Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not the kind of person who has cooking staples on hand. I don't have a  well stocked pantry (if you can even call it that) of basic items, so when I make a recipe, I generally have to buy some supplies. It bothers me to no end when I am left with random, unused ingredients. After making pulled pork recently, I was left with half a package of dried apricots. What in the world am I going to do with dried apricots?! I don't really like the texture, so I don't see myself eating them as a snack. The next logical answer: bake cookies, of course :)

I am a fan of adding cranberries to oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, so I decided the apricots (or any other dried fruit) would be an easy substitute. And in some alternate universe, I can claim they are healthy because they are upping my fruit and vegetable intake.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Apricot Cookies

(adapted from a cookie recipe found here)

2/3 cup white sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup all purpose flour

2 cups chocolate chips (I ended up using an entire 12 oz bag. Who really wants to have chocolate chips lying around anyway?)

couple handfuls chopped, dried apricots (very scientific)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix butter with sugars until incorporated and creamy. Add the eggs and mix to combine. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Separately, combine the baking soda and powder, salt, flour, oats, chocolate chips, and apricots. Add the butter mixture and mix only until just combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoons (I made mine way too big) onto an ungreased baking sheet about 2" apart. Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are crisp and the centers are slightly soft (I would take these before they look crispy. They didn't seem like they were firming up and I ended up with pretty brown bottoms. I would suggest taking them out after about 10 minutes and let them cool on the pan.).

Happy New Year!!

(Sweet) Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Wow. Jenn has been a cooking and baking machine lately! I just got back to Brooklyn from a week in Alabama visiting my family for the holidays. I had every intention of taking advantage of the downtime and cooking something...anything. It didn't happen. The most I "cooked" the entire week was a bowl of oatmeal. My parents had all the meals so well planned out and I had certain local restaurants I wanted to hit, there was no room for any of my measly culinary contributions. 

Now that I am back in snow-battered New York City, I've been spending lots of time inside (after a trek to the grocery store of course) and trying a few new recipes. In the past few years I have become increasingly fond of pulled pork. I used to be completely loyal to chicken, but these days I am loving pork in bbq sandwiches, tacos and enchiladas, and I might even be a little obsessed with Cuban sandwiches. Unfortunately, I'm a complete meat novice. I think its gross to handle (it has never crossed my mind for a moment to be a vegetarian though) and I never know how to cook it. I'm always freaked out about undercooking things that I completely overcook them and end up with a dry, rubbery result.

Those days are no more! My meat fears have been answered by my beloved crock pot. I can cook things for hours and they always turn out moist and tender. I found this pulled pork recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens Slow Cooker Meals book Jenn let me borrow. The end result turned out really sweet, so I am looking for a way to tone it down next time. I think a lot depends on the store bought barbecue sauce you use. It was a great starting off point though (read: easy). I'm looking forward to trying lots of new and exciting meat dishes!

Cleaning the hunk of meat was a little traumatic but I survived!

I love how the pork just fell apart when I took it out of the pot. Shredding it was so easy.

Apricot Pulled Pork

3 to 3-1/2 lb boneless pork shoulder roast (I used a smaller piece of meat)

10 oz apricot spreadable fruit

1 cup bottled barbecue sauce

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion

1/2 chopped dried apricots

rolls or buns for sandwiches

Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Trim fat from meat if necessary. Place meat into the cooker. In medium bowl, combine fruit spread, barbecue sauce, onion, and dried apricots. Pour over top of the meat. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high.

Once cooked through (pork should technically have an internal temperature of 160° F), transfer meat to a cutting board and shred with two forks. In a large bowl, combine the shredded meat and the sauce remaining in the crock pot. Serve the pork on the sandwich rolls.

Some good Southern sides would be baked beans, pickles, and coleslaw. Enjoy!

The Sweet Potato Love Continues

Before one of my first New York friends moved to Portland, She gave me her recipes to go through and I copied a lot of them.  Sweet Potato Ravioli with Lemon Sage Brown Butter was one I copied, so I have had it for a few years now and I guess I never made it because I thought it would take a long time or looked difficult.  Since Sweet potatoes are my new love, and this makes 8 servings I thought it would be another good recipe to make at home. 

