Christmas Sweets: Sugar & Spice Pecans

This recipe always gets raves from my neighbors. The secret to it is the salt and periodic stirring as the pecans bake. Even when I make a large batch, I run out!

Ingredients:

2 lbs of pecans (32 ounces)

2 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Beat egg whites to a light froth. In a large bowl, mix with pecans and toss to coat. Mix sugar, salt, and spices separately and pour over pecans, tossing again to distribute evenly over the nuts. Place in a single layer on a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet (I divide the mixture between two sheets). Bake at 225 degrees for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Christmas Sweets: Homemade Butter Mints

This recipe is one of my favorites because it is so fun to make and the results are strikingly festive (and delicious!) There is no need to bake and no need for a candy thermometer. The only requirement is to set aside some space for the candy to set undisturbed for 24 hours. Homemade Butter Mints travel well, and I include them in all our gift packages of holiday goodies.

Ingredients:

9 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup corn syrup

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

green and red food coloring, (I use paste, but liquid will work.)

In a large bowl, cut together sugar and butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender until butter is in large chunks. Add corn syrup, salt, peppermint, and vanilla. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to come together, then work into a dough with your hands, kneading constantly until dough is smooth and uniform. Divide dough into two parts. Make a well in the center of each and put a small amount of food coloring in the well. Knead each ball of dough until the color is distributed uniformly.

On large sheets of waxed paper in an area where you will rest your candy, roll dough between your hands into "snakes" a little larger in diameter than a pencil. Once you have all the dough rolled, set a timer for 10 minutes. When the buzzer rings, begin cutting the snakes, starting with the first ones you prepared, into pillows. Allow them to set for 24 hours. Store in an airtight container or a large Ziploc bag. Keep in mind that the mints are semi-soft, so protect them from being crushed.

Enjoy!

Nathaniel's Soccer Snack

Soccer season is on the way, and in our family, we make this high-energy snack only for soccer. It is easy and colorful and packed with energy. It is a great snack for after school or as a fun addition to the menu for children's parties. My kids love it.

Ingredients:

One box granola cereal
One jar lightly salted peanuts
1 half-pound bag M&M candies
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup toasted sunflower seeds

Get a big bowl. Have the kids dump the ingredients in and mix thoroughly (with clean hands). Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. (Ours is eaten *way* before that!)

Enjoy!

Ambrosia Fruit Salad

My family always called this dessert 'Ambrosia'. My husband's family calls it 5-Cup Salad. It is a simple recipe -- impossibly sweet and uniquely American. The kids and I like ours heavy on the fruit and light on the dressing. To add a little crunch, I have added toasted almonds too.

Ingredients:

1 large can of pineapple chunks, drained
2 small cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup whipped topping
1/2 cup plain yogurt (healthy) or sour cream (decadent)
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Heat a small non-stick fry pan over medium heat. Toast almonds by placing them in the pan for 1-2 minutes then gently stirring until they are fragrant and golden. Remove from pan and cool completely.

In large mixing bowl, combine halved cherries, oranges, pineapple, and coconut. Gently fold in whipped topping and yogurt (or sour cream). Cover and chill until ready to serve. Spoon into dessert dishes and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Enjoy!

Homemade Blueberry Syrup

I love making syrup from blueberries in season. It is delicious on pancakes or Saturday French Toast (see recipe below). This is an easy recipe for the children to help with, too.

Ingredients:

1 pint fresh blueberries
¼ cup sugar
2 tbs. Water

Wash the blueberries thoroughly and remove stems. Place in small saucepan with sugar and water. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes, mash gently with a potato masher. Continue to cook, uncovered, until desired consistency is reached. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Saturday French Toast

Saturday is our only true morning with no commitments to the outside world. We celebrate by having what my children call a “Daddy Home Breakfast”. Daddy has chosen this breakfast the last four Saturdays in a row. The addition of sugar and cream give this French Toast a wonderful, glossy, golden look. We serve it with maple or homemade blueberry syrup (see recipe above).

Ingredients:

For the French Toast,
4 eggs
½ tsp salt
1 tbs. Sugar
¼ cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
1 loaf thickly sliced white bread

In a deep, square container (I use Rubbermaid Take-Alongs -- they are the perfect size for the bread) break four eggs. Add salt and sugar and beat with a fork until the egg white is thoroughly broken up. Add cream and milk and beat again, until mixture is thin and pale yellow. Heat non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. One slice at a time, submerge bread in egg mixture for 2-3 seconds, giving custard a chance to penetrate into the bread but removing before the bread gets too soggy to handle. Brown on both sides to a nice golden brown. Remove from pan and place on a plate in a slightly warm oven. Once all French toast is browned, bring the plate to the table and serve piping hot.

Enjoy!

Crispy Sugar Surprise Cookies

Here's another of our family's favorites. You'll never guess these cookies are eggless or that their secret ingredient is vinegar. They come out crispy and delicious every time and truly melt in your mouth. Make them -- they're sure to disappear!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar, divided
1tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
Colored sugar sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine butter and 3/4 cups sugar and beat until light and creamy. Add baking soda and mix until incorporated. Add vinegar. Gradually mix in flour and vanilla. Chill dough for 30 minutes.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, mixed with your favorite colored sugar sprinkles -- this is a great job for the kids. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet (cookie will spread quite a bit, so leave plenty of room). Flatten to 1/4 inch thickness with the bottom of a glass, dipped in sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Grandma's Strawberry Pretzel Jello

This dessert is such a treat. You would never imagine that these ingredients would combine to make something so wonderful. One of us always makes this dish for our family get-togethers in summertime. It's a great alternative to cake or pie for a picnic or potluck.

