crushed corn flakes in a plate and set aside (will need 1 1/2-2 cups)
4. Beat a couple of eggs in a bowl.
Now
1. dip each fillet in milk, wet both sides
2. put wet fillets in flour mixture (1 at a time) and shake til coated
3. put coated fillets in the egg and coat completely, then...
4. put fillet in plate with bread crumbs (or corn flakes) and set aside til all fillets are coated in this manner (coat both sides of fillets)

Put 1/4 inch of oil in fry pan and heat almost to the point of smoking (med high not super hot) fry fillets til golden brown.  Should take 2 1/2-3 minutes per side when heat level is right.  Add more oil if needed as you go.  We serve these as fillet sandwiches with our favorite cheese and tartar sauce. Our family loves 'em!

What do I love about this?  That Nathan got the whole experience of catching, preparing, eating, and sharing the fish.  I love that George took the time to take them fishing, and then went to the trouble of getting the fish ready for us (which I'm sure must be a disgusting and gross job) and THEN took the time to hand-write a recipe for us telling us the best way to eat them!  He wrote it on a piece of notebook paper, and it's going in my keeper book just like that.  The whole thing was so cool.

I never tried the fish, although Nathan did save me some, and assured me that there was no skin left on it (a concern I had shared with them...in the past, I have seen fish skin on my fish sticks and it turned my stomach).........it got rave reviews from so many other quarters...he said I could try it on leftover night....we'll see.........I don't even know what category to put this recipe in.  I don't want to start one for "fish" since it seems highly unlikely that I'll need it again...I guess meatless, because we do know several vegetarians that still eat fish.

Chicken, Pecan, and Cherry Salad

Mmmmmmm I love pecans.  And fruity salad.  So of course I had to try this one.  This is the type of thing I know not all the children will eat.  But I know that I will like it so much that I still make it, and then make them something else quick.  Like cereal.  Or a sandwich.  From Simple & Delicious.

Chicken, Pecan, and Cherry Salad
8 cups torn mixed salad greens
2 pkg (6 oz each) ready-to-use grilled chicken breast strips (obviously you could use your own chopped cooked chicken here instead to save on the cost of these ready-to-use ones)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese (I don't think I like blue cheese...I used shredded Parmesan)
2 tbsp dried cherries
Vinaigrette:
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
6 tbsp olive oil

In a large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients.  In a small bowl, whisk together the first 6 vinaigrette ingredients; gradually whisk in oil until blended (I always put dressing ingredients in a tupperware cup and shake the daylights out of it).  Pour over salad; toss to coat.

I only used half of the amounts of lettuce and chicken, since I knew only 3 of us would be eating this.  But I kept everything else the same.

This was awesome!  Very fast to make, perfect for a hot Sunday after church.  I loved loved loved the pecans.  I knew I would though.  Definitely keeping this one and we'll definitely have it again.

Quesadillas

Of course I have made quesadillas before...the Corn & Black Bean Quesadilla recipe on here is one of our family's favorite things to eat.  When I saw this recipe for quesadillas in the Southern Living Cookbook I just started working through, I liked how these were made in the oven instead of being fried in a skillet.  I totally did not put the fillings in that this recipe recommended, so I'm just going to write what I did instead.  I intended to make this with chopped cooked chicken, but ran short on time today and had none prepared, so I bought a package of the ready-to-serve chicken breast strips that you can buy in the lunch meat section of the grocery store.  You know, by the bologna.  I'm sure it has all kinds of bad additives in there, but I'm also sure that if I hadn't bought it to make dinner easier, I would have talked myself into going out to dinner, where we would've spent way more money and eaten much less healthier (due to quantity, if nothing else, since it's not like this can be seen as a healthy meal...).

Quesadillas
2 tbsp butter, softened
5 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese (we used shredded Mexican blend)
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 pkg (6-7 oz) ready-to-serve chicken breast strips
Salsa and sour cream for serving (although no sour cream here...)

Spread butter on 1 side of each tortilla.  Place tortillas, buttered side down, on ungreased baking sheets (maybe I got butter everywhere doing this...oh well); set aside.

Combine cheese, bacon, and chicken; spoon evenly over half of each tortilla.  Fold tortillas in half, pressing lightly.

Bake at 400 for 5 minutes; turn quesadillas and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese melts and tortillas are lightly browned.  Cut into wedges and serve with salsa and sour cream.

