Aren't These the Cutest Things, Ever?!

My latest IKEA purchase:
Drommar, with the two little dots over the 'o'. Four washable, reuseable plastic doilies...
$1.99

 Use them singly or in tandem:

And not just under cakes!
Here I've arranged a few store-bought
(gasp!) cookies because a friend's coming over and it's her birthday week. So now the ordinary is just a bit special. Perfect for drop-in company, too. Other manufacturers make them I'm sure, but $1.99 for four is hard to beat. IKEA has cake-top stencils for the same
                                                            great price.

Scotcheroons - not your average Rice Krispies Treat

We just put my mom on the plane back to Georgia. She made two batches of these favorites for my son while she was here for three weeks.

There's no baking involved, but they do take a while to cool, and it's best not to put the topping on until then. Personally, I prefer the ratio of chocolate chips to butterscotch chips to be 3/4 to 1/4 instead of 1/2 to 1/2. I could even go for 1 to 0, but then the name wouldn't quite fit, would it?

Here's a tip for measuring the peanut butter: fill a 2-cup measure to the 1 cup line with water, add spoons of peanut butter until the water rises to the 2 cup line, pour off water.

Mom doesn't like to pack these down tight to make a relatively flat surface. She says that makes them too hard to bite through. So they're not a particularly attractive cookie. But they sure are good!


Scotcheroons

Combine in large pot:

     1 c sugar
     1 c light corn syrup

Bring to a rolling boil, then remove from heat.
Stir in:

     1 c peanut butter
     6 c rice krispies

Mix well - scraping the pot all the way to the bottom to combine syrup and cereal well. Push out into a 13x9x2 pan or larger - even a cookie sheet, depending on whether you like these thin or thick. Cool.

Combine:

     6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
     6 oz butterscotch chips

Melt in double boiler or microwave, and spread onto cookie. Cool and cut.

Chocolate Bread Pudding - A Gift from Holland America Line

This recipe was sent to me by the cruise ship company, Holland America, and I just thought I'd pass it along as a little bonus. Holland America says it's their most requested recipe.

Personally, I'd leave out the raisins; they're fine in regular bread pudding, but sometimes having more flavors competing for your attention is a distraction rather than adding complexity and depth of flavor. Then again, I'm not a raisin person. Either way, I hope you'll enjoy this dessert. 

I've included it in the 'make-ahead' category because I think think the pudding would be fine made ahead and refrigerated until time to bake. It has eggs in it, but I have an egg-based breakfast casserole recipe that I make up to three days ahead and put in a zip-loc bag in the fridge until the morning I use it. The whisky sauce for the bread pudding, below, is made ahead and warmed just prior to serving.

Chocolate and Raisin Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Whiskey Sauce

1.5 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoons cold water

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons whiskey, such as Jack Daniels, Jameson, or Old Bushmills

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until it boils.  In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch and water; whisk this mixture into the boiling cream. Return the cream to a boil then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring with a heat-proof rubber spatula, for 30 seconds, taking care not to let the mixture burn. Add the sugar and whiskey and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Immediately remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. (Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Rewarm before serving.)

Bread Pudding

1/2 cup golden raisins

2 tablespoons whiskey (for soaking the raisins; optional)

1 pound loaf day-old Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

6 large eggs

1 quart whole milk

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1.5 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt 

Head the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan to make one. Combine the raisins and whiskey in a small bowl; let sit for at least 15 minutes.

Bring a large kettle of water to a boil. Drain the raisins and discard the liquid. Divide the bread, chocolate chips, and drained raisins among the muffin cups (or place in the baking pan). 

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Whisk to blend thoroughly. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in each of the muffin cups (or in the baking pan) and place the pan into  a large roasting pan. Transfer the roasting pan to the oven and add enough boiling water to the large pan to reach halfway up the side of the muffin or baking pan. 

Bake the puddings for 30 to 40 minutes (45 minutes to one hour if you make a single large one), or until puffed and just set. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven and remove the muffin (or baking) pan inside it. Let the bread pudding cool until warm and serve, unmolded, with the whiskey sauce or whipped cream and vanilla ice cream (or serve the single bread pudding in the baking pan with the accompaniments).

I DON'T LIKE BAKED BEANS

Don't like 'em. Never have. If that puts me in a very tiny minority in North America, so be it. However, years ago when family was gathering for my mother-in-law's funeral, some cousins by marriage that I'd never met (Hi Debbie & Marney!) brought a baked bean dish, which I took a little of just to be polite. I think I went back for thirds. Here's the original recipe as they gave it to me.

ST. JAMES BAKED BEAN CASSEROLE

6 slices bacon, diced
1/2 c chopped onions
16 oz can pork & beans
16 oz can kidney beans, drained
16 oz can lima beans, drained
10 oz cheddar, cubed
1 c ketchup
3/4 c brown sugar
1 T worcestershire sauce

Heat oven to 325F. Grease 1.5 qt casserole. Brown bacon, add onions to saute; drain well. Fold in with all other ingredients. Bake 1.5 hours.


