12 Treats of Christmas: #12 Santa's Cut-Out Cookies

The twelth and final treat to share is the recipe for the cookies we leave for Santa. The only sugar cookie recipe I have ever known, it has been made over and over for as long as I can remember. Before I owned a KitchenAid mixer, I used to dread the mixing that had to take place by hand...you can only go so far in this recipe with a hand-mixer. Now, making the dough is a snap! Since I already blogged the recipe here, I will share the recipe I use for the frosting. I learned to make it simply by watching my mom. The "recipe" consists of only three ingredients: powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk...although, I swear my mom used to add in some butter, too. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I'm sure she'll comment here to tell me her thoughts on that.

FROSTING FOR SUGAR COOKIES

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
Food coloring

Begin by putting powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add vanilla. Add milk ONE TABLESPOON AT A TIME, until you make a nice, spreadable consistency. Frost the cookies, add some sprinkles, and allow to "dry."

DID YOU KNOW: If your cookies (these cookies or ANY type of cookie) become hard...or if you cooked them too long and didn't burn them, but they cool more crispy than you would like, put them in a container or ziplock with a slice of bread. The cookies will soften!

12 Treats of Christmas: #11 Mini Mint Kiss Pies

Oh my goodness. I’ve found a new blog to love. Just like my love of collecting cookbooks, I’ve started “collecting” cooking blogs. Who are these people who are not only talented in the kitchen, but talented behind a camera lense, too? Right now I religiously follow Pioneer Woman, Smitten Kitchen, How Sweet It Is, and Tasty Kitchen (sister blog to PW). There are many others that I know are out there and waiting, but there is just not enough time in the day. Of course, once you see them, you’ll understand what a complete amateur I am, but at least I can be your resource, right? Anyway, I was feverishly entering a blog giveaway ($250 Best Buy gift card…I’ll let you know if I win LOL) and I fell on Picky Palate and this recipe. Read the recipe below then jump on over here to see the step-by-step pictures that accompany this recipe and made me want to make Kiss Pies immediately.

MINI MINT KISS PIES

1 refrigerated pie crust, thawed

14 Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses

1 egg white whisked with 1 tablespoon water

Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Roll out pie dough onto a lightly floured counter top.

3. Place a kiss on the pie dough and cut a 2 ½ to 3 inch circle around it with a knife (or find an appropriately sized glass and use the mouth to “cut” around the kiss. *Be strategic about where you place the kisses so that you can maximize use of your dough!

4. For first fold, bring opposite sides of circle up together (as if you’re creating a taco). Pinch the two edges around top of kiss.

5. Now, fold up the other two sides of remaining dough up to the tip of the kiss pinching edge. Now press together all touching edges (will look like a square envelope with a kiss inside.

6. Continue cutting dough around kisses until all dough is used up & repeating steps 4 & 5; you can get between 10-14 rounds cut, especially if you re-roll your scraps.

7. Brush all little “pies” with egg white wash, then sprinkle with granulated sugar.

8. Bake for 20-28 minutes or until little pies are golden. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

9. Dust each with powdered sugar and serve.

12 Treats of Christmas: #10 Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

I used to not like any type of nut at all. While I still don’t like ANY type of nut in ANY cookie (bars, sometimes; cookies—never), I have certainly expanded my horizons to include some delicious recipes that include nuts. Pecans are the main ingredient here—the highlight. And I love them. Although, I would say it might be hard to not like anything that is smothered in cinnamon and sugar!

These package up so nicely. Delicious and festive, how can you go wrong?

CINNAMON SUGAR PECANS

1 lb. pecan halves

1 egg white

1 Tablespoon water

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2. Mix sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

3. In another bowl, beat egg white and water with electric mixer until frothy, but not stiff. Add pecans and mix to coat.

4. Add sugar, salt, cinnamon mixture to pecans. Mix.

5. Spread on large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

6. Package to give away, or serve in a decorative bowl.

12 Treats of Christmas: #9 French Silk Pastry Puffs

In brainstorming an easy way to make the absolutely AMAZING French Silk Pie recipe that follows into an individual treat recipe, I simply needed to determine the best crust. There are several ways one could go here—and most of them can be found in the chilled or frozen sections of the supermarket. You could use the little individual tart shells (the same ones you would use if you were making individual quiches), or you cut up a refrigerated pie crust and shape the dough into individual pie shells in a mini-muffin tin. You could easily use the Tiny Holiday Tart crust recipe in Treat #8. You could use wonton wrappers pressed into muffin tins—they bake into a tasty, thin, crispy shell—or phyllo dough, which does the same thing.

None of my ideas seemed special enough, and this French silk is very special. Then, I thought of it: Puff Pastry. Do you know why puff pastry is so delightful? It has to do with layers and layers of paper-thin pastry dough separated by butter. And when baked, the steam let off by the butter and moisture in the dough cause it to puff into rich, buttery light-as-air goodness. Now, making puff-pastry shall be left to highly trained, highly paid pastry chefs. Luckily we can buy puff pastry in the freezer section! Even more exciting for this particular recipe is that Pepperidge Farm makes Puff Pastry Shells. Perfect!! I found the vessel which shall carry the silk!