It was a much bigger hit with the family than the Risotto, although my little sister still refused to try them since they had sweet potato.  They had much more flavor according to my mom and I would have to agree with her, but I still love the risotto.  We stuck to the recipe pretty closely except we didn't use fresh lemon juice and used dried sage. We may have also had too much sweet potato, or put too little in wrappers, but we ended up with about 40 raviolis. 


To make the 16 year old baby happy we made her some perogies with leftover Christmas mashed potatoes mixed shredded cheddar and the extra wanton wrappers without any butter sauce.  These were also really tasty and fast.  Just mix up the potatoes and the cheese and place them in the wrapper the same way as the ravioli and cook the same.  One can be less picky than my sister and add a sauce to it. 

Sweet Potato Ravioli withe Lemon-Sage Brown Butter

• 1  (1-pound) sweet potato (two potatoes)
• 2  tablespoons  grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
• 24  wonton wrappers (we ended up using about 40)
• 1  large egg white, lightly beaten
• 6  quarts water
• Cooking spray
• 3  tablespoons  butter
• 1  tablespoon  chopped  sage
• 1  tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°. 
2. Pierce potato several times with a fork; place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until tender. Cool. Peel potato; mash. Combine potato, cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. 
3. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to keep them from drying), spoon 1 tablespoon potato mixture into center of each wrapper. Brush edges of dough with egg white; bring 2 opposite corners to center. Press edges together to seal, forming a triangle. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers, potato filling, and egg white. 
4. Bring 6 quarts water to a boil. Add 8 ravioli; cook 2 minutes or until done. Remove ravioli from pan with a slotted spoon. Lightly coat cooked wontons with cooking spray; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining ravioli. 
5. Melt butter in a small skillet over high heat. Add chopped sage to pan; cook 1 minute or until butter is lightly browned. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, juice, and pepper. Drizzle butter mixture over ravioli. 

We had to wait a bit for my dad and brother to get home for dinner and so the ravioli stuck together even with all the cooking spray.  We ended up more of a casserole than individual raviolis.

Enjoy!  

Merry Christmas with Blackberry Chocolate Spice Cake

For my birthday this year I was in Montana and decided to bake something more than my  favorite rainbow chip cake from a box as a thank you to my friends who were letting me crash on their couches and dragging me around for a week.  The only recipes I brought along were those already on my laptop and since I had time I decided to try this New-Fashioned Blackberry Chocolate Spice Cake that I saved in 2008.  In the end, the grocery store I was at did not have Blackberry Pie filling so I used Raspberry instead.  I was also missing the chocolate extract. I could have gone to another store, but was being lazy, it was my birthday after all. The cake still turned out amazingly good. It was super rich. You only needed a very small slice. 

Birthday Cake

My mom saw pictures of the cake and wanted to make it for someones birthday at work but never did.  When we were talking about things that I wanted to make over my vacation, she said she wanted to make this cake.  For this round we couldn't find the chocolate extract again or the chocolate bars with orange so we substituted unsweetened baking chocolate.   Everyone enjoyed the cake, although for some the unsweetened chocolate chunks were too bitter.  I personally did not think they were very noticeable.  In the first cake I made with the orange chocolate, you could really taste the orange and I think it made the taste of the spices stronger.  This version was still really tasty and rich. I cut it into 16 pieces and I think it could have been cut into more.  

Christmas Cake

 Blackberry Chocolate Spice Cake

• Unsweetened cocoa
• 1  (18.25-oz.) package devil's food cake mix (we tested with Betty Crocker)
• 1  (3.4-oz.) package chocolate instant pudding mix
• 3  large eggs
• 1 1/4  cups  milk
• 1  cup  canola oil
• 1  tablespoon  vanilla extract
• 1/2  teaspoon  almond extract
• 2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cloves
•  8 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
• 1  (21-oz.) can blackberry pie filling
• 2  (16-oz.) cans chocolate fudge frosting
• Garnish: fresh blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, and dust with cocoa. Set aside.
2. Beat cake mix and next 10 ingredients (to the cloves) at low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute; beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Fold in chopped chocolate. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake at 350° for 30 to 32 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely. Wrap and chill cake layers at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. (Due to time constraints, I ended up only letting cool for about 15 minutes on the rack before putting in the fridge for an hour or so.)
4. Using a serrated knife, slice cake layers in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on cake plate. Spread one-third of blackberry filling over cake. Repeat procedure twice. Place final cake layer on top of cake, cut side down. Spread chocolate fudge frosting on top and sides of cake. Drizzle remaining filling over top of cake, letting it drip down sides of cake. Cover and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Just before serving, garnish, if desired.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

