Winter Baking!

Now that my daughter's birthday party is a thing of the past, I'm back to my "normal" routine; working in the kitchen! I practically live in the kitchen/dining area; it's a good location to survey most of the house from, and the kitchen island is a great spot to sit with my laptop in the mornings, soaking up sunlight and drinking coffee! Anyway, last night I baked 8 little loaves of date bread. Some will be sent to my Mom, whose birthday is February 1st, and some will  be going into my belly!

My Mom "winters" in Arizona, and every year she sends me a box of fresh dates (see photo below) from a date farm she visits in California.  I usually use them all up when making Date Pinwheel Cookies (see the December post with recipe), but had some left over. So, date bread it was!

This recipe is "borrowed" from Smitten Kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com), and adapted from Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa).

Date Spice Loaf  

2 cups coarsely chopped dates (10 ounces pitted)
1/3 cup orange liqueur such as Cointreau or Triple Sec (I used Grand Marnier)
4 Tbl. (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 large egg
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 Tbl. grated orange zest (I skipped the zest)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. Kosher salt
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oranges)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans (I used glazed pecans - yum!)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Butter and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch pan.  Combine the dates and orange liqueur in a small bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed for one minute.  Scrape down the bowl.  With the mixer on low, add the egg, vanilla and orange zest.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  With the mixer still on low, add the flour mixture alternately with the orange juice to the creamed mixture, beating only until combined.  By hand, stir in the dates with their liquid, and the pecans.  Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

*I opted to make 8 small loaves, so I could ship some to Arizona. I baked them at the same temperature (350), but only for 30 minutes.  Four loaves, in cute cellophane bags,  fit perfectly in a small box.

I hope my Mom likes them!

A woodland-themed third birthday!

Well, the excitement is over, and we survived another birthday party for Regan, who turned 3 this weekend! I started planning the food and decor in August; if you're smiling at this, it's because you know me! Our parties fall into the range somewhere between "pizza and a pack of birthday plates from the Dollar Store" and "we had to take out a loan for our child's over-the-top party"! Really, it was a "normal" dose of balloons, a light lunch, cake and owl goodie bags. And mushroom cupcakes, woodland animal ears and masks, a cardboard log cabin and a log cake!  

Any-whoooo, I served a simple lunch buffet of mini pigs-in-a-blanket (see photo below), tortilla/wrap "pinwheel" thingies (from the deli), a veggie and cheese plate with ranch dip, fruit skewers with a cream cheese dip, "mushroom" cupcakes and an ice tub full of juice boxes and mini bottled waters (because a third of the party guests were kids!).

Mini Pigs-in-a-Blanket are a party staple at my house, we even made them before we had a kid! I follow the directions from the www.Pillsbury.com website; they are soooooo yummy!

Mini Crescent Dogs 

2 cans (8 ounces each) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
48 cocktail-size smoked link sausages or hot dogs, from two 14-ounce packages

Heat oven to 375.  Unroll both cans of the dough; separate into 16 triangles.  Cut each triangle lengthwise into 3 narrow triangles.  Place sausage on shortest side of each triangle.  Roll up each, starting at shortest side of triangle and rolling to opposite point; place point side down on two ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, switching position of cookie sheets halfway through baking.  Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

* I usually make these the day before, or several hours before, and reheat just before serving. And, I serve them with ketchup, mustard or melted cheese dip.

The stars of the party, of course, were the desserts! I made two sizes of cupcakes, from a basic yellow cake mix, and frosted them with canned frosting dyed red, and then topped them with white M&Ms and white chocolate chips.  A few notes about making red frosting; it will take a whole one-ounce bottle (that's the big bottle) of red food coloring, and it stains. Everything. I repeat; EVERYTHING! It did, however, come out of my daughter's shirt...whew! No more red frosting at my house; not even for Valentine's Day! Ack!

The birthday girl after an encounter with red-frosted "mushroom" cupcakes...

The "log" cake received rave reviews and turned out better than I had anticipated; oh how I stress about everything! Best of all, well aside from looking awesome, is that it tasted WONDERFUL! It truly looked harder to make than it was; I am SO making one for Christmas this year!

