Cookiebaker's Corner

Tuna Noodle Casserole - A Favorite Comfort Food!

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:16:00 +0000

I arrived at Michael’s on Saturday and we made do with meals consisting of take-out and my leftover fish and chips lunch from Red Robin that I had the day before. With nothing planned for cooking on Sunday, I took inventory of what we had and found tuna, cream of mushroom soup, noodles and frozen peas, so I decided to make a Tuna Noodle Casserole. The only thing I needed was potato chips and since we don’t keep those around the house, because chips are a weakness of ours, I did need to make a quick trip to the supermarket to pick up a bag.

I can’t remember the last time I even had tuna casserole, it’s probably been at least……..well, let’s just say it’s been a long time. But for some reason, I’ve been thinking about it and craving it for several months, so the decision to prepare it for lunch wasn’t difficult. Since I have never made tuna casserole before, I began my search and found a couple of recipes that looked a little like the casserole I remember eating as a child. Then I decided to ask the maker of the tuna casserole of my past, my sister Jean. When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time with my sister and her family, mostly because her children, my niece and nephews, were only a few years younger than me and we often played together, and she and her family also spent a good bit of time at my parents’ home, so I ate a lot of my sister’s cooking. Even though she has always been a good cook, and I’ve enjoyed a lot of her delicious meals over the years, this has been one of her dishes that I remember the most. I imagine, since money was tight for her young family, it was a cheap and easy meal to prepare for a family of five, and her little sister, therefore was made frequently.

Between what I found on the internet and some input from Jean, I was able to come up with the following recipe.

Tuna Noodle Casserole
Print Recipe

1 (12 ounce) bag egg noodles, cooked al-dente
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, not diluted.
3/4 cup milk
2 (7 ounce) cans tuna, packed in water, do not drain!
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)
1 cup green peas - used frozen straight from the bag.
1 generous pinch black pepper.
1 cup crushed potato chips

Oven Temperature: 375°F

Preheat oven.

Crush potato chips and set aside.

Cook noodles according to package for al-dente, and drain.

In a large bowl, combine noodles, soup, milk, tuna, peas, salt and cheese, if using; mix to combine and coat well.
Pour into a buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle crushed potato chips evenly on top.
Bake, uncovered for 30 min until bubbly.
Servings: 4 to 6

Notes:
I had some tuna in foil packages on hand so used 6 (2.6 oz each) of those.

Cream of celery soup may be used in place of cream of mushroom.

I know, I'm missing step by step pictures. Well, first, I really hadn't planned to blog about this just yet but then changed my mind and second, this is such an easy dish to prepare that I really don't think pictures would be that helpful. It's basically a mix and dump recipe....I think there were a lot of meals like that in the 60's and 70's.

Wanted to show you these cool new oven mitts that I just bought. I always worry about dropping the casserole dish when I use my other mitts since the dish doesn't have any handles. One day when I was browsing at TJMaxx I found these, they have ribbed silicone pads, great for gripping the dish and my hand slips inside the mitts and are protected from coming in contact with the oven and racks. I also use them when handling my hot cast iron skillet and when taking the insert out of my crockpot when it's hot. I love them! They aren't my favorite color but that was all I could get.

I really don't remember whether my sister's tuna casserole had a potato chip topping on it or not but I liked the idea so went with it. I put some chips in a plastic food storage bag and squeezed until they were crushed.

Michael was more than ready to dig in. By the time I got back from Giant Eagle, he was hungry and even grabbed the bag of chips and started eating those. I was afraid there wouldn't be any left for the casserole.

He's a little bit of a messy guy - I should have cleaned off his bowl before taking the photo but he didn't want to wait that long, I'm surprised he stopped long enough for me to take this picture. Don't try to touch the dish of a starving man.

I didn’t know if Michael liked tuna casserole and really wasn’t sure that I still did. When I was little, I used to eat cold spaghetti out of a can and now the thought disgusts me almost as much as it used to my older brother when he witnessed this display.

Mmmmm, it's as good as I remember! Michael liked it too and said he wanted to go back for seconds but was afraid of eating too much. This is definitely going to be prepared again.

Roasting Garlic in the Slow Cooker

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 06:52:00 +0000

When was my last post? Back in March, longer if you count the last time I posted about a recipe. Well, I think it’s time I to get back to blogging. I no longer have an excuse not to….my cataract surgery is behind me so I’m able to see a lot better. Yes, this big baby survived – the thought of the surgery had me terrified but the surgery itself was nothing, I’ve had worse dental visits. Then the heat wave of 2012 hit and I didn’t want to do much cooking, even with AC in the house. I had an unexpected visitor; I found a raccoon in my house – yes a real live raccoon and believe me that had me freaked out for a long time. The raccoon was captured and released and thanks to my two wonderful brothers’ – in- law, I now have a cover on my chimney and shouldn’t have any more unwanted visitors making their way down through the fireplace – sorry Santa. My nephew, his wife and their two daughters (who live in Washington state) came to Ohio for a visit so I spent two days helping my sister shop and cook, getting ready for their visit and a family gathering she had planned. A major storm blew through on June 29 and caused a lot of damage and power outages (actually happened while my sister and I were trying to get the shopping and cooking done for her son's visit), fortunately we all made it through with only a little inconvenience. Now we are in the middle of a major drought - as is the rest of the midwest. So things have been a little crazy/busy. Now I'm at Michael’s but haven’t been cooking a whole lot and when I do, it’s mostly been things I’ve already blogged about. I have tried a few new recipes but wasn’t ready to blog about them yet. I’ve also been trying to keep up with all the lovely fruit and veggies that I’ve been getting at the farmers markets – been baking a lot of pie and cobbler.

Now it’s time to get down to business. Sometime during the winter I decided to check some cookbooks out of the library, one of which was the Slow Cooker Revolution, by America’s Test Kitchen. I had tried a slight variation of their Sticky Wings recipe, that I read on another blog, a few months before and liked it a lot, Slow Cooker Sticky Chicken, is now a favorite around here and I prepare it often, and was anxious to actually see what this cookbook had to offer. I saw several recipes that I wanted to try but the first one that I decided on was how to roast garlic in the slow cooker. I love roast garlic and use it a lot in mashed potatoes but have been roasting it the old fashioned way, in the oven. So, the next time I made garlic mashed potatoes, I pulled out my Crock Pot and the recipe from the Slow Cooker Revolution and put this new method to the test.

Slow Cooker Roasted Garlic
America's Test Kitchen
Print Version of Recipe

5 garlic heads
2 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt

Slice top 1/2-inch from each garlic head to expose cloves.
Pour 1/2 cup water into slow cooker. Place garlic heads, cut side up, in slow cooker.
Drizzle each head with 1/2 teaspoon oil and sprinkle with pinch salt.
Cover and cook until garlic is soft and golden, 4 to 6 hours on low.
Transfer garlic to cutting board, let cool slightly, then gently squeeze to remove cloves from skin.

Tips
Roasted Garlic can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Source: Slow Cooker Revolution, America's Test Kitchen

Notes
I use my 3 1/2 quart CrockPot.
I usually roast 4 heads using 2 T of olive oil. Mash them up while still warm and add to mashed potatoes.

I know the recipe calls for 5 garlic heads but I usually just use 4, that's the amount that I put in my mashed potatoes. I make Ree Drummond's (The Pioneer Woman) mashed potatoes and they are delicious!

This is after the garlic has cooked for about six hours, on low.

I removed them from the slow cooker and let them cool for a while before squeezing them to release the garlic.

Look at all the beautiful garlic!

I then like to put it in my small food processor and chop it up until smooth. Can also mash it up with a fork, or probably even a immersion blender.

Here it is - ready to put in mashed potatoes or spread on bread - yum!

Ever since I first made garlic in the slow cooker, I haven't prepared it the oven. Yes, it takes longer so you have to plan a head but I don't mind since I'm a planner anyway. I like how nice and soft the garlic gets and I've never over roasted and dried it out like I have in the oven.

This recipe is definitely a keeper and so is the cookbook! After trying a few more recipes, one for rice pudding and another for brown rice, plus seeing several more I wanted to try, I broke down and bought a copy.

Excuses, Excuses and Why I've Been Absent So Long

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:35:00 +0000

Sorry, I don't have a written excuse from my mom.

I know it’s been a long time but I haven’t forgotten you. I thought I had better leave a quick note letting you know what’s going on and why I haven’t posted any recipes in so long. First, I got in rut and wasn’t cooking or baking anything new then when I did get back to new recipes, I noticed that my vision wasn’t quite up to par. Recipes were getting more difficult to read and my pictures just weren’t looking right…couldn’t really tell if they were in focus or not. One day while driving to Meijer I noticed that I really couldn’t read the street signs very well and driving when the sun was out was a little scary. Don’t worry, I’m not putting my life or anyone else’s in danger, at that point I quit driving and now Michael is, "Driving Ms. Cookiebaker"…..I think I could get used to having a chauffeur. Long story short, my vision just kept getting worse so I went to my ophthalmologist last Monday and was told that I have cataracts. Who me? I’m not old enough for cataracts…only old people get those don’t they? Oh wait, I am old…why do I keep forgetting that? LOL! Anyway, I’m scheduled for surgery, in fact two surgeries; he won’t do both eyes at once...wish he would so I could just get it over with and not have to worry about both of them. Hopefully in a little over a month, my vision will be back to normal and I can get back to working on posts for this blog. Until then, keep on cooking and baking!

Yummy Pumpkin Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:23:00 +0000

Here is another recipe that I love but haven’t made in ages. I don’t really have a whole lot to say about this recipe so this post will be short…..bet you’re happy about that. I got this recipe out of my favorite, all-purpose cookbook, the Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham. This is my go to book for answers to any baking and cooking questions I have like, “How to truss a chicken or turkey”, and other questions. I also used to give copies of this book as housewarming gifts.

I like making this recipe and the Cranberry Nut Bread recipe that is in here, and which I hope to make sometime within the next few weeks, in mini loaf pans and give them to family and friends. Back when I baked this a lot, Reynolds was still making plastic wrap and I could buy it in red and green and I would use it to wrap my small loaves of bread,which made them look quite festive.

I apologize for the quality of my photos, which aren’t always good anyway, but are worse than normal. This time of year since the days are getting shorter my chance of using natural light is slim. That’s what happened here, by the time my bread was done, it was dark outside. Then, at the time, I wasn’t sure what was wrong with my camera, but I must have gotten something on the lense because it looks like there is smear of some sort in most of my pictures…the hazards of taking food pictures. At least it wasn’t a problem with my camera.

Pumpkin Bread
Print Recipe

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda
3. Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts.
4. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a straw comes out clean.
5. Turn out of the pan and cool on a rack

Sift together the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda.

Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water.

Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice

Add spices, to pumpkin mixture.

Then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. If adding nuts, stir them in next.

