BANANA PUDDING

Bananas (the riper the better)
Nilla Wafers (vanilla wafers to people not from the South)
Large box of instant vanilla pudding (using pie directions)
6 oz sour cream
6 oz cool whip


Mix pudding as directed and then add the sour cream and cool whip.
Layer bananas and wafers on top of a layer of pudding, continue layering until full. Top with cool whip.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

I know it has been a long time since I've last posted, but I really do not get around to much cooking these days and if I do make something super yummy, I always think I should post it to my blog but then I cannot find the time to sit down and write it all up and I usually forget to take pictures.

But these cupcakes were so good, I HAD to take the time to post and I even took pictures!!! Here is the origin of the recipe but the below recipe will reflect my minimal changes. These cupcakes had all of the best parts of the cookie and then added buttercream! They are buttery, sweet and cinnamony...they were also an all around hit. Add these to my keeper list :)

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream (yields 2 dozen)

What to gather:
For the Frosting

•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
•1 tablespoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

•1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
•1 3/4 cups sugar
•4 large eggs, room temperature
•2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
•1 1/4 cups milk

For the Buttercream

•1/2 cup unsalted butter
•2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
•1 teaspoon cinnamon
•1/8 teaspoons salt
•1 pound powdered sugar
•4 Tablespoons milk


What to do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored for up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen for up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Using a small, fine sieve, dust peaks with cinnamon-sugar.

To make the buttercream, cream the butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt together. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk until creamy. You may need to add in some more milk or sugar until you get the consistency you want. Then pipe on the icing with a fun tip.

Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are frosted; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

NOTE: My alterations included reducing the amount of cinnamon in the buttercream....absolutely needed to be reduced! The original recipe also suggested dusting the tops of the iced cupcakes with cinnamon sugar...this would have been cinnamon overload for me.

I was able to get 48 mini cupcakes and 12 regular cupcakes from this batch. 1 batch of icing was enough to cover all of the mini cupcakes, but would not have finished out the regular size cupcakes, well maybe it would have been close. This was not a problem for us though because have a son that does not like icing (I know! we should probably consider genetic testing to determine who he really belongs to because he certainly couldn't be mine) so I left some of them plain which resulted in just enough icing with no left overs.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Picture compliments of Joythebaker


I finally bought an ice cream maker and we're having so much fun! I'm having to exercise more as my restraint is weakening. I've never been a person to eat much ice cream because I just don't care much for it. But when you make it yourself and you can customize the taste and texture, boy oh boy, I'm a sucker for ice cream now!

Here is the first recipe we made and so far, our favorite. I found it on this website and fell in love the description the author penned for it. I was hooked from the words. Unfortunately, I had used all our cornstarch for diaper rashes and had none for ice cream at 10:00p.m. and wasn't willing to go to the store. I substituted unflavored gelatin (I used 1.5 tsp, but should have used at least 3 tsp or maybe even more). It did not set up while in the ice cream maker, but froze beautifully and was nice and soft when it came out. We made it again with corn starch and the texture was better in the ice cream maker and a nice scoopable yet firm texture once frozen.



Double Chocolate peanut Butter Ice Cream

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

double pinch of salt (I like a bit more salt with my chocolate so I doubled from the original recipe)

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup smooth salted peanut butter

In a sauce pan over medium heat, stir together 2 cups whole milk, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Heat until the milk start to steam, but before it starts to boil.

In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup of whole milk and the cornstarch. Stir until no lumps remain.

Add the cornstarch mixture to the heated milk and chocolate mixture and bring to a low boil. Boil until thickened. The mixture will look the consistency of chocolate pudding. Remove from flame.

In a small sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Once boiling, remove from heat and pour over the chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute, then stir the cream and chocolate mixture until incorporated.

Stir the cream and chocolate mixture into the cooling chocolate ice cream base. Place in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap or a lid, and put in the fridge until cool.

Once cool, follow the manufacturers instructions on the ice cream maker to churn ice cream. Once the mixture has chilled and thickened in the ice cream maker, slowly drizzle in 1/4 cup of peanut butter (we nuked the peanut butter for 15-20 seconds to make it nice and thin for a lovely pouring consistency). Don’t over mix. You want a nice ribbon of peanut butter running through the ice cream.

Transfer the ice cream into a freezer safe container and fold in the remaining 1/4 cup of peanut butter (we drizzled in 3/4 cup while the ice cream maker was running and did not stir in any at the end). Cover and freeze until solid.

