Christmas is Coming!!!

Well, Christmas is still a while away, but do you know what is fast approaching?  Stir-up Sunday!!  November 26 we’ll be busy chopping and mixing.  I’ve shared the Christmas pudding recipe before but a reader has pointed out that I didn’t share the Christmas cake one.

This is my Great Grandma’s recipe.  People love it, it’s a nice mix of cake and fruit and nuts.

Christmas Cake

1 cup butter                                                 1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup                                    2 1/4 cup flour

4 eggs, beaten                                             1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup strawberry jam                            1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon                                       1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp mace                                                1 cup currants

All the following need to be chopped fairly fine:

1 cup raisins                                                 1/4 cup candied lemon peel

1/2 cup citron                                              1/4 cup candied orange peel

1/2 cup glace cherries                              1/2 cup nuts (I usually use walnut)

* there was a time I could buy all the peel separately at Bulk Barn, but now they only seem to carry ‘mixed peel’ which ticks me off.  So now I buy 1 cup mixed peel.

Cream the butter and sugar.  Add in the corn syrup and eggs and give it a good mix.  Stir in the jam.  Mix the dry ingredients (sprinkle a little of the flour on the chopped fruit to keep them from clumping) and add to the wet.  Stir in the chopped fruit/nuts.  Pour into a greased & lined 9×9″ cake pan.  Cover with brown paper after the first hour.

Bake 275F for 3 hours.

Read Full Post »

Some More Recipes

I don’t know if you all noticed?  I created a recipe index page to make it easier to find individual recipes instead of searching through all the ‘chicken’ recipes, for example.  The tab is at the top of the blog.  Now I just have to remember to link all the new recipes there  🙂

When I make a roast chicken, our leftovers usually become chicken casserole, chicken a la king, or rarely, chicken croquettes.  This week I was thinking of something different so I searched the web for a chicken enchilada recipe.  I’m always disappointed with recipes that say ‘take jar of enchilada sauce’ (or ‘unwrap x caramels’ for “caramel sauce”).  I found a few, but none that really suit our tastes (NOT hot).  So here’s my version:

Chicken Enchiladas –serves 4

make tortillas

sauce: 1 onion, diced            2 garlic, minced

              1 14 oz can pureed (crushed) tomatoes

              1 T chili powder        1 t sugar (takes away any tartness from tomatoes)

              1/2 c chicken broth

 3 c cooked chicken, small pieces/shredded

  1 c shredded Monterrey jack cheese

  1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix sauce ingredients and cook over medium heat for a few minutes just to blend all the ingredients.

Mix 1/4 c sauce, plus 1/8 cup of each cheese with the chicken.

Spoon some chicken filling on each tortilla and roll up tight.  Put seam side down in a greased 9×12 pan.  Pour sauce over top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Bake 350F for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and chicken is hot.

You can make this ahead (don’t pour on sauce yet).  Cover and refrigerate until supper.  The pour on sauce and cheese and bake.  If it’s cold from the fridge it will take longer.  You could even make this a freezer meal -baggie all the components separately and then all together in a bigger bag, assemble on a later day.

What to do when you’ve got some sour cream that needs used up and a fridge full of banty eggs?  Make snickerdoodle cake!

Start by making the batter for my Brown Sugar Pound Cake:

1 c butter                      6 eggs

2 c br. sugar               1 c wt. sugar

2 2/3 c flour              2 t vanilla

1 c sour cream (I use fat free)        1/4 t bk soda

Cream butter then beat in each egg, one at a time.  Dissolve the bk. soda in the sour cream.  Alternate with the dry ingredients.

Combine 1/2 c white sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.

Grease your bundt pan and sprinkle with the sugar mix.  Pour in half the batter.  Sprinkle with the rest of the sugar mix and pour in the rest of the batter.

Bake 275F for 20 min, then 325F for 50 min, until done.

The beauty of this cake is that once it comes out of the pan it is done.  No need for icing.

Read Full Post »

Recipes

Here’s a couple more recipes.

Garlic Roast Chicken

Roast a head of garlic with 1T oil, in a foil pouch.  1 hour at 425F.  The house will smell sooooo good.  Squeeze garlic cloves into 1/2 c softened butter and mix till smooth.

Rinse and dry a whole chicken (don’t forget to remove the inside baggie).  Spread garlic butter over and under skin.  Salt and pepper generously.   Tie up chicken.  Baste occasionally.  Cook until roast is 175F.
Roast 325F for 30min per pound.