Pour into a well-buttered 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Bake 50-60 minutes until a straw comes out clean...or in my case, a toothpick.

Turn out of the pan and cool on a rack.

Mmmmm....this smelled so good while it was baking. It tasted even better....I love pumpkin and all those delicious spices that are used in this bread.

Apple Crisp

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:32:00 +0000

Whenever I think of apple crisp I think of school lunches. By the time I was in high school I refused to buy lunch at school mostly because the food was normally pretty awful. I would either take my lunch or, usually, not eat lunch at all and save the weekly $3.00 - $4.00 to buy gas for the car. Yes, back in the old days $3.00 would buy a lot of gas….I think gas was around seventy cents a gallon, maybe less. I would save my lunch money, combine that with babysitting money and/or allowance (babysitters made about $1.00 an hour) and I could fill up the car for around $10.00 and still have plenty left for a movie or going out to eat…maybe even buy a record or two, especially If they were 45’s. Those were the days! Anyway, back to my story. One of the few times that I would buy the school lunch was on the day they served chili. The chili was actually quite good and along with chili I would get a peanut butter and honey sandwich and, one of my favorite desserts, apple crisp. The only time I ever got apple crisp was at school, Mom never made it and back then, I had no interest in cooking but I loved that stuff.

Many years later, I was in my 20’s and living on my own, I had some apples that I had been enjoying but wanted to do something with them other than just eat them raw, so I decided to try to bake something. I was new to cooking and baking at the time so wanted to make something simple. I pulled out my Betty Crocker cookbook and found a recipe for apple crisp…it looked like it would be similar to the apple crisp I had at school. I peeled and sliced the apples, made the topping and put it in the oven. The aroma was heavenly, I love to smell apples, cinnamon and sugar baking, reminds me of home when my mom would bake apple pies. After it had baked and cooled a bit, I tasted it and was very pleased…it tasted just as I remembered, maybe even a little better than the apple crisp I enjoyed at school.

Apple Crisp
Print Recipe

4 cups sliced, peeled tart apples (about 4 medium)
2/3 - 3/4 cups brown sugar - (packed)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup butter

1. Heat oven to 375 F.
2. Grease a square 8x8x2 inch pan.
3. Place apple slices in pan.
4. Mix remaining ingredients thoroughly.
5. Sprinkle over apples.
6. Bake 30 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown.
7. Serve warm and, if desired, with light cream or ice cream.

Servings: 6

Source: Betty Crocker's Cookbook
Copyright: 1969 Twenty-first Printing 1974

Place 4 cups of peeled and sliced apples in an 8x8 inch pan. I don’t know what apples I used, I had some Jonathan and Cortland that I just mixed together.

Mix together brown sugar (I used 2/3 cup), flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and softened butter.

You can either use a fork, pastry blender or, as I usually do, your hands to mix the topping.

Spread topping over apples and bake.

I baked mine just a little over 30 minutes, until the apples were tender.

Serve warm and, if desired, with light cream or ice cream

Once again, someone decided to dig in as soon as I turned my back. About half of the Apple Crisp was gone before I had a chance to eat any. It was definitely Michael approved!

Easy Coffee Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:15:00 +0000

I may have mentioned this before but in case I haven’t, here it is…. I enjoy and prefer baking from scratch. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that when I was a child, even though my mom was a good cook, she usually baked with mixes…cake, brownie and even used a box mix for her pie crust. I rarely had a baked good that was made from scratch. I’ll get more into that subject in a future post. Even though I prefer baking from scratch, I am not completely against using shortcuts from time to time, especially when I come across recipes that use mixes as an ingredient and that look and taste good, not to mention are so easy to prepare. I have a few of those kinds of recipes that I’ve already posted about and here is one more.

I can’t remember when or where I found this recipe, but it’s another one that I used to make often and then eventually, after a while, I guess got bored with so stopped. It was very popular at work and it was easy enough to make that I could even prepare it in the morning, put it in one of those Pyrex carriers and it would be nice and warm by the time I and my co-workers arrived at the office. Because it’s so easy to make, It’s a great recipe to make on Christmas morning…..a nice warm coffee cake to have with a cup of coffee, tea or glass of milk….yum!

Easy Coffee Cake
Print Recipe

1 cake mix (spice, caramel or yellow)
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted

1. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour into a 9x13 inch cake pan. After 15 minutes in the oven at the temperature stated on box, remove cake and sprinkle on a mixture of the chopped nuts, sugar and cinnamon. Then pour melted butter over all. Continue baking until done, 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Serve warm

3. May be frozen

Notes:
I've made this using a yellow cake mix and a spice cake mix, which are both good, but I prefer the caramel. The problem with using the caramel mix is that it isn't easy to find, the only place I'm able to locate it is at Meijer.

One cake mix, whatever ingredients that are needed to prepare the cake mix (the Duncan Hines caramel mix uses, water, oil and eggs), nuts, sugar, cinnamon and butter. When I first started making this, the Duncan Hines Caramel mix was easy to find....not so easy now. As I stated in the recipe notes, I'm only able to find it at Meijer.

Prepare mix, according to package directions and pour into a 9x13 pan that has been coated with butter/oil and flour. I use either Baker's Secret or Pam for baking. Love the ease of just spraying it on in the pan.

Place in preheated oven (temperature that is listed in the cake mix directions) bake for 15 minutes and remove.

Combine nuts, sugar and cinnamon. I usually do this while the cake is baking.

Sprinkle mixture on cake.

Pour melted butter over cake.

Return cake to oven and bake and additional 15-20 minutes or until cake is done.

Hmmm, looks like someone was doing a little tasting while I had my back turned.

This was as good as I remembered. It smelled so good…the aroma of the caramel cake and cinnamon was wonderful. Apparently it was too much for Michael to stand since, as you can see from the previous photo, he tasted it as soon as it came out of the oven.

Tangy Meatballs

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:42:00 +0000

I’ve been stuck in a cooking rut. I’ve been making the same old same old for the past several months, so due to boredom, I recently started reviewing some of my favorite recipes that I haven’t made in years. I decided it was time to make a few of them again, not only because I really like them and haven’t had them in a long time, or since Michael and I have only been together for close to three years, he’s never tasted them, but also because I’ve got one of those recipe programs where I’m now storing my recipes, along with photos of the completed dish and my older recipes look so sad without a photo.

The following recipe is another one I found in Taste of Home magazine, as a matter of fact, the same issue that included the Apple Walnut Cake recipe that I wrote about in my last post. When I first found it, I made it a lot….. Back in those days between work potlucks, family reunions and other parties I attended, I felt like I was making this all the time. It was always a hit whenever I took it somewhere. I remember one time when I helped my cousin Jayne prepare food for an open house she was having when she and her partner, Tom, moved into their first house, I made five batches of this recipe and we kept the meatballs warm in one of those large aluminum chafing dishes. Jayne’s brother-in-law Dick and one of the men she worked with practically camped out in front of the chafing dish eating the meatballs…they just wouldn’t stop. Every time I made these, I would get a similar reaction from other people.....

This is a great recipe for potlucks because it’s easy to make a head of time and can be kept warm in a slow cooker. If you don’t want to make your own meatballs, you can substitute frozen but trust me, the homemade ones are much better!

Tangy Meatballs
Print Recipe
Meatballs
2 eggs
2 cups quick cooking or rolled oats
1 can evaporated milk, (12 ounces)
1 cup chopped onion
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 lbs lean ground beef
Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-2 tsp liquid smoke (I use 1 teaspoon)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add oats, milk, onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add the ground beef; mix well.

Shape into 1½ inch balls. Place in two 9x13 inch baking pans. Bake uncovered at 375 for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and drain.

Place all of the meatballs in one of the pans.

In a saucepan, bring all sauce ingredients to a boil. Pour over meatballs.

Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until meatballs are done.

Yield: 4 dozen

Using a fork or whisk, beat eggs.

Add oats, milk and onion to the eggs.

Add pepper, garlic powder and salt.

Add ground beef to mixture and mix well.

Shape into 1½ inch balls. Place in two 9x13 inch baking pans. Bake uncovered at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drain. Place all of the meatballs in one of the pans.

Ooops, I did it again, I forgot to take some pictures, but I have faith in you and know you can do this by reading the instructions and without the accompanying photos.

In a saucepan add ketchup, brown sugar, onion, garlic powder and liquid smoke. Bring sauce ingredients to a boil and pour over the pan of meatballs.

If you've never used liquid smoke and not sure where to find it, it is usually located in the isle where the hot sauce, worchestershire sauce and BBQ sauce is located.

Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until meatballs are done.

Mmmmm….when you make these meatballs, your home will smell so good that you won’t be able to stand it. They have a nice, sweet barbeque flavor and, I have to confess, it is easy to eat more of them than you should.

Apple Walnut Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:39:00 +0000

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the temperatures of early to mid-fall, sometimes the days are warm and other days are cool and crisp, well suited for wearing a sweatshirt, sweater or light weight jacket. The colors are gorgeous….the leaves on the trees begin to turn red, yellow, gold and orange and the mums and some bushes add to the beauty of the season. I like the feel and even the way the air smells and after the long hot days of summer, that make me feel limp and lethargic, I feel energetic and reborn in the fall.

One of my most favorite things about autumn is the produce that is in season, especially apples. I know you can get apples all year round, but in my opinion, the best apples are the ones that are only available in the fall….Jonathan, Winesap, Honeycrisp, Cortland, etc. They are so good and are great to just grab and eat or even better, to use in baking.

One day while out running errands, Michael and I stopped by a local farm stand where they had a nice selection of apples so I purchased some Jonathan, Cortland and Honeycrisp. I thought about using some to make a pie but since I had just made a cherry pie, decided to make a cake instead. As I was going through some of my recipes, I came across one that I hadn’t made in years. It’s a delicious cake and when I first discovered the recipe, I used to make it often but as newer recipes made their way into my files; this one was pushed aside and forgotten.

I’m a long time subscriber to Taste of Home magazine….I’ve been getting it since it was first published back in the 90’s and have all, except the first magazine, in my collection. This recipe happens to come from the second magazine that Taste of Home published.

Apple Walnut Cake

Print Recipe

1 2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
4 cups chopped, unpeeled apples (4 or 5 apples)
1 cup chopped walnuts
Frosting
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract

1. In a mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs.
2. Add oil and vanilla; mix well.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg; gradually add to sugar mixture, mixing well.
4. Stir in apples and walnuts.
5. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 inch pan.
6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes or until cake testes done.
7. Let cool.
Frosting
1. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.
3. Frost cooled cake

Mix sugar and eggs. You can use an electric mixer, but I find that mixing with a whisk works just fine.

Add oil and vanilla; mix well.

Pre ground nutmeg doesn’t stay fresh very long, so I buy the whole nutmeg and using a hand grater (rasp), grate it myself. Not only is the nutmeg fresher but it smells heavenly.

