Baked Caramel Corn

This is a recipe I've had for many years.  I think it originally came from a pamphlet of popcorn recipes.  We have enjoyed it over the years, it's quite addictive!  We really enjoy having it around for the holidays and giving it to friends. 

Baked Caramel Corn:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 quarts popped popcorn

Melt butter, stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Bring to boil while stirring constantly; boil without stirring 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in soda and vanilla.  Pour over popped popcorn, mixing well.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and divide the mixture between the pans.  Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Break into pieces and store in tightly covered container.  Makes 6 quarts.

Apple Noodle Salad

So got inspired to use my spiralizer for a salad of a different kind after my daughter Jessica said she really wasn't into lettuce these days, just didn't have the palate for them. One of my favorite snacks is an apple with peanut butter and other toppings, I thought why not a salad..... so here it is

1 apple spiraled

1 tbsp peanut butter

juice of half a lime

water to thin out the peanut butter and lime juice

unsweetened flaked coconut

chopped nuts

chopped dark chocolate
a few dried cranberries

 just mix the lime juice and peanut butter together and thin to make pourable,,, assemble salad and enjoy :)
I happened to have lime juice on hand, you could mix the peanut butter with apple juice, lemon juice, or just water. 

Rose Gold & Ellen Gold Maine's Brown Sugar Spritz Cookies

Brown Sugar Spritz Cookies

My sister-in-law, Ellen and her Mom, Rose have made these cookies since Ellen was a child.  She and I made them last year while she and my brother Tom were visiting in Florida.  This year, El brought them along when she and Tom came for their annual visit, hooray!  They are delicious with tea or coffee, some of us have even been known to have them for breakfast!  Enjoy.

2 cups brown sugar
1 pound Crisco
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
4 - 4 3/4 cups of flour (amount varies with climate!)

Mix first 6 ingredients until well blended.  Add in flour until dough ball pulls away from sides of bowl (or it doesn't stick to your fingers).

Use cookie press to distribute cookies evenly on un-greased cookie sheet.

Bake cookies at 350 degrees until golden brown.  Makes:  12 dozen

Cheese Coins

These are a great appetizer cracker...you don't need cheese to spread on them-because the cheese is in them!  I found the recipe in "Cook"s Country"  You can refrigerate the dough for up to three days or freeze it for up to one month (pre-form into logs).  Thaw if frozen and cut the logs into 1/4" slices.

8 oz extra-sharp cheddar cheese (shredded) (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
8 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and chilled
3 TBSP water

1.  Process cheddar, flour, cornstarch, salt, cayenne, and paprika in food processor until combined, about 30 seconds  (I do not have a food processor so I used the my Kitchen Aid Mixer with the dough attachment - this worked well!) Add butter and process until mixture resembles wet sand, about 20 seconds.  Add water and process until dough forms, about 10 seconds.  Transfer dough to counter and divide in half.  Roll each half into 10-inch log, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

2.  Adjust oven racks to upper middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.  Unwrap logs and slice into 1/4 " thick "coins"  Place coins on prepared sheets, 1/2 in apart.  Bake until light golden around edges, 22-28 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.  Let coins cool completely on sheets before serving.  Coins can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Greek Style Pizza

This is another pizza variation for our Friday Pizza night... I wanted something different and I started thinking Mediterranean/Greek and this is what I came up with.. For the "sauce" I put some olive oil in a skillet and turned it on low. I mashed 2 garlic cloves and added them to the oil along with fresh thyme, rosemary and parsley.  Leave for about 20 min on low.   That gets spread on the crust. Then I added chopped lamb to one side,(my side was vegetarian), seasoned with salt and pepper. The other toppings were carmalized onions and peppers, chopped olives, capers and feta cheese... Top with a small amout of mozzarella.. Pretty darn good.

Cheeseburger Pizza

I made this the past couple of week-ends and it is really good. Got the idea from a pizza place in Minnesota where the kids always go when they are up there fishing..

Saute ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic and whatever else you add to your cheeseburger. Layer a thin coating of pizza sauce, the ground beef, add onions, mushrooms, etc. Cook at high heat (450) til almost done. This last thing sounds a bit strange but really makes this pizza. Before adding the cheese squirt a bit of ketchup over the whole pizza! Add the Chedder cheese and continue baking til cheese is melted. Let rest a few minutes before cutting. This is really good as weird as it sounds!