Ingredients:

For the crust,
2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
4 tbs. sugar

For the cheese filling,
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 pint whipping cream, whipped

For the strawberry layer,
16 oz. strawberry jello
1 3/4 cups boiling water
10 oz. frozen strawberries
6 fresh strawberries, for garnish

Mix crushed pretzels, butter, and 4 tbs. sugar. Pat into 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

Cream together cream cheese and remaining cup of sugar. Fold in whipped cream. Spread over pretzel crust. Chill.

Mix jello and hot water. Stir in frozen strawberries and continue stirring until gelatin is soft-set, about 8 minutes. Pour evenly over cream cheese layer and refrigerate until firm.

Just before serving, garnish with slices of fresh strawberries. Serves 12-15 people.

Enjoy!

Rhubarb Pie

I have a well-worn cookbook from decades ago with an hilarious introduction to the chapter on pies. "If you care about pleasing a man," it reads, "learn to make pie." It is sad to say, but in my household, it rings true. This was one of my father's day gifts to my husband, and it is a recipe worth sharing. It makes a 9 or 10 inch pie.

Ingredients:

For the Crust,

2 2/3 cups flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
8 tablespoons water

For the Filling,

5 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 tbs. butter

To make the crust, mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles crumbs -- I leave pieces of shortening as large as a pencil eraser, to make the crust nice and flaky. Sprinkle the water over the mixture, 1-2 tbs. at a time, tossing with a fork to distribute the moisture. Once all 8 tbs. are in, divide it in two equal portions on pieces of plastic wrap. Wrap crust mixture and shape into disks. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling, place diced rhubarb into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix flour and sugar. Sprinkle over the rhubarb as you mix, getting an even coating on all the pieces. There will be some dry ingredients that pool at the bottom of the bowl. Don't worry about that.

Remove crusts from fridge and roll out lower crust on floured board or pastry cloth. Rolled pastry should measure about 1 1/2 inches larger than your pie plate on all sides. Use rolling pin to pick pastry up and carefully transfer to pie plate. Place 1/2 filling into crust. Gather dry ingredients that have pooled at the bottom of your rhubarb bowl and sprinkle over filling. Top with remaining rhubarb mixture. Dot filling with butter. Roll out top crust and place on top of filling. Pinch edges of two crusts together to seal. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.

Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes. Use a strip of foil to cover the edge of the crust and prevent it from burning. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of baking. Pie is done when crust is golden brown and filling bubbles up through slits.

Enjoy!

Quick Strawberry Preserves

This is the time of year to pick strawberries. And if you're like my family, no matter how many you eat, there are always tons left. This is a great way to preserve that flavor, so you can enjoy berries for weeks and months to come.

Ingredients:

20 oz. fresh or frozen strawberries
1 tbs. lemon juice
2 tbs. powdered fruit pectin
2 cups sugar

In a medium saucepan, cook fruit and lemon juice, covered, over high heat for 2 minutes. Stir in pectin and heat to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Add sugar and boil again. Whatever you do, keep stirring! Let the mixture stay at a full boil for one minute. Take your saucepan off the heat and start skimming off the foam. (Tastes yummy on toast!) Pour into airtight containers. Preserves will keep in the fridge for up to 2 months, in the freezer for a year.

Enjoy!

Super-Cooling Sherbet Slices

This dessert helps me remember steamy summer days as a girl in Virginia. The only thing better than eating it was when my mother let me make it myself! It is an instantly-cooling dessert that is perfect for parties or as a special treat to end a family barbecue.

Ingredients:

1 gallon lime sherbet
Half-gallon lemon sherbet
Half-gallon raspberry sherbet
1 cup mini-chocolate chips, optional

You will also need:

3 mixing bowls (small, medium, large) that will nest easily and fit in your freezer

Place largest mixing bowl in your freezer for 1o minutes as you remove the lime sherbet from the freezer and allow to soften on the counter top. Scoop into your largest mixing bowl, pressing against the inner wall of the bowl until it is completely covered. Place medium bowl into lime sherbet layer, pressing down until there is an even layer or sherbet between the bowls. Freeze until firm.

Remove lemon sherbet from the freezer and soften. Remove nested bowls from freezer. Fill inner bowl with warm water to make it easy to lift out. Carefully remove -- there should be a shell of lime sherbet in the largest bowl. Scoop lemon sherbet into the lime shell to make a layer as before. This time, nest and press the smallest bowl of the three. Freeze again.

Finally, soften the raspberry sherbet. Remove the nested bowls from the freezer, loosen and remove the smallest one as before. Fill the remaining empty space with raspberry sherbet. The three layers should now all be in the largest bowl. Cover with saran wrap and freeze until firm.

When you are ready to serve, remove the large bowl from the freezer and place in warm water, being careful not to get the sherbet wet. Invert onto a serving plate and slice like a layer cake. The slices will be the color of watermelon. Sprinkle slice with mini chocolate chips to resemble seeds, if desired.

*Note -- you can other flavors of sherbet or sorbet, or use four layers to make a sherbet rainbow! Don't be afraid to get creative!

Enjoy!

Butterscotch Haystacks

This is such a simple cookie to do with the kids. It requires no baking (so you don't have to heat up the oven in hot weather) and it's a great activity for rainy days on summer vacation! Hint: make lots! These will disappear!

Ingredients:

2 cups butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky as you prefer
1 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
4 cups crispy chow mein noodles

Combine the butterscotch chips and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power for 3-5 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Stir again until smooth. Place peanuts and chow mein noodles in a large mixing bowl. Pour warm butterscotch mixture over noodles as you stir, coating them thoroughly. Place by spoonfuls on wax paper and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!