Christmas Cookie Favorites

Mom would make tons of cookies every year, and make up plates for all of our neighbors. So, I'm trying to carry on the tradition! I started with my two favorites of the ones Mom makes every year. Except I don't know what they're supposed to be called. The first are known by so many different names. And the second, I've never seen anyone else make them! So, here they are:

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The ones rolled in powdered sugar
1 cup butter (salted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool enough to handle, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar.

* Honestly, I found a pretty close recipe on allrecipes.com under "Russian Tea Cakes." But there were also "Mexican Wedding Cakes," "Italian Wedding Cookies," "Austrian Tea Biscuits"...

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The mint chocolate chip ones
Makes about 5 dozen
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup sugar
3 drops food coloring
1 12 oz pkg mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
a few drops of peppermint extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Line a large baking sheet with a double thickness of waxed paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and vinegar on high speed until they are all foamy. Add the sugar 1 Tablespoon at a time until all used.  Should be white and firm when you lift out the beaters.

Add 2-3 drops peppermint extract. Careful with the extract, a little goes a long way. Blend in a few drops of food coloring (with the beaters) to whatever shade you like.

Fold in the mini chips gently with a spatula.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet.

Turn off the oven and put in the baking sheet(s) letting the meringues dry out in the oven overnight.  Or for several hours until they are dry and delicate.

Store them in a dry place or they will absorb moisture and lose their crispness. An airight container is best.

Plum Pie

So, Laura Flowers, of TheCookingPhotographer.com, has written several blogs extolling the wonders of Oregon brand canned fruit. I'd never bought it before, and wasn't even sure if grocery stores carried it down here in Texas. So I looked on their website to see which grocery stores sold their brand. Super Target was listed, so I made a special trip to the nearest Super Target to look for these Oregon Whole Purple Plums that are apparently THAT GOOD. But they didn't seem to have any Oregon products at all. A few days later guess what I spotted at the Albertsons just a block over from our apartments. That's right. I bought four cans, and I was sooo excited to make this plum pie.

Of course it was Thanksgiving morning, and I had other things already going in the kitchen. So rather than look up the recipe again, I made it from memory. Meaning, the recipe isn't EXACTLY the same as the one posted on the website. But it felt great to be baking a pie sans recipe while we watched the Macys Parade on an overcast and chilly Thanksgiving morning. So homemaker-y.

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2 (15 ounce) cans Oregon Whole Purple Plums in Heavy Syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Butter for dotting pie
1 box Pillsbury Pie Crusts
Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Set out a 9 inch pie plate.

Strain the juice from the plums into a large saucepan. Cut the plums in half, then half again pitting as you go. Set plums aside.

Pour the sugar into the saucepan with the plum juice. Cook the mixture over medium heat stirring often at first, and constantly as the mixture heats. Cook and stir scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoons until the mixture thickens and sugar is completely dissolved. Turn off the heat from under the sauce pan. Add the ground ginger.

Mix the sliced plums with flour and salt until coated.

Place the dough into the pie dish. Place the plums onto the dough. Next, pour the hot filling into the pie dish arranging the plums around if needed. *Don't overfill the pie. Leave out a little of the juice if it gets too full.* Dot with butter and top with the top crust. Flute and cut vents into the dough.

Place a pie shield over the crust and bake pie for 30 minutes. Then remove the pie shield and bake for about 10 more minutes, or until golden brown and done on the bottom. Cool for several hours or overnight.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

From Let Me Plan Dinner! This turned out sooo good. Of course Bill added more cheese when I asked him to dish it out. We ate it with toasty garlic bread. Yum! We thought it would also taste good with cubed ham or even...bacon! But it was surprisingly good on its own.

1 large potato, diced small
1 c cauliflower florets
2 c broccoli florets
3 T butter
1/4 c flour
1 can chicken broth
2 c milk
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t pepper
2 t minced onion
4-8 oz grated cheddar cheese

In a small saucepan, steam potato, cauliflower, and broccoli (with potato on the bottom and broccoli on the top) until tender.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt the butter on low heat. Stir in the flour.

Turn the heat up to high and whisk in the chicken broth, milk, salt, pepper, and minced onion. Bring to a rolling boil for a minute, stirring constantly, or until mixture begins to thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. Turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.

Stir in the cooked potato, broccoli, and cauliflower. Remove from heat and stir in 4 oz cheese until melted.

Serve with fresh cracked pepper and additional grated cheese.