I forgot to even serve it with salsa.  These came out pretty good, and none of them burned.  Usually when I make them in a skillet, the first few turn out perfect, but as the skillet gets hotter, the last couple are usually QUITE browned...maybe even a bit black.  I eat those because I don't mind it.  But these all looked roughly equally goldenly brown.  The youngest did not partake, having instead chicken nuggets and applesauce.  But everyone else liked them.  In conclusion...this was messier and no easier than frying them in a skillet, however I did like how they looked in the end...

Apple Chutney Chops

It seems like it has been a long time since we had pork chops.  I just got my latest Simple & Delicious in the mail, and when I saw this recipe I thought it would be a good one to try.  I think chutney is, roughly, a hot fruit salsa type thing.  Now I will google it and see what it says...okay here's what wikipedia (a source I always trust) says about chutney: it "is a family of condiments from South Asian cuisine that usually contain some mixture of spice(s), vegetable(s) and/or fruit(s)". So my rough definition was pretty close.  We had this with mashed potatoes and green beans, because in the picture with the recipe, they have mashed potatoes on the plate beside the meat and I thought it looked good.

Apple Chutney Chops
4 cups chopped peeled apples
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup honey
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp canola oil
4 boneless pork loin chops

For chutney, in a large saucepan, combine the first eight ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10-15 minutes or until apples are tender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add pork chops; cook 4-5 minutes on each side or until 145.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  Serve with chutney.

Okay this was pretty good, and pretty easy.  We had 4 pork chops, and 5 eaters.  Way too much chutney.  We didn't even use half of it.  That seems wasteful, since I think chutney would have a limited number of other uses.  If it was just the fruit and honey, maybe.  But by the time you add the spices, especially the curry, I think it pretty much has to go on meat.  Maybe my horizons are not broad enough, but I just threw the remainder away.  What a waste.  Otherwise, it did taste good.  Maybe if you had a larger number of eaters, or they ate more in one sitting, this ratio of pork to chutney could be corrected.  The kids didn't like the chutney anyway, only the grown-ups.  So I guess I'm not keeping this one.  But I'm still glad I tried it.

Apple Berry Crumble

This is one of the last recipes I have marked from my Christmas cookbook.  This is berry season in Maine, so it seemed like a good time to make this, even if it was a stupid day to have the oven on (see a previous post for insight on why the heat doesn't matter to my cooking schedule).  From $5 Dinner Mom, and taken to home fellowship.

Apple Berry Crumble
2 apples, peeled and cut into chunks
1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (I used some of the last of last year's frozen stash)
1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
Topping:
1 cup quick oats
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 7x11 or 8x8 inch glass dish with cooking spray.  Gently toss the fruits with the sugar and lemon juice in the prepared dish.

In a small bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbles form.  Pour topping over the fruit in the dish.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream (pictured without either)(haha).

 This came out great!  Once I started scooping it, someone asked if it had rhubarb in it.  I replied with an emphatic NO, but then did see that the apples could have been mistaken for rhubarb.  Even my son who does not like strawberries liked this.  It was very yummy.  It didn't look as good as some of my crisp/cobbler recipes have when it came out of the oven, but it still tasted good, so I think that's mostly all that matters.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This is the last recipe I have marked to try from $5 Dinner Mom!  This might be a new record for me, finishing a Christmas cookbook from my mom by July instead of into the next year...this sounded yummy, and easy to make by hand or in the bread machine (which is what I did).  For a while I was keeping the Boboli pizza crusts in my freezer, after buying them very cheaply at the bread store.  But I realize that I just don't like them.  They are cardboardy if you buy the wheat ones, and just not that good.  So I decided to try this one.  We had this with shredded pork, pineapple, red onion, and mozzarella on top (Big Kahuna Pizza, which you can find if you're interested by searching for the name in the search box at the top of this page).

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
 1 cup lukewarm water
2 cups white flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 packet yeast (2 1/4 tsp if you buy in bulk)
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
additonal olive oil and garlic salt, if desired

By hand:
In mixing bowl, combine water and 1 cup of the white flour.  Add the yeast, sugar, salt, and oil.  Whisk together to make a "spongy" dough.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Add remaining 2 cups flour to the sponge and stir with a wooden spoon.  When the dough becomes thick enough, knead it by hand for 6-8 minutes on a floured surface or in a floured bowl until it reaches the consistency of soft baby skin (I have never heard it described like that, and frankly I find it a bit disturbing).  Knead the seasonings and cheese into the dough.  Place in a greased bowl and let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Once the dough has doubled in size, place it on a lightly floured work surface.  Sprinkle flour over the dough and on the rolling pin.  Roll out the dough to desired size.  Brush edges of dough with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt if desired.

