Blondies Have More Fun

Found this book at Mardens this weekend:

16 bucks, bub! Heck of a deal for a cookbook. Of course I read it cover to cover. Then went through to find the first recipe for which I had all the ingredients. I landed on blondies. Her recipe is not for albino brownies. These are squares of chocolate chip cookies, soft and delicious, without the pan work and wait time of their round sibling (hey, I'm a round sibling...).  The other great thing is that it takes about half the ingredients of a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Which is good when you're craving a snacktreat but don't have all the goods to produce them. Here we go:

10 tablespoons butter

1 c packed brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/4 c flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 c chocolate chips

Grease and flour 9x9 pan. Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine. Stir in chips. Press into pan and bake about 30 mins or until light golden brown. Cool in pan. Cut into 9 or 16 squares. 

Took a whole bunch of self control but I cut mine into 16. Doesn't mean I only ate one!

Doesn't mean I couldn't eat two bites before I snapped a picture!

Happy baking, bub!

Artichoke Dip

1 cup mayo

1 cup sour cream, softened

1 pkg cream cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced

Good shake of dill

1 can artichoke hearts, choked dry and chopped fine

5 oz Parmesan cheese (not the sawdust stuff)

Mix first five ingredients with a hand mixer. Add in cheese and artichokes and mix by hand. Bake at 375 till brown, about 25 minutes. Be loved by your guests. 

Cranberry Pie and a return to normalcy

Logging in, I saw that my last entry was made on the day of Andrew's accident. Eerie. It's been three months and I didn't think we'd be home. I didn't think Andrew would be as independent as he is. I didn't think we'd be slowly returning to our old/new life. What better way to fall back into our old routines than by cooking. We've had lots of home cooked meals (and lots of pizzas from Tradewinds, not gonna lie) but this Nantucket Cranberry Pie is amazing. I love chocolate more than my cats, but I would gladly have a slice of this over a slice of chocolate pie. The top is so buttery and the cranberries are just tart enough to cut through the richness. That's why cranberry sauce is so good at Thanksgiving...it cuts through the dopamine and gives you a second wind for pumpkin pie.

So this recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman.  It's easy.  If you didn't get fresh cranberries from your Cat Whisperer, buy a bag of Ocean Spray (buy two...you'll make this again.)

2 cups cranberries
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 stick butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla (her recipe called for almond extract but I couldn't find it in my haze of spices)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray pie plate. Add cranberries. Sprinkle with nuts and then sprinkle with the 2/3 cup of sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (minus the tablespoon of sugar) and stir gently to combine. Pour over the cranberries and lightly spread to cover. Bake 45-50 minutes, sprinkling that last tablespoon of sugar over the top of the pie 5 minutes before the pie comes out of the oven.

Look at the pie!  Make the pie! Eat the pie!

DIY Iced Coffee

I am very fortunate.  I have a husband that caters to (nearly) every whim that I have (especially if he's to get something from it.)  He indulged me with half a pound of mocha flavored coffee from "in-town" and I was set to use it to make PW's iced coffee recipe.  When I got home to re-read the recipe, I realized that I did not have the containers large enough to make her intended recipe.  So we cut the recipe in half, and I saved the mocha coffee to make for next time (in case it turned out junky.)  Had to just try it out with our plain old DD coffee.  I am very fortunate to have a box of that in our spare bedroom.  Call it my baby.

Original recipe is found here.

Here we go:

1/2 pound good coffee (you could probably make this with Folger's...if you have no taste buds.  Not judging...it's hot and I'm cranky, is all.)
4 quarts cold water
Large enough container with lid to hold 4 qts water and coffee grounds (I used my dutch oven)
Fine mesh strainer
Cheesecloth
Something to store the coffee in that will fit in your fridge(with a spout or a big old juice container)

Dump the 1/2 pound ground coffee into your large container.  Add the cold water and stir to make sure all the grounds are wet.  Let sit at room temperature overnight (12-24 hours...mine went for like 28.)
Strain the grounds and coffee over the cheesecloth lined strainer into the fridge container.  Press on the grounds lightly to make sure you get all the coffee.
Chill in the fridge and serve how you like!

C'mon over!  It's freakin hot today and I have half and half!

