Recently I noticed I had a can of cranberry sauce left in the cupboard from the holidays that needed to be used. So, I thought I would try and make it into some nice bread for breakfast. It was easy, delicious and a nice change from the traditonal banana bread.
5 cups flour
1 cup sugar
6 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups milk
2/3 cup butter
3 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup diced apples
Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Fold in the entire can of cranberry sauce. Mix the remaining dry ingredients and add them to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Fold in the pecan pieces and diced apples coated with a splash of lemon juice. Spoon into greased loaf pans. Bake at 350, until brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes three loaves.
Chocolate Peanutbutter Muffins
2 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 TBS baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 c peanutbutter
1/2 c butter softened
2 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c buttermilk
1 c chocolate chips
Topping:
2 TBS butter softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup +/- flour
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl use a hand mixer to blend the peanutbutter, butter, eggs and sugar. When light and fluffy add the buttermilk a bit at a time alternating with the flour mixture. The batter will be thick. Fold in gently the chocolate chips. Spoon into greased muffin tins.
Use a fork and cut in the sugar and flour to the butter for the topping. It should be a crumbly mixture. If it is too wet add a bit more powdered sugar. Adding a mixture of diced peanuts is nice too. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over each muffin and bake at 350F until they are golden brown.
Cream Cheese Peppadews
This is a fun party food I made for New Years Eve. I already had the ingredients on hand and thought it would make a sweet and savory start to the evening. They were a "bomb," you know how kids say it these days! That means they were great and got a lot of talk.
1 jar of hot sweet peppadew peppers (drained)
1 tub of cream cheese
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup minced onion
whole macadamia nuts
After the peppers are drained, put them on a paper towel to remove any excess liquid. Add garlic and onions to the cream cheese and mix it together well. Spoon the cream cheese into a pastry bag with a large open tip that will fit into the opening of the peppers. Squeeze the cream cheese into the peppers 3/4 of the way full. Find a nut just the right size and use it to seal off the pepper. Quick and different!
Blueberries are in season!
I am enjoying taking fruits and vegtables that are in season and creating new things with them. Blueberries are my key ingredient these days since they are readily available. Try this fabulous breakfast treat!
Blueberry Swirls
your favorite cinnamon roll dough (or prebought dough)
1 brick or tub of cream cheese
1C +/- fresh blueberries
1/2C sugar
4 TBS of milk
lemon zest (optional)
1C icing sugar
water, milk or lemon juice for icing sugar mixture
Prepare cinnamon roll dough to the directions and roll it into a rectangle about 1/2inch in thickness. Using a mixer beat cream cheese, milk and sugar until smooth and spreadable. (optional) add lemon zest to the mixture and spread it over the cinnamon roll dough. Drop the blueberries randomly across the cream cheese and roll the dough up cinnmon roll style. Slice the roll into desired thickness and place on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise for 1/2hr(in warm conditions, cooler temps may require 1hr or more.) Bake until golden brown at about 425F. Let them cool on a baking rack as icing is prepared.
Add a few drops at a time, of just enough water, milk or lemon juice (depending on your taste)to form a liquid icing. Some people like it thick and slather icing on and others such as I, like to just drizzle it on. If you let the icing sit for a few minutes and you see it hardens just on the outer edges, then it's ready to pour.
Enjoy this treat!
Blueberry Swirls
your favorite cinnamon roll dough (or prebought dough)
1 brick or tub of cream cheese
1C +/- fresh blueberries
1/2C sugar
4 TBS of milk
lemon zest (optional)
1C icing sugar
water, milk or lemon juice for icing sugar mixture
Prepare cinnamon roll dough to the directions and roll it into a rectangle about 1/2inch in thickness. Using a mixer beat cream cheese, milk and sugar until smooth and spreadable. (optional) add lemon zest to the mixture and spread it over the cinnamon roll dough. Drop the blueberries randomly across the cream cheese and roll the dough up cinnmon roll style. Slice the roll into desired thickness and place on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise for 1/2hr(in warm conditions, cooler temps may require 1hr or more.) Bake until golden brown at about 425F. Let them cool on a baking rack as icing is prepared.
Add a few drops at a time, of just enough water, milk or lemon juice (depending on your taste)to form a liquid icing. Some people like it thick and slather icing on and others such as I, like to just drizzle it on. If you let the icing sit for a few minutes and you see it hardens just on the outer edges, then it's ready to pour.
Enjoy this treat!
Just Peachy Salsa & Mango/Orange Marmalade
Just Peachy Salsa
fresh cilantro diced
3-4 tomatoes
1 peach or nectarine minced
1 lg. chili pepper/or red pepper flakes
1 TBS taco seasoning
1 TBS lemon juice or vinegar
1 TBS sugar
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. whole grain mustard
salt to taste
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 med. onion minced
Whiz all the ingredients in a food processor or chopper. We prefer chunky salsa, so it only takes about 20-30 seconds.
Mango/Orange Marmalade
I am not an expert in the area of jams or jellies. I have played around a bit lately though, since so many fruits have been in season where I live. Yesterday I had about 6 large oranges left from another project and a ripening mango. So I thought why not try to make some marmalade for those of my friends that like oranges. I'm sure it is not the "proper" way to do so, but it worked and is delicious and I don't like orange flavored anything.
4 Lg oranges peeled and sliced into thin wedges
2 Lg oranges halved and sliced into thin slices
1 Lg Mango minced
6+- Cups of white sugar(depending on the juice content)
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp all spice
variation (add 2 tsp red pepper chili flakes) spice it up
I tossed all the ingredients into a saucepan over a med. heat. As it boiled I could see it needed more sugar to thicken it. At this point, I had only used about 4 cups of sugar. I added two more cups of sugar and removed about 1/4c of juice from the pot and quickly mixed it with 2 TBS of corn starch to avoid any lumps. (use a fork) I poured it back into the mixture and let it cook about 1hr or until it began to thicken.
Pizza Pinwheels
Need a snack or light meal fast? This is it!
1 store bought puff pastry
spaghetti sauce (I use leftover sauce from a previous meal)
grated mozzarella cheese
Roll out puff pastry, spread sauce across the pastry, sprinkle cheese over the sauce, then roll the pastry up like a cinnamon roll. Cut it into slices about 1 inch thick, then place them on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle additional cheese on top of them and bake at 425F until golden brown. Make a salad and you have a quick meal.
Variation: use pesto for the sauce and left over chopped chicken pieces
Fresh Ideas
Recently I have wanted to freshen up the traditional things we eat. When I did, I got cheers. Here are a few.
1. Instead of red sauce on a pizza, try using pesto instead. Add feta cheese instead of mozzarella. It's a nice change of pace.
2. For 22yrs pancakes have been on our table every Sunday morning. Recently we topped them with strawberries, banana, granola and honey. Yummy!
3. Soft tacos take a twist when leftover soft butternut is mixed in to the seasoned ground beef. It's a great mix of sweet and spicy.
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