Christmas Cooking - Chestnuts

We tried something we have never done before. The very last thing we did on Christmas Eve was roast chestnuts in the oven. So I dutifully put x's on about 25 chestnuts that I bought at the grocery store. Probably not the best place to source chestnuts, but I don't know
where else to get them in our neck of the woods.
I carefully laid them all with the x up on the baking sheet and slide them into a 425 degree oven for the estimate time of 25 minutes.

What's left of a chestnut

We are sitting around enjoying snacks and drinks as the chestnuts roast - that is until the first one exploded. It looked like sawdust inside the oven - thank goodness for an self-cleaning oven.

Is this what they are supposed to look like?

So, figuring they were probably done now, I took them out of the oven and left them on the stove top to cool a little before we made an attempt at peeling them. We all gathered around to look at them and test the temperature by trying to pick them up (unwise at this stage of the game), when the next one exploded all across the kitchen. Needless to say, I quickly covered the rest with a dish towel. I thing we give it an A for excitement. I, personally, didn't care for them. That said, I may have had bad ones and not known it,  but I assume that they are an acquired taste, like boiled peanuts - you either like them or you don't there's no in between.

Christmas Cooking - Sausage and Cheese Balls

It isn't Christmas unless we have sausage/cheddar balls. I love the fact that they freeze well and I can have them again in a couple of weeks with no real work involved at all. I like mine the same way I like a sausage biscuit - with grape jelly. So that's what I do. Growing up, my dad liked mustard with his sausage balls - to each, his own. 


Sausage & Cheese Balls

3 cups Bisquick® mix
1 pound hot bulk pork sausage
4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (16 ounces)
1/2 cup milk
spicy mustard / grape jelly, for dipping

Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan. Stir together all ingredients, using hands or spoon. Shape mixture into 1 inch balls. Place on pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown.
Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

Bench Notes: I just line a pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray for easier clean up. And use your hand to mix - it's the only way this will work. 

Christmas Cooking - Cheese Straws

This is a new recipe for me this year. That said, I'm usually pretty terrible with puff pastry - I think it's the defrosting. No, really I do. Somehow I can't get that right. Either I take it out and it's still too frozen or I take it out and it sticks together and I have a terrible time with it.


Cheese Straws
Credit: Ina Garten
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farm),
defrosted overnight in the refrigerator
Flour, for dusting
1 extra-large egg
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup finely grated Gruyère cheese
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Roll out each sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured board until it is 10- by 12-inches. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the surface of the pastry. Sprinkle each sheet evenly with 1⁄4 cup of the Parmesan, 1⁄2 cup of the Gruyère, 1⁄2 teaspoon of the thyme, 1⁄2 teaspoon of the salt, and some pepper. With the rolling pin, lightly press the flavorings into the puff pastry. Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife or pizza wheel into 11 or 12 strips. Twist each
strip and lay on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed. Turn each straw and bake for another 2 minutes. Don't over bake or the cheese will burn. Cool and serve at room temperature. 

Bench Notes: I used cheddar instead of Gruyere and did not use extra salt. I also used a little cayenne on about half the straws - just to see if we would like it.
Imperative that you flour the knife or pizza wheel. 

Christmas Cooking - Pecan Tassies

Pecan Tassies are vital to Christmas for me. I make them throughout the winter and into the early spring, but never summer. I'm not sure why.


Pecan Tassies

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 lg eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese and butter until blended, add flour and mix to incorporate and pat into disk, cover with plastic and chill for at least an hour.
Lightly beat eggs, add sugar and vanilla, stir in pecans Press dough by teaspoon into mini muffin cups, fill with pecan sugar mixture to within 1/4" of top of dough cups. Bake 25-28 minutes.


Bench Notes: I think this was originally from a Southern Living magazine, but could
not swear on that. Either way, I can make them in my sleep, I've been making them for so long - at least since about 1987. Forever ago.

Christmas Cooking - Crostini with honey, bleu cheese & pears

Another repeat favorite. It's probably again, one of the easiest things to make and I like it because, while I'm allergic to raw apples, I can still eat raw pears, a worthy substitute.


Crostini with Honey, Bleu Cheese & Pears


1 small pear
4 oz bleu cheese
1-2 Tbs milk
16 slices of french baguette, toasted
2 Tbs honey


Peel and core pear, and cut into 1/4 inch wedges. Combine bleu cheese and milk, stirring well. Spread baguette with cheese mixture, top with pear, and drizzle with honey. Serve.