Cherry Coulis

My wonderful husband often runs errands for me and often brings back surprises that make me smile...usually food related :) One evening he brought home 6lbs of cherries. My children suddenly decided they did not like cherries and so I had to think quick! Cherry coulis came to mind. I first thought it would be nice over vanilla ice cream, then I was faced with planning a dish to take to cultural cooking with an Italian theme and Panna Cotta came to mind! I made this cherry coulis for a lovely sweet and tart resting place for the cold, creamy panna cotta.


1 cup fresh cherries
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar


Cook fresh cherries in water to cover over medium heat until they are falling off the pits; drain.

Place in a small saucepan with water; add orange and lemon juices. Heat until warmed through.

Press through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in sugar while still hot. Stir until dissolved.

Panna Cotta

This is my kind of recipe...simply, few ingredients and delicious!

This recipe comes from my New Best Recipes Cookbook that I have come to love and not be able to live without. My husband had purchased 6lbs of cherries and they were not pie cherries and I didn't know what to do with them. I decided to make a cherry coulis and panna cotta to serve with it (I think you would normally choose the panna cotta and then determine what to serve with it, but in this case I had too many cherries about to go to waste so my thought process was a bit backwards).

1 cup whole milk
2 3/4 tsp unflavored gelatin
3 cups heavy cream
1 piece vanilla bean, 2 inches long or 2 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan; sprinkle the surface evenly with the gelatin and let stand for 10 minutes to hydrate the gelatin.

This is what hydrated gelatin looks like.


While waiting for your gelatin to hydrate, place 2 trays of ice cubes into a large bowl and add 4 cups of cold water.


Measure cream into a large measuring cup or pitcher. With a pairing knife, slit the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the vanilla seeds into the cream; place the pod in the cream along with the seeds and set the mixture aside.


Set eight 4 oz ramekins on a baking sheet. (I can count and I do know this is 12, not 8---I was taking this to a party where we were sampling a lot of Italian food so I opted for smaller portions in more ramekins)

Heat the milk and gelatin mixture over high heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is dissolved and the mixture registers 135 degrees on and instant read thermometer, about 1.5 minutes. Off the heat, add the sugar and salt; stir until dissolved, about 1 minute.

Stirring constantly, slowly pour the cream and vanilla into the saucepan of milk, then transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and set the bowl over the ice-water bath.


Stir frequently until the mixture thickens to the consistentcy of eggnog and registers 50 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes.


Strain the mixture into a large measuring cup or pitcher, then divide it evenly among the ramekins. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic does not mar the surface of the cream; refrigerate until just set (the mixture should wobble when shaken gently), about 4 hours.

To serve, spoon some berry coulis onto each individual serving plate. Pour 1 cup boiling water into a small, wide-mouthed bowl, dip a ramekin filled with panna cotta into the water, count to 3, and lift the ramekin out of the water. With a moistened finger, lightly press the periphery of the panna cotta to lossen the edges. Dip the ramekin back in the hot water for another 3 count. Invert the ramekin over your palm and loosen the panna cotta by cupping your fingers between the panna cotta and the edge of the ramekin. Gently lower the panna cotta onto the serving plate with the coulis. Serve immediately.

What's Cooking in Sisters- February Edition

We had planned to get together with my sisters-in-law the first Sunday in February and try recipes from the What's Cooking In Sisters Cookbook that Nick's grandma had given me years ago, but the Snowmagedden Twin Blizzards crushed that idea. We got 3 feet of snow in 5 days. Crazy! However, as I was snowed in with the ingredients and a lot of time on my hands I gave it a go. So here are the 2 recipes I tried: STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD (PAGE 31), AND SKILLET MAC & CHEESE (PAGE 53)


STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD (Nancy suggested 'salad' might be a stretch)

Layer 1:
2 1/2 C crushed pretzels (don't crush too finely)
3/4 C butter, melted
3 T sugar

Mix all intredients and put in the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Bake in preheated oven 400 for 8-10 minutes.

Layer 2:
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
9 oz Cool Whip

Blend Cream cheese and sugar and fold in cool whip. Spread on cooled crust

Layer 3:
2 sm pkgs strawberry jello
2 C boiling water
2 pkgs (10 oz each) frozen strawberries

Dissolve jello in boiling water. Stir in frozen strawberries. When partially set, put over second layer. Refrigerate until set.

I've had this a zillion times at my moms house, but the addition of the frozen strawberries was new. I didn't like them- they were kind of a squishy texture, plus added quite a bit of expense. Leave out the strawberries and you'll be fine. And please serve as more of a dessert.

