Thursday, December 31, 2009

Collard Greens

Recipe courtesy of flylady.net

I do not cook my like my granny used too. I saute mine.

You will need an iron skillet and a lid for this one. LOL they do not taste right otherwise.

1-2 bunches of Collard greens (cut out he tough stems, lay flat and cut a whole stack into one inch squares.)

1 small package of peppered side meat.(you can use bacon if needed) Cut into little pieces before you fry it crisp. Drain the grease and add a good olive oil.

Now add your cut up collard greens. Stir-fry until they start to get dark green. Then add about 1/4 cup of water, white wine or some of broth. Put the lid on and steam for around 10 minutes on a medium heat. Stir after 5 minutes.

Cooked like this you still have all the vitamins and minerals left. Taste yummy. You can use spinach too. You can even use frozen leaf spinach. If I use spinach I add some minced
garlic to the olive oil.

Black-eyed Peas Recipe

Recipe from Flylady.net

1 onion chopped and sauted in olive oil
1 T of dried hot peppers ( we like it hot)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of dried peas
8 cups of water
1 Country ham hock or fat back

After you saute the onions, garlic, and pepper: add peas and water, Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Turn off and let sit for 1 hours. Then continue to cook on medium low heat for 3 hours. If the peas start to dry out, only add boiling water to the pot. Cold water will cause the peas to crack and turn to mush.

Serve with collards and cornbread.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Butterscotch Haystacks

From the butterscotch chip bag.

1 2/3 cups (11 oz pkg.) Nestle Toll House Butterscotch Flavored Morsels
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 can (8.5 oz) or 2 cans (5 oz each) chow mein noodles
3 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Line baking sheets or trays with wax paper.

Microwave morsels in large, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on medium-high (70%) power for 1 minute; stir. The morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15 second intervals, stirring until melted.

Stir in peanut butter until well blended. Add chow mein noodles and marshmallows; toss until coated. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Double boiler method: Place morsels in top of double boiler over hot (not boiling) water. Do not cover. When most of the morsels are shiny, stir just until melted. (Prevent water from coming in contact with morsels.) Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter. Transfer to large bowl. Add chow mein noodles and marshmallows; proceed as above.

Makes about 6 dozen candies.

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I found this on the Butterscotch chip bag. It looks like a yummy variation on the normal Chow Mein Noodle Candy recipe that Gran used to make. I am definitely going to try this. Maybe it will be the new variation! Yum!

Oatmeal Scotchies

From the Butterscotch chip bag.

1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange
3 c quick or old-fashioned oats
1 2/3 c (11 oz pkg.) Nestle Toll House Butterscoth flavored morsels

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Combine: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded Tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 7-8 minutes for chewy cookies; 9-10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 doz cookies

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Pan Cookie Variation:
Grease 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread dough into prepared pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 4 doz bars.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Autumn-Spiced Cranberry Sauce

PREP TIME: 5 min
COOK TIME: 7 min
YIELD: 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons Crisco® Butter Shortening
OR 3 tablespoons Crisco® Butter Shortening Sticks
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1 (16 oz.) can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 3/4 cup Smucker's® Spiced Apple Butter
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 to 1 tsp orange peel

Directions:

1 HEAT shortening in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until slightly softened.

2 ADD cranberry sauce, apple butter and cloves. Reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in orange peel. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars

PREP TIME: 30 min
COOK TIME: 25 min
YIELD: 2 dozen bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Crisco® Butter Shortening Sticks, plus additional for greasing
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Jif® Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 salt
• 1/2 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
• 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1/2 cup Smucker's® Chocolate Sundae Syrups Ice Cream Topping
Directions:

1 HEAT oven to 350ºF. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish with shortening.

2 COMBINE brown sugar, 1/2 cup shortening, peanut butter, sugar and egg in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.

3 MIX flour, baking powder and salt. Add gradually to creamed mixture at low speed. Beat until well blended. Cover. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Press into prepared dish. Bake 20 minutes or until light brown. Do not overbake. Cool 2 to 3 minutes.