Cheesy goodness - but not pretty

This dish can be used as a side dish, like most baked beans,  but in reality, it's hearty enough for an entree. Or even a full meal!

Here's the recipe with my revisions, which make it marginally healthier and a little on the tangier rather than sweeter side. It also is more casserole-like, less soupy. But you can control that to your liking by the amount of liquids you add.

Note: I often double the beans and sauce without (fully) doubling the bacon and cheese, and it's still plenty flavorful.



DINE-IN BEAN CASSEROLE

approx 6 slices bacon, diced
1/2-1 c chopped onion
3 cans beans of 3 different sizes, shapes & colors, rinsed & drained (I don't use pork & beans, I use organic
     canned beans) ie: red kidney, limas, garbanzos, pintos, black beans, white (cannelloni beans), etc...
8-10 oz cheddar, cubed
1 1/4 c ketchup
1/2 c brown sugar or less
2 T worcestershire sauce
a splash of vinegar
a splash of hot sauce (I recommend Frank's Red Hot or green Tabasco)

Follow directions above, but since the liquid has been reduced, I cover with foil before baking.

You know this blog is all about working with what you have and making the whole process as quick and easy as possible, right? So here are some of the substitutions I've used over the years for the "sauce" part of this recipe: Ken's Steak House Sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette, chili sauce, cocktail sauce, or a combination of these, with or without the ketchup, and usually with no brown sugar added. So this is a very forgiving recipe. Adapt it to your own tastes, or to what you happen to have in the house at the time. Have fun! My favorite version is just to add a bottle of Sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette and nothing else.

Cooler Weather - Tea Roast

Here in Canada, Thanksgiving is in October, so we're already beginning to think about the Holiday Season. My mom's visiting from Georgia and I'm sending Christmas gifts home with her, and I've ordered my organic turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner.

The weather has been lovely until today. It rained last night - well, I'd call it a drizzle at most - and it was quite cool this morning. Kevin and I agreed winter started today.

You may not be ready for big chunks of beef yet if you live in the South, but save this recipe. It's a keeper. My mom made it thinking she'd have lots of leftovers, but the men at the table - my son (18) and a cousin (65) finished it off.

This recipe was devised by a 14 year old from Tallahassee, Florida, and it was published by the local paper. I wish I knew the youth's name so that I could attribute it to the right person, but he/she is now somewhere in the neighborhood of 55-60 years old, so I think even the newspaper would have a hard time coming up with that info. I hope you like it as much as my crowd will.


TEA ROAST

Large chuck roast
Double-strength brewed tea
Barbeque sauce

Brown roast in oil on stove top. Salt & pepper. Add tea up to about 3/4 the depth of the meat. Simmer at a slow bubble until very tender. (Can alternatively be cooked covered in oven at 300F.) The amount of time will depend on the size of the roast.

Heat the barbeque sauce. (You may use your favorite commercial brand or make it by combining ketchup, lemon juice, minced onion, hot sauce and light brown sugar to taste.) Drain meat then slather with heated sauce. Place in 300F oven for 20 minutes to glaze. Sauce may be served on the side.

Celebratory Meal - My Guys are Home from 6 Days of Harley Riding!

Everyone Loved this Appetizer

What's not to love? Jalapenos, which I blanched after seeding to take some of the fire out, filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. My mom, who doesn't enjoy much heat, loved them, and so did my leather-mouthed husband. The recipe was on allrecipes.com, and it inspired an original recipe...that just didn't work.

BUMMER: I tried bacon-wrapping feta-stuffed olives, but the results were disappointing. Too salty, too, strong tasting - you really couldn't even taste the bacon, so why bother?

So I went back to the recipe on the other website. Tonight I baked these delectable two-bite wonders at 350 for roughly 45 minutes, but they could be grilled for less time and would taste even better, I'd think. Experiment with the filling - add herbs or spices, dry ranch dressing mix, etc... But I'd advise not using the soft cream cheese; I think it would me more likely to ooze out during cooking. Also, you can use just a half slice of bacon to wrap each pepper half, but the full piece of bacon did make it easier to cover the cheese well and hold it in. Secure the bacon with a toothpick. Or two.


Easy and Delicious Salad

Cucumbers, black olives, cherry tomatoes, chick peas, feta and your favorite
balsamic, Greek or Italian dressing. This could be lunch all by itself.




The Main Event

Brisket - dry rubbed and slow roasted in a 250 degree oven for hours, with a chunky, tomatoey, barbequey sauce. Amazing. This is about the fourth time we've made this brisket recipe, and it is an
all-time favorite at our house. It comes from the kitchens at The Food Network and I do follow the recipe because the rub and the sauce complement each other beautifully.

There was fresh corn, too, which my mom stripped from the cobs and fried up in a pan that still had a little bacon grease in it. All in all, it was a great meal for two tired, hungry and road-weary motorcyclists to come home to.