Shepherd's Pie

The last time I attempted Shepherd's Pie, it was a dismal failure lost in a sea of Campbells cream of mushroom soup. Bland. Colorless. Awful.

So I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com that didn't use cream of anything at all.

Problem: I didn't print it out. I just wrote down the ingredients to pick up at the grocery store. Then when I came home, I couldn't remember which recipe I'd been looking at. (If you look at the original, you'll see it's "Shepherds Pie VI.") So, I kinda did it from memory. I did alright, but I was skimpy with the beef broth and it came out a tad too dry for my husband's taste. But I liked it. I love that there's a whole layer of bright orange carrots!

Also, I used potato flakes instead of real potatoes! We bought a big ol' box of them at Costco and...I use them when I can, because I'm not huge fan of potatoes. Unless they're sweet potatoes. Or french fries.

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1 lb carrots, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 pound lean ground beef

1 cup frozen peas

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ketchup

3/4 cup beef broth

1 packet Idaho potato flakes

1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add carrots and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, mash and set aside.

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and cook until clear. Add ground beef and cook until well browned. Pour off excess fat, then stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add ketchup, beef broth and frozen peas. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Spread the ground beef in an even layer on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Next, spread a layer of mashed carrots. Top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Apple Dumplings

A recipe that I've carried around for years, given to me by my pre-mission roommate, Jenn, at BYU. It will always remind me of her because the syrup turns a fabulous shade of PINK.

Pie Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup Crisco
1/4 cup water

Mix flour and salt. Mix 1/4 cup of mixture with the 1/4 cup water. Cut Crisco into the rest of the flour mixture, then mix in the water mixture.

Roll out dough and cut into 6 squares.

Filling:
4 sm. apples, peeled and chunked
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
butter
Red Hots

Place filling in each square with a dollop of butter and one or two Red Hots. Fold up corners, and seal into "dumplings." Place in 9x13 baking dish, sealed-side down.

Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup Red Hots
1/4 cup butter

In saucepan, combine sugar, water, spices and Red Hots. Boil 5 min. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Pour syrup over dumplings in the baking dish.

Bake at 375 for 45 min.

Chicken Piccata

This is another find from Allrecipes.com. It tastes just like the Chicken Piccata that you order in your local strip-mall Italian restaurant. Maybe even better. Especially since I added the capers. Yum!

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4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 egg
1 (small) lemon, halved and ready to juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 tbsp capers

In a small bowl, beat the egg together with about 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Set aside.

In a shallow bowl or dish mix together the flour, garlic powder and paprika.

Dip the chicken in the egg/lemon mixture, then in the seasoned flour. In a large skillet, melt butter/margarine and brown the coated chicken pieces.

Dissolve the bouillon in the boiling water, then add the remaining lemon juice.

Pour liquid into skillet. Sprinkle with capers. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, turning chicken pieces after 10 minutes, until chicken is tender.

4 servings.

Taco Soup by any other name..

I first got this recipe my freshman year at BYU from Virginia Whiting..or rather, her mother. It became a staple in my life. Especially after screwing with it a few times.

The original recipe:
Taco Soup
1 lb ground beef
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans corn
2 cans dark kidney beans
1/3 cup salsa
1 tbsp chili powder

Brown ground beef in large pot. Drain excess oil. Without draining, add canned tomatoes, corn and beans. Bring to a low boil. Add salsa and chili powder. Simmer. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and/or Frito corn chips.

But after a few batches made with spaghetti sauce for salsa, black beans for kidney beans, and other substitutions through the years...I made one very bold substitution: a dash of cinnamon and crushed red pepper for chili powder. It's become my signature recipe. I still add spices without much of a formula other than what smells good--so, I'll just tell you how I made it tonight. But it hardly seems appropriate to call it "Taco Soup." And I've even entered it into church chili cook-offs which forced me to rename it,

Black Bean Chili
1 lb ground beef
salt, pepper
garlic pepper
crushed red pepper
2 cans stewed tomatoes, Italian style
2 cans corn
2 cans black beans
oregano
cumin
paprika
cinnamon

Brown the ground beef in large pot, and season with salt and garlic pepper. Drain excess grease. Without draining anything, add tomatoes. Season with crushed red pepper. Drain one can of corn, but not the other as you add the corn. Season with black pepper. Add black beans. Bring to a low boil. Simmer and add a big dash of oregano, a medium dash of paprika, a small dash of cumin and cinnamon. Top with cheddar cheese and/or tortilla strips.