SKILLET MACARONI AND CHEESE
1/4 C butter
2 C uncooked elbow macaroni
1/2 C onion, chopped
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp oregano, dried
1/4 tsp dry mustard
2 C water
1 1/2 T flour
1 can evaporated milk
2 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 T minced parsley, dried.

Turn electric skillet to 200 and melt butter. Add macaroni, onion, salt, pepper, oregano and dry mustard. Turn heat to 260 and cook, stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes, or until onion looks clear. Add water and bring to a boil. Cover the mac and simmer at 200 for 6-12 minutes or until the mac is tender. Sprinkle flour over the mac mix and stir to mix well. Stir in the evap milk and shredded cheese. Simmer 5 min longer at 200 or until the cheese completely melts. Stir occasionally while it cooks. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. Serves 6.

First, I never put parsley in any recipe, ever. So I don't know if that adds anything or not. I didn't have dry mustard so used yellow mustard,and I threw in about twice what it asked for (I figured, heck! I like mustard!). That did make it have a mustardy flavor which wasnt' bad, but was there. And I think the sharp cheddar made it too zippy- I'd go more mild next time. I didn't have oregano so used italian seasonings.

Be aware this might be best served on paper plates as it hardens into a cementy glue that is impossible to remove unless it is severely scraped. I didn't have a electric skillet so just used a frying pan on top of the stove. We thought it was ok on a snowy afternoon.

Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread by Jackie Gerland
page 57 What's Cooking In Sisters cookbook

I'm not even going to post the real recipe. It was not a hit for me. It is a yeast bread and involves letting it rise twice. The dough was so sticky I couldn't roll it in sugar so kind of put little parts in the pan and sprinkled the cinnamon sugar on it. Results were not nearly sugary enough.

This is the tried and true recipe I've had a zillion times that is so much easier (compliments of the good folks over at Pillsbury)

2 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/2c sugar
1t cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
3/4 c butter or margarine, melted
1/2 c chopped walnuts and/or raisins if desired

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease a bundt pan with cooking spray. In large plastic bag mix white sugar and cinnamon. Cut biscuits into quarters, place in bag and shake to coat. Arrange in pan adding raisins and walnuts among biscuit pieces. In small bown, mix brown sugar and butter, pour over all. Bake 28- 32 mintues until golden brown. Cool in pan 10 minutes, turn upside down onto serving plate. Pull apart to serve; serve warm.

Kathy's Karamel Korn

When I delivered the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Rice Krispies to our friend John, his wife Kathy lent me her air pop popcorn machine so I could make her famous Karamel Korn. This is delicious!

6 quarts popped popcorn
2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 sticks butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Mix all the ingredients besides the baking soda is a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir until mixture reaches 260 degrees (about five minutes). Remove from heat and thoroughly but quickly stir in baking soda. Pour syrup over popped corn and stir until all corn is coated with mixture. Pour on two cookie sheets sprayed with no-stick PAM. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 hour, stirring two or three times. Turn out and let cool completely. Break apart and store in a tightly covered container.

You can also use this recipe for popcorn balls. Omit baking step and form balls of syrup coated popcorn (but don't burn yourself!)

Enjoy!



Thanks Kathy, this was GREAT! My husband requested that I put some almonds in the next batch, which I think was an excellent suggestion. I'll probably toast them beforehand. I've even considered drizzling a little chocolate on it.

Peanut Butter Cup meets Rice Krispie Treat

I heard our friend John really likes Rice Krispie Treats and since we've been baking treats for all of our friends all month I wanted to make something he liked. However, I'm not a fan of Rice Krispie Treats. I can eat them, but I don't love them.

I found a recipe for peanut butter krispie treats with chocolate chips. This sounded like something I would like as I adore peanut butter and chocolate together. However, I do not like chocolate chips unless they're melty and soft so I changed the recipe a bit and this is what it resulted in:

Ingredients:

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

8 cups Rice Krispie cereal

1 - 1 1/2 cups of chocolate for melting

Directions:

Measure cereal into a large bowl with plenty of room for stirring.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine peanut butter, sugar and corn syrup. I did not bring this to a full boil, but there were bubbles on the side of my pan. I cooked long enough for the sugar crystals to dissolve.

Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal and mix completely. Spread into a 13X9 pan coated with cooking spray.

Melt chocolate and drizzle or evenly spread over the peanut butter krispies.

