Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easy Turtle Cookie Cups

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! I might eat one every now and then, but I know my buddies at work will love them and I just had to try this recipe when I got the feed for this from Betty Crocker on Facebook. They were super easy to make and can be completed from start to finish in under a 1/2 hour, so if you're looking for something you must produce on the fly--this is the ticket.

The original recipe said it yields 36 cookie cups, however, I only got 24. I also changed it up a bit by making half with Rolo candies and the other 1/2 with Toffifay Hazelnut candies.

This is all you need:

1 pkg double chocolate chunk cookie mix
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp water
1 egg, slightly beaten
24 round milk chocolate-covered chewy caramels (I used 1/2 Rolo and 1/2 Toffifay)
12 Pecan haves (for the Rolo cups only)

Heat oven to 375. Place miniature paper baking cups (find them in the candy-making and candy molds isle) in mini muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water and egg until a soft dough forms. Shape dough into 24 1" balls, place in muffin cups. Bake 9 minutes or until edges are set. Immediately press one candy (Rolo OR Toffifay) into the center of each cookie cup. Cool 2 minutes and top the Rolo Cookie Cup with a pecan halve. Cool completely before eating.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter Sunday 2011

Taking a bit of hit in telling folks I am serving Lamb for Easter Dinner. Maybe I am naive, and correct me if I am wrong, but isn't lamb the ultimate gift to God in cuisine? I am NOT a dirty-dog....I serve this ONCE a year. This year is a bit different. This recipe comes to you from Farm House Cookbook,by Susan Herrmann Loomis, ISBN: 0-89480-772-2

1 4-5 lb. leg of lamb trim off the fat
10 large cloves of garlic, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper to coat
2 lbs fingerling potatoes
1 1/2 lbs. white onions, peeled and halved
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 sized pieces
1 small bunch of Italian Parsely

Brown the lamb on all sides on med-high for 7 minutes, Place garlic on top of lamb, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, Cover and bake for 8-10 hours at 200.

Increase heat to 300. Add potatoes, onions, carrots and season with additional salt and pepper. Cover and continue baking for 4 hours.

To serve: Mince the parsley, decorate the lamb

Um yum...Pistachio Lamb Kbobs up next

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Blueberry Morning!

We love our wild Alaska blueberries! Unlike domestic blueberries found in the grocery store, wild Alaska blueberries are smaller and have a much more tart flavor. We pick them from the end of summer and into the early fall when they are at their peak of ripness and take them out of the freezer almost on a weekly basis. Jim uses some every day in his morning smoothie. The secret spot we usually pick from can only be accessed by a long hike up the mountain. Nope! Not even accessible by ATV. We usually take Mickey with us (the red Siberian husky) because he enjoys the hike as much as the blueberries. Jim taught him how to pick his own and we constantly have to watch him for "high-grading" the best. This morning I found a recipe for Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes in my Better Homes and Garden 75th Anniversary Edition that I thought I'd give a try. To find that the recipe called for buttermilk was added bonus because we adore buttermilk pancakes and I just so happened to need to get rid of the last cup in the refrigerator. When reaching for the cornmeal in the pantry, I had to move the Navajo Blue Cornmeal aside to get to the yellow cornmeal, and

was inspired to use this cornmeal instead. Why not? It's whole grain, and the only difference is that it was blue corn instead. What a lovely surprise! You must try this recipe. For my Alaskan friends, I'll gladly share the 2 TBSP. of blue cornmeal with you should you decide to make this.

Blueberry-Blue Cornmeal Pancakes

1 Cup flour
2 TBSP. Navajo blue cornmeal
1 TBSP. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 TBSP. vegetable oil
1 cup blueberries

Combine first seven ingredients and mix. Make a well in the center and add the egg, buttermilk and oil. Mix just until moist (should be lumpy). Fold in blueberries. Grill pancakes for about 4 minutes on each side. Serve with butter and blueberry syrup.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Tuna Sandwiches? New Twist but NOT! Dinner doesn't get any easier than this!

My mom makes the BEST tuna sandwiches EVER! Where did she get the recipe? I don't know, maybe from Nanny Pruitt, maybe Betty Crocker. Please Mom, enlighten us by posting a comment. All I know is that the marriage of lettuce, walnuts, tuna, eggs, pickles (in my case canned green tomatoe relish) and mayo make it a confection worth an evening meal with a light soup. I think I even remember my Nanny putting chopped apples in her tuna salad.

1 small can tuna, drained
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
2 TBSP relish or finely diced pickles
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
salt and pepper to taste
2 boiled eggs, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup mayonnaise (or enough to moisten lettuce)

Serve this on a good earthy bread with a light soup.