Nativities & Quiche (huh?)

First things first - 25 Days of Christmas 
9. Do you have a nativity displayed through the holidays?

Absolutely - it's the first thing I put out every year!

(I think I'll be moving the 25 Days to the end of my posts from now on - just finding the transitions a bit awkward when it's at the top.) :-)

Last night I made quiche for dinner and I doubled the recipe so I could freeze a couple for when things start to get crazy over the next few weeks. This is an awesome recipe - but, then again, it has bacon in it so how could it be bad?! 

And without further ado, here ya go....

Quiche Loraine!

And I got it from an old, old church cookbook.  Aren't those the best?!

Good for breakfast or dinner or whenever.

Linking up at Life in Grace and here. 

Date-Nut-Apalooza!

25 Days Of Christmas - #7. What's your favorite holiday tradition?

On Christmas Eve, Santa comes to the house and passes out presents WHILE WE ARE AWAKE!!!  When we were kids, we couldn't wait for Santa to show up, but then it got to be even more fun as a grown up and being able to watch the kids and their reactions when Santa knocks on the door, and then gives them the one present that they really, really, really want more than anything.  It's the BEST - just look at that face!

Another one of our Christmas traditions is making date nut candies.  There are two recipes that you almost cannot have Christmas without:  Date Nut Balls and Date Nut Loaf.  Both of them are old family recipes.  I was looking for them this year and ran across my grandmother's old 'recipe book'.

It's falling apart, but isn't that amazing?! It's chock full o' yumminess, and if you're not hungry, then you can even find a recipe for blue hydrangeas. (When left alone, our soil only grows pink hydrangeas.)

Are you ready for Date-Nut-Apalooza? Is there anything better than dates, pecans (pronounced puh-kahns, not pee-cans), and sugar? I think not! Can you handle it?!  Buckle up, here we go...

Date Nut Balls

OMG!  These are my favorite - of all time!

(Hint:  Oleo is margarine, or you can use butter)

And, the second act...

DATE NUT LOAF

OMG!  This is my favorite... of all time! (notice a pattern?)

Here's the secret handshake (a.k.a. a modernized translation) for success with this recipe:

Boil 3 cups of sugar, 3 tablespoons Karo Syrup, and 1 1/2 cups whole milk until it reaches the soft ball stage.  Stir in 8-ounce package of chopped dates.  Continue to boil and do not stir again until it reaches the firm ball stage.  Remove from heat and fold in 1 cup shredded coconut, 1 cup pecan pieces, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Pour onto waxed paper, form roll/loaf, and allow to cool before slicing.

I would LOVE to show you a picture of this one, but I got distracted and burned the sugar.  ARGH!  You have to keep the heat relatively low and really pay attention to the temp because it will burn in a second.  So, this is what it shouldn't look like - bummer!

Anyway - better luck to you!  Now that you have the recipes, you can officially have Christmas this year.

Linkin' up and Eatin' up over at Edie's place:  Life in Grace.  (Still LOVE!)  And linking up here. 

Sausage Cheese Balls

Before we get to the cooking portion of our show, let's take care of the 25 Days of Christmas business. 

5. Do you hang mistletoe?  Nope - I'm not opposed, but it's just not a tradition we ever did when I was a kid, so I've never added it to my list.

OK - now on with the shew, and oh what a shew we have for you today!

I like to bake in advance and then put stuff in the freezer so the last week before Christmas, I can just take it easy.  (HA! yeah, right - but at least that's always my plan.)  Anyway, it's that time.  I'm thinking about what I'm going to be baking, and I decided to start easy with with a quick appetizer that freezes beautifully.

These Bisquick sausage cheese balls are super, duper easy and they are so, so, so yummy!  So, here ya go:

SAUSAGE CHEESE BALLS

3 cups Bisquick (I use the low fat version - makes no sense when you read the rest of the recipe, but it seems like a good idea.)
1 pound ground sausage (I used Jimmy Dean regular flavor)
4 cups shredded cheddar (it will work with any hard cheese you have on hand)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Preheat the oven to 350, and grease two large sheet trays. 

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (I think its easiest to use your hands to mix it up). 

Roll mixture into 1 inch balls and place onto sheet trays.  You can put them pretty close to each other because they don't spread or puff up very much at all.

Pop 'em in the preheated oven for 22 - 28 minutes until the tops are lightly browned.

Remove from oven and serve warm.  If you are going to freeze them, allow them to cool completely (you do not want any condensation in the container or they will get soggy), and then transfer to an airtight container. 

