Orange Spiced Syrup

We came across this recipe from Martha Stewart for Orange Spiced Syrup. It's perfect for winter pancakes.  We had some with pumpkin pancakes the other day--it was even better!

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch of ground cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 In a small saucepan, mix brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in corn syrup and orange juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally; cool until slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool; stir in vanilla.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Sweet Potato Black Bean Chilli

I bought ingredients for our much-loved sweet potato and black bean enchiladas, but I just wasn't feeling it.  So I searched the internet a bit and came across this recipe for Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili.  That sounded much more like it, though I did make some changes to the recipe.  Perfect for a cold November evening. The smoky flavor from the chipotle in adobo ads just the right amount of flavor and heat, and a dollop of sour cream cools the palate enough for my kids to be happy eating it.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

1 onion
1/2 sweet pepper
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth

1/2 of one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/2 lb dry beans prepared/cooked (about three cups or 2 cans)
1 lb sweet potato
1 tsp salt

In a soup pot heat 2 tablespoons fat or oil.  Add onion and sweet pepper, saute until onions are translucent.  Add garlic and cumin, cook and stir until fragrant.  Add remaining ingredients, simmer until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese. 

Autumn Apple Butternut Soup

It's amazingly satisfying to cook with my own produce and the other fruits of my labors.
I made a favorite recipe of ours recently: Butternut Apple Soup. I was excited to see so much of my own efforts go into the soup. Two decent-sized butternut squash. (We let them sit on the shelf for a while to fully ripen since their vines died before they were ripe.) Frozen applesauce I made this summer from my freezer. Honey from our backyard beehive harvest . I'd love to can my own chicken broth but haven't done that yet.
Butternut Apple Soup Recipe
3 cups chicken broth
1 medium butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cubed to 1 inch pieces
1 Lg apple peeled and cubed
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 T honey
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cream

In a large pot bring the broth and squash to a simmer. Add the apples, applesauce, honey, ginger, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med-low, simmer for 15 minutes. At this point you can begin to mash the squash against the side of the pot with a spoon. Add cream, cook for another 10-15 stirring/mashing occasionally until you reach your desired consistency. You can just puree it with a stick blender too. Salt to you own taste.

Instant Hot Cocoa

I should just restrain myself.  I keep turning over long-enjoyed food products and finding things on the ingredients label I just don't like. Most recently it was hot cocoa mix which contains sucralose.

I'm just not a fan of artificial sweeteners.  They are all created as a sugar alternative to be sweet but to have no (or less) calories.  In the first place I don't believe it is calories per se that are the enemy to good health, and secondly if I wanted to find a replacement for sugar I would go the other direction on the processing spectrum and instead choose to replace it with honey or maple syrup.

So after returning the canister of hot chocolate to the store shelf, we returned home to revisit Alton Brown's "Art of Darkness II: cocoa" to seek out our solution, and were not disappointed.  It's a yummy mug of hot cocoa very rich and dark--very un-American. It's a nice big batch that we can store in a canister for quick and easy use.   A frugal replacement for something fairly overpriced in the store(especially if you buy individual packets) and one in which I can control each of the ingredients. 
 

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

• 2 cups powdered sugar 
• 1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred) 
• 2 1/2 cups powdered milk 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch 
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper (if you like that kick)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and sift together (we use a whisk). Seal in an airtight container.

To use, fill your mug one third to half full with the hot cocoa mix and pour in hot water.

Note: LDS Cannery dry milk is a little different than the "instant" powdered milk they sell at the grocery store.  If you are using cannery milk use only 1 1/2 cups dry milk.  Then the amount of mix you'll add to your cup will probably be on the lower end as well.  Just experiment with it--we always do!

Festive Individual Pats of Butter

Here's a last-minute trick for thanksgiving dinner.A lot of times people forget about butter for the delicious homemade rolls so they plop a stick of butter on a plate in the middle of table, unfortunately it's rock-hard an so no one is able to use it anyway.

So what you really need are those individual pats of butter like they have at hotel continental breakfasts.  Here's how to make your own--but cuter and way more festive than the little foil-wrapped things.

Take two sticks of butter and place them between two sheets of waxed paper.  Start rolling.

Roll between 1/2 and 1/4 inch thick.  Remove the top layer of wax paper. 

Cut into individual pats of butter with miniature cookie cutters. I used the fall leaves set.

You can do these a day or two in advance and keep them covered in the fridge. The good thing is if you forget to set them on the table until right before dinner they will still soften up enough to spread because they are so small.  Plus, they really are festive.