Bake crust for 8 minutes (what temperature, she does not say...I did 400).  Remove from oven and load with toppings.  Bake full pizza 8-10 minutes more.  Slice and serve.

Bread machine:
Add water and olive oil to bread machine pan.  Add the flours.  Create a well in the center for the yeast and add the yeast.  Add sugar, Italian seasoning, and salt.  Set the machine to dough cycle and proceed as above.

Makes 1 16" thick-crust pizza or 2 8" thin-crust pizzas or 4 4" deep-dish pizzas.

I made this on my round pizza stone at it totally covered it.  This makes a lot of crust.  Steve said he thought it tasted better than he expected, especially knowing that it had whole wheat flour in it.  The kids all liked it, too.  So I think this is my new pizza crust.  Steve's only complaint was that it had "not enough toppings," but my pizza recipe was for a 12" and this was a 16" crust.  Ooops.

Cinnamon-Coffee Pecans

I like pecans.  They are expensive but worth it, unlike some other things I've tried.  I especially like them toasted.  So when I saw this in the Southern Living cookbook I'm working through, I knew I would like to make them for home fellowship, a safe place to bring things that, if I made them at home, I would be the only consumer of.  I halved this recipe since these nuts are so dang expensive, but here it is in the full format.

Cinnamon-Coffee Pecans
 3 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp ground cinnamon
dash salt (how do you halve a dash of salt?  I did a sprinkle)

Spread pecans in an ungreased 10x15 jelly roll pan.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes (I only did 9, and should have only done 8 because a few of them burned and I had to throw them out).

Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan.  Cook over medium-low heat until sugar and coffee dissolve, stirring often.  Add pecans, and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.

Spread pecans in ungreased pan.  Bake at 300 for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes (I only did 10 because they looked perfect at that point).  Cool completely; store in airtight container.

I snacked on a few of these, and so did my sister-in-law, who was visiting.  They are very scrumptious.  Perfect to add to an appetizer spread or whatever you do with these like this besides just eat them.  A keeper for sure.

Corn Dogs

One of my favorite summer foods is corn dogs.  I know you can buy them at the store and bake them in your oven, but they never taste as good as the ones at the fair, in all their deep-fried yumminess.  So I saw this recipe in the  Southern Living cookbook I'm working through, and I thought, what the heck, I'm just going to try it.  So I did.  I've been trying to take more pictures of the things I make, but I have too much self-respect to post a picture of this attempt.

Corn Dogs
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup diced onion (I didn't use this because I don't recall it being in fair corndogs...I used 1 tsp onion powder)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
10 hot dogs
vegetable oil

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl, making a well in the center.  Combine egg and milk; add to dry mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Insert 8" or 10" wooden skewer into each hotdog, leaving a 2-3" handle.  Dip each hot dog into batter, coating completely.  Use a spoon to help coat hot dogs, if needed (more on this later).

Pour oil to a depth of 3 or 4 inches into a large heavy saucepan; heat to 375.  Fry hot dogs in hot oil 2-3 minutes or until browned.  Drain on paper towels; serve.

They make it sound SO simple.  Of course I knew it wouldn't be as easy as all that.  My first problem was getting the batter to stick to the hot dogs...their helpful suggestion of "use a spoon" wasn't all that helpful.  I went from trying to batter them in the bowl, to pouring the batter into a tall glass to dip the hot dogs in to...this worked for two of them, before the batter level got too low and only went halfway up the hot dog.  At this point I could have made more batter, because that method was effective, but I had exhausted my cornmeal supply.  So then I poured the batter out onto a plate and rolled the hot dogs around in it.  That didn't really work either.  So only two of these corn dogs looked remotely normal.  The rest had patchy batter all around it, like some kind of skin disease.  I did fry them in oil.  At first it did take 2 or 3 minutes, but as the oil got hotter, it started taking like 30 seconds, and I was afraid of something bad happening with that hot hot hot oil.  So I took it off the heat (verrrry carefully) for like 5 minutes, then resumed frying these poor excuses for corn dogs. 

