Snowman Cheeseball

This is it folks, we're in the home stretch...Christmas is almost here!  I hope all of you are having a peaceful season and enjoying happy times with family and friends.  

Me..I've been working.  A lot.  But after Wednesday I'm off for 5 days, so yeehaw and pass the stuffing!  

I found this precious little snowman plate with spreaders at a Goodwill a couple of months ago and have been looking forward to getting to use it.

I only paid $1.50 for it so I thought that was a pretty decent deal.  It came with a recipe for snowman cheeseball to serve on it, which to turned out to be more like cheese-sludge.  So I had to toss it and start all over with this recipe I found at Thrifty Fun.  

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter (no substitutes)
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup mini chocolate or cinnamon chips (reg size is okay too)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans  (I skipped the nuts and went with coconut so I'd have a white snowman)

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add sugars; beat just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours. Shape into a ball and refrigerate again until you can roll it in the nuts.  Serve with graham crackers.
  

 Cream cheese and a whole stick of butter?  Count me in!!

S'mores Cookies

Ah, what could be better than gathering around a campfire, roasting marshmallows, making some good ol' s'mores?

These cookies, that's what!

These delicious morsels are prepared in your own air conditioned, bug free home...hopefully it's bug free anyway!  And making them gave me the opportunity to use the muffin top pan I got at the Goodwill not long ago.

I found this recipe at My Baking Addiction, and I knew they'd be a hit.  I took these to a friend of mine who later contacted me to say she'd be sharing with no one!  

Make, and enjoy.

makes 18 large cookies in the muffin top pan

Ingredients
2 sticks softened butter
1 Cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
4 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips
3 regular size Hershey’s Chocolate Bars
3 Full Graham Crackers
5-6 Large Marshmallows cut into fourths

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butter and sugars into a stand or electric mixer; beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined.
2. Place flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl; mix then slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Mix until just combined.
3. Scoop a heaping 1/4 Cup of cookie dough into muffin top pan cups. Press down then gently press chocolate bar squares, graham cracker pieces and marshmallow slices on top of cookie dough.
4. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until edges are just turning brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve with milk and enjoy

Note: This recipe can be prepared without the muffin top pan. Just flatten out your cookie dough slightly onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and press your s’mores toppings over the dough.
 

Fruit and Custard Tart

There's been a time or two in the history of my blog that I've lamented my lack of tart pan ownership.  I shall lament no more.  Thanks to my local Goodwill, I own not one, but two!  And I was able to create such yumminess as this.

 I found the recipe at a site called Organic Tuscany Cookbook, where they also refer to it as crostata di frutta.  I think if you say it that way before you eat it, half of the fat and calories are removed. 

I actually had a lot of fun working the dough...

 mount "egg"-suvius

  

....in fact I think the dough enjoyed it too.

Had a little difficulty getting the darned thing on my plate.  No difficulty at all getting it into my face. 

  

Recipe time:

For the rich shortcrust
500g (1 lb) plain (all-purpose) flour
300g (10 oz) butter
200g (7 oz) sugar
4 egg yolks
Zest of 1 untreated lemon
For the custard
125 g (4 oz) sugar
500 ml (1 pint) milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons flour
1 fresh vanilla pod (I just used a bit of vanilla extract)
250 ml (1/2 pint) whipping cream
Fruit to cover (that will not go black) e.g. strawberries, kiwi, figs, raspberries etc.
 

For the rich shortcrust
Line an ovenproof tart dish with baking paper.
On a wooden work surface, mix together the flour, sugar and butter, cut into little pieces. Rub the butter into the flour and sugar, until it is completely worked in. Work lightly so that the butter does not melt.
Make a mound out of this mixture and make a well in the center. Add the eggs yolks and lemon zest (careful not to grate the bitter pith in too!)
Work the ingredients together, first with a fork, then with your hands, until you have a smooth, soft pastry dough.
Wrap the pastry dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes (ideally 2 hours, especially in warm weather).

