Holiday Spiced Baked Custards

350*F 40 minutes 6 individual custard dishes; 9x13 pan filled with hot water

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
  
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

WHISK eggs, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cloves and nutmeg in large bowl until mixed. Stir in evaporated milk, water and vanilla extract. Pour egg mixture evenly into six, 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups. Place cups in 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Pour hot water into baking pan to a depth of 1-inch depth (about halfway up sides of ramekins).

BAKE for 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted near the center of one of the custards comes out clean. Remove cups to wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or place in refrigerator to cool completely. Once cool, cover with plastic wrap. Custards can be made up to 2 days in advance.

TIPS:
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice can be substituted for the cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.
- To make pouring of egg mixture into ramekins easier, use a glass measure with spout or 1/2-cup measuring cup.

recipe found at:  http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=144208 

3 out of 5 family members really enjoy this.  The youngest child comments, 'yum, yum' with every bite.  The boys were not into it.  The parents both enjoyed it.  I think I would suggest scraping off the top of this custard to remove the 'crust' or spices that all gravitated to the surface.  That might have been why the boys didn't enjoy it - and wouldn't try it once I removed the crust for them.

Lemonade

1 cup lemon juice (8-9 lemons)
2 cups water
2/3 cup sugar, white granulated
ice cubes

mix all together.  chill and serve over the ice.

Cupcake making - no fuss, no mess!

I thought I would share the method I use for cupcake batter - the transfer of batter from the bowl to the actual cupcake liner.  I have tried MANY methods over the years, and this method, I personally find to be the easiest.  It might make it easier for you, too if you struggle with gooey drops of batter on your cupcake pan. . .

I use gallon size bags - the kind that comes with a handy tie.  I recycled an old plastic juice container by cutting off the top 2 inches or so - to give me a rectangular shaped container.

I drape the plastic bag over the cut up juice container.  Much like one is putting a trash liner in a garbage can. 

Then fill with batter.

Tie a knot on the open end of the bag.

Smoosh the contents of the bag away from a corner. 

Snip a teensy bit of the corner off.  You can always cut more but you can't undo a huge opening.  Smaller is better in this case. 

Use the bag much like you'd use a pastry bag with filling to fill the compartments.  Look, no mess!  :)

When the bag is empty, just toss the bag (or rinse and recycle appropriately).  Hope this tip is helpful to someone.  :)

Spice Cake

Spice Cake
350*F oven 30-35 minutes (9x12 pan)
makes 70 mini muffins (15-20 minutes)

1 cup sour milk (add 1 T lemon juice to glass measuring cup; fill to line with milk) (do this FIRST - but don't pour in batter til you've added everything else to give the lemon juice time to acidify the milk)
2 cups all -purpose flour
1.5 cups sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon, ground
1/4 t nutmeg, ground
1/4 t cloves, ground
1/4 t ginger, ground
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 t vanilla
3 eggs


combine all items in order listed (except milk - add that last!)

blend together and pour into pan or cupcake liners. . .

this is a staple pantry cake and crowd pleasing.  :)

I usually make a cream cheese frosting or a citrus frosting (lemon or orange) to put on top.

Mexican Chicken Salad

3 cups cooked cubed chicken
2-3 ears corn, cooked, removed from cob (or a 15 oz can of corn, drained)
1 1/2 cups black beans cooked, drained (or 15 oz can beans, drained and rinsed)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped (if you have any in garden)
1 large carrot and greens fresh from garden, - grate the carrot, and mince the greens
1 cup cheese - grated - whatever you like - Usually I use a blend of asiago, cheddar, mozzarella, provolone
1 cup salsa, thick and chunky
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (can be omitted if none in garden - the carrot greens actually make a nice sub)
3/4 cup oil and vinegar salad dressing - I usually make a blend of white wine vinegar/olive oil, with some onion and garlic in it - for this dish

combine all ingredients sans dressing and toss gently.  Then pour dressing over all and toss to coat.  Chill 1-3 hours to blend flavors.

