Grandma's German Chocolate Cake

On the 12th day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, German Chocolate Cake!

Note: This post is NOT a recipe for German Chocolate Cake, but actually a recipe on how to keep Christ in Christmas. 
My Grandma started this around 25 years ago (maybe more...I don't know) and the tradition has carried on through her grand-children and now her great-grandchildren.  Basically she makes a German Chocolate Cake with the coconut frosting to make it look like straw.   When we all gather for Christmas, she takes all the little kids and they help her tell the story of Jesus' birth using nativity scene pieces for the characters in the story and the cake as the stable.  After the cake is fully decorated, we light a BIG candle (because Jesus is the Light of the world) and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Caramelized Almonds

On the 11th day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Caramelized Almonds!

I was always under the impression that caramelizing nuts was always done in five star restaurants.  I now stand corrected.  I made these several days before Christmas, stored them in a jar and served them over a salad.  Everyone thought they were at a five star restaurant!
1/8 cup-butter
1 cup-sliced almonds
1/2 cup sugar (I went crazy and did 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup maple syrup; note: the maple syrup makes it take longer to cook)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add sliced almonds, then add sugar and salt.  Stir over low heat until they have "dried out," being careful to not let the sugar burn.  Usually take 10min or approx. 20 if using maple syrup.  To check if they are done, take a piece out of pan, allow to cool and eat.  If it is still chewy then it is not done.  If they crunch, then it is done.  Allow to cool and enjoy!

Chrstmas Cinnamon Rolls

On the 10th day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Cinnamon Rolls!
I'm never a person to follow recipes completely.  I'm either trying to find ways to make something more healthy without sacrificing the taste, using what I have to make the recipe work, or just experimenting for the fun of it.  For now this is my cinnamon roll recipe (adapted from Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Roll recipe).
Liz's Cinnamon Rolls:
 -2 cups- milk (any kind is fine)
-1/4 cup-canola oil
-1/2 cup-sugar (if making these into dinner rolls then reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup)
Heat together the milk, oil, and sugar until sugar is dissolved and oil is mixed in.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

After an hour, the dough will look like this

Once cooled, add:
-1 package of yeast (approx. 2 1/4 tsp.)
Allow the yeast to sit for a few minutes.
Now add:
-4 cups-flour
Stir and let rest for at least an hour.
Once the hour (or so) is over, add:
-1/2 cup-flour
-heaping 1/2 tsp-baking powder
-scant 1/2 tsp-baking soda (if you do a full 1/2 tsp it will have a baking soda flavor)
-1/2 TBSP-kosher salt
Knead dough until it is all mix.  You may need to add more flour if it is too sticky.  Now you can either cover and put in the fridge until ready to use, wrap up and store in the freezer, or use it right away.  I would recommend chilling the dough first and then using it.  However, if you are pressed for time then you can use it right away.
Now you have dough! Do what you will with it.  I made my dough into cinnamon rolls.
Roll out half the dough ball into a rectangle about 12"x16".  Spread softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon all over rectangle, and roll up.  Once rolled, cut log into spirals and place in greased pan (one recipe makes approx 21 cinnamon rolls (9 cinnamon rolls in an 8"x8" and 12 in a 9"x13"pan).
Let them rise for a few minutes (maybe 20) and bake at 375F for15-20min.

 

Note: You can freeze your cinnamon rolls at this time, just wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Or you can let the cinnamon rolls rise in the fridge over night and bake them in the morning.

 Now its time to make frosting.  Cream cheese frosting is a weakness of mine!

1-8oz package-cream cheese-softened

1/4 cup of butter-softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup-powdered sugar (I don't like it too sweet)

Mix all together and spread over baked cinnamon rolls.

Note: You can also make this ahead of time, place in ziplock bag, and refrigerate or freeze.  When ready, snip corner of ziplock and squeeze frosting all over cinnamon rolls.

Pumpkin Waffles with Apple Cider Syrup

On the 9th day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Pumpkin waffles with apple cider syrup!

When I was little, it was tradition that on Christmas morning my dad would make pumpkin waffles and apple cider syrup.  Over the last couple of years, the tradition has died off so I decided to bring it back and who knows where the recipe of old is.  However, with my good friend google and some imagination, I made something that tasted outstanding for Christmas.  The recipes are as follows.

