Nutty Granola

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup cashews (feel free to substitute nuts and seeds as desired)
• 1 c shredded coconut
• 1/3 c dark brown sugar or sucanat
• 1/3 c real maple syrup
• 1/4 c olive oil or coconut oil (if you use coconut oil, heat until it's in liquid form)
• 3/4 t salt
• 1 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit you prefer)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar (or sucanat).
3. In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt.  
4. Pour the liquid mixture into the oats mixture and combine well.  
5. Lay out granola onto 2 sheet pans and place in the oven.
6. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring every half an hour.
7. Remove from oven and transfer to large bowl.  Add in the raisins and mix well.

This gluten-free recipe is great because you can obviously add any kind of nut, seed, or dry fruit that you'd like or have in your pantry. It's very simple in terms of hands-on time, but you definitely have to plan for the bake time.  Granola also makes a great gift! For Christmas this year, we made some and put it in jars tied with a ribbon. Simple, thoughtful, and tasty too!  It would also be a great gift to accompany a get well meal or a meal being delivered for new parents. My whole family helped in the process, although I'm not sure Owen's participation always counts as "help" ;). Yes, those cashews tripled the value of his airplane!

Mama Marsh's Sweet n' Sour Green Beans

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh green beans
• 4 strips bacon (I used turkey bacon)
• 1/2 c chopped onions
• 2 T brown sugar
• 2 T white vinegar

Directions:

1. Boil water in large stock pot.
2. Cook green beans in boiling water 8-10 minutes.  Drain.
3. While cooking beans, in saucepan, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp and onions are tender.
4. Mix together cooked beans, bacon/onion mix, vinegar, and brown sugar.
5. Serve.

I am seriously addicted to this green bean recipe.  Mama Marsh first made this for me while we were in Hawaii and I fell in love.  MOVE OVER GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE!  I made these for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a handful of other times just for our family.  They satisfy a million different flavor and texture cravings.  Seriously delicious and major thanks to Lynda Marsh for sharing the recipe with me!

Cranberry Blissful Bars

A white- chocolate cranberry blondies recipe that is very reminiscent of Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bars.  

Ingredients:
BLONDIE LAYER:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, cubed
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

FROSTING:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Directions:
 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
 2. Prepare the blondie layer: In a medium bowl, melt butter for one minute in the microwave; stir in brown sugar. Scrape the butter & sugar into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Use an electric mixer to beat in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; gradually add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Stir in the cranberries and chopped chocolate (the batter will be thick).
3. Spread the blondie batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool completely on a wire rack.
 4. Prepare the frosting: In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until well-blended. Gradually add half of the melted white chocolate; beat until blended. Frost brownies. Sprinkle with cranberries. Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate. Cut into bars- square or triangle-shaped. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Tips: *If you'd like to add an orange flavor to these bars, add 1 tablespoon grated orange zest to the frosting.

Source: RecipeGirl.com (Adapted slightly from Taste of Home)

No Bake Pumpkin CheeseCAKE

 

Ingredients: 

3 8 ounce packages lowfat cream cheese
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
13.5 full-sized graham crackers

Directions:

Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a large bowl until completely combined and cream cheese has softened up.  Add pumpkin puree, whipping cream and vanilla, beating until the mixture is completely combined and fluffy.

Line a 9"x9" ungreased baking pan with 4.5 graham crackers, followed by 4-5 big scoops of the filling. Repeat the layers two more times, ending with the filling as the top layer:

  
  
  

Cover cake with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.  Do not cheat, do not eat early!  Because I promise you, if you let it set up overnight, the filling will become thick and rich and the layers will be like thin thin cake.  And you will see, it. is. heavenly.



You may be tempted to add spices, but I highly recommend leaving it simple.  Unbaked pumpkin has a very subtle flavor and will be overpowered by any spices.  If you allow the pumpkin to shine, you'll be so happy you did.

Recipe and pictures from Farm Chicks Blog

Chocolate Bon Bons

This yummy treat is my nephew's favorite Christmas goody, so I make it every year.  I got this recipe from my colleague, Karen, many years ago.  Happy Holidays!

Ingredients:

Balls=
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla

Coating=
1/2 package chocolate bark for baking
1/2 package butterscotch chips

Directions:

Mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Stir in shredded coconut, powdered sugar, peanut butter and vanilla until thoroughly mixed together.  Roll batter into 1 inch balls and place on parchment paper, on a baking sheet and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Melt chocolate bark and butterscotch chips together in the microwave, starting at 1 minute on high, and add 15 seconds as needed.  Bark and chips should be completely melted, but not scorched or lumpy.

When balls are chilled enough, roll balls in melted chocolate/butterscotch mixture, covering completely and place on parchment paper to set.  Usually sets within 15-30 minutes.