Red Beet Risotto (And Mushroom Variation)

Jeremy goes to school for 12 straight hours on Mondays, so that meant we definitely did not have some amazing Valentine's Day planned.  In fact a student asked Jeremy what his plans were and he told her he was in class until 7:30.  So she asked what his plans were for after that.  Jeremy said, "I dunno--maybe watch a movie?"

I told Jeremy that I'm sure he completely crushed that poor girl's dreams about life after marriage!  Because after you get married you're supposed to have romantic special Valentine's Days forever--right?!

Well since we had zero plans for actually doing anything special I thought the least I could to was make a celebratory dinner.

I saw some ideas online for using beets to make "pink" rice salads for Valentine's Day.  I loved the idea but wanted to be sure it would actually be enjoyable to eat not just look at so I really didn't want to experiment with a new recipe.   I thought about just making rice balls, but since Owen wasn't a huge fan of the beets last time I served them (just steamed with butter and salt) I thought I would need to flavor them a little more.  Then I realized the perfect recipe to use.
 

   Risotto.  My family loves risotto.  It's very basic, but the broth and cheese make it very flavorful--I knew it would be perfect to add beets to.  All I did to make it red was add the raw beets to simmer in the broth and they bled their color into the broth which I was using to cook the rice.  Thus we ended up with striking red rice.  And cute little heart-shaped beets as well. 

And it was as big a hit as I hoped for.  Owen ate the beets up (of course he did have to remind me before trying them that he didn't like beets last time), Jeremy got a special dinner, though it wasn't the candle-lit sit down dinner of anyone's dreams, and I was satisfied with a job well done--it's always nice when things turn out like you hope. 

For the sake of interest, beets aren't the only thing you can cut into hearts either.  I also put heart-shaped carrots in Owen's lunch Monday.

Red Heart Risotto

1 medium beet-washed and peeled
3 tablespoons butter-separated
1/2 cup onion-diced
1 cup rice (traditionally Arborio)
1/2 cup white wine (or substitute with more broth)
4 cups chicken broth
2oz fresh Parmesan cheese--grated (matchbook sized piece ungrated about 1/4 cup grated)

Put 2 tbsp butter in a large saute pan.  Add diced onions and cook until softened.  Meanwhile put broth in a pot over medium low heat an bring to a simmer.  Cut beets and add to simmering broth.

I cut the beet into 1/4 inch round slices.  Then cut each round like a pizza into 6 wedges.  Then shaped each wedge into a heart.  I tossed all the hearts and all the little trimmings into the broth.

When onions are softened, add the rice and stir for 1 minute to absorb any extra butter.  Add the wine and stir until rice has absorbed all the liquid.  Keeping the broth at a low simmer, adding it to the rice 1/2 cup at a time, waiting each time to add more until the liquid is mostly absorbed, stirring often.  The whole process should take about 30 minutes.  With the last 1/2 cup of broth transfer the beets into the rice pan as well.  When all the liquid is mostly absorbed turn off the heat, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and the cheese.  Add salt if needed and pepper.  Serve hot!

This is a good recipe without the beets as well, often I use mushrooms instead.  Put two tablespoons of butter in a different saute pan and 1/2 pound of sliced mushrooms.  I cook those down and add them when I add the cheese.  Delicious and creamy and we'll eat it for our main dish.

Cranberry Salsa

 Cranberry salsa.  A bit tangy, kind of sweet with a kick of spiciness.  Sooo good.

And adorable with little Christmas tree chips made from spinach tortillas.

Another great thing about this recipe--it was a Christmas "treat" I could share with my friend who doesn't eat dairy, eggs or chocolate. 

Cranberry Salsa with "Tree" Chips

12 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, cut in eighths
1/2 large red pepper, cut in large chunks
1/2 medium red onion, cut in large chunks
3/4 C sugar
1/3 C apple juice
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. chopped pickled jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. grated lime zest

1 pkg. spinach flour tortillas (green)

Put cranberries, apple, red pepper and onion in food processor; pulse until chopped. Transfer to a large glass bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Cover and refrigerate or spoon into crocks or jars and refrigerate. (I suggest dividing into two processor batches to avoid pureeing the ingredients too much. Can use a food chopper instead. Adjust amounts of onion and/or jalapeno according to your desire for spiciness and apple juice according to your desire for juiciness.)

For chips, heat oven to 375°. Use a 3" cookie cutter to cut out tree shapes. (Or just slice with a pizza cutter into abstract triangle trees.) Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Put in plastic bags; give with the salsa. Can be made up to 2 weeks ahead. Store chips airtight at room temperature.