An Old Favorite & a New One

Since I am home in my mom's large, counter spacious kitchen and four to six people have to be feed each day, I am taking full advantage.  I brought home recipes that seemed like too much work to half or make for one or won't keep forever as leftovers.

Last night I decided to make a Chicken Braid, an old favorite that I haven't had in years.  The first time I had it was at my friends house and his mom gave me the recipe which I brought home and made with my mom a few times, but it has been hiding in my recipe files for awhile. I have to admit that when it was time to start dinner last night I was sent over to my grandparents to drop off some of the candy and cookies we made yesterday and mom ended up starting and finishing the chicken braid before I returned through the trees.  Never the less, here is the tasty recipe. 


Chicken Braid

• 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 cup red pepper, chopped 
• 1 garlic clove, chopped 
• 1 cup shredded chedder
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 2 tsp dill weed
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 packages cresent rolls 
• 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp almond slivers

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Mix Chicken, broccoli, and pepper in bowl. 
3. Add mayo, dill, salt and pepper to chicken mixture and blend well.  
4. Unroll 1 package of crescent rolls and DO NOT separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across wide baking stone. Repeat with the second package. On long side cut dough 1 1/2" apart and 3" deep (leave 6" in the center to fill). 
5. Spread mix over center of dough.  Pick up strips and twist over mix. 
6. Brush egg whites over dough top and sprinkle with almonds. 
7. Bake 25 to 28 minutes or until deep golden brown. 

Tonight I made a new recipe I found in Real Simple, Sweet Potato Risotto.  I made it once before and thought that my family might like it, even my picky little sister (she is much worse than I am or ever was).  It's not hard, it just take some time to chop everything and it takes about 45 minutes to cook.  I followed my friend Melissa's advice and measured ever thing out in advance since it starts out rather quick and there is not a lot of time to do so when your in the middle of cooking.

Sweet Potato Risotto

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 small sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the sweet potatoes and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute.
3. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until absorbed.
4. Measure 3½ cups of water. Add ¾ cup at a time and cook, stirring occasionally and waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding the next. It should take 25 to 30 minutes for all the water to be absorbed.
5. Stir in the Parmesan and oregano.

My sister did eat it, but she refused to try the sweet potatoes and picked them out.  She claims she would have picked out the onion, but that was too hard.  I think she would have liked the potatoes if she would have tried, I may be picky, but at least I try things.  She also mixed in French Dressing.  I don't know how that made it better and given her picky eating I can't believe that she would mix them together.  I think its fine the way it is and it's great as a leftover. 

Enjoy! 

Anginetti Cookies: Round One

I have arrive back in South Dakota in one piece and on time and as promised have started a baking cooking frenzy. Today was full of making candy with my mom and sister and round one of the search for the perfect Anginetti Cookie.
After Thanksgiving I talked to my coworker whose family I knew was Italian.  His mom sent him this recipe that has ricotta cheese in it. They are really good but they didn't stay little balls, they spread out in the oven.  They are nice and soft and have a different texture from my friend's mom's cookies as well.  Even though they are good, the taste and texture is different enough that I will be testing a second recipe next week. 

Anginetti/ Italian Cookies
2 cups of sugar
1 cup softened unsalted butter
3 beaten eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
15 oz  ricotta cheese

Beat the sugar & butter together then add in eggs and vanilla. Beat until creamy.  In a separate bowl mix remaining dry ingredients.  Add 1/2 of flour mixture to sugar mixture and blend together. Add in rest of flour and ricotta cheese.  Drop rounded tablespoon on ungreased cookie sheet and bake about 12 minutes, until bottom is browned, the tops should not brown. Cool completely before frosting.
 