All that being said, they actually did taste good.  Sam said it was worth it and I should totally make them again, but he is wrong about that.  I guess it will just be a summer-time, fair-type treat.

Caribbean Grilled Chicken Thighs

I started a new cookbook!  This is another Southern Living one my mother in law sent for my birthday, The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.  I have pretty much liked everything I've made out of these books.  Those southern people really know what they're talking about.  We had this tonight, and it was soooo good.  It is supposed to marinate for 8 hours, but due to crazy schedules being what they are, mine marinated for 21 hours...

Caribbean Grilled Chicken Thighs
8 large chicken thighs, skinned
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tbsp dark brown sugar (I only had light so that's what I used)
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp dried crushed red pepper flakes (I knew this would be marinating an extra long time, so I only used 1/2 tsp, of the flakes my mom brought me from the Bahamas)
1 garlic clove, minced
Lime wedges and parsley sprigs for garnish, optional (and I opted to not)

Place chicken in an 11x7 baking dish.  Combine next 7 ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over chicken in dish.  Cover and refrigerate 8 hours, turning occasionally.

Drain chicken, reserving marinade.  Place marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a boil (I was nervous about this being "food safe" but Steve Page said it was fine...).  Grill chicken over medium coals 8 minutes on each side or until done, basting often with marinade.  Garnish if desired with lime wedges and parsley sprigs.


You could put this under the broiler, or use a Foreman grill if you have one.  But Steve felt like grillin', so we grilled.  We ate it on the picnic table.  Well, on plates on the picnic table.  Everyone loved the chicken.  It was moist and so delicious.  Even if you don't normally prefer chicken thighs, they do cook nicely on the grill because they are more fatty and don't dry out as quickly (in my experience).  This is another one we will definitely have again.  It would be good with pasta or potato salad, but we had ours with Pasta with Garlic Oil, which you can find as a previous post.  Yummy summer-time meal.

Blueberry Pecan Cobbler

I couldn't wait to make this when I saw the recipe.  I love pecans, and I love pie crust.  But this type of thing I cannot make for us at home, because of my children not liking berries and my husband not liking nuts.  So I made it for home fellowship.  It's from the Southern Living cookbook I'm plowing through.

Blueberry Pecan Cobbler
4 pints (which equals 8 cups--I googled it) fresh or frozen blueberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 (15 oz) pkg refrigerated pie crusts (or two of your own)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Vanilla ice cream for serving (I used whipped cream instead)

Bring first 7 ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan (I had to use my Dutch oven sized one) over medium heat, stirring until sugar melts.  Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Spoon half of blueberry mixture into a lightly greased 8x8 inch pan.

Roll 1 pie crust to 1/8" thickness (I didn't do this, and I didn't measure to see if it already was...it just seemed like it would be fine without any extra rolling, and I was right) on a lightly floured surface; cut into an 8-inch square.  Place over blueberry mixture; sprinkle with pecans.

Bake at 475 for 10 minutes.

Spoon remaining blueberry mixture over baked crust.  Roll remaining pie crust to 1/8" thickness (if you want), and cut into 1" strips.  Arrange in lattice design (I had to look up how to do it because I forgot) over blueberry mixture.  Bake at 475 for 10 minutes or until golden.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

This says 4 servings, but they are kidding.  If you were serving it as a meal, maybe, but not as a dessert.

We warmed this up during the last few minutes of study, and it was perfect when I started serving.  It tasted quite good.  I think I would use more nuts, though.  I really like them.  And someone said, "oh, I couldn't even tell there were nuts in there."  So this tells me that it needs more.  Very yummy.  We'll definitely have it again.

South-of-the-Border Chicken Soup

If I want to make chicken soup in July, I just will (see an earlier post for the method behind my madness).  When I made Slow Cooker Chicken Soft Tacos, I saved the broth to use later, and this is the recipe I saved it to use in.  It sounded like it would be perfect.  From $5 Dinner Mom.

South-of-the-Border Chicken Soup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups hot water
1/4 cup lime juice
1 cup frozen corn kernels, or 1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup brown rice (I have fallen for this before and waited what seemed like hours for dinner to be done...I used white rice)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 avocado, seeded and diced (omitted, and interestingly, one of the few things my husband doesn't like)
Sour cream for serving (omitted because I don't like it)

In a Dutch oven, warm the oil over medium high heat.  Add the chicken, onion, and garlic powder and saute for 7-9 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Stir in the broth, hot water, and lime juice.  Add the corn, beans, and rice.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until rice is tender. 

