Pumpkin Cheese Ball

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Veronica

This isn’t a cheese ball containing pumpkin, but a cheese ball that is shaped like one, making it a great addition to your Halloween or Thanksgiving spread. It’s a Taste of Home recipe that I adapted to be completely home-made since I didn’t feel like purchasing a pre-made cream cheese spread for it. I discovered the recipe through Dennis’ cousin, who brought the adorable cheese ball to our Thanksgiving feast last year. I ate more of it than anything else, including dessert. It was just so yummy! I like my version just as well and it was a big hit during an event at my sister’s gift boutique where I recently served it.

I’m submitting this recipe to All Through The Year Cheer‘s Halloween recipe round-up for a chance to win some Madagascar vanilla beans. If you would like to participate, check out the details here. You have until October 27th to get your recipe in!

Note to parents: don’t worry about the cayenne pepper–it just gives a flavor boost with an extremely mild heat–mild enough for children.

Pumpkin Cheese Ball

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1 3/4 packages (14 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (2 ounces) sour cream
1 tablespoon dried chives
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 celery rib or broccoli stalk
Assorted crackers

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Beat in the chives, paprika, and cayenne until incorporated, then beat in the cheddar. Shape into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm. With a knife, add vertical lines to the cheese ball to resemble a pumpkin; insert a celery rib or broccoli stalk for the stem. Serve with crackers.

Yield: 2-1/2 cups.

Recipe source: adapted from Taste of Home

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Snickerdoodle Blondies

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Veronica

Whether you’re a fan of snickerdoodles or not, I think you will love these bars! I personally don’t love snickerdoodles. I’ll eat them. Come on, cookies are my favorite food group so of course I’ll take one when offered. But these, I love. They are so soft and buttery sweet and just…wonderful. I think it must be the cinnamon in them, but I think the flavor is perfect for fall!

I know from experience that they have a good shelf life–I shipped a package of them in the hot summer and they weren’t delivered for five days because of a Post Office error, but they were still fresh when the birthday girl picked them up. So don’t be afraid to make these up in advance for holiday gatherings/gifts–they freeze great too!

Snickerdoodle Blondies

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Cookies:
2 2/3 cups (10 oz) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (15 oz) brown sugar, packed
1 cup (8 oz) butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9×13-inch pan with nonstick spray, line pan with parchment and let it hang over the sides, then spray the parchment with nonstick spray too. (The parchment is optional but creates nice handles to lift the bars out for easier cutting.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream of tartar and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer (3 to 5 minutes). Mix in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla, beating until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. The batter will be thick. Spread it evenly into the prepared pan. Spray your hands with cooking spray and use them to pat the mixture down evenly. Combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly on top of batter. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Let pan cool completely. When ready to cut, use ends of parchment paper to lift out baked bars. Place on a cutting board. Use a large, sharp knife to cut into bars.

Makes 20 to 24 bars

Recipe source: Recipe Girl (her optional additions left out)

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Posted in Brownies & Bars and tagged bars, cinnamon, fall, snickerdoodle blondies. Bookmark the permalink.

Blue Ribbon Almond Fudge Cookies (gluten-free)

Posted on October 4, 2010 by Veronica

**Update 9/10/11: I have made these cookies several times since this blog, and have updated the recipe so that you use a a full cup of almonds, ground, instead of 3/4 cup. This makes a more roundish cookie, which I prefer, but if you want flat ones like pictured, go with using only 3/4 cup. I put pictures of the puffy kind at the end**

I have not been blogging recipes very often lately, which is more indicative of the amount of free time I have rather than the amount of recipes I have to share. I have a whole file full of pictures I need to blog recipes for, but I figured I should first get to the one I promised you in the Carrot Cake Cookies blog.

I got this recipe from my friend, Marina, along with several others in an email she called “My favorite cookies.” She didn’t point out these were gluten-free but while making them for the first time, I realized they were flourless! My favorite gluten-free recipes are those that are naturally gluten-free and don’t call for strange ingredients, both because the taste is usually better and because those strange ingredients are usually quite pricey. These cookies didn’t disappoint, in fact they pretty much astounded me. They are so soft and chewy, they almost remind me of a brownie. The flavor is outstanding.