Want to add extra pizazz to these treats?  Sprinkle chocolate bon bons with chopped nuts or coconut before they set.

Makes about 5 dozen bon bons.

Pulla Bread

This sweet cardamom coffee bread, traditionally comes from Finland, and was often served in my home at Christmas time (my dad's dad was Finnish, my maiden name is Seppä).  I have memories of braiding pulla (pronounced poo-lah) with my Grandma Seppä, my dad and my step-mom as a kiddo.  I also remember my family making lots of pulla and delivering it to friends and family over the holidays.  This was the first year that I've been able to share the tradition of making pulla with my daughter, Emma.  She takes great delight in braiding the bread!

Although Grandma Seppä never ever used a bread machine to make hers, I will humbly admit that this recipe and "project" turns into something very do-able with the aid of the dough cycle.  Although the process itself from start to finish is quite time consuming (about 3 hours), there is very little hands-on time.

Ingredients

• 1 egg and 1 yolk (save white for glaze)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 T butter
• 4 1/2 T sugar
• 3/4 t salt
• 1 1/2 t cardamom
• 3 c flour
• 1 T yeast
• 1-2 T sugar for glaze
• 1-2 T slivered almonds for glaze

Directions

• Put all the ingredients in the bread machine pan and set the cycle for white bread DOUGH.
• After cycle is finished, punch down, cut dough in thirds, and let rest for 5 minutes
• Roll each third of dough into a 20 inch rope and braid ropes togther, tucking ends under
• Place braid on buttered cookie sheet
• Cover bread and let rise in a warm place until about 50% larger in size
• Brush with egg white, then sprinkle with almonds and sugar
• Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
• When making these for gifts, I often divide the dough into 9 pieces to make 3 smaller loaves from one batch of dough.

*This is delicious served warm or toasted with butter and a cup of coffee.  Enjoy and Hyvää Joulua!

New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients

• 2 8-ounce bottles clam juice
• 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 3 slices bacon, finely chopped
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 1/4 cups chopped celery with leaves (about 2 large stalks)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 large Costco can (51oz.) chopped sea clams, drained, juices reserved
• 1 1/4 cups half and half
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco

Preparation

Bring bottled clam juice and potatoes to boil in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until bacon begins to brown, about 8 minutes. Add onions, celery, garlic and bay leaf and sauté until vegetables soften, about 6 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes (do not allow flour to brown). Gradually whisk in reserved juices from clams. Add potato mixture, clams, half and half and hot pepper sauce. Simmer chowder 5 minutes to blend flavors, stirring frequently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before serving.)

This makes either 8 cups of soup, or 4 bowls.  I tripled this recipe for dinner club + extra.  Would be especially well presented in sourdough bread bowls (you have to order these from a bakery with a little advance notice). Incredibly easy and very well received!  It would be a great special occasion meal.  I know someone that uses this recipe for their Christmas Eve dinner every year.

*This recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit

Cranberry Orange Almond Biscotti

Tiffany and I (Jessi) had no idea what we were doing embarking on our first biscotti making adventure, but we knew we wanted to make something special for parent volunteers and our building staff to let them know how much we appreciate them without breaking the bank.  For our gifts, we decided to go with a coffee theme and went with a Starbucks VIA 3-pack along with some homemade biscotti.  Now to make the biscotti...

Cranberry Orange Almond Biscotti

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup light olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup dried cranberries (if you can find the orange craisins, those would be even better!)
• 3 cups sliced almonds
• 2 heaping tablespoons orange zest
• Optional: white chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 
   
2. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in cranberries, nuts, and orange zest by hand.  
3. Divide dough in thirds. Form three logs on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or greased with olive oil. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.  
4. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. (Cover with towels to help keep from cracking).
5. Cut logs into 3/4 inch thick slices (we used a bread knife to gently saw slices). Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet (or sprayed with olive oil). Bake approximately 10-15 minutes, or until dry; cool. Optional, dip ends in white chocolate and cool in refrigerator to harden. Makes about 30 large biscotti.  Freezes well!

 

 Have kids that like to help in the kitchen?  Zesting the oranges was a great job for miss Emma.

 

Here are our "logs" - we fit all three on one cookie sheet.

 Since we were mass producing, we needed to use some of these baking pans to cook the cut biscotti in.  We sprayed with olive oil as we didn't have any parchment paper and it worked great!

We tried dipping our first batch in white chocolate.  Loved it.  We had a hard time getting the chocolate to harden until we put it in the refrigerator.  Worked like a charm!

  

We found and adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com and were very happy with the taste as well as how easy it was to make.  We give it two thumbs up!