Now, I must admit....I looked in my pantry and was stunned to find I was out of chocolate chips. This never happens! So I went to the shelf with the chocolate stash and found a Kron Bunny that was missing his tail and part of an ear and decided it was perfect for chopping up and melting down. I LOVE Kron and if you've never had it, you should try it. The truffles are my favorite! We keep them in the freezer and then pull them out one by one as a little treat. Anyway, I've used bits and pieces of different Kron sculptures we've had for melting and dipping because you can't buy this kind of chocolate at the grocery and it sure is tasty.

We used a gingerbread boy shaped pan and using royal icing we decorated him with m&m's.

This was perfect for me! It tasted like a peanut butter cup, one of my favorite sweets, but this really fulfilled my love for something to chew on. I love sweets, but I'm picky about the sweets I eat because I like texture and part of my enjoyment from food comes from being able to chew it. I love pastries versus candy because of it's texture.

Cranberry Pecan Pie

This is my favorite pie. I even adapted it to make a bar cookie with a shortbread base when I didn't want pie but wanted the cranberries and pecan goodness.

1 9 inch pie crust
1 1/2 cup cranberries
3 eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan halves


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Finely chop cranberries in food processor or by hand. Spread into bottom of pastry-lined pie pan.

In a large bowl beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar, corn syrup, melted butter or margarine, vanilla, allspice, and salt. Mix well.

Pour mixture over cranberry layer. Neatly arrange pecan halves on top of sugar mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until golden and set in center.

Perfect Pie Crust

I wish I could express how flakey and delicious this pie crust is and there is no picture that can capture how delightful this crust is in your mouth, but here is a picture of the pie crust being used for my pumpkin pie.


I've never made good pie crust...I don't understand baking very well. So I did what any smart cook would do, I asked my friends for help :) My friend Sarah really came through for me on this one! She shared this recipe from The New Best Recipes.


Enough for double crust

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 T sugar
1/2 cup shortening, chilled
12 T cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch pieces
6-8 T ice water
(I put everything in the freezer for about 40 minutes, including the flour)

In food processor: flour salt sugar, until combined.

Add Shortening. Process until like coarse sand. (10 seconds) scatter butter over mixture. Cut the butter in until pale yellow and coarse crumbs. (No bits larger than small pea - 10, 1 second pulses).

Put in med bowl. Sprinkle 6 T water over mixture. Fold in with rubber spatula. Press down on dough with spat until the dough sticks together. Add up to 2 T water as needed.

Divide dough into balls and flatten into 4 in disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour up to 2 days.

The key I found to all of this is COLD everything.

I used powder sugar instead of granulated sugar and after rolling out the dough and putting in the pie plate, I put the crust in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes before baking. This crust turned out beautiful! It was flakey and buttery and just delicious.

Pumpkin Pie

I know it has been a long time since I've posted anything, but we've been sick since September and we've been living on macaroni and cheese from a box and chicken nuggets from the freezer. I'm not proud of it, but it is reality.

I did make 2 pies for Thanksgiving and I must say, they were outstanding! The first of which is pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin. This makes the most perfect pumpkin pie! And even though you're suppose to refrigerate overnight, ours was eaten within hours. It was a little soft and I could definitely see that it firm up overnight, but we couldn't wait.

UPDATE: I made this again tonight and only had 1 cup of cream instead of 1 1/2 cups. This fixed the firmness issue and allowed me to eat it a few hours after making it rather than having it set up in the refrigerator overnight. So I'm adjusting the recipe to reflect the change in cream.

I'll add the recipes for the pie crust that I used and for making your own pumpkin pie spice.

1 sugar pumpkin
1 9 inch pie crust
2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup heavy cream


1. Prepare pumpkin - Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet lined with lightly oiled aluminum foil. Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes, or until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Puree in small batches with an immersion blender.

2. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

3. In a large bowl, slightly beat eggs. Add brown sugar, flour, salt, 2 cups of the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and heavy cream. Stir well after each addition.

4. Pour mixture into the unbaked pastry shell. Place a strip of aluminum foil around the edge of the crust to prevent over browning.

5. Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees F, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove the strip of foil about 20 minutes before the pie is done so that the edge of the crust will be a light golden brown.

6. Cool pie, and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

Posting this recipe was inspired by my blogging buddy Crash. She had this odd dream about eating fruity oreos and I instantly started thinking of how to make fruity oreos. So I'm taking a favorite recipe and putting a spin on it.

