Cranberry Orange Bars

Similar to Starbucks Cranberry Bliss bars, but orangier! I found a number of online recipes and put together the parts I liked best. Basic recipe mostly comes from here with a few modest changes.

BARS
◦ 1 cup butter ( 2 sticks, very soft)
◦ 2/3 cup brown sugar
◦ 1/3 cup granulated sugar
◦ 3 large eggs
◦ grated zest from 1 orange
◦ 2 cups flour
◦ 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
◦ 1 teaspoon ground ginger
◦ 3/4 cup craisins ( dried cranberries)
◦ 3/4 cup white chocolate chips 

FROSTING
◦ 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
◦ 2 tablespoons butter, softened
◦ 3 cups confectioners' sugar
◦ 1-2 or more teaspoons orange juice from zested orange

TOPPING
◦ 1/3 cup craisins
◦ 1/3 cup white chocolate chips 

Directions 
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (325 for a glass or dark pan). Prepare a 9x13 by lining it with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray. 
2. BARS: With an electric mixer, beat together softened butter and sugars 3-5 minutes until light; gently blend in eggs and orange zest (don't overbeat eggs). Add the flour, baking powder, and ginger and beat briefly. Add the cranberries and chips, stirring just until incorporated. 
3. Spread thick batter in prepared 9x13 pan. It does level itself out a little bit while baking. Bake 350 for 24-28 minutes until light brown AT EDGES and a skewer tests clean. Don't overbake or your bars will be dry. Let it cool completely. Using overhanging parchment paper, lift from pan onto rack.  I turn it out upside down onto rack, peel off paper, then flip onto big cutting board to frost and cut. 
4. FROSTING: Blend cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add orange juice and confectioners sugar and beat until frosting is fluffy and spreadable (adding more orange juice if needed, but remember its easier to add liquid, than to thicken frosting up after adding too much liquid). Spread evenly over COOLED bars. 
5. GARNISH: Sprinkle Craisins and white chocolate chips over frosted bars. 
6. Allow one hour in frig for the frosting to set before cutting. Cut into 20 large squares (5 cuts by 4 cuts with the knife). Then cut each square in half diagonally to create triangles. It has been my experience that triangles have fewer calories than squares. Or not.

Pineapple-Zucchini Bread with Streusel Topping

Pineapple-Zucchini Bread with Streusel Topping

Makes 2 loaves

Based on original recipe from:

November/December 2007 Grit Magazine

http://www.grit.com/Food/Pineapple-Zucchini-Bread.aspx

by Joanne Wright Schulte

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup salad oil

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups coarsely shredded, unpeeled zucchini

1 can (8 1/4 ounces) crushed pineapple, well drained

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

Streusel (see below)

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9-inch loaf pans; set aside.

I grate my zucchini in a food processor. If I'm using end-of-season giant zucchinis, I cut the seeds out before grating.

In mixing bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Beat in sugar, oil and vanilla. Continue beating until mixture is thick and foamy. Stir in zucchini and pineapple.

In second bowl (I just dump it on top of wet stuff I just put together, cuz I'm too damn lazy to wash a second bowl), stir together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins and nuts. Add to zucchini mixture and stir just until all flour is moistened. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Yields 2 loaves. Enjoy!

So, I've been making my loaves with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top and really like that, so I decided a streusel topping is the next logical step:

for the streusel:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 Tbsp rolled oats


1 cup chopped walnuts


6 Tbsp cold butter, cut in small pieces

1/2 to 1 tsp or so cinnamon

To make the streusel topping mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, and walnuts together in a small bowl.
Add the cold butter and mix with your fingers, breaking apart the butter and incorporating it until the mixture has no more dry flour, and has a crumbly texture.



Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter.

Mom's Tourtière Pie

Nothing says winter holidays for me like homemade Tourtière Pie. The filling is pretty much the same as gorton, which my mom used to stuff the turkey with, and which no decent after Thanksgiving sandwich was without: turkey, gorton, and cranberry sauce in a sandwich. At least for me. Since she is apparently too busy to make pies for me and ship them across the country, I've had to learn to fend for myself. So here it is. This makes enough for 2 pies. Great right from the oven, or cold from the refrigerator. Always great with cranberry sauce.

