Cranberry Pomegranate Salad

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

This year it was my turn to make the cranberry dish. Mom has always done a "cranberry relish ring" recipe with an entire orange in it and a can of lemon lime soda. I think the white part of the orange makes it a little bitter. So I knew I wanted to leave that out. I also didn't want to used the soda- maybe it would be less tart. I looked around on allrecipes.com and found a recipe for a layered salad that was very similar to Mom's but it had nuts and apples in it - I didn't want to use nuts and I have pomegranates I wanted to use instead of apples. So I combined and modified a couple of recipes and this is what I came up with:

1 Orange
1 package of fresh cranberries (about 2 cups)
1/2 c sugar
6 oz red gelatin (I used strawberry this time)
1 cup water
10 oz crushed pineapple with the juice (I had a fresh one and thought about using it, but didn't - bet it would be good though! I used half of a 20 oz can and just eye-balled it)
2 pomegranates (about 1 cup pomegranate seeds)

Zest the orange, be careful not to get the white part, and set aside. Cut off the peel and cut in half. Wash and sort the cranberries. Put orange and cranberries in a blender or food-processor to chop finely.  Boil the water and dissolve the gelatin in the water. Mix the cranberries with sugar until dissolved. Put the cranberries and pomegranate seeds into a large dish. pour gelatin over and mix well. Add the crushed pineapple with juice and stir until combined. Then allow to set up overnight.

(I tasted it before it was set up - so far it's pretty yummy!)

It's supposed to have a whipped cream/cream cheese topping on it - I haven't made it yet. But when I do, I'll post it.

The topping is 1 cup whipping cream and 1 -8oz package of cream cheese. Whip the cream and beat in the cream cheese. I added 1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar to make it sweeter. This made enough topping to cover 2 9x13 pans of jello (double the first part of the recipe).

Variation:
We made this recipe again, but didn't have oranges.-So I used 4 or 5 key limes- and left out the pineapple. I added a little extra water- not much. It was good!  We didn't do the topping on it, but I think it would have been better with the topping because it's tart.

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

½ cup margarine                                                    1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs                                                                  2 cups flour

2 tbsp. cocoa                                                         ½ tsp. soda

¼ tsp. salt                                                             ½ tsp. cinnamon

2 ½ cups grated zucchini

TOPPING:

2 tbsp. brown sugar                                               1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup nuts

Cream margarine and sugar, add eggs and beat.  Gradually add dry ingredients and spice; mix well.  Add grated zucchini and pour into well-greased and floured 9X13 pan.  Sprinkle with brown sugar, chocolate chips and nuts.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done

Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread

This is more like a cake than a healthy bread!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 package (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding mix
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• Juice from 2 lemons

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, lemon juice, lemon extract and lemon zest. Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the zucchini and the poppy seeds.
3. Pour the batter evenly into the greased loaf pans. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans to cool completely.
4. When cool, make the glaze: In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Pour evenly over the two loaves. Let the glaze set up, about 10 minutes.

Caramelized peach pull apart bread

You can also make this using Granny Smith apples instead of peaches!

Ingredients

For the Dough:
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2-1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (plus 1/4 cup or more, if needed)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
For the Filling:
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3-4 small ripe peaches, finely chopped 
For the Glaze:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

1. To the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine warm water and yeast.
2. In a microwave-safe dish, melt the butter until just melted, but not too hot. Stir in milk and vanilla. Set aside.
3. Add flour, sugar, and salt on top of water/yeast mixture in mixing bowl. Turn mixer on low, add eggs, then stream in milk/butter/vanilla mixture gradually until a soft dough forms. Add flour by the tablespoon until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. Turn mixer up to medium speed and knead 3 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place 90 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt for the filling. Set aside. Prepare the peaches and melt butter just before the dough is done rising. Grease a standard 9x5 loaf pan.
5. Turn risen dough out onto a floured work surface and roll out into a large rectangle (roughly 12x24 inches, but it doesn't need to be perfect). Dough will be rather thin.
6. Brush dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the entire surface with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
7. Using a pizza wheel, cut dough into equal-sized, long strips, about 3-4 inches wide. Sprinkle the first strip with 1/6th of the chopped peaches. Lay the next strip on top of the first strip. Sprinkle withpeaches and cover with another strip. Repeat until all the strips are stacked on top of each other.
8. Cut the stacked strips into 4-6 equal stacks of squares (about 4-5 inches in size). Stack the squares vertically into prepared loaf pan. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise 30-45 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 350. Bake the bread on the middle rack of oven 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through (check center for doughiness). If the bread gets too brown on top before it is done cooking in the center, cover loosely with foil for the remainder of cooking time.
10. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by adding the butter, brown sugar and milk to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute.
11. Turn loaf out onto a rack with parchment paper underneath it. Drizzle the loaf with the warm caramel glaze. Pull apart and enjoy warm, dipping the bread in the remaining glaze on the parchment paper.
12. Best enjoyed the same day it is baked.