Vietnamese cinnamon is my favorite…has a stronger flavor. As many of you know, I’m a big Penzey’s fan so buy most of my herbs and spices from them; never fear, you don’t have to purchase this cinnamon online, you can find Vietnamese cinnamon at the supermarket.

Clockwise from top: cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and baking soda.

Add to flour and mix with a whisk.

Gradually add flour to sugar mixture.

I apologize for my lack of pictures at this point. As I mentioned earlier, it’s been a long time since I’ve made this cake so, as I was combining the flour with the sugar mixture, the batter became quite thick, more like a cookie dough than a batter. I was getting concerned, thinking I had left something out of the recipe so stopped to read the list of ingredients. When I saw that I hadn’t made a mistake, I proceeded where I left off and forgot to photograph the batter before adding the apples and walnuts. So, if your batter looks like cookie dough, don’t worry, it’s supposed to look that way. Trust me; it will work out just fine.

Chopped apples. Chop the apples in smaller pieces if you want but I like them this size. Don't worry about the peels, that concerned me the first time I made this. After the cake is baked, you won't even know they are there. I love that I didn't have to peel the apples, that's my least favorite thing about baking with them, just be sure to wash them well before chopping.

Chopped walnuts.

Combine batter, apples and walnuts.

Pour into greased and floured pan. The batter is so thick, you have to spread the batter, it doesn't really pour.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until cake tests done. Allow cake to cool before frosting.

I had just put the cake on a cooling rack and was ready to walk away when I turned back around and noticed Michael, with spoon in hand, ready to dig into the cake. I said, “Don’t touch it, don’t you dare touch that cake. I still have to frost and photograph it.” The look on his sad face was priceless. I stood there until I saw him walk away before I left the kitchen.

Combine 8 oz. cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter.

This cake had a cream cheese frosting recipe but it called for 2 3 oz. packages of cream cheese. I don’t know about you, but I usually have cream cheese on hand but it’s the 8 oz. packages, not the 3 oz. So I used a recipe that called for 8 oz. of cream cheese.

Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar.

Ready to frost the cooled cake.

The cake tasted as good as I remember. The apples release their juice while baking making this a moist and tasty cake. Reminds me a lot of carrot cake, only made with apples.

Michael was very happy….he grabbed his trusty spoon as soon as I finished snapping photos.

Quesadillla Casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:39:00 +0000

Are you like me, always on the lookout for new recipes, gadgets and other products to use in cooking and baking, or am I just weird that way? I've found some good and some bad. Some of my best finds have been by accident, like the one I’m going to tell you about.

One day while in Meijer, I was wandering through my favorite isle, the baking section. I was looking at the spices when I noticed a product that I had never seen before. It’s made by McCormick and is called Recipe Inspirations and is a card that includes the recipe and all the spices that are needed to prepare the dish. I thought this was a great idea……I could try a new recipe without having to buy a lot of spices that I may never use again. If you’re like me, there has been many a time when you’ve found a recipe that you want to try and have had to purchase one or two jars of a spice that you don’t already have. Then, if you didn’t like that recipe, you’ve spent a lot of money for a spice that will probably just take up valuable cabinet space until it goes stale and you have to eventually toss it. Buying one of the Recipe Inspiration packets would eliminate that problem. Not only is it a good product for people who are seasoned cooks but is especially nice for new cooks, people who haven’t built up a supply of spices or even a collection of recipes….none of which is a problem for me. There were several packets to choose from so I picked one for Quesadilla Casserole and another for a pork chop recipe, which I’ll make in a few weeks.

A couple of weeks ago I needed to make dinner and couldn’t decide what I wanted to prepare…..other than Slow Cooked Sticky Chicken, I hadn’t tried anything new in a while. I was looking through the cabinet when I spied the Recipe Inspirations packets that I had placed there and forgotten about. I decided, since I had some ground beef in the fridge, to try the Quesadilla Casserole and I’m glad I did. It was quick, easy and good and since I have a large selection of spices, I already have the ones needed to prepare this recipe again. Now I can’t wait to try the one for pork chops.

Quesadillla Casserole
Print Recipe

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can (4 1/2 oz.) chopped green chiles, undrained
6 flour tortillas (8-inch)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 teapoons chili powder
1 teapoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

1. Brown beef and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well. Stir in all of the spices except red pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste, if desired.

2. Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese.

3. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Servings: 8
Oven Temperature: 350°F

Notes:
I used a Four Cheese Mexican blend instead of cheddar.
Can substitute approx. 2-2 1/2 cups shredded chicken in place of ground beef. Saute onion in a little oil and then add chicken, continue following the rest of the procedures.

The Recipe Inspirations card.

Front of recipe card

Back of recipe card. Has the recipe including names of spices and amounts needed.

These are the little spice packets with the names and measurements printed on the back.

Brown ground beef and onion.

I have a confession to make…..I love kitchen gadgets! I love kitchen gadgets so much that whenever I see a new one, I usually purchase it. I know I have too many of them, some I use a lot and some, I’m embarrassed to say, have only been used once or twice and are now stored in the back of a cupboard or in a box. This is one of my favorites. In fact, I like it so much that not only do I have one at home, but bought one to keep at Michael’s apartment. It’s a strainer that I bought from Pampered Chef several years ago and use it to strain fat from ground beef and water for small amounts of pasta.

I’m a huge fan of Pampered Chef and like the products so much that many years ago, I was a consultant. Hmmm, now that I’m retired, maybe I should get back into this again.

Drain and add tomato sauce.

Add beans, corn and green chiles; mix well.

Stir in all of the spices except red pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste, if desired. I wasn’t sure about the red pepper. As I’ve said before, Michael and I don’t like a lot of heat in our food, we like a little but don’t like so much that we feel as though we could breathe fire. After tasting the sauce, I decided to add the red pepper to the ingredients and found that it wasn’t too hot at all.

Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed.

Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture.

I usually buy a block of cheddar cheese and grate it myself. Not only is fresher and melts better but cheaper too, but I saw this Mexican blend and thought it would be perfect in this recipe and it was.

Cover with half of the cheese.

Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes or until heated through.

The finished casserole. Let it rest about five minutes before serving. Michael hates the resting part of a dish, he's always ready to dig in as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Michael and I both really liked this recipe. I especially liked it because it was quick and easy…a great go to meal when you are hungry and rushed for time.

About a week later I had some leftover roast chicken so decided to try using it in this recipe. I shredded about 2 to 2 1/2 cups and added it to the sauce.....we liked it even more than using the ground beef. Not only was it better but quicker to prepare as well.

Another new and successful recipe to add to my file.

Vegetable Beef Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:09:00 +0000

I was sitting at home one day last week when I received an email from my sister Jean, asking me if I would like to get together over the weekend to make vegetable soup. Since I didn’t have any plans, it was the first weekend of Fall and the weather was a little cool and dreary and felt like soup weather, I agreed to help her make soup.

On Friday Jean called and asked if I wanted to go to Kroger with her to shop for the ingredients. I knew, since we double the recipe (I take some home, she keeps some and gives some to her son and daughter and their families and her adult grandchildren who are now out on their own), it would involve buying and carrying a lot of canned goods, I agreed to help. I drove to her house, picked her up and headed in to town for our shopping but our first stop was at a local Italian restaurant for lunch. We went on to Kroger and after spending 45 minutes to an hour we had our cart loaded with fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, beef broth, beef and cat food. There is no need for concern, the cat food wasn’t used in our soup; it was for her cat and the strays that she has adopted. We loaded the groceries in my car and were soon headed back to her house. The hardest part was yet to come, unloading my car and carrying in all those heavy bags.

Saturday was soup day. I drove to her house where she already had two 12 quart stock pots on the stove with the beef, beef broth and spices simmering. We soon got to work peeling, chopping and slicing the fresh vegetables and then adding all the ingredients to the stock pots. Soon the house started to smell wonderful and not long after that, the soup was ready.

This recipe was originated by my mother. As with most of her recipes, since she cooked according to taste, mom didn’t have a recipe for her vegetable soup. I remember on soup day, Mom would start out with one pot of soup and by the time she got it to taste the way she wanted, she usually ended up with four large pots of soup simmering on the stove. Fortunately, she had plenty of family and friends to share with. Jean had helped Mom make the soup many times so she knew the ingredients that Mom used and tweaked it a little by adding the bouquet garnet (Mom was a plain cook and seasoned with salt, pepper and plenty of fat), which made it even better, then a few years ago Jean and I worked together to get measurements for the ingredients - we wanted to avoid what I call, Mom’s growing pot of soup.

Vegetable Beef Soup
Print Recipe

1 1/4 pounds (approx.) beef shank center cut or soup bone (cut in half)
2 lbs beef shoulder roast, (2 to 3)
2 cans beef broth, (48 oz.)
1 bay leaf
10 pepper corns
1/4 tsp marjoram
6 cups crushed tomatoes (2-1 pound cans)
1/2 cup chopped onions (2 small)
2 cups celery, sliced (about 12 small stalks)
4 cups chopped carrots (about 8 large)
1 small head cabbage cut in pieces (about 8-10 cups)
6 potatoes large dice, (6 to 8)
1 can cut green beans, (28 ounce)
1 can white cream style corn, (15 ounce)
1 can yellow cream style corn or 1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel sweet corn, (15 ounce)
1 15 ounce sweet peas
1 can baby limas, (15 ounce)
1 can kidney beans (optional), (15 ounce)
2 Tbs instant beef bouillon, (or to taste)

1. Wrap bay leaf, pepper corns and marjoram in cheese cloth. In large stock pot, boil beef, broth and spices for about 2 hours.
2. Remove beef and discard spices. Strain broth and return to stock pot. Allow beef to cool. Once cool, cut into bite size pieces, removing and discarding fat. Put beef back in pot. Add crushed tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots and cabbage to beef broth - cook until tender.
3. Add potatoes, and remaining ingredients and cook until potatoes are done.
4. Once all ingredients are combined and the soup has cooked a little, taste the soup and add, salt, bullion or more beef broth if desired.

I arrived at my sister's house after she had already started on the soup. This contains the beef broth, beef and bay leaf, pepper corn and marjoram. This is one of the two 12 quart stock pots that we were making.

After about two hours, the beef was removed, allowed to cool and then cut into bite sized pieces or shredded.

Onions, carrots and celery.

We added the carrots, onion and celery to the pot and let that simmer while we prepared the cabbage.

I have to tell you that I'm not a cabbage fan. I do like cole slaw but that's the only way I'll eat it, except in this soup....it really adds a lot of flavor. So please try it at least the first time you make this, by the time the soup is finished the cabbage is soft and almost translucent.

Add the cabbage to the rest of the vegetables in the pot and stir.

