Recipes

One of the nice things about hosting the holiday gathering for John's extended family is that everyone brings something, so there is limited work involved. (Like, the work is "limited" to cleaning the house and figuring out how many chairs we have.) Food-wise, I contributed two pies, homemade candy that I didn't make, and deviled eggs. We also supplied a cute baby who provided some entertainment.

Every time deviled eggs are served at a potluck or gathering they are gobbled up very quickly as if they are a luxury. That always amuses me because, although they do take some time to make, deviled eggs are easy and cheep. Any one can make them, and 99.8% of Americans can afford to make them. Just ask my favorite cookbook - Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook:

6 hard boiled eggs
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp vinegar
paprika or parsley sprigs

Halve hard boiled eggs lengthwise and remove yolks. Place yokes in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar; mix well. If desired, season with salt and pepper. Stuff hard egg white halves with yolk mixture. If desired, garnish with paprika or parsley. Makes 12 servings.

Terah's comments:
*This is the recipe I follow to make eggs, but I use lemon juice instead of vinegar.
*Thanks to Cliff's lovely wife, Marilyn, I was introduced to putting real bacon bits into the yolk mixture. For this amount of eggs, I add 2 Tablespoons in with everything else. Just make sure to get the REAL bacon bits and not the fake hard ones that you find on most salad bars. Very yummy!
*My dad would probably add a bit of sugar to this. I am surprised that I don't think it needs sugar.
*I have never tried adding the salt or pepper and think that sounds strange.
*I believe that eggs should have paprika sprinkled on top. They don't look right otherwise.
*You can make this several days ahead of when you'll serve it. Just mix up the yolk mixture and store it in the fridge separate from the hard egg whites. Assemble the day you'll be serving.

I'll also add that this was my first opportunity to use the cooling properties of my Pampered Chef Egg Server. It kept the eggs cold for 6 hours! That purchase was well worth the money!

And, thanks to the Kirklins for doing the pre-mixing for me this time!

I subscribe to the American Institute on Cancer Research’s Health-e-Recipes mailing list. They send out a weekly recipe that follows AICR diet and health guidelines that can help you reduce your risk of cancer. Sometimes the recipes are really weird, but other times they turn out great. I’m a little dubious about last week’s recipe. What do you think? Really, it's the mint that gets me. I can't imagine the flavors going well together at all.

Wild Rice and Corn Salad

2 cups cooked wild rice
3/4 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen (defrosted)
2 green onions, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup finely chopped mint
3 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp. chopped red onion
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large bowl, combine the wild rice, corn, green onions, mint, nuts and red onion. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar and oil and add them to the rice mixture. Toss to combine the ingredients and season with salt and pepper. If possible, cover and let the salad stand for 30 minutes before serving it to allow the flavors to develop. This dish keeps for 24 hours if it is tightly covered and refrigerated.

Jacob's First Birthday Party was on Sunday. It's hard to believe that we've been parents for a year, and it's just amazing to think about all the changes in Jacob since his birth!

In planning Jacob's party, I really wanted food and activities that Jacob could enjoy. But, how do you combine things that a 1-year-old and adults will like? What I did was post a sign saying, "Catch the spirit of the party: Enjoy being young again!" Then, the guests got to make their own party favors (a craft kit where they decorated faces) and play Clue Junior.



The formal entertainment was watching Jacob open his gifts, followed by watching him eat cake. Jacob really enjoyed tearing the wrapping paper and holding the bows. He sort of got into the gifts, but it's really hard to find a toy as exciting as wrapping paper! (Since the party, he has enjoyed playing with his new toys a lot.)



We ended the party with eating cake, baby party mix, oatmeal Teddy Grahams, and punch.



The punch was just white grape peach juice and sprite. I put frozen peaches in the cups to make it feel festive.

I'm proud of my Baby Party Mix. (This is as creative as I get!) It's something that adults and babies can eat. We served it at the party, and Jacob also took it to daycare for his birthday snack.

Baby Party Mix
2 cups each of:
Kix
Chex
Cheerios
Gerber Puffs (I did half sweet potato and half cherry)
freeze dried apple bites

Mix it all together and enjoy! Serves about 15.

