Prayers to Those in Newtown, CT

Though this is a food blog I am completely beside myself right now.  As I'm sure many of you are aware, a tragedy occurred in Newtown, CT today.  27 innocent lives were stricken down by evil.  I was at work today, watching the news during lunch when I became aware of the happenings at Sandy Hook Elementary.  I'm not ashamed to say that I spent most of the afternoon completely distraught.  As the mother of two young boys (11 and 4) I couldn't help but put myself in the shoes of those parents that have now experienced the most horrific and painful loss imaginable.  Those same parents that were planning Christmas and presents and holiday festivities.  They dropped their babies off at school, just like any other day.  There is no way anyone could have imagined what would occur.

Tonight's blog is not about food. Tonight, I'm hugging my boys a little tighter.  Kissing them a little more.  Telling them how much I love them and how important they are to me.  I would suggest that you do the same. 

Many prayers to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary.  

Let The Holiday Festivities Commence

Hello friends!  Well, we attended our first holiday gathering and had a wonderful time.  My husband and I brought along a new appetizer and bar cookies for dessert.  I may have mentioned in prior blogs that I collect cook books and magazines.  I pick them up whenever I can.  Garage sales, book stores, cash registers...anywhere.  A few years back I picked up a magazine by Taste of Home -Best Holiday Recipes.  While leafing through it a few weeks ago..looking for cookie recipes, the hubby found a yummy sounding appetizer recipe called Bacon-Cheese Biscuit Bites.  They were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  A tip - they taste much better warm - so it would be best to keep them on low in the oven and refill your serving trays as needed.  Below is the recipe and photo (as always taken by my wonderfully talented husband):

Bacon-Cheese Biscuit Bites

 Ingredients:

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1/3 cup crumbled bacon
¼ c shredded Swiss cheese
½ shallot, minced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 tube large refrigerated flaky biscuits

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Over medium heat, sauté the shallots in butter until translucent; set aside.

In small bowl beat the cream cheese, egg and milk until blended.  Stir in the bacon, cheese, shallot and half the bell pepper; set aside.

Cut each biscuit into four pieces; press each piece into a greased mini muffin cup pan.  Fill with cream cheese mixture; top w/remaining bell pepper. 

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.  

 

Now..onto our dessert.  For some reason when I start thinking about cookies to bake I seem to complete forget about bar cookies.  I'm not quite sure why because I absolutely LOVE them.  While perusing through old magazines I came cross the recipe for caramel pecan bars in a 2010 Southern Living.  This gathering seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out this recipe.  The hostess happens to LOVE pecans..nuts in general.  She also loves the whole "salty/sweet" combination, so I added some sea salt lightly sprinkled over the pan right after it came out of the oven.  These were scrumptious.  So yummy..that I brought about 6 back home with me and ate them all within 24 hours.  My waistline is not too happy with me right now...but it is the holiday season afterall. 

Caramel Pecan Bars

Ingredients:

3 ½ c coarsely chopped pecans

2 c all purpose flour
2/3 c powdered sugar
¾ c butter, cubed
½ c firmly packed brown sugar
½ c honey
2/3 c butter
3 Tbsp whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line bottom and sides of a 13 x 9 inch pan with heavy duty aluminum foil, allowing 2-3 inches to extend over sides.  Lightly grease foil.

Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8-10 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant; stirring halfway through.

Pulse flour, powdered sugar and ¾ cup butter in a food processor 5 to 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal.   Press mixture on bottom and ¾ inch up sides of prepared pan.

Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Cool completely on a wire rack (about 15 minutes).

Bring brown sugar, honey, butter and whipping cream to a boil in a 3 quart saucepan over medium high heat.  Stir in toasted nut and spoon hot filling into prepared crust, spread to all corners.

Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  Cool completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes).  Lift bake bars from pan, using foil sides as handles.  Transfer to a cutting board; cut into bars.

Yields 2 dozen bars.

I hope that you consider trying one if not both of these recipes.  Both have been stored away for use again in the near future for me.  Both would be a welcome addition to any party buffet..of this I promise. 

Keep an eye on the blog.  I will be "adventuring" even more than usual  over the next couple weeks as my house has become "Cookie Central".  Happy Baking!!

 

 

Merry Christmas Chai

Happy Holidays!  Well, as promised, I've been doing a little baking over the past few weeks.  Taking a break from cookies (though pics and recipes will be posted in future posts) I came across a recipe for chai cupcakes topped with a chai spiced buttercream.  Now..I LOVE a good chai tea.  So does my husband.  Silly me...I thought EVERYONE loved chai.  However, I recently made these yummy little cupcakes and realized...NOT everyone loves chai.  Hmmmm....go figure.

Chai is actually a spice mix of ground ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.  The mix is incredibly aromatic and completely charges the palate. To me...it also screams the holiday season.  Think a light spice cake.  In this recipe half of the spice mix goes into the cake batter and half goes into the buttercream.  Here is a pic of the end result:

 

 

 

 

Here are the recipes for the both the cupcakes and the buttercream: 

 

Chai Cupcakes w/Chai Buttercream Frosting 

Ingredients:

2 ½ c cake flour, sifted

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 c whole milk, at room temp

2 large egg whites, at room temp

1 whole egg, at room temp

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 ½ c granulated sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground cloves

12 Tbsp butter, softened

6 c confectioner’s sugar

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

8 Tbsp 2% milk

Ground cinnamon

For the cupcakes:

Place the ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves into a bowl; mix and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and center the oven rack. Line 2 muffin/cupcake pans with standard-size cupcake liners, and put the first cupcake pan on a baking sheet. (You will place the second cupcake pan on the same sheet in the oven once the first tray is baked.)

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and half of the spice mixture into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla extract 1/2 in a medium bowl or large glass measuring cup.

In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk or paddle attachment (I used the whisk), cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until very pale and creamy, about 5 minutes.

With the mixer still on medium speed, alternate additions of the flour mixture and milk-egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 dry additions, 2 wet), beating after each addition until incorporated. Continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Divide batter evenly among your cupcake liners–about 2/3 full–and bake until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs only, about 16 minutes.

Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan and let cool on wire racks. Repeat with second tray.

Buttercream:

Beat butter until fluffy; beat in confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and remaining spice mixture until smooth.   Add milk to reach desired consistency.  Pipe frosting over cupcakes and sprinkle with cinnamon.

 Hope you all enjoy this very unique and seasonal cupcake.   Please keep an eye out for upcoming posts that will feature a variety of my favorite Christmas cookies.  As always, please feel free to post comments as well as any baking questions that you may have.  Happy Baking!!