Happy Easter!

Wishing everyone who celebrates a happy and fun Easter filled with family, food, and delicious eggs (chocolate or otherwise).

My favorite deviled eggs.

Deviled Eggs

With Thanksgiving coming up next week it seemed like the perfect time to finally blog these eggs. Deviled eggs were always a staple on the holiday table in my house growing up, but lately I’ve taken over the making of the eggs. But these eggs are different from the ones I ate growing up. If you’ve seen my egg salad recipe then this recipe will be very familiar. When I make the deviled eggs I use my mother-in-law’s recipe. These eggs are more of a sweet taste while my mom’s are a tangy, mustardy flavor. My hope is to get my mom to write down her recipe for me again so I can blog it too. It shouldn’t be a problem because we pretty much rotate deviled eggs at my parent’s house – one time I’ll make these and the next mom will make the tangy eggs. So hopefully around Christmas I can get the other recipe too.

Just like the egg salad this is really just a list of ingredients – there really isn’t any measurements here. These eggs are totally dependent on how many eggs you are making and your tastes. The Miracle Whip and mayo really just add to the consistency of your filling – adding more will make your filling more creamy but doesn’t really do much for the taste. Adding more sugar, French dressing, or pepper changes the taste. The important thing to remember is that you can always add more of an ingredient but you can’t take it away if you put in too much – so start small and add on.

Deviled Eggs From My mother-in-law

Ingredients
Eggs
Mayo
Miracle Whip
French Dressing
Pepper Sugar

Place your desired number of eggs into a pot, cover with water and place over medium-high heat for 20 minutes.*

Once eggs are done drain the water, cover with cold water, and peel the shells off. Place the eggs in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, or until cooled.

Cut your eggs in half and scoop out the yolk, place it in a bowl. To the bowl add mayo and Miracle Whip until you have reached the consistency that you like (I start with a tablespoon of each and then go from there).

Once you are happy with the consistency add the dressing (I usually start with a teaspoon), the sugar (I start with 1/2 a teaspoon), and pepper (I start with a small dash and go from there). Slowly add more of each until you are happy with the result – keeping the amounts you are adding small so you don’t add too much.

Fill your egg whites with the filling – you can spoon it in or pipe it in from a plastic bag with the tip cut off (or you could use a bag and tip like you would for frosting).

Chill for at least 30 minutes (over night is best) then serve.

*If you have another way that you like to boil your eggs then use it. The goal is just to have some hardboiled eggs.

TWD: Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

When I saw that the last recipe for December was a cheesecake recipe I was both excited and nervous. I've never made a cheesecake before, even though it is something that I've always wanted to try. So I was very happy to see this recipe, because I knew it would be the kick I needed to finally make this awesome treat.

I was so inspired by this recipe and how great it sounded that we decided to make one for each of our parents for Christmas, since my dad and Doug's mom are cheesecake fans. This was so good that all of our parents absolutely raved about it. This has a nice creamy texture and a light sweet taste to it. And it's really actually very easy to make (trust me, I've made it three times now counting the one I just made for us to keep). The most time consuming aspect of this is the baking and cooling periods. This recipe also freezes really well, when we made the cakes for our parents we kept them in the freezer for a couple of days to make sure they stayed fresh and they were perfect.

I think this is a great recipe for someone who is new to cheesecakes, it's simple to follow and tastes great. I will definitely be trying more cheesecakes in different flavors in the future, so stay tuned!

This recipe was picked by Anne of AnneStrawberry, check out this great blog.

This recipe is from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pages 235-237.

Red Velvet Cookies

I love red velvet cake, so much so that it was my flavor choice for our wedding (Doug's was German Chocolate). I have never been brave enough to make one from scratch (I should add that to my list of Things I Want To Do In The Kitchen In 2009) but I usually have a mix in the cabinet. So when I volunteered to bring dessert to Doug's family's Christmas gathering and started thinking about what was in the cabinet I zoomed in on this cake mix. But I didn't want to just make a cake or even cupcakes, I've been making cookies all week and that's where my mind currently is. That's when I remembered the Funfetti Cookies I'd had once before. These cookies are incredibly easy, just cake mix, egg, and oil. So, after checking with my baking friends to make sure it was possible, I decided to make the Funfetti Cookies into Red Velvet Cookies.

