Soup and Christmas Traditions

Soup on Christmas Eve is a tradition almost as common as leaving a plate of cookies and a glass of milk out for Santa. Our family's Christmas Eve soup was lunch shared with many cousins from the Frankenbery side, at our house. It was special day to be with these family members, meet the newest family member, see how the kids had grown, and hear stories of what everyone is doing now. Three kinds of soup, and enough desserts to put us all over the weekly calorie count were on the counter. Sara reminded me of a favorite recipe for a cheese wheel that I hadn't made for a couple of years, and it was a popular addition. 

Here are the recipes for the cheese wheel and one of the soups I made:

Golden Cheese Wheel

1 package active dry yeast

⅓ cup warm water (110 – 115 degrees)

1 ¾ - 2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cooking oil

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

3 cups shredded Muenster cheese (I used 2 cups Italian) 

⅓ cup snipped fresh parsley (no fresh here in December, use 3 T. dried)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon water

1 ½ teaspoons sesame seeds

1.     In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water. Add 1 cup of the flour, the oil, sugar and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2.     Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 – 8 minutes total).

3.     Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning dough once. Cover; let rise in a warm place  until double in size (about 1 hour).

4.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-inch round pizza pan; set aside. Punch down dough; turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into two portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of the dough into a 13-inch circle. Place dough circle on prepared pizza pan (dough will extend past edge of pan).

5.     For filling: In a medium bowl, combine the 1 beaten egg, the cheese, parsley, garlic powder, and pepper; spread over dough in pan. Roll remaining dough into a 13-inch circle. Place the dough circle over filling; trim top and bottom crusts to ½ inch beyond the edge of the pan. Seal and flute edges.

the bottom crust with
cheese filling

6.     In a small bowl, combine the 1 lightly beaten egg and the 1 tablespoon water; brush over the top crust. Sprinkle with sesame seeds Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden. Cut into narrow wedges. Serve hot. Makes 12 – 16 appetizers.

into the oven with
the top crust

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

3 cans (14.5 oz) chicken broth

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cut up into bite size pieces

1 package (6 oz) converted long grain & wild rice mix with seasoning packet (not quick cooking or instant)

2 cups water

1 cup sliced celery

1 cup diced carrots

¼ to ½ cup chopped onion (to taste)

½ tsp. black pepper

         Directions: Combine all ingredients in slow cooker; mix well.  Cover cook on low 6 to 7 hours or high 4 to 5 hours.  Makes 9 (1 ½ cup) servings

Any Holiday Cookies

There's something about the Christmas season that calls for Sugar Cookies - the kind that you cut out with cookie cutters. These are the customary cookies on the plate left with a glass of milk for Santa, the ones that are chosen first at the office party, and the topping accent on a cookie basket for shut-ins.
Sugar cookies are American's 4th most popular cookie and when rolled and cut into shapes allow for creativeness that make a special treat.
At some point in food history, bakers decided the circle shape was too common and around 2000 BC Egyptians started using ceramic and wooden molds to shape biscuits and breads into shapes. In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I of England had shaped cookies made in the likeness of her esteemed guests. I'm not sure how popular it was to be seen biting off your neighbor's foot! But by the next century tin cookie cutters were made to produce the popular shape of Gingerbread Men. As commercial manufacturing, plus aluminum and plastic materials, became common, cookie cutters were made in many shapes. The creative home crafts of the 1970's and 1980's found many of us decorating cookie shapes with frosting, sprinkles and food coloring.
I have a bucket of cookie cutters that includes those my mother used when I was a child, a dinosaur shape from my son's childhood, a PowerCat, and many stars, bells, trees and angels for Christmas. I make an attempt each Christmas at these cookies, and this year I think I've got it. My decorating is a little wobbly, but the effect is still tasty. Here's the secret: a wonderful recipe from a friend who brought them to the SE Area Extension Office party (thanks, Beth), King Arthur's all-purpose flour, and a meringue frosting.