If you won’t take my word for it, then maybe you’ll believe the Kansas State Fair judges. They gave me a blue ribbon for them in the gluten-free category and wrote on my assessment paper, “one of the best we’ve tasted of all the cookies so far!” That means they thought these puppies were better than most regular cookies with gluten, with which I whole-heartedly agree. They are really, really good, whether you can have gluten in your diet or not.

Almond Fudge Cookies

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1 cup raw, unsalted almonds
½ pound semisweet chocolate
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
¼ teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Lay almonds on a microwave-safe plate and toast in microwave in 30-second intervals on high, stirring in between, 3-5 times until nuts are fragrant. Cool to room temperature. In a food processor, grind nuts until very fine, almost like flour. Measure out 1 cup and set aside; discard or save extra, if any, for another use.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler; remove from heat and set aside. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer on highest speed, gradually adding the sugar and salt. Continue beating until ribbons form; about 10 minutes. Fold in the chocolate-butter mixture. Gently add the ground almonds. Cover and refrigerate overnight or 8 hours.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop to form the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in granulated sugar, place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart and immediately place in the oven. Bake until the center of the cookies are no longer wet, 10-14 minutes. Allow to cool five minutes on sheet before removing to rack. Dust cooled cookies with powdered sugar or more granulated sugar if desired.

Recipe source: adapted from Marina C.

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Posted in Cookies and tagged award winning cookies, blue ribbon cookies, chocolate sparkle cookies, gluten free cookies. Bookmark the permalink.

Mexican Corn Dip

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Veronica

This dip. Oh, this dip. I love it so much I have been known to trade a proper dinner for a big plate of it.

I first had it at a Church potluck a few years ago. And then I had some more. And when no one was looking, I had a lot more. There were so many people that I had no idea who brought it, so I Googled “corn dip” when I got home to see if I could find the recipe. I had to have it. I could not live without it. It was sweet, creamy, and cheesy and I loved the flavor contrast from the green onions & chiles. I’m pretty sure I let out a squeal of triumph and glee when I found it on Allrecipes.

It has been in my “Favorite Recipes” file ever since and I bring it to almost any gathering that warrants a dip. Most recently, that was a sales event at my sister’s gift boutique where she served appetizers. When I arrived an hour into the event, she said she hadn’t had a lot of people yet but more than half the dip was gone (and it makes a big batch)! You may not go gaga for it as I have, but it’s always a crowd pleaser.

MEXICAN CORN DIP
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3 (11-oz) cans Mexican-style corn, drained
1 (4-oz) can diced green chiles, drained
5 green onions, chopped
1 (8-oz) container sour cream
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
3/4 cup mayonnaise
10 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Combine ingredients in a medium bowl, mix well; cover and store in refrigerator until ready to serve. I recommend serving with Frito Scoops chips, which taste amazing with this dip, but it can also be served with tortilla chips. Or a spoon. :)

Recipe source: allrecipes.com

This is how much the recipe makes-enough to nearly fill a 2 quart dish.

*I bought the Mexican platter in the first picture from Novica with a gift certificate I won from a giveaway on Girlichef (thanks, Heather!). Don’t you love it?! It was handcrafted & painted by the Castillo Family in Mexico, who designed it to emulate the classic majolica style of ceramics. Check Novica’s website if you haven’t before–there are some amazing one-of-a-kind things there! I also got some onyx earrings from Thailand–I love everything they have and love that they’re supporting artists from around the globe by enabling us to purchase from them.

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Posted in Mexican, My Favorites, Snacks & Appetizers, Vegetarian & Vegan and tagged mexican corn dip. Bookmark the permalink.

Carrot Cake Cookies

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Veronica

This is another recipe from my foodie Mama, Marina, and it won me second place in the “filled cookies” category at the state fair this year! I also won first place with another cookie recipe of hers, but this is the recipe that everyone on Facebook demanded after seeing the picture, so I’m posting it first. My only other first place ribbon was for Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies, in the “refrigerated cookies” category, which I have already posted the recipe for. I got eleven ribbons total and plan to share most of the recipes with you in future posts.