Frosting
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar 
1 tsp anise extract 
2 tbsp milk (may need more or less)  
Blend until thick but not too thick, just so you can spread on the cookies and it will not run off. You can add food coloring for color if you like (I added red).  

 

Enjoy!

Dreary Sunday = Caramel Rolls Necessary

My mom used to make Caramel Rolls all the time on weekends when I was little, and she probably still does, I'm just not there to witness it.  While I realize that typically one enjoys caramel rolls or cinnamon rolls as a breakfast or brunch treat, mom always made them in the afternoon.  My guess is that no one wants to wake up at 6AM to have them finished by 9AM at the earliest, (I've done this before, going back to bed in between. I don't recommend it).  Plus, living on a farm, even on weekends, everyone is up and out the door by 7 so there is no time time to enjoy them until the chores are done.  And then once everyone comes in, they are gone in about an hour or less.
For the longest time, I thought that my mom and grandma had some recipe that they passed down.  The truth is that is actually a good old Betty Crocker recipe slightly modified. As stated before, this is a several hour project because you have to let the dough rise.

Caramel Rolls
Rolls

• 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 pkg regular or quick dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
• 1 cup very warm milk
• 1/4 butter, softened
• 1 large egg

1. In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of the flour with the sugar, salt and yeast.  Add warm milk, butter and egg.  Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently.  Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently.  Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. 
2. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes.  Dough should be smooth and springy.  Place dough in a greased a large bowl with shortening. Turn dough so that it is covered with shortening.  Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours.  It should have doubled in size and an indention should remain when you touch it. 
3. When the dough has been sitting for about an hour start the topping.

Caramel Topping

• 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/8 cup corn syrup
• 1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. In a saucepan, heat brown sugar and butter to boiling, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in corn syrup.  Pour into an ungreased 13 x 9-inch pan. Sprinkle with walnuts and set aside. 
2. Next mix the filling below minus the butter and set aside.

Filling

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened

1. Once the dough has finished raising, gently push fist int dough to deflate.  Flatten dough with hands into a 15 x 10- inch rectangle on a floured surface. 
2. Spread filling butter onto dough and sprinkle with filling.
3. Roll up tightly so you have a 15 inch log and pinch the ends closed.
4. Using dental floss to cut into 15 one inch slices and place slightly apart in pan. 
5. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to rise for about 30 minutes, they should double in size. 
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes and flip over on to a cookie sheet. Let it sit for a minute so the caramel can drizzle down and then remove the pan. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

White Bean and Apple Chili

 

In attempts to get good use out of my fancy new crock pot, I have been scouring the internet for prospective recipes. Jenn directed me towards this one where the author took on the challenge to cook something in her crock pot everyday for a year. She has amassed quite a collection of ideas. A lot of them are soups, chilis, and casserole type dishes but she also has some more out of the ordinary options. I'm still a slow cooking newbie, so I thought I would start out with her White Bean and Apple Chili. I am a sucker for fruits in savory dishes, so it sounded great.

I thought the original recipe was lacking a little something, so I decided to add some chicken sausage to the mix.

5 hours later is was totally transformed!

 

It was delicious! I opted for jalapeno sausage which made it a little too spicy for my liking. Some sour cream could have helped too though. I would try a milder sausage and practically double the amount of beans. They got lost in the mix a little. Otherwise, its a great recipe!

White Bean and Apple Chili

3-4 cans white beans, drained and rinsed, kidney beans work well

1 medium onion, chopped

2 apples, cut into small chunks

3 cloves garlic, smashed

3 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 cups chicken broth (When I was tossing everything in the crock pot, this didn't seem like enough liquid, so I went ahead and added 4 cups. Mistake. 3 cups is fine and mine ended up a little watery.)

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

Chicken sausage, I used an entire package (5 sausages) of Spicy Jalapeno, chopped

Shredded cheese for topping

Put butter in the bottom of your crock pot (4 quart or larger). Add drained and rinsed beans. Chop the onion and the apples and add to the pot. Add the spices and pour in the broth. Stir in the yogurt. Cook on high for 4-5 hours (or on low for 8), until onions are tender. Top with shredded cheese if desired. It would also be nice with crusty bread. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

While searching for recipes to take to the Holiday Party, this pumpkin cake was a close second to the Lemon Squares I ended up bringing. I just love pumpkin too. I think this cake would have been a nice addition to our Pumpkin Cook Off in October. It's a piecemeal pairing of two Pioneer Woman recipes. You can find the original pumpkin cake here and the cream cheese frosting here. I like to bake but obviously shouldn't be consuming large amounts of sweets on my own, so I brought a small one to work (which was met with complaints from my boss about calories as she shoved a piece in her mouth) and am taking a larger one to my boyfriend's office warming party tonight. I hope it's a hit!