They're one of those vegetables that really have no significant nutritive value. Right up there with iceberg lettuce. Thanks to my Simply In Season cookbook I know that the only nutrient in cucumbers is Vitamin K. What a vegetable!

Every summer our church has a garden produce section. People with gardens bring in their extra produce, and those without buy the produce. All the proceeds go to our church's food pantry. This Sunday there were cucumbers, Armenian cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic. I took one look and could almost taste my favorite way to eat cucumbers.

I got one regular cucumber and, since I'd never seen other cucumber varieties, I also got one Armenian one. The Armenian cucumber had a slightly different and stronger flavor, and a firmer texture.

So, here's how I made my healthy cucumber even healthier:

Creamy Cucumbers from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

.5 c. dairy sour cream or plain yogurt
1 T vinegar
1 tsp sugar
.25 tsp salt
.25 tsp dried dillweed
1 large cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
1 small onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

In a covered container stir together the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, dillweed, salt, and dash of pepper. Add cucumbers and onion; toss to coat. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours, stirring often. Stir before serving. Makes 6 side-dish servings.

Terah's changes:
I used yogurt and increased it to 1 c. because that's how much I had and it would be a pain to scrape out a little yogurt container just to save 4 oz. I also increased the sugar to 1 T because I didn't want to get out another measuring spoon & I like sugar. I left out the dill because why would anyone want to ruin a dish by putting dill in it? Yuck!

I would also add that eating cucumbers like this is only good if you have good cucumbers. I also prefer the smaller cucumbers because they don't have such a tough skin - that way you can just leave the skin on. I imagine that's where all the nutrients are anyway since the lighter the vegetable, the less nutrients there are, and the skin is the only color source. Plus, who wants to take time to peal things?

About a month ago the windchill was below 0 and I was looking for something to bake that could be taken to another family. I stumbled upon this recipe and thought it sounded decent. Was it more than decent! I always make notations beside each recipe as I try them, and beside this one is written "rather addictive when warm". The recipe notes that these bars freeze well. I suppose they might, but there won't be any left to freeze if your willpower is like mine!

From Simply In Season

Winter Squash Bars

Beat together in bowl:
2 cups winter squash or pumpkin (cooked & pureed)
1.5 cups sugar
.75 c oil
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
.5 tsp salt

Mix in:
1 c flour
1 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Pour into lightly greased 11x17-inch jelly roll pan. bake in preheated oven at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Yields 24 bars (or 4 servings if you opted to bake this instead of making dinner. After all, it has whole wheat flour and pumpkin - it's very healthy!)

Recently John and I made some homemade ice cream. This turned out to be quite a hassle. I had mixed up the ingredients, put it into the metal container, and put that into the fridge until we were ready. About 30 minutes later I opened the fridge to find that the container leaked. Luckily 1) it was a slow leak and 2) we have "spill proof" shelves that actually kept the leak on one shelf.

I did a little bit (under 5 minutes) of cranking the White Mountain ice cream maker, but John did most of it. Watching John was hard work! Mmmm... There are few things as good as homemade ice cream!


Simple Ice Cream Mix

1 qt whole milk or half & half
1 c sugar
1 T vanilla

Mix together, make sure there are no leaks, freeze, and enjoy!

Terah's additions:
1. Sometimes I do 1 qt whole milk, 1 pt half & half, and 1 pt cream; then increase the sugar to two cups. This actually makes the calories disappear.
2. You can do different flavors with different oils instead of the vanilla. When I do this, I also add a little food coloring because it seems like non-vanilla ice cream should not be white.

My contribution to Super Bowl Sunday. Recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook.

1 3-3 1/2 pound fresh beef brisket
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. chopped onion (1 medium)
3 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 T chili powder
1 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. catsup
2 T brown sugar
1 T all-purpose flour

1. Trim fat from meat. Place meat in 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Stir together water, onion, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, chili powder, bouillon granules, red pepper, and garlic. Pour over meat. Cover with foil and bake in a 325F oven about 3 hours or till tender, turning once. Remove meat, reserving juices. Thinly slice meat. Place on a serving platter. Keep warm.