My mom introduced me to this recipe. She included it in a cookbook she wrote for me as a Christmas gift “Recipes from Mom’s Kitchen and Stories from her Heart.” Don’t your eyes just tear up at reading the title? Anyway…she notes that “this recipe for French Silk Chocolate Pie first appeared in 1951, when it won $1000 in a bake-off contest.”

FRENCH SILK CHOCOLATE PUFFS

½ cup (one stick) butter, cut into 8 equal parts

¾ cup sugar

1 square (1 ounce) UNSWEETENED chocolate, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

12 Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells (found in the frozen section)

Instructions:

First, prepare pastry shells as directed on package. Cool completely.

In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in chocolate and vanilla until well-blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with an electric mixer at medium speed, for FIVE MINUTES after EACH addition. Chill.

Just before you plan to serve the finished product, pipe equal amounts of filling into each pastry shell. While not necessary, you might garnish by drizzling with chocolate or a dollop of whipped cream.

NOTES:

• You may substitute 1 tablespoon oil mixed with 3 tablespoons baking cocoa if you don't have any unsweetened squares. We have done this many times and the outcome is equally delightful every time!
• If you want to make this into a pie, bake your favorite pie crust recipe (or store-bought) and fill it with the prepared filling.

12 Treats of Christmas: #8 Tiny Holiday Tarts

This recipe came from a friend of mine who also enjoys cooking and baking—probably as much as I do. She included these cute little tarts in the tin of treats that she gave our family, and then was generous enough to share the recipe with me. I haven’t had a chance to try making them yet, but I did taste the Pecan Pie Filling version and the Brownie-Nut Filling version. On the copy of the recipe there were a couple of other fillings that sounded interesting, so I am including them, too!

TINY HOLIDAY TARTS
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
Desired Filling

In a small mixer bowl beat together butter and cream cheese. Stir in flour. Cover and chill about 1 hour or until easy to handle. Shape into 1 inch balls. Press onto the bottom and up sides of un-greased mini-muffin cups (1 ¾ inch). Fill each with 1 rounded teaspoon of filling. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until done. Cool slightly in pan. Remove and cool well. Makes 24.
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Pecan Pie Filling: Beat together 1 egg, ¾ cup packed brown sugar; 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans.
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Brownie-Nut Filling: In a small saucepan heat and stir ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons butter or margarine over low heat until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/3 cup sugar, 1 beaten egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Place a whole filbert or peanut in each pastry. Top with 1 rounded teaspoon chocolate mixture.
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Almond-Raspberry Filling: Divide ¼ cup red raspberry preserves among pastries (about ½ teaspoon each). Beat together 1 egg, ½ cup sugar, and ½ cup almond paste (crumbled). Spoon 1 level teaspoon of the almond mixture over the preserves. Sprinkle with coarsely chopped sliced almonds. If desired, drizzle cooled baked tarts with additional raspberry preserves.
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Pumpkin-Sour Cream Filling: Beat together 1 egg, ½ cup canned pumpkin, 1/3 cup sugar, ¼ cup dairy sour cream, 1 tablespoon milk, and ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. If desired, pipe or dollop whipped cream on cooled baked tarts. This one would be fun to serve at Thanksgiving time!

12 Treats of Christmas: #7 Brown Sugar Shortbread

Here was the coolest part about making these cookies. Within 2 minutes of finding the recipe, I was making them. I did not have to make a special trip to the store for an ingredient I needed. Yippee!! These cookies appeared in the Taste of Home’s Best-Loved Cookies & Candies 2010 magazine. I had barely had it day before MANY pages were “dog-eared” with recipes I planned to try.

These crisp, buttery cookies have three ingredients: butter, brown sugar, and AP flour (all-purpose, in case you were wondering). How bad can that be? (Did I just sound like Ina Garten? I hope not. She kind of annoys me.)

Anyway—the whole family loved these shortbreads, including my husband, who is not much of a sweets/cookies eater.

BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD

1 cup butter, softened (Yay for the “soften” button on the microwave…best invention ever!)

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually stir in flour and mix well (I used the KitchenAid for this recipe).

NOTE: The dough will be really crumbly. The magazine did not mention how crumbly it would be, and I was concerned I had made a mistake. Now…Ina Garten (who annoys me) did have something valuable to say the other day, and it totally related to this recipe: sometimes the water content in butter is lower, making dough (like shortbread dough) not come together. She says to add just a touch (droplets, people) of water to help your dough out. Had I watched that episode before I made this recipe, I would have tried the water trick.

2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes.

3. Pat (I rolled) into a 1/3” thick rectangle measuring 11” x 8”.

4. Cut into strips 2” x 1” strips. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork. (NOTE: Instead of strips, I just used a biscuit cutter and made circles.)

5. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

12 Treats of Christmas: #6 Oh Henry Bars

The copy of the recipe I have for these treats came from my choir teacher, in her handwriting--you know--back before blogs, email, google searches, etc. Back when a recipe was shared on a recipe card. Even as far back as high school I was already collecting recipes. I don't remember exactly when or where my choir teacher would have served these to me, but I have held on to that recipe card for about 19 years, so that tells you how good these are.

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I love these, but apparently corn syrup is bad for you. I grew up in the middle of corn fields, so I understand the importance of purchasing and cooking with corn syrup every now and then. It's important to keep the corn farmers in business.

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On the subject of Oh Henry Bars...guessing they're supposed to taste like an Oh Henry! candy bar. I’ve never had one, and have never seen one in real life, so I don’t know if that is true. You can research Oh Henry! bars, because you’ve got too much time on your hands, and you’ll find that they have peanuts in them. No peanuts in this recipe--peanut butter? Yes. Peanuts? No. And that’s just fine with me, because these are perfect just the way they are.

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Now go and make yourself some. Or make your neighbors some. Or make your students some and see if they ask for the recipe…in which case you should write out by hand to make them feel special.

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OH HENRY BARS

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2 cups oatmeal

¼ c. corn syrup

1 stick butter or margarine

½ c. brown sugar

4 oz. chocolate chips

2 tablespoons peanut butter

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1. Cream corn syrup, butter, and brown sugar together.

2. Add oatmeal, mix thoroughly. Try not to eat the whole bowl of batter now…but you definitely should taste it!

3. Spread mixture in 8 x 8 pan…or double every ingredient and throw it in a 9x13.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes—make sure you bake until bubbling around the edges. If you don’t bake it long enough, the bars fall apart. Keep an eye and don’t be afraid to go a minute or two over the 10 minute mark.

5. Cool.

6. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together. If you’re doing it in the microwave, make sure to stir frequently.

7. Spread chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the top of the oatmeal crust.

8. Cool until set.

I like to keep the bars refrigeratated until I’m going to cut them. This helps the bars not fall apart or crumble.

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A nice way to serve them (because they’re kind of gooey when room temperature) would be to cut them up when they’re really cool and place them in individual cupcake papers on a serving tray.

12 Treats of Christmas: #5 Praline-Graham Crackers

Super easy, super yummy—Christmastime or anytime. My mom gave me this recipe—back in June 2007 (not that my memory is so awesome...that's the date of her email). Every time I take these treats to a gathering, they go very quickly!

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For a Christmas treat, break apart in a “rustic” fashion (not every piece the same size, some rough edges, etc) like you would with brittle or bark. Then package the pieces in a holiday back and tie with festive ribbon!

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PRALINE-GRAHAM CRACKERS

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1 box regular graham crackers

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 cups chopped pecans

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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a 15x10x1 inch cookie sheet (regular-sized) with aluminum foil. This isn’t mandatory, but will certainly help with clean up. By the way—your cookie sheet needs a lip (jelly roll, sheet cake pan)—NOT the type of cookie sheet that is completely flat with no “edge.”

3. Place graham crackers in a single layer on cookie sheet—as many as will fit.

4. Boil the butter, sugar and pecans for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Spread on crackers. Bake 10 minutes.

6. Allow to cool, break apart.

12 Treats of Christmas: #4 Individual Oreo Cheesecakes

I look forward to receiving the Kraft Food & Family magazine each quarter. While I don’t find the most gourmet of recipes, I certainly have found many that become regulars in my cooking repertoire. The recipes are always family friendly, low prep time and very easy to accomplish—even with a 10 month old climbing on you.

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Not too many people I know don’t like cheesecake. I thought I didn’t for the longest time. But then I tried it, and I do like it the flavor, but it’s so rich that paying $7 for a slice in a restaurant seems foolish if I can only eat a couple of bites. So that’s what makes this recipe perfect—the cheesecakes are only as big as a cupcake. You still only need a couple of bites, but it probably costs about $7 to make the whole recipe--12 individual cheesecakes.

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You could probably make these cupcake-sized cheesecakes into mini-muffin-sized bites, making sure to adjust your cooking time for the smaller size.

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INDIVIDUAL OREO CHEESECAKES

Muffin liners – I prefer the foil ones for this recipe

3 packages (8 oz each) softened cream cheese (regular OR 1/3 less fat)

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs

12 Oreo cookies

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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Place liners in regular-sized muffin tin.
3. Set an Oreo cookie on the bottom of each liner.
4. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
5. Add the eggs, ONE AT A TIME, and mix until just blended after each addition.
6. Spoon over each cookie, dividing the cheese mixture equally among the 12 spots.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the center is almost set.
8. Cool completely, then refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
9. To decorate: drizzle melted Baker’s chocolate, add a mini-oreo, drizzle with raspberry topping…the possibilities are endless.