I opted to not ice these because I think red velvet is pretty sweet on its own, but I did dust half of them with powdered sugar, which I think provided a nice extra kick of sweetness, but the ones I didn't dust were just as good. These seemed to be pretty popular and quite a few of them disappeared off the platter, and I have no problem eating the ones that are left. I will definitely be making these again.

Red Velvet Cookies

Based off the Funfetti Cookies recipe

1 (18.9-oz.) Package Red Velvet Cake Mix

1/3 Cup oil
2 Eggs

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.

Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

Frost or sprinkle with powdered sugar. Store in tightly covered container.

Holiday Sweets Exchange: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

The cooking board that I frequent (not sure that's a strong enough word!) had a holiday sweets recipe exchange spearheaded by one of the great members. I was really excited to do this again since I had a lot of fun making the divinity recipe I received last year. I was really, really happy with the recipe that I got this year. I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and peanut butter cookies, so this was a a perfect recipe for me!

I've actually already made these twice because we loved them so much. I made these this past Sunday night as a special treat for Doug and I amid all the holiday baking I was doing (since that was all for gifts and we couldn't eat it) and we loved them. Then I made another batch last night to take to Doug's parent's house today for our holiday celebration with Doug's grandma and family from Alabama. These were a total success! They were gone before we had even eaten dinner. Everyone who has tried these has absolutely loved them and I love them even more because they are so easy to make. This recipe calls for a peanut butter cookie mix, which I used because I was busy enough with holiday baking, but if you have a favorite peanut butter cookie recipe I see no reason why you couldn't use that. The one thing I didn't do to these was put the mini m&m's on top, because I kept forgetting to buy them, but I think they are perfect with out them, both in taste and appearance.

These are a great cookie and I'm really excited to have this recipe in my arsenal now, Doug says that they are his current favorite, so I will definitely be making these again.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Source: WC Holiday Sweets Exchange

1 package peanut butter cookie mix
1 bag reese’s peanut butter cups
Mini m&ms

Line a mini muffin pan with mini muffin wrappers.
Prepare dough according to the cookie mix.
Roll cookie dough into small balls and place in each individual wrapper.
Bake as directed on package.
Remove from oven and place 1 peanut butter cup in each cookie.
As chocolate melts on top add the mini m&ms.
Let cool in the pan.
I use a toothpick to help pull each cookie out.
Put a couple in the freezer to try them cold.

A Nerve Wracking Addition to Thanksgiving

Have you ever tried to make something that you've never tried or even seen before? I hate cook books that don't have pictures because I like to see what items look like so I know if mine look right. Anyone else? Now, have you ever made something that you've never tried or seen before, but that a large portion of your perspective diners not only remember but remember as a major part of their childhood? Yeah, pretty nerve wracking.

This was what I faced preparing for Thanksgiving. For some idiotic reason, that I have since forgotten, I volunteered to make the cranberry sauce for our Thanksgiving celebration using my great grandmother's recipe. My mom, aunt, and grandmother all very clearly remember this recipe, they remember not only eating it but also helping to prepare it. Needless to say I was a little stressed out. And when Doug turned to me half way through the making of the sauce, when our poor tiny Cuisinart food processor was whining in complaint and the counters were covered in fruit, and asked "does this look right?" it dawned on me that I should stop volunteering to make things........ ok, not really. But it did dawn on me that I really did not want to mess this up. Luckily it was deemed acceptable, if not quite sweet enough, and people actually did eat it, although we have a decent amount left.

This actually wasn't too hard to make, and it would be a lot easier with a larger food processor, and is really good. Although it didn't end up being the only cranberry sauce on the table, you can't take away the canned stuff without warning, I think it was a hit. And I will definitely be trying some more of my great grandmother's recipes, hopefully in slightly less stressful situations.

Grandma's Cranberry Sauce

I don't know the original source on this, it's a very old family recipe

2 Apples
2 Oranges
1 Bag of Cranberries
Sugar to taste
Grind fruit (can use a food processor); mix in bowl and add sugar to taste.

Variations: To make Jell-o salad add above ingredients to one prepared box of cranberry Jell-o and allow to chill for at least 1 hour. I didn't do this but my mom says it is good.