Jean happened to look out the window and saw a couple of wild turkeys. I have never seen wild turkeys before so grabbed my camera and went outside to take their pictures. They didn't like getting their pictures taken so started to move. Unlike the deer around here, they don't stick around when humans are around, but I did manage to get a decent picture of them before they ran into the woods.

Now back to making some soup. They should be glad that we wanted vegetable beef soup and not turkey noodle.

Now the really hard part.....the opening of the cans.

The the potatoes chopped into bite sized pieces and

add to the pot along with the can of green beans and crushed tomatoes.

Add the remaining cans of vegetables.

Now we’re beginning to worry, we were running out of room in the stock pot and we still have to add the beef. As you can see the soup is all the way to the rim and the other stock pot was in the same condition. Jean pulled out a 10 quart Dutch oven and began to add soup from both stock pots to it. We were surprised that this had happened since we’ve made this before using the same two stock pots. Later Jean said that, since we couldn't find the right size cans of soup that we needed, she did add a little extra broth.

So we had the same problem my mother always ran into....the growing pot of soup. Although, as long as you have enough large stock pots or Dutch ovens, too much soup is never a problem.

Now we have enough room to add the beef. Allow soup to simmer until the beef is heated through then taste and add more salt and/or bouillon if needed. We added a little more beef broth because the soup was even thicker than we like (and we like it thick) and we also added more bouillon and salt. Then we let it simmer a little longer.

While waiting for the soup to finish cooking we saw more wild turkeys wandering around the edge of the woods. There were about seven this time but by the time I was able to take their picture, two had managed to get away from the group. It's a good thing the only thing I shoot with is a camera. Wonder what wild turkey tastes like?

The soup is finished and we are tired and hungry so my sister, brother-in-law and I sit down to a meal of delicious homemade soup....yum!!!

Now all we have to do is find enough containers to for all that soup.

Slow Cooked Sticky Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:38:00 +0000

I’ve been getting a lot of use out of my slow cooker this summer. It allowed me to prepare delicious meals without having to turn on the oven and heat up the house….the electric bill was high enough with trying to keep the house cool without adding additional heat to it. I also liked that I could put something in the slow cooker and leave the house for a few hours to run some errands and know that when I got home, dinner would be ready, or at least ready with just a little extra effort on my part. We didn’t have to pick up fast food or stop in to eat at a restaurant….so it saved us money on eating out/take out as well.

I’ve been cooking roasts, green beans, pulled pork and barbequed chicken….actually I’ve been using it to cook a lot of chicken. Michael and I like chicken….we really like chicken. We really are a little weird that way. If someone would ask us if we would rather have steak or chicken, we would choose chicken most of the time. That’s how much we like it. Anyway, over the summer I came across this recipe for Slow Cooked Sticky Chicken, actually saw it on FaceBook and think it was a review of an America’s Test Kitchen recipe. Since trying this recipe for the first time, I think I’ve made it about every other week since….it has become one of our favorites.

Slow Cooked Sticky Chicken
Printable Recipe
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbs of minced ginger (I did not have any ginger, so I used 1 teaspoon of ground ginger)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp of cayenne or red pepper
3 lbs chicken, breast, thighs, legs, etc.
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste

1. Combine 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoon soy sauce , ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat.
2. Place in a slow cooker and cook on low for about 4 hours or until done.
3. When done place chicken in a broiler proof dish.
4. Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, water, and tomato paste, and remaining soy sauce. Brush on chicken and cook under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until chicken is slightly crisp. But keep in eye on this while it is cooking under the broiler, things can cook quickly when broiling. (You may be tempted to skip the broiling, but it really does help give this a nice sticky and good texture.

Tips
I like to broil the chicken a little while before brushing on the sauce and then I put it under the broiler again. I feel like the skin of the chicken gets a little more crispy that way.

Don't be afraid of the cayenne pepper, it adds very little heat to this dish. Michael and I don't like a lot of heat in our food and we eat this with no problem. If you like heat, you can always add more.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoon soy sauce , ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat.

Place in slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours or until done. My slow cooker cooks faster than some so is usually done in about 3 hours.

When done place chicken in a broiler proof dish. I usually use a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, water, and tomato paste, and remaining soy sauce.

Brush on chicken and cook under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until chicken is slightly crisp. But keep in eye on this while it is cooking under the broiler, things can cook quickly when broiling.

Just looking at this makes my mouth water.

I used to make this with assorted pieces of chicken but Michael likes dark meat more than white and I can eat either so I started using thighs, wings and legs. Then one day while we were at Sam’s Club, we noticed that they had great prices on chicken thighs (also on legs) so we now buy those to use in this dish.

The chicken made this way is moist and tender and by sticking it under the broiler (twice) the skin gets crisper than if it hadn’t been. There is a little Asian flavor to the sauce, due to the soy sauce and ginger, but it isn’t very strong so I would imagine even someone who isn’t fond of Asian food would still like this.

Labor Day Weekend Giveaway Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:25:00 +0000

The winner of the CookieBaker’s Corner 16 oz., thermal mug is Tangos Treasures. Congratulations Tango! As much as I would love to deliver this mug to you in person, I’ll have to let your letter carrier do so instead. I’ll get this in the mail ASAP.

Thanks to all of you for entering the giveaway….I wish I had a mug for each of you.

Labor Day Weekend Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:48:00 +0000

Because after all those lovely fall like mornings summer has returned with a vengeance, because I’m so over the hot, humid, record breaking temperatures of summer and long for the crisp cool mornings of fall and because I’ll do almost anything to avoid editing photos for my next two blog posts, I’ve decided to have a giveaway. What better time to give something away than the last official holiday of summer!

You can be the proud owner of a CookieBaker’s Corner tumbler! Hey, it’s very special; there are only two in the whole wide world. It’s made by Tervis, who have no idea who I am and has nothing to do with this giveaway. It’s manufactured in the USA, another thing that makes it special. It keeps hot drinks hot, cold drinks cold, comes with a lid, is dishwasher safe and has a lifetime guarantee. If anything happens to your tumbler, just contact Tervis and they’ll replace it. I do need to warn you that suntan lotion/oil will ruin the looks of the tumbler so be careful when using it while on the beach….if you’re lucky enough to be there.

Since today is such a hot day, and I’m too lethargic and lazy to work hard or make you work hard, I’ll make this easy….just post a comment, any comment, just make sure it’s G rated and you’ll be entered for a chance to win this beautiful, almost one of a kind tumbler. Since this is a Labor Day Weekend giveaway, the time to enter will be short….you have until 12:00 AM (Eastern, daylight savings time) Tuesday, September 4, 2011.

Keeps hot drinks hot. I know you can't tell by looking, but this is hot coffee.

Cold drinks cold

In case your are worried, you will be getting a new, never been used tumbler....the one in the pictures is mine.

Michael just asked me how I was going to get the tumbler to the winner…I told him I was going to mail it. Did he think I was going to hand deliver it? Well, if you live someplace really nice……

Mom's Baked Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:06:00 +0000

One of my favorite summer dishes is baked beans and whenever I think of baked beans, I think of my mom’s baked beans. Why it’s only in the summer that I think of these I’m not sure, unless that’s when Mom usually made them. Kind of like her chicken and dumplings, we only had those at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I like just about any kind of baked beans, but Mom’s always stand out….I’m not sure if it’s because she didn’t use doctored up pork and beans or what, but I’ve always thought they were better than most. I’ve actually heard people at our family reunions tell her that they didn’t normally like baked beans but did hers. This is another recipe that she didn’t have written down, but I helped her make them enough that I knew what the ingredients were, not difficult since there were only five, I just wasn’t sure of measurements. After a little trial and error, I think I’ve come up with her recipe.

Mom's Baked Beans

Print Recipe

1 lb Navy beans
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar, plus 1 tsp.
1 lb. bacon

1. Overnight soak: Rinse and sort beans in a large pot, add 6-8 cups cold water. Let stand overnight or at least 6-8 hours. Drain water and rinse again.

2. Cooking Directions: Add 6 cups of hot water to rinsed and drained beans. Simmer gently with lid tilted for 1 hour or until desired tenderness is reached.

3. Cook beans until done, but not soft (Should smash, with very little resistance, when squeezed between thumb and finger. It's easier for me to test the doneness by eating one.).

4. Preheat oven to 350

5. Mix beans with onion, brown sugar and ketchup. Place in a 9x13 pan. Cover with strips of bacon. Bake until bacon is crisp (about 30 min), stir (may want to taste and add more ketchup and/brown sugar, if needed). Add more bacon and bake again, follow above procedures until all bacon is used. I always remove any bacon that is kind of soft. If beans get a little dry, just add a little water.

Tips

For quick soak method, see instructions on bag of beans.

Equivalency: 1 cup of dry beans is approximately 2-1/2 to 3 cups cooked beans.

Author Notes
I cooked the beans for 1 hour may need to cook longer next time.
Make sure beans are done before adding ketchup...once ketchup is added the beans will stop cooking.

Use one pound of Navy Beans, that's what Mom always used. Can substitute Great Northern Beans.

Soak overnight in cold water.

Drain, rinse and drain again.

Simmer gently for 1 hour or until the beans reach the desired tenderness, then drain. It's important to make sure the beans are completely cooked at this point because once you add the ketchup, in spite of being in the oven for several hours, they will not continue to cook.

Combine, beans, onion, ketchup and brown sugar.

Slice one pound of bacon. Yes, I said one pound. I know that sounds like a lot, but that is the secret to the wonderful flavor of these beans. You aren't going to eat the whole pan (even though you may want to) and this is a dish that you probably won't prepare often, so just eat and enjoy. If you don't want to use a whole pound, you can probably get by with using 1/2 pound. I've always used a pound so don't know if this would change the flavor much.

Slice bacon into small pieces. My mom used to use the whole slices, but I find that the bacon cooks up better when in smaller pieces. To make cutting the bacon easier, wrap bacon in plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes. This makes the bacon hard enough that it can be chopped with a chefs knife, as finely as needed.

Place beans in a 9x13 inch pan and layer bacon on top.

Bake until bacon is crisp (approx. 30 minutes), stir bacon into beans, add another layer of bacon and bake, continue doing this until all the bacon is used. At some point during the baking process, you may want to taste the beans and add more ketchup and/or brown sugar according to your taste. My mom used a lot of brown sugar, she liked everything sweet. If the beans get too dry, mix in a little water. What I like to do is if I have an empty ketchup bottle, I keep that, add water to the bottle, shake and use that to thin out the beans.

If you don't have the time, or don't want to bother using dried beans, you can buy beans in cans or jars that are already cooked. Once in a while, in the days when it was just Mom and me living in the family home, she would get a craving for baked beans and she would whip up a batch using the canned. They were still good.

Whenever I make and eat these beans they remind me of Mom and how the house used to smell when they were baking away in the oven. They were always a must have at all our summer family gatherings.

Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:51:00 +0000

Where has the summer gone? I can’t believe it’s almost over! In spite of the record breaking heat and humidity of July, I still hate to see it end.

I know it’s been a few months since I’ve posted anything, and I do have a few recipes in the wings that just need to be worked on but once July hit, I had no energy, or desire, to cook, bake or blog. Now that we have some mornings where there is a little hint of fall in the air (my favorite time of the year) and we no longer have 98 degree days, with a heat index of over 100 degrees, I decided to get back to work. No sooner had the temperatures returned to normal and I was getting ready to get into some serious cooking and baking, I wrecked my bike and due to swollen, painful and scraped knees, not to mention the bruises (won’t even get into my bruised ego), I wasn’t up to getting back in the kitchen for a while. At my age, I don’t bounce back from accidents like I used to. Ok, whining is now over....time to get on with my recipe.

Since we are right in the middle of peach season and, even though Ohio isn’t known for peaches, we do have some lovely, delicious peaches that are ready for eating and baking. One of my favorite dishes to make this time of year is peach cobbler. The recipe that I make is actually one that my sister, Jean makes a lot and she has shared with me. It’s not what a lot of people know as a traditional cobbler, with a biscuit type topping, but one that has a sweet cake that rises up around the peach filling. As soon as my local farmers market had peaches, I bought several and started peeling, slicing and baking.

Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler
Print Recipe
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 dash salt
3/4 cup milk
5 cups fresh peaches, peeled cored and sliced (approx. 7 or 8)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Melt 1 stick butter in bottom of 9x13 inch pan and set aside
3. Mix together first five ingredients and pour into pan
4. Mix together peaches, sugar and cinnamon
5. Pour on top of batter and bake for approximately 35 minutes

Melt one stick of butter in baking dish.

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 dash salt (1/8 tsp.)

3/4 cup milk

Mix together first five ingredients.

Pour mixture into pan on top of the melted butter.

Mix together peaches, sugar and cinnamon.

Pour on top of batter and bake.

Here it is, Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler. The picture doesn't do the cobbler justice, I had a difficult time getting the lighting right but believe me, it looked wonderful!

My favorite way to eat peach cobbler.....serve warm and top with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!!!!

Angel Food Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Wed, 25 May 2011 23:14:00 +0000

I have to admit that I love rich, decadent, gooey desserts filled with caramel, chocolate and other ingredients that make them almost sinful. Every now and then I like to go a little simpler and that’s when I go to plain vanilla or chocolate ice cream, pound cake and angel food cake.

Lately I’ve been making a lot of potato soup, trying to perfect my mom’s recipe, and since her recipe calls for rivels, I’ve been using a lot of egg yolks which means I now have acquired a large supply of egg whites. In the past I would have just tossed the egg whites knowing that I would probably never use them, but lately I’ve been trying to be more thrifty and less wasteful so have been freezing the egg whites. I hadn’t thought much about what I would do with the abundance of egg whites that was quickly taking up valuable freezer space until one day when I started craving angel food cake.

I don’t believe I’ve ever eaten homemade angel food cake, when I go out to eat and if I have room, I go with one of those yummy rich desserts, I know I’ve never made one however, I did use a box mix to make one at least once or twice. I don’t remember my mom ever making one either, she didn’t do a whole of baking from scratch by the time I came around, although she must have years before because I have her tube pan. She and I usually just bought our angel food cakes from the supermarket, which really aren’t too bad. So I began my search for a recipe. I pulled out my old, old Betty Crocker cookbook, I always turn to the old faithful’s (Betty Crocker, Fannie Farmer or Joy of Cooking) at times like this and they rarely fail to provide me with instructions on basic cooking and baking. I began and ended my search with Betty Crocker; I not only found one but two recipes, not to mention several sponge cake recipes as well.

Angel Food Cake Deluxe
Printer Friendly Version

1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
12 egg whites, (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 teapoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Stir together flour and first amount of sugar; set aside.

2. In large mixer bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until foamy. Add second amount of sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating on high speed until meringue holds stiff peaks. Gently fold in flavorings. Sprinkle flour-sugar mixture 1/4 cup at a time over meringue, folding in gently just util flour-sugar mixture disappears. Push batter into an ungreased tube pan 10x4 inches. Gently cut through batter.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger. Invert tube pan on funnel, let hang until cake is completely cool.

Oven Temperature: 375°F

Source: Betty Crocker's Cookbook
Copyright: 1969 Twenty-first Printing 1974

I've had this cookbook for a long time, it's probably the first or second one I owned. My mother gave it to me when I was in high school or a year or two after I graduated so it would have been sometime in the mid to late 70's. The funny thing is, at that time I wasn't much into cooking so rarely used it but Mom did, she used it mostly for her apple and cherry pies. I hadn't looked at this book in several years and when I decided to make an angel food cake, pulled this one off of the bookcase to find a recipe. I got carried away by just looking through it....most of the recipes are recipes that require actual cooking with a few that require some type of pre-packaged addition. No microwave instructions at all, unlike so many of the newer cookbooks.

One cup cake flour.

1 and 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Stir together the flour and confectioners sugar.

Twelve egg whites.

Egg whites, cream of tartar and salt.

I know it isn't easy to see this, but the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt were beat until foamy.

Add the granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time and beat meringue on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. I know, I forgot to take a picture of the sugar being added because I'm just forgetful that way. I'm sure you can picture it yourself.

Isnt' this pretty? I think it is....I love how satiny, smooth and creamy it looks.

If you have a stand mixture, I highly recommend that you use that at this time. I used a good hand mixer and it took a long time for the mixture to form stiff peaks, I’m sure my stand mixer would have accomplished this much quicker.

I use "pure" vanilla and almond extracts....I just like them more than imitation.

Gently fold in flavorings and flour mixture. I’m not sure I can explain how to fold but I’ll try. I use a rubber spatula and gently cut into the middle of the meringue, go to the bottom of the bowl swiping the bottom and side as you pull up. I do this while turning the bowl each time…you don’t want to stir because that will cause the meringue to deflate. You want to keep as much air in the meringue as you can. I saw an America’s test kitchen that showed them using a balloon whisk to do this. You can search the internet and YouTube for instructions and videos that show this procedure. I’m constantly amazed at all cooking videos on YouTube.

This was my mom's tube/angel food cake pan. There are tube pans that come in one piece but I like this one because it is two pieces, it makes removing the cake much easier.

Still working gently, scrape the batter out of the mixing bowl and push into an ungreased tube pan. Take a knife and cut through the batter. I think I can explain this process a little better than folding, then again, maybe not. Insert the knife blade about halfway into the batter and drag the blade through the batter while turning the tube pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger.

Invert tube pan on funnel, let hang until cake is completely cool. If you don't have a funnel, you can use a glass bottle. Another thing I like about this tube pan is that it has these little legs on it eliminating the need to use a funnel.

Pay no attention to the reflection of that woman in the pan. Try as I might, I couldn't keep my image out of there so I guess you're stuck with it. If I had known this would have happend, I would have dressed better and done something with my hair.....scary, I know.

Once the cake has cooled, run a knife or metal spatuala around the rim of the pan (between the cake and the pan) and remove the cake. The third and final thing I like about this pan is that it makes it very easy to remove the cake. Once I run my spatual around the rim of the pan, I remove that and then run the spatula along the bottom (between the pan bottom and the cake) to loosen and remove.

Success....my very first Angel Food cake! I like to serve this with fruit or eat it just by itself. Today I took a bag of frozen strawberries, mashed them up a little and added some sugar...yum!

Potato Soup with Rivels

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:17:00 +0000

Potato soup is one of my favorite soups and I’ve had and enjoyed many kinds….baked potato, cheesy, cream of potato soup, etc., but my mom’s is still my favorite and up until the last six months or more, I had never made it. As with most of the dishes my mother made, she didn’t have a recipe for this so I needed to try to find something similar and go from there. My mom was a plain and simple cook, she didn’t use spices or any unusual ingredients so I knew that her soup wouldn’t be difficult to make but I just had to figure out the procedure….I already had some idea of what most of the ingredients were. I knew that she used potatoes, of course, onion, canned evaporated milk and seasoned it with salt. She also made something like a noodle or dumpling that she added to her soup that she made using eggs and flour. Other than that, I was clueless.

My search began with my sister Jean, she has made this potato soup before and I also had a recipe from someone I used to work with, that was similar, so I took some of what my sister told me and some of my coworkers recipe and combined them. Between these two recipes I had the ingredients and the procedures for the soup but couldn’t get the hang of making the rivels (Mom didn’t call them rivels and I can’t remember what she did call them, but that's the name that was used in most of the recipes I found) so I pressed on. I eventually found the instructions in and Amish recipe that I located in a regional cookbook that covered the northeastern part of the US, and also from a blog I follow and her recipe was from her German heritage…at last success!

Potato Soup with Rivels
Print Recipe
1 large onion, diced
8 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
water, enough to cover the potatoes and onions
salt to taste
2-3 cans evaporated milk, (12 ounces each)
1 stick butter

Rivels (Dumplings/Noodles)
4 egg yolks
1/2-3/4 cup flour

1. Dice onions and place in a large pot.
2. Peel and cut potatoes into bite sized cubes and put in pot with the onions.
3. Put enough water in the pan to just cover the potatoes and onions, add salt. Cook until the potatoes are tender.
4. DO NOT DRAIN WATER
5. Add evaporated milk. and butter. Cook and stir until thoroughly heated.
6. To make Rivels - Add flour to eggs and toss and stir until almost dry. Mixture looks like small dumplings/noodles. Gradually drop mixture into the soup. Cook for about five minutes, until the Rivels are done, stirring frequently.
7. Add more salt if desired.

Tips:
If you like thicker soup, add leftover mashed potatoes or instant mashed potatoes until soup reaches the desired consistency.
When adding instant potatoes, under cook potatoes a little then add the instant potatoes after the milk and butter and before adding the rivels. Cook until the soup thickens.
Can add chunks of ham.
This makes a lot of soup so unless you like leftovers or are feeding several people, you may want to cut this recipe in half.

Put chopped onion in a large saucepan or dutch oven.

Add potatoes

Cover potatoes with water.

Add salt. I know this looks like a lot but it really isn't, I still needed to add more later.

Cook potatoes until tender, do not drain, leave the water in the pan and add 2 to 3 cans of evaporated milk. If adding instant potatoes as a thickener, under cook the potatoes a little because the soup will need to cook a little longer.

Add 1 stick of butter cook until thoroughly heated.

I don't normally use instant potatoes since I prefer making my mashed potatoes from the real thing. A friend told me that she really likes this brand because they taste just like fresh, she even served them for Thanksgiving and couldn't tell the difference. So I decided to use them in the soup and they worked great. Guess I'll continue to keep a box on hand just for this purpose.