I don’t stuff this chicken, I’m worried the amount of butter would make the dressing too greasy.  If you do try it, let me know.  I usually just make the dressing in a casserole for this dish, but it just doesn’t taste the same as when cooked in the chicken.

 
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this.  But I find when I cook with a local raised chicken they only take about 1/2 the time the store-bought chickens take.  I guess it’s the water/saline that they inject store chicken with to keep them plump.  I love being able to buy local whole chickens.

I don’t make white cake very often.  It’s usually chocolate all the time here  🙂  I make this one to use up eggs.  It’s also a good firm cake if you are doing a fancy cake for a celebration.  This is the recipe I used for Jack and Isobel’s 40th anniversary party.

1-2-3-4 Cake                   

1 c butter                        2 c white sugar

3 c flour                          4 eggs

2 t cream of tartar       1 t baking soda

2 t vanilla                  1 c milk or water

Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs.  

Combine dry ingredients.  Then add alternately with the milk/water and vanilla.

Pour into greased and floured cake pan.

 

Bake 350F        45 min for 9×13 pan

                              30 min for 9×9 pan

**also makes 3 dozen cupcakes

 

‘Buttercream’ Icing    -makes 3 cups

1/2 c shortening                                 1/2 c butter

1 t vanilla                                               4 c icing sugar

2 T milk                                                optional 3/4 c cocoa (will need more milk)

Cream butter and shortening.  Add vanilla and icing sugar.  Add cocoa if using.  Add enough milk to make spreadable icing.

 

 

Read Full Post »

A Promised Recipe

I promised my girlfriend the recipe for really easy chocolate cake.  Since I’m whipping one up for Colin I thought I’d finally get it posted.

Colin’s Chocolate Cake -makes 1 9 inch cake

1 1/2 cup flour                  1 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp salt                         3 Tbsp cocoa

1 tsp bk powder                1 tsp bk soda

1 tsp vanilla                        1 tsp vinegar

1/2 cup butter, melted      1 cup buttermilk

Mix everything in a bowl and pour into a greased cake pan.  Doesn’t get easier than that!

Bake 350F for 30 minutes

or double the recipe and pour into a greased bundt pan and bake 60 minutes.

I have another recipe to share.  I wish I could include the link for where I found it.  I usually write that information down.  If any one has the link, please let me know.  But this is so delicious I just have to share.

Slow Roasted Pork with Memphis Dust

Memphis Dust:

2 T brown sugar and white sugar

4 t paprika

2 t salt and garlic powder

1 t pepper and onion powder

1 t ginger powder

Massage this onto a trimmed pork shoulder roast (around 4 lbs).

Put on a roasting pan and roast 225F for 8-12 hours.  I usually do it about 8 hours.  So delicious!

You can even enjoy this roast in the summer time!  Just preheat your BBQ (only use half the burners) to 350F.  Put roast in a foil pan and BBQ one hour per pound.  That’s it, you don’t need to fuss with it or anything.  Just keep your temperature around 350F.

Read Full Post »

Stir Up Sunday

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Today is ‘Stir up Sunday‘, the last Sunday of the Anglican year and the last Sunday before Advent.    It is also the Sunday that, traditionally, the Christmas pudding and Christmas cake are made.  That’s what we are busy doing today.  Ella is such a help at cutting all the fruit and nuts.

Christmas Plum Pudding
1/2 c butter                                       1/2 c sugar
1/4 c molasses                                  1 egg
1/2 c milk                                            1 c flour
1/2 c breadcrumbs                         1/2 tsp bk powder
1/2 tsp salt                                           1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg                                   1/2 c raisins
1/2 c currants                                     1/4 c walnuts
Grease and sugar your pudding mould (or bowl as I use).
Cut butter into the dry ingredients.  Add the chopped fruit and nuts.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

 Spoon into mould and cover with 2 layers of buttered tin foil.  Tie securely and don’t forget a handle.

 Steam over medium heat (water half-way up the mould) for 3 hours.

Invert and serve with caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce
3 Tbsp butter                                         1 c brown sugar
3/4 c water                                             1/4 c milk
2 Tbsp cornstarch                               pinch of salt
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan.  Add brown sugar and stir until melted and bubbly.  Slowly add water and stir until dissolved.  Make a paste with the milk and cornstarch and salt.  Stir into hot mixture.  Reduce heat and cook until thick.  If too thick, thin with a little milk.

