All posts by Sonte

Christmas, Cookies

Date Nut Drop Cookies

Leave a comment
Submit to reddit Share

I make these every year at Christmas just for my Mother. They were one of her favourite O-Mommy Cookie recipes…not that Mother made them all that often, but she sure liked to have them made for her. Here I will share with you the recipe exactly the way O-Mommy passed it along to me. Yes, the recipe now resides on this page but I still have the battered, faded recipe index card that I transcribed the recipe onto 30 years ago!

Although Mother passed away I made these cookies in quiet remembrance of her and probably will until I am unable to make them anymore. I think Mother liked them so much because they were gently spiced and contained yummy bits of dates.

For Mother

One of my Mother's Faves; Date Nut Drop Cookies
One of my Mother’s Faves; Date Nut Drop Cookies

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream together,
1 cup Shortening (sometimes I don’t have enough or none at all and will sub in some or all Butter)
1 1/2 cups Sugar
3 Eggs
Add
2 cups Chopped Dates
1 cup Chopped Walnuts
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Blend together [in a separate bowl]
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Add to date mixture, combine thoroughly.
Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
Bake for 12 – 15 minutes.

I use a #2 Pampered Chef Scoop.

I let the cookies rest on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cookie rack to cool completely.

 

 

 

 

 

Soup

Tortilla Soup

Leave a comment
Submit to reddit Share

A tantalizing soup recipe arrived in my inbox this morning and seeing how it is a cold winter day,  a bowl of soup would definitely hit the spot! I had taken ground chicken out of the freezer last night which I thought I could easily sub it into this Tortilla Soup recipe.
I got through the first couple of steps and realized this soup was going NOWHERE fast! So I added some of this, a bit of that to liven it up. Ironically, it is called Tortilla Soup but I didn’t have any in stock but that’s okay, I had a fanging for Bannock anyway and surely one ought not consume both Tortilla Chips and Bannock in the same meal?

Tortilla Soup topped with Shredded Pepper Jack, Sliced Black Olives and Chopped Green Onions
Tortilla Soup topped with Shredded Pepper Jack, Sliced Black Olives and Chopped Green Onions

2 Tablespoons Italian Dressing
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 lb Ground Chicken
6 cups Water
3 McCormick Chicken Boullion Cubes (all vegetable ingredients!)
1 28-ounce can Diced Tomatoes
1 each Green, Yellow Pepper, chopped
1 cup Corn Niblets
1 19-ounce can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 teaspoons ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
2 teaspoons dried Oregano
Pinch of Paprika
Pepper, to taste
Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
Sliced Black Olives, garnish
Chopped Green Onion, garnish
Fresh Cilantro, garnish
Tortilla Chips, crushed

In large stock pot heat Italian dressing over medium-high heat and add minced garlic; cook for 2 minutes stirring often.
Add ground chicken and scramble fry until cooked through and slightly browned.
Add water, stock, diced tomatoes, chopped peppers, corn niblets, black beans, spices and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for an hour.
Serve  topped with shredded pepper Jack, chopped green onions, sliced black olives and fresh cilantro.
Sprinkle with Tortilla Chips, if desired.

 

Desserts

Mini Apple Cheesecakes

Leave a comment
Submit to reddit Share

A delectable sounding recipe for an Apple Pear Crumb cake arrived in my inbox today and I was pretty stoked to make it. Too bad my dinner plans went sour and it ended up being just myself, my husband and my son at the dinner table. With Christmas is just barely behind us along with all the junk food, Christmas baking and litre upon litre of Eggnog I wasn’t baking up something just for the three of us.

As it turns out, I still had a dozen baked tart shells that needed filling. Let’s see, I also had half a container of Cool Whip topping leftover from when I made Sex in a Pan. Half a thing of Cream Cheese. Just made a big batch of Applesauce….Surely there had to be something I could do with those ingredients? Voila, Mini Apple Cheesecakes!

