Turkey Cookie Pops

by penji1

Made these little cuties to take to the Young Women at church today.  I saw this idea on Pinterest but when I clicked on the picture it took me to a website that required a password so I couldn’t get to it to get the instructions but then I found it on another website called “Gracious Rain” so I looked at her instructions and then just kind of went ahead and did it on my own so I’ll tell you how I did it.

1 package Golden Oreos

mini Nutter Butters (I could only find these in a variety pack with other cookies)

candy corn and/or Indian corn

candy eyes (or make your own like I did by taking large white Wilton “Confetti” and drawing black circles on them with a food marker also by Wilton called “FoodWriters”)

tube of Betty Crocker frosting (the decorator kind, I used white and yellow)

popsicle sticks

clear bags and ribbon for packaging

1  Take an Oreo and carefully pull it apart trying to leave all of the frosting on one side.  Repeat with another Oreo.  Set the 2 sides without any frosting on them aside (for another project or for snacking) and then take the 2 sides with frosting and stick them back together.  While holding the cookie between 2 fingers, carefully push the popsicle stick into the frosting, about 1″ in.  Now take 5 candy corns and, while still holding the cookie between 2 fingers, carefully push the candy corns into the top of the cookie, on the opposite side of the stick, making a fan like pattern.  Set cookie carefully onto work surface.

2  Attach a mini Nutter Butter to the bottom portion of the Oreo by squirting a dab of frosting onto 1 side and carefully pressing it onto the Oreo.  Carefully cut the tip off of 1 piece of candy corn and attach it, pointy side down, onto the mini Nutter Butter by squirting a small dab of frosting onto the back of it.  Repeat with 2 eyes, just above the candy corn piece.

3  I let them sit there for about 30 minutes to make sure everything set up and that the frosting kept everything glued on, where that didn’t happen, I went back with more frosting to restick things back on.  For a couple of them, I had to stick some frosting in the center between the 2 cookie halves to make sure the whole thing stuck together.

4  Carefully (these pops are pretty fragile) slide pop into a clear treat bag and then tie a piece of ribbon around the stick to close the bag off and keep cookie fresh.

Italian Tomato Soup

by penji1

This was last night’s dinner – tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches on sourdough, yum!  This soup couldn’t be any easier and it tastes so much better than any tomato soup from a can.  The recipe is from the cookbook, “Betty Crocker Soups and Stews”.

1 cup water

2 (14.5 oz each) cans diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained

1 (11.5 oz) can tomato juice

(I also added 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper)

Heat all ingredients to boiling.  DONE!

(I doubled the recipe which I highly recommend because it only makes about 4 servings and we always want leftovers.)

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

by penji1

Cookie day yesterday!  This recipe comes from a blog called “Love and Olive Oil”.  I was in the mood for cookies with chocolate chips and toffee so googled that and found this.  They are perfect!

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1  cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I did 1 cup)

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped English toffee (I used a bag of Heath toffee bits)

1  Preheat oven to 350.

2  In large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine, set aside.

3  Cream butter and sugars until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Add egg and mix well.  Add vanilla and mix well.  Add flour mixture and beat thoroughly.  Stir in chocolate chips and toffee.

4  Drop or scoop onto ungreased cookie sheets (I covered mine in parchment because of the toffee).  Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

5  Cool on sheets 1 minute before removing to cooling racks.

Yield:  just over 3 dozen

Chocolate Cobbler

by penji1

 

Now doesn’t that look like a whole pan of deliciousness?  Last night we were playing cards and it was chilly so I put this in the oven when we started playing and before too long the whole house smelled chocolatey and awesome and then we got to eat the chocolatey awesomeness and life was good!  This comes from a blog called “Where Flours Bloom” and I highly recommend trying this one out especially on a cold winter’s night.

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup self rising flour (if you don’t have any self rising flour just use 1 cup of regular flour plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt)

2 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix above ingredients and then spread into a greased 11 x 7″ or 9 x 13″ glass baking dish.

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

Mix together above 3 ingredients and sprinkle evenly over batter in pan.

Pour 1 1/2 cups hot water carefully over all.  Do not mix!

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

by penji1

Found this idea on Pinterest (of course!),  from a blog called “Little Bit Funky”.  They were quick, easy and tasty – my 3 favorite things in food!
So all you need is a tube of cinnamon rolls (I bought Pillsbury Cinnabon cinnamon rolls), some cooking spray and a waffle iron.  Spray waffle iron with cooking spray and preheat as you would for waffles.  When waffle iron is hot, add cinnamon rolls (I have an old waffle iron from when we first got married that has four grids for waffles so I just put one roll in the center of each grid) and cook until done, about the same amount of time for waffles.  I warmed up the icing in the microwave and drizzled it over the rolls and DONE!  YUM!  You’re welcome!

Acorns and Pilgrim Hats

by penji1

Here are the little Thanksgiving treats the girls made.  First up, acorns!  This idea comes from a blog called “Party Frosting!”.  You need Hershey Kisses, mini Nilla Wafers and mini chocolate chips plus something to stick them all together, I used Nutella.  So just a dab of Nutella on the bottom of a mini Nilla Water and then stick it to the flat side of the Kiss and then a tiny dab on a mini chocolate chip and stick it to the top of the wafer and TA DA – Thanksgiving Acorn!