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F.
When the pastry has rested in the refrigerator, roll out to the size of the tart dish, cover with more baking paper and weigh down with dry beans, rice, or another, smaller, baking dish. This will prevent the pastry rising. You should try and achieve a 1 cm (half-inch) thickness. If you have pastry left over, use to make delicious cookies!
Bake at 160°C/320°F for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is golden. u Remove the beans etc and baking paper and allow to cool.

For the custard
Split open the vanilla pod and place in a saucepan with the milk. Bring to the boil gently.
In a large bowl, vigorously beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the result is light in colour and frothy.
Add the flour and beat well.
Add the milk gradually, (remove the vanilla pod, scraping the seeds back into the milk) beating constantly with a whisk.
Slowly reheat, stirring constantly only in one direction until quite thick. The custard will thicken even more once it cools. Allow to cool, covering with clingfilm/saran wrap to avoid a skin forming.

To assemble
Fold whipped cream into the cooled custard. Fill the base with this and decorate with fruit.
This pie is best enjoyed at room temperature soon after it has been made, i.e. not refrigerated.
 

Just for kicks and giggles, here's a picture of a really odd dish I made yesterday.

I won't blather on about my excess of butternut squash (but there's a lot of them).  In my search for something different to do with them, I ran across Giada's recipe for Butternut Squash Lasagna. 

Yeah.

Shoulda known right then to stop before I started.

In all fairness, it wasn't bad.  It was just...strange. 

Think sweet potato pie meets cheesy noodles. My daughter kept saying "it tastes like pie!"  And coming out of the oven it smelled quite heavenly.  Just not something I think we want to eat for dinner again.   

 

Trisha Yearwood's Chocolate Torte

A yummy cake to leave you with for the weekend from Trisha's cookbook, "Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood".  I started to label this post "a delicious mess" but it after it was all said and done I thought it looked okay.  My only complaint was that the glaze turned out kinda lumpy and grainy, but it was still delicious.

 This little cakestand is a recent Goodwill find, and plastic which is perfect for those of us who suffer from dropsy. 

 You definitely want to have a few round cake pans so you can work faster.  I bought some disposable ones, and found that the cakes released from these better than my regular pans.  

I'm hoping for a potluck soon, because I really want to take this to work.  It's sure to be a morale booster!

 (if you do make this, be sure to note the recipe calls for self rising flour. I didn't notice and just threw in a little baking powder, it seemed to work ok)

Here's her recipe:

Ingredients:

3 1/2 sticks butter (1 cup at room temp)

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

7 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups evaporated milk

3 tsp vanilla

 1 tbsp instant french roast coffee granules

6 large eggs, room temp.

2 cups plus 1 tbsp milk

4 cups self rising flour

Directions:

Make the cake glaze first.  In a large saucepan melt 3/4 cups butter and mix it with melted chocolate and 4 1/2 cups sugar.  Stir in the evaporated milk, 2 tsp vanilla, and instant coffee.  Cook the glaze over med high heat until it boils.  

Reduce heat to low and cook 20 minutes stirring constantly until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour at least 4 nine inch baking pans.

Cream together 1 cup butter and 2 1/2 cup sugar until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Mix in 1 tsp vanilla with the milk, and add alternately with the flour, beginning and ending with the flour.

Put a very thin layer of batter (about 7 tbsp) in each pan, shaking to distribute the batter (I used the back of a small spoon).  Bake 11 to 13 minutes.   

 Remove layers from the pans, frost and layer immediately.  Repeat until all batter is gone, you should get 12 layers.

I found to get the glaze to stick to the sides I had to let it cool off quite a bit. 

Black and White Striped Cookies

I guess I did find something else to post about after all.

I found this recipe in an old copy of Cooking Light I bought at Goodwill this past week. (don't worry, I really don't think they're all that light) Fortunately I found the recipe on their website as well because I was not looking forward to trying to retype this recipe...it's kinda lengthy.

I thought these cookies were pretty yummy. If I made them again I would possibly double the recipe because you really don't get a lot of cookies for the amount of time you put into it. You have to spend at least an hour and a half chilling time between steps.