Zucchini Frittata

1-2 cloves garlive, chopped/minced
1 small-medium onion, chopped
1-2 zucchini (depends on size), chopped
2 large leaves swiss chard, coarse chopped
2 T Olive Oil
6 eggs
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 cup cheese - blend of parmesan and cheddar/mozzarella, grated

heat oil in wide frying pan over med-high heat, add all chopped veggies and oil.  Stir occasionally, cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are slightly limp.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Blend together eggs, salt, and pepper.  Add cheese and vegetables and mix all together.

Pour into greased 9" baking pan (or larger if desired).  350*F 30 minutes or until lightly browned

We call this 'dinner cake'.  *grin*  Serve with fresh cooked corn on the cob. 

Cabbage Apple Cranberry Salad

 Veggies:

• 2 medium unpeeled Gala, Red Delicious, or Fuji apples, cored, quartered, and thinly sliced crosswise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 cups coarsely shredded red cabbage
• 2 cups coarsely shredded green cabbage
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
• salt and pepper, to taste

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon spicy or Creole mustard
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

toss apples with lemon juice.  Add other vegetables and fruit to a large bowl.
Blend together dressing ingredients.  Pour over veg/fruit and toss lightly.
store in fridge 4 hours or overnight.

Serve.

'Apple' Topping for ice cream

Folks, this is not made with apples but instead with green squash/zucchini. And let me tell you, it's good stuff! It is a real favorite here as topping on ice cream with some caramel sauce. I plan on making a pie or two with it in the near future, as we are producing more zucchini's than we can eat for a family of five. (2 green squash plants!)

I discovered this recipe on http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/forum.htm, but then discovered the probable original source here: http://www.outofhouseandhome.com/2006/05/09/zucchini-unlimited/


Zucchini Unlimited



I promise you that, as long as you do not tell, not a soul who eats this dessert will believe that it is anything more than an apple pie.


For the filling, you will need:

* 2 large (or 12 – 14 small) zucchini, peeled, seeded (if seeds are large), quartered or halved length-wise, and cut into 1/4″ slices
* 2/3 c lemon juice
* 1 c sugar
* 1/2 t cinnamon
* 1/4 t nutmeg

Cook zucchini slices in lemon juice until tender; add sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, simmer and then allow to cool.

For the crust and topping you will need:

Crust/Topping:
4 c flour
2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1 c margarine/butter/butter-flavored crisco

Combine flour, sugar and salt; mix well. Cut in the butter with a fork or other tined instrument, and mix until crumbly.

Fold 1/2 cup of the crust mixture into the filling mixture. Press 1/2 the remaining crust mixture into a 9" x 13" pan; bake this crust at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Pour zucchini over this new crust. Add 1 t cinnamon to remaining crust mix and sprinkle over zucchini. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes

Deviled Eggs

18-20 eggs, hard boiled*

1 cup mayo
3-4 teaspoons mustard, prepared - whatever kind you prefer (Dijon, spicy, golden, etc)
3 teaspoons vinegar (again, your favorite - i've used white distilled, white wine, etc)

then add in to taste:
paprika
salt
pepper, (black or white)

optional additions - add none, some, or all - or create your own!
Parmesan cheese
parsley, chopped finely
onion powder
garlic powder

*hard boiled eggs - i cook them easily by putting in a pan, putting cold water on top of eggs (eggs are single layer), adding a generous splash of white distilled vinegar, then when eggs come to a boil, turn off burner, cover eggs and set timer for 15 minutes. when timer goes off, bring eggs to sink and run cold water over them til they're cool to touch. The vinegar makes the eggs peel easily.

to make deviled eggs

simply peel every egg and cut egg in half lengthwise. scoop out the yolk carefully with a spoon and a slight pinching of egg into a small bowl.

Mix the ingredients together and then put all mixture into a pastry bag with a large-ish tip - i use a star tip. Pipe into each egg white - filling up the cavity. i think it is easier with a pastry bag than to use a spoon - but the end result is the same - a yummy deviled egg.

my kids eat these like there's no tomorrow. (hence why i cook up quite a few at a time - 20 eggs is all that fits in my pan single layer).