Mom's Tourtière Pie

oven: 375°

1 onion diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups water

2 lbs ground pork

1 lb ground beef

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of thyme

1 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

3 or 4 medium potatoes, diced and boiled separately
crusts for 2 pies, top and bottom

Saute onions and celery in a touch of oil until onions just start to brown around the edges. Add garlic and sauté for a minute. Add remaining ingredients except potatoes breaking up the meat and bring to boil then simmer for about 3 hours, adding a little more water as necessary while cooking. Drain and save liquid.  Add diced cooked potatoes to pork mixture. Use a potato masher to break them up a little and blend into pork, but you should still see potato bits. Add a little of the saved liquid to the mix to help hold together if needed. (If you let the liquid sit a bit, you can separate the juices from the fat.)  Put into two uncooked pie crusts.  Top it and cook as a regular pie making sure to vent crust, about 45 minutes at 375 degrees.  Makes two  pies, with maybe some extra. Or not. Depends on the size of your pie pans I guess.

Note: I use Pillsbury crusts and brush the top with beaten egg to "shine" it up.

Frog Eye Salad

When I used to spend Christmas Day feasting with my husband Steve's family, one of the extended family members always made Frog Eye Salad. Its fruity, sweet, fluffy, and just like dessert. Kids generally love it too. I've been making it the last few years for pot-lucks, etc, and finally decided to get the recipe up here as I'm making it for the family Thanksgiving get-together.

FROG EYE SALAD

1 (4-serving size) pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 of a 16 oz box acini de pepe
1 cup thawed Cool Whip
1 (15 oz) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 (16 oz) can fruit cocktail, drained
1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 jar Maraschino cherries without stems, drained


Mix pudding with 1 3/4 cups milk. Set aside. 
Cook acini de pepe. Drain and cool. 
Mix pudding and 1 cup Cool Whip together. 
Mix in the fruit and cherries, then the acini de pepe. 
Refrigerate; serve chilled. Refrigerate leftovers, if there are any.


NOTE: This makes a good sized bowl.

Buttermilk Zucchini Pineapple Bread

Had some left over buttermilk and a zucchini that I needed to use up soon, so what to do? Search for a recipe that uses them both. I didn't find exactly what I wanted so I took the best parts of other recipes and made my own Franken-zucchini bread. Actually came out very good and everyone I gave a piece to said it was moist and tasty- but maybe they were lying to protect my delicate feelings?


This recipe only makes one loaf (unlike most zucchini bread recipes), which is ideal for us.


Buttermilk Zucchini Pineapple Bread


Preheat oven to 350°. GENEROUSLY grease 9x5 loaf pan.


1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup coarsely grated zucchini
1 8.25oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2+ cup walnuts
1/2+ cup raisins


In large bowl beat butter and sugars together until combined. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each egg. With spoon mix in zucchini, pineapple,  buttermilk, and vanilla until combined.


Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to batter, stirring until just combined, then stir in nuts and raisins.


Pour batter in prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes or until done.


My notes:

• Really fills the loaf pan up, but doesn't rise too much so it stayed in the pan.
• I put a plus sign next to the walnuts and raisins as I didn't really measure- just dumped them in until I felt like there was enough.
• Even though I thought I had greased the pan thoroughly, it still stuck in the middle a little. Maybe I didn't grease it up enough there, or maybe I waited too long to remove it from the pan. I'll pay more attention next time.

Peach Tart

This is so easy. Cutting the peaches turned out to be the hardest part, and even THAT was easy. I had picked up a box of peaches from Trader Joe's and let them sit out until they were perfectly ripe. There are only two of us, so we ate as many as we could so I had to find a way to use them. Cobblers and Crisps came to mind, but everybody makes those. And I had a frozen sheet of Dufour Puff Pastry in the freezer I had been wanting to use, so the right answer turned out to be a Peach Tart!

RUSTIC PEACH TART

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (I prefer Dufour's)

7 to 8 ripe peaches

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon corn starch

3 tablespoons brown sugar

dash of cinnamon (optional)

2 tablespoons apricot preserves

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon sugar (optional)


Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 15x10 pan with non-stick spray.

Sprinkle rolling surface with some flour. Unfold puff pastry and lightly sprinkle top with flour. Roll out to approximate size of pan then place in pan. Using a sharp knife, cut off about 1/2 inch on all sides making straight sides. Fold cut-off pieces back over edges making them double height. Score halfway through bottom layer inside of this second layer being sure to NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH. This helps make an edge to keep the peach stuff in.

