Category: Holiday Fare

Just adding this new category and will be posting seasonal recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Chocolate · Cookies · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Red Velvet Cookies (Thank you Duncan Hines)

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This is an infomercial! I thought since most of us are in a time crunch, but are still desiring to bake Christmas cookies, this would come in handy. I have heard of the cookies made from cake mixes, but until two nights ago, I had never really liked the ones that I had tasted. A friend came by with snickerdoodles which were awesome. When I told Peggy how good they were, she said, “glad you liked them, I made them from a cake mix”. I was shocked. So today, I stopped and bought a Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix and am making the cookie recipe on the side of their box. Am making one little change. I am making them into thumbprint cookies and filling the indention with my cream cheese frosting. Am so excited that I can whip up a batch of cookies that taste like homemade, in less than 5 min…I thought it would be fun to color the cream cheese frosting green so, wa-la, Christmas cookies that taste like red velvet and it was really so easy. The picture below is a plate of the original directions on Duncan Hines, each ball dipped in Powdered sugar, the ones on the outside are the ones I ended up just baking as balls and then added colored cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. Merry Christmas from my heart to yours…tkbakesalot2014-12-21 14.04.58

If you happen to have a box of red velvet cake mix that doesn’t have the recipe on the side, here it is:

1 box red velvet cake mix

6 tables softened butter

2 eggs

Mix until well blended with mixer on low to medium speed. Drop 1″ balls into powdered sugar and onto lightly greased cookie sheet if you are not using Parchment paper or coated cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for about 9-10 min. If you use the cream cheese frosting, do not roll the balls in the powdered sugar. Just drop the balls onto the cookie sheet and using a Thumbie or your thumb, make an indention in the center of each cookie. The indention will almost disappear when cookies are baked, but don’t worry about that. Fill in with frosting of your choice.

Breads · Breakfast · Holiday Fare

Cranberry & Orange Scones

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Isn’t it fun to plan different breakfast for the Christmas season? As I skimmed through the different food magazines for new recipes, this one caught my eye as one that will be on our table. Taken from Food Network magazine…*to make ahead, see below*

4 cups plus 1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling (since it is Christmas, I am going to use the red sugar sprinkles for the top)

2 tables baking powder

2 teas kosher salt

2 teas grated orange zest (2 oranges)

3/4 lb (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed

4 extra large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cold heavy cream

1 cup dried cranberries

1 egg beaten with 2 tables water, for egg wash

1/2 cup plus 2 table powdered sugar

4 teas freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper ( I don’t do this, I just use regular baking sheet and very lightly grease with butter)

In a large mixing bowl, mix 4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Add the butter cubes (which you have cut into small cubes) and mix at lowest speed until the butter is size of small peas. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and with mixer on low, slowly add to the flour mixture . Mix just until blended. The dough will look lumpy. Combine the dried cranberries, which you have stirred with the remaining 1/4 cup flour. Add to the dough and mix on low until blended.

Dup the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it into a ball. Flour hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough just under 1″ thick. You should still see small pea size bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board (or counter which you have layered waxed floured paper. Cut 3″ circles using a biscuit cutter or turn a drinking glass upside down using it if you don’t have a biscuit cutter. Place scones on the prepared baking pan. Gather up the unused portions of dough and roll out again and continue cutting round disc until all the dough is used up.

Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash, sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake for 20-25 min or until the tops are lightly browned and insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch. All the scones to cool for 15 min, then whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice and stir until no lumps remain and drizzle over the scones.

*Follow the recipe until you put the egg wash on top. Cover the scones on the baking pan and place in fridge overnight. The next morning, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar; bake and glaze as directed.

Cookies · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Cherry Thumbprints with White chocolate Frosting

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This is the second year I have participated in the Food Blogger’s Cookie Swap where you send a dozen cookies to 3 different food bloggers. This was the recipe I sent this year. I love anything with cherries and these cookies will now be made each Christmas season at our house. You can experiment with different toppings, such as using chocolate kisses or m&m’, but I love to fill the thumbprint with white chocolate frosting.

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter,

1/2 teas salt

1 tables maraschino cherry juice, (I use a little more)

1/2 teas almond extract

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries (I dry them on a paper towel to absorb some of the juice first)

In a medium size bowl, blend together the sugar, butter, salt, cherry liquid and almond extract. Beat for 3 min until the butter is fluffy.

Add flour to mixture until just mixed well. DO not over mix the flour.

Add chopped cherries and blend in well with wooden spoon. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or over night in covered bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 and remove dough from fridge. All the dough to sit for 30 min. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and scoop out dough with a scoop or teaspoon. You will have between 24 and 30 cookies.

