Post Christmas Baking

For the first time in over 15 years, I did not get around to my usual Christmas baking,  I LOVE cookies and counted a few years ago that I made 144 dozen of them.  I used to make about 7-8 different kinds and sometimes doubled and tripled the batters.  I would wrap them all up in pretty tissue papers and bows and hand out to co-workers, neighbors, friends, teachers, and whatever was left, we would eat. 

Since we were out of town for eight days over Thanksgiving, and started off with a busy first part of December, I had to give up many things on my list, and sadly, my cookie baking was one of them.  Part of me felt strange not making them, this was a tradition of ours.  But, on the other hand, it was a lot less stressful knowing I wouldn't be in the kitchen for days!!

Today was the last day of Christmas break with the kids, and a well deserved day spent in my jammies.  Now that the Christmas rush is through, and I had time on my hands today, I got the baking bug!  I was craving some sugary, and buttery goodness and thought of a recipe from my sister-in-law's mom I received last year.  The moment I tried these melt-in-your-mouth goodies, I knew I had to make them.

Super Sugar Cookies

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup butter flavored Crisco

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon almond extract

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

Combine oil, Crisco, and sugars.  Beat until creamy.  Add beaten eggs, and almond extract, beat together.  Combine flour, salt, soda, and cream of tartar.  Add flour mixture gradually.  Refrigerate dough for at least two hours.  Make walnut sized balls, and roll in sugar.  Place on cookie sheet.  Flatten with bottom of glass with sugar coating.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.



Mmm, mmm, mmmmm!

Key Lime Cheesecakes in a Jar

Lately, I have been obsessed with all these different recipes you can make in jars (I get mine at Walmart).  I came up with mini Key Lime Cheesecakes in a jar for Father's Day.  My Dad loves Key Lime Pie. He also loves desserts in small portions or else the sugar makes him wanna take a nap.  I used the Joy of Baking Key Lime Pie recipe and changed it up by adding a block of cream cheese to the filling.  They were pretty tasty!! 

I layered the jars with the graham cracker crumbs on the bottom and then added the key lime filling and baked. I chilled the jars for several hours and then topped each with fresh whipped cream (no Cool Whip here), lime zest, a lime slice and a few more sprinkles of graham cracker crumbs on top.  I wrapped the top of each with raffia.  It was the perfect treat and just the right portion too!

I juiced about 30 key limes (sorry, not the prettiest picture)!

Toasted graham cracker crumbs

Place a few tablespoons of the graham cracker crumbs in each jar.

Scoop several spoonfuls of filling into the jars and bake.

Yumminess!

Here is my altered recipe!

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

5-6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter.  Press onto the bottom of a baking sheet.  Bake for about ten minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from oven and cool.

Key Lime Cheesecake Filling

3 large egg yolks, room temp

One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup key lime juice (I used 30 key limes)

1 block of softened cream cheese

2 teaspoon lime zest

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Gradually add the condensed milk and beat until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat in the lime juice and zest. Scoop several spoonfuls of filling in the jars over the crumbs. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Once cooled, refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Whipped Cream

1 cup of cold heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

 

Once the filling has chilled, beat the whipping cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.  I recommend chilling a silver bowl in the freezer for five minutes (the peaks will form quicker).  Top each little cheesecake with several dollops of whipped cream.  Garnish with a few sprinkles of lime zest, graham cracker crumbs and top with a slice of lime.  Decorate jars with raffia or ribbon.

Enjoy!

A little holiday baking

When the kids are out of school, one of the things we always do is some baking. Yesterday, we made something besides our usual cookies - we made Cracker Candy. Have you ever had it? It is so yummy, buttery and rich. When I worked at HP, one of my co-workers brought it in around Christmas time and I couldn't get enough of it!! It tastes much like toffee, one of my favorites! Since Blake is allergic to pecans, we could only have them on one little portion of the pan. It's super easy to make, even Brody had fun helping and licking the spoon.

Here's the recipe:

40 saltines/sleeve of saltine crackers
1 cup of butter (2 sticks)
1 cup of brown sugar
1 (16oz) package of chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a layer of foil in an 11x16 inch pan and layer crackers over foil. In saucepan, bring butter and sugar to a boil (this smells divine)! Boil for 3 minutes. Pour over crackers. Bake 5 minutes or until crackers float. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over top of crackers. When melted, spread chips and sprinkle nuts on tops. Cut into bars when cool.

Philly Cheesesteak Soup Mmmmm!