I don’t know what to say about these cookies that isn’t obvious just from looking at the picture. They are delicious!! Imagine classic carrot cake flavors combined with the buttery taste and soft, chewy texture of a cookie and there you have it. Perfection!

CARROT CAKE COOKIES
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1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 ½ cups finely grated carrots
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
Cream Cheese Filling (recipe follows)
Powdered sugar for dusting (I skipped this)

Heat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with Parchment paper, and set aside. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, raisins and walnuts. Chill dough in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Drop dough onto parchment paper, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Bake until light brown, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough. Once cooled completely, pipe or spread about 2 teaspoons of filling on half the cookies & sandwich together with a second cookie; dust with powdered sugar on both sides. Serve at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
Makes about 2 cups

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons crushed pineapple, well-drained and squeezed dry
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Place the cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Beat the cream cheese until soft. Gradually add the butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in the powdered sugar, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine. By hand stir in the pineapple and walnuts.

Recipe source: Marina C.

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Posted in Cookies and tagged carrot cake, carrot cake cookies recipe, Cookies, cream cheese, filled, filling. Bookmark the permalink.

Working With Pie Dough

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Veronica

My friend, Laura, The Cooking Photographer, asked me to do be a guest host on her blog for a post on pie crust and I hope you’ll go check it out! I even made an instructional video and you can see the post here: http://www.thecookingphotographer.com/2010/09/perfect-pie-crust.html

Enjoy!

Veronica

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Vegetable Pizza

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Veronica

My buddy, Suzie, shared this recipe with me and I’m so excited to spread the love! It is meant to be cut into little squares and served as an appetizer, but I never have need of appetizers so I just made them into big triangles to look more like real pizza and served them for dinner. It was hard to stop at two slices! I love the combination of the crescent dough, dill dip, cheddar cheese and veggies. I think I may even like it better than real pizza! I’m kind of obsessed now!

Vegetable Pizza
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2 tubes (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 (15.5 oz.) container vegetable dill dip
2 ½ c. broccoli florets
2 ½ c. cauliflower florets
1 bunch green onion, thinly sliced
½ c. red onion, diced (I left this out)
3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 small can sliced black olives, drained (I forgot these)
2 ½ c. shredded cheddar cheese

Unroll two tubes crescent dough and press into an ungreased 15 x 10 inch baking sheet; seal seams and perforations. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire rack. Once cooled, spread the dill dip over the crust (you will have some leftover). Sprinkle with the cheese, vegetables, and olives. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Cut into squares. Refrigerate leftovers.

*If you cannot find the dill dip, you can make it: 2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, 2/3 c. mayonnaise, 1 T. dill weed. Mix all in a bowl until smooth.
*Any vegetables you want may obviously be used in this dish, red or yellow peppers, mushrooms, etc.

*Veronica’s note: to make this more like real pizza, I left the triangles in their original shape and separated them before baking, reshaping the ones that were too long and skinny. Then I just prepared each piece individually as I needed them for the next couple days, storing everything separate in the fridge. I also made my own dip, but with my own recipe: 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon dried dill, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and a little salt.

Recipe source: Suzie Shaw

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Posted in My Favorites, Pizza, Snacks & Appetizers, Vegetarian & Vegan and tagged appetizer, crescent rolls dough, dill dip, vegetable pizza. Bookmark the permalink.

Baked Potato Salad

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Veronica

This recipe comes from another favorite recipe blog (I have so many!), Evil Shenanigans. You can tell just from the name of this blog that there is going to be some seriously fattening, i.e. evil and delicious, foods on it. And there are. Just incredible. Like this potato salad.

I’m not a huge fan of potato salad and never had one that I had to keep eating after the first bite. I could have just tossed my potato salad as easily as eat it. Until now. I actually caught myself taking scoops of it out of the serving dish to eat on my way to putting the leftovers in the fridge! It has turned me into that girl. You know what I mean by that girl. The one that secretly keeps jars of frosting in her cupboard and eats them with her finger. Except my frosting, in this case, is baked potato salad.

It’s basically all the essential elements of a loaded baked potato, but in potato salad form and yes, it’s as good as you think it would be. Make it.

