Birthday!

Jax turned three, so I made him some birthday treats.

1. First I made some apple pie/tartlet thingies - diced apples tossed with some cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour, baked in puff pastry squares in muffin tins. But they looked really good, and really, what three year olds want gourmet apple pie/tartlet thingies?
2. So I made some yummy yellow cupcakes and took those to daycare, still warm from the oven. There were a few extra (I sent two dozen, not knowing how many floaters would be around for birthday snack time), and I asked Jax if he wanted to give them to the office people. No, he said, he wanted to take them home and eat them. Smart boy.
3. The best, however, was his cake. I asked Jax what kind of cake he wanted, and he said blue cake. The next day, muffin cake. Finally he said chocolate race car cake. Sure, I can do that. My grandma gave me a ton of old Wilton cake pans, so in addition to race car I also have a semi, jeep, old model T Ford, station wagon, van, and coupe. The race car pan was really big, so I decided to go for the coupe, because, as I see it, anyone can make a race car cake - it takes someone special to make a 1976 Datsun 280Z cake. And oh yeah, I'm that special. Jax said he wanted it to be yellow, so I made it retro '70s yellow. Pure awesome. And delicious, of course, but that goes without saying.

Cinnamon rolls

I've recently fallen in love with my bread machine. Is there nothing it can't do? Yes, actually, there is - making non-bread machine-sized loaves. But fortunately there's the dough setting, which has allowed me to make the AWESOMEST cinnamon rolls ever. They were really easy and really delicious. James and I ate half a pan as soon as they were out of the oven, and I got Jax some extra love from his teachers by sending a pan to school.

Cinnamon Rolls
(Used this recipe) In your bread machine, combine the following: 1 c milk, 1/4 c softened butter, 1 egg, 3 c flour (I threw in some gluten too because I didn't use bread flour), 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tsp yeast. Set to dough setting.

After the dough is done, combine 3/4 c brown sugar, 1/4 c flour, 1 tbsp cinnamon, and 1/3 c chopped cold butter until it resembles course crumbs. Divide the dough in half and on a floured surface roll out to a 12"x8" rectangle. Sprinkle half the brown sugar mixture on each and roll up, starting with a long edge. Cut into 12 pieces and arrange in a greased 9" cake pan. Cover both pans and allow to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp softened butter, and 3-4 tbsp milk. Pour on top.

Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year. Here's the menu:

1. Turkey, of course - 14 lbs in a bag with some poultry seasoning and flour sprinkled on top and a can of Coke over that.
2. Stuffing - made from bread, onions, celery, sage, poultry seasoning, and chicken broth (I'll post the recipe soon)
3. Gravy - made from the turkey drippings and some flour
4. Mashed potatoes
5. Honey-glazed peas and carrots - cooked carrots and sugar snap peas in the crockpot with a little water, then made a glaze of butter, salt, and honey to pour over them
6. Rolls
7. Apple rolls - chopped apples spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, etc, rolled up in a piece of fillo. I'm going to have to play around with this some more.

And then for leftovers:

1. Individual turkey pot pies using the chicken and biscuts recipe
2. Broccoli and turkey cheddar risotto (also made ham and cheddar risotto and herbed mushroom risotto with sage, rosemary, basil, and monteray jack cheese, just because I was in the risotto mood)
3. Turkey chili (recipe below)
4. Apple sauce - cook chopped apples in a little water until soft, put into food processor, add in a little butter, and add sugar to taste. Yum! This will further be recycled into pumpkin applesauce cookies.

Turkey chili
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can ro*tel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 can chopped chilis
1 onion, chopped
a bunch of turkey
4 bay leaves
generous amount of chili powder

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low all day. Great with tomato chili cheese bread (made by throwing all those ingredients into basic bread machine bread).

Apple night

I hosted craft night again this month, and the theme this time was apples. Here's the menu:

1. Apple cheddar puffs, half with chicken and half with bacon (made the same way as the spinach artichoke puffs but with shredded chicken or crumbled bacon, grated apple, and cheddar cheese)
2. Apple and red Leicester risotto
3. Apple cranberry crumbcake
4. Baked apples

At the end of the night the only thing left was some baked apples, which I think I'll make into apple enchiladas.

Baby shower food

We had a potluck baby shower at work last week. I made spinach artichoke puffs and chocolate cherry polenta cake with cream cheese frosting (next time I'll make just one layer dusted with powdered sugar instead of the cream cheese frosting).

Here's the cake.

And here are the spinach artichoke puffs.