12 Treats of Christmas: #3 Mini Peanut Blossoms

Peanut Blossom cookies are probably my all-time favorite cookie. And they seem to make quite a few appearances on Christmas cookie plates--but those appearances quickly turn to DISappearances. They are the first to go if offered along side other cookie varieties. Now, while having been my all time favorite for years, I have always been perplexed by how to eat the regular-sized Peanut Blossom cookie. In order to get a taste of chocolate with each bite, one must be very strategic when taking bites. And eating only part of the Hershey's Kiss (which is not a graceful process) can make it dislodge from its base, fall onto the floor...and well, the whole thing is just problematic. You might try to include the entire kiss with your first bite, but then not only is that quite a mouthful, but subsequent bites are much less appealing-- after all the whole point of the cookie is the combination.

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Did you know? Freda Smith from Gibsonburg, Ohio introduced the world to the first peanut butter blossoms in the 1957 Pillsbury Bakeoff contest. I would like to win that contest.

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Anyway, I was delighted to find the "Hershey's Easy Baking" cookbook while at the Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. And while I didn't purchase the cookbook because of this recipe, I was also delighted to find that a recipe within has solved all of my Peanut Blossom problems with the MINI Peanut Blossom cookie. Prior to this recipe, I did not know that mini Hershey's Kisses existed. They do! And they're smaller than regular kisses, but larger than chocolate chips. They're tweens. Maybe these should be called Peanut Blossom Tweens.
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Regardless...here ya go! Perfect combo. Perfect-sized bite.
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MINI PEANUT BLOSSOMS

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Additional granulated sugar
1 package Hershey's MINI kisses
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat peanut butter and shortening in a large bowl until well-combined.
3. Add both sugars; beat well.
4. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
5. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add to peanut butter mixture, beating until well-blended after each addition.
6. Shape into 1/2-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on cookie sheet.
7. Bake 5-6 minutes or until set. Immediately press Mini Kiss into center of each cookie.
8. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Makes about 14 dozen...that's not a typo: FOURTEEN dozen...but each one is only a bite!

12 Treats of Christmas: #2 Razz-Ma-Tazz Bars

Wow! Each year our cleaning lady brings us Christmas cookies and treats on the last cleaning she does before the holiday. Usually when she comes, I can’t wait to get home to see our house all clean, all at the same time. On Treat Day, however, I can’t wait to get home because I know the treats are waiting! Thankfully, she shares the recipes! You, too, will fall in love with this raspberry-y, almond-y, white chocolate-y concoction!

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RAZZ-MA-TAZZ BARS

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups ( 12oz pkg.) white chocolate chips - divided

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

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1. Grease and sugar 9" square baking pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl; stir.

3. Add 1 cup of the white chocolate chips; let stand. Do not stir.

4. Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl until foamy.

5. Add sugar; beat until light lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Note: do NOT skip this step, or even decrease the 5 minutes to 4 or 3. The bars will come out heavier and gooier. I know from experience. While the flavor is not affected, if you follow the directions precisely, the bars taste all the more heavenly!

6. Add the chocolate chip butter mixture to the beaten egg mixture. Stir until combined.

7. Add flour, salt, and almond extract; mix at low speed until combined.

8. Spread 2/3 of batter into prepared pan.

9. Bake 15 to 17 min. or until light gold brown around edges. Don't be afraid to wait until golden brown around edges. Each time I have made this recipe, I have had to increase this cooking time anywhere from 2 – 5 minutes. When done, remove to cooling rack.

10. While you’re waiting, toast the almond slices. I use my toaster oven…but you really have to watch and check—I have allowed the almonds to go beyond toast stage on a couple of occasions…and almonds aren’t cheap! You can also use a dry frying pan—toast the almonds over medium heat, stirring frequently, again keeping a close watch. Set aside.

11. Heat jam in small bowl in microwave for 30 seconds; stir.

12. Spread jam over warm crust.

13. Stir remaining white chocolate chips into remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over jam.

14. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

15. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool. Cut into bars.

16. You can easily make a double batch and use a 9x13" pan!

12 Treats of Christmas: Treat #1 Two-Second Turtles

So it's the Christmas season and you've agreed to be part of a cookie exchange. But you have three kids (OK, you really have two kids plus a husband, but who's counting anyway), a dog, a full-time job, and you haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. This shall be your go-to recipe.

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I've seen many variations and various ingredient substitutions, but this EXACT combo is still my favorite. The most difficult part of this recipe is unwrapping each Rolo candy. And these will freeze very well in a Ziplock bag after they have been cooled completely.

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Ingredients

Equal numbers of the following:

Rolos candies (chocolate covered caramel)

Snyder's Butter Snaps (the square shaped grid-looking pretzels)

Pecan Halves

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Decide the number of treats you wish to make and purchase ingredients accordingly. I wouldn't recommend substituting caramel Hershey's kisses--the caramel is runnier than Rolo. Anyway....