It's a great summer treat and not much work involved in the kitchen.

Jell-o Magic Mousse

This is such a simple dessert that my children just love! Adults will enjoy it as well as part of picnic fare.

3 - 3 1/2 cups boiling water
8 serving package of your favorite flavor jell-o gelatin

8 oz cool whip, thawed

stir boiling water into gelatin - blend about 2 minutes or until completely dissolved. Stir in the cool whip with wisk til cool whip is completely melted and blended into gelatin.

pour into 6 cup container sprayed with pam.

fridge overnight or at least 8 hours.

Serve and enjoy the giggles from the kids - the dessert ends up having 2 layers - a gelatin bottom and mousse topping.

Yum. :)

makes anywhere from 6-20+ servings depending on size of serving spoon. :)

Ambrosia Salad

20 oz can crushed pineapple in juice, UNdrained
cold water
4 cups boiling water
4 pkgs (3 oz) orange flavor gelatin (jell-o)
16 oz cool whip, thawed
2 cans (11 oz) mandarin oranges, drained
10.5 oz pkg mini marshmallows - funmallows (4 flavors)
1 cup coconut flakes (optional - my kids don't care for the texture in the salad, so i omit this item)

drain pineapple juice, reserving the juice. Add enough cold water to juice to make 2 cups of liquid. Add boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min or until completely dissolved. Stir in measured liquid.
Refrigerate 1 1/4 hours or til slightly thickened. (Set a timer so you don't forget!!)

Whisk in cool whip until well blended. Fridge 10 minutes or until mixture will mound. Stir in pineapple, oranges, marshmallows and coconut. Spoon into pan mold sprayed with pam.

Fridge 3 hours or overnight. Unmold and serve.

Broccoli Salad

3 oz package 'real' bacon bits
2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated (or 1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated) or omit if you wish. . .
1 large onion, chopped (whatever color makes you happiest - yellow, white, red, all are yummy)
1 carrot, grated

1/2 - 1 cup raisins or craisins
1/2 cup sunflower seed kernels

optional:
1 clove garlic, minced (or whatever amount you prefer - I like garlic) - this can be omitted . . .
green pepper
zucchini, peeled, diced


dressing - blend together and pour over veggies, toss well to combine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or white distilled vinegar if you don't have red wine vinegar)
1/8 - 1/2 cup white sugar (do as your taste buds lead you to do)
1/2 - 2 teaspoons ground black pepper (i personally prefer the lesser amount, others may wish more)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 - 1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

fridge until ready to serve.

this is a very forgiving recipe - just add in whatever makes you smile. i've added in chopped red beets from the garden, a little kale, some cauliflower, diced boiled eggs, you get the idea.

if you like a 'juicy' sauce, you may wish to increase the dressing volume a bit as with current recipe, there isn't puddles of dressing in bottom of bowl.

Enjoy! :)

Lemon Raspberry Mousse

You'll need a 6x9 glass pan -perfect fit! (recipe suggests 8x8 pan)

Start teakettle to boil water.

Then:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar, white granulated
2 tsp lemon zest

Beat ingredients in large bowl with mixer til fluffy.



blend in:

1/3 cup raspberry preserves



Next:

3/4 cup boiling water
1 pkg (3 oz) lemon jello
1 cup ice cubes

Add boiling water to gelatin mix; stir 2 minutes or until completely dissolved. Stir in ice til melted. (yeah, I got impatient with this and fished out the few ice cubes that didn't melt by the time I got the other ingredients mixed together.)

Pour gelatin mixture into mixer where the cream cheese, etc are beating away. Mixture is going to be rather runny now. Don't panic. It's gonna be ok. :) (taste the batter, see, it's yummy, and it will be thick and rich again, I promise!)

Stir in:

1/2 of an 8 oz container of thawed Cool Whip (or aldi brand topping *grin*)

Pour into pan. Product is now kind of fluffy again.

Lick spoon. Yum. yeah, it's tasty. Fight with children over who gets to lick the remaining bits in beater bowl and paddle. The cooking items are now practically clean - just a quick swipe with some soap and water and you're done!

