Holiday Baking

It's me again. Coming to you live from my office.  I have some down time so I thought I would share what I've been doing since my last post.

Because it was just too hot out this weekend to do anything, I stayed in and worked in my planner gathering holiday decorating ideas, to-do craft projects, and dessert recipes.  Boy do I have a list of goodies to bake this year!  One dessert I am excited to make, I made for a 4th July cookout.  Not to brag but I did  pretty darn good.  They devoured it!!!  It's called "Red Velvet Trifle".  I found the recipe through Pinterest on a blog called Artsy Chicks Rule and here is where you can find this AMAZING recipe.

My masterpiece

I tweaked it a little.  The recipe called for white chocolate kit kat candy bars.  However I could not find any in the stores (Not a fan of white chocolate anyway). I usually don't see them til around Halloween.  So I used the regular milk chocolate kit kat bars.  Artsy Chick also had a choice between using white chocolate or cheesecake pudding to mix with half of the whipped topping.  I think she used the white chocolate, but like I said, I really don't like white chocolate.  It tastes too sweet to me. So I went with cheesecake.

When I make this for Christmas I will increase the amount of whipped topping used with the cream cheese and pudding mix (may have to increase the amount of cream cheese and pudding as well).  I ran short when I got to the top and so you can see some of the cake peaking through.  I think it's because the bowl I used is larger than the pretty bowl Artsy Chick used.  If you look at her trifle, none of the cake is showing through on top.  

For the topping I crumbled cake and kit kat bars I had leftover. Artsy Chick mentioned she did this when she made the trifle again.  This is going be the centerpiece of my dessert table and probably the first thing to go. lol

Besides the trifle I have my tried and true cookies on the list. You know the chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, sugar, and gingerbread cookies...But there's also some new cookies, an ugly sweater cake and a new way to make oreo balls recipes added to the list.  Can't wait to get started.

Well, here's my list.   The ones with an * are new:

• red velvet trifle *
• banana balls*
• brown sugar pecan cookies*
• ugly sweater cake*
• cheesecake thumbprint cookies
• red velvet peppermint cookies*
• chocolate cookies
• egg nog cookies
• fun-fettie cookies*
• gingerbread cookies
• gingerbread reindeer balls* (as opposed to the regular oreo balls)
• chocolate chip cookies
• peanut butter cookies
• almond/cinnamon cookies
• oatmeal/raisin cookies, and
• sugar cookies

I will come back throughout the remaining months to share the results of the new recipes as well as give links on where you can find them.  Some if not all of these could be done now and frozen. With this heat though the baking bug won't hit me until sometime next month.  But you never know (wink).

So on that note I will stop here.  Be back soon.  BYE!!!

January Rudy

Well Saturday marked the first Rudy Day for 2014.  However for some reason I had it in my head that Sunday was the 25th, not Saturday. LOL

A day late I celebrated Rudy Day by watching the movie of the month suggested by the great people over at Magical Holiday Home.  This months movie is Christmas With the Kranks.  I love this movie.  It is so funny and heart-warming.



Also in celebration of the first Rudy Day, I made homemade hot chocolate.  I love hot chocolate and when I went into the kitchen for a pack of my favorite Swiss Miss, the box was empty.  So I went on the internet and found a simple and easy recipe to make it.

12 ounces evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/4-1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 dash salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

I searched for a recipe using evaporated milk because I was all out of regular milk.  I found it strange and was a little scared to use the salt because I thought it would taste salty.  However I was wrong, though I used very little.

Mmm, mmm, good.  Just wish I had marshmallows to go on top. (Should have taken a photo) I will definately make this again.

For the full recipe you can fine it at Food.com

And for more ideas/tips I'm going over to Organzied Christmas and follow the Rudolph Club Meeting for the month.

Butter Pecan Cookies

Earlier this week the ladies and I at MHH were just talking about our day when my friend Lana  mentioned that she and her husband were picking pecans. There's a picture of the pecan tree  on her blog.  I have never seen an actual pecan tree myself.  I like to use pecans when I bake "butter pecan cookies". I only make them at Christmastime. 

Here's how I do mine.

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecan

Directions
In a medium bowl mix flour and salt together. Set aside.  In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, vanilla and egg. Mix until well blended.