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to a very low temperature --200 - 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Lay out as many pretzels as will fit. Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put pan in oven for just a few minutes. You only want to soften...NOT melt. When the Rolo chocolate starts to glisten, remove from oven and press a pecan half into each Rolo. If the Rolo doesn't "give" easily, toss the cookie sheet back into the oven for one or two more minutes. Allow to cool completely.

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Now, try not to eat them all at once!

Harvest Scalloped Potatoes

Are you in charge of bringing the potatoes to Thanksgiving dinner? Are you responsible for making the entire dinner? Either way, why not try the most delicious scalloped potatoes you and your Thanksgiving dinner guests have ever had?

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My very favorite spice store, Penzey’s, displays free recipes throughout their spice shelves that I collect as I browse. This is my all-time-favorite free recipe. As you read the recipe, you’ll soon realize why it is so delicious. Uh…hello: half & half and heavy cream?! Be still my beating heart. Literally. Hmmm….maybe that’s not the best cliché to use here.

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Anyway…looking for comfort food? Look no more.

Scalloped Harvest Potatoes

2 lbs baking potatoes (russet)
2 T butter, divided
2 c half & half
2 c heavy cream
1 tsp Chicken soup base
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp rubbed sage
1/3 c Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
½ tsp salt
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish with half tsp butter. In large pot, heat half & half, heavy cream, Chicken Soup Base, garlic powder, onion powder, and sage over medium heat. Warm until the soup base is completely dissolved. Cut potatoes into thin slices – no more than ¼ “ thick. I am the lucky owner of a mandoline, so the slicing part is actually fun! Layer 1/3 potatoes in bottom of pan, sprinkle with half the cheese, salt and pepper. Repeat. Top with last third of potatoes. Pour cream mixture over potatoes until it just reaches the top of the pan. Dot with remaining butter. Bake for 60 minutes or until potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork and crust begins to form. Serves 8-10.

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Now THAT, of course, is the original recipe. It is divine even without the changes I make. However, here are some additional notes from yours truly:

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1. The recipe should read: 2 lbs of potatoes OR enough potato slices to make three single layers in a 9x13 pan. The amount of potatoes really depends on how thin or thick you make the slices. So I like to have at least 4 medium-to-large sized potatoes on hand and whatever I have left over can become breakfast potatoes or something else.

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2. I always go a little heavier on the Soup Base…like a heaping tablespoon.

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3. I always go heavier on the sage, too…like ½ to 1 teaspoon. I want to taste it!

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4. Extra cheese is a must for me. You’re already using half-n-half AND cream…it’s not like you’re trying to cut fat. I like to sprinkle a light layer of cheese over each layer, so it really ends up being more like 1/3 cup of parmesan PER layer (so about 1 cup total).

BBQ Bacon-Chicken Bites

Counting calories? Vegetarian? Don't read further. You probably didn't make it past the title. But, if you're NOT counting calories--or at least not during parties you host or parties you attend, and if you're NOT afraid of a little chicken and pork dancing a jig in your mouth, then this recipe is for you!

You are well aware of how much I like Penzey's spices. This recipe hails from the Penzey's catalog. In addition to holding the ordering information for all of Penzey's products, the catalog also publishes little gems of recipes...and the following recipe is a gem! The product being highlighted in this recipe is Penzey's BBQ 3000. It is a dry spice combination--it smells like a dry rub you would use before grilling meat. For those of you who don't have access to a Penzey's store and are too lazy to get online and order up some of Penzey's wonderfulness, here is the list of ingredients on the back of the BBQ 3000 jar: salt, paprika, black pepper, nutmeg, mustard, allspice, citric acid, garlic powder, ginger, sage, thyme, white pepper, cinnamon, natural smoke flavoring. I am surprised that there is no mention of cayenne pepper, because there is a little "kick" to the flavor profile.

The assembly is the most time-consuming part of this recipe. Otherwise, these little bites are a super simple appetizer BIG on taste!

BBQ BACON-CHICKEN BITES

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb. sliced bacon
2 tablespoons BBQ 3000 (or whatever concoction you come up with on your own)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
Wooden toothpicks

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil (to catch drippings).
3. Spray a cooling rack with non-stick spray. Place rack on top of cookie sheet.
4. Cut the chicken breast into small cubes (bite-sized...ONE bite...like 1" or so).
5. Combine the BBQ 3000 and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.
6. Cut each bacon slice into thirds. **It's easiest to do this BEFORE separating the pieces.
7. Wrap a bacon slice around each chicken cube and secure with a toothpick.
8. Drop each meat skewer into the spice/sugar mixture and toss gently to coat.
9. Arrange the skewers on the rack and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the topping is browned.


MY NOTES:

• When I first started wrapping the bacon, I could tell my chicken bites were too big. You'll know yours are too big if the 1/3 slice bacon doesn't fit all the way around.
• I had more chicken than bacon, so I cooked some of my cubes without the bacon--they were still very delicious.
• This recipe would also be good with some sort of honey-mustard combination to season (instead of the BBQ 3000).