Punkin Waffles:
1 cup flour
1 cup oat flour (I just blend oats in my blender)
4 tsp. baking powder
1 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (if I have buttermilk I'll use it to replace some of the milk)
2 T. oil (I've forgotten the oil before and they have still turned out great)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pureed pumpkin (optional)
Mix everything all together and add more milk if needed.  Make into waffles and serve with Apple Cider Syrup.

Apple Cider Syrup

Apple Cider Syrup:
2 cups-apple cider (or apple juice)-divided
1 1/4 cups-sugar (you can use either brown or white; I used white)
1 tsp.-cinnamon
1/4 tsp.-nutmeg
2 tsp. lemon juice
4 T.-white flour or 2 T. corn starch
Heat 1 1/2 cups of the apple cider, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice until boiling. Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of apple cider and white flour. Slowly pour flour mixture into boiling cider mixture stirring constantly to make sure there are no lumps.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Turn off heat.  Taste syrup to see if it is to your liking and fix accordingly.  Serve immediately or pour into clean jars and store in fridge for a week.

Mashed Potatoes

On the 8th day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Mashed Potatoes!

I know, I know, you looked at this blog post and thought to yourself that I'm crazy for posting about mashed potatoes.  But these are not your normal mashed potatoes.  These are the make-ahead-and-freeze, heart-attack-waiting-to-happen, gain-ten-pounds kind of mashed potatoes.  These are only allowed to me made at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. 

Mashed Potatoes (allow at least 1/3 lb of potato per person. 5 lb bag= approx. 12-15 people):
Peel, chop, and boil 5 lbs of potatoes (remember we are talking holidays here with many people).  Once the potatoes are soft (but not baby food status), drain water and add the following:
2 cubes (1 cup)-butter
1 cup sour cream (I usually do half sour cream and half greek yogurt if I want to be a little healthier)
1 package-cream cheese
a little milk
salt and pepper to taste
Mash all together and scoop into a freezer safe casserole dish.  Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until the day before the big event.  Thaw in fridge for at least 24 hours.  Optional: Just prior to baking, pour melted butter over the top (butter will make a slightly crunchy and delicious topping).  Bake uncovered at 350F for 30-45 min (or until hot). Enjoy!

Corn Bread Pudding

On the 7th day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Corn Bread Pudding.

This is a recipe from my sister's mother-in-law and has become a favorite of mine.  It is so simple to make for large crowds and it is so delicious why not make it for Christmas.
Corn Bread Pudding:
1 can of cream corn
1 can of corn (drained)
1 box of corn bread mix
1 cube (1/2 cup) butter-melted
8 oz of sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9x13" pan (you can use a smaller pan but it will be thicker and take longer to cook).  Mix all ingredients together.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20-25min. or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Enjoy!

Jello Salad

On the sixth day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, my Grandma's Jello Salad!

There is a long standing tradition to have my Grandma's Jello Salad for any big event we have at her house.  I always thought it was this semi-gourmet thing that took her hours to make.  Little did I know how effortless it was to make.  I now know her secret!  Fortunately for you, she never swore me to secrecy.
Grandma's Jello Salad (makes a 9x13 pan size):
2 small boxes of strawberry jello (or one big box)
1 can of crushed pineapple (don't drain the juice)
10 frozen strawberries (cut up)
3 bananas (sliced)
Basically follow the instructions on the jello box but reduce the water to about how much juice you think is in the pineapple.  Put 9x13 casserole dish or bowl in the fridge until set.  Note: I've noticed that it takes longer to set than normal jello so plan ahead.

Peppermint bark

On the fifth day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, peppermint bark!
I have a confession to make: I've never made peppermint bark...until last week.  Maybe it was because I end up eating too much of it at other people's house, maybe its because I'm scared of melting white chocolate, or maybe its because I usually don't have time for experimenting around Christmas time.
Well this year peppermint bark and I never met each other at other people's house. White chocolate turned out to be a disaster until I researched how to properly melt it, and well, I felt like experimenting.
Warning: If you have already made peppermint bark, you can stop reading.

1) Melt one bag of dark chocolate chips in a double boiler.  Note: you can also add peppermint extract at this time for a stronger flavor.

2) Spread out onto wax paper.