Roll dough in a ball and place about 2″ apart on cookie sheet. Using Thumbie or your thumb, make an indention in the center or each ball. Bake for about 9-10 min or until edges are slightly golden brown. Remove and allow to cool on racks. While cookies are cooling, make the frosting.

Frosting

6 oz white chocolate chips

2 cups powdered sugar

5 oz softened butter

1 teas almond extract

3 tables heavy cream or milk ( do not add all at once, but 1 tables at a time) Remember you are going to be adding the cherry juice also, so you want to leave “room” for adding the juice, so frosting won’t be too runny.

Enough cherry juice from maraschino cherries to get frosting to consistency that you can use in a frosting press, or bag with star tip.

Melt the white chocolate chips with 1 oz of the butter in microwave. On 50% power. Stir until all chips are melted and add to the powdered sugar, rest of the butter, milk (or cream) and cherry juice and extract. Beat until frosting is consistency of placing in

pastry bag and using star tip, press about 1/2 teas frosting in center indention of each cookie. 2014-12-10 17.05.35 2014-12-01 08.57.58

Breakfast · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Fruit Compote for Christmas Morning Breakfast

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This was a Taste of Home winning recipe.

2 cans (15 1/4 oz each can) sliced pears, drained

1 can (29 oz) sliced peaches, drained

1 can (20 oz) unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained

1 package (20 oz) pitted dried plums

1 jar (16 oz) unsweetened applesauce

1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling

1/4 cups packed brown sugar

IN a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Pour into a 13×9 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread pie filling over fruit mixture, then sprinkle on the brown sugar.

Cover and bake in a preheated oven at 350. for 40-45 min or until bubbly. Serve warm

Yield: 16 servings

Breads · Breakfast · Casseroles · Holiday Fare

Cheese Sausage & Croissant Casserole

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What a wonderful new Christmas Morning breakfast dish. Taken from Southern Living, all you need is a great fruit compote which will be on tomorrow’s blog post and you have a great way to celebrate Christmas morning.

1 lb ground pork sausage (such as Jimmy Dean)

1 1/4 cups (5 oz) shredded Parmesan cheese

1 teas salt

6 green onions, sliced

1 (13.22 oz) package mini croissants (about 24 of the mini ones), torn

Vegetable cooking spray

3 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

5 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups (8 oz) shredded Gruyere cheese

Cook sausage 8 min in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to crumble. When sausage is done, drain and toss with the Parmesan and next 3 ingredients. Arrange in a 13×9 baking dish which you have sprayed with vegetable cooking spray.

Whisk together milk and next 2 ingredients; pour over sausage mixture. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Uncover casserole and sprinkle with Gruyere. Bake 45 min or until golden. Let stand 10 min before serving.

Desserts · Holiday Fare

Whipped Cream Pecan Pie

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2014-10-27 16.20.38

This is the first pecan pie recipe that has whipping cream in it. And trust me, it is outstanding. Made it for dinner tonight. My sister-in-law and brother -in-law came over and we all agreed that it was fantastic. A little fluffier than the normal pecan pie, not quite as sweet and simply great.

3 eggs

2 tables melted butter

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1 teas vanilla

1/4 teas salt

3/4 cup white karo syrup

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup pecans

Unbaked pie shell

Beat the eggs. Add remaining ingredients except pecans. Place pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell. Pour mixture over pecans. Bake at 450 for 15 min. Lower oven temp to 250 and finish baking, about 45 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Breakfast · Holiday Fare · Meats

Italian Sausage & Egg Casserole With Sun-Dried Tomatoes

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While staying with some dear friends in California, Randy and I woke up one morning to the smell of this great dish baking in the oven. Bonnie had  found this in a paper and decided to use us as guinea pigs before making it for her MOPS gals.  I think maybe people use us to try out new recipes because they know we are like Mikey in the old advertisements that would eat anything. But we are glad she did. It is different from the normal sausage-egg casserole since you have the Italian sausage and Mozzarella. It was great and we will be making it for the holidays.

1 lb Italian sweet sausage, casings removed

1/2 cup shallots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped drained oil packed sun dried tomatoes

4 tables chopped fresh parsley

5 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1 cup of half & half

1 cup whipping cream

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

1/2 teas salt and 1/2 teas pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 9×13 glass dish. Saute sausage over medium heat in a skillet. Cook until sausage is no longer pink and cooked through. Break up into small pieces as it cooks.

Add shallots, garlic and sauté 3 minutes. Add the sundried tomatoes and  2 T parsley, stir 2 minutes. Spread sausage mixture in prepared dish.

*This can be done 1 day ahead.

Cover and refrigerated.

Whisk eggs, egg yolks, 1/2 & 1/2 and whipping cream. Add cheese and seasonings in large bowl; blend well. Pour egg mixture over sausage mixture. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese and 2 T parsley over top. Bake until top of casserole is golden brown and tests done. About 30-35 minutes. Let stand for 5 min before cutting into squares to serve.