4 PLACE peanut butter in microwave-safe measuring cup. Microwave on HIGH (100% power) for 1 minute. Pour over cookie base. Spread to cover. Cover with marshmallows. Drizzle chocolate syrup over marshmallows.

5 RETURN to oven. Bake 5 minutes or until marshmallows are light brown. Do not overbake. Loosen from sides of dish with knife. Remove dish to cooling rack. Cool completely. Cut with sharp greased knife into 2 x 2-inch bars.

Triple Berry Angel Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 small (10 oz.) prepared round angel food cake
• 1 (18 oz.) jar Smucker's Special Recipe Triple Berry Topping (1-1/2 cups)
• 1 (4 serving size) package white chocolate or vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
• Fresh red raspberries and blackberries
• Mint leaves for garnish
• White chocolate shavings for garnish

Directions:

1 CUT the cake horizontally into three, 1-inch thick layers. Place bottom layer, cut-side up, on serving dish.

2 COMBINE triple berry topping with dry pudding mix in a medium bowl, beating on low speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes or until thickened. Blend in whipped topping. Spread bottom cake layer with 1-1/3 cups of berry mixture. Top with center cake layer. Spread with 3/4 cup of berry mixture. Add the top cake layer. Spread with remaining berry mixture. Refrigerate 1 hour.

3 GARNISH cake with fresh berries, mint leaves and white chocolate shavings, just before serving.

Strawberry Angel Cookies

PREP TIME: 10 min
COOK TIME: 12
YIELD: 3 dozen

Ingredients:

• Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 1 (16 oz.) package Pillsbury® Angel Food Cake
• 3/4 cup Smucker's® Strawberry Sugar Free Preserves
OR 1 cup Smucker's® Special Recipe Strawberry Preserves
• 3 tablespoons mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1 HEAT oven to 325°F. Coat baking sheet with no-stick cooking spray.

2 BEAT together cake mix and preserves (do not add water) at low speed of electric mixer 1 minute or until evenly moistened. Continue to beat an additional 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet.

3 BAKE 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are just lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on baking sheet. Place on cooling rack to cool completely. Cookies will be soft and chewy.

TIP Store between sheets of wax paper to keep from sticking together.

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar

Servings: 16
Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup diced dried cranberries
6 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks

Frosting:
4-ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup diced dried cranberries

Drizzled Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vegetable shortening

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Make cake by beating butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger, and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in flour until smooth.

Mix 3/4 cup diced dried cranberries and white chocolate into the batter by hand. Pour batter into a well-greased 9x13" baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until cake is light brown on the edges. Allow cake to cool.


3. Make frosting by combining softened cream cheese, 3 cups powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread frosting over the top of the cake.

4. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of diced cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

5. Whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, and shortening. Drizzle icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion or use a pastry bag with a fine tip to drizzle frosting across the top of the cake.

6. Allow cake to sit for several hours, then slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width three times making a total of eight rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.

Matzo Ball Soup

2 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp ice water
3/4 cup matzo ball mix
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (skim fat)

In a small bowl, blend eggs, olive oil and ice water with a fork. Add matzo ball mix and stir with fork until evenly mixed. Place bowl in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

In a 4-quart pot, add 2 1/2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Wet hands and form batter into balls approximately 1-inch in diameter. Drop into boiling water. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Drain and discard water. Add broth. Yield: 6 servings (1 cup broth, 2 matzo balls each).

Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

6- 5 oz white potatoes, peeled, grated and drained
2 medium onions, peeled and grated
3 egg whites
2 eggs
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp matzo meal

Mix all ingredients well. Drop spoonfuls (approximately 2 tbsp each) of mixture onto a nonstick baking sheet. Bake at 425° F for 30 minutes or until brown, turning after 15 minutes. Yield: 6 servings (2-4-inch pancakes each).

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Egg Nog

From Foodtv.com
Goes well with Christmas cookies & Christmas dinner!!