Mixing Bleu Cheese & Cream

Bench Notes: I tend to use firm Bartlett pears, but Anjou works as well. Betting Seckel would work as well. Since I had heavy cream on hand, I used it instead of milk. I made this for our pre-wedding party too. The honey used was a gift from a student whose grandfather has an apairy near Blountstown, Florida.

Christmas Cooking - Lawn Party Sandwiches

So what's on the menu for this weekend - well, as it is my favorite thing to do, there is no meal, just a menu of appetizers. We'll start with one of my favorites - Lawn Party Sandwiches - super simple ham/cheese sandwiches. I made these for the first time for our pre-wedding party at the Highland Lake Inn.
Here's the original recipe from Southern on Occasion: A Companion to Inspire Gracious Living by The Junior League of Cobb-Marietta, Inc. The recipe is in the "A Tisket,  A Tasket" section -  if that don't make you sick... and below are my adjustments.


Lawn Party Sandwiches
1 c butter, softened
3 Tbs poppy seeds
1 onion, grated
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 (12 oz) packages white party rolls
1/2 pounds cooked ham
5 oz shredded Swiss cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together butter, poppy seeds, onion, Worcestershire sauce and mustard.
Slice rolls in half horizontally and set aside tops. Spread bottoms with the butter mixture. Top with have and Swiss cheese. Replace tops. Arrange rolls in a single layer in a medium baking dish. Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until rolls are lightly breowned and cheese is melted.


Bench Notes: July 2002, February 2006, April 2009, 23 Dec 11
Made half recipe; added 1/2 tsp of Bourbon smoked black pepper; used Bourbon smoked Worcestershire sauce, 6 slices each of ham and cheese, used a shallot instead of onion, no poppy seeds.

Christmas Cooking - Hot Reuben Dip

This is a new recipe for me, but it's been in my stack for a good while. I was trying to have an appetizer dinner for us on Friday, so that I can continue cooking for Saturday and Sunday - jeez how Christmas snuck up on me. We like Reuben sandwiches, especially the recipe from America's Test Kitchen - it's a total winner.


Hot Reuben Dip
1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 pound corned beef, chopped
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbs ketchup
2 Tbs spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup sauerkraut, drained
1 pkg of rye cocktail bread squares

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix 1/2 cup of Swiss cheese with all the ingredients excepting the bread squares. Place the mixture in a baking dish and sprinkle the top with the rest of the Swiss cheese. Heat in the oven until bubbly, about 20 minutes. Turn on the broiler and brown top. Serve with bread squares.

Bench Notes: I substituted Chili sauce for the ketchup. I toasted very thin pumpernickel bread instead of using rye.

Evolution of the buffet

This is how I roll on Christmas Eve... ever since I was about 11, I decided that Christmas Eve, which was a huge thing in my family, was to be an appetizer party. All finger food and snacks, no sit-down meal, just eat and mingle. Ergo, my life as an event planner fit well into this, but it's still at the heart of my Christmas Eve meal. Which also means there will be excellent left overs for Christmas day. Cool.
So here's how it goes (steady as she goes):

Christmas Cooking - Sweet Potato Biscuits

A perennial fall/winter favorite and popular everywhere I take them.  The biscuits themselves are great but then you make it into a true appetizer and/or breakfast treat. I got the idea of this from a caterer I worked with. He serves sweet potato biscuits with turkey and cranberry sauce that was sweet and hot. My twist, is probably not original, but very popular. Fill the sweet potato biscuits with salty ham and a horseradish mayo. It's fabulous.


Sweet Potato Biscuits
original from Emeril Lagasse


2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 Tbs unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 cup mashed sweet potato
1 cup pecans, finely ground
1/3+ cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Mix the flour, baking powder , baking soda and salt together. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers or in a food processor, until the mixture looks like wet sand. Add sweet
potatoes and pecans. Add cream until a dough forms. Flour the working surface and press dough out until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Using any size biscuit cutter and cut biscuits. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or so.