2. For sauce, measure juices; skim fat. If necessary, add enough water to equal 3/4 cup. In a saucepan stir together catsup, brown sugar, and flour. Stir in reserved juices. Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Serve with meat. Makes 10 to 12 servings.



Terah's Notes
1. Maybe they're serving 3 year olds because I don't see how this would serve 10 to 12. I think this makes closer to 6 servings!

2. For the sauce, I've found that cooking the mixture isn't really necessary. The juices are boiling when you take it out of the oven, so the mixture thickens right away. I just mix it up, then pop in the microwave for a minute before serving so it's nice and hot.

3. One teaspoon of instant bouillon granules is the same as one bouillon cube.

I took these cookies to a potluck at Cliff's church this weekend and they were quite a hit!

From the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook:

1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries (42-48 cherries)
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk

Step 1: Drain cherries, reserving juice. Halve any large cherries. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat till combined, scraping sides of the bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and as much of the flour as you can with a mixer. Stir in remaining flour.

Step 2: Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press your thumb into the center of each ball. Place a cherry in each center.

Step 3: For frosting, in a small saucepan combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Cook and stir over low heat till chocolate is melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons reserved cherry juice. Spoon 1 tsp. frosting over each cherry, spreading with the back of a spoon to cover.

Step 4: Bake in a 350F oven 10 minutes or till the edges are firm. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Makes 42-48 cookies.

Terah's notes:

*I am never able to get 42-48 cookies; probably I make the cookies too big. Usually I get about 35-38 cookies. The first time I tried this recipe it made 24 cookies!

*It is okay to use low-fat sweetened condensed milk.

*Do NOT substitute imitation chocolate chips for semisweet chocolate chips.

*Frosting may be thinned with additional cherry juice, if necessary.

*I usually have about 1/4 of the frosting leftover. It makes a great ice cream topping or dip for apples or strawberries!

from Kraft Foods

2 c. finely crushed ginger snaps
.5 c finely chopped pecans
6 T butter, melted
24 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sugar, divided
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
.25 tsp. ground nutmeg
dash ground cloves

Mix ginger snap crumbs, pecans, and butter; press onto bottom and 2 inches up the side of 9-inch springform pan. Beat cream cheese, 3/4 c of the sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until well blended. Reserve 1.5 c of the plain batter. Stir remaining .25 c sugar, pumpkin, and spices into remaining batter. Spoon half of the pumpkin batter over crust; top with spoonfuls of half of the reserved plain batter. Repeat layers. Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect. Bake at 325F for 55 minutes or until center is almost set if using a silver springform pan. OR, bake at 300F for 55 minutes or until center is almost set if using a dark nonstick springform pan. Loosen cake from side of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator. Makes 12 servings.

My comments:
*This recipe can seem overwhelming, but it truly is simple. Just follow the directions step by step and it will turn out great!

*When I first made this I had never heard of a springform pan. I used a 9x9 glass pan, which worked just fine. I do use a springform pan now because it gives a nicer presentation.

*My father-in-law isn't a big fan of pumpkin. After eating this cheesecake he said, "Just when you're getting too much pumpkin, you get a taste of the plain cheesecake and it all evens out!" He took seconds.

*After eating a ginger snap crust you will never want a graham cracker crust again!

I just spent the past hour frantically searching through the kitchen trying to find this recipe. I only know one other person who has the recipe, and they weren't home. It was quite a scene! I finally found the recipe card, in a recipe book marking a page of another recipe that I don't really like. Sigh!

I think this was the first cake that I ever made. It's really easy, and honestly you can just dump everything together, mix, put on as many chocolate chips as you want, and bake. Because of the applesauce, it's always nice and moist. This cake is always a huge favorite whenever I serve it. Just in case I ever loose it again, I'm posting the recipe here!

Beat together:
1.5 c. sugar
.5 c. oil
2 eggs
2 c. unsweetened applesauce

Add:
2 c. flour
1.5 tsp. baking soda
.5 tsp. salt
.5 tsp. cinnamon
2 T cocoa

Pour batter into an ungreased 9x13 cake pan. Sprinkle 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips on top. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes. Great warm or at room temperature!