Next up, Pilgrim Hats!  This idea comes from a blog called “Dump Your Frump”.  All you need are Keeble Fudge Stripe Cookies (on her blog she used those chocolate wafer cookies but Fudge Stripes are a little sturdier I think), mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and some frosting (I just bought a tube of that Betty Crocker decorator frosting).  So just squirt some frosting around the outer edge of the bigger flat side of the peanut butter cup (which would be the top I guess) and gently press it onto the bottom of the cookie, making sure to cover the hole in the cookie and then using same frosting, make a ring around the seam of the peanut butter cup and the cookie (on her blog she added a buckle with the frosting but we had some time constraints so went without a buckle).

So there you are – two cute and tasty Thanksgiving treats that couldn’t be any easier to make!

Sugar Cookie Bars

by penji1

I love a good sugar cookie! But they can be time consuming to make so when I saw this recipe on a blog called “I Heart Nap Time”, I knew I had to try it and they are divine, taste just like a really good sugar cookie, only in bar form.  The Young Women came over to my house last night so I made these as a treat for them, after our activity which involved making some Thanksgiving themed treats (see next post) and writing some thank you notes to some people who provide service for us on a regular basis.  So, if you love sugar cookies too, then I highly recommend giving this recipe a try!

bars:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg white

1 egg

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Combine flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.

2  Combine butter and sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add vanilla, eggs and sour cream and beat until combined.  Pour in dry ingredients and mix until combined.

3  Place mixture in a buttered 9 x 13″ glass pan.  (The dough was pretty thick and sticky so I sprayed my hands with cooking spray and flattened it out evenly in the pan that way.)  Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Do not overcook.

frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons half and half

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon orange extract (I didn’t want orange flavored frosting so I omitted this and upped the vanilla to 1 teaspoon, to be honest, I might have added 2 teaspoons!)

orange food coloring (I went with blue, just cause I love blue!)

Combine ingredients and beat for 2 minutes or until fluffy.

Crunchy Chocolate Malt Cupcakes

by penji1

This recipe comes from an article called “I Want Candy” in the January/February 2010 issue of The Food Network Magazine that gave recipes for cupcakes which mimicked the flavor of candy bars.  This one was intended to taste like a Nestle Crunch bar.  Bob had a work party today so I made these last night for the party.  He took about 2 dozen of them to work (the recipe made about 3 dozen) and he didn’t come back with any so they must have been good.  I haven’t tried one yet but I’ll tell this, the cupcake batter smelled incredible!

frosting:

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

3 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

7 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

(Or, if you don’t have time to make their frosting, you can make my favorite Vanilla Buttercream Frosting like I did which you can find under the blog in a post titled “Chocolate Chip Mint Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting”; to make it chocolate just take 1/2 cup of powdered sugar out of the 2 pound bag and add 1/2 cup cocoa with the powdered sugar)

cupcakes:

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup malted milk powder (such as Carnation)

3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups half and half

1 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal

1  Make frosting:  Sprinkle sugar evenly in a large skillet and add corn syrup.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring once or twice.  Continue to boil, swirling the pan but not stirring, until the caramel is amber.  Carefully pour in heavy cream (it can splatter) and add butter.  Simmer, whisking constantly, until caramel is smooth, about 2 minutes.

2  Combine both chocolates and salt in a medium heatproof bowl.  Pour hot caramel over chocolate and let stand until melted, about 5 minutes.  Whisk until smooth and shiny, then cover and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.  (The frosting can be made up to 2 days ahead.)

3  Make cupcakes:  Heat oven to 375.  Line muffin pans with paper liners.  Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in bowl.  Sift malted milk and cocoa powders into another bowl.

4  Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes.  Add malted milk powder mixture and beat until combined.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with half and half in 2 parts, beginning and ending with flour.

5  Divide batter evenly among prepared cups, filling about 3/4 full.  Bake until toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean, 15 – 20 minutes.  Let cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to racks to cool.

6  Beat chilled frosting with mixer or whisk until thick, about 2 minutes, but don’t over whip.  Spread on cupcakes or transfer to a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe on top.  Refrigerate until ready to serve, then sprinkle with cereal.

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

by penji1

Dinner tonight brought to you by the September 12, 2012 issue of “All You” magazine and it was delicious!

2 tablespoons olive oil (I used Pam with Olive Oil instead to cut out a few calories)

1 onion, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped (I did about 4)

2 carrots, chopped (I did about 3)

1 clove garlic, minced (I used 2)

2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

4 cups low sodium chicken broth (I used 3 cans)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme (didn’t have any fresh or dried so I used about 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning instead)

salt and pepper (I used 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper)

1 cup small pasta such as shells or elbows (I used shells and did about 2 cups)

1  Warm oil in large saucepan over medium high heat.  Add onion, celery and carrots and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 3 – 5 minutes.  Add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.  Stir in beans, tomatoes, broth and thyme.  Season with salt and pepper.

2  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add pasta and cook, stirring often, until the pasta is al dente, 10 – 12 minutes longer.  Season again with salt and pepper.  Thin with more broth, if desired.

Dark Chocolate Chip Granola Cookies

by penji1

This is a recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens website.  They have about 41 Christmas cookie recipes in that post and most of them look pretty tasty.  I made these last night after dinner as it just seemed like a cookie night!

2 2/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate pieces or bittersweet chocolate pieces (I used a whole bag of dark chocolate chips)

1 cup almond granola

1/2 cup rolled oats

1  Stir together flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.  Beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds.  Add sugars.  Beat until combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating just until combined.  Stir in chocolate pieces, granola and oats.

2  Preheat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheets with parchment (I skipped this).  Place dough mounds about 2″ apart on sheets.  Bake 10 – 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute before removing to racks to cool.

Yielded just over 4 dozen cookies.