Sweet Potato Biscuit w/ham and horseradish mayo


One batch of sweet potato biscuits
1/3 pound deli ham, any type, thinly sliced
2 Tbs horseradish
2 Tbs mayonnaise

Split the sweet potato biscuit, add desired about of ham on bottom of biscuit, In a small bowl, mix horseradish and mayonnaise, adjusting the taste to your liking. Spoon the horseradish/mayo mixture on top half of biscuit.Replace the top of the biscuit. Serve warm or room temperature.

Bench Notes: make sure baking powder is fresh. You can either bake or boil the potatoes. Boiling seems fast and I do that skin oon and peel after they have cooled. It's pretty easy. You can sub half and half for heavy cream, but I wouldn't. I use a smaller (two bite) size biscuit cutter for appetizers, and a larger one for breakfast biscuits.

Christmas Cooking - M&M Cookies

This was a staple at Christmas growing up and though I am a strange bird and don't really care for chocolate, these are really good cookies. I don't make them every year, but decided to bake these this year for a change. This always makes me buy crisco - I don't use it for anything else. This recipe is from my mom and I have no idea where it originally came from, but didn't bother to look either because this just works. 


M&M Cookies


1 cup crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups M&M, plain

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together, crisco and both sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, and incorporate. Add vanilla. Beat to combine.In a small bowl whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the crisco mixture in two batches, incorporating completely. Add M&Ms, mix in by hand. Spoon onto baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until golden.

Bench Notes: These are colorful cookies that balance nicely with the chocolate, a soft cookie that is not too sweet. These are easy to put together as you do not need to wait for butter to become room temperature. Have never tried with peanut M&M.

If He's Wicked - Hannah Howell

Summary: She saves his life...For Chloe Wherlocke, it all begins with a vision - a glimpse into the future that foretells a terrible plot against Lord Julian Kenwood and his newborn son. Chloe's psychic gift allows her to save the child from certain death, but the earl remains in grave peril...But when he steals her heart...Julian Kenwood knows someone is trying to kill him and he suspects his scheming wife and her lover are behind the plot. But Julian is shocked when Chloe, a captivating, dark-haired stranger, warns him that sinister forces are indeed at hand - and exposes a devastating secret that changes his life forever...Will she resist - or surrender? As Chloe reveals her plan to save Julian, neither can deny the attraction that grows each moment they're together. Chloe knows the highborn earl could never love her as she loves him. But when danger strikes closer than ever, Chloe must risk everything - or lose Julian forever...  

Comments: First, I hate the title of this book and the three others that follow it. That said, it was an interesting story. The Wherlockes and their cousins the Vaughns have gifts. Chloe Wherelocke has visions, which come in handy to save Julian Kenwood's son. Julian's evil wife and crazed Uncle are out for his land, title, and money. They plot to get Julian removed from the picture in a variety of ways including leaving his newborn son to die. Lovely couple them. But Chloe Wherelocke has seen a vision and knows she must protect little Anthony.

I like that this story line includes something so different as someone having visions, but makes it unpredictable, and sometimes not helpful. My favorite part of the story is the entire Wherelocke/Vaughn clan. This generation, of Chloe and Lord Sir Leopold Wherelocke and Bened Vaughn, are connected to each other and take care of each other largely because their parents made bad marriages and left behind children to broken families. There is some romance of course, because who can resist a man that's spent the past year drinking himself into a stupor and rutting around like a goat because his beautiful, but evil wife, is cheating on him. This is also a mature readers only book, though not over the top in that way.

The story is interesting and different, the pacing is good, the characters are well developed. I appreciate the creation of strong, rational, thinking female characters - I'm thinking not only of Chloe, but also Julian's mother and aunt. I'm looking forward to the next book to see what else this family has to offer - to me they are the most intriguing part of the story.

Christmas Cooking - The candy calendar

Winter, it is thought, is a good time to make candy - at least in my little part of the world. But apparently, that is not the case in the past few days. Winter, in north Florida is a blessed time of low humidity. Great for candy making (horrible for my hair which craves humidity to make it slightly wavy and not static electricity-driven nightmare). I will gladly suffer bad hair for some time making candy, but the gods of humidity do not agree with me. So, I can't make candy. The humidity is at a low point at present, but it's still 54% humidity and rising with a 100% chance of rain tonight and part of tomorrow. Hopefully, this will clear as the week goes on and I can get into vanilla taffy, toffee, and chocolate dipped pretzels (a total favorite). Damnation, I want vanilla taffy - aka crack, because, yes, if the police saw it, they would think it was crack - totally looks like it - and is easily as addictive. A recipe from my mom's mom. Outstanding. Not sure I'm going to share.