Now find yourself to a party and bring these to share!

Soup-er Sunday: Cream of Chicken & Potato Soup

This is a "here's-what-I-had, so-here's-what-I-did" recipe. Interestingly enough, after my post about Classic Chicken Noodle Soup, I had a conversation with my mom about the soup that she used to make when we were under the weather. So delicious, so comforting, just the smell of her soup cooking in the house healed us. My mom is kind of a potato freak. So instead of using pasta or noodles, her chicken soup contains potatoes. And so last Thursday, five minutes after I had dropped my little ones off at daycare, my provider summoned me back for poor little Drew, who was shivering uncontrollably. "I cold, Mama!" he kept saying. Not too long after we pulled into the driveway, my sweetie was sporting a nice fever. He hunkered down on the couch, snuggy in hand (and mouth) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the tube. How can you deny a little guy some TV when he's feeling down?! Just few minutes after that...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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And luckily, the stars had aligned just perfectly in terms of my refrigerator. It contained all the necessary ingredients for a healing chicken soup. There was a left over rotisserie chicken waiting to become stock, as well as some fresh chicken breast that hadn't been marked for anything else yet. And a few potatoes I had purchased at the farmer's market that hadn't seen the oven yet. Now we were cooking--literally and figuratively!
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The finished product on Thursday was lovely--and it was even "BC": Before Cream. My husband asked me, "Did you make this soup from scratch?" On Friday, at home again with sick kiddos, I made a roux, added some Penzey's Chicken Soup Base, some milk and half-n-half, and Thursday's Chicken & Potato soup became Friday's Cream of Chicken & Potato soup!


Here's What I Had & Here's What I Did (THURSDAY):

3 chicken breasts - I seasoned them with S&P, then put them in the crock pot with about an inch or two of water. I also added about 1 - 2 tablespoons of Penzey's Chicken Soup Base. If you can't get your hands on Penzey's, try substituting boullion cubes, or better yet the paste-type of boullion. I turned the crock on high.
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1 leftover rotisserie chicken - I put it in a stock pot to make broth. I also added some baby carrots, onion, garlic cloves, and a couple bay leaves simply because I had them.
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After the rotisserie chicken had simmered for a couple of hours, I strained out all the discard pieces, and added the strained broth and usable meat and carrots to the crockpot chicken.
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At this point, the crockpot chicken was well on its way to being done, also, so I diced up a couple of potatoes, and tossed them into the crockpot, too. When the chicken breast in the crockpot were done cooking, I pulled them out, shredded them, tossed them back in.
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When the potatoes came to a "fork-tender" state of being, it was time to eat!

AND THEN ON FRIDAY...
...the sickness saga continued, so I made a roux: Cook equal parts of butter (3 T) and flour (3 T) in a saucepan over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, stirring--I use a whisk--constantly. You will have a pasty mixture. Gradually add 2 cups of milk, again whisking constantly, until you have a smooth white sauce. More milk = thinner sauce, less = thicker. In this case, thickness doesn't matter a whole lot, because you're adding it to a brothy soup to make it creamy. I also added...wait for it...MORE PENZEY'S SOUP BASE to the roux before I added it to the soup. Because...I am in love with it. And I'm in love with this soup. "BC" was great. "AC" - "After Cream" was even greater! I am my mother's daughter and I can make Cream of Chicken & Potato Soup.

Weeknight Cooking: Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

I am all about authentic dishes. Long, tedious prep times? Not scared. Multi-step recipes? No sweat. Head to the store to get a specialty ingredient I don't normally keep on hand? Why not! Except during the week. Monday through Friday during the school year I'm all about fast and furious. First, when I come home, I am famished. If I don't think a meal will be ready anytime soon, I am going to eat whatever is in sight--and it probably isn't low-fat. Second, I'm mentally and physically exhausted from a day of dealing with high school students. Third, I've got two very young children. Enough said.

So, while I would love to be making my own bread crumbs, pounding out chicken breasts, rolling up ham and gruyere cheese in them, lightly sauteeing them and then finishing the cooking process in the oven--like you might do if you were making authentic chicken cordon bleu--it's Monday night, people. Please.

Good thing I found a quick and easy recipe to fake it! I had barely begun and I was already done! (That rhymes by the way.) The original recipe comes from the Kraft Food & Family magazine. I am going to tell you the original recipe, then how I changed it, and why.

EASY CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
from Kraft Food & Family Magazine (not sure month or year)

2 cups Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken from the multi-serving canister
** I used a regular box of S.T. stuffing (6 oz) because it's what I had on hand.

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb.)
**I have a 6'4" husband and I like to have leftovers to take to work for lunch the next day, so I used 2 lbs.

4 slices Oscar Mayer Thin Sliced Smoked Ham
**I had leftover ham from the deli, so I used that. It wasn't smoked. No big deal. AND sinc I had more chicken, I needed more ham, too. If you're following my amounts, you'll need about 6 - 8 slices of ham.