Slowly add the flour and salt. Mix well.   Add chopped pecans. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll dough in to 1" balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten balls with the bottom of a glass dipped in flour.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes until lightly colored.
 
I get my pecans from the grocery store - already chopped.   If you have fresh pecans, like my friend Lana, toast them in the oven for a few minutes first. Then proceed with baking.

Grandmother's Jelly Cookies

This is a recipie I found in a Better Homes and Garden Christmas cookie book I purchased several years ago. They were a big hit with the kids when I made them for a kids party once.

1 c butter
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
3 c all-purpose flower
1 slightly beaten egg white
Finely chopped almonds and/or pearl sugar or granulated sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup currant jelly

Lightly grease cookie sheets; set aside. In large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on med speed for 30 secs. Add sugar, beat well. Beat in egg. Beat in as much flour as you can. Stir in any remaining flour with a wooden spoon.

On lightly floured surface divide dough in half. Roll one half to 1/8 in thickness. Using a star shape cutter, cut into 2 1/2 in shapes. Roll out second half, cut with a 2 in. cookie cutter. Using a 3/4 or 1 in cutter, cut a circle from center of smaller shape star. Continue til all dough is used.

Brush top of 2 in. star shapes with egg white, sprinkle with almonds and/or pearl sugar or granulated sugar. Arrange all shapes on prepared cookie sheets, bake in 375 deg oven for 7 to 9 mins or til bottoms are light brown.

Transfer cookies to wire racks, let cool. Place a small amount of jelly in centers of 2 1/2 in. cookies. Top with 2 in. cookies, sugar side up, and press together, showing jelly in center. Makes 36 to 42 cookies.

Crab Stuffing

1 bx corn muffin mix
4-8 tablespoons butter
1 lb crab meat
1 cup finely chopped celery
2 cups of chopped onions
dried parsley (if you use fresh parsley it's 1/4 - 1/2 cup; minced)
1 tablespoon sage
1 tablespoon thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning (optional)
1 cup chicken stock (I like to use the stock from the turkey)
2 large eggs, well beaten (optional)


Prepare mix then bake in oven according to instructions on box .

Meanwhile in a skillet melt butter, add celery and onions and sautee until tender. Remove from heat and stir in the spices.

Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Add drained crab meat. Toss well until the stuffing is moist, but not packed together.

Stir in the stock and eggs, re-moisten and adjust spices as necessary.

Cooked in casserole dish at 350 until heated through with a crust on the outsides, 25 to 40 min.

I like to stuff my turkey with the dressing at least a 1/2 hour - 45 min before it's time for the turkey to be removed from the oven so that the stuffing gets some of the juices which really makes it taste 'o so good.

Baked Crab Rangoo

I lovvvve seafood! I can eat crabs, shrimp, fish(trout) and lobster on a regular basis if I could afford it. Last year (or maybe the year before that) I was hunting for something different using crabmeat to add to my holiday menu when I came across this recipe in KraftFoods magazine.

Ingredients:
1 can crab meat (I prefer lump)
4 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
24 Won ton wrappers

Preheat oven to 350 deg.
Spray a 24 cup mini muffin pan with cooking spray, then place 1 won ton wrapper in each cup. Allow edges of wrappers to extend above sides of cups.
Fill won tons with mixture.
Bake in oven 18 to 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and filling is heated through.
Serve warm. Garnish with chopped green onions (optional).

I made it once and they were well received. I doubled the recipe for a large group. Also I only used the green onions as a topping.

Making Cookies Using Cakemix

Today I received a nice surprise. A co-worker gave me a canister of chocolate cake mixes and a canister of sugar cookie mixes by Martha Stewart. I was telling another co-worker about the gifts when she asked if I've ever made cookies using cake mix? I never knew you could do that!

All you add to the cake mix is a stick of soften butter and eggs. Mix those together than add the mix. She also said that you can add more butter if need be because you're trying to get the mix like cookies dough. Plus she said that if you like, you can add sugar or vanilla extract to get the flavor you want. One tip: Do Not Add Any Liquids (ie: milk, water, vegetable oil) as called for when making a cake.

I plan to try this, this weekend with the chocolate cake mix. Plus I have some white chocolate chips to add to the mix. Will let you know how they turn out.