Christmas Cooking - Cheddar-Hot Pepper Jelly Thumbprints

This is a recipe I've made a couple of times because it is a cool vehicle for one of my favorite things in the world - hot pepper jelly. Every late summer / early fall, I make hot pepper jelly. It's just stupidly good and easy to make and to tweak as you go along, so rather than serving the hot pepper jelly and cream cheese with crackers, I use this recipe, especially for the holidays. I call mine hot pepper jelly as opposed to jalapeno jelly since I tend to use a combination of Tabasco and cayenne peppers with usually a jalapeno or two thrown in.

Cheddar-Hot Pepper Jelly Thumbprints

Yield: about 40

6 oz sharp or extra sharp white cheddar


1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (2 oz)


1/2 cup butter, softened


1 egg yolk


1 cup all-purpose flour


1 egg white


1 Tbs water


1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped


1/3 - 1/2 cup hot pepper jelly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In food processor, mix cheese and butter until well combined. Add youk and 1/4 tsp black pepper and process until combined. Add flour, pulse several times until a dough forms, set aside.
In a small bowl combine egg white and water. Place pecans in a shallow dish. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Roll balls in egg white, then in pecans. Place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Use your thumb to dent the center. Bake 15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly brown in color. Press any puffed center down with a spoon. Transfer to a rack and cool. Just before serving, place a small bit of jelly in the centre of the thumbprints.

Bench notes: Unfilled cookies can be store in the fridge for three days and in the freezer for three months (just don't forget they are there).
I made them the first time for Thanksgiving 2005.

Christmas Cooking - 2011

My Initial List

Over the last few days and during the next few days, I'm going to be posting my Christmas Cooking for 2011. This is the easiest and best way for me to document what works and what doesn't and what people thought of everything. It will be helpful for 2012. Enjoy!

Winter Solstice

Well, it's here - the shortest day of the year and that can only mean one thing. Tomorrow the days will FINALLY start getting longer. I, for one, cannot wait. I know it's not terribly rational, but even at one minute a day it means that in a few days, maybe a week or a little more I won't be coming home from the office in the dark. Hallelujah!

What I'm learning...

About writing is that you don't have to be great at everything to get published. I've been reading quite a few varied and different types of stories and I think I must just be a born editor. I find all kinds of little things that just make me nuts. And I have to stop and go back
and reread things - it's making me nuts because it does take some of the fun out of reading. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that I now read more on by (beloved) Kindle than a printed book. Books can be produced faster by going to an electronic format, so perhaps more slips by. Or maybe people need better editors. Or maybe I'm too picky and need to just relax and go with a story. I just can't seem to do it.
Case in point, use of groan worthy phrases such as, "this was a look he could die in." All together now - groan. Or an element in the story that never gets explained such as, a letter that someone steals but no reference is ever made of it again - why not - did you just forget while writing? That's what I'm thinking has happened.
I must just be too picky, or perhaps, I should change careers and become an editor. 


Caveat - this does not refer to any books I've written about on this blog (at the present time). 

According to Jane - Marilyn Brant

Summary: It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." From nowhere comes a quiet 'tsk' of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author's ghost has taken up residence in Ellie's mind, and seems determined to stay there. Jane's wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go - sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane's counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham. Still, everyone has something to learn about love - perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie's head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond everything she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending. (source: Amazon)


Comments: Would I like to have Jane Austen's thoughts in my head? After reading this book, the answer is no. I can't keep up with my own thoughts, much less having another person's in there too. I'm glad I read the book, but it was a bit long and I wonder about a 30 something year old woman who still thinks about anything that happened in high school.  I bet she's on Facebook all the time too, but that's just my little prejudice - high school should be forgotten because, dear lord, we were stupid then. The list of boyfriends Ellie racks up is pretty impressive, especially her Russian musician (his sex drive was a character of its own) and somehow she, mostly, can remain friends with the guys, after a little time goes by. The secondary characters, if given enough page time, are pretty well drawn and believable. The music references were all spot on and I really enjoyed them. Perhaps a little long, but a interesting read. This book is for mature audiences. 