They'll keep for several weeks in the freezer, and when you're ready to serve them, allow them to thaw completely and then you can reheat them in the microwave or a preheated oven for a few minutes.

Serve with ranch dressing or BBQ sauce.

YUMM-A-LICIOUS!

Linking up over at Life in Grace. (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Edie!)  Also linking up here.

Looks Gross, Tastes Great

WARNING!  There's all kinds of bad about this post.  The pictures are bad because it was late and the light in my kitchen totally sucks.  The end product looks gross.  Get through all that, and you will enter the ultimate kind of bad:  gooey, chocolatey, banana-y deliciousness!

I posted my banana bread recipe back in July.  I only make it when we have bananas that have seen better days.  So, last night, standing there looking at 5 overly ripe bananas, I had two choices: bake 'em up or trash 'em.  

I wasn't in the mood to bake or to eat banana bread, but I hate to throw out food, so I baked. Once the bread came out of the oven, my whole house smelled YUMMY, and I figured I might as well do a little quality control...

Then, I had the most glorious (and sinfully bad) idea - EVER...

I like the end pieces of the bread, so that's why these look a little dark.

We barely had enough nutella to cover one slice, but I scraped and scraped the jar to eek out enough to put a thin layer on both slices.

I know, I know, it looks gross.  But if you look closely, you'll see that the bread was still warm and the nutella is starting to melt into it a little.  OMG!!!  I'm tellin' ya - if we hadn't run out of nutella, I may have eaten the entire loaf - by. my. self! 

Confession:  I had my shoes on and the keys in my hand to go to the grocery for more nutella, but then sanity crept back in.  I put the rest in the freezer for Chicken Little since she'll be home next weekend for spring break (YEA!). 

Get past the looks of it and give it a try.  I promise you that it is a little slice of heaven  (ha! ha! ha! - get it, I'm so punny!)

Bummed & Baking

I'm going to start with a wee bit of news.  Remember this post last week - I was waiting for (hopefully) good news.  The Mystical Magical Eight Ball must be broken, or maybe I have some bad mojo goin' on right now.  Yesterday, I heard through the grapevine that the positive news is going to be negative.  It's still not official, but I am officially bummed.

Oh well, it wasn't meant to be I guess.  I know God's working on something really good and it will show up at exactly the right time.  I was just hoping that now was that time.  *sigh*

So, what do you do when it's gray outside, a little gray inside, and you can't get out of your drive way? (that's not snow, it's ice)

Bake!

Maybe this isn't the healthiest way of coping with disappointment and boredom, but it is effective.  I pretty much threw everything I had in the pantry at this one - Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I found it online here.  Yummy!

I know that baking is a science, but I tend to look at recipes as a loose guideline.  So, while these were very good and well-balanced, I prefer more peanutty-ness (yep, just made that word up) and more texture.  So, it's not tried and tested, but if I were to make these again, I'd probably reduce the flour a bit so I could add another 1/2 cup of oatmeal and at least 1/4 cup more peanut butter. 

I did manage to make it out of the house late this morning, and I am sitting in my office right now wondering why I bothered to come in today if all I'm going to do while I'm here is blog.  Hmmmm.....

(Note to any future employers:  I'm really not a slacker. This is just a quick break in a very busy day.  Please take into consideration the 7:00 am conference call I was on this morning and the 9:00 pm call I have tonight. )  ;-D

Back to the salt mines....

Christmas Cookies!

After all that belly-aching, I FINALLY finished the decking the halls!  Woo Hoo!!

And to celebrate, I started baking Christmas cookies.  Depending on the year, I typically make 6 - 8 different kinds of cookies, bars and candies around the holidays.  This year, I am trying to SIMPLIFY (mostly unsuccessfully), so I've narrowed it down to only three types of cookies: 

1. The All-Time-Favorite-Absolute-Best-Ever-You-Have-To-Make-These-and-You-Will-Thank-Me-Later-For-These Peanut Butter Cookies
2. Cowboy Cookies (No clue where the name comes from)
3. Chocolate Crinkles

Last night I made the dough for the PB and Cowboy cookies, and put it in the freezer.  I did cook up a tray of each so I'd have pictures to share with you.

If you're going to make both cookies on the same day, start with the Peanut Butter because they have to chill and you can make the Cowboy Cookies while they're in the freezer.

Step One:  Put on your very best outfit...

Yep, that's me.  Flannel pj pants and cold feet - sooooo pretty!  :-)

Step Two:  For inspiration, multi-tasking, and to make some room on your DVR, pull up those unwatched episodes of Top Chef to play while you're working away in the kitchen.