My mother never added any type of thickener to her soup, but Michael likes his thicker so I decided to try adding some instant mashed potatoes. I had read that you can use mashed potatoes or instant mashed potatoes to thicken soups. I used about a half cup of instant potatoes and cooked until the soup was nice and creamy looking. If you like an even thicker soup, just add more until you reach the desired consistency.

While the soup is cooking make the rivels. "What are rivels you ask?", they remind me a little of a noodle or chewy dumpling...not chewy in a bad way. My mother always added them to her potato soup and I do too, I like the different texture it adds to the soup. If you don't want to add them, they can be omitted but I would suggest you try them at least once. You'll need four egg yolks for this, be sure to separate the eggs while the eggs are still cold. If you don't want to use the egg whites right away, freeze them for later use....once I had enough, I made an angel food cake.

Add flour to eggs and toss until almost dry. I added 1/4 cup of flour here.

At this point I have added another 1/4 cup of flour making it a total of 1/2 cup. The yolks are still very wet and the mixture is still too sticky.

I added another 1/4 cup of flour for a total of 3/4 cup and it was just right. I was using the yolks from large eggs so if you use smaller or larger eggs, the amount of flour you need to use may be different. The mixture should still be a little damp but not sticky. At this point you'll have to use your "clean" hands to finish making the rivels.

Gradually stir in rivel mixture, add everything even any flour that may not have mixed into the rivels. Simmer for at least another 5 minutes. Add salt to taste...I even like to add a little pepper.

And here it is, potato soup like my mom used to make.....only a little creamier with the addition of the instant mashed potatoes. I like to just sit down with a bowl of this warm tasty soup and enjoy it on it's own or sometimes make a grilled cheese sandwich, but my favorite way to eat it is the way we ate it at my mom's kitchen table, with bread and butter. Mmmmmm it's so good and comforting!

I love this potato soup made just like this but one day I decided to try adding chicken broth to the soup instead of the water. I had just made a large pot of stock so added that to the potatoes in place of the water and then made the soup according to the rest of the directions. At first Michael and I didn’t care for it because it changed the flavor a little…well, it didn’t taste like Mom’s soup. Naturally, with the chicken stock it had a much richer flavor. The next day I reheated it and we loved it….strange but true. Now we don’t know which we like the best so I’m thinking it’s time for a potato soup cook off, I’m going to have to make both soups at the same time and have a taste test. We’ll have to invite family and friends over because, as much as we like potato soup, even we can’t eat that much.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Sun, 15 May 2011 02:36:00 +0000

Several months ago I saw a post on FaceBook about a giveaway on the blog A Well Seasoned Life, for the chance to win one of two Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. In spite of being the kind of person who never wins anything, I decided to take a chance and entered hoping to win either of the cookbooks. I didn’t need either one but I’m of the belief that one can never have too many cookbooks, although if you saw my house, you might say that isn’t true……I do have a lot of cookbooks. I love books, I love to read, and I love to read cookbooks, I read cookbooks the same way I would sit and read a novel. Anyway, much to my surprise, a few weeks after I posted a comment to win one of the books, I was contacted by Kim of A Well Seasoned Life, telling me that I had won one of the cookbooks, Mom’s Very Best Recipes. Several weeks later I received my new cookbook and immediately sat down and perused the book, placing little sticky notes all through it for recipes that I would like to try.

A few days ago I took some chicken backs and other chicken parts that I had frozen after cutting up a couple of chickens, and decided to make some stock. I just have to say that there is nothing better than homemade stock, if you’ve never made it before; you should give it a try….it’s really very easy to do. I know there are some good stocks in the supermarkets and I use them frequently but once you’ve made your own, you’ll know the difference. Ok, enough said on that subject. I couldn’t decide what to do with the stock, didn’t really want to freeze it, had made chicken and noodle soup a few weeks ago and didn’t want to make that again, would love to have some chicken and dumplings but Michael doesn’t care for that, so eventually decided to make soup. While I was trying to decide what kind of soup to make, it was suggested that I make chicken tortilla soup. Well, that sounded good but I had never made it before and needed to find a recipe. Suddenly, a light bulb goes on in my head (Believe me, that doesn’t happen very often, especially now that I’m retired…not a whole lot of thinking going on up there now days.), I should go through my new cookbook to see if I can find a recipe there. So I reached for Mom’s Very Best Recipes and actually found one.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Print Recipe

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups cooked chicken, diced

2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes, drained

1 16-oz can corn, drained

1 16-oz can pinto or red beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/3 cup salsa

2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix

Garnish suggestions: sour cream, shredded Mexican-blend cheese, corn or tortilla chips

1. Combine all ingredients except garnish, in a stockpot over medium heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Top individual portions with desired garnishes.

3. While soup is simmering, make some crunchy tortilla strips toppers. Brush or spray olive oil over both sides of flour tortillas. Cut tortillas into narrow strips and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes, turning once or twice, until crisp and golden.

Servings: 6-8

My Notes

I didn't have cooked chicken so took two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and poached them in the chicken broth for 30 minutes. It came to a little more than two cups but I used it all anyway.

Since all the companies are now down sizing their products (Who do they think they're, fooling?) it isn't possible to purchase the size cans listed in the ingredients. Just purchase the next size, which is generally about 1/2 ounce smaller than called for, they work just fine.

The recipe doesn't call for it, but you may want to add salt and pepper to taste.

The soup is very mild, if you want more heat, use a hotter salsa, add jalapeno peppers or whatever pepper and/or spice you desire.

If you like to crumble up crackers in your soup, try using tortilla or corn chips instead, it's very good.

This is the cookbook that I won....lucky me!

Two cups chicken

Two cans diced tomatoes

On can of corn

One can pinto beans, can use red beans or even a combination of the two.

Salsa - I used a medium hot salsa because Michael doesn't like a lot of heat. I thought it could have used a hot salsa and may try that next time.

Taco mix seasoning

Add ingredients to the 4 cups of chicken broth and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

While soup is simmering prepare the tortilla strips by brushing or spraying olive oil on both sides of flour tortillas and then cutting the tortillas into thin stips.

Place on a baking sheet and

bake at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes, turning once or twice until crisp and golden.

Garnish with tortilla strips, sour cream and cheese.

This was a good soup…a little on the mild side for my taste but as I said earlier, Michael doesn’t like a lot of heat. It can easily be made hotter by changing the salsa, adding peppers and other spice, whatever suits your tastes. I would imagine the milder soup would be more appealing to children since many of them don’t care for hot and spicy food. I like the fact that it was super easy to prepare…..a great recipe when you’re either in a hurry to get a meal on the table or just tired and don’t want to have to spend a lot of time preparing dinner.

Thanks Kim of A Well Seasoned Life and Gooseberry Patch for giving me this wonderful cookbook. I can’t wait to try more of the recipes.

Slow Cooker Rotisserie Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Can you really make a rotisserie chicken in a slow cooker? That’s what I asked myself after seeing a recipe on how to do this. I quickly forgot about making a chicken in the slow cooker until last week, when I saw a video on YouTube showing someone doing this. It looked interesting and, since I like using my slow cooker and would like to use it more often, I decided to make one of my own. Fortunately, Giant Eagle had roasting chickens on sale this week, two for the price of one, so I decided to purchase a couple to test this process.

Slow Cooker Chicken

Printable Recipe

This chicken is moist and tender, just like rotisserie chicken. The skin doesn’t get crisp like rotisserie chicken but we don’t normally eat the skin anyway. If you want a nice brown and crisp skin, just bake the chicken in a 350 degree oven long enough for the skin to crisp up. There will be a lot of rich broth in the bottom of the slow cooker which can be used to make gravy.

1 4-5 pound whole chicken
oil or cooking spray
Seasoned salt
garlic powder
pepper
marjoram
aluminum foil

Rinse and pat dry chicken.
Spray slow cooker with cooking spray.
Spray or coat entire surface of chicken with oil.
Spread generous amounts of seasoned salt, garlic powder, pepper and marjoram in the cavity and on the outside of the chicken.
Make four or five aluminum foil balls and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Place chicken on top of the aluminum foil balls. This keeps the chicken out of the drippings.
Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 6 hours.

Notes:
1) If you are using a larger slow cooker, you can use a larger chicken. My chicken was about 6 1/2 pounds and fit snuggly in my 6 quart slow cooker.
2) Use any seasonings you wish, the ones listed are just what I had on hand.
3) Know your slow cooker - if you have a newer model it will probably cook at a higher temperature than an older one, so the chicken may not take 6 hours to cook. I suggest checking the chicken after about 3 hours. Mine was done in about 3 1/2 hours. Chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

One roasting chicken - I was using a larger slow cooker so I could fit a nice sized chicken in it. The chicken I used was approximately 6 1/2 pounds.

The seasonings I chose were, marjoram, garlic power, pepper and seasoned salt. I wanted to use onion powder but didn't have any. Guess I need to make another Penzey's run...bummer. :) Feel free to use whatever seasoning you like.

After rinsing and patting dry the chicken, season liberally making sure to put some inside the cavity as well. I also seasoned the back.

Place four or five aluminum foil balls in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Place chicken on top of the aluminum foil. This will keep the chicken from sitting in the drippings.

I checked the chicken after about 3 1/2 hours, mostly because Michael went into the kitchen and commented on how the chicken was cooking, and was glad I did because it was done.

The drippings in the bottom of the slow cooker. I think I left a wing or two behind.

I was surprised at all the nice rich drippings I did get. After removing that top layer of fat, I used it to make some delicious gravy.

The chicken was very good, moist and tender and as I said earlier the drippings made yummy gravy. As you can see by the picture, the chicken doesn’t get that nice brown crispy skin that is on the rotisserie chickens we buy, but that wasn’t a problem for us since we don’t eat the skin. If you want a crisper skin, put the chicken in the oven for a few minutes until the skin is browned to your liking.

At first I was a little upset that my chicken was done so early but later decided that it actually worked out for the best. I had the meat removed and sliced, the carcass and other parts of the chicken dealt with (in the freezer to make stock later). When dinner time arrived, all I had to do was put some chicken in a baking dish (I also put a small amount of chicken broth in too to keep it from drying out), cover and put in the oven to warm up, make some mashed potatoes and the gravy. Needless to say, we enjoyed it immensely. I will definitely make this again!

Fruit Cake Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:58:00 +0000

Fruit Cake cookies in March…seriously? Shouldn’t I be making something more on the lines of a spring or Easter recipe? Wouldn’t Fruit Cake cookies be something that we would be more likely to make around Christmas? After all that is the time of year that we think of fruit cake….if we think of it at all. As a matter of fact, I did receive this recipe in December but never got around to making it. Besides, even though it’s March 30, it’s 31 degrees and snowing so it feels more like Christmas than Easter.