1/2 vanilla bean
3 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Ground mace, to taste

Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, set aside.

In a bowl over simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Keep whisking until a ribbon is formed and the mixture has been heated to 140 degrees.

Hold it at this temperature for 2-3 minutes, and allow the mixture to thicken. Stir this mixture into the milk. Stir in the cinnamon.

Refrigerate this for 2 hours or until cold. Whip the cream and add it to the egg mixture.

Sprinkle the top with the mace before serving.

Butter and Jam Thumbprints

From Food Network Kitchens

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
2/3 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
1 large egg
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from pod, or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup raspberry, cherry or strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.

In another bowl, whip the butter and the sugar with a hand-held mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing just until incorporated.

Scoop the dough into 1-inch balls with a cookie or ice cream scoop and roll in sugar. Place about 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press a thumbprint into the center of each ball, about 1/2-inch deep. Fill each indentation with about 3/4 teaspoon jam.

Bake cookies until the edges are golden, about 15 minutes. (For even color, rotate the pans from top to bottom about halfway through baking.) Cool cookies on the baking sheets. Serve.

Store cookies in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.

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I found this recipe a year or more ago - it's the most similar at this point to what I can find... that Gran made every year - Gramps' favorite - "Cherry Winks."

Christmas Sausage

Traditional sausage for our family - to eat on Christmas morning after opening the presents. This is from the principal of my Elementary school - Mr. Chase. Churchill Road Elementary School. In the early & mid 80s. He was such a nice principal! He married Mrs. Schulzeburger - the secretary of the school. Fun!

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Bisquick Sausage Balls

1 lb Bulk Sausage (Hot Or Mild)
2 c Sharp Cheddar Cheese Grated
3 c Bisquick

Combine all ingredients and shape into balls the size
of walnuts. Bake on cookie sheet at 350 degrees F.
for 15 minutes.

Makes about 5 dozen.

NOTE:
Sausage Balls may be frozen before or after baking.
If frozen after, defrost and reheat at 350 degrees F

Sparkle Plenty Cookies

This is a recipe from a Mary Englebright Christmas cookbook that I own.

Ingredients:

2 C flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons (1 1/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 C + 2 T granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Favorite vanilla frosting, for decorating
Colored coarse sugar or sanding sugar, for decorating

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat the butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until they are completely combined.

3. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Shape each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic. Place the disks in the refrigerator about 1 hour or up to 2 days.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out stars, using assorted-size cookie cutters and place 2 inches apart on un-greased baking sheets. Insert one 8-inch lollipop stick into each star, pressing to make sure the sticks are secure but not poking through the other side. The dough scraps should be chilled and re-rolled.

5. Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool 1-2 minutes on the baking sheets on wire racks, then transfer carefully to wire racks to cool completely.

6. With a small knife, frost the tops of the cookies. Gently sprinkle the cookies with the colored sugar; let set for 30 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Peppermint Patsies

Ingredients:
1 lb. Confectioner’s sugar
3 T unsalted butter, softened
1 T peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 C evaporated milk
2 C semisweet chocolate chips
2 T vegetable shortening
2 oz. White chocolate, chopped
Small red candies, for decorating

1. Cover a wire rack with waxed paper and set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the sugar, butter, peppermint extract, vanilla, and salt until combined. Add the milk and mix well.

2. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Using a clean glass with a flat bottom, flatten each ball to a 1/4 inch thickness. Refrigerate 30 minutes longer, then freeze for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a double boiler over gently simmering water, melt the semisweet chocolate and the shortening; stire until smooth. Let cool for 10 minutes.

4. Dip the patsies into the chocolate mixture, turning to completely coat. Place the patsies on the prepared wire rack. Freeze for 5 minutes to harden the chocolate.

5. In a double broler over gently simmering water, melt the white chocolate. Transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Snip off a tiny corner of the bag. Drizzle the patsies with the white chocolate. Sprinkle with the red candies and let set.

Makes 2 dozen.