 

appetizers · Chocolate · Desserts · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Apple Nachos

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For all you gluten free friends here is a great snack that is easy and delicious. Just in time for Fall

36 caramels

1 tables water

30 large marshmallows

1/3 cup butter, cubed

4 medium tart apples, peeled and cut into 1/4 ” slices

1/4 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

3 tables Halloween sprinkles

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt caramels with water; stir until smooth

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt marshmallows and butter. Arrange apple slices on a large platter. Drizzle with the caramel; top with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts, chocolate chips and sprinkles. Serve immediately.

Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

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The pumpkins are out and am excited to find new delish ways to make use of them. I do remember the first year that Peter Pumpkin and I were married, I ask him to take me to the pumpkin patch down at Farmer’s market to pick out the perfect pumpkin that would adorn our porch. When we found it, I was so excited. There in the car seat beside us would be the first pumpkin that we had picked out and bought together. When “she” became (yes, it became a she as I named her Penny pumpkin), should we say a little decayed, ok, rotten, I ask him to bury her in our yard so we would always have  her with us. I do seem to get attached to things. He knew that if he buried her in our yard,  we would have a yard full of pumpkin ivy the next year, so he had just thrown her over the fence, and came in and told me he had taken care of her.  I didn’t bake any pumpkin dishes for a few days, just out of memory of Penny.  He didn’t tell me that until years later when we were in the heat of an argument how he had really “taken care of Penny” when he blurted out the words, “oh, and remember the year you told me to go bury Penny in our yard, well, I didn’t, I just threw her over the fence!” How cruel can a husband be??? So from that point on, I knew that this was not a man I could trust….I don’t let him pack away all my snowmen at Christmas now either, I just can’t take the chance. So, in honor of Penny,  here is a recipe that I found in a 2010 Taste of Home that I am making this weekend.

2 cups finely crushed pecan shortbread cookies (I will use Lorna Dune)

1 tables flour

3 tables butter, melted (as if the cookies don’t have enough in them already)

Filling:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 can (15 oz) solid-packed pumpkin

3 tables flour

1 tables milk

1 teas ground cinnamon

1/4 teas each: ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves

3 eggs, lightly beaten

In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, flour and 3 tables melted butter; press into an ungreased 9″ deep-dish pie pan. Bake at 350 for 9-11 min or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, flour, milk and spices. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.

Pour into crust and bake at 350 for 40-50 min or until center is almost set. Cover edges with foil during the last 15 min to prevent overbrowning if necessary* (see below).  Refrigerate for at last 4 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream

*an easy way to cover edges is to place the pie plate on a piece of foil that is large enough to lap over the edges when it is brought up around them. I go ahead and do this at the beginning of the baking as it is so much easier to do this before dish is hot, then just remove the foil from the edges, leaving it under the pie, to finish baking about 25-30 min before pie is done.

 

Cakes · Desserts · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Gingered Fruit Cake

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Do not think that this is your normal fruit cake that gets passed around from house to house at Christmas. It is way beyond that. Last year I discovered that I love using fresh ginger in biscotti, cookies and now this fruitcake. You will be proud to have it sitting on your dessert buffet during the holidays. I won’t be waiting for Thanksgiving to make it. It is a great recipe to make to have on hand during the Fall when guests show up unexpectedly. Whip up some homemade whipped cream and put the coffee pot on.
3/4 cup pecan halves, toasted
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tables baking powder
1/2 teas salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
2 eggs
1 teas vanilla
1 cup dried apples, chopped
2/3 cup dried apricots, chopped (not unsulphured)
2 tables grated fresh ginger
1 recipe Honey Bourbon Butter (recipe follows)
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and lightly flour a 9″ spring form pan; set aside.
Place 1/2 cup of the toasted pecans in a food processor; cover and process until finely ground; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine ground pecans, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk, butter and eggs. Add vanilla.
Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Beat for 1 min.
Fold in dried fruit and ginger. Transfer to prepared pan.
Arrange remaining pecans (1/4 cup) on top of batter.
Bake about 40 min or until cake tests done. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 min. Remove sides of pan; cool completely on rack. Remove bottom of pan.
To serve, pour Honey Bourbon Butter over fruitcake if desired and whipping cream if this doesn’t have enough calories to make you feel guilty.
*Honey Bourbon Butter*
In small saucepan melt 1/4 cup butter. Add 2 tables bourbon and 1 table honey. Stir until heated through.
If you want to make this ahead of time for the holiday dinner or party* See below.
Use bourbon or orange juice to moisten a large piece of 100% cheesecloth. Wrap cake in cloth and place in a large resealable plastic bag or wrap in plastic wrap. Store in fridge up to 1 week.