Mmmm.....I will admit, my finger may have accidentally dipped into this frosting before it made it onto the cake.

I ran into a little snafu with my dishes and filled them too full, resulting in an overflow situation. Normally this would have been fine but I baked them in these Pyrex dishes because they have lids and travel well. Unfortunately, the top layer of cake had to be removed so there was room for frosting. However, the crumbly part of cake doesn't take frosting as well as the outside (I found this out the hard way). If you run into the same issue, make sure your icing is very warm and pliable before you get to the frosting process.

Not so pretty but still delicious!

Pumpkin Cake

2-1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground Nutmeg (a little goes a long way!)

1 stick softened butter

1-1/2 cup sugar

3 whole eggs

1-1/4 cup plain, unflavored yogurt

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray a cake pan with cooking spray. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add pumpkin and yogurt to butter mixture and mix gently until just combined. Gradually add flour in increments, beating until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake for 35-40 minutes (mine went longer), or until set. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup softened butter

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 pound powdered sugar* or 2-1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients until whipped (I don't have a mixer, but beating by hand worked fine. I'm working on my biceps!). Taste the frosting for quality control purposes. Smear all over completely cooled cake!

*Who measures anything in pounds?! I had to consult one of my favorite cooking resources to help with this one. Onlineconversion.com is really useful when making small or large batches of recipes. All those fractions can get confusing! Who knew 16 tablespoons make a cup?!

Quick and Easy Lemon Squares

I attended Jenn's Holiday Party yesterday. She is so on the ball and sent the invitation out weeks ago. I, on the other hand, am not on the ball. It came down to 12:30 yesterday afternoon (the party started at 4) and I was sitting at my boyfriend's house (who happens to live across the hall from Jenn) without a plan of what to make and no supplies to make it with. While scouring the internet for recipes, my main criteria was something easy using ingredients I already had (or could find in a short period of time).

The winner was from the Pioneer Woman. (If you don't read her blog, you should. She is hilarious and has awesome recipes and giveaways!) I named off a few recipes I was considering to Kurt and he chose Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares. It's not the most seasonal dessert ever but sounded good, so I was sold. I was able to steal oats from Kurt and acquire the sweetened condensed milk and lemons from my local deli. Surprisingly, I already had everything else. Time was ticking, so I rushed home to get baking.

I normally like to take my time cooking, spread out, listen to music, and have a glass of wine. However, I was in a time crunch and running around like a madwoman. Somehow I was able to complete this recipe in the midst of doing laundry, buying wine, and tending to my neglected cat. I got halfway through the process and though that's it?! It was that simple. Next time I try this recipe, I would use less dry ingredients or more butter. My "crumb" mixture ended up more like sand. I would have liked it clumpier. Otherwise, it's great.

Lemon Crumb Squares

1-1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 stick butter, slightly softened

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup oats

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice (2 medium sized lemons should yield about this much)

Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Mix together the sugar and butter until well combined. Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder (the recipe says "sift" but I lacked the accoutrement to perform such a task and it turned out fine). Combine the butter and flour mixtures and oats. Press half the crumb mixture into the bottom of a pan. In another bowl, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and zest until smooth. Pour into the pan on top of the crumb mixture. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mix on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the top is golden brown. Let cool before refrigerating. It's best served chilled. Enjoy!

Holiday Party!