Chocolate Cake Roll  (taken from www.kraftrecipes.com)

6 squares semi-sweet chocolate, divided

6 Tbl. butter

1 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 cup flour, divided

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2/3 cup water

4 ounces (half of an 8-ounce package) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar, divided

3 cups thawed Cool Whip, divided

Heat oven to 350.  Spray a 15x10x1 pan with cooking spray.  Line with waxed paper; spray with additional cooking spray.  Microwave 3 chocolate squares and butter in medium microwaveable bowl on on HIGH 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until butter is melted.  Stir until chocolate is completely melted.  Add granulated sugar; mix well.  Beat eggs in large bowl with mixer on high speed 3 minutes or until thickened.  Blend in chocolate mixture.  Add 1/4 cup flour and baking soda; beat until just blended..  Add remaining flour alternately with water, beating well after each addition.  Spread evenly into prepared pan. 

Bake 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched; sprinkle with 1/4 cup powdered sugar.  Immediately invert cake onto clean towel; remove pan.  Carefully peel off paper.  Starting at one short side, roll up cake and towel together; cool completely on wire rack. 

Beat cream cheese and remaining powdered sugar in medium bowl with mixer until well blended.  Gently stir in 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip.  Unroll cake carefully; remove towel.  Spread cream cheese mixture onto cake, completely covering top of cake.  Roll up cake; place, seam-side down, on platter. 

Microwave remaining chocolate and remaining Cool Whip in microwaveable bowl on HIGH for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after one minute.  Let cool two minutes; spread onto cake.  Refrigerate one hour.

* I opted to frost my "log" with creamy chocolate canned frosting.  When the frosted cake had "set up" in the refrigerator for an hour or so, I ran a fork over the surface to make it look like "bark".

Another soup post - can you stand it? Hey, it's winter, and I'm a stay-at-home-mom! I started the soup simmering in the late morning today, and then went out to our peninsula (on our pond) to feed the wildlife with Regan (she left some carrots) and to cut branches for a project. It was pretty nippy and our cheeks were bright red when we came in!

During Regan's nap, and as the soup continued to simmer, I spray painted the branches white and sprinkled them with clear glitter (it sticks to the wet paint; brilliant!) for a cute wintry display in the kitchen (photos to come). Then it was time for a nice, quiet, SOLITARY lunch (Regan gorged on cheese and cereal before her nap - her choice) of vegetable soup (using quite a few frozen veggies from this year's garden) and a tasty Swiss cheese open face sandwich. There is no recipe for this soup, per se, but here's what I threw together:

Quick Vegetable Soup

assorted vegetables - use what you have: I used one-quart freezer bags of green beans and corn from my garden, plus a cup and a half of thawed frozen peas I found in my freezer, a can of Cannellini beans, 15 or so chopped baby carrots and half an onion, chopped.

4 cups beef broth ( I used bouillon cubes in water)

2-3 cups hot water

a tiny can of tomato paste

Italian seasoning

salt & pepper

Combine beef broth (I prefer beef broth over chicken when making vegetable soup), tomato paste and water in a large soup pot. You could use veggie bouillon or stewed tomatoes; I happened to have tomato paste which made a nice, thick "tomatoey" soup. Add chopped vegetables and seasonings, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer soup for at least half an hour (I simmered mine for 3 hours; to thicken the liquid).

How easy is that? Use whatever combination of vegetables you have on hand; the possibilities are endless! I forgot I had zucchini in my freezer too, it would have gone great in the soup! And, man, if we'd only had alphabet pasta! Maybe next time...

It's unofficially "Eat Healthy Week" around here. It started with the clementines. Regan put them in the cart at the grocery store, so I said "what the heck, fine". Then we ate some. Oh my! No wonder people buy them at Christmas time (in the cute little wooden crates) for gifts! They are AWESOME! And small enough for a toddler to be able to eat the whole thing.

Then I steamed some brown rice (I just LOVE the texture of brown rice) and tossed it with some steam-in-the-bag broccoli with cheese. It was surprisingly filling!

This morning, it was whole grain waffles topped with Nutella and bananas! We're on a roll! Seriously though, I'm trying to set a good example for my daughter, who, happily, eats pretty much anything. I'm thinking of hard-boiling some eggs later, and maybe making some green tea.  Don't be too impressed though, there are days when I'd happily ingest an entire bag of Doritos...

Gloomy, grey, blustery days are just right for baking cookies and having friends over to make crafts! And...drinking some coffee, socializing with another Mommy, and, best of all,  giving my toddler the opportunity to play with another toddler instead of ME all the time! I was in the mood for Oatmeal Scotchies; what's a play date without a yummy snack? This recipe is the "traditional" version taken from the back of a bag of Toll House butterscotch chips:

Oatmeal Scotchies

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon, optional

3 cups oatmeal

an 11-ounce package butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375.  Beat butter and sugars until creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.  Add combined flour, soda, salt and cinnamon.  Mix well.  Add oats and chips; mix well.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 7-8 minutes for chewy cookies and 9-10 minutes for crispy cookies.  Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack and cool completely.

