Summer Delicousness

Our Sunday night family fun included the movie True Grit (for the boys & oldest daughter) and these cherry pie-flavored milkshakes:

Photo Courtesy of Dessert for Two

Yum, yum and even more yum!

They are wonderful, and much more economical made at home than if you were to buy them at Culver’s or DQ. (I am all about saving money these days. Leaves more room in the budget for coffee & chocolate.)

Click here for the printable recipe...

...and enjoy! Extra big thanks to Tina at Dessert for Two for posting it. My family loved them.

Bells for the Belle!

Subtitled: From Nascar to Nasturtium


Sub-Subtitled: In which Margaret makes a multitude of excuses…


Okay, first of all my oven’s broken and has been for several weeks now. Do you remember my shiny new gas range? Sigh. We ran the self-cleaning feature and it just went poof.

Fortunately—most fortunately—the stove still works.

But as for, oh, baking cupcakes and whatnot…?

Not an option.



I had to buy these guys at the store.



And scrape the screaming NASCAR frosting off.

Second excuse: I left my good camera at the church on the last day of Vacation Bible School.

Yes, that’s right. You heard me correctly.

Left my Nikon D80 in the pew.

Abandoned, as it were.

Up for grabs.

I remembered this fact on the way down to Rochester for yet another baseball tournament—remembered with a gasp as I shamefully admitted what I’d done. My husband didn’t say much in response to my gaffe, though I noticed his knuckles whiten slightly on the wheel.

Enter Michael Z. to the rescue. He’s a guy who lives by the church and who takes my holy hour when I can’t make it. So the conversation went something like this: “Hi, Mike? It’s Margaret. Fine, thanks! Um…I left my camera in the church. Yes. In the front by the statue of Mary. You will? Hey, thanks! Also, could you do my holy hour from 4:00 to 5:00 on Sunday morning because we’re headed down to Rochester...”



Enfin. Here are the new & improved cupcakes, dear Charlotte—better than the NASCAR version but still, not as splendidly photographed as I would have liked.



No, I did not mean to evoke a nuptial theme.

Those are “bells for a belle”—your sweet Southern belle.



Do I get an extra point for trying?

I love ya, Charlotte, and I love that sweet baby girl already. I do not wish to win this contest—could not possibly beat those adorable baby rattles, the yummy little watermelons, the baby birds (oh, those sweet baby birds!), the cutest owls ever, the most darling chicks, the most endearing little binky faces, a nilla vanilla baby buggy, and those stunningly beautiful cupcake-themed treats.

Couldn’t possibly.

Wouldn’t want to.

My presence here, rather, is an act of humility love. I hope you’ve enjoyed your baby shower! We cannot wait to meet her.

Smooches!



PS. Oh, and did I mention I had oral surgery this week?...

Almond Streusel Cake

Feeling very much in the mood for something fresh-baked today, I poked around on my cookbook shelf until my eyes fell upon this forgotten gem.

A tattered old recipe card from—gracious, could it be?—the first year of my marriage!

An oldie (like me) but a goodie.

This coffee cake is dee-licious, friends. So moist! So yummy! Bake it up, you won't regret it. Better yet, have your hubby make it for you.

~ Almond Streusel Cake ~

Streusel

1 C. firmly packed brown sugar

1 C. sliced almonds (more or less)

¼ C. all-purpose flour

3 T. melted butter or margarine
(but I never use margarine)

1 tsp. grated orange zest

Cake

½ C. (1 stick) butter, softened.
(You could use margarine. Don’t.)

½ C. granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp. grated orange zest

½ tsp. vanilla
(I always use more.)

2 C. all-purpose flour
(or 1 C. white and 1 C. wheat)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2/3 C. orange juice

Glaze

½ C. confectioner’s sugar

2 ½ tsp. orange juice

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9- or 10-inch tube pan. (Otherwise known as an angel-food cake pan.)

2. Mix your streusel together in a bowl until it’s crumbly.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and then add the orange zest & vanilla.

(Don’t skip the orange zest! Just…don’t. Get a zester if you have to—they’re cheap—and then chop up the strips into bite-sized bits.)

(Trust me. The chopping is both fun and therapeutic.)

4. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Alternately add the flour mix and the orange juice into your egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.

5. Spoon half of the batter into your prepared pan. Sprinkle with half the streusel. Top with the remaining batter and streusel.

6. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.

7. Carefully turn the cake out onto a serving plate and drizzle with the cake.

8. Serve with coffee, tea or cold milk…or cut off a piece and eat it right there. You deserve some pampering, Mom!

Here is a printable version of the recipe: Almond Streusel Cake

Love from the North Star State!



Ed. Note: I am cross-posting this to my cooking blog, just to be anal. Also, in today's recipe I did substitute one cup of white whole wheat flour and I couldn't even tell. Better yet, nor could the children.

Black Russian Cake

I made this cake on Sunday in honor of our Good Shepherd’s Garden Party (Week II) celebration.



This is not to say that anything remotely resembling a booze cake was on the original menu but rather, that those bottles of Kahlua and vodka were calling out my name (loudly) from the cupboard.



“Maggie? Oh, Maaaagieeeee....”

“We taste really good together.”

It was then I recalled seeing a recipe in one of my favorite church lady cookbooks--a recipe that called for both vodka and kahlua (gosh, I love those church ladies) and that is so easy-peasy, rice-n-cheesy that you will be lovin’ me for posting it.

Plus it tastes really, really good.

Here you go. Forgive me for naming it after me.

Maggie’s Black Russian Cake

1 box white or yellow cake mix
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
¾ C. water
1 C. oil
¼ C. Kahlua
¼ C. vodka
(not the el cheapo kind, please)
Nuts, optional

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray your bundt pan with nonstick cooking oil (you do have a bundt pan, right?) and line it with nuts if you’d like. I used coarsely chopped pecans and strew them around the bottom of the pan.

Isn’t “strew” a lovely word?

Mix all your ingredients together and beat at low for 30 seconds, then at medium for 2 minutes. Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a swizzle stick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes, then invert and cool completely.

(You don’t have to let it cool completely, by the way. You do, however, have to serve it with fresh whipping cream or ice cream.)

Enjoy!
(in moderation)

PS. The liquor in this recipe bakes out, not to worry. Don’t believe me? My husband was a chemistry major and he says so.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

I tend to get a little bit, um, obsessive come St. Patrick’s Day.

Really.

You’d think I was actually Irish.

(In truth, I am 100% French Canadian. I haven’t a drop of Irish in me, unless you count all the Guinness beer and Irish Cream that I am fond of consuming this time of year. And mind you, being pregnant doesn’t place a damper on my love of all drinks Irish. I merely dump the Guinness into the stew and make cheesecake with the Bailey’s. Problem solved.)

So yeah, the festivities last for days around here, mainly because I can never narrow the menu down to just one meal. We will have Irish stew and soda bread for one meal and corned beef & cabbage for the next. Certainly we’ll have some Reuben sandwiches for lunch one day—not because they are Irish, necessarily, but because they are just so very good.

And the corned beef is on sale.

Naturally.

We had our biggest meal on Sunday night because I’ll be gone the evening of St. Patrick’s Day. I know, I know—what’s wrong with this would-be Irish lass?

(It’s my first quilting class, is what it is, and I really shouldn’t skip it.)

For Sunday’s meal, I went with Guinness Irish Stew and a nice crusty loaf of pumpernickel. For dessert we had Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake (for the grown-ups) and shamrock shakes for the kids. Except, come to think of it, the grown-ups were snitching the shamrock shakes in addition to their slice of cheesecake.

Note to self: buy more ice cream next year.

I got all the recipes out of this month’s Faith and Family.

They.

Were.

Excellent.

And so without further adieu, here is that recipe for…

~ Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake ~

Crust

10 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces
¼ C. sugar
6 T. butter, melted

Filling

24 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 C. sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 C. Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping

1 ½ C. sour cream
¼ C. powdered sugar (I used a touch more.)
1 ½ oz. white chocolate, grated

For crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease 9-inch springform pan. Grind the graham crackers and sugar in a food processor until you’ve got a nice bunch of crumbs; add the butter and pulse a few times. Press the crumbs onto the bottom and sides of your springform pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Have some Bailey’s in a glass. Start on the filling.

For the filling: Blend your cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk the eggs, Bailey’s, and vanilla in a small bowl, then blend this mixture into the cream cheese. Pour into the springform pan and bake until the edges of the filling are puffed and look dry, and the center is just set, about 50 minutes.