Everybody liked this!  We had it with tortilla chips on the side.  This wasn't spicy at all, and if not for the black beans I think it would have been just like regular chicken soup.  But the lime juice did add something to it, and the peppery broth from last week helped, too.  I'll keep this one, since it can be a rare thing to find something that everybody eats without complaining...Leftovers are going to Grampie, so it does make plenty...I think he won't notice that it's south-of-the-border-ish, just that it's chicken and rice soup.

Peach-Blueberry Crumble

Last night my mom's oldest brother and his wife were here for dinner.  They live in Utah, and we hardly ever see them...for my two youngest children, it was their first time meeting them.  We had a very nice dinner, and then we had this for dessert.  In my mind I was going to use our own blueberries, but of course they aren't ready to pick yet.  I do have some that are still frozen, but I had to buy some fresh ones for the dinner recipe anyway, so I bought a few more for this dessert.  From $5 Dinner Mom.

Peach-Blueberry Crumble
1 pint blueberries
4 peaches, pitted and diced (it didn't say to peel them, so I didn't...you couldn't tell once you were eating it so I 'm glad I left the peel on...less work, and I think the peaches would have disintegrated if I'd tried to peel them because they were very ripe...)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flour
Topping:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2" chunks

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 8x8 glass baking dish with cooking spray (I used a metal pan and it was fine).  Gently toss the blueberries, diced peaches, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in the prepared baking dish.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the topping ingredients, cutting in butter with pastry blender or two forks., until mixture is crumbly.  Pour topping over the fruit mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.  Serve warm with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream.

This came out perfect!  I made it ahead of time, in the afternoon, then when we sat down to eat dinner, I put it back in the oven at 200 to warm up. By the time we were ready to eat, it was nice and warm.  It tasted very good.  Everyone liked it, except the two younger children, who just had ice cream. 

Black Bean and Rice Bake with "Pina de Gallo"

Once in Haiti I had a sauce on the beans and rice with several ingredients I could not (and did not try to) identify, but it was tasty.  When I saw this recipe, it reminded me of that dish, so I thought I would try it.  Also, it's meatless, so it counts for the meatless meal that I try to do every week (but do not always do because I really like meat...).  I think the "Pina" part of the name of the fruity salsa is supposed to be a play on the "pico de gallo" you often see in Mexican recipes.  From $5 Dinner Mom.

Black Bean and Rice Bake with "Pina de Gallo"
3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 15 oz cans, rinsed and drained)
1 1/4 cups brown rice
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups hot water
2 garlic cloves, crushed
salt & pepper to taste
Pina de Gallo:
2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces
1 plum tomato, seeded and diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.  To the prepared dish, add the beans, rice, broth, and hot water (I put the 2 cups of water and the 1 cup of chicken broth in a saucepan, brought it to a boil, then added it to the pan...that way I knew the rice would be done when she said it would be...).  Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, toss together the pineapple, tomato, onion, cilantro, cumin, and salt and pepper (I put all of this in my Tupperware choppy thing and chopped it all up until it was the consistency I wanted).

Serve the beans and rice with the "Pina de Gallo" over the top.

The rice smelled great while it was cooking (I think it was the garlic).  The salsa was yummy too.  The kids did not like this at all.  Even Sam, who likes everything.  Nathan & Emma were complaining about it, and Sam chimed in with "No comment."  This was surprising coming from him.  Steve and I both thought it was good, although it didn't really feel like a complete meal (probably because we are used to meat...??).  I think some bread and butter would have been a good addition.  In Haiti we would have had this with a folded tortilla or two...anyway it was good but we won't have it again...gotta give the people what they want.

Slow Cooker Chicken Soft Tacos

I worked Thursday night, came home Friday morning, threw all this in the crock pot, went to sleep for 3.5 hours, woke up and went to Taco Bell with some friends (woot!), came home and laid down...but didn't sleep!  Then Barbie came over and we made the brownie recipe I just posted, then we ate these tacos.  They basically made themselves, which is a huge plus because I was in quite a sleep deprived state.  Very easy meal.  From $5 Dinner Mom.  I doubled the recipe because I knew Barbie would be here...