Makes 4 C salsa; 36 chips

Cranberry Meringue Pie

 I made this cranberry meringue pie for Thanksgiving dinner.  I love this recipe because we are used to lemon meringue pies, so substituting the lemon for a different sour, tart fruit is a really clever idea that actually translated into a good thing.

 It's a Martha Stewart Recipe for mini pies that I modified into a full pie recipe.

 So delicious. . almost makes you want to eat more cranberries.  Yes, there will be more cranberries.

Cranberry Meringue Pie
(overnight for best results)

1 pie crust dough

3 1/4 cups fresh cranberries (12 ounces)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped blood orange zest, plus 1/4 cup blood orange juice (Can use any kind of orange)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
4 tablespoons cornstarch
3 large egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie dough to 1/8 inch thick. Place in a deep 9-inch pie plate. Pierce bottom with tines of a fork. Freeze 15 minutes.  Line shell with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 15 minutes. Remove weights and parchment. Return to oven; bake until bottom is just turning golden, 5 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack; let cool 5 minutes. Remove shells from tin; let cool completely.
 

Bring 2 cups cranberries, 1 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have burst, about 5 minutes. Pour through a coarse sieve, then a fine sieve; discard solids. (You should have about 1 3/4 cups; if you have less, add water).

Bring strained cranberry juice, 1/4 cup sugar, the zests, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and remaining 1 1/4 cups cranberries to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries are soft but have not burst, about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir cornstarch, blood orange juice, and 1/4 cup water in a bowl; whisk into cranberry mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring, until translucent, about 1 minute. into pie shell. Refrigerate until set, a few hours to overnight.
 

Preheat broiler. Put egg whites and remaining 1/4 cup sugar into the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water; whisk until sugar has dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch. Attach to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium speed until foamy. Raise speed to high. Add cream of tartar; beat until medium, glossy peaks form. Spread meringue on pie.
Set pie under broiler until top is browned, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Cranberry Wassail

This is my mom's recipe for cranberry wassail.  The cranberry wassail is a great drink if you want something different, or are sick of the hot apple cider served all fall, but still want a festive winter drink.

We had a great time last night and were happy our friends made it out despite the blizzarding conditions outside!


Cranberry Wassail

4 Cups Cranberry Juice
4 Cups Water
2 Cups Orange Juice
1 Cup Pineapple Juice
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1 Cup Sugar
3 Cinnamon Sticks

Combine in a large pot and simmer 15 minutes.

Carmelized Onion 'n' Pear Pizza

Here's my sister-in-law Carolyn the day she married my brother Logan. This weekend we are celebrating with Carolyn- although from a different state unfortunately. This weekend is Carolyn's fourth-year anniversary of being cancer-free!

Four years ago Logan and Carolyn were hanging out with us in the Burrow (our first apartment--in a basement). They were off being silly on the other "side" of the apartment. Jeremy and I were probably doing something very responsible that necessitated not cleaning our apartment. When Logan and Carolyn reemerged they were smiling and laughing like the twitterpated teenagers that they were, and Logan was showing off Carolyn's hairdo he had just gelled. Her hair was just growing in long enough that she could put a little bit of gel in it and have a cute "pixy" style. That was a happy moment. I was happy for them, and how happy they were together. I was happy for my home that, however messy it was, was perceived as a "safe" environment where others feel comfortable enough to let their hair down--or take their super-cute wig off--and feel at ease. And I was happy for Carolyn, that here was tangible evidence that she was moving along in life, past her cancer.

---We love you Carolyn. Thanks for putting up with Logan ;-) to join our family!---

Carolyn invited us this weekend to join in their tradition of celebrating by eating out at California Pizza Kitchen. Well we don't have one here in Kansas, but we did make it to the CPK while we were out in Salt Lake City this summer. And boy did we have a delicious pizza! Amazingly enough I was going through some old food magazines the other day and found a recipe for basically the same pizza, so here is that scrumptious pizza for you to enjoy!



Caramelized Onion 'n' Pear Pizza
1 large red onion, sliced and separated into rings
3 T butter
3T sugar
2 medium pears, peeled and sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 c crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
salad greens
tomato, sliced
blue cheese salad dressing
chopped hazelnuts

In a large skillet saute onion in butter until tender. Add sugar and cook and stir 5-10 minutes until onions are caramelized.

Spread crust with cheeses, onion, and pears. Bake according to pizza crust directions. Top with greens, tomato, dressing and hazelnuts.

We used a medium sized onion and one large pear and made two 9-inch pizzas. Sometime I'll post our new favorite pizza dough recipe, but not today! Meanwhile use your own recipe or a pre-baked shell, this will turn out delicious!