From The Patch

Pumpkin Cookies to DIE for!

From the kitchen of Esther Cunningham, these Pumpkin Spice cookies are simply to die for.  Good thing it’s Halloween Season!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 tsp vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls, flatten slightly.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes in preheated 350F oven.  Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

Glaze: Combine confectioners’ sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla.  Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

PLEASE NOTE:  These ARE the cookies that we had at the Harvest Festival this last year - the ones that we went through 300+ in a day and a half (and that's only 'cause we brought the second batch in the next day.... Enjoy!

Curried Chicken Salad Pita

Curried Chicken Salad Pita

 

This is a fast, easy, and filling salad that uses up leftover rotisserie chicken, and can be eaten on a bed of lettuce or stuffed into pita pockets.  The cool grapes make it a perfect light meal for late summer, with the curry powder adding a unique and warm flavor.  I really eyeball this salad as I’m making it, so follow the directions loosely – if you want more grapes, add them!  Less dressing, more nuts, etc etc.  Enjoy!

 

¼ cup Low-Fat Mayo (regular is fine too)

1 tsp Curry Powder

2 tsp Water

1 cup Chopped Cooked Chicken

¾ cup Chopped Braeburn Apple (or any other tart-ish apple)

1/3 cup Celery, diced small

1 cup Red Grapes, halved

¼ cup Slivered Almonds, toasted

Salt, to taste

 

For serving:

Green Leaf Lettuce

Whole Wheat Pita Pockets

1.      Whisk together the first three ingredients to make the dressing.

2.      Toss together remaining ingredients, then stir in the dressing.  If not serving right away, wait to add the almonds so they don’t get soggy.

3.      To serve, line a pita pocket half with a large leaf of lettuce, and stuff with a half cup or so of chicken salad.  Eat and enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Cake

Martie’s Dark Chocolate Cake

 

With its dense, moist texture, this dark chocolate cake not only tastes absolutely sinful, it is a cinch to make!  It mixes up in just one bowl, so there is very little cleanup.  The original recipe makes a layer cake baked in two round 8 inch pans, but our friend Martie likes to bake it in a pretty fluted bundt pan, and nestle a tiny vase of flowers in the middle for a super simple and super lovely presentation!

 

Ingredients:

2 cups Flour
1 cup Hershey’s Cocoa Powder
2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp White Vinegar
1 tsp Vanilla
¼ cup Veggie or Canola Oil
2 large Eggs
1 cup Sour Cream
1 cup Hot Water

Instructions:

Grease and flour a bundt pan, set aside.  Preheat oven to 350.

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl in the order listed above, mixing well with a wooden spoon between each addition, and for about 4 minutes after everything is added together. 

Pour batter into prepared bundt pan, and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick test comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes, then take cake out of pan, and cool completely on rack.

Frost with your favorite frosting!  We’ve had it with a chocolate frosting, but our favorite is a white cream cheese frosting.  Yum!

The ONLY way to eat waffles...

Don't these just SCREAM summer....?

Tex Mex Pasta Salad

Last Sunday we enjoyed a fantastic birthday celebration for Benjamin – 2 years old already!  Expecting a large crowd, as well as several children, I wanted to serve something simple to make, delicious, and kid friendly.  One of my favorite fall-back recipes for such a day as this has been a Tex Mex Pasta Salad that I got from one of my favorite magazines (click there to go to the recipe!).  Head on over to the farmer’s market to pick up some fresh bell peppers, green onions, cilantro, a lime, and some roma tomatoes, then pick up a can of black beans, a can of black olives, a box of tri-color radiotore pasta (Chris says they look like little brains), and a container of sour cream, and you’re pretty much set! 

The recipe also calls for ground turkey, but I did it with ground hamburger once and it tasted just as great.  The pre-shredded Mexican blend cheese in the recipe makes it faster to prepare, but I’ve also shredded my own cheddar from the fridge, and again it was just fine.  This is a rather forgiving recipe, hearty enough to be a main dish, and it feeds a crowd.  Before you make it though, keep in mind that the serving size listed is a cup and a third, and makes 12 servings – don’t make the same mistake I did and make it for your own small family, and get stuck eating it for the next week (it is great, but not great enough to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner multiple times).  You can easily cut it in half or more, if needed.

Enjoy it!!

Brownie Sensation

Yesterday at the store, we served little brownie bites in honor of Mother's Day.  The received such a sensation, I thought people might like it if I shared my secret.  I am a bit embarrassed, actually.  See, I LOVE to cook, and to bake, and I especially enjoy making things from scratch (you may remember my sugar cookies at Valentine's Day). I was all prepared to make a yummy lemon-flavored, shortbread-like cookie for Mother's Day, but when 10pm the night before rolled around and I was just then ready to start baking, I did what any self-respecting mom would do and reached instead for a box. 

I admit it, Duncan Hines was on sale at Safeway for buy-2-get-3-free.  I felt like such a cop-out as we put them out on a pretty white plate, but much to my surprise and delight, people LOVED them!  One sweet customer was convinced I had used the brownie recipe out of the old Good Housekeeping cookbook - I have that book, so I know what she means - but I fessed up and said it was none other than Duncan Hines. 

So, the secret is out!  Need some fantastic brownies, without any fuss?  I used Duncan Hines' Milk Chocolate brownie mix, made the fudgey way with two eggs instead of the cakey way using three.  I realize this post now reads very much like a promotional ad for Duncan Hines, and I apologize for that.  They were just that good. 

(By the way, I made another box in order to take photos for this blog.  I can smell them baking as I type.  Yum!  Thanks for the excuse!)