Slow Cooker Chicken Soft Tacos
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 bag (12 oz) frozen pepper and onion blend (I did not double this, because we have no great love for peppers here)
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste
8 tortillas
1/2 cup shredded cheese
shredded iceberg lettuce
Sour cream

Add chicken breasts, tomatoes, peppers and onion, cumin, and salt and pepper to slow cooker.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Drain liquid from crock pot (I used a soup spoon and spooned it out because I couldn't think of a better way.  The liquid smelled so good that I froze it to use in the tortilla soup recipe I'm trying next week).  Shred the chicken with a fork.  Use filling for tacos, topping with cheese, lettuce, and sour cream (if you like that gross stuff).

Emma and Nathan were rather traumatized by the "RED" stuff in with their chicken.  They did not like it one bit.  But everybody else thought they were quite good.  Not spicy at all, just yummy and flavorful. Depending on your tortillas, and if you use cheese or not, these could be diary and/or gluten free, too, so I put them in those categories as well.

Frosted Peanut Butter Brownies

I made this for home fellowship.  It is baked in a 15x10 jelly roll pan so I knew it would make a lot and be perfect for our crowd.  Plus my husband reeeeeally likes peanut butter.  This one is from the Southern Living cookbook I've been working through.  Also, I wish I had taken a picture, but it was a zombie day and I forgot.

Frosted Peanut Butter Brownies
1 1/2 cups butter, divided
1/3 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
18 oz jar peanut butter (they say chunky but I never use chunky...and I buy BIG peanut butter jars, not 18 oz ones, so this equals a little more than 2 cups)
1/3 cup milk
10 large marshmallows
1/4 cup cocoa
16 oz pkg powdered sugar (about 3 1/2 cups or so)

Cook 1 cup butter and 1/3 cup cocoa in a saucepan over low heat until butter melts, stirring often.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Add chocolate mixture, and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended.  Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.  Spread mixture into greased 15x10 jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes back clean. 

Remove lid from peanut butter jar (or put the peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl) and microwave at medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring once.  Pour over warm brownies.  Chill 30 minutes.

Cook remaining 1/2 cup butter, milk, and marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until marshmallows melt.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in 1/4 cup cocoa.  Gradually stir in powdered sugar until smooth.  Spread over peanut butter layer.  Chill 20 minutes.  Cut into squares.

So good!  Everybody liked this.  The peanut butter layer, which is just peanut butter, was the best part.  The frosting was perfect.  Really really good, I know we'll make these again.

Sesame-Ginger Chicken Quesadillas

This recipe makes a dressing, and then only uses 3 tbsp of it.  But since I had almost all the ingredients anyway, I decided to just make it, even though the remainder of it will likely be wasted, unless I buy a bunch of lettuce and have salad every day for a week, which seems unlikely.  This recipe sounded like it would be so yummy.  It's from the Southern Living cookbook that I am simultaneously working through along with $5 Dinner Mom.

Sesame-Ginger Chicken Quesadillas
3 tbsp sesame ginger sauce (recipe follows)
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
3 carrots, shredded (I bought matchstick carrots)
1/4 cup diced red onion
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
8 oz pkg shredded Mexican cheese blend
Dressing:
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup canola oil (I used olive oil because it's lighter and I think canola oil is too thick in homemade dressings)
1/3 cup sesame oil
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger (I bought a tube of pre-minced in the veggie section)
1 garlic clove, minced

Whisk together all dressing ingredients until well blended (remaining can be stored in refrigerator up to 1 week).

Heat the 3 tbsp sesame-ginger sauce in a large skillet over medium heat; add chicken, carrots, and onions.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 2-4 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Spoon chicken mixture evenly on half of each tortilla; sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Wipe skillet clean.

Cook, tortilla side down (how else would you do it?), in lightly greased skillet over medium-high heat, 1 minute or until lightly browned.  Fold tortillas over filling and serve immediately.

The two younger children didn't want theirs in a tortilla, so they had the filling separate.  But Emma still wanted a tortilla, so she had one, folded up, on the side.  Nathan had ritz crackers on the side with his.  The three of us that had these as they were intended all liked them. Sam said they were the best "dang quesadiLLas" he had ever had.  I love that he knows Napoleon Dynamite references.  I thought they were good, but I wanted them to be better, somehow.  I don't know how.  I just didn't love them.