Sugar Cookies
1  1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 cup margarine (I used 1/2 cup margarine, 1/2 cup butter)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring
2  1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon baking soda
     Cream sugar and margarine/butter; add egg and flavorings, mix thoroughly. Sift dry ingredients together and stir in. Refrigerate 2-3 hours. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough in half and roll our on a floured board to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 7-8 minutes or until lightly golden. Let cool and decorate.

Meringue Powder Icing
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons meringue powder
2 cups confectioners sugar
assorted food colorings
     In a medium bowl, beat water and meringue powder with a wire whisk until frothy. Whisk in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Divide mixture among desired number of small bowls, and whisk in desired food colorings.

Christmas Crunch and Chocolate-covered Phone

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas - time for the sweet treat preparations. I always like the mixtures of almond bark, dried fruits and nuts. This recipe has all my favorites! It will be a good snack for visiting friends and family, and it was easy to make. The most difficult part was cleaning the chocolate off my phone after I dropped it in the mixture while taking a photo for this blog!

Christmas Crunch Bark
1 package (24 oz) vanilla almond bark
3/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds (toasted)
3/4 cup craisins
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup M&Ms
2 oz of chocolate almond bark for drizzle
Melt almond bark (remember to do it a minute at a time in the microwave, stirring frequently, when it looks melted, its too far gone). Stir in cereal and half of the nuts. Spread on a parchment paper covered tray. Sprinkle with craisins, M&Ms and remaining nuts. Press these slightly into the mixture. Drizzle with melted chocolate almond bark. Cool to set and slice or break onto pieces.

Today's sweet treats also included Pretzel Kisses and Chocolate Peanut Clusters. (see last Dec. 22 blog).

Treats - but not too Sweet

There are many traditions that are special this time of the year, and many of them involve food. Most of us find ourselves attending more meetings, gatherings, dinners and parties that include special foods of the season. It's easy to get a 'sugar overload'. For a recent shared supper before quilt club meeting, I tried to think of favorites that weren't so sweet. Here are the recipes for the two I took:

Vegetable Pizza
This is a colorful addition to any buffet, the green and red colors of the fresh veggies made it look especially festive for Christmas. And, it will be a healthy choice!       

1 pkg. (8 oz) refrigerated crescent roll dough

1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese softened

½ cup mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch dry dressing mix

¼ cup sour cream

Raw vegetables of your choice, chopped – broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, mushrooms, peppers, cucumbers, radishes, onion, tomatoes, etc

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

            Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. (Or a 13-inch pizza pan). Unroll crescent roll dough and pat into the pan. Seal any seams. Bake 12-15 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

            In mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients except vegetables and cheese, mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over crust.

            Chop veggies and sprinkle over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 

Pimento Cheese Spread (on Cocktail Rye Bread)

I don't claim to be Southern, but many of my favorite recipes have southern origins, including this  cheese spread that can be simple or fancy. 

3/4 cup light mayonnaise

1 (4-oz) jar diced pimiento, drained

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 (8-oz) block 2 % reduced-fat extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, finely shredded

1 (8-oz) block 2% reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

        Stir together mayonnaise, pimiento, onion, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and ground red pepper. Stir in cheeses. 

Serve on crackers, cocktail bread, celery, or even white bread!

Game Trip Snacks

Today is a big day! The last regular season football game of the Kansas State Wildcats. As season ticket holders we spend many Saturdays on the road in the fall to travel to Manhattan, about 3 hours away, to watch our favorite team. And today's game against Texas has a lot at stake. So far the Wildcats have only had one loss, and for a glorious week were rated Number 1 College Team in the nation! Now we're hoping the guys have had a rejuvenating 2 weeks to rebuild from that one very disappointing loss. A win today would mean the Big Twelve Championship and probably a trip to the Fiesta Bowl - Go Cats!
Besides tailgating or meeting friends in Cat Town, snacks for the trip home are an important food part of the day. When the game is an evening one, like tonight's, we especially want a munchy, crunchy to keep us going until we arrive home safely about 2 a.m.!
One of our favorite car snacks is Cereal Mix - but we just did that last weekend for the Thanksgiving trip to Texas - it is easy to prep, and this combo is healthier and less messy (no greasy fingers) than the traditional Chex Mix. My version is:
Cereal Mix Snack (all 'more or less' measurements!)
1 box Crispix
1/2 of a small box of Cheerios
2 cups preztels
1 small can mixed nuts
1 - 2 cups small candies (like candy corn, M&Ms, Reeces' Pieces)
1 small bag commercial party mix
Mix and bag - pretty simple! The ready made party mix adds the flavor which incorporates with the other ingredients without adding as many calories as the original.

