New year, new recipes!

                                  New year, new recipes!


  Coming back to this dessert mania blog is like coming back to an old friend. I put this blog on hold around Halloween, and continued to bake quite a bit over the holidays...but just not taking pics or writing about what I was baking. I have missed doing just that, so with the new year of 2013 here I plan to develop this blog. To be honest, I have gotten tired of the limitations of the New York Times Dessert Cookbook. I feel that the variety of recipes is limited, and I have baked all of the recipes that interested me in that book, with a few exceptions. 

  This year, what I would like to blog about will be any dessert recipe that I come across that is different from what I have already baked. This opens up all kinds of avenues for discovery, both for me as baker, and for you as reader of this blog. At this moment I don't know what I will be baking next, but since I've been given a ton of oranges, and many Granny Smith apples, it will most likely have some fruit in it. I would like to expand my capabilities as a baker as well, so I will be choosing recipes that require more dexterity in the culinary realm.

  I am open to requests from my readership for baking and blogging, so if you have a recipe for something I have not already done, feel free to send a request to me.

  New challenges are great!

~Kathy~

Top Secret Family Recipes...

                                                       Top Secret Family Recipes...


   The recipes I am about to share with you are no longer top secret, as I just typed them out for someone from Chicago who wrote about one of my blog posts. So, I figure if I can share my two favorite Christmas cookie recipes with a total stranger, then I should share them with all of you.

    The cream cheese wreath recipe is at least 60 years old, and my mom made these cookies every year. I have made them every Christmas for the past 34 years, and without the aroma of these cookies in the house...well, it just isn't Christmas.


               Cream Cheese Wreaths


               2 1/2 cups butter
           
               1 1/4 cups sugar

               8 ounces cream cheese

               2 1/2 tsp. vanilla

               5 cups flour

  Cream butter and cream cheese together, add sugar and cream well. Add in vanilla. Slowly add the sifted flour. Mix well. Fill cookie press half full, and using star template, form cookies on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with red/green sugar crystals. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes 2-3 dozen cookies.


   These mincemeat cookies have been in my family for over 30 years. You either really love them (if you like mincemeat), or you really dislike them. At least half of my family members dislike them, but I still make them every Christmas season.


            Mincemeat Gems

          
           1 cup butter, softened

           1/2 cup sugar

          1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

          1 egg

          1 tsp. vanilla extract

          2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

          1 tsp. vanilla

          1 jar (1 #, 2 ounces) prepared mincemeat

          21 marachino cherries, drained and halved

   
     Cream together butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Blend in walnuts, egg and vanilla. Stir together flour and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Drop dough by level tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheet. Flatten each cookie. Place rounded teaspoon of mincemeat in center of each cookie, and top with cherry halve. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until done. Makes 2-3 dozen cookies.

Baking Christmas Cookies!

                                    Baking Christmas Cookies!


  Yes, I am baking again! I actually got a jumpstart on my Christmas cookie baking this year, as I have a cookie exchange to go to this week. I also froze some of my holiday goodies, to discourage overeating. So far I have made sugar cutout cookies, peanut brittle and Santa's whiskers...or maybe they are called Rudolph's whiskers...not a very appealing title, but butterscotch chips melted with peanut butter and poured over chow mein noodles are always a favorite.

  It feels good to be baking again, and as I put on my apron and whisked out the flour, sugar, butter and eggs, I realized that this is how I relax. When I am in my kitchen, surrounded by recipes and ingredients, with a sink filling up with bowls and whisks and cookie sheets....that is when I am most me and most at home. Such a great feeling!! Even more appealing is the addition of rainy weather and cloudy days when I bake. That may sound dreary to some, but this is the weather that lures me into the kitchen in the first place! I am not a native Californian, rather I hail from Chicago, Illinois and Buffalo, New York. Having grown up in these two states, with loads of snow and "bad" weather, I am most creative in the kitchen, or knitting or sewing when the weather is less than perfect. So this is the weather that invites me to bake all day. Just don't tell my family members that most of it will be hidden in the freezer!

~Kathy~

Turkey Day will prevail...

                                   Turkey Day will prevail...


   Amidst the hustle and bustle of shoppers, something more important than thanksgiving dinner is on the horizon. With many stores opening in the early evening of this national holiday, eating away at the time spent with family and friends, it is time for America as a nation to reclaim Thanksgiving. In this time of economic instability, and global insecurity, what are the common threads that have held this day in esteem for over 150 years? 

  President Lincoln instituted this day to reflect on our nations bounty and give thanks to God for our collective blessings. We as a nation continue to have much to be thankful for. Setting aside one day out of 365 to gather and eat together and give thanks is as needed as ever in America. Sadly, consumerism is eating away at the edges of the holiday, and in future years may consume Thanksgiving Day altogether. If that were to happen, then it really would diminish society greatly.