Recipes

I've been collecting recipes since about forever and I have lots of different ways that they are stored and I change those ways every few years. Right now, I have a folder on my computer where everything is saved and I print all my recipes and put them in plastic sleeves and into a binder - yes, it's geeky beyond repair. That said, I've noticed that when I go to make my paper copy of a recipe to print out, I do a lot of editing to them getting rid of extraneous words that just really don't seems necessary for anyone with any level of common sense and who has spent at least, I don't know, a couple of hours around the kitchen making dinner. And no, that does not include nuking something or as the MotH* thinks, reheating pizza.
What do I do my biggest hatchet job on? Descriptions of things that are on the recipe. Do I really need a header for "Ingredients?" I don't think so, I'm pretty aware that a list of things at the beginning of a recipe is the ingredients. Do I really need a header for "Directions" or for that matter, do said directions need to be numbered? Um, No.
I do usually add one thing to the recipe - the website that it came from. I think giving credit is a good thing, sometimes that's not possible, especially if it's a recipe that I've been making so long that I don't use a recipe anymore I just know how to do it - like my pasta sauce, but they all start somewhere. My new favorite recipe is from Mario Batali, but I'm already made
several changes and it will be up here soon. Alterations included.


*Man of the House

Forever and a Day - Delilah Marvelle

Summary: Roderick Gideon Tremayne, the recently appointed Duke of Wentworth, never expected to find himself in New York City, tracking down a mysterious map important to his late mother. And he certainly never expected to be injured, only to wake up with no memory of who he is. But when he sees the fiery-haired beauty who's taken it upon herself to rescue him, suddenly his memory is the last thing on his mind.
Georgia Milton, the young head of New York's notorious Forty Thieves, feels responsible for the man who was trying to save her bag from a thief. But she's not prepared for the fierce passion he ignites within her. When his memory begins to return, her whole world is threatened, and Roderick must choose between the life he forgot and the life he never knew existed… (source: Netgalley)


Comments: Lovely lovely story. Granted, this is for mature audiences, it is a great story of overcoming adversity and not giving in or giving up on someone you love. Georgia is bright, hard working and tenacious. Robinson, as Tremayne is known through most of the book, is
honest, steadfast, and true. One of my favorite parts of the story is Tremaye's relationship with his father and via that - Georgia's relationship with him too. While dictated by the control of English society, his father does care about Tremaye's future life and happiness - that was very refreshing. Georgia's family, the Forty Thieves, at least the ones we meet seem sincere, esp.her adopted son Matthew. It's a bleak picture of slum life for Irish immigrants in the 1830s, but a fun read. This is the first book I've read by this author. 

The Mischief of the Mistletoe - Lauren Willig

Summary: Arabella Dempsey's dear friend Jane Austen warned her against teaching. But Miss Climpson's Select Seminary for Young Ladies seems the perfect place for Arabella to claim her independence while keeping an eye on her younger sisters nearby. Just before Christmas, she
accepts a position at the girls' school in Bath. She hardly imagines coming face-to-face with French aristocrats and international spies...
Reginald "Turnip" Fitzhugh - often mistaken for the elusive spy know as the Pink Carnation - has blundered into danger before. When Turnip and Arabella find a beautifully wrapped Christmas pudding with a cryptic message, they are launched on a Yuletide adventure that ranges from the Austens' modest drawing room to the awe-inspiring estate of the Duke of Dovedale and an elaborate Christmas celebration.
Will they find poinsettias or peril, dancing or danger? Is it possible that the fate of the British Empire rests in Arabella's and Turnip's hands in the form of a festive Christmas pudding?


Comments: Perfect for a winter read (even though it's not terribly cold here now). The story of the unassuming, but practical Arabella Dempsey and the handsome, rich, but slight quirky Turnip Fitzhugh is a lovely addition to the Pink Carnation pantheon. It's very interesting how this story folds into the Temptation of the Night Jasmine which of course, leads to The Betrayal of the Blood Lily. The back cover quotes "Pride and Prejudice lives on" and while I agree there is a classic quality to them, but it is not the best analogy I think. These have more mystery, more romance (read: almost sex), and are quite funny. Austen has a dry wit. It's just not quite a fair way to describe the books. I do tend to like the female characters, but Turnip is downright adorable. We all know some guy like him, blessed in the looks department which is good because he's a few tools short in the shed. Lovely story and a quick read for the holidays.