So tonight's snack is PowerCat Caramel Corn. I am always tempted by the big bags of purple popcorn that they sell at the concessions stands. But at $5 a bag, I resist. So today I decided we'd make our own to take. To this standard recipe I added a couple of 'smidgens' (isn't that a scientific food term?) of purple paste food coloring. One 'smidgen' would have been enough - its pretty dark - but hey, you can't  have too much purple!  YEA CATS!

Carmel Corn (this recipe is just right for 1 popper of corn - we have the locally famous Quincy/Atom popcorn pan)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Directions: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Over medium heat, combine the first 4 ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Stir well. Pour over 3-4 quarts of popped corn. Stir to coat well (this is where an extra set of hands would be good). Bake in a large roaster or pan for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes.

I used a large broiler pan -
good idea to spray the
pan with cooking oil

Maybe just a bit too much food coloring

Thanksgiving Appetizers - or "Delayers"

Appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, starters, antipasto, gustus, tapas, maza, mezze, zakuski, dim sum, smorgasbord...small foods served before meals to whet the appetite play integral roles in many cultures and cuisine. The traditions that developed these customs vary – it may have been to stretch the social time, aid digestion, or offer a tease of the meal to come.

In our family, appetizers are often offered to keep extra fingers (and mouths) out of the food prep until it is time to eat. Last week we celebrated our family’s Thanksgiving in Texas with Daughter & Son-in-Law, and Son from Iowa. We had decided that an early evening dinner would give us more time to cook and we’d start the day with a hardy brunch. With our early morning family, brunch had to happen before 8:00! That left a long stretch of time for the munchies to happen. So we served appetizers to hold the hungry guys over.

Here’s Daughter S’s favorite:

Prosciutto Wrapped Pear

1 – 2 ripe (but not soft) green pears (like Bartlett)

1 small package of plain goat cheese (or flavored cream cheese)

6–8 slices prosciutto (an Italian ham) or deli ham,very thinly sliced

Honey

Fresh cracked pepper

         Wash, slice and cut pears into thin wedges. Scoop cheese into the core indentation. Wrap cheese/pear tightly with thin piece of prosciutto/ham. Arrange the wrapped pear wedges on a serving plate. Drizzle with honey and dust the top with freshly cracked black pepper.  It’s a wonderful combination of sweet, tangy and salty tastes.

Another appetizer that is tasty is from Bonnie Aeschliman’s collection “Farm to France” (see the last blog of Nov. 18). She demonstrated and shared samples of this at the class I attended in October.

Zucchini and Sun-Dried Tomato Tart

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-oz package), thawed but keep cool

1 ¾ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

½ cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced

⅓ cup basic chiffonade (that’s chopped into thin slivers)

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 small zucchini, unpeeled, cut into thin rounds

2 large eggs

1 cup half-and-half

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon ground red pepper

         Roll puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch square. With a pizza wheel trim pastry edges to form a 13-inch circle. Place the pastry in an 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Tuck in overhang to form double-thick sides. Pierce with fork to allow steam to escape. Cover; chill at least 1 hour.

         Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Shape foil inside the pastry and fill with beans or rice or pie weights. Bake on a baking sheet until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and beans. Return crust to oven and bake until bottom is golden brown, puncturing crust with fork if bubbles form, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes.

         Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Sprinkle mozzarella over bottom of crust. Top with one-third cup of Parmesan. Layer sun-dried tomatoes, basil, green onions, and oregano on top of cheese layer. Arrange zucchini rounds in overlapping circles to cover top of tart.

         Whisk eggs, half-and-half, salt, and ground red pepper in medium bowl. Pour mixture into tart. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

         Bake tart until custard is set and crust is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 8 servings.