Read Full Post »

Recipes -Pork Chops and Apple Cake

My first recipe to share is a freezer meal.  Just mix the ingredients together and pour into a freezer baggie along with the pork chops.  Toss in the freezer.  When you are ready to make the meal, just thaw the baggie (I turn it occasionally to coat evenly) and bake.  If your pork comes from the butcher (or farm) already frozen no problem.  Mix ingredients in the baggie and add the frozen chops.  They don’t marinade while in the freezer so it makes no difference.

Honey Pork Chops  makes 4

Mix in a freezer baggie:

1/2 c honey                       1/4 c cider vinegar

1/4 t ginger                          1 t garlic powder (not salt)

2 T soy sauce                      pepper to taste

Put 4 pork chops (loin or shoulder) into baggie.   Seal and smoosh around.  Toss in freezer.

To cook:  thaw chops, then put in shallow roasting pan and bake 350F for 30-40 minutes.  Turn half way through.

I’ve discovered another delicious apple cake recipe.  It smells like apple pie when it goes in the oven.  Can never have too many apple cake recipes this time of the year.

Apple Cake

1 c butter                                     1 1/2 c br sugar

4 eggs                                             2 1/2 c flour

2 t  cinnamon                             2 t bk powder

1/2 t bk soda                              1/2 t salt

6 apples, peeled, and diced -I used Paula Red

Combine the butter, sugar and eggs and beat until fluffy.  In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Carefully add to wet ingredients.  Mix until just combined.  Stir in apple pieces.  Pour into greased bundt pan.

Bake 350F for 60 minutes

This cake could be glazed like my pound cake recipe or a runny caramel icing would by good.

This was supper on Friday night.  A zero mile meal  🙂   Honey shoulder chops, the last of the yellow beans, scalloped potatoes, and apple cake for dessert.

Read Full Post »

How We Heat the House

My gas oven!

Well, not really but Colin sure notices the difference in temperature when I’m not home baking.  Today the house was chilly so I made some Peanut Butter Swirl bars from the Amish Cook Baking book (which I helped test recipes for).  Did they ever turn out yummy!  Though next time I think I’m going to put the chocolate chips on the inside.  Also need to cut smaller squares, they are quite rich.  I also made a new garlic roll recipe I found here.  They smell divine.  I’ve also made an apple cake.  It’s easy to throw together and makes a nice big bundt cake.  It’s also good use for those sad, end of winter apples I had sitting around.

Apple Cake

3 c flour                   1 c wt. sugar

1 1/2 t bk soda       1/2 t salt

1 t cinnamon           1/4 t allspice and nutmeg

1 c buttermilk          1/2 c butter, melted

1 egg                            2 c chopped apples

Mix the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients.  Gently stir in the apples last.  Pour into a greased bundt pan.

Bake 325F for 60 min or until done.

For more great sweet treat ideas, check out Sweet as Sugar Cookies.

Read Full Post »

Recipes

I was talking with one of my blog friends about cake recipes, in particular Angel Cake.  Most recipes use so many eggs!  Even with my barn-full of chickens I shy away from those recipes -so many extra yolks.  I have a very old recipe that actually uses only 4 egg whites and thought I’d share.

Angel Cake

2 c milk                               2 c flour

2 c wt. sugar                      2 T bk powder

pinch salt                          4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Heat milk to boiling.  Sift dry ingredients 5 times (I haven’t skipped this step so I don’t know if it really makes a difference).  Add milk to dry ingredients and stir till smooth.  Fold in egg whites carefully.  Pour into ungreased angel pan.  Bake 375F for 40-45 min.  Invert pan to cool.

Another yummy cake is Brown Sugar Pound cake.  It stays so nice a moist.  I love to use my fancy bundt pans with this one, just make sure the pan is big enough or you’ll have a mess in your oven.   Sounds like I speak from experience, eh?

Brown Sugar Pound cake

1 c butter                      6 eggs

2 c br. sugar               1 c wt. sugar

2 2/3 c flour              2 t vanilla

1 c sour cream (I use fat-free)        1/4 t bk soda

Cream butter then beat in each egg, one at a time.  Dissolve the bk. soda in the sour cream.  Alternate with the dry ingredients.  Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan (if you can find it, the Pam with flour is perfect here).

Bake 275F for 20 min then 325F for 50 min.

 

Glaze:

2 T butter, melted

1 T water

1 t vanilla

6 T sugar

mix to make a runny glaze and pour over cooled cake

If you really want to make this cake yummy, use on my chocolate glaze  instead.

Read Full Post »