 My BEAUTIFUL coffee dispenser is courtesy of my BEAUTIFUL friend Melissa.  It was given to me, along with matching glasses, as a bridal shower gift.  Ten months later, I'm finding a fabulous use for it!  The container and glasses are hand-painted.  I told you I was fortunate!

If You're Happy and You Know It, Eat Some Carbs

Summer suppers at our house are usually some sort of grilled protein and a salad.  It's too hot to consider much else (and cooking roles reverse, with Andrew on the grill and me on chop chop duty.) 

But yesterday was all rainy and junky, so chili and biscuits were on order.  My great uncle Jon's chili recipe nearly serves all of Clifton...I improvised it down to half that and still had a large dutch oven full.

Because the biscuits were a spur of the moment idea, I needed to find a non-buttermilk recipe.  If you don't have buttermilk, you can add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 c of milk, but the recipe I found needed 1 1/4 c buttermilk (and my brain doesn't work well with maths.) 

Thank goodness for the bridal edition of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  They have a non-buttermilk recipe (plus a drop biscuit and buttermilk biscuit variety).  All ingredients were on hand, so it was on!

Biscuits:

3 c. flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 stick butter, cold, cut into pieces
1/4 c. shortening
1 c. milk

Preheat oven to 450.  Mix the dry ingredients together.  Cut in the butter and shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Form a well in center of mix and pour in milk.  Stir with a fork until just combined.  Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead dough by folding and gently pressing until dough holds together.  Pat or roll out to 3/4 inch thickness.  Cut dough with biscuit cutter and re-roll and cut scraps.  Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet 10-14 minutes or until golden. 

Golden.  And delicious.  I'm surprised we have any left!

Serve warm.  Like I needed to tell you that.  Make these.  Put Pillsbury out of business.  They were foolishly easy.  I'm pretty sure Shakespeare said "a warm biscuit doth a happy husband make."

Freddy Kruger Russian Roulette Sugar Free Blueberry Pie

Sure, it's a long-ass name for a pie.  But.  Worth it.
I mean, probably.
Technically, we are not feasting on this pie.  If we were, I would so go at it The Walking Dead style, but I've committed to two pies for the Comins Hall supper that's happening tomorrow, and doubly committed to two sugar-free pies.  My thoughts on sugar-free items are these:  if you have THE BEDES (lovingly referred to as such in my family, where one out of every one person has it), maybe pie just shouldn't be in the cards for you.  But, hey, I have food issues meself, so I know how hard it can be to JUST SAY NO (there is no DARE program for carbs.  I asked my old DARE officer.)
My hope is that these pies turn out tasty, and no one gets diarrhea (always a spell-checked word for me) because it's not made with real sugar.  This recipe was my inspiration.  I hope it looks just like that when they cut into it (hence the Russian Roulette) and my un-festive steam cuts into the top of the pie garnered the teen-killer moniker.  Here we go:

For the filling:

3 cups blueberries (I used frozen)
1/2 cup sugar-free maple syrup
4 cups blueberries (frozen again)
1/2 cup sugar-free maple syrup
4 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca (have fun finding a use for the rest of the box you have to buy to get your measly 1/4 c....)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

1 recipe double crust pie dough (I use this recipe)

Simmer the 3 cups of blueberries and 1/2 cup syrup until it reduces by half (about 20 minutes.)  Add this, along with the 4 cups of blueberries and the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl and combine.  Allow to cool completely.

Make the dough.  Or use store bought.  Or take some dough that you made last time from the freezer and allow it to thaw.  Dough up your pie plate and add your filling.  Top it off and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 450 and put a foil-lined cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven.  Now, the actual recipe dictates that after the 30 minutes of fridge chill, turn your oven to 400 and bake for 30 minutes, then brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar and allow to cook for another 30 minutes.  Here's how my recipe goes:  Preheat your oven to 450.  After 20 minutes, remember that you have to put the cookie sheet in the oven, too.  Open the oven, keep it open too long adjusting the racks for the cookie sheet, then set off the smoke detector, which probably won't wake up the husband who just came home from night shift at all.  Throw the smoke detector onto the back porch, then gingerly set the pie into the oven.  Forget to turn the oven down to 400 degrees until it's been cooking for 20 minutes.  Then, turn the oven down, and don't bother with the sprinkling of sugar or brushing of cream.  Finish reading Jen Lancster's new book while your blueberry pie browns nakedly in the oven.  With 20 minutes left, take pity on the pie and throw a double thickness of foil lazily over the top to prevent more browning.  Take out and cool completely before serving.