Now, get busy.  Gather your ingredients - the first picture is for the Peanut Butter, the second is for the Cowboy

 For the Peanut Butter Cookies, cream together the butter and sugar, add the vanilla and peanut butter, sift together the dry ingredients, and then slowly combine the two.

Transfer the dough to a large ziploc bag and chill for several hours.  I put it in the freezer for about two hours because I was in a hurry.

 Start on the Cowboy Cookies.  Cream the butter and Eagle Brand until they are smooth, mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and then gradually add to butter mixture.  Stir in coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips.

 Scoop/spoon onto cookie trays, and bake.

While you're waiting, notice how cute your new hand towels from Crate and Barrel look. 

Remember you have silpats and find them, realizing you should have used them under these cookies, and even though you don't really need them for the Peanut Butter cookies you're going to use them anyway because it's just a matter of principle now.

Take cookies out of the oven and cool for a minute before transferring them to a wire rack to fully cool.  Test - YUM!  (Then bake 3 more trays).

When you're done baking the Cowboy Cookies, the Peanut Butter dough should be chilled enough to bake.  Roll into 1 1/2" balls and place on silpat lined (or not) trays.  Dip the tines of a fork in sugar and make the classic cross hatch designs on each cookie, pressing the cookie slightly flat.  These will spread some while baking, but not much.  Put them in the oven.

Remove from oven, remove to wire racks to cool.  Quality Control Test, YUM!  Passed!  When fully cooled, gently place in 1 gallon ziploc freezer bags and return to freezer until it's time to package them up for gifting.

Thank you for reading the longest post ever and ENJOY!!!  Here are the recipes.

The All-Time-Favorite-Absolute-Best-Ever-You-Have-To-Make-These-and-You-Will-Thank-Me-Later-For-These Peanut Butter Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter (I ran out so I used one butter and one margarine), softened

2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

18 oz. peanut butter (this is 1 small jar - you can use creamy or crunchy)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1. Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat.  Add peanut butter and mix well.
2. Sift together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture and beat until smooth.
3. Chill dough for several hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350.
5. Form dough into 1 1/2" balls and place on cookie sheet.  Use the tines of a fork dipped in sugar to press down slightly on cookies and make cross-hatch pattern.
6. Bake for 8 - 11 minutes depending on how crispy you like your cookies.  (I prefer the 8 - 9 minute cookie).
7. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Cowboy Cookies

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 (14-ounce) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 2/3 cups coconut
2 cups (12-ounce bag) chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Beat Eagle Brand and butter until smooth.
3. Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, and baking powder in a separate bowl.  Gradually add to butter mixture.
4. Stir in coconut, chocolate chips and pecans.
5. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets (silpats are great for these cookies because they have a tendency to stick if left cooling on the pan too long).
6. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
7. Cool on trays for 1 -2 minutes

Edie at LifeinGrace is having a Cookie Exchange Party - I'm linking up over there - come join the fun!

Traditional Thanksgiving Dessert

Pumpkin, shmumpkin.  Who needs pumpkin pie when you can have banana pudding?  We're having this for dessert at my house on Thanksgiving (we'll be having pie, too, but this will be the star). 

And I make a mean banana pudding, even if I do say so myself!

I decided to share the recipe after I'd already made it, so I'll I've got is the "after" picture. 

As with most of my recipes, I wing it, but I've tried to give you some exact measurements below.  It's hard to mess this one up, and it's so quick and easy. Give it a try the next time you have have to bring dessert.  Make it the night before your event so that all the flavors have time to mingle and set up.

Banana Pudding (this amount will make 3 layers in my Pyrex bowl)
2 boxes instant vanilla pudding (it's actually better with the pudding you cook but who has time for that)
6 cups milk (any % will work, as long as it's not skim)
2 tubs of Cool Whip (8 oz)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 boxes Nilla Wafers
6 - 8 ripe bananas

Cover the bottom of a large bowl with Nilla Wafers and sliced banana (usually 1.5 - 2 bananas and 1/2 of the box of wafers).

Mix 1 box of pudding with 3 cups of milk (according to directions on the box), add in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 tub of Cool Whip. Blend until both are fully integrated. 

Pour pudding over the first layer in the bowl until the bananas are completely covered.  You will probably not use all of the pudding to cover the first cookie/banana layer.  Add another layer of Nilla Wafers and sliced banana.  Pour remaining pudding over the 2nd cookie/banana layer.

