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!

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.

Lamingtons

We're starting a new Christmas tradition! Lamingtons! These babies are delish and fun to make. My friend Jean and I cranked them out in no time. After one taste, we knew they were keepers. The texture of the cake is beautiful.

250g butter, softened
2C caster sugar
6 eggs
3/4C sour cream
2 1/4C flour
1tsp baking powder
2 1/2C desiccated coconut

chocolate icing
4C icing sugar
1/2C cocoa powder
20g butter melted (1/8C)
2/3C milk

1. Preheat oven to 160C or 350F. Line rectangle baking pan with baking paper, spray the sides with cooking spray.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in sour cream and sifted flours alternating.
3 Spread mixture into pan; bake about 55minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack. (I cooled it in the freezer for about 15 minutes)
4. Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a heatproof bowl; stir in butter and milk. Stir it over a large saucepan of simmering water until it is of dipping consistency. (If it begins to dry on the surface while still dipping cakes, stir in a TBS or so of water and it will thin again. Lower the heat as well or turn it off.)
5. Trim cold cake so the top is level; cut in to square pieces. Use a fondue utensil or pronged fork to dip the squares into the chocolate sauce, letting excess drip off, then drop into a bowl of coconut and roll them. They will set at room temp. but if you live in a hot place, place them in the fridge until hardened.

Candied Strawberry, Orange White Chocolate Shards

I saw this recipe in a magazine this year and tweeked it a bit. I'm not crazy about orange anything, but liked the way it turned out. It provides just enough bitterness to the sweetness of the chocolate. The original did not have nuts and the orange slivers were not dried or sugared like the strawberries. I sugared the slivers and dried them for half the time of the strawberries.

12 strawberries
1 orange
castor sugar or icing sugar (I prefer castor)
2 100g slabs of quality white chocolate
(Macadamia nuts or nut of choice)
bake at 100C(a very low heat)

Slice strawberries thinly and arrange on a greaseproof paper-lined baking tray. Peel and orange, remove any excess pitch from the peel, cut into very thin slivers, and dust the strawberries and orange with sugar. Place the baking sheet into the oven. Leave the strawberries for 6-8 hours. The orange slivers will only about 3 hours. (You want them to still have color and not be brittle)Once they are dry, melt the slabs of chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. If using the microwave, only heat it in 15second segments, then stir, being careful not to burn it. When it is melted, pour it out onto to baking paper, spreading it quickly to a thickness of about 1cm, or desired thickness. Quickly spread dried strawberries, orange slivers and nuts across the chocolate. Gently give the fruit and nuts a press. Let cool in the fridge until hardened and break into shards.