Cross your fingers. Have another glass of Bailey’s.

Cool the cheesecake on a rack when it’s done.

For the topping: Mix sour cream and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Spread onto the cooled cake with a rubber scraper. Refrigerate for six hours or so; sprinkle with grated chocolate; consume with wild abandon.

Good St. Patrick, pray for us!

*For a printable copy of this recipe, click here.

The Best Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

When a dear old friend phoned last night to see if she could stop by this morning with a Christmas present for Jem, her godson, I told her we’d be delighted.

And then I hung up the phone with an “Ack! I don’t have anything for her yet!”

I quickly made plans to whip up a batch of my very favorite Christmas cookies from last year—the ones I talked about in this post—and ran to the grocery store after supper. I stood in the baked goods aisle for a full ten minutes, seeing every kind of baking chip possible except for the mint-flavored. (I did, however, finally find the price code for the mint chocolate chips. They were all out of them. Of course.)

Feeling stuck in a rut and as if nothing else could possibly do, I drove home deep in thought. I looked in the freezer and found a bag of miniature chocolate chips. Then I went to my stash of Christmas goodies and grabbed a couple of red-and-white striped candy canes.

Inspiration struck. I was in business.

The Very Best Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C. salted butter - softened
• 3/4 C. dark brown sugar
• 1/2 C. white granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. peppermint extract
• 2 eggs
• 2-1/3 C. sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 package (10 oz.) mint chocolate chips (I only use half a package, but that’s just me.) And if perchance you cannot find the mint-flavored chocolate chips, do not fear! Use semi-sweet and proceed with confidence.
• Crushed candy cane pieces, about 1/3 cup.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Blend butter, sugars, extracts and eggs until mixed.
• Sift together flour, baking soda & baking powder. Blend into dough.
• Stir in chocolate chips. Chill approximately one hour in the refrigerator.
• Form dough into 1-inch balls and slightly flatten. Sprinkle a few crushed candy canes on top and gently push into the dough.
• Bake at 350° F for approximately 8 - 10 minutes.
• Cool on wire racks, gently pushing in any loose candy cane bits.

Eat one and box the rest up for your friend.

Or, conversely, eat the entire box and try to save one for your friend.

Either way, these cookies are very, very good.

Oatmeal Cookies

It must be fall because I can’t stop making cookies!

These oatmeal cookies are among my family’s favorites. We eat them for snacks and we eat them for breakfast. Hey, it’s oatmeal, right?

They are really very good.



Oatmeal Cookies

(Adapted from Colorado Cache)

This recipe makes 4 to 6 dozen, depending on the size of your cookies and how much dough you eat while making them.

3 eggs, well beaten
1 C. raisins (I often substitute dried cherries or craisins.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C. butter
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. white sugar
2 ½ C. white flour
(I substitute 1 C. of whole wheat pastry flour.
That alone justifies a third cookie, don’t you think?)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 C. oatmeal
(Here I substitute ½ C. of toasted wheat germ.
More nutrients means less guilt!)
¾ chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine eggs, raisins and vanilla and let stand for one hour, covered with plastic wrap. Cream together butter and sugars. Add flour, salt, cinnamon and soda to sugar mixture. Mix well. Blend in egg-raisin mixture, oatmeal, wheat germ and chopped nuts. (Your dough will be quite stiff.)

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, or roll into small balls and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool. Consume in abundance.

Kitty Cookies

Kitty Cookies , originally uploaded by Margaret in Minnesota.

Here’s one for next year—spooky but delicious “Black Cat Cookies”.

(My girls call them “kitty cookies”. They’re not so intimidating that way.)

We make them on All Hallows’ Eve afternoon and I hand them out to the moms & dads that evening. It’s but a small perk, I figure, for schlepping alongside those little goblins. Plus they’re good—chewy, and chocolaty, and candy corny too.

Enjoy.

“Kitty Cookies”

(Makes 2 dozen)

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
24 wooden craft sticks
48 candy corn candies
24 red-hot candies

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets.

2. Insert a wooden stick into each cookie. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar. Pinch top of cookie to form ears. For whiskers, press a fork twice into each cookie. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set. Remove from the oven; immediately press on candy corn for eyes and red hots for noses. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Note: The big box store that I visited to purchase supplies for these cookies did not carry red hots and I did not feel making another trip. Feeling very clever indeed, I bought a bag of Skittles and used the red ones instead. (What did I do with the rest of the Skittles? You don’t need to know.)