Put in fridge overnight and serve as dessert tomorrow at suppertime.

Add a small dollop of remaining cool whip to each serving (if there's any left - I know when the family realizes there's cool whip in the house it's gone pretty quick as a topping on their hot cocoa, etc. . .)


I found this recipe in a magazine. Liked the concept, but I changed it to make it faster prep and gluten free - w/o me baking cookies on this impulse dessert making moment. (I just left out the cookies) and changed the instructions and layering, etc. Seriously, who has time for layering a simple dessert like this? these ingredients all work well together so I just pushed caution to the wind and went with it. . . *grin*

Chocolate Bean Cake

1 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained
1 cup canned fava (or northern) beans, drained
1/2 cup green or unripe tomato, pureed (you can sub 1/2 cup diced tomato - canned, drained)
4 eggs
1 t cherry flavoring
2 T cornstarch
1 cup brown sugar
3 T cocoa powder
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda

Preheat oven to 350*f. Grease 8 inch square pan. (Personally, I make cupcakes).

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in a large bowl to beat separately. (This step may be eliminated, but it makes a far lighter cake.) If you wish, add the eggs one at a time at the place I suggest adding the yolks. Beat after each addition.

In a food processor (I use my blender actually - holds more), puree the beans with the tomato puree until very smooth. Add the egg yolks and beat until smooth. Add cherry flavoring.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the egg mix and beat only until well blended. If whipping eggs separately, beat only until soft peaks form, and fold gently into batter.

Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes (less with cupcakes) or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm or cool, garnished with whipped topping, or frost with your favorite icing.

Makes 9 servings.

Nutrients per serving: calories 220, fat 3g, cholesterol 85 mg, sodium 140mg, carbohydrates 42g, protein 7g.

Recipe is from "Gluten Free Gourmet Makes Dessert" by Bette Hagman. (No special ingredients section of the book, page 350)

This cake is worth the effort - it's REALLY REALLY good and unless you tell folks it was gluten free - no one will ever know. . . they just liked how moist and chocolate -y it was. . . .

has a tendency to flop in oven - so frosting it is a good idea, though to make the top look better when serving to guests. I usually make a sour cream or cream cheese frosting for it ('cause I just like cream cheese *grin*)

Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t cloves
2 eggs
1 can pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk (or 1 can coconut milk! - really REALLY GOOD!)

9 inch pie shell

425*F 15 minutes
350*F 40-50 minutes


*NOTE* I personally add rounded amounts of the spices - esp when using coconut milk. I LOVE FLAVORFUL PIE! :)

Pie Crust

(this is an OLD recipe - from Fannie Farmer cookbook - and I swear it's the BEST ONE! :)

2 eight inch pie crusts

2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
2/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup cold water

or

2 nine inch pie crusts

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup shortening
6-7 T cold water

directions:

mix flour and salt. cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives. combine lightly only until the mixture resembles coarse meal or very tiny peas; its texture will not be uniform but will contain crumbs and small bits and pieces. sprinkle water over the flour mixture, a tablespoon at a time and mix lightly with a fork, using only enough water so that the pastry will hold together when pressed into a ball.

roll the dough out 2 inches larger than pie pan, then fit loosely but firmly into pan. crimp or flute the edges.

for a baked pie shell, prick bottom all over with fork and bake shell 16-18 min in preheated 425*F oven

for partially baked shell, bake 10 minutes.

Pasta Carbonara

1lb linguine pasta (gluten free)
4 eggs
1 pound bacon, chopped into 1" pieces
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese
8-12 cloves of garlic, diced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 stick of butter
1 handful of parsley
1-2 tablespoons black pepper

1) slice up 1 pound of bacon into pieces about one inch wide. Cook the bacon, reserving the grease.

2) While bacon’s cooking, set a pot of salted water on the stove for pasta.

3) chop onion

4) Once the desired bacon bliss has been achieved, just scoop it out with a slotted spoon and set it onto a plate. And don’t dump the grease!

5) Throw the diced onions into the bacon grease. Give the onions a quick stir and let them cook down over a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.