Pork Chops with Acorn Squash & Tomatoes

I loved this idea of combining acorn squash with cherry tomatoes. It came from RealSimple.com. How appropriate for this time of year: summery tomatoes and autumn-y squash! Also, turned out to be really easy.

The recipe originally suggested chicken breasts, but when I went to Kroger, the pork chops were cheaper.

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1 small acorn squash (about 11⁄2 pounds)—halved, seeded, and sliced 1⁄4 inch thick
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
4 pork chops

Heat oven to 425° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash, tomatoes, and garlic with 2 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast until the squash is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pat the meat dry with paper towels before seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes per side. Serve with the squash and tomatoes and sprinkle with the oregano.

Beef Stroganoff

Bill's favorite dish that his mom makes is Beef Stroganoff. She serves it over mashed potatoes--which I'd never heard of before. But maybe that's because we usually just had the Hamburger Helper kind in my family. I've never made it from scratch before but last night was the night! I decided I would tackle the Stroganoff...and of course it was a mish-mash of two different recipes that I found at Allrecipes.com: Beef Stroganoff II and Beef Stroganoff III.

This is what I ended up with:

7 small red potatoes

1 lb beef chuck steak, sliced into 1/4" thick, 1 1/2" wide strips--approximately.
salt & pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tbsp flour
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can condensed beef broth
1/2 pkg mushrooms, sliced
1/3 c sour cream


Boil potatoes in salted water.

Season beef strips with salt & pepper. Brown in large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove from skillet to plate.

Add onions to skillet and cook until transparent.

Add flour, mushroom soup and beef broth. Bring to a boil. Return beef strips to skillet and simmer on reduced heat for 15 minutes.

Add mushrooms to skillet.
When potatoes are tender, drain them. Arrange on plates.

Add sour cream to skillet a few minutes before serving, and stir well to heat it through.

Smash the potatoes with a fork and top with beef mixture.

Pasta al Forno

This is the king of all recipes from my mission. Elders would dream of this dish (while they were knocked out in a pasta coma.) The name only means "baked pasta"--but that's an understatement when you look at everything piled into this recipe. And you'll see why it was such a rare treat: 1. not super healthy. 2. requires LOTS of prep work. Don't eat too much, or you will seriously be struggling.

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2 boxes penne or rigatoni pasta, cooked al dente
1/4cup bread crumbs
Ragu
Besciamella
1-2 balls mozzarella, diced
1/2cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup salami slices, cut into strips
2 eggs, hard boiled

Ragu:
1/2 lb hamburger
1/2cup shredded carrots
1cup froz. peas
2 cans basic tomato sauce (I use Hunt's Garlic & Herb)

Besciamella:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1cup milk or cream


In large saucepan, prepare ragu by browning hamburger meat in a little olive oil.* Add shredded carrots and peas. When peas are no longer frozen, add tomato sauce.

In smaller saucepan, prepare besciamella by heating butter over med heat. When butter is mostly melted, add flour, salt and pepper and mix well. Add milk or cream and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens.

Grease 9x13 pan and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Layer cooked pasta, ragu, besciamella, cubed mozzarella, grated parmesan, salami. Top with mozzarella and slices of hard-boiled egg.

Cover and bake at 350F for 30 min, or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.


*if I was using plain tomato sauce from the vegetable side of the aisle, rather than the spaghetti sauce side of the aisle, I would add garlic before browning the meat and other spices after adding the sauce.

Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens

I found this one on RealSimple.com last winter. And it's one I don't want to lose. It is so creamy and yummy--like oatmeal, but better suited to dinner.

It took me a while to find "quick-cooking barley", but I've used pearled barley as well and not noticed much difference. (?) I also made a few substitutions to the original recipe:

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2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
kosher salt and black pepper
2 cups quick-cooking barley
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup chicken broth
8 cups torn spinach leaves
2 ounces Brie (rind removed), cut into small pieces
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the barley, tomatoes, broth, and 2½ cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Add the spinach, brie, and ¼ cup of the Parmesan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Divide among bowls and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of Parmesan.

My Favorite A' La Mode

My favorite pie recipe to date. I found it on Allrecipes.com years ago, and I've made it so many times since. I made four of these pies for our wedding reception!

I usually use frozen rhubarb and pre-made Pilsbury crusts--just remember to pat the crusts down with flour before using them so that they don't turn to mush with such a moist filling.
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Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 pound fresh rhubarb, chopped
2 pints fresh strawberries
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons white sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix flour and sugar. Add strawberries and chopped rhubarb. Toss with sugar and flour and let stand for 15 minutes.