Also, it pays to read the directions thoroughly. For my first batch, I added the eyes and nose before baking the cookies. Goodness, what a fright! The poor little kitties’ eyes melted clean out of their sockets. No, do not go this route. Put the candy in after the cookies come out of the oven, like you’re supposed to.

Chocolate Rolo Cookies

(Recipe courtesy of Cathie B.’s Catering)

Warning: these cookies are probably a little too good, if you know what I mean. If you are working on the virtue of temperance then perhaps you’d better go google-search a nice, safe fruit salad.

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• dash of salt
• 48 chocolate covered caramel candies (Rolos)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

1.Preheat oven to 375. Cream the butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.

2. Carefully beat in the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt).

3. Refrigerate the dough for an hour or two while you unwrap all those Rolos. (It is helpful to put the Rolos in the fridge, too.) Use a cookie scoop or spoon to make balls with the cold dough. (If it is too sticky, put the dough back in the fridge.) Put an unwrapped Rolo in each blob of dough. Make sure the dough completely covers the Rolo or the caramel might leak out while baking. Roll or dip the little balls of dough into the white sugar.

4. Place on a cookie sheet (I use parchment paper for easy clean-up if some caramel bakes out) and bake for 8 minutes at 375. Let cool for a bit on the pan and then move to a cooling rack.

5. Ingest in large quantities. Pause; wonder if you should have shared with the kids.

Dulce de Leche-Banana Pie

Ingredients

• 1 pieshell (I always “cheat” and use store-bought crusts, but you do whatever suits you.)
  
• 1 can (13.4 oz.) dulce de leche (Dulce de leche is like sweetened condensed milk, only caramel-flavored. It’s probably in the Hispanic section of the grocery store, although I found it next to all the other canned milks.)
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 C. whipping cream
• ¼ C. powdered sugar
• ½ C. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tsp. vegetable oil.
  

1. Heat your oven to 450 degrees and bake your piecrust for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Once your crust is done, let it cool for thirty minutes (according to the recipe), but less than that if you’re like me and are hyper-impatient.

2. Spread your can of dulce de leche onto the crust with a spatula. Rinse the can & recycle it, or let your kids have a field day with the sticky stuff left inside.

3. Slice your bananas and arrange neatly (not that it matters) onto the dulce de leche.

4. Beat your whipping cream and powdered sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Spread it over the bananas.

5. Put your chocolate chip & oil in a small resealable freezer bag; seal the bag. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and give the bag a few good squeezes. Microwave for another 30 seconds or so until everything is melted. Snip off a teensy tiny corner of the bag and pipe your melted chocolate over whipped cream.

6. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve it. Good luck actually getting it unharmed and uneaten to the table.


*This recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker's Fall Baking (2007) cookbook.

Hitching a Ride on the A-Train

A for Autumn, of course!

First of all, lest you think that I was so clever as to come up with this A+ idea for an Apple pie, I most Assuredly did not. Kudos go to Katherine, an alphabeterian extraordinaire and from the looks of it, an excellent chef as well. (Save me a d-d-donut, please.)

Ahem.

As I was saying, A is for all things autumn and in the fall I love apple pie. I also love Kristen at Small Treasures, very much, and when I found out she was hosting a Fall Festival at her cooking blog, A Virtual Kitchen, well, I wiped my smudgy hands on my apron and scratched my head.

And came up with...nuthin'.

Oh, the recipes are all there on the shelf of course, just waiting to be dusted off. To tell you the truth, though, dear reader, we've been just a wee bit too busy to come up with anything original.

The above is a photo of a plain old apple pie, made with store-bought crust and the teensy tiny apples from my mom & dad's one apple tree. (An apple tree that's been there since my youth, I might add--a fighter of a tree if ever I've seen one, and a fond reminder of my childhood.) A plain old apple pie, but the "A's" on top delighted the children, and these days, that's what I'm Aiming for.

That and learning one's letters, of course.

For my all-time favorite apple pie recipe, I defer you to this yester-post of days' past.

And I wish you a happy, healthy, crazy-busy-but-delicious Fall!

PS. Love you, Kristen!

Strawberry Rhubard Cobbler

They're smart, they're sweet and they can cook like nobody's business.

