And Now, it is Christmas

 It seems like we went from Thanksgiving to Christmas in a very short time! I've always enjoyed these seasons for the times with family and friends. And the food, of course, the food. Many of the Thanksgiving favorites are also Christmas favorites, so if you didn't get enough of some or missed trying some new recipes, there is still time. 

Our Thanksgiving turkey was prepared by my daughter, and she spatchcocked it. This drastically reduced the amount of time it took to roast the turkey and it was tender and moist. This method basically butterflies the bird. It disposes of the backbone so the bird can be flattened and cooked skin side up. More surface is available for even browning and with a high cooking temperature that means crackly, crispy skin. She also inserted butter and herbs under the skin making it very moist and flavorful. That might be something you want to try for Christmas dinner. 

A 'nibble tray/cheese board/charcuterie board keep us munching before the meal was ready and while we waited for the youngest grand to wake up from her nap. Nuts, dried fruit, grapes, crackers, and cheese curds (from Alma Cheese - made in Kansas!) made a colorful selection. 



We actually had 3 Thanksgiving dinners and I took the same dish to each! Luckily everyone liked Creamed Corn and it was easy to transport in a slow cooker. Do you know that some newer vehicles even have an electrical outlet - you can cook and drive at the same time! 






No Thanksgiving (or Christmas dinner) is complete without something topped with cream cheese frosting. I made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for one dinner. The recipe made enough frosting after covering the dozen cupcakes that I saved it for a shared supper when I took Gingerbread Bars with Cream Cheese Icing.


PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients: 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

½ cup canola oil

2 large eggs

¾ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. 

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl. Set aside. 

Whisk the oil, eggs, brown sugar, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a mixer or shisk untiul completely combined. Batter will be thick. 

Pour/spoon the batter into the liners, filling only 2/3 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting. 

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 oz. full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature

½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 

3 cups powdered sugar + an extra ¼ cup if needed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions: 

In a large bowl using a mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and cream. Add 3 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add extra sugar if needed to make frosting a little thicker. 

GINGERBREAD BARS WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

¾ cup butter                                

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups molasses

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

1 ¼ teaspoons ginger

¾ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

3 ¾ cups flour

1 ½ cups hot water

Instructions:

In mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar; beat in eggs; mix in molasses.

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves. 

Mix flour mixture into the creamed mixture until well combined.

Slowly mix in hot water. 

Spread batter into a large cookie sheet with high sides, bake in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean and cake has slightly pulled away from the edges of the pan. 

When cool, spread with cream cheese icing. 

I hope you're as excited for Christmas as I am - for the family and friend times, but also for the food. What new recipes have you tried? 

Peanut Brittle Grahams

At a recent session at Kansas Wheat Commission we were introduced to a new website "EatWheat.org" - promoting, of course, wheat products. Although initiated by KWC, EatWheat is planned to bring together any and all groups interested in wheat products. There are four parts to the site: Stories, Recipes, Learn, and Get Inspired. Farm family stories from the field are featured in Stories, letting viewers learn more about who produces wheat. The Learn section discusses types of wheat/flour and gluten. There you'll find answers to questions from production to nutrition. Recipes will be a popular section of course. The recipe I'm including in this post is one of those. Get Inspired includes crafts like pasta angels, gingerbread houses, and fall wreaths. I hope you check this site out for more ideas.

This recipe for Peanut Brittle Grahams reminds me of Peanut Brittle but is not as brittle or hard and doesn't stick to your teeth! The added graham crackers will make it a little more healthy, but it is still wise to limit how much you eat, there is 100 calories in each square. I broke them into small pieces, about 4 pieces per square (8 pieces from each cracker) to try for portion control! They are  sweet but salty and chewy also.

PEANUT BRITTLE GRAHAMS

 Ingredients: 

12-14 whole graham crackers

¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks)

1 cup light brown sugar

½  cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts

Making the Grahams

1.     Preheat oven to 350°. Line graham crackers in a single layer on an ungreased 15x10x1-inch jelly-roll pan

2.     In heavy saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

3.     Carefully pour hot mixture over graham crackers. Sprinkle on chopped peanuts and lightly press peanuts down with spatula. Bake for 7 minutes until bubbly.