Slice peaches into about 8 pieces and place in bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.

Combine the flour, corn starch and brown sugar (and cinnamon, if desired.) Sprinkle over the bottom of the crust (this will thicken and sweeten the fruit and its juices). Arrange the peaches on top using a slotted spoon into a slightly heaped but even single layer but DO NOT pour any of the juices from the bowl on the tart. Trust me, it will be juicy enough. DO NOT heap the peaches up in the center or the tart won't cook correctly.

Heat preserves and honey (either on the stove or a microwave) enough to melt. Brush over the peaches. (I also brush some on the crust around the edge, too.)

Bake 350° for about 40 minutes on a low oven rack, until fruit looks cooked and the crust is golden brown. If desired, sprinkle a teaspoon-ish of sugar over the tart for the last 10-15 minutes. It will give the tart added sparkle. This is completely optional.

DO NOT cut immediately! It needs to sit a bit and let the juices thicken up. If you cut it right away, all that delicious juice will run out before they can thicken as they cool. Trust me, it is worth the wait.

My notes:

• I have found I prefer Dufour's puff pastry (which I get at my local Whole Foods). Its the right size, though a little expensive. But it also tastes the best.
• I have used Stevia for the sugar and a Splenda/brown sugar blend for the sweeteners. It worked fine.
• As usual, I added cinnamon- I add it to everything, it seems.
• I used raw honey for the honey but regular will work.
• I like the "rustic" look, so I didn't bother lining all the peach slices up like some folks do. Tastes the same either way.
• I used a packet of raw turbinado sugar for the "sparkle".
• I was uncomfortable with what looked like a lot of extra liquid but it thickened up upon cooling.
• Depending on the size of the peaches, you may need more or less. When I thought I needed more, I would cut up another one and stir it into the left-over juices in the bowl, then use the slotted spoon and apply them to the tart. Repeat as necessary.
• Forgot to make the glaze last time I made it, and it was still delicious!

Wood

Wood is the name we gave a bulgur wheat dish we like. We eat it hot for breakfast and I always make extra so we can have some later. Sometimes cold (and sometimes with a little greek yogurt.) Other times warmed up with a little frozen yogurt, or *gasp*, ice cream on top. I fool myself into thinking it is healthy because I don't have to add any sugar to make it taste good. I suppose that the juice and fruits add plenty of sugars, but it just seems so much healthier.

Wood

2 cups apple juice (I use the nice thick looking natural stuff)
1 cup bulgur wheat
1 crisp apple, (peeled or unpeeled) cored and chopped in chunks
about a .5 - 1 cup of raisins (your call)
.5 cup slivered almonds
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Bring juice, apple, raisins to boiling. Stir in bulgur and cinnamon and bring back to a boil. Stir in almonds, cover, and take off heat. Let sit for about 20-30 minutes. Taste and season with more cinnamon if necessary. (I'm kind of a cinnamon junkie so I always feel I need more.)

If you like you can experiment with adding other spices (nutmeg, ginger, etc) or using other fruit or nuts. The recipe is also easily doubled or more.

Super Easy Lazy Man's Tiramisu

I was having trouble finding an easy recipe for a quick Tiramisu-like (No Bake!!) desert to bring to work, so I cannibalized one recipe and made up the rest based on other recipes I had seen to make this. I used cream cheese instead of the traditional marscapone because I don't have that much experience with marscapone and was worried about it being less thick in texture than cream cheese. You could potentially do your own experimentation and let me know.

Lazy Man's Tiramisu

2 10oz frozen pound cakes, defrosted (I used Sara Lee)
2 8oz blocks of cream cheese, room temperature
.5 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 16oz tub regular Cool Whip, thawed but chilled
4 oz strong coffee or espresso, room temperature
4 oz Kahlua
4 oz bar bittersweet chocolate (I used 60% cacao Ghirardelli bittersweet) chopped finely
1 cup chocolate syrup (or so- not sure as I just squirted from the bottle of Hershey's Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup)

NOTE: IF you prefer, you can skip the Kahlua and use all espresso, but I think the Kahlua adds a little more sweetness and keeps the coffee section from being too bitter.