Mix 2nd box of pudding the same way as the first.  Finish covering the 2nd layer of cookies and bananas.  Add one more layer Nilla Wafers and sliced banana. Cover this last layer with what remains of the 2nd batch of pudding.  Make sure the bananas are completely covered by the pudding so they don't turn brown.  

Finally, top it with Cool Whip and any crumbs that are left in the bottom of the cookie box.  Cover it and chill it in the fridge for several hours (preferably overnight) before serving. 

Yummy!!!  I get tons of compliments on this every time I make it, and it takes me about 10 minutes to throw it together.  After you make it one time, it's all anyone will ever ask you to bring.  If you're brave and make it with the pudding you cook, keep stirring that stuff while it cooks so the bottom doesn't burn.  Then, layer it while the pudding is still warm. I LOVE it warm, but again, it's more banana-y after it chills for a few hours. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Cinderelly, Cinderelly...

I would just like to know who is supposed to do all the chores around here now that Chicken Little has moved away?

This is how I spent my Sunday:

Making pancakes - if CL were home, I feel certain that someone would have made breakfast for the fams before I got out of bed. (BTW - the trick to a perfect pancake is waiting to flip them until those bubbles pop.)

Unloading the dishwasher... really?? Where does this stuff go? I don't remember how to do this. At least since she's gone, it takes several days before it's full enough to run.

Oh, the glamorous life! Poop-scoopin' duty! Jealous?? (just keepin' it real, folks)

A little Fall decorating outside...



...and a little decorating inside. This part was fun, but why bother? No one is here to appreciate it. heavy *sigh* and mopey face

Somewhere in here I also went to the grocery store, paid a couple of bills, folded a load of laundry and cut back/cleaned out the back yard flower beds and 1/2 of the beds in the front. Oh woe and weariness, poor, poor, pitiful me... ;-)



Finally, Prince Charming rode in, took a little pity on my Cinderella soul... and cooked dinner. Yes, that is THREE roasted chickens you see. PC's traveling quite a bit, and he's trying to make sure I eat something other than cereal for the next couple of weeks. I can cook, but I don't like to - especially when it's only me. Besides, the man is a professional, so it's better for everyone to just stay out of his way and be appreciative!

Anyway, PC made enough for our dinner (just the two of us even though there are three plates out - it's a habit), and enough left over for salads and sandwiches and maybe even chicken salad later this week. YEA!

CRASH! Back to reality.... did you see those dirty pans? Who do you think did the dishes?

Chicken Little, my sky is falling!!!

Just to be clear - this post is not about implying PC did nothing - he did! In addition to dinner, he did the man-stuff: mowed, edged and weed-eated (is that a word?). This is simply my angst around the loss of the live-in child-labor I used to have.

Blog Love & Strawberry Cupcakes

I was just blog hopping and Meg at "Whatever" posted this today: http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2010/09/vitamins.html#comments What a great, easy way to make a difference. I'm in, how about you? Have I mentioned how much I LOVE blogging and the community it builds?

(Disclaimer: After I published this, I got to feeling bad about posting this cupcake story along with the link above. Seems sort of self indulgent to post about cupcakes in which I used about 6 eggs, when the kids mentioned in the link above might have only one egg per week. Then I decided I wouldn't unpost it, but I did want to acknowledge the disparity and hopefully it won't offend anyone.)

Now, on to the strawberry cupcakes I attempted the other day - using the Sprinkles recipe that was posted on the Martha Stewart website.

They looked promising at first and so very PINK. Don't you just love pink?!

Then it came time to make the frosting which I screwed up. It was a strawberry buttercream and when I mixed it, it was too sweet so I added more butter AFTER it was mixed. BAD IDEA... The butter wasn't quite soft enough, so it never fully blended, the longer I mixed it, the more it started to separate. It didn't look good. I put the entire bowl in the fridge to chill hoping that if it was all the same temperature maybe I could get it to blend together later.

When I was testing the cupcakes, the toothpick kept coming out with batter on it so I'd leave them in the oven a few more minutes. They ended up being a little dry, so I must have overcooked them. I don't know what happened, normally I am much better at this.

Oh well ... after cooling, I got the frosting to blend (mostly), and then tried to dress them up with a little colored sugar. But they just weren't right. I wasn't happy with the way they looked or tasted. (Although, that didn't stop me from eating a couple.)

Not my best effort, but thought I'd share it anyway because occasionally the trying part is just as important as the successful execution. Cupcakes aren't my forte, but I can rock some cookies. I might need to make a batch just to regain my kitchen confidence. :-)