I'm talking about Suzanne and Kristen, of course, and in honor of their Strawberry Festival 2007 (the first of many?) I am posting one of my favorite summertime treats:

Strawberry Rhubard Cobbler

Mind, this is a comfort dish and not haute cuisine. You'll be serving this to your bosom friends as you sit out on the deck at dusk...chatting and laughing and slapping away all the mosquitos.

Or you can have it inside in air-conditioned comfort. It'll still be just as good.

Crumb Topping

1 C. flour
1 C. oats
1 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. butter, melted
1 generous tsp. cinnamon (I like this kind)

Fruit Mixture

4-5 C. diced rhubarb
1 C. sliced strawberries
3/4 C. sugar
4 tsp. cornstarch
3/4 C. water
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together crumb topping, cutting in butter. Press 3/4 of the topping into a 9x13 pan.* Cover with rhubarb/strawberry blend. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add water. Cook, stirring until thick and clear. Add vanilla.

Pour syrup over fruit. Top with remaining crumb topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until topping is browned. Serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream or a side of vanilla ice cream.

Bug spray is optional.

*The smaller the pan, the taller the dessert. You decide.

Five Flavor Cake (from Watkins)

This cake is totally true to its name, as flavor-packed as you could possibly get in what is basically a pound cake. I like to bake it for birthdays and at Christmas; it’s just that good.

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened
½ C. vegetable shortening
3 C. sugar
5 eggs, well beaten
3 C. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. Baking powder
1 C. milk
1 tsp. Coconut flavor
1 tsp. Rum extract
1 tsp. Butter flavor
1 tsp. Lemon extract
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, which have been beaten until lemon colored. Combine flour and baking powder and add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir in flavorings. Spoon mixture into a 12-C. bundt pan (If your bundt pan is smaller than this, you will want to divide the batter and maybe make a mini-loaf or some such thing.)

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 ½ hours or until cake tests done. Add glaze if desired. (See recipe below.) Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove and coat with the rest of the glaze.

Six Flavor Glaze

¾ C. sugar
1/3 C. water
¾ tsp. Each of coconut, rum, butter, lemon, vanilla and almond extracts.

Combine ingredients in your saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar is melted. Pour half of the glaze on the cake when it is still in the Bundt pan, and add the other half once the cake is removed.

*You may sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar instead of glazing it, but trust me, the glaze is really good!

Peppermint Bark

20 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
20 oz. white almond bark
1 1/2 c. crushed peppermint

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Spread on your cookie sheet and cool until hardened.

Melt almond bark in a double boiler. Gently spread on top of chocolate. Sprinkle with candy. Cool.

Break into pieces and serve.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

This is your basic flourless chocolate cake. That is, if you can say "basic" about anything as rich, delicious and chocolate-y as this dessert!

Ingredients

3 cups (18 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
6 large eggs, at room temperature

Serves 18 Active: 15 min/Total: 55 min plus 3 hr chilling

This flourless cake is dense, rich and deeply chocolaty.

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Coat an 8 x 3-in. cake pan with nonstick spray. Line bottom with wax paper; spray paper. Have a larger roasting pan ready.

2. Melt chips and butter together; stir until well blended.

3. Beat eggs in a large bowl with mixer on high 7 minutes, or until tripled and soft peaks form. Fold in chocolate mixture until blended. Pour into cake pan.

4. Place large pan in oven; place cake pan inside. Pour boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan. Cover cake pan loosely with foil; bake 40 minutes. (Cake looks soft but sets when cold.)

5. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate 3 hours, or until firm. Invert on serving platter; shake down sharply to release cake. Peel off paper.

6. If desired, lay five 3/4-in.-wide strips of paper 3/4 in. apart on cake. Sift cocoa between strips; carefully lift paper. Repeat in opposite direction, this time sifting on confectioners’ sugar.

Recipe courtesy of 1-2-3 Desserts

Chocolate Pecan Pie

My sister brought this to a post-Thanksgiving laugh fest. Of all of the food that I sampled that day, this pie is what I remember!