What's better to warm you up on a chilly 10-degree day? Spicy Cajun 15-bean soup; I "ga-ron-tee" (my best Justin Wilson impression)! I picked up a super colorful bag of beans at the supermarket last week, and the recipe on the back looked interesting. If there's one thing we like at my house, it's flavorful Cajun-style food: gumbo, jambalaya, beans and rice, dirty rice, peel-and-eat boiled shrimp, etc. The spicier the better! Bring on the Kleenex and ice water! Actually, I almost always accompany the spicy dishes with cornbread muffins, to cut the "heat" a little.

This soup is sort of like a Cajun chili, with a lot, well, 15, types of beans! The bag of colorful beans is from Hurst's HamBeens Brand (www.hambeens.com), Indianapolis. The following recipe was taken from the back of the bag, and of course, I may have "tweaked" it just a little!

Cajun 15 Bean Soup

20-ounce bag Hurst's Cajun 15 bean soup mixture, including Cajun flavor packet (which, to my knowledge included Paprika, garlic, smoke flavor, sugar, salt, dehydrated onion and lemon juice, among other things)
1-2 pounds regular or mild Italian sausage (I used 2 links of hot Italian sausage)
1 large onion, chopped (I used half a large onion)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used a bag of stewed tomatoes I froze this summer)
juice of one lemon (I used 2 tablespoons lemon juice from a bottle)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (I used a little over a teaspoon of dried)

Place beans in a large pot, cover with 2 quarts of water.  Allow beans to soak overnight, or at least 8 hours.  After soaking, drain water and add 2 quarts of water. Bring beans to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 2 1/2 hours.  In a skillet, saute onion, garlic and sausage, until sausage is browned.  Drain excess grease and add contents to beans along with tomatoes, lemon juice and Cajun flavor packet. Simmer another 30 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.

I added an additional 2 cups of water for the final 30 minute simmer because the beans soaked up most of the water. The package said ham or polish sausage could be substituted for the Italian sausage, but they did not need to be browned in the skillet first. Let me tell you, the combination of the hot Italian sausage and whatever was in the "Cajun flavor packet" made this soup SUPER spicy...in a good way!

Aaaaaand, the soup-a-thon continues! I'm actually making enough to eat AND freeze for later! And I'm also cleaning out my fridge and pantry by making such a variety of soups and stews; win-win! I'm so glad my daughter is such an Omnivore, or I'd be eating a lot of soup solo! Today's soup is my interpretation of split pea, my favorite Campbell's soup from childhood - enjoy!

Christie's Split Pea Soup

16 ounces dried split peas

1/2 cup finely diced onion

1/2 cup finely diced carrots

1/2 cup (or so) finely diced turkey bacon or ham

a 14 or 15-ounce can chicken broth

4 cups (or so) water

salt and pepper to taste

Sort and rinse dried peas (did you know you can find pebbles mixed into the bag?). Heat some olive oil in a stock pot and cook the onions, carrots and bacon until the vegetables are soft.  Add the liquids and dried peas.  Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for at least half an hour, or until the peas are "smooshy".

*I let my soup simmer, lid slightly ajar, for about an hour, because I like the peas to disintegrate into a green sludge.

I see some red-skinned potatoes of undetermined age in my refrigerator's vegetable drawer; they may be tomorrow's soup!

Another soup post! Well, it's because of the very wintry weather here; I'm not really "into" potato salad and strawberry shortcake at this time of year! So bring on the soups and casseroles (and assorted cookies)! This is another recipe of my Grandmother's (my Mom's Mom) and really hit the spot yesterday - enjoy!

Cream of Broccoli Soup (a special thanks to Lucile Ernest Beckner)

6 Tbl. butter

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

3 Tbl. flour

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk or cream

2 cups finely chopped broccoli (I used my food processor)

salt and pepper to taste

*I also added 1 1/2 cups shredded "cojack" cheese - mmm!

Melt butter in saucepan and add onion.  Cook till soft.  Blend in flour, broth, milk and salt and pepper.  Cook 7-9 minutes, until slightly thick.  Add broccoli and cook till tender, about 10 minutes. 