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
**I doubled this part because we like to have plenty of sauce at our house.

1 tablespoon dijon mustard
**First I doubled the dijon, because I doubled the soup. Then I added 2 more tablespoons because the flavor wasn't coming through enough.

1 cup Kraft Shredded Swiss Cheese
**I used Meijer brand, which comes in a 6 oz. package, and I used the whole thing.


Regardless of what measurements you use, the cooking instructions will be the same:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package; set aside.


2. Place chicken in a 9x13 baking dish; cover with ham. Mix soup and mustard; spoon over chicken. Top with swiss cheese. Spread prepared stuffing evenly over top.


3. Bake 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. (I had to cook an additional 10 minutes because the chicken breasts weren't small, and they were on the thicker side.)


4. Original makes four servings


5. OR the original would feed one hungry 6'4" husband + 1 wife + 1 picky 2 1/2 year old with NO leftovers.


6. If you follow my measurements, you can feed all of the above, and have one leftover portion size for wife to take to lunch and two decent-sized portions for the husband to eat at 11:00 p.m. while watching hunting shows!

Soup-er Sunday: Soup Vocabulary

I didn't really feel like making soup today, given our very warm October temperatures. We had the windows open, the thermostat said 70 degrees (almost turned the air on), and even though all of the ingredients for a lovely Cauliflower Soup had been purchased, I just didn't feel like gettin' to it. I mostly wanted to sit on it.

So I pondered the difference between some soup titles. What would be the difference between Cauliflower Bisque or Cream of Cauliflower or Cauliflower Chowder? I know when I see "bisque" or "chowder" in the title of the soup that I will be served a thick, creamy (heavy...calorie-filled...high fat...) soup. I also am already mildly familiar with "consomme" -- something to do with broth. So exciting.

Instead of grading papers, cleaning the house, taking a shower, or doing one of a million other things on my to-do list, I am here, telling you about soup vocabulary. I have problems!

Here are some of my findings:

BISQUE
Bisque, the food--not to be confused with bisque, the color--is a thick, creamy soup made from pureed seafood or vegetables. My hypothesis would be that it's the act of puree-ing that makes a bisque differ from a "cream of whatever" soup. If you're a history buff, or maybe planning to be a Jeopardy contestant someday, you can check out how the history of how bisque got it's name here. In 2006 my husband and I road-tripped through New England all the way to Maine. There, in Bar Harbor waiting for our whale-watching tour, we ate the best Lobster Bisque on the face of the planet. We still talk about it. Too bad I can't remember the name of the restaurant.

CREAM OF...
The Wikipedia definition says "Flavored broth thickened with a white sauce." Hmm. While I totally understand it, I really thought there would have been more mention of cream. To make a white sauce, you use milk or cream, so perhaps it would be redundant. For me, adding more cream is never redundant--it's intelligent.

CONSOMME

In the wise words of Wikipedia, "a consommé is a type of clear soup made from richly flavored stock or bouillon that has been clarified usually through a fining process involving egg protein. It usually requires an advanced knowledge of cooking and past experience to create a high quality consommé." Seriously? You lost me at "fining process involving egg protein." Clearly I will not be using any such process. Attempting to make a "high quality consomme" is not on my bucket list. Give me Penzey's Chicken Soup Base, I give you broth. Period.

CHOWDER

Chowders are thick soups that traditionally contain potatoes, milk and cream. Most popular might be the seafood variety -- think New England Clam Chowder. Also pretty popular might be Corn Chowder. My definition of "chowder" would be "put on a red-checkered-bib and chow on this big ol' bowl of thick soup." Get it? Chow? Never mind.

And so ends today's Soup Vocabulary 101. Any questions?

I have one: Got Soup?

Pumping Survival Kit

Even though we said goodbye a couple of years ago, Miss Medela made her way back into my life.

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Being a breastfeeding mom AND a full-time working mom was NOT how nature intended motherhood to work—it is not natural to be sitting hooked up to a noisy pump while your baby is rocking peacefully in someone else’s arms. Sorry Miss Medela—I just don’t bond with you quite like I bond with my child.

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Not only is it not natural, and not providing the nurturing connection between mother and child, it’s damn difficult. Every chance you get, you’re sitting by yourself with your pump. Forget eating lunch or taking a break with your colleagues. A working-nursing mom’s only lunch buddy is Miss Medela. And the relationship doesn’t end when you leave work. Every night you’re washing the pump parts out, making sure you have everything ready for the next day when you’ll be lunching again with your only work friend—the pump. Now, I do consider myself lucky because I work in a school where every two classrooms are connected by a back office. There is an extreme amount of privacy AND I can keep Miss Medela set up all of the time. I do not have to put it away or pack it up or carry it back and forth from home to work. And thank goodness, I do not have to pump in a bathroom, like others have had to do!