Cesar Salad Deviled Eggs

I got this idea from a special that I watched on the Food Network. It was a Rachel Ray recipe. It is very tasty. I recommend making it the night before so that all the flavors can blend. This is for 6 hard boiled eggs.

2 to 3 tbsp mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, pressed or grated on a micro plane

1 to 2 splashes of Worchestershire sauce

Juice of 1/2 a lemon, or to taste

1/4 c ,or so of freshly grated parmessan cheese

2 heart of romaine leaves, finely chopped and divided in half.

Mix all ingred. except for half of the lettuce leaves. Pipe into your eggs and garnish the tops of the eggs with the last half of the lettuce leaves. We enjoyed these with our Thanksgiving dinner and Jessica commented that they were way better than regular eggs!

Apple Cake

September is the beginning of apple season and this apple cake is a great way to utilize some of that bounty! This recipe was given to me many years ago and it's definitely a keeper! It's moist, keeps well and is perfect for a snack or as a dessert.

2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups oil
3 cups flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups peeled/diced cooking apples
1 cup walnuts

Mix sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Set aside 1/2 cup of the flour. Mix rest of flour with baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add to sugar mixture; mix well. Combine apples & nuts with remaining 1/2 cup of flour & add to batter.

Pour into greased bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour & 20-30 minutes. This cake freezes well.

Vanilla Scented Granola

This is one of my favorite granola recipes. I believe it originally came from Epicurious. It's a bit sweet so if you don't care for a sweet granola, adjust the sugar to your taste. The vanilla scent is terrific! After it's cooled, you can add dried fruits as desired.

Vanilla Scented Granola

Heat oven to 300 degrees F

Combine in large bowl:

4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine in small saucepan:

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons sugar
Bring above to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, stir in:

4 teaspoons vanilla

Pour hot liquid over the oat mixture; stir well. Toss mixture until thoroughly mixed. Spread granola on a lightly sprayed (nonstick vegetable oil spray) baking sheet OR line a cookie sheet with parchment paper & spread on that. Bake about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool completely, store in airtight container at room temperature. This keeps well for several weeks.
Yield: about 8 cups

Crunchy Breakfast Bars

It's been way too long since I last posted a recipe. So, my 2011 New Year's resolution is to post at least once a month! Here's hoping I'm more successful with this resolution than in the past! I've been making this breakfast bar for years but had kind of forgotten about it. I went online, looking for a breakfast bar, tried several but then returned to this old tried and true bar. I prepare a lot of variations, depending on the ingredients I have on hand. Here's the basic recipe:

Crunchy Breakfast Bars:

3 cups oatmeal

2 cups coconut

1 cup flour

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

I also add varying amounts of: chopped nuts (usually about a cup), wheat germ (maybe 1/2 cup) and sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds-ground, and whatever nuts/seeds you have on hand.

Mix together oatmeal, coconut, flour and whatever other nuts/seeds you like.

Melt together the: butter, brown sugar & honey then, mix with above.

Line cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper (they're really hard to get out if you don't) and dump mixture in pan, spread it out. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

My niece, Tracy, made these the other day and reduced the butter by 1/4 cup, added 1/2 cup of peanut butter, reduced the brown sugar by 1/2 cup and used whole wheat flour rather than white. She said they were delicious. So, it's a great basic recipe that you can tweak to your taste!

Sweet & Spicy Popcorn

It's finally feeling like fall around here! This carmel type popcorn is great for giving to friends for a Halloween treat! It's lightly spicy and very light.

Sweet & Spicy Popcorn Bake @ 250 in parchment lined pans

4 T. vegetable oil

1 cup popcorn kernels

1 cup salted peanuts (or mixed nuts)

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Pop the corn in the oil (in 2 batches, use half of oil for each batch). Place popped corn in large bowls (I use two) mixed with the nuts of your choice.

Combine butter, sugar, & corn syrup in saucepan & place on medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to medium high & cook, without stirring, until golden brown (about 5 minutes). Swirl the pot occasionally.

Remove mixture from heat & quickly stir in salt & cayenne. Immediately pour over popcorn/peanuts & stir to mix well. Divide mixture evenly between your baking pans. Bake 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Let cool while on pans, break apart into clusters. Stores well for about a week in an air tight container.

Happy Halloween!

Janet