Cut off the ends of each loaf and slice the remainder of each pound cake into 9 slices and place them lying down in a 13x9 pan. You may have to cut some pieces to fit around the edges. (I did not need the butt ends of the cake- score for me!) Mix the expresso with the kahlua and brush, drizzle, or pour the mixture over the poundcake. Drizzle about half the chocolate sauce over cake.

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla. When creamy, fold in Cool Whip and crushed/chopped chocolate. Spread over cake. Drizzle with more chocolate syrup. Mmmmmm... chocolate syrup....

Chill overnight and enjoy.

Breakfast Pizza

Another easy recipe. Very good as a brunch casserole with fruit and muffins, etc. I lost my original recipe, but after some searching online, this one "seems" as close as any of them.

Breakfast Pizza

1 tube crescent rolls (8 oz?)
1 lb. sausage, cooked and drained
2 c. cheese (shredded) (I like a mix of Cheddar and Mozzarella)
3 c. frozen shredded hashbrowns
5 eggs, blended with 1/2 c. milk
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Press crescents into greased 9 x 13 pan. Evenly top with sausage, cheese, hashbrowns, egg mixture and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes.

Roast Chicken and Potatoes with Arugula

This recipe is so easy and ends up tasting so great. The amounts are easy to fudge- if you like more potatoes, add them! Serving more than two? Double the recipe. This is a satisfying winter recipe. Many thanks to Everyday Cooking for the inspiration and original recipe.



Roast Chicken and Potatoes with Arugula

Serves 2

1/2 tsp of lemon zest and about 1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp oregano (or italian seasoning, or whatever is your favorite- experiment!)
2-3 tbl butter, room temperature
1-2 tbl vegetable or olive oil
8 red potatoes (approximately) scrubbed then halved or quartered
2 chicken breast halves, bone-in, skin-on
salt and pepper
a couple handfuls of arugula (maybe 8-12 oz? it shrinks down)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix butter, lemon zest, and oregano in small bowl. Set aside. Put potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet (you need the rims to keep the juices from running off!) Drizzle some oil on potatoes and sprinkle with some salt/pepper. Toss and make sure potatoes get oiled.

Make a space in center of potatoes for chicken breasts and place chicken on pan. Using hands, smear butter mixture on chicken breasts trying to make sure to get some under skin as well. Any remaining butter can be dotted over potatoes. Salt and pepper chicken breasts,

Bake 25-30 minutes until thermometer in thickest part of chicken reads 165 degrees. Toss potatoes once during baking to help them brown on all sides.

Remove from oven when done and transfer chicken to plates. Using tongs, toss arugula with hot potatoes. Season with lemon juice and more salt pepper as necessary. Arugula will wilt from contact with hot pan and potatoes, so you can add more arugula if desired. Serve with chicken.

NOTES: I have made this many, many times since originally posting this. I have made it for 2 and for 6 by using 2 pans and the convection oven option on the oven, turning the pans and changing shelves halfway through. When making a lot, I make sure to use a thermometer. I have also experimented with using carrots, brussel sprouts, pearl onions, garlic cloves, and sweet potatoes. They are ALL delicious when roasted, but watch the brussell spouts as the cook faster than the root vegetables.

I have also tried using bacon salt and Mrs. Dash (I have Lemon Pepper and the Garlic Herb varieties on hand) along with the salt and pepper. Also, sprinkling the chicken breasts with a nice large-grain salt before cooking couldn't possibly hurt, could it?

Jiffy Corn Casserole

This is always an easy and welcome casserole to bring to pot-luck Thanksgiving dinners. It is so easy to make and everyone seems to enjoy it. I want to experiment with adding some green chilis and/or crumbled bacon in the future.

Jiffy Corn Casserole

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained*
1 can creamed corn
2 eggs, beaten
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 stick butter, melted
1 c. sour cream
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (opt.)
1 cup approx. Shredded cheddar cheese (split)**

Pre-heat oven to 375°. Mix all ingredients except cheese**. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, if desired. Bake in casserole dish or 9"x13" baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray for 30 to 45 minutes or until fully cooked in center and light golden brown (I prefer using the 9x13 so that I get more brown bits cuz I like that part best.)

*NOTE: The original recipe only called for one can of whole kernel corn, but I accidentally opened two cans and decided to use them both. I like it MUCH better this way.
**NOTE: I used grated cheddar on the top, and I also stirred about 1/2 cup into the casserole. Delish!