My friend, Tsugumi, joined in a cookie exchange I hosted a few years ago. She brought the BEST oreo cookies. The cookie is soft, cakey and chocolaty. Here is the recipe:

Cookie Ingredients

2 Devil's food cake mixes
1/2 cup flour
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs

Filling Ingredients

8oz package cream cheese
1/2 c butter, softened
6-7 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

For cookies - Combine all ingredients, mix well.
Roll into 1.5 inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet
Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

For filling - Combine all ingredients, mix well.
you may add milk to thin or powdered sugar to thicken to the correct consistency.
Spread or pipe filling on bottom side of a cookie and top with another cookie to create a sandwich.

Now for the fruity part! You can make fruity oreos by adding orange extract to the filling or you could add fresh fruit or jams. Thinly slice strawberries, bananas, apricots and layer with the filling or mash fresh raspberries and smear a bit on one cookie with cream filling on the other cookie and then sandwich together! You could even add dried cherries. There are many options for fruity oreos :) If the post to Hawaii were not so lengthy I'd make some and send them to you, Crash :)

Trail Mix Cookies

When my in-laws were fighting over the last cookie, I knew this was a recipe I needed to post! This cookie originally started as an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, but I've adapted it to suit my family's tastes. I put the oats in a food processor to make a sort of meal or coarse flour instead of using the whole rolled oat. I prefer the chunky part of the cookie to be from dried fruits and nuts rather than the oat itself. You can add in anything you like or use the dough plain to make a smooth oatmeal cookie, this is how my husband really likes it.


1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/3 cups rolled oats (processed into a coarse flour)
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional ingredients-
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4-1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, to taste



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
Thoroughly cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then mix in vanilla and egg.

Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt then mix just until dough is formed. Stir in raisins, cranberries, pecans and chocolate chips.

Use a two inch cookie scoop to shape cookies and place 1-2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake 10-11 minutes let cool on pan for 2 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool.


NOTE:
Do not over baked these cookies if you want them soft!!! The cookies will appear under cooked when removed from oven but will continue to cook on the pan. If cooked for more than 10-11 minutes you will have a crunchy cookie.

If you're using the plain dough, place cookies 2 inches apart on pan.
Substitute mini M & M's for the chocolate chips or walnuts for pecans or dried cherries for the cranberries...do whatever sounds good to you!

Crepes

My husband and I were in the kitchen this morning when I opened the fridge, noticing how many left over ingredients we had from Thanksgiving and Christmas fixings. I hate a cramped fridge so my first thought was, "What can we make with oranges and cool whip or whipped cream?" My husband's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Crepes!" Brilliant idea, honey!

So we'll start with the crepe batter and then discuss some sweet and savory fillings.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
a pinch of salt

Mix ingredients thoroughly then cover and place batter in the fridge overnight (if you planned far enough in advance). By morning all those little lumps of flour and air bubbles will have dissolved and you'll have a smooth batter. Remove from fridge and let come to room temperature, you may need to add a touch of milk to thin the batter. You're looking for a very thin batter (slightly thicker than water) so it will quickly and easily coat the bottom of your skillet or crepe pan if you own one.

Some prefer to add sugar and vanilla to their batter if they are making sweet crepes, but I like this recipe for both sweet and savory.

Once batter is at room temperature and the correct consistency, heat a medium-sized, nonstick skillet over medium heat and spray lightly with cooking spray. You'll have to play with the next step a bit to adjust for your pan size but start with 1/4 cup of batter. Hold pan in one hand and batter in the other. Pour batter to one side of the pan and at the same time begin to rotate pan to cover the bottom with batter...this may take practice.

You can see in this picture that I did not wait for the batter to settle overnight, there are lumps but you would never know once it's cooked.

Let cook for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Using the edge of a spatula, lift the edge of the crepe to check for doneness...a tiny hint of brown is good, then flip. Cook for another 30 seconds - 1 minute or so and remove from the pan.

Now is the fun part...dressing your crepe. Here are some of my favorite ways to dress up a crepe:

Orange and Sugar - this is a very simple topping but by far a fave! Lightly sprinkle crepe with granulated white sugar then squeeze a fresh orange wedge all over the sugar...not too much or it will feel soggy and dribble. Fold in half then fold in half again to resemble a pie wedge. These don't last very long, we just pick up and eat by hand :) These are equally as delicious with fresh lemon juice.

Strawberry, Pomegranate and Balsamic - I made a lovely strawberry preserve mixture out of frozen strawberries, balsamic vinegar and pomegranate syrup. Slather the preserves onto the crepe and top with fresh whipped cream, roll and eat! Sooo yummy.