Slow Cooker Sherry Chicken

This is the first time I made this, and the sauce tasted absolutely wonderful, but was rather thin.  Next time I do this, I’ll do one of two things differently.  The sauce is fantastic on its own, but if you’d like it a little thicker and even more gravy-like, then check out my notes below.

However you decide to do it, this dish tastes fabulous over hot cooked rice to soak up all the sauce.  Might even be nice over some good egg noodles!  Serve with steamed broccoli or asparagus on the side for a complete meal, easy!

(I'm sorry I don't have a photo of it, but really the look wasn't that impressive anyway.  It looks like chicken, over rice, with a grey/brown sauce on it.  It tastes a billion times better than it looks, definitely in the comfort food category).

Slow-Cooker Sherry Chicken

1 Medium Onion
5-6 Chicken Breast Halves
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ tsp salt
2 Tb Butter
1 can Cream of Mushroom or Chicken Soup
½ cup Dry Sherry
½ tsp dried rosemary
½ tsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (you can use a can of sliced mushrooms, it just won’t taste quite as good as fresh)

1.       Trim ends off onion, cut in half lengthwise, then slice thinly into half moon slices.  Put in bottom of slow cooker.

2.      About the chicken – I cut my chicken in half for evenly sized smaller pieces so it would cook faster, but you don’t need to do this.  It’s up to you!  Sprinkle chicken with the salt and pepper, then place on top of onions in slow cooker.

3.      Mix together remaining ingredients except mushrooms in a microwave safe bowl, then heat in 30 second intervals, stirring each time, until mixture is mostly smooth.  Stir in mushrooms, then pour sauce over chicken in slow cooker.

4.      Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours (if chicken pieces are whole, or frozen, it’ll take longer than this to cook – my mostly thawed, halved chicken breast halves cooked on high in about 3 hours).  Before serving, taste and add more salt and pepper to sauce as needed.

 When chicken is done, remove it and the vegetables into a separate bowl and keep warm.  Put remaining liquid in a small saucepan.  Then, either:

1.       Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for several minutes until reduced by maybe 1/3 or ½.  This will concentrate the flavors making it a little richer, and will thicken it a little.  Pour back over chicken or serve on the side.

2.      Mix a tablespoon of flour into a little bit of milk to make a paste.  Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.  Add flour paste to sauce and simmer, stirring, for a few minutes until sauce is thickened.  Remember the sauce will get thicker as it cools.  If you don’t like the flavor of the flour thickener, you can also use cornstarch.

Serves 4-6.

Mom's Meatballs

I debated about featuring a romantic recipe perfect for that special dinner or dessert, but I elected instead for something simple, delicious, and familiar.  My mom’s meatballs are the ultimate comfort food, and what better way to spend Valentine’s Day than with a no-fuss, yummy meal, cozied up with your loved ones?  Enjoy!

Mom's Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 egg
1 box beef rice-a-roni

Mix meat, egg, and rice-a-roni (but not the flavor packet) together, then roll into 2-2 1/2 inch meatballs.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, and add the meat balls.  Brown evenly on all sides, taking care not to crowd.  Remove from pan and drain on paper towels, drain fat out of pan.  Mix Rice-a-roni flavor packet with 2 cups of water.  Add to pan, and add meatballs back to pan.  Simmer until meatballs are cooked through.  Yum!

Optional - we like to make a gravy with the leftover simmered sauce.  Add a little cold water to the pan to cool the drippings down a bit.  Add a little water to some flour (maybe 2-3 tsp, depends on how thick you like your gravy - remember it thickens as it cools down), then stir into pan.  Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook until it thickens, which will take just a few minutes.  If necessary, add a little beef flavoring for extra flavor.

Serve with mashed or baked potatoes, and your favorite veggie!  Enjoy!

Orange Cranberry Scones

Bake yourself and your family a nice treat for the weekend with this week’s recipe!  I love to throw tea parties, and I love to experiment with new recipes, however every party I ever throw always features these scones.  Simply said, they are the best!  Simple to make, and extremely tasty, they always get rave reviews.  Serve with your favorite jam, cream, or lemon curd.

Cranberry Orange Scones

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup chilled buttermilk
• Optional:  milk & superfine sugar

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl. Mix in orange peel. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in dried cranberries. Gradually add buttermilk, tossing with fork until moist clumps form. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly to bind dough, about 4 turns. Split dough in half, and form each half into a 1-inch-thick round.  Cut each into 8 wedges.  Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.  Optional – brush tops with milk and sprinkle lightly with sugar (add a nice crunch and makes them look pretty!).  Bake until tops of scones are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let stand on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

Angel Hair Pasta with Roma Tomatoes and Fresh Spinach

Normally we don't post recipes that a) are not ours, and b) we have not tried ourself.  We're breaking this rule for this recipe, which looks fantastic - and, knowing what we know about the source, it probably IS fantastic.... we'll be trying it soon. :)

Laurie's Kitchen is one of our vendors; we order dips and soup mixes, cheeseball and dessert mixes, rubs, and more from them.  We have YET to find a product that didn't live up to their superb quality, which is why we're excited to share this recipe with you.

If you haven't yet tried a Laurie's Kitchen product, you're missing out.  Time short for you during the busy holidays?  Try a soup mix - the flavor is phenominal and they're easy to make.  Going to a party?  The dips, desserts, and cheeseball mixes are to die for (ask any of our customers who have tried a sample at the store...)  Anyway, you can check out all their products at http://www.theweedpatchstore.com/ - and I'd urge you to do yourself the favor and take a look right now!