I love this time of year.  I love the excuse of the holidays to create absolutely delicious treats that you never make any other time.  Every year I say I am going to make them at some other time, but I never do.  I think it would ruin the pure joy when I do have those tasty treats, like candy cane cookies, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, chocolate covered cherries, chocolate covered coconut balls, and almond bark.
My last year at MSU in Bozeman my friends and I got together to make candies and cookies for holidays.  It was so fun to spend time with my close friends in the kitchen, everyone making something to share.  I decided to carry this with me to New York and for the past four years I have had a party.  Everyone brings their ingredients or dough and makes or bakes their treat at my tiny apartment.  This year I mixed up some mulled wine and baked brie as I pretend to be the perfect hostess. 
The mulled wine was really good and simple and since I was debating between mulled wine and spiked cider, this recipe was a perfect in between.  I was doubling the recipe for the large group and used a $3 Trader Joe's Shiraz  for the wine and only half the ginger in the recipe because that was all I had on hand.  It was still delicious.

mulled wine in progress, step one

mulled wine, the finished project

 As for the brie, I made it once using the recipe and since then have made it by memory.  I love the raspberry jam and smear a lot of it on top and pour plenty of syrup on the top.  I normally use a round of brie, but this time i used two wedges and two croissants packages.

Bake brie yummyness. Messy looking, perhaps.

Now on to the goodies.  Every year I make favorite candies that my mom and grandma make back home and one new one that and friends mom introduced me to: chocolate covered peanut butter balls, chocolate covered oreo balls, and chocolate covered peanut butter sandwiches.  If you can't tell, I love chocolate.  We always use almond bark for our covering needs. They have it in white and chocolate.  You can use either one for dipping, but I prefer the chocolate on the peanut butter balls and white on the oreo balls. 

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls 

• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup rice krispies (only if you use creamy PB) 
• almond bark (or some kind of candy chocolate) 

Mix all ingredients except almond bark.  I like to put it in the fridge for a bit, but you don't have to.  Roll it into quarter sized balls.  Melt almond bark by directions on package and dip in the balls in chocolate.  Place on wax paper to cool.  Store in the fridge. 

Chocolate Covered Oreo Balls

• one package of oreos (or Trader joes jo-jos, and excellent alternative)
• one package of cream cheese 
• Almond bark

Crush the oreos and mix with the cream cheese.  Roll into quarter sized balls and dip in almond bark.  Place on wax paper to cool. Store in fridge.

Chocolate Covered Peanut butter sandwiches

• Ritz Crackers 
• Peanut butter
• Almond bark

Place peanut butter between two ritz crackers and dip in melted almond bark.  Store in fridge.

The spread of candies, cookies and bars we made this year.

My mom typically mixed the left over almond bark with almond slivers and spread it out on a cookie sheet then break it into pieces once it cooled.  Also called Almond bark.

Oh- one more thing, if you are on the east coast, can you please tell me where to find almond bark?  I bring it back from the mid west every year because I can't find it here.

One of my Favorite Cookies: Turtle Cookies

I have no idea why these are called Turtle Cookies.  They are chocolate goodness made on a waffle iron.  My mom has made them for as long as I can remember.  It has been a long time since I've had them and a few weeks ago I got a hankering for them.  Unfortunately I do not have a normal waffle maker, only a (broken) Belgian one. I decided that I wanted them so much that I asked for a waffle iron for Christmas and so that the next time I had a craving, I wouldn't have to wait for my next trip to South Dakota to get them.
Randomly I was talking to my mom about the waffle iron and she said that my little brother wanted one as well.  For the same reason.  They are so good my brother is willing to wait for them to be baked instead of eating the dough. That means something.

Image from Tasty Kitchen (once I actually make these I will add some pics)

Since it is cookie week (at least on Twitter), I decided I had to add these in honor before I actually baked them.  In fact, I am not sure if I have ever actually made them, I have watched them being made and helped make them for sure.  I have brought a old gallon ice cream bucket full of them back to college after a break at home.  I will definitely be making them over my long break at home in between all my other cookie experiments.

Turtle Cookies
I cup melted butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
4 eggs, beaten

4 tbsp cocoa
2 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla


Mix and bake on a waffle iron for 1 minute on medium heat, or until baked through.  Cool on wax paper then frost.
Frosting 
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1tbsp cocoa powder
milk
coconut
Mix together p. sugar and cocoa.  Add milk until slightly it had a pourable consistence, but not so much that it's runny. Sprinkle coconut on top. Allow to cool and store stacked with wax paper in between to keep from sticking together.