Spinach Artichoke Puffs
4-6 roasted garlic cloves
1-10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1-14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1-10 oz jar Alfredo sauce
1 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c grated Parmesan
1/2-8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 pkg puff pastry, thawed

1. Mix everything in an 8x8 inch baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350.
2. Cut each pastry sheet into 36 squares. Place each one into a spot in a greased mini-muffin tin.
3. Once the spinach artichoke dip has cooled, stir thoroughly and put about a tablespoon or so on top of each pastry square. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until the pastry begins to brown at the edges.
4. Serve warm.

Bumbleberry pies

A fellow TFA'er gave me this recipe for bumbleberry pie. I usually make mini ones, as they're a lot easier to eat. I've made them both with the traditional pie dough and cream cheese dough. The cream cheese was a little richer and flakier, but there really wasn't much difference.


Bumbleberry Pie
Filling:
1-2 cups apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
3-5 cups total cups of any or all of the following: strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
3/4 c sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon


Glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 tsp water
sugar


Cream cheese dough:
1 1/4 c flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 c full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 c butter, at room temperature


Regular pie dough:
1 c cold butter, diced
2 c flour
1/4 c sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 c cold water


Combine all the fruit in a large bowl. If I'm making mini pies, I usually throw all the berries and cherries into the food processor first and turn them into small chunks. Sprinkle in the rest of the ingredients and stir gently.


Roll out half the pie crusts (either one big one or about one dozen of each dough for mini ones). Fill with the fruit mixture (about 2 tbsp for mini ones). Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust. Cut slits in the top and place over fruit. Seal edges and flute.


Combine the egg yolk and water, then brush over the top crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes (about 5 for mini ones), then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 35-40 minues (about 10-20 for mini ones) or until golden brown. Let cool on rack.

Black bean and corn empanadas

A coworker gave me a ton of corn, so I decided to make some black bean and corn salsa. I had tons of it, so I made some empanadas. I made different dough than I usually do and it was really crumbly, so rather than keep trying to roll it out, I made open-faced empanadas. Warmed up with more cheese on them, they were delicious!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

2 c cooked corn

1-15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1-15 oz can ro-tel

chopped cilantro

1 jalepeno, finely chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

several squirts lime juice

2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Peach pie/cobbler thing

I bought a bunch of fresh peaches at the farmers' market a couple weeks ago. What do you do with lots of fresh peaches? You make a pie/cobbler thing. I took it into work and my coworkers loved it (I would've sent it to daycare but I didn't know how much brandy was left in it).

Peach Pie/Cobbler Thing

Blanch a bunch of peaches (I think I used 11), peel, and slice. Melt half a stick of butter in a large pan, then pour in the peaches, a cup of sugar, and 1/2 cup brandy. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

Roll out a puff pastry sheet until it fits your lightly greased pan. Put the pastry in the pan, then pour the peach mixture on top. Bake at 350 until it's bubbly (maybe 30-45 min?). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Teacher Appreciation Week - Friday

For Friday we made sausage and cheese bundles.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb sausage (we used a spicy kind)
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
Grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400, or whatever it says on the puff pastry box.
2. Shape the sausage into little balls that will fit into a muffin cup, then smush. Cook until brown.
3. Thaw pastry following the directions on the box. Cut into 12 pieces and lay in an ungreased muffin tin.
4. Put one sausage patty into each tin. Sprinkle with a generous amount of cheese.
5. Fold the pastry over the top and smush the edges together to close it, make a little bundle.
6. Bake about 12 minutes, till pastry is golden.

Teacher Appreciation Week - Tuesday

Tuesday - baked apple pastry bites, made with the filling left over from the apple cinnamon enchiladas.

Ingredients
For the filling:
4-5 apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1/2 stick butter
Cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, to taste
1/2 cup brown sugar
For the dough:
1 cup cold butter, chopped into pieces
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
cold water
For the glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 tsp water
Sugar

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
2. Dump in the apples, sugar, and spices. Stir to coat the apples.
3. Cover and simmer until the apples are soft, about an hour or so. Stir occasionally.
4. Process the butter, sugar, and flour until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add a couple tablespoons or so of water and process until dough forms. Put in a ball and chill for half an hour or so.
5. Preheat oven to 400.
6. Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out a bunch of circles. Cut the same amount with a cookie cutter slightly bigger than the first.
7. Lay the small circles on a cookie sheet. Put a large spoonful of filling in the center of each one.
8. Cut two small slits in each of the bigger circles. Wet the edges of the smaller circles, then set the bigger ones on top. Use the tines of a fork to press them together.
9. Beat together the egg and water.
10. Brush the pastries with the glaze, then sprinkle with sugar.
11. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until tops are golden. Let cool on rack.