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Sunday Morning Crepes

We love crepes at our house! Especially Pierce. BUT they are labor intensive - not hard, just time consuming so we only make them on weekends when we have extra time in the mornings. This recipe is from the Joy of Cooking (I love that book). Ryan makes them. I have never even looked at the recipe until now as I am typing it in. Isn't he GREAT?

Basic Sweet Crepes

Combine in a blender or food processor until smooth:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup luke warm water
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt

Pour the batter into a pitcher or other container with a pouring lid. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 mins or refrigerate for up to 2 days. (This allows the flour to thoroughly absorb the liquid and give the gluten in the four a chance to relax.)

Place a nonstick or seasoned crepe pan over medium heat. (We use a large skillet/fry pan) Coat the pan with a little unsalted butter. (Ryan just unwraps one end of a stick of butter and rubs it all over the warm pan).

Stir the batter and pour about 2 tablespoons into the pan, lifting the pan off the heat and tilting and rotating it so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer. Cook until the top is set and the bottom is golden. Turn the crepe over using a spatula or fingers (Ryan uses a spatula - it's too hot for fingers even though the recipe says fingers work best) and cook until the second side is lightly browned. Remove crepe to a piece of wax paper. Continue cooking the rest of the crepe, buttering the pan and stirring the batter before starting each one. Stack the crepes between sheets of wax paper (Today we used plastic wrap because we were out of wax paper - it works) use immediately or let cool, wrap airtight and freeze up to 1 month.

Today we used Nutella and walnuts as one filling and Marion berry syrup and blueberries as another filling. Use anything that sounds good - applesauce and cinnamon, fresh fruit, jam, powdered sugar, bananas and peanut butter, whatever sounds good! 

Hope you like them as much as we do!! - Gen

Two Cakes from One Mix

I was going through my recipes today, and found this recipe that is super handy for birthday cakes. It uses one cake mix to make double the amount of cake. It's a little stiffer cake too- so good for decorating.

1 cake mix - your favorite flavor
2 C flour
1 C sugar
2/3 C oil
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
2 and 2/3 C water

Mix everything together well and bake according to instructions on the the mix.

-Genevieve

Easy Lemon Cookies

I saw this recipe and made these. They were so simple and tasted yummy- I love lemon. So give them a try if you need a quick treat.

Bake 375* for 7-10 mins
1 (18.25 oz) package lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c. Vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/3 c. Powdered sugar

** side note: I used 1 Tbsp lemon juice in place of the extract

Mix all ingredients except the sugar. Roll dough into balls and then roll the balls in the powdered sugar.

Bake and eat. Simple and delicious.

Lv, Ash

Ryan's Greek Pizza

Ryan makes the BEST Greek pizza!! He made some last week and I want him to put his recipe on here- But for now, here are some pictures:

Here's the recipe finally (3 years later! 6/17/16)

Dough:
2 and 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 c warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
3 and 1/4 to 3 and 1/4 cups flour - a mix of wheat and white

Combine the yeast, sugar and water. Let sand for 10 min. or until foamy. Stir in olive oil and salt. Add 3 cups of flour and blend well. Add enough extra flour so it doesn't stick. Turn dough out of bowl and knead for 6 to 8 min until smooth and elastic.

Put dough in oiled bowl and turn twice to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Set in a warm place and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours or until it has doubled in bulk.

Punch down and divide in half (or thirds if you want thinner crust). Roll or stretch each piece to 13 to 14 inch circle.

Topping: (for 1 pizza)

10 oz package of fresh spinach
1/4 c water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c finely chopped red onion
1/8 tsp black pepper
salt to taste

1/2 c sliced pitted brine cured black olives ( or whatever amount looks good)
1/2 c sliced pitted brine cured green olives
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)

Wash the spinach and pull of thicker stems. Put the water and spinach in a large pot and cook over medium-high heat, covered, until spinach wilts, about 6 min. Drain excess liquid from pan. With cover off, cook and stir for 2 mins to allow some of the moisture to evaporate. Add olive oil, garlic, onion and pepper to spinach. Cook and stir over medium heat for 4 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Press and form a 1/2 inch border around the crust. Spread spinach mix evenly over the crust up to the border. Sprinkle the olives evenly over the spinach. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the pizza. (we put the feta on first so you can see the olives.)

Bake on the bottom rack of a preheated oven 450 to 500 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Olivia's Shower Menu

Wasn't that shower fun!! I really want the recipe for the dessert Jessica made. Here is a picture of the dessert - the boys hardly let me take it before they ate it!

Here is the current variation of Olivia's favorite Chinese Chicken Salad. It makes a HUGE amount -so half the recipe. That's really all we used for the shower and then the other half everyone had to take home for dinner.