Pour filling into pie crust. Dot top with butter, and cover with top crust. Seal edges of top and bottom crust with water.

Apply yolk to top of pie, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut small holes in top to let steam escape.

Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly and brown. Cool on rack.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

1/2 box spaghetti
200g pancetta (or small package diced ham, or diced canadian bacon)
3 eggs
1-2 cups grated parmesan cheese

Boil pasta in well-salted water.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet. Add pancetta (diced ham). Fry until golden.

In another bowl, beat eggs and add shredded parmesan, salt and pepper.

When pasta is al dente, drain. Quickly add egg mixture and hot oil with pancetta. Stir well in pot while still over hot burner.
*The egg will cook onto the pasta.

Pasta ai Broccoli

2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
1/2 box penne pasta
3 garlic cloves
crushed red pepper flakes

Bring water to boil. Add chopped broccoli. Bring again to boil. Add salt and pasta.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet with minced garlic and red pepper flakes.

Drain the cooked pasta, but try to keep the broccoli particles with the pasta. Add pasta and broccoli to oil in skillet. Mix well.

Top with shredded parmesan before serving.

**The traditional version of this recipe uses Broccoli Rabe instead of conventional broccoli. I like to use broccolini. In this picture I used both conventional broccoli and broccolini.

Mission Standards

These recipes formed the foundation of what I learned to cook in Italy. And as such, they have no real names.

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Tomato & Mozzarella

1/2  box penne pasta
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 Roma--or similarly sized--tomatoes, diced
1 ball fresh mozzarella, diced

Boil penne pasta in generously salted water until cooked. Drain.

Meanwhile, olive oil and minced garlic in skillet. Add diced tomatoes and sprinkle with salt. Cook until saucy & simmering. Sprinkle with basil a minute or two before finished cooking. Add cooked pasta and cubed mozzarella.

*Do not add the mozzarella until just before serving, otherwise it will form a big glob in the bottom of the pan!


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Peppers & Eggplant

1 eggplant
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 onion

Prepare eggplant by slicing of top & bottom, as well as vertically slicing of a few stips of the bitter skin. Slice into 1/2 in rounds. Fill large bowl with water and dissolve 1/2 cup or so of salt. Soak eggplant in saltwater. Drain & rinse eggplant. Cut rounds into strips.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add sliced onions. Cook until softened. Add eggplant, sliced peppers, and salt. Add more oil to pan, if neccessary. Cook, covered, until vegetables are soft. Let cook uncovered for a few minutes before serving.

Goes well with crusty bread, also good over pasta.

Mom's Block Party Favorites

I remember these at all Fourth of July block parties, church potlucks, and other family get-togethers.

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Apple Cake

4cups apples, chunked
3cups flour
3 eggs
2cups sugar
1cup oil
2tsp cinnamon
2tsp vanilla
1tsp salt
1tsp baking soda
1cup nuts/raisins (optional)

Mix all ingredients together. Spoon into 9x13 cake pan. Bake at 350F for 1 hour.
*Also works well for muffins!
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Tomato & Pepper Salad

4 tomatoes
2 green peppers
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt

Slice tomatoes and peppers. Mix together in bowl or square baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Mix well. Place a few ice cubes on top and place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Dad's Bachelor Food

Easy recipes that I remember my dad making a lot when I was a kid. Featuring Egg Noodles.
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Kielbasa & Noodles

1 pkg Kelbasa, sliced into 1/2 in diagonal segments
1 pkg egg noodles
1 can cream of chicken condensed soup
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped

Boil egg noodles in salted water until cooked. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a little bit of olive oil, sautee onion and green pepper until softened. Add kielbasa and condensed soup until heated through.

Add drained noodles to condensed soup mix.

Done.

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Tuna Noodle Casserole

1/2 pkg egg noodles
2 cans tuna
2 cans cream of mushroom OR cream of celery condensed soup
Frozen peas (full or half package, depends on your preference)
1 1/2 cups Grated parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F.
Boil egg noodles in salted water until cooked. Drain.

Put the noodles in a 9x13 baking dish. Plop in your tuna and condensed soup. Sprinkle in 1/2 of the parmesan and the frozen peas. Mix it all together. Top with remaining parmesan and bread crumbs.

Bake at 350F for 30 min. (until heated through and top layer of noodles are getting crisp at the edges.)

Done.

Start

I print out recipes while I'm at work. I cook. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't. Either way, the recipe ends up trashed. This is perturbing to my husband, who would prefer that I not make experiments for him EVERY night. Hopefully, this blog will help.