Makes one 9 1/2-inch pie

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour, for work surface
• 1/2 recipe Pie Dough
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
• 2 cups pecan halves
• 4 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate (such as Ghirardelli 60% cacao), chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 15-inch round. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off the excess flour; fit dough into a 9 1/2-inch glass pie plate, pressing it into the edges. Trim to a 1-inch overhang all around. Fold under overhang so it extends slightly beyond the edge of the pie plate. Crimp edge as desired. Cover with plastic wrap; chill pie shell until firm, about 30 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, vanilla and almond extracts to combine. Add the sugar, mix until incorporated. Add corn syrups, and mix until thoroughly combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in pecans and chocolate.

3. Pour filling into prepared pie shell, and bake until filling is set, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack at least 20 minutes before serving.

Note: Recipe courtesy of Tom Ribando and Martha Stewart Living

Santa's Surprises

Santa's Surprise Cookies

These cookies are a huge hit around here! The kids can help with unwrapping the Snickers bars and then wrapping the dough around them. Lots of little hands make for quick work!

Makes 4 dozen cookies, approximately, but you mustn't use too much dough on each cookie.

Ingredients

* 1 bag of SNICKERS Miniatures
* 2 sticks butter (softened)
* 1 cup creamy peanut butter
* 1 cup light brown sugar
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1. Combine the butter, peanut butter and sugars using a mixer on a medium to low speed until light and fluffy.

2. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Then mix in the flour, salt and baking soda.

3. Cover and chill dough for 2-3 hours.

4. Meanwhile, unwrap the Snickers.

5. Remove dough from refrigerator. Divide into 1-tablespoon pieces and flatten.

6. Place a Snickers miniature in the center of each piece of dough, and form into a ball.

7. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. (Baking time and temperature may need to be adjusted if using more than 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie.)

8. Let cookies cool on baking rack or wax paper.

9. Sprinkle cookies with with powdered sugar and then drizzle with melted chocolate.

10. Hide until Christmas!

Election Day Cake

Hershey's Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

2 C. sugar
1 3/4 flour
3/4 C. Hershey's Cocoa or Hershey's Dutch-Processed cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 C. milk
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1 C. boiling water
2 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & flour 2 9" round baking pans or one 9x13. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder & soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil & vanilla; beat on med. speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. (Batter will be thin.) Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes for round pans or 35-40 minutes for the 9x13. Do the wooden toothpick test! Cool 10 minutes then remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely and frost. Enjoy!

One-Bowl Buttercream Frosting

6 T. butter, softened
2 2/3 C. powdered sugar
1/2 C. Hershey's unsweetened cocoa
4-6 T. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla.

This cake & frosting recipe comes courtesty of my dear, dear friend-of-the-heart, Djalaih!

My Favorite Pumpkin Cookies

1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. butter
1/3 C. Crisco
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 15-oz can pureed pumpkin
2 C. flour
2 C. oatmeal
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
a shake or two of nutmeg
chopped nuts, if desired

Beat the first four ingredients together until light and fluffy. Blend in egg, vanilla and pumpkin.

In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Blend them into the wet mixture and add chopped nuts and a touch more flour if the dough seems sticky.

Drop by generous teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Caramel Frosting

Melt 1/2 C. butter, 1 C. brown sugar, 1/8 tsp. salt and 1/4 C. milk. Boil 3 minutes; cool for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1 1/2 C. powdered sugar. Beat until mixed.

Red Red Cake

Our traditional "birthday" cake on Minnesota Mom's side of the family. I have been known to substitute a boxed mix in a pinch (Duncan Hines being the preferred brand), but I always make the frosting from scratch!


1 C. butter
1 1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 2-oz bottle red food color
2 T. unsweetened cocoa
2 1/2 C. cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C. buttermilk
1 tsp. vinegar

Cream butter; slowly add sugar and eggs. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, make a paste out of the food coloring & cocoa. Blend into the butter mix. Add buttermilk and baking soda to the wet mix. Add vinegar; fold in flour.

Grease and flour one 9 x 13 pan or 2 8" round pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

Whisk 1 1/2 C. milk with 1/2 C. all-purpose flour. Cook on low until thick. Cool. In bowl cream 1 C. butter with 1 1/2 C. sugar. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. almond extract and a pinch of salt. Add flour until light & fluffy.

*It is very important that your butter not be too warm when you add the flour. Your frosting will curdle! I like to refrigerate the butter & sugar after blending them for a spell and have much better luck when I do so.

This frosting is well worth the extra effort--it makes the cake!

May all your family birthdays be blessed,

Margaret