Lemon Curd, Mascarpone and Fresh Fruit - Mix equal parts lemon curd and mascarpone cheese, thinly slice apples, pears or strawberries. Slather on lemon cheese mixture, stack on fruit and top with whipped cream. This is particularly lovely because of the textures if using apples or pears. You get a nice crisp bite from the fruit, a slightly tart taste of lemon with a silky, creamy feel from the mascarpone....mmmmmmm.

Chicken, Baby Spinach and Feta - Sweat onions and garlic in olive oil, add chicken strips cut from the breast meat and some red pepper, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. You can add your spinach in this mixture to wilt it or layer it on the crepe if you prefer more texture. Put chicken mix on crepe, sprinkle with crumbled feta and roll.

Tonight we're having a Hawaiian inspired pork crepe. I sweated some onion and garlic then added pork chunks...I only had bone in pork chops in my freezer so I cut the meat from the bone before cooking. Seared the pork, then added soy sauce, brown sugar and crushed pineapple. Top with grated cheddar and viola!

Get creative with your toppings. Try bananas and chocolate, blueberries and whipped cream, the sky is the limit!

Sugar Cookies

We love this recipe for sugar cookies. My husband found it a couple years ago and it's perfect for our tastes! These are great for rolling out and using fun cookie cutters with the kids. Our kids most enjoy decorating them with icing and sprinkles when they come out of the oven. A confectioner sugar and milk icing tinted food coloring is quick and easy or you can use a can of premade vanilla icing as a quick topping.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt



DIRECTIONS

1.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Pumpkin Cake

I totally stole this from the site bigredkitchen.com! It was a big hit yesterday. They also suggested you could use a chocolate cake mix. So easy!


One Cake mix- I used yellow
1 -15 ounce can pumpkin filling

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl mix cake mix with pumpkin filling using a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour batter into a greased 7 x 11 inch baking dish. Bake for 28 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. Serves 8.

Apple Cider Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 T. apple cider
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice

In a small bowl blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour over Pumpkin Cake letting it drizzle down the sides of the cake. Let set before covering.

Cranberry Pecan Bars

This is my special holiday recipe that I created a couple of years ago for a cookie exchange; VERY few people have this recipe (until now, that is). I hope you enjoy this as much as I have!

Cranberry Pecan Bars

Ingredients:

Shortbread base

1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour

Cranberry pecan filling

3/4 - 1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1 egg
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
3 tbls butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp allspice
pinch of salt
1/2 cup pecans, chopped


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Base - Combine butter and sugar in mixing bowl and beat at medium speed until well mixed. Reduce speed to low and add flour. Press dough into ungreased 8 inch square pan. Prick with a fork and bake for 18-20 minutes until lightly browned.

Filling - Lightly beat egg in mixing bowl and add sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, allspice and salt. Stir after the addition of each ingredient.

Chop cranberries and spread evenly onto the baked shortbread. Pour egg mixture over the cranberries and sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling looks set and is brown on top. Cool completely before cutting.

Orange Pie

I've been eating this cream and refreshing pie for more than 20 years and it's still a favorite that I never get tired of. This orange pie is great for a light and cool dessert in warm weather, but I am craving it now because I have a sore throat and I was thinking of how soothing it would be.

So here is the orange pie:

CRUST
1/2 cup self rising flour
2 tbsl butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
1 cup chopped pecans
2 small packagaes of instant french vanilla pudding (you can use regular vanilla, coconut cream, whatever suits your fancy)

Mix the above items and press into a 9X13 pan and bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool completely.

FILLING
1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz Cool Whip
1 pt sour cream
1/2 cup Tang

Mix the filling ingredients in a large bowl and put in cooled pie crust. Chill for 24 hours. Keep and serve cold.

My mom likes to make these even easier by using graham cracker crusts. The filling is enough for two 9 inch pie crusts.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

I LOVE this cake!!!! It's one of my all-time favorites for simple and tasty desserts. I took it from a Cooking Light magazine many years ago.

Cooking Spray
3 tbls graham cracker crumbs or plain bread crumbs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tbls vanilla
3 large eggs
1 cup fat free milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 10-inch tube pan with cooking spray; dust with graham cracker or bread crumbs.

2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir well.

3. Beat butter in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add the brown sugar and vanilla, beating until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time beating well afer each addition.

4. Add flour mixture to the sugar mixture alternately with milk, beating at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

5. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean.

6. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.