You may remember that last December I discovered that Michael liked fruit cake so I was trying to find some tried and true recipes…with no luck. I did, however, receive two recipes for fruit cake cookies. One I got from the King Arthur Flour Company called Fruitcake Drops, which I did make, and they were delicious and the other from my cousin Jill. This post is about the recipe for Fruit Cake cookies that she sent me.

The recipe Jill sent me had two different lists of ingredients, the recipe as she originally received it and the other with the adjustments she made. Since she is a very good cook and baker, and I trust her opinion, I went with her list. So, since I still had some leftover candied and dried fruit, I decided to make Jill's Fruit Cake Cookies.

Fruit Cake Cookies
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup candied cherries
1 1/2 cups dates and/or figs, chopped
1/2 cup candied pineapple
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

Cream butter and sugar until light.
Add egg and beat until well blended.
Reserving a little of the flour to toss with the fruit, combine remaining flour with the salt and baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.
Toss fruit with the reserved flour.
Fold in the floured fruit and chopped pecans.
Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches between cookies.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-13 minutes, depending on size of cookies
Let sit on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before removing to rack to cool completely
Makes from 3-5 dozen fruit cake cookies.
Store in an airtight container.

Butter and sugar

Cream butter and sugar until light.

Add egg

Beat until well blended

After removing a little of the flour to toss with the fruit, combine the remaing flour with the salt and baking soda.

Alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the dough.

Toss fruit with reserved flour. Isn't that pretty?

Fold nuts and fruit into dough.

Dough is ready to drop onto greased baking sheets. Or better still, use parchment or Silpat liners.

I 've been using rolls of parchment that I buy at the supermarket, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc., until recently. I was in a GFS store the other day and found a large package of parchment sheets. The sheets are for full sized baking sheets (used in professional kitchens) but I cut them in half for a normal/half sized (what you and I use) baking sheet. So, if there is a GFS near you, I recommend buying your parchment from them..... much easier than dealing with the rolls of parchment.

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches between cookies. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-13 minutes, depending on size of cookies. Let sit on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before removing.

Finish cooling on a wire rack. This is another thing I like about using parchment, all you have to do is lift the parchment from the baking sheet onto the rack...cookies and all.

These cookies were a little different than the ones I made in December…a little more of a cake cookie, not as chewy. Even though different, they were still very good. Michael showed his approval by grabbing a plate of cookies, a glass of cold milk and retiring to the living room…the plate was returned empty.

Which do we like best? It’s hard to say they are both good but different, one had a cake like texture and the other was chewy. I may be having a fruit cake cookie bakeoff in December.

Chicken Lo Mein

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:36:00 +0000

I love Chinese food! It isn’t something that I’ve always enjoyed....it took some getting used to and a little trial and error, but eventually I liked it and now even crave it from time to time. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm a gal from the midwest and, while growing up, our meals consisted mostly of meat and potatoes so Chinese food was not something that fit in with our meal plan. I remember the first time I tried Chinese food, I hated it....wouldn't, couldn't even finish my meal. But after a few times of going to Chinese restaurants and trying different dishes, I finally found a few that I liked. Now, after several years, I have a large list of dishes that I enjoy.

I have three favorite restaurants that I frequent but lately all of them have failed me. The last three or four times I’ve been to these restaurants the food has been horrible! So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and attempt to prepare one of my favorite dishes myself. Chicken Lo Mein is a recent addition to my favorite Chinese dishes and hoping that it would be easy to make, I went online and searched until I found one that looked good and easy.

Chicken Lo Mein
Print Recipe

1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
Marinade
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry (I used Mirin - sweet cooking rice seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Sauce
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
3/4 teaspoon sugar
Other
1/2 pound Chinese noodles
1 cup thin carrot strips (about 1 carrot)
1-8 ounce can straw mushrooms (I'm slicing these next time)
3 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil for stir-frying, or as needed
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
Salt and pepper to taste, if desired

Cut the chicken into thin strips about 2 inches long. Add the soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, sesame oil and the cornstarch. Marinate the chicken for 20 minutes.

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the other ingredients: Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Cook the noodles in boiling water until they are cooked al dente (tender but still firm). This will take about 3 minutes for fresh noodles, and 4-5 minutes for dried. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again.

Cut the carrot into thin strips to match the chicken. Rinse the straw mushrooms under running water to remove any "tinny" taste. Drain Thoroughly.

In a large frying/saute pan or wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high to high. Add the garlic, stir-fry for a few seconds until aromatic, then add the chicken. Stir-fry the chicken until it changes color and is 80 percent cooked. (If you need more oil, try adding 1 tablespoons water). Remove the chicken and clean out the pan.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil and the salt in the wok. Add the carrots and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 1 minutes, then add the chicken. Add noodles, stirring to mix in the other ingredients. Add the sauce into the pan, mixing with the other ingredients.

Cook for 2 more minutes. Taste and add salt or pepper if desired. Serve hot.

Yield: 4 servings

Notes:
Spaghetti or linguini can be used instead of the Chinese noodles.

If you don't like the whole straw mushrooms, slice them. If you don't want or can't find the straw mushrooms just use a can of regular. Can also use fresh mushrooms.

Sliced boneless skinless chicken breast - 1/2 pound.

Ingredients for marinade.

The Marinade: soy sauce, Chinese rice wine (Mirin), sesame seed oil and cornstarch in a bowl...I used a pie pan.

Chicken combined with the marinade.

Remaining ingredients...except for the noodles.

Oyster sauce.

The Sauce: chicken broth, oyster sauce and sugar.

I wanted to use authentic Chinese Lo Mein Noodles so I drove (about a 40 minute drive) to Jungle Jim's International Market (a favorite place to shop) in order to buy some. Had to laugh when I found them in their Asian section and saw, in the lower right hand corner, the words, Made in the USA. I guess we still do make a few things here, just surprised that it's Chinese noodles.

These are the "authentic" Chinese noodles, if you can't find them, substitute spaghetti or linguini.

Boil noddles for 4-5 minutes. Should be tender but firm (al dente).

Straw mushrooms....I've never seen these before. If you can't find them, substitute regular canned mushrooms or fresh. When using canned, rinse and drain well.

I forgot to take a picture of this, but you need cut carrot into thin strips.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high to high heat. Add chopped garlic, stir-fry for a few seconds.

Add marinated chicken and stir-fry until almost completely cooked. Remove from pan and clean out pan (wipe with a clean cloth or towel).

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil, add salt. Add the carrots and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 1 minute.

Add the chicken.

Then add the noodles and stir to mix in. Add the sauce, stirring to mix in with the other ingredients. Cook for 2 more minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.

Now you're ready to serve!

This was very good! Michael and I both agreed that it was better than any of the Chinese meals that we’ve had in a long time.

Now that my first attempt at making Chinese is a success, I’ll be looking for more dishes to try. Anyone have a good egg roll recipe?

Maryland Style Crab Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:27:00 +0000

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I’ve posted about crab cakes before. First, I tried a mix from Williams Sonoma and then made crab cakes from a recipe that I found in a regional cookbook, which Michael and I both like a lot. I’ve heard a lot about Maryland crab cakes but have never had them before so decided to find a recipe and give that one a try. I found this recipe on the FaceBook fan page of CrabPlace.com. I’ve had this recipe for a few months and decided to wait until I was at Michael’s to prepare it since he is a huge crab cake fan. I planned to make these when I first arrived but unfortunately, I had a run in with a patch of ice and the ice won and I was out of commission for several weeks. The older we are the harder we fall. Today was the first day in over two weeks that I felt like spending time in the kitchen so I got busy and made up for lost time by making crab cakes and Garlic-Herb Mac & Cheese.

Maryland Style Crab Cakes
Print Recipe
4 slices white bread
1 cup milk
2 pounds jumbo lump crab meat
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons seafood seasoning (I use Old Bay)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (if using dried parsley flakes, use approx. 1 tablespoon)
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
juice of ½ lemon
salt and pepper, to taste
2 eggs, beaten
oil for frying (I sometimes like to use a combination olive oil and butter)

Put bread in bowl, pour milk over it and soak 15 minutes. Squeeze bread fairly dry in your fist, transfer it to a large bowl and break it into crumbs with two forks. Add crab meat, mayonnaise, mustard, seafood seasoning, baking powder and parsley and stir until well mixed. Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and stir and taste for seasoning. Stir in beaten eggs. Crab cake mixture can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerated. To finish, divide mixture into 16 parts and shape into cakes about 1/2-inch thick. (Work gently so cakes are light.) In a large frying pan heat oil and fry half the cakes over brisk heat until golden, about 2 minutes. Turn and brown the other side. Add more oil to the pan and fry remaining cakes.

Approximately 16 crab cakes (depends on how large/small you make them).

Recipe can easily be halved.

**I like to make the crab cakes about an hour in advance and put them in the fridge prior to frying. It helps them to keep from falling apart while frying.

Pour milk over bread and soak for 15 minutes.

Squeeze bread fairly dry in your fist, transfer it to a large bowl and break it into crumbs with two forks.

Add crab

Add mustard and mayonnaise

Then add baking soda, seafood seasoning (I used Old Bay) and parsley. Stir until well mixed.

Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and stir and taste for seasoning.

Stir in beaten eggs. Once the mixture is prepared you can either cover the bowl and store in the the fridge for up to four hours or form into cakes.

Divide mixture into 16 cakes. After I've done this, I like to cover the platter and put in the fridge for about an hour. I find this helps to keep them from falling apart while frying.

Fry on both sides until golden.

These crab cakes are very different from the ones that I’ve been making and Michael and I both liked them. Now we aren’t sure which we like the best. Guess I’ll have to prepare both recipes on the same day and have a taste test. I'm sure Michael won't object to this. :)

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:31:00 +0000

I must have at least 100 cookbooks, countless cooking magazines, clippings from other magazines, newspapers, print outs from web sites and, let’s not forget, tons of recipes that I have saved to my computer as well. But, sometimes I can’t find any better recipes than what is on the box, bag or can of some of my favorite products, for example: Libby’s Pumpkin Pie, Nestlé’s Tollhouse Cookies and the recipe I used today, Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

It’s another dark dreary cold day in January, it’s the middle of winter and here in Ohio, it seems like we’ve had nothing but snow and below average temperatures since early December. I was stuck inside and craving something comforting and sweet…..I wanted to bake something, preferably cookies, and after all the fancier, more time intensive cooking and baking of the holidays, wanted something simple so decided on oatmeal cookies. I pulled out a couple of cookbooks and, even though the recipes looked good, decided to go to the old reliable recipe on the lid of the Quaker Oats.