Baked Potato Salad
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4 large russet potatoes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
1/4 cup chopped chives, divided (I used 2 tablespoons dried chives)
8 strips thick cut bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper

In a medium bowl whisk together the mayonnaise and sour cream until well mixed. Add 3/4 of the chopped chives along with some salt and pepper. Whisk to mix. Fold in the cheese and bacon. Cover and chill for thirty minutes.

Peel and cube the potatoes into 1/2″ pieces. Cook the potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain and cool slightly. Fold the cooked potatoes into the chilled dressing. Garnish with the remaining chives. I recommend serving this warm or at room temperature because it’s not as good cold.

Serves 6-8

Recipe source: Evil Shenanigans

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Posted in Salads, Side Dishes and tagged baked potato salad. Bookmark the permalink.

Divine One-Minute Salsa

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Veronica

It’s the tail-end of summer, but I just had to share this salsa recipe with you now that I have finally gotten a picture of it before the entire batch disappeared! I made many batches this summer in search of the best and after trying this one, we knew it was THE ONE and I haven’t tried any since. I think you’ll love it not only for the delicious taste, but for the ease of preparation as well.

You wouldn’t guess by the taste (it tastes fresh, fresh, fresh!), but this recipe uses canned tomatoes and even jarred jalapenos! Don’t shake your head at me, I tried fresh recipes and they just weren’t as good. The benefits of using canned tomatoes are that you can make this salsa year-round and cooked (i.e. canned) tomatoes are actually healthier for you–it’s true! The lycopene and antioxidants actually RAISE in tomatoes when they’re cooked. Pretty cool, huh? So make your family a batch of this salsa–it’ll do their mouths and their bodies good!

Divine One-Minute Salsa
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1/2 small red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup drained jarred pickled jalapenos
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained well

In the bowl of a food processor (or a blender), pulse the onion, cilantro, jalapenos, lime juice, garlic and salt until desired consistency is reached. Add the drained tomatoes and pulse until combined. Don’t overprocess in this step if you want your salsa to remain chunky – just give it a few good 1-second pulses until everything is mixed. If necessary, place the salsa in a fine mesh strainer or sieve and drain briefly. Transfer to a bowl and serve. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week.

Recipe source: My Kitchen Cafe

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Posted in Condiments & ETC. and tagged best, easy, salsa. Bookmark the permalink.

Garam Masala Tofu Scramble

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Veronica

I’ve been making my own version of this dish since Heidi of 101 Cookbooks posted her fabulous recipe in 2008, but I’ve never posted my recipe, mostly because it just isn’t very photogenic. However, it is my very most favorite tofu dish and also my favorite vegan meal. I really do not like tofu and strongly disagree with people who say it has no taste, but I really truly adore this meal. The spicy-floral-smoky garam masala, the mild onion flavor of the leeks, the soft tofu, the tart-sweet cranberries, salty & crunchy pistachios, and cilantro all combine into a wonderful medley of flavors and textures. Even my picky husband goes crazy for this stuff, which honestly baffles me. I love it, but I love a lot of things he detests. Still, he really piles his plate high when I make it.

It may look like dog food on a plate but it is absolutely wonderful! And it’s really easy to make–it all comes together in less than half an hour.

I’m sending this recipe over to Sanchita of Chilli and Chocolate for this week’s BSI contest featuring pistachios. Thank you, Sanchita, for choosing pistachios and forcing me to finally post this wonderfully ugly recipe! :)

Garam Masala Tofu Scramble
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2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons garam masala spice blend
3 leeks, white parts only, sliced thin
¼ cup dried cranberries, chopped
12 ounces extra firm organic tofu, crumbled
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup chopped pistachios

Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and garam masala, then add the sliced leeks. Stir to coat the leeks with the oil and spices and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Add extra oil if necessary. Stir in the cranberries and cook for thirty seconds, then stir in the tofu. Smash and stir, smash and stir, until the tofu is all crumbled and mixed well. Cook until heated through; remove from heat. Stir in the cilantro and pistachios; add extra salt if necessary. Serve warm.

Serves 2-4

Recipe source: adapted from 101 Cookbooks