Note: When melting white chocolate, be careful to not heat the water in the double boiler too much or else

 

 

3) Carefully melt one bag of white chocolate chips in a double boiler.

4) Spread out the melted white chocolate over the dark chocolate.

5) Crush up a couple of candy canes and spread over white chocolate.

  Allow to cool completely, break apart, and enjoy!

Cranberry Sauce

On the fourth day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Homemade Cranberry Sauce!

A while back I went to Costco and I saw a 3lb bag of cranberries for pennies.  Since I'm addicted to canning I bought two bags and came home ready to conquer the world (well, the cranberries that is).  I had never made cranberry sauce but it seemed simple enough, and in the end I concluded that it was way easier than the Hot Pepper Jelly and requires no pectin!
Cranberry Sauce

1) Wash cranberries.  Discard the unripe cranberries (they will be almost completely white in color).

2) Put the 48oz of washed cranberries in a pot and add: 4 cups of sugar, 4 cups of orange juice (you could use water too), a splash of rum.

It should look something like this when the sauce is done.

3) Cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 min)! Note: you can cook longer and blend up the cranberries to remove chunks if that is what you prefer.

4) Pour cranberry sauce into jars, clean the rim of the jar to insure proper sealing, add lid and ring, and process in a boiling water bath.  If using pint size jars, precess for 15min.  If using quart size jars, process for 20min.  If you're above 1,000 ft, add 5 min.
5) Remove from boiling water and allow to cool.

Note: 4 cups of sugar made the cranberry sauce sweet enough to add to a muffin recipe, scone recipe, or to a turkey sandwich after thanksgiving.  However, it still had a very tart flavor to it so if you're the type to eat it by itself in large quantities, I would advise you to add a little more sugar.

Jalapeno Jelly

On the 3rd day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Jalapeno Jelly!
Since I'm on a canning kick, I'd thought I'd share about a great appetizer made from all the different kinds of peppers that I had in my garden.  For those of you who don't know, I have a secret garden that explodes with all sorts of goodies throughout the summer.  However, my peppers this year decided to continue growing well into November.  As my sister and I were trying to decide what to do with all these peppers at various stages of hotness/ripeness, we decided to make Jalapeno Jelly (well, Hot Pepper Jelly since we didn't actually have any Jalapenos).  We didn't really follow any recipe, but more like mixed a couple of recipes together and used past canning experience to make something that turned out delicious!
Warning: This was actually very easy (at least compared to the Orange Marmalade)
Hot Pepper Jelly
1) Gather all the peppers (jalapenos, Anaheim chilies, bell peppers, etc).  Wash, cut open to remove all the seeds and what not, and place in a blender.  The goal is to get about 4 cups of pepper (blended) and 1 cup of either apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (I used a half cup of each).
Note: Since its hard to tell how many whole peppers will blend down to 4 cups, I started out with a blender full of peppers and 1/2 cup of liquid.  There is probably a more scientific way to do it but I'm not a scientist. 
2) Mix together 1 box of pectin (plus a little more since my jams/jellies have a mind of their own) and 1/2 cup of sugar.
3) Cook together: 4 cups pepper mush (which should be 5 cups since there should be 1 cup of either lemon juice or apple cider vinegar already in it), 4 cups of sugar, and a pinch of salt.
4) Simmer for 10min.
5) Add sugar/pectin mixture and bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute.
6) Pour into sanitized jars, screw on lids and place in a boiling water bath, and boil for 10 minutes.
7) Remove from water and let allow to cool.
Serve pepper jelly over a block of cream cheese with a side of crackers, spread onto a sandwich, or give away as Christmas presents, birthday presents, or as a hostess gift.

Orange Marmalade

On the second day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Orange Marmalade!
I love canning! I love collecting empty jars and having them fill up my husband's garage.  I love finding people who have too much fruit on their trees and would love to get rid of some.  I love tasting the delicious liquid before it has been canned.  I love the "POP" sound that the jars get when they seal.  And I love the look on people's faces when I give them a jar of gold when they were least expecting it.