Good thing is, you can still take pictures of it while it's warm.

The only nightmare on Elm St. would be if you ate two pieces of this, you may get the runs...

If you don't have to go sugar-free because of THE BEDES, you can use regular maple syrup.  Shoot up with your favorite flavor of insulin and dig in!

Gram's Lasagna

My grandmother's lasagna has a hundred variations.  Just within our family.  My uncle Steve will swear (literally) up and down that she used ricotta (she didn't.)  Some family members boil the noodles first; others just rely on no-boil noodles (I am an Other.)  Sometimes there are pepperoni guest stars; oftentimes, it's just good ol' hamburg.  It's always a memory of her, if not quite exactly how she made it.  She'd just be glad she didn't have to make it. 

Because we are getting together today to celebrate all the mothers in our family (here, there, past, and future) and I am designated to make one of the lasagnas that will be gracing the table today, I am going to share our recipe.  Some of you non-family have had it.  It's the only lasagna I will ever have fond feelings for.  All other lasagna is not my gram's lasagna. 

Everything this recipe is eyeballed.  I'm using a Pampered Chef stoneware lasagna pan, so I will do my best to fill it up.  A Pyrex 9x13 can be used, too, but it might not take as much for ingredients.

Here we go:

Gram's Lasagna
2-3 lbs hamburger
2-3 bricks of cream cheese (I usually use the Neufchatel Cheese, because no one is going to notice)
1-2 packages noodles (no boil, or boil-first...cook's choice)
2-4 jars sauce (I always use Newman's Own...but the flavor is always a roulette...today I'm using his Marinara, but Sockarooni is always a delicious fallback.  I ended up using about 2 1/2 for this lasagna )
Pepperoni
4 c. mozarella
Shredded parm for the top (optional...I thought I had some in the fridge, but we used it all up...all I had was Shaky Green.  This is not acceptable Parm for lasagna.)

Heat oven to 375.  Decide on the amount of hamburger you think you'll need (I know, how can you know?  I picked a little over 2 lbs.  Cross your fingers) and brown in a large skillet, adding seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc, as you'd like.)  Depending on the fat content of your hamburger, you may need to drain off the fat.  Do that.  Then add your bricks of cream cheese (our default ratio is 1 brick per 1 lb of hamburger...I used two.  Delicious!) and stir until the cream cheese is melted.  Now it's time for assembly.

If you're using a glass pan, you may want to spray it beforehand with non-stick.  I used the stoneware pan, so I was spray-free.

1. Put down some sauce
2. Layer of noodles (I used the Barilla brand no-boil, 3 pieces per layer)
3. Sauce (no-boil noodles need lots of sauce.  Lots.  If it seems like too much, it's the right amount.)
4.  Mozarella and Pepperoni
5.  Noodles
6.  Sauce
7.  All the hamburger.  Yes, a 2 lb layer of hamburger cream cheese divinity.  I did try dividing it in half, but it looked sparse.  And we are not a sparse people.
8.  Noodles
9.  Sauce
10.  Mozarella and Pepperoni
11.  Noodles
12.  Sauce
13.  Mozarella

Then, get a sheet of tin foil and spray one side with non-stick spray.  Cover the lasagna (spray side down) and cook for 50 minutes covered, then remove the foil and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until the cheese starts to brown.

I know, it doesn't look any different than anyone else's lasagna...but I can't very well cut into it to show you the center, because uncle Steve would beat me with my own arms if the lasagna arrived at his house misshapen in any way.  So this is an invitation for you to just make this yourself.  Embrace the cream cheese.  Embrace the fact that it's better two, three, four days after it's made.  Use it to trap a non-committal boyfriend (I used cookies, but that was the first date...I was Girl Scout Prepared for that meeting.)  Use it to create warmth with a neighbor.  A new mother.  A slew of hungry siblings. 

Happy Mother's Day!