Mini Apple Cheesecakes
12 Baked Tart Shells
4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
4 – 5 Tablespoons *unsweetened Applesauce
1 cup Whipped Cream
1 Tablespoon Graham Wafer Crumbs
Bake tart shells as directed on package; cool completely.
In mixing bowl combine cream cheese, Greek yogurt, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon; beat until no lumps remain.
Divide among baked tart shells, spreading cheesecake mixture to the edges.
Top with a teaspoon of applesauce.
Pipe a rosette of whip cream (or softened Cool Whip) on each tart.
Sprinkle with a bit of graham wafer crumbs.
Allow to set in fridge for 2 hours.
Mini Apple Cheesecake
Mini Apple Cheesecake

* When I make Applesauce it is simply apples, a bit of water to get them going and cinnamon. Oh, and sometimes I add a splash of vanilla if I remember  to add it!

Cakes

Honey Cake

1 Comment
Submit to reddit Share
My husband has a Honey fetish along with a life long dream of being a bee keeper. I have been meaning to make some kind of recipe with honey in it for ages and only just got around to it this weekend. Doesn’t hurt that I just bought a copious amount of honey at Costco and also had two containers of honey with dregs that needed to be finished.
Now I know the Honey Cake looks pretty with the Honeyed Almonds on top but in hindsight, the topping was a bad idea. Tasty, but a bad idea because the Honeyed Almonds was pretty much Almond Bark minus the chocolate. Again, tasty, but a bad idea for the top of a cake.
Honey Cake with Honeyed Almonds
Honey Cake with Honeyed Almonds

3 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each: ground Cloves, ground Allspice, ground Ginger
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Honey
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar, lightly packed
3 large Eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 cup warm Strong Coffee
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/4 cup Rum
1/2 cup slivered or sliced Almonds

Preheat oven to 350F.
Spray a bundt pan and a 9″round cake pan with vegetable oil spray and dust with flour; gently tap out excess flour.

In mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices; make a well in the centre.
In a small mixing bowl combine oil, honey, sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee, orange juice and rum.
Pour liquid ingredients into the well in dry ingredients, and mix on low speed for 1 minute then increase to medium speed and mix for another 3 minutes.
Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 – 75 minutes for the Bundt pan, 30 – 45 minutes for 9″ round cake pan or until pick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from oven to wire rack and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Run knife around pan to loosen cake, turn out to cool completely on wire rack.
When cake is completely cooled, drizzle with glaze, top with toasted almonds and dust lightly with icing sugar.

Serves: 12 – 16

Honey Cake with Honeyed Almonds
Honey Cake with Honeyed Almonds

For original recipe head over to Smitten Kitchen.

Honeyed Almonds

1/4 cup Honey
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 – 1 1/2 cups Almonds

Melt honey, sugar and butter in heavy skillet over medium heat.
Stir in vanilla and almonds; continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, watching for the almonds to start turning golden brown.
Remove from heat and cool completely.
Break into bite size chunks.

What I did
I carefully spread the hot honeyed almonds on top of the cake and allowed it to cool completely before lightly dusting with icing sugar.
Again, it was a bad idea as I basically had Almond Bark on the top of my cake.

 

Beef

Salisbury Steak

Leave a comment
Submit to reddit Share

I definitely did not want to cook dinner tonight but since I already took LAST night off from cooking I HAD to get in the kitchen tonight! There was a pound of ground beef thawing in the fridge so at least I had a starting point…I hate it when you are racking your brain trying to suss out what to cook for dinner and you don’t even know where to begin so you start going through the entire contents of your fridge and pantry in your mind. For one, it usually gives you a huge headache.
Alright, so knew I had to cook that ground beef (by the way, I take zero pleasure in cooking poor ol’ Bessy ); I started thinking about the things my mother used to cook with ground beef besides Cabbage Rolls, Meatloaf and Spaghetti Sauce…I was about to search google for ideas when I remembered Salisbury Steak! Not sure why they call it “steak” but whatever.

Salisbury Steak
Salisbury Steak

1 package Onion Soup Mix
1 lb Ground Beef
1 slice Bread, crumbled
1 Egg
1/3 cup Milk
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 small Onion, sliced

1/4 cup Ketchup
1 cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Dry Mustard Powder

In medium mixing bowl combine 2/3 of onion soup mix, ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper, and milk.
Form into 6 oval patties.
In large skillet over medium-high heat, brown both sides of patties, about 4 -6 minutes per side.
When you flip the patties over to the second side, add sliced onions; stir onions around occasionally while browning second side.
In measuring cup combine ketchup, water; whisk in flour, remaining onion soup mix and dry mustard powder.
Pour over patties in skillet and bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serves 4 – 6