Ingredients

• VANILLA DOUGH:
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons ice water
• CHOCOLATE DOUGH:
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 1/3 ounces)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons ice water

Preparation

To prepare vanilla dough, lightly spoon 1 1/4 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1 1/4 cups flour and 1/8 teaspoon salt, stirring well with a whisk. Place 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 egg yolk in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons ice water over surface of dough; beat just until moist. (Dough will be slightly crumbly.) Press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover and chill 1 hour or until firm.

To prepare chocolate dough, lightly spoon 3/4 cup flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 3/4 cup flour, cocoa, and 1/8 teaspoon salt, stirring well with a whisk. Place 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 egg yolk in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually add cocoa mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons ice water over surface of dough; beat just until moist. Press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover and chill 1 hour or until firm.

Slightly overlap 2 sheets of plastic wrap on a slightly damp surface. Unwrap and place chilled vanilla dough on plastic wrap. Cover dough with 2 additional sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle. Place dough in freezer 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can easily be removed. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap.

Slightly overlap 2 sheets of plastic wrap on a slightly damp surface. Unwrap and place chilled chocolate dough on plastic wrap. Cover dough with 2 additional sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle. Place dough in freezer 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can easily be removed. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap.

Place vanilla dough on top of chocolate dough, plastic wrap side up. Remove plastic wrap from vanilla dough; turn dough over onto a lightly floured surface. Remove plastic wrap from chocolate dough. Cut dough stack in half crosswise to form 2 (8 x 6-inch) rectangles. Stack one rectangle on top of the other, alternating vanilla and chocolate doughs; wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze 10 minutes or until firm and plastic wrap can easily be removed.

Cut the dough crosswise into 6 (6 x 1 1/3-inch) strips. Stack 2 strips on top of each other to form a stack, alternating vanilla and chocolate to form a striped pattern; wrap in plastic wrap, pressing gently. Repeat procedure with remaining 4 strips to form 2 stacks (there will be 3 stacks total). Chill 30 minutes or until very firm.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Working with 1 stack at a time, unwrap dough. Carefully slice each stack into 12 slices. Place dough slices 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 12 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Camping

That's a pretty catchy title, eh? I reeled ya right in with that one. So we just got back yesterday afternoon. We stayed in a yurt. I love yurts...no trying to pitch a tent in the rain and the dark. It's already pitched. And you can lock the door. As if that would really keep anyone out, but anyway.

There was a pretty lake nearby....Lyman Lake to be exact. There was some flora and fauna...I've never quite known the difference. See the little lizard hiding in the pic below? My peeps climbed this mini mountain. They are the little specks at the mid-left of the picture below. Because I'm such an awesome mom I was lounging with my book inside the yurt when they got to the top and didn't get a pic of that. I suck.

We found a cool stream for dipping the tootsies in.

I did do a little cooking while there using the dutch oven that was another one of my favorite Goodwill finds. The first dish was just a layering of bacon with onions and potatoes. I left it on the coals close to an hour then at the end put some cheese on top. This was truly yummy! I have to find a way to recreate this at home.

This next conglomeration might be called a delicious failure. The recipe I followed called it Black Forest cake or something like that. It's just a can of cherry pie filling on bottom, a box of chocolate cake mix and a hershey bar....all left over the coals about 45 minutes. I had my suspicions this might not turn out as I hoped. Really if you can get past the appearance, it really was kind of good. I could have used some more liquid from somewhere.

If you have a weak stomach might not want to look at the end result.

Oh yeah, one more thing got cooked. You may be a redneck if.....you're too dumb to properly apply sunscreen.

.

Stuffed Shells

I have to quote Rachael Ray and say these were YUMM-O. It is her recipe after all. I know she's a bit too perky but I usually have good luck with her recipes. Although I rarely complete them in 30 minutes. Let's get two rug rats nipping at her ankles and see how long it takes her!

I even went out and purchased some actual parmesan reggiano just for this dish. How fancy schmancy is that? (well, for me it's pretty fancy schmancy) I can't say my uncivilized taste buds really noticed and will probably just get the cheap stuff next time.

And that would be PW's buttery thyme bread sitting there in the background. They were great together.

Check out this wooden salad bowl I got at Goodwill for $3.99. I've been wanting one for a while but they're a little pricey. This one's a little scuffed up but it would be after I got a hold of it anyway.