4.     Let cool. Break or cut into pieces and store in airtight container in a cool place.

The original recipe calls for 13 graham crackers,
my pan held 12.
Also, I lined the pan with parchment paper,
didn't take a chance on a sticky pan!

Ready to go into the oven. 

Sweet as a Christmas Cookie

Christmas cookies and happy hearts,   This is how the Season starts.                  

Our UMW/church women's group believes the season starts, and continues with cookies. Each December meeting is Cookie Plate time, when each member brings a batch of cookies and plates of assorted cookies and candies, with fruit, are assembled and delivered to friends and church members in care homes. I think this is a wonderful tradition.

This year the cookies I gave were from a new favorite recipe, Red Velvet Cookies. Red Velvet is another seasonal flavor I like and these are made with a cake mix. So they are very quick and easy, (about 10 minutes to mix and 20 minutes to bake two pans) besides looking festive. I'm going to try this recipe with other flavored cake mixes. I've seen a Blue Suede cake mix. Maybe Red Velvet, Blue Suede, and White cake mixes for 4th of July?

Red Velvet Cookies                                                         

Ingredients:

1 box Red Velvet cake mix

2 eggs

⅓ cup vegetable oil

Powdered sugar (or frosting)

Instructions:

1.     Preheat the oven to 375°.

2.     Combine one box Red Velvet cake mix, two eggs, and one-third cup vegetable oil with mixer.

3.     Form teaspoon size balls and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet or baking pan about one-inch apart. Slightly pat down the top of each ball (use the back of an oiled spoon)

4.     Cook for 8-10 minutes (the tops of the cookies will crack slightly)

5.     While hot, lightly sprinkle the top of the cookie with powdered sugar. Or wait until cooled and frost with your favorite white frosting.

Makes about 24

Simple ingredients!

For my first batch I frosted the tops

Firecrackers for Christmas

Everyone loves fireworks! We usually save ours for the 4th of July or a trip to Disney World. But in Peru fireworks are very much a part of the culture for celebrating Christmas. Since we live in a rural area with no zoning, we've been known to save some July sparklers for New Year's Eve or a birthday celebration (only in years when we've had enough rainfall to be safe!)

These firecrackers are for your mouth, however. And they are just as popular as the ones you light with a punk. Each holiday season I made 2 or 3 batches and they will quickly disappear. Its a good thing they are so easy to make. 

Firecrackers

1 box saltine crackers

 1 ½ cup Canola oil

½ package Hidden Valley Dressing Mix

2 Tbs. red pepper flakes, dried parsley, dried chives, or any dried herb or mixture of

Put crackers into a container that will close tightly. Mix the other ingredients and pour over crackers. Close container and turn container often until the crackers have absorbed the oil.

I like to use the plastic cracker storage container,
a box of saltines just fits! Slip them out of each
tube to stack in the container.

Simple ingredients: saltine crackers, oil, ranch dressing,
parsley flakes and red pepper flakes.

Cranberry Salad

Some like it sweet and creamy. Some like it crisp and tart. Every family has a favorite way to make Cranberry Salad. Ours is semi-sweet and crunchy with chopped cranberries and pecans. The holiday time ofThanksgiving and Christmas meals is a perfect time for Cranberry Salad, however you like it.

CRANBERRY SALAD

1 bag (12-16 oz) cranberries, ground

1 cup sugar

1 package strawberry or raspberry jello

1 (6-oz) can crushed pineapple

½  cup chopped pecans

Mix cranberries and sugar together, set aside. Prepare jello as directed on package with 1 cup boiling water and 1 cup cold water, using juice from crushed pineapple as part of the liquid. When jello starts to congeal, add the cranberry mixture, crushed pineapple and pecans. Let set until completely gelled.

It's simple, but good.