*I simmered my soup for about 30 minutes, to really thicken it up, and added the shredded cheese at the last minute or so. Oh, and if you use a food processor, be careful not to chop the broccoli too finely... :(

'Tis the season for fondue! When it's cold and icy outside, I get a craving for warm, savory cheese fondue. And, since it was my turn to host girls night...mmm hmm, you guessed right! I usually host a fondue girls night at least once a year, and then make it another once or twice during the winter because my husband likes it too! I made a super simple white cheese fondue, served a tossed salad and ended the meal with a creamy, milk chocolate fondue - mmm!

 Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the prepared cheese fondue, but got a quick "after" shot! The recipe is from Real Simple magazine (where I "borrowed" the top photo) from like a zillion years ago:

Cheese Fondue

1 garlic clove, halved (optional)
1/2 cup dry white wine
a 10-ounce tub of refrigerated Alfredo sauce (I used a 15-ounce jar)
two cups shredded Swiss cheese
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg (I didn't have any)
1 Tbl. kirsch or brandy (optional)

Rub the garlic clove (if using) around the inside of a fondue pot or non-aluminum saucepan, then discard.  Add the wine and heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to low and add the Alfredo sauce, Swiss cheese and nutmeg.  Stir constantly until the cheese is melted and very hot.  Add the kirsch or brandy (if using).  Serve with cubes of bread, sliced pears and sliced apples. I also put out a bowl of jarred whole mushrooms, and have also served broccoli and cooked shrimp as dippers.

And of course, I served chocolate fondue for dessert! With cubes of pound cake and sliced strawberries - oh my! I've also dipped banana slices and marshmallows - mmm! This recipe comes from The New International Fondue Cookbook (are you surprised I have a fondue cookbook? I have three fondue pots!):

Fondue Au Chocolat

9 ounces Swiss milk chocolate, broken in pieces (I used  Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips)

1/2 cup whipping cream

Combine ingredients in a fondue pot or chafing dish.  Stir over very low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  Serve with a variety of "dippers".

* I actually melted mine in the microwave (in a ceramic fondue pot).

Brrr! It's officially soup weather! The first snow storm of the new year has hit, and there's no way I'm going outside! Last night, I made a savory and tummy-warming soup (literally; it's spicy!), and now I'm contemplating another soup for tonight; there's no need to leave the house!

This soup recipe is a combination of several recipes I found online, and was inspired by the spicy lentil soup at Carrabba's Italian Grill.  To my astonishment, my husband, the non-vegetable eater, loves this soup!

Quick Lentil Sausage Soup

2-3 hot Italian sausage links; browned and cut into pieces (I used 3)
2 19-ounce cans lentil soup (I use Progresso)
3 small carrots, diced (I sliced 10 pre-packaged baby carrots)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced (I used half of a medium onion)
2 cups chicken broth
dash red pepper flakes (optional)
Basil, Oregano, Parsley flakes, salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil.  Simmer, uncovered, until thick (about 30 minutes), or until the carrots are soft.

I serve this soup with bread, to cut the "heat" (it's pretty spicy)! Maybe I'll do a whole week of soups, starting with cheesy broccoli; stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe another holiday season has flown by! There's been such a flurry of activity at my house since before Halloween even, that it's so nice to sit quietly on this first day of the new year and sip a LARGE cup of coffee and just "chill"! My "big girl" (who's almost 3) actually stayed up till midnight last night - what a trooper! She'd been practicing her "Happy New Year" all day!

We hosted a New Year's Eve get-together (of course, you're saying right now...), which has almost become an annual tradition.  We have quite a few friends with little kids; what else can you really do on New Year's Eve with babies and toddlers? Last year's theme (of course I have to have a theme!) was Mexican, so this year we had an Italian-ish theme: "Italian" cheeseball and crackers, chicken alfredo pasta, "Olive Garden" salad, garlic bread, pepperoni pizza "triangles", a cheesecake assortment (thanks, Lisa!) and some "Frosted Chews" (see below). Oh, and of course there was champagne! And some impressive fireworks out in the street (an apology to my neighbors...)!

Frosted Chews (courtesy of www.kelloggs.com)

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Combine corn syrup and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan and stir.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to bubble.  Remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter.  Add cereal and stir until evenly coated.  Press mixture evenly into a buttered 13 x 9-inch baking dish.  Cool.  Melt chocolate chips in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly.  Spread evenly over cereal mixture.  Cut bars when cool.

* I found an AWESOME tip online: instead of melting the chips in a pan, pour them straight from the bag onto the cereal mixture and set in a 200 degree oven for 10 minutes, then spread out the melted chips with a spatula. It worked perfectly!