Bringing the Cranberries to Thanksgiving

When my family has Thanksgiving you can be sure that there will be at least one pumpkin treat, if not more, and in recent years I've made sure that pecans are represented as well. So this year, when others beat me to the pumpkin and pecan items, I was at a loss for what to make. I kept finding great looking recipes, but they all featured one of the two items that were already going to be accounted for when our families gathered for our first joint family Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Then I had a flash of genius: cranberries! I was already going to be buying some for the cranberry sauce, so why not just grab an extra bag. Then I quickly remembered this awesome cranberry walnut bread recipe that I saw on Katie's blog and my dessert was born.

I think this bread was a nice alternative to the pies that were brought along to the party (and my goodness were there a lot of pies!). It was a bit of a lighter bite, with a nice fresh taste, courtesy of the orange zest and juice and cranberries. The walnuts were also a nice addition, even though I am not crazy about them. This would be a great item to bring in to a work party or a Christmas event as a nice alternative to the traditional dessert items of the season. And it's also a great item because it can be made a day or two ahead of when you need it and will be perfect, I made this Wednesday evening and it was perfect.

Cranberry Walnut Bread

From: Good Things Catered

Ingredients:

2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp grated orange zest

2/3 c. juice from an orange

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/2 c. shelled walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 1/4 c. fresh cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a standard loaf pan.

In a small mixing bowl, combine orange juice, eggs, butter, and stir to combine thoroughly; set aside.

In large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add orange zest and stir to combine.

Add wet ingredients to well in dry ingredients and mix until just combined (don't over mix).

Fold in walnuts and cranberries and transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan.

Place into oven and bake until knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes.

Remove bread from oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes.

Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Wrap and put away for 1 to 2 days before serving.

TWD: Twofer Pie

So after taking last week off from TWD because it was my birthday and we had an abundance of cake I was really excited to try this pie. Basically it is a pumpkin pie with a pecan pie on top, which makes me a very happy girl. I didn't start liking pecan pie until 2 years ago when I made one for Doug and his family and discovered that I actually like it. This pie doesn't disappoint, it has a nice, creamy pumpkin layer with a crunchy, sweet pecan layer on top, so it's the best of both pie worlds. Doug has already asked me to make it again, which is a great sign.

I had to bake this longer than what the recipe called for, almost 20 more minutes actually, before the center was done. Other than that this is an incredibly easy recipe. Doug and I decided that we prefer this cold, which is how we like regular pumpkin pie. This would be great with whipped cream or even vanilla ice cream.

This recipe was picked by Vibi of La Casserole carree. Check out her blog.

Thanksgiving Twofer Pie from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 321.

A Timeless Classic: Oatmeal Scotchies

These are one of my favorite cookies that I really associate with fall. I'm not totally sure why that is, except for the fact that the tastes (oatmeal, cinnamon, butterscotch) all just scream fall to me. Plus I (and my mom) only really ever make them in the fall and winter. So when my yearning for fall got to be to much last week (when it was still in the 80s here) I decided to bust out the one bag of butterscotch chips I was holding in my pantry and whip up a batch of these bad boys. I always just follow the recipe on the back of the bag and they are so good. The remind me of growing up, of fall, and of the holidays (and if you get a Christmas present from me this year do not be surprised to find these cookies!). So here is the recipe for these incredible cookies, whip up a batch and bite into a great taste of fall.

Oatmeal Scotchies
Source: Nestle (find the recipe here)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Morsels

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Christmas Time!

So for Christmas this year we have decided to give most of our friends and family food baskets filled with sweet treats and a couple of different gifts in a jar. We figure the jars are something for them to take home an enjoy later and the sweet treats are something to help them get through the craziness of our wedding, which is four days after Christmas. We actually found the jars, the baggies, and the baskets at Wal-Mart, the jars were with the canning things, the baggies were with the holiday baking items, and the baskets were in the Christmas section. The basket are going to have snickerdoodles and sugar cookies, french chocolates, and divinity (see the recipes below). This one has a gift in a jar of the dry ingredients for big fat chewy chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are a favorite on the WC Board and everyone I have made them for loves them. I also made candy cane hearts by taping candy canes together to form a heart, I think it looks pretty neat and adds a whimsical touch to the baskets for the little kids. This basket also has a baby gift in it (two of our recipients are pregnant, so we got a little something for the future baby). These baskets were really fun to make and everything in them is really good, hopefully everyone will love them.

Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Now That's What's Cooking

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Sugar Cookies

So I started making goodies for my holiday gift baskets, the first of which I am giving out tomorrow. I am trying to keep the items simple, classic, and yummy. So, obviously, sugar cookies were a must. I had been intending to roll these out and use cookie cutters on them, but my dough did not want to cooperate, so instead I just did drop cookies and rolled them in red and green sugar. These were really good, even though I think the butter I used did not want to work with me, but luckily they turned out really yummy. I got the recipe from Carrie's Cooking Adventure, which is a blog from one of the ladies on the WC Board, and she got the recipe from Joelen, who is also on the WC Board. She made icing for them, but I tend to like my sugar cookies with sugar more than with icing, you can find the icing recipe on her page.







Super Sugar Cookies

From Carrie's Cooking Adventure



COOKIES:
3/4 cup margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Cream margarine and sugar well.
2. Add vanilla and eggs; combine well.
3. In separate bowl, sift the baking powder, salt and flour. Add to wet ingredients slowly until thoroughly combined.
4. Cookie dough must be chilled until firm, or overnight.
5. Remove dough from fridge and roll out to a 1/4-inch thickness.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. With cookie cutters or rim of drinking glass, cut out cookies.
8. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on oven. Check often to prevent over cooking or burning. Cool on baking rack when done.

Getting nutty

I decided that I wanted to try something a new for a snack on Thanksgiving so I board through my starred recipes on my Google Reader. After combing through every delicious recipe that I have marked from all of the blogs from the ladies on the WC board, I decided to make the Holiday Spiced Nuts from Bean's Bistro. I'd never had spiced nuts but thought they sounded really good and the local grocery store had nuts on sale, perfect timing!

These were incredibly easy to make, took almost no time at all, made the house smell incredible, and tasted great. Everyone who tried them has already asked me to make them again and I've decided they are being added to the holiday gift baskets.

Spiced Nuts

From Bean's Bistro

1 Egg White
1-2 tsp. Water
3/4 C. White Sugar
1 Tbsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp. Salt
2-2 1/2 C. Plain Dry Roasted Peanuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg white and water until good and foamy.
Fold in the sugar, pumpkin spice, and salt. Blend until consistent.
Stir in peanuts to coat.
On a cookie sheet, pour out the coated peanuts in a flat layer. Any remaining glaze should be poured on the nuts.
Bake for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and IMMEDIATELY pour into a bowl. Break apart the nuts. As they cool, occasionally stir to keep large hunks to a minimum. Allow to cool before eating.

Makin' Whoopie.... pies that is

So for Thanksgiving D and I went to my parents house and then did a second round of sweets and snacks with his parents. So I decided to make something pumpkin to go along with my pecan pie. Well, my mom makes the pumpkin pie every year, so no need to do that. So when my fall issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray came I was interested by the Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipe. So after the food goddess on the WC board deemed them yummy, I decided those would be my pumpkin-y contribution to Turkey Day.

They were really easy to make, which is saying something since this was only the second time I had ever made icing. And everyone really loved them, which is always a good sign. I doubled this recipe, since it was going to more than one house, and it made more than enough pies.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

From Everyday with Rachael Ray

Makes 12

Prep Time: 35 min

Bake Time: 10 min

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.

3. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

5. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

Pecan Pie

So this year for Thanksgiving I decided to make my second ever pecan pie. I had never even eaten one before I made my first pie last year. But D and his parents really like them, so I agreed to make one. I used the recipe on the back of the Karo Syrup bottle because I had been assured by mothers and grandmothers that it is the best recipe. I think it is pretty good, although I really have nothing to base that on!

Pecan Pie

From: Karo Syrup

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 55 to 60 minutes

Yield: 1 pie

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup (I used light)
2 tablespoons butter OR margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans
1 (9-inch) unbaked or frozen deep-dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat eggs slightly with fork in medium bowl. Add sugar, Karo® Corn Syrup, butter and vanilla; stir until blended. Stir in pecans. Place pie dough in pie pan. Pour pecan filling into pie crust.
Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.