I know, it’s January and it’s an unwritten rule that we are all supposed to be on diets, trying to shed the weight we gained over the holidays…and I do plan to work on that…..eventually. As I said earlier, it’s been terribly cold and the extra pounds help keep me warm, kind of like insulation, so I really need them right now. Besides, if you don’t count the two sticks of butter, all the sugar and the white flour, these are actually kind of healthy…..oats and raisins are healthy….right? Hey, it works for me....doesn't have to make sense while in the middle of a cookie craving…..so let’s press on.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Print Recipe

1/2 pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
Stir in oats and raisins; mix well
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

Makes about 4 dozen

The recipe for these cookies is under the lid. I use the old fashioned oats because that's what I usually have on hand...my favorite style to eat.

Here's a hint, you may already know this but in case you don't..... When measuring out dry ingredients, place a piece of parchment or waxed paper under where you are measuring so that any flour, sugar, etc., that happens to fall ont the counter can easily be placed back in the container.

I like to measure and combine my dry ingredients first.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and set aside. I like to use a whisk...it does a nice job of mixing the dry ingredients.

Firmly packed brown sugar.

Beat together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. When baking, you should always use eggs that are room temperature. I always set mine out, along with my butter, for about 30 minutes or more (depends on how warm/cold your house is) before I need them. If I forget, I place the uncracked eggs in a warm bowl of water for several minutes.

Add combined flour and mix well.

Stir in oats and raisins, mix well.

Dough is now ready to drop onto cookie sheet.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I use a cookie scoop...mines a little larger than one tablespoon. I usually put parchment on my cookie sheets or use a Silpat liner.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave baked cookies on cookie sheet for one minute and then transfer to a rack to cool. Make sure the cookie sheet is completely cool before putting more dough on it...this helps to avoid spreading. I sometimes stick the sheet in the fridge to speed up the cooling.

We have cookies!

Ok...so the whole time I was in the kitchen measuring and mixing ingredients Michael was in the living room watching TV.

This is how he watches TV most of the time, unless he's watching Ohio State play football or basketball. Fortunately, he has a DVR and can play back what he misses...sometimes he has to play it back several times before actually seeing a whole program. :)

Anyway, once he smelled baked cookies he awoke....funny how the smell of food always wakes him up. Of course, he couldn't wait until the cookies cooled....before I knew it, a glass of cold milk made an appearance and I was missing several cookies....I'm lucky I had cookies left to photograph. They were good though! Hope that if you make the Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, that you enjoy them as much as we did.

Fruitcake Drops

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 02:55:00 +0000

Around Thanksgiving I learned something disturbing about Michael….he likes Fruitcake and Mincemeat Pie. I can’t believe I’ve known him for over two years and didn’t know this. Did he tell me this and I forgot, or did he omit this information? If I had known these were two of his favorite foods would I have continued to date him…would it have been a deal breaker? Too late to do anything about it now…….Ha, ha, ha. Seriously, I didn’t know that anyone under the age of 80 liked Mincemeat Pie….the last time I even saw one was when I was 10 years old and one mincemeat pie would be made at Thanksgiving and Christmas because my grandmother loved it. As for Fruitcake…well, I’m sure we’ve all heard the stories about that so I don’t need to repeat them here. Enough about Mincemeat pie, I’ll save that for another post. Today it’s all about Fruitcake, or rather Fruitcake Cookies.

Most of the time I try to cook and bake things that I know Michael will like so when he told me that he liked Fruitcake, I had no idea what to do…I’ve never made it before and only tasted it a few times. So I asked around for fruitcake recipes….all I heard was the sound of silence….guess no one else likes Fruitcake either, or maybe they do but just buy it rather than make it. Or maybe no one wants to admit that they like it. I had always heard and read that it took weeks or even months to make a fruitcake…first you bake the cake then you spend the remaining time soaking it in alcohol. If that was the case, that was out…I didn’t have the time and wasn’t sure, since neither of us care for alcohol, that we would like that. Not long after I began my search I received an email newsletter from the King Arthur Flour Company that had a link to a recipe for Fruitcake Drops…they looked interesting, wouldn’t take months to make and I do like making cookies, so I decided to try it.

Their recipe includes a lot of the products that they sell, which I didn’t order; I just used what I could find locally. The next time I make these, I may order some of their products to see it makes any difference in the taste and texture of this cookie. I’ve posted the recipe the way I made it and am also including a link to the original recipe.

Fruitcake Drops
Print Recipe
King Arthur Flour Fruitcake Drops

1/2 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup cherry concentrate
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
9 cups chopped dried/candied fruit...I used candied cherries, candied pineapple, dried dates and dried apricots.

1) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease (or better yet, line with parchment) a couple of baking sheets.

2) In a large bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, salt, and baking powder till smooth.

3) Add the eggs, and beat till smooth and creamy.

4) Add the rum and cherry concentrate and mix, scraping the sides of the bowl. The batter will appear curdled; that's OK.

5) Add the spices and the flour. Mix till smooth.

6) Stir in the fruit. The batter will be heavy and sticky; this is best done in a stand mixer, or using a heavy spoon and lots of muscle power.

7) Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, or a spoon, scoop out balls of dough about the size of a ping pong ball. Space them on the baking sheets, leaving about 1" to 1 1/2" between them; they won't spread much.

8) Bake the cookies for 20 to 22 minutes. They'll appear fairly set, but may still be very slightly shiny/wet looking when you remove them from the oven. The bottoms will be lightly browned.

9) Let the cookies cool, then loosen them from the parchment or pan using a spatula.

10) Store at room temperature up to several weeks, in an airtight canister in layers, with parchment or waxed paper between the layers to keep the cookies from sticking to one another. For longer storage, freeze.

Yield: about 5 1/2 dozen cookies.

Mix butter, brown sugar, salt and baking powder until smooth. How do you like the pretty blue bowl? I had to use our plastc chip bowl because I wasn't sure our large mixing bowl would be large enough.

Add eggs and beat until smooth and creamy.

1/4 cup rum...can use bourbon, brandy or apple juice.

1/4 cup cherry concentrate....can use boiled cider, or apple juice concentrate.

Add liquor and cherry concentrate and mix, scraping sides of the bowl.

Ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Add the spices and flour to the liquid mixture......

mix until smooth.

Nine cups of candied and dried fruit. I used mostly candied fruit but think next time I'll use a little less candied and more dried....I'm sure it would be a little better for us. To keep the fruit from sticking to your kitchen shears and measuring cup, spray with cooking spray.

Stir in the fruit. The directions said it was best to mix using a stand mixer because the batter would be heavy and sticky. I used a wooden spoon and didn't have any trouble...I've had a more difficult time hand mixing dough for chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies.

I lined my cookie sheets with parchment paper, I love parchment paper..... the only thing better than this are my Silpat liners but I left them at home. Using a tablespoon cookie scoop or spoon, scoop out dough. Place about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet....I use half sheet baking pans and could get 12 on each sheet.

Bake for 20-22 minutes.

The finished product. By the time I got the cookies baked and cooled I had lost a lot of my natural light so I put a plastic container over in front of the patio door and placed the cookies there. The lighting wasn't the best but was better than it would have been in the kitchen.

The verdict....I liked these cookies and that's saying a lot considering I'm not a fruitcake fan. Michael liked them too....not only did he tell me that he did but proved it by sitting down with a glass of cold milk and eating at least six before they had time to get completely cool. Looks like I'll be making these again.

Pumpkin Chip Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Cookiebaker) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 01:42:00 +0000

This time of year I’m all about all things pumpkin…I love pumpkin and have many recipes that include pumpkin in the ingredients. This happens to be one of my favorite recipes because #1 it contains pumpkin, lots of cinnamon and it’s a muffin recipe. Muffins are easy to make and are great for breakfast, brunch, coffee or tea breaks or simply a snack. I discovered this recipe several years ago while searching for recipes on the King Arthur Flour site and if you like to bake as much as I do, you really should take a look at this site. Not only do they have a lot of recipes, there is also a store where you can purchase ingredients, bake ware, etc.….there is also a friendly online community where you can share recipes, discuss baking and get loads of help if you need it.

So, let’s move on to the recipe……..

Pumpkin Chip Muffins
Print Recipe

Muffins
1 2/3 cups flour
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chocolate chips or cinnamon chips
1/4 cup toffee flavored chips (optional)
1/2 cup diced walnuts or pecans - I sometimes omit the nuts.
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup melted butter, melted vegetable shortening or 1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) (half of a 15-ounce can)
1/3 cup water

Glaze*
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon milk
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (1/8 to 1/4)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Stir in the chips of your choice. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted fat, eggs, pumpkin and water. Make a well in the dry ingredients, fill it with the liquid ingredients, and mix vigorously until everything is well blended, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as you go.

Spoon the batter into the lightly greased or paper-lined cups of a 12-cup muffin pan. The muffin cups should be filled quite full, using a generously rounded 1/4-cup of batter for each muffin. Bake the muffins in a preheated 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven; let them cool for 5 minutes, then transfer them from the pan to a rack to cool completely. Just before serving, stir together the glaze ingredients, and drizzle over the muffins.

Yield: 12 muffins.

*Although these muffins are wonderful with the glaze, I've made them without and they are still delicious.

I usually use just the cinnamon chips, toffee chips and omit the nuts.
I use 1/4 tsp. cinnamon in the glaze.
If the glaze is too stiff, add more milk. If it's too runny add a little more confectioners' sugar.

I like to buy the whole nutmeg and grate it myself....the whole nutmeg has a longer shelf life than the grated.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.

Cinnamon chips.....these may be a little difficult to find. Hershey's makes cinnamon chips and they can be found in some supermarkets but I prefer to either buy mine at the local bulk food store or online at King Arthur Flour....the chips from these two places are mini and seem to melt into the batter a little better than the regular sized chips. Another online source for cinnamon chips is The Prepared Pantry, although I've never ordered from there yet.

There are two different types of toffee chips, You can either get the plain toffee chips, I can't remember who makes them, or the Heath Bar Toffee Bits. I think I like the Heath Bar Bits best because they are covered in milk chocolate.....you get two different flavors in this one.

Add chips to the dry ingredients.

Stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted fat, eggs, pumpkin and water. If you are wondering why my pumpkin is such a light color, it's because I used fresh pumpkin puree instead of canned.

Make a well in the dry ingredients, fill it with the liquid ingredients, and mix vigorously until everything is well blended.

Since I'm making these for Thanksgiving, I wanted to use some fall themed cupcake liners. Aren't they cute?

Spoon the batter into the lightly greased or paper-lined cups of a 12-cup muffin pan. The muffin cups should be filled quite full, using a generously rounded 1/4-cup of batter for each muffin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Now you can stop here and these muffins will be delicious but to take them over the top, make the glaze.

I had these on the cooling rack and caught Michael trying to sneek one....I told him he couldn't have one yet because they needed to cool, have glaze put on them and I needed to take photos of the finished product.

Mix together; butter, confectioners sugar, milk and cinnamon.

And here is the finished product. These are moist and light textured and full of flavor and they go great with a glass of cold milk....ask Michael, he knows, he's had three already.