Recently, I was graciously given several bags of oranges (just in time for Christmas).  Since I love canning, my first (and only) thought was to make orange marmalade.  I was told it was easy.  I was told that its like canning any other thing. And I was lied to.  It is not easy when you need to make 8 batches of marmalade (totally 50 jars-some 8oz, some 16oz) to use all the oranges.  It is not easy when you have a tiny little cut on your finger which stings all day long from the oranges and lemons.  Its not easy when the sticky orange mess gets cooked on your stove and it takes 3 hours to get it off.  Its not easy when you follow the recipe and it doesn't gel, thus requiring you to open all the jars to add more pectin and then sealing them all over again.  However, after tasting the homemade orange marmalade it was all worth it.

Orange Marmalade (yield 7-8 16oz jars):
-4 C. chopped oranges
-1 1/2 C. chopped lemons
-4 C. water or orange juice-divided (I did 2 C. of each)
-1/8 tsp. baking soda
-4 C. sugar
-1 box low-sugar pectin (plus a little more if you want to save yourself the trouble of another day to re-can everything)
-jar grabber
-mid-sized pot for cooking the orange marmalade
-BIG pot for canning your jars (I don't have a special caner or anything, a big pot works just fine)

-Before preparing fruit, put clean jars in the dishwasher on a sanitize cycle (or you can boil your jars if you don't have a dishwasher).  Start boiling water in a big pot so it is ready when you're ready.
-Using a peeler, peel just the orange part off the orange (white equals bitter), chop and place in pot with 2 cups of water (or orange juice) and baking soda.  Bring to a boil, cover it, and let simmer for 20min.
-In the meantime, discard the outer white part and the middle white part of the oranges and chop them up until you have 4 cups.  Peel and chop lemons as well (discarding as much of the white part as possible) until you have 1 1/2 cups.  Note: Be careful to save all the precious juice as you are chopping everything up.

-In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup of sugar and the pectin together. Then add the chopped oranges (with any juice that tried escaping), the chopped lemons (with any juice that tried escaping), and the remaining 2 cups of water (or orange juice).
-When the pot of peels are done simmering, add the fruit/pectin mixture to the pot and bring to a boil for 10min.
-After 10min, add the remaining 3 1/2 cups of sugar.  Bring it to a full hard boil, and boil for 1min.
-Take the hot, sterilized jars out of the dishwasher or boiling water and fill with orange marmalade until it is 1/4 inch from the top.  Using a clean damp towel or paper towel, clean off the top of the jars.  Apply flat lid and ring (tighten lightly), and place in pot of boiling water.  Make sure that there is 2 inches of water covering the tops of the jars.  Boil for 15 minutes.

-Now comes the fun part:  Remove from boiling water and set on a towel to cool.  Let a smile creep onto your face every time you hear a "POP" (although, don't sit around and wait for it because sometimes it can take several hours).

Variations I did:
-added some cinnamon (before boiling it for 10min)
-added some vanilla bean (before boiling it for 10min)
-left out the peel to make it less bitter (skipped the peel part but still made sure to add a total of 4 cups of water (or orange juice)


Fixing your Orange Marmalade if it is too runny:
Note: don't fix more than 4 quarts (or 8 pints) at a time
Things you'll need (for 4 quarts):
1 cup sugar
6 Tbsp.  powdered, low sugar pectin
1 cup white grape juice
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice and bring to a boil.
new flat lids (the jars and rings can be washed and reused)
-Mix the sugar, pectin, white grape juice and lemon juice in a pot and bring to a boil (be careful not to let it burn)
-Add the runny marmalade and bring to a full hard boil for 1min.
-Fill clean, sterilized jars, wipe off jar with clean towel, place new flat lid, screw on ring, and boil in a pot of water for 15min.
-Remove from water and listen for the "POP"

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

On the first day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Raspberry Thumbprint cookies!

One of my favorite Christmas cookies are these Raspberry Thumbprint cookies.  They are easy to make, look pretty, and can be very addicting.

Whip or Blend:
3/4 C. unsalted butter (softened)
2/3 C. white sugar (plus more for rolling)
Add:
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
Then add:
1 3/4 C. white flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with either silicone mats or parchment paper.
Make 1 inch balls from dough and roll in sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.  Press a thumbprint into the center of each ball and fill with a little raspberry jam (or whatever kind of jam that suits your fancy).
Bake cookies until the edges are slightly golden (about 15min.)  Remove from oven but allow to cool on cookie sheets to avoid breakage.
Enjoy!