  A survey was taken last night by some of my family members that has given me a spark of hope in all of this. These family members wanted to discover who might sign a petition to eradicate Thanksgiving, and let stores open at noon on Thanksgiving. The people surveyed, waiting in line outside a big box store around 10 p.m. last night disagreed with the notion of eradicating the holiday, and said it would ruin the family celebrations. The people surveyed seemed to want to protect the holiday from any further erosion by consumerism. I feel a great sense of hope from those conversations! I believe that consumers will join together and fight back as store openings become earlier and earlier in the coming years.

~Kathy~
  

Thanksgiving dinner...

                                                             Thanksgiving Dinner...

   About one month ago I decided to take a break from this baking blog. Of course I have been baking, just not posting pictures or writing about the recipes. This is actually the time of year when I bake the most, beginning with Halloween cutout cookies, and progressing to all the varied Christmas cookies that I bake each year. I will be blogging about Christmas cookies this year, as there are many that I make each year which have genealogical connections. 

   Since Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I plan to post pictures and blog about my Turkey Day preparations as well. I will have many people to feed on that day, and some of them will be helping me in the kitchen...I hope!! So, I will be preparing the bird, along with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, green beans au gratin, zucchini casserole, jello salad, rolls and pumpkin pie. 

  I wish everyone who is reading this a really wonderful Thanksgiving!! Stay tuned.

~Kathy~ 

Baker taking a Halloween break...

                                         
                                             Frankenstein Rice Krispie Treats

   There comes a time when a worthy goal seems very far away. My goal of baking 75 recipes from the New York Times Dessert Cookbook is within reach. I am over halfway there! However, it is also past the midpoint of the month of October, which means that I have less than 2 1/2 months to make 32 recipes.It is doable at about 3 recipes/week, but realistically, with the holidays coming, it will not happen.

   I am not disappointed in myself at all. I began this dessert blog with much enthusiasm and energy, and that is still there. As much as I love to bake, and consider baking therapeutic, I have learned to pace myself so I don't burn out.

   I am looking forward to the next few months of baking my traditional holiday treats such as Pumpkin Pie, cutout cookies, along with a variety of other cookies that I always bake for Christmas.

   So, I will be baking a few more recipes before we ring in 2013, and my new goal is to get to #44, #45 and #46, and then take a dessert blog break until January.

   I appreciate all of my friends, acquaintances, and others across the globe who have been following my baking blog. I have had viewers from Russia, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea,Italy, France, and Switzerland, to name a few.
The majority of my page views are from the United States. 

   One of the things I have most enjoyed about doing this blog has been taking the pictures. I have been using our daughters' Samsung NX100, and it has given me some clear, crisp photos. 

    Thanks for reading my blog(s), and also for commenting on my postings.

~Kathy~ 

Red Raspberry Napoleons #43

                                              Red Raspberry Napoleons  (page 314)


 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin

 3 large egg yolks

 1 large egg

 salt

 1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

 1/4 cup flour

2 cups half-and-half, or whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter

1 pkg. frozen phyllo dough, thawed

6 ounces unsalted butter, melted

1 cup sugar, approx.

5 cups fresh raspberries

1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. grated orange zest

3 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar

1. In a small pan, combine gelatin with 1/4 cup cold water. Place over low heat, and stir until gelatin has softened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.


2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, whole egg, salt and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Whisk to blend. Add flour, and whisk until smooth.

3. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the half-and-half and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Add vanilla. Stir to dissolve sugar, bring to a boil, and immediately remove from the heat.

4. Whisk about 1 cup of the hot half-and-half into the egg mixture, then immediately pour the egg mixture back into saucepan.

5. Return pan to medium heat, and whisk constantly until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Add reserved gelatin, reduce heat to low, and whisk two minutes more. Remove from heat and whisk in the chilled butter. Pour into shallow container, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 4 hours.

6. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut eight 2 x 4 inch rectangles from each stack of phyllo dough. Brush each rectangle lightly with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 degrees until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool. 

7. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine 2 1/2 cups raspberries, orange juice, zest and 3 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cook, stirring until raspberries are soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to a blender.Process until smooth. 

8. Pour sauce through a very fine sieve, pressing to extract all of the puree. Discard the seeds. Pour the sauce into a nonreactive container and refrigerate.

9. Set aside 20 raspberries. Place a rectangle of phyllo on each of 4 plates. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of pastry cream onto the phyllo, and top with a few raspberries.Repeat to make another layer if desired. Lightly sift confectioners' sugar over the top. Serve in a pool of sauce, and garnish with raspberries. Serves 4 people.