Years ago when I worked for Hewlett-Packard and had to go on a business trip to Atlantic City, we flew into Philadelphia.  One of my co-workers and I were dying to try a real Philly Cheesesteak.  So we searched for a good walk up counter place and ordered.  We devoured the thing in minutes it was so good and oh-so-bad on the heart!  Luckily, we have a new pizza place close by called Vito's and the owners moved here from Philly about a year ago.  We are in love with their cheesesteaks and they even ship the dough in from Philly.

So, I was looking through magazines one day and saw a recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Soup.  I knew I had to make it - I could eat soup everyday, I love it.  So, here is the recipe...

1/8 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced into 1/2 strips
2 large green bell peppers, sliced into 1/2 inch strips
3-4 garlic cloves (the more the better in my opinion, I'm a garlic lover)
1 1/2 pounds top round steak, sliced into 1x 1/2 inch pieces
1 quart of beef broth
1 (10.5-ounce) can beef consomme
3 cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme
Toasted French rounds
Provolone cheese

In large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onions, bell peppers and garlic for 8-10 minutes, stir frequently- (I like my onions well done, so I cooked mine for about 15 minutes).

Add steak, cook for 10 minutes , stirring frequently until browned.  Add beef broth, consomme, water, salt and pepper stirring to combine.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for two hours or until meat is tender.  Stir occasionally.  Add thyme and simmer for five minutes.  Ladle soup into oven proof bowl, top with toasted French rounds and Provolone cheese.  Broil 6 inches from heat for three minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbly.  Enjoy!!

***You may want to decrease the salt to 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon or you may want to wait and see if it needs any salt at all.  I added the entire 1 teaspoon and ended up adding three cups of water so it was not as salty.  I think the broth and the consomme had extra salt I forgot about!

Overall it was so yummy!!  Tim loved it, he told me how good it was about four times while he ate it.  I actually let it simmer for about 3 hours instead of 2 hours.  The meat was really tender!



 

Tomato & Cucumber Summer Salsa

I am so excited that summer is upon us.  Summer=long days of staying busy with the kids or the complete opposite - those lazy days of doing nothing at all!  I'm counting down to June 3rd - the last day of school!

One thing I love about summer is cooking.  I love the whole cooking process - from choosing a recipe, to grocery shopping, to the chopping, dicing and mixing - it's so relaxing to me.  We will have plenty of time to cook in the summer and the kids love to pull up a chair and help.  I love eating lots of fresh vegetables since they are so light and healthy.  When I was pregnant with Brody, I craved tomatoes all the time.  I came up with a very easy recipe that I eat year round but especially in the summer.

Tomato & Cucumber Summer Salsa

1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 onion, diced (either white or purple)
1 cucumber cut in cubes
Olive oil - about 2-3 tablespoons
White wine vinaigrette - about 3-4 tablespoons
Course salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon, fresh parsley
1-2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

Cut all the veggies and place in a bowl, add olive oil and white wine vinaigrette (I usually don't use a measure on either of these, I just kind of eyeball it and add a bit more if I need to). Mix well.  Add the salt and pepper, parsley and Parmesan cheese, mix.  Chill to let the flavors marry.  Mmmm, the tartness from the vinegar and the crunch of the vegetables makes my tummy soooo happy!!  You can eat it with crackers, tortilla chips or crusty bread.  I usually eat it plain, right out of the bowl, and I could eat it all in one sitting!!  Enjoy!

Paula Deen's Cinnamon Rolls

I loooove Paula Deen!!  I adore her accent, her stories, how she loves her family, how she loves butter and how she makes really good (bad for you food)!!  I watched one of her shows early last year and she had a friend on and they were making these awesome looking cinnamon rolls.  I knew right away that I wanted to make them for Christmas morning along with mom's traditional sausage breakfast casserole.  So, I made up two batches on Christmas Eve and used cream cheese on one of them.  They were a hit!!  Very rich, warm and gooey, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!!  Knowing it would be so cold this weekend, I decided to make them again.  They are just so good and I don't even want to know how many calories or fat are in each one!!   Here's the recipe, you have to try it.  I know it's so much easier throwing the Pillsbury ones in, but these are to die for and super easy to make, it just takes some time and you have to make them the day before.  Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

Dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk (I just put the milk in the microwave til it starts to bubble)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough (this part is messy when you get your hands all in it)!!  Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices with a sharp knife.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. I stick them in the fridge at this point and then the next morning, bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Pure heaven!!