6) After the onions have cooked for a couple of minutes, throw in the garlic. Yes, all of it! Adding it after the onions have cooked a little will prevent the garlic from burning. Garlic burns up a little faster than the onions.

7) If your water is boiling by now, go ahead and add in your pasta, setting a timer for al dente (see package for time)

8) After the onion and garlic have cooked for another couple of minutes, they should be removed from the pan with our slotted spoon, leaving the grease…um…renderings behind.

9) NOW’S THE TIME TO DISCARD THE BACON GREASE. Once we’ve gotten rid of that grease, we should be left with a pan that has all the nice brownness still stuck to the bottom of the pan. Place the pan back on high heat until it starts to smoke a little.

10) As soon as the pan begins to smoke, pour in 1 cup chicken stock.

11) Using a whisk, fork, spatula, or wooden spoon, you’ll want to scrape the bottom of the pan vigorously until the little bits of flavor have released themselves into the liquid. Voila! You’ve just deglazed a pan!

12) After scraping, I’ll add in my second cup of chicken stock.

13) Then I’ll return my bacon, onion, and garlic to the sauce I’ve just created. Stir it all together and let it simmer over medium heat.

14) Allowing the hot part of our sauce to simmer, we’re now going to crack those four eggs into a large bowl. The bowl needs to be large enough to hold all the pasta and other ingredients, and still leave room to stir together.

15) Add most of the Parmesan and rough chop the parsley, adding it to the eggs as well. Mix it all up.

16) Now drain off the water from your steaming hot pasta.

17) And add the hot pasta to the egg/parmesan/parsley mixture. It’s important that the pasta be very hot, because this is what cause the eggs to thicken.

18) on top of the pasta, add 1/2 stick butter

19) Now MIX! Tongs work great for this. Get everything all worked together. Be sure to add in lots of black pepper.


4 servings - very hearty servings (feeds our family of 5 perfectly)

Lemon Waffles

3 eggs
1 cup whole milk plain yogurt (see recipe for making yogurt in your crockpot)
1/2 t vanilla
lemon zest of 2 lemons (i keep dried lemon peel spice in pantry for days when i don't have lemons in house and it works fine for this!)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or gluten free blend - just add in 1/4 t xanthan gum)
2 t baking powder
1/2 cup sugar, white granulated
1/4 t kosher salt

mix liquid ingredients in order given, then add in dry ingredients.

i use 2 cast iron waffle irons to make waffles and it takes somewhere around 2-4 minutes per waffle.  :) 


i have to make a double batch of this when i make it. the kids eat them like there's no tomorrow.

Yogurt

fill crockpot with milk (i use 'whole' milk -3.25%)

turn to low.

2 1/2 hours later turn off crock

about 3 hours later, scoop out a cup or so of the warmish milk.

wisk in 1/2 cup of yogurt - natural with active culture - (i just buy walmart brand non fat plain yogurt - one small serving 6oz or 8oz - don't remember which it is) and dump in entire serving

then return the yogurt/warmish milk mixture to crock. put lid back on crock.

keep crock unplugged. wrap in warm towels, etc for 8 hours. (I put my crock in the travel crock bags and put it in the oven overnight - (gas) oven OFF!)

yogurt will be thinner than you're used to from storebought. if you want real thick (greek style) yogurt, simply take your pasta colander and line it with coffee filters. put the yogurt in that to drain off some of the liquid. it'll be real thick in a couple hours.

i like it both ways, thinnish and real thick. yum, yum!!

we use it up in a few days so i'm not sure of shelf life in fridge for it. to make a new batch of yogurt, just save about 1/2 cup of this yogurt as your starter. :)

Enjoy!

add whatever toppings/sweeteners you desire. me i like plain yogurt. *grin*

Lentil Soup

1 bag lentils, sorted, rinsed
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
black pepper, grind some in
1 can diced tomatoes (juice and all!)
11 cups or so of chicken broth (today i used a mix of veggie broth and chicken broth from freezer)
1 t of thyme


put on high til the chicken broth/veggie broth has thawed. :) then put on low rest of day.

serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.