Chinese Chicken Salad

2 heads of cabbage, chopped
1 leek - it's what I had I used the green leaf parts and everything- the original recipe is 16 green onions- but that seems like alot!
1 rotisserie chicken - the original recipe is for 8 chicken breasts - again that seems like a lot.
4 packages of chicken Ramen noodle soup
1 jar toasted sesame seeds  - about 2 ounces - that way you don't have to toast your own.
3 handfuls of sliver almonds - original recipe is for 8 ounces - but I didn't measure

Chop the cabbage and chicken. Dice the leek. Mix together in a large bowl. Add the sesame seeds. Break the noodles into small pieces and toast the noodles and almonds at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix dressing:
2/3 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
2 tsp sesame seed oil - approximately - I didn't measure that either
1/2 c rice wine vinegar
4 spice packets from the ramen soup

Mix everything well and pour over salad. Add the toasted noodles and nuts just before serving so they stay crunchy.

This is all we had left after dinner - then Ryan had seconds - so less than that!

 

Artisan Bread

Aunt Terry made some really yummy bread! Here is roughly the recipe she gave me:

3 C flour
1 1/2 C water
1/4 -1/2 tsp rapid yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix and let dough sit for 12 hours - its sticky. Form dough into round loaves and put on parchment paper and allow them to rise for a few hours. Heat dutch oven to 400 to 450 degrees. Put the parchment paper and loaves into the dutch oven. (Aunt Terry said to do this so you didn't  smash the loaves- so they will stay large) Cook for 30 minutes with the lid on. Then take the lid off and cook for another 15 minutes.

She made 3 different kinds of bread- she says she just estimated how much add-ons she put in - usually 1/2 to 3/4 cup.

Cranberry -Almond bread - about 1/2 cup chopped almonds and 3/4 cups craisins
Asiago Cheese - Cut the cheese into chunks instead of grating it - its more flavorful that way. - About 3/4 cup.
Cheddar and Jalapeno- use hot Jalapenos - Terry said the mild ones are yucky, and the hot ones are still flavorful after cooking, but aren't too hot. Here's a picture of a slice I brought home for Ryan:

Here is a picture of my dutch oven I have NEVER opened, but now I have an incentive to try it!

So Jessica- Where is the dessert recipe??

Cilantro Lime Rice --Cafe Rio Style

I thought this rice was pretty delish, not to overpowering yet unique enough then plain white rice. So spruce up those rice dishes with this tasty little number and then bring me some for dinner!

INGREDIENTS

1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)

1 tsp. butter or margarine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 cup water

1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tsp. sugar

3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice. 

*must give credit where credit is due. This is where I found the recipe:  http://www.therecipecritic.com/2012/08/cafe-rio-copycat-cilantro-lime-rice.html#sthash.gFNimFd0.dpuf


-Olivia

Apple Raisin Bread French Toast

With Myles in the hospital and me here at home with sick kids I have to keep busy. Last week we bought stuff to make Raisin Bread French Toast. We never got to it, but today I decided to make it and have it for breakfast tomorrow.  Everyone loves it - even Ryan who doesn't really like cooked raisins. We make this for Christmas breakfast sometimes. We also made it for the party we had after Genna's baptism.

1 pound loaf cinnamon raisin bread, cut in cubes
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, cut in small pieces
1 large granny smith apple
8 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup milk
6 Tablespoons butter, melted.

1/4 cup maple syrup

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Put in half of the cubed bread in pan.

Sometimes we can find this yummy bread at Costco- comes in a pack of 2 loaves. We freeze one for later.

 Layer it with cream cheese and then the apples. (You could add extra apples or raisins here too!)

Top with the other half of the bread cubes.

 Mix the milk, butter, eggs and maple syrup. Pour over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and press down so all the bread pieces are soaked. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cook for 45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Lemon Gingersnap Cookies

Adria and I wanted to make cookies a few days ago. We found a recipe for Orange Spiced Ginger cookies, but we didn't have any oranges. So we decided to use lemons instead.. The original recipe only used the zest of the orange, but we decided that wouldn't be enough lemon flavor, so we added some fresh lemon juice too. But if you add juice, you have to add for flour too. When we finished they tasted GREAT! Have you ever tried Carr's Ginger Lemon Cremes Cookies. They have them as Costco sometimes. They are a crunchy gingersnap sandwich cookie filled with a lemon frosting. These taste like that. But are much softer and don't have to frosting. So here it is:

Ingredients:
3/4 C shortening
1 C sugar, plus more for rolling
1 large egg
1/4 C molasses
2 1/2 C flour
2 t baking soda
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t fresh grated ginger  (you could used ground too)
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t salt
zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line cookie sheets with  a silpat mat. Mix shortening and sugar. Add the egg and the molasses and beat until completely incorporated.
Add baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, lemon zest and juice. Mix wall
Add the flour. You may need to add more if your lemon was super juicy, but the 2 and 1/2 cups worked for us.
Stir until combined. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar.
Place on cookie sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just set around the edges and you start to see “crackling” on the top.
We baked ours for 8 mins. Some of the centers were still on the undercooked side, but the cookies were still soft 2 days later!

I've been thinking about doing this for awhile. Everyone else does. So why not us? Today I made cookies that are delicious!! Lemon Gingersnaps- I made up the recipe myself. It inspired me to get started on this. I will post the recipe and pictures later.