Picture Credit - The Kitchn Blog

Comment – So, I have always been the kind of person who thinks veggie burgers are gross, but one day my husband made this recipe and I have been hooked on it ever since. It doesn’t remind me of meat.  It’s just a bunch of healthy food spiced up to taste delicious. I think the type of cheese called for in this recipe really complements the flavors of the dish too.

Recipe

Pastry

4 sheets Phyllo Dough
Olive oil

Brush oil over 1st sheet of dough, set the 2nd sheet on top and brush oil over it. Continue the process through the 4th sheet of dough. Cut the stacked phyllo dough into 12 squares with a pizza cutter. Mold each square to a mini muffin tin (oil side down). Back at 350 degrees for 8-12 min, or until golden brown.

Vanilla Custard Filling

2/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks, beaten
3 c. milk

Mix in saucepan sugar, salt, cornstarch, and flour. Stir in gradually 3 cups milk. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Remove from heat. Slowly add 1/3 of the mixture and blend into the egg yolks. Then add back to rest of mixture. Cook 1 more minute over heat. Remove and add vanilla. Refrigerate after cooling down.

Blackberry Topping

2 c. Blackberries
1/3 c. sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch

Mix Blackberries and sugar together in a pot over low heat. When juices start to come out bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat. Pour the juice into a separate bowl while still hot and whisk in the cornstarch. Pour the sauce back into the berry mixture and stir.



Picture Credit - American Studies Leipzig 

Comment – A girl at my work brought oatmeal-butterscotch cookies into the office one day and I thought they were amazing. So, I found this recipe online and it is addicting. The recipe comes from Cindy McCain and was posted around election time.

Note – The cookies turned out best for me when I baked them for 8 min at 375 degrees.

Recipe Source

Comment – This is the first pie I have ever made. It was apple pie and I loved the crust recipe but the filling was a little to tart for my taste so I did not include it in the recipe below. Next time I make a pie I will use this crust and fill it with a sweet berry filling.

3 cups flour

2 TBSP sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

1/2 cup cold water

Directions

Blend flour, sugar, salt in food processor. Add butter pieces and pulse to cut in butter. Add half of the water and pulse a few times, then add the rest of the water and pulse until clumps/coarse crumb texture is reached.

Roll into a ball and cut in half. Form 2 round disks that are 3/4 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and refridgerate for 1 hour until firm. Roll out 1st disk into a 13 inch circle. Form it to a 8 1/2 or 9″ pie pan. Refridgerate. Roll out second disk 12 inches round. Cut into 1 inch strips.

Set pie in a dark baking sheet covered in aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and back for 45 min until golden. Cool pie on rack for 1 hour.

Comment – Out of all the Christmas cookies I made this year, these were my favorite. There is a crunchy chocolate peppermint cookie on the inside. I thought they turned out beautiful and tasted great!

Recipe

 

Comment – This cookie has good eggnog flavor. I would recommend only using a little bit of frosting because it is very sweet and can get messy.

Recipe

 

Comment – I like the way these cookies look with powdered sugar sprinkled over them. The cream cheese frosting inside has orange zest that I thought added good flavor to the cookies.

Recipe

Comment – This is my favorite dish from Scoma’s in San Francisco.

Ingredients:

1 oz. - Clarified Butter

1 oz.  - Mixed onions

1 oz. - Sliced Mushrooms

2 ea. - 2-3oz Atlantic Lobster Tails

3 ea. - Prawns (shelled)

3 ea. - Scallops

2 oz.  - Lemon Butter (see recipe below)

6 ea. - Manila clams (Steamed until opened)

1 t. - Garlic (chopped)

1 c. - Cream

¼ c. - Scoma’s White Sauce (see recipe below)

Procedure:

• In a saute pan add the clarified butter, onions, mushrooms, garlic, lemon butter and cook over high heat for one minute until soft.

• Add the clams and the cream and saute for one minute.

• Add the Lobster tails, scallops, and the prawns and sauté for one minute.

• Add the white sauce mixing in well and continue to saute for one minute.

• Serve over hot Linguini.

Lemon Butter

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Tbsp garlic

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1/4 cup butter

Scoma’s White Sauce

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup whole milk

1 cup clam juice

Simmer for 20 min, then add rux (rux must cool down first)

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup flour

mix and cook over heat until golden

Cook white sauce for 5 more min after adding rux (simmer)

Ingredients:

Picture Source - Supermarket Guru Website

Serves 12 to 14

Cake:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 2 cups carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 1/3 cups loosely packed shredded, sweetened coconut
• 2 cups finely chopped walnuts

Buttermilk glaze:

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh orange juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons grated orange zest
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

 

Instructions:

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter two 9-inch round cake pans, each about 1 ½ inches deep. Dust each cake pan with about 1 tablespoon of flour and tap out the excess. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Add the sugar, oil, buttermilk and vanilla, and mix well. Stir the flour into the batter. Add the pineapple, carrots, coconut and 1 cup of the walnuts, and mix well. Add the flour, and fold into the batter with a rubber spatula. Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake on the center rack of the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small saucepan, mix together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup and baking soda until well blended. Set the pan over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring, until heated through and the sugar dissolves. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Set aside, covered, to keep warm. Remove the cakes from the oven and put them, still in the pans, on wire racks sitting on baking sheets. Using a toothpick, poke about 20 holes in the top crust of each cake layer. Do not go any further than halfway through the cakes. Whisk the glaze and pour it evenly over the cake layers. Let the cakes cool completely, and then cover them, still in the pans, with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours, or until completely chilled.

To make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and set on medium speed, beat the butter and cream cheese for about 2 minutes or until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla. Mix slowly so that the sugar doesn’t fly out of the bowl. Gradually increase the speed, and beat for about 1 minute or until the frosting is smooth.

To assemble: Remove the cake layers from the refrigerator, and invert them on a work surface. You might need to run a kitchen knife around the edges to loosen the layers. Put 1 layer on a platter, glazed-side down. Put about 1 ½ cups (a third) of the frosting on the center of the cake layer and spread it evenly over the cake. There should be a layer of frosting about ½-inch thick. If the frosting is soft, return the cake to the refrigerator to stiffen it up. Put the other layer on top of the cake, glazed-side down, and frost the top of the cake with about 1 ½ cups (a third) of the frosting. With the remainder of the frosting, cover the sides of the cakes with a thin layer. With the tip of the spatula, press lightly into the top layer of frosting and pull it up to form little spikes. Repeat over the entire top of the cake. Lightly sprinkle top of the cake with about 3 tablespoons of chopped walnuts. Press the rest of the walnuts onto the sides of the cake. Make this a thicker layer than the nuts on top of the cake. Serve at room temperature.

Recipe Source

Comment – This recipe is amazing! I think it is the best cookie recipe I have ever tried. In my opinion, 1 cup of candied ginger is plenty enough and I only had to bake the cookies for 10 min (13 min made them crunchy).

Recipe