Archive for November, 2009
Cookies are a great dessert and they sure are easy to make. These pumpkin cookies are great for the fall season and work well as snacks before and after holiday dinners. I am a huge fan of oatmeal cookies so I decided to smash in some pumpkin to bring up the fall flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cup quick cooking oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter (soft)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
METHOD:
Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease the baking sheets or use parchment paper.
Mix the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and then mix well. Add flour mixture to large mixing bowl and mix well. Stir in the walnuts once blended well. Using a tablespoon, make round balls and place on your baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minute or until cookies are lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes and then move to wire racks to cool completely.
Thanksgiving can get boring with just Turkey every year, so why not change things up a bit and cook up a nice ham. Ham is a staple for many other holidays but, with it’s sweet and savory taste combination it will work just about anytime. The key to ham is low and slow cooking so prepare to have that oven running for 4+ hours with a few basting actions in the middle. Hams are priced pretty well and for the amount of left overs that’ll be available, they can pay for themselves if you skip two meals out.
INGREDIENTS:
- Ham (Fully Cooked)
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove the Ham from the package and trim the rind or “skin” off the ham. You can do this by cutting around the shank bone or if you have a boneless ham, just cut a line from the already cut portion to the other end. Now with your knife, cut under the skin but only the skin as you will want to leave the fat on. Once the rind is removed you then cut little diamonds into the fat which is called scoring.
Now that the hard part is done, mix up your brown sugar and cinnamon until they are blended well. Place a cooling rack into a shallow pan and set the ham cut side down on the rack. Pour the maple syrup over the top of the ham and make sure that it gets into all those good scoring marks. Now take your sugar/cinnamon mix and pack it around the ham.
Put the shallow pan into the oven and cook for about 15 minutes per pound. If you have the time, reduce the oven temperature by half and increase cooking time to 30 minutes per pound. Doing the longer version will make it taste even better!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 large onion, diced
- 6 cups mixed diced whole-grain and white bread
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 eggs
- 1 dash salt
- 1 dash pepper
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a pan with medium-high heat, combine 1/2 cup of the chicken broth and the onions. Cook for until onions have softened then remove from pan and pour into a mixing bowl.
Add the remaining broth, bread, paprika, eggs, salt, pepper, dried cranberries, and dried apricots to the cooked onions and mix well. Pour mixture into baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.
Another Thanksgiving feast worthy dish! I give you the great green bean casserole in all it’s simplicity and cheesy goodness! Yup, just cause you are feasting doesn’t mean you can skip your vegetables… It also doesn’t mean you can’t make those vegetables fit your tastes either. With only 6 ingredients, no reason not to make this outside of the holidays either.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 10 oz cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 can French fried onions
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 packages frozen cut green beans
- 1/2 pound sliced processed cheese
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Greese a 9 x 13 baking pan with vegetable oil. Combine mushroom soup, milk, cheddar cheese, and half of the onions in a mixing bowl until blended nicely.
Layer one bag of green beans in baking pan. Pour half of the mixture over the green beans and add half of the processed cheese, and half of the cheddar cheese. Add the final bag of green beans, the rest of the soup, and the rest of the processed and cheddar cheese. Top with remaining french fried onions.
Bake for 40 minutes, cool and serve.
Of course the old standby breakfast for eggs toast sausage and milk is great but, every one in awhile it helps to change up the method. This great breakfast bake takes all the goodness of a breakfast and bakes it together into a nice casserole! This recipe is great for making on a Saturday or Sunday for the week and it’s extremely tasty and filling.
INGREDIENTS:
- 6 slices bread, cubed
- 1 pound sausage, browned and drained
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon, salt
- 1 dash of pepper
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 325. Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl and blend evenly. Pour over ingredients in pan.
Place bread evenly in greased 9×13 pan or baking dish. Sprinkle sausage and cheese. Bake 45 minutes. Remove from oven, cool, and cut into squares to serve.