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For those of us who do not produce a whole lot of excess milk, pumping can be damn stressful. Before I went back to work, milk production was not a problem. I would sit in by nursing group and listen to the moms asking for advice on how to increase their milk production because they were “falling behind” now that they’ve returned to work. Been there. Done that. Happened to me with my first child. Probably going to be there again, I thought.

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Incidentally I have a friend who would literally pump an extra five ounces (like a WHOLE extra bottle) every morning. This is just not human. For me, I was elated if I had a surplus of just a few ounces a day. I was pretty diligent in building up my freezer supply before I had to return to work. And I was blessed that my maternity leave, coupled with the teacher-summer-off, made my little boy a whopping 7 months old when I returned to work full-time. Seven months of exclusive, uninterrupted, as-nature-intended breastfeeding.

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I do have a few things I’ve learned along the way that have made my relationship with Miss Medela go a little more smoothly.

The following is what I would call my pumping survival kit:
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1. A multitude of ways to make your pump do it's job: My pump had all of the following options available, and I bought them all. In fact, I wonder if Medela sells stock options...I should have purchased some!

A. AC adapter for car (great invention!)
B. AC cord battery pack (plus lots of extra batteries)
C. AC cord that came with it, PLUS an extra AC cord

2. Duplicates or even triplicates of pump parts.
At Baby Beloved, my breastfeeding-all-things-baby-and-motherhood store, I was able to purchase all of the extra parts (tubing, cups, valves, etc) for a very reasonable price. You can purchase some of the extra parts at Babies R Us, but they don't carry everything like Baby Beloved does. This cut down on having to wash items so often. I am up to EIGHT complete sets of horn-valve combos. This means that I can pump FOUR times before I have to wash a single part.

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3. Keep the pump at work, if possible.

When I went back to work after I had my first child, a friend who was done using her pump motor loaned me hers. With all of my extra parts, I was able to have a permanent pumping station set up both at home AND at work. How nice to simply bring bottles back and forth, rather than a big pump bag. How nice NOT to have to set up and take apart my pump every single day. This alone was worth every penny of every extra pump parts, and I'll bet the convenience of the two pump stations contributed to my sanity since I was having to pump both at home and at work after Drew decided to wean himself earlier than I had hoped.

Now that I am a mother of a second child, I am lucky enough to own two of my OWN pumps, because my health insurance foot the bill for a pump with EACH child. So I can keep one at work full-time and keep the other set up at home or bring with me on day trips or whatever.

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4. A microwave bottle sterilizer. I think the worst part of pumping is washing/sterilizing all the parts. Medela makes nice steam bags, but they don't hold that many parts. I keep a steam-bag with each pump all of the time, so no matter where I am, if there’s a microwave, I can sterilize. However, I purchased an Avent microwave bottle steamer, which is advertised to hold something like six bottles plus the nipples and tops. This steamer holds LOTS of pumping stuff and is done very quickly – 4 minutes. It makes my pumping life so much easier.

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5. Patience, flexibility, and an understanding that even though you cannot do it all, you are still an awesome mother. My first child began to wean himself at about six months, when I went back to work and he LOVED the easiness of bottles. The milk came so quickly, he didn’t have to work for it or wait for it. I kept on pumping at work AND at home. I pumped ‘round the clock. I almost pumped myself into the loony bin. Even with all of the pumping, I was still regularly dipping into my freezer supply which I had worked really hard to build up while I was on maternity leave. I was sad that Drew didn’t follow the plan of nursing when we were home together and only taking bottles at daycare. I was disappointed in myself because I had planned to exclusively nurse for a year, and I could see that it just wasn’t going to happen. I was mad that I didn’t produce mad amounts of milk (no pun intended), and therefore had to pump at home and at school and everywhere in between just to keep him exclusively on breast milk for as long as I did. Around 9 months, I had to start supplementing with formula.

This time around, I still built up the freezer supply, and nursed almost exclusively until I went back to work. In fact, this time around, I barely allowed Brayden to have a bottle unless absolutely necessary. I still planned to nurse until a year, but I was very aware that my plan was only my plan. Brayden was really the one controlling the plans. Having gotten teeth much earlier than Drew, Brayden went through a biting phase that made it next to impossible for me to feed him for a week or so, and I thought that was the end. But it wasn’t. And as school started, I was already dipping into my freezer supply to keep up with Brayden’s needs (even though I was pumping THREE times a day at work). I started experimenting with Similac Organic Formula in Brayden’s cereal to make sure his tummy would survive formula. Then I started letting him drink a couple of ounces of formula after he ate his cereal to see how he reacted to the taste. Things were going FANTASTIC until the Similac Formula recall. Why not add just a little more guilt to a working mother’s repertoire? But I’m trying not to let ANY of that get to me. Brayden still nurses once or twice a day. He gets a combination of fresh breast milk, frozen breast milk, and formula in his bottles throughout the week. He is happy and healthy, and I’m doing my best. That's about all a mother could ask for!