French Onion Soup: Mississippi Christmas

As I mentioned in the previous post, Ben's parents moved from Nashville, TN to Columbus, MS this last year.  We were fortunate enough to spend almost a week at their new house over the holidays.  We look forward to spending more time in MS with family in the future.  Hopefully we will make it back this summer to enjoy the warm weather on the lake.

The new house

Ben built a cheese press for Heather

We played games

Driving the mule around the property

Puppies sleeping by the fire

Girls day out in Columbus

Lots of time spent in the kitchen

Ben's mom is a wonderful cook.  She has even cooked for famous people.  I could never begin to compete with her cooking.  She prepared many fantastic dishes while we were all together.  One of them was French Onion Soup from Mary's Bread Basket and Soup Kettle by Mary Gubser.

French Onion Soup

Mary's Bread Basket and Soup Kettle by Mary Gubser

French Onion Soup

Ingredients
3 Tbl butter
2 Tbl oil
8 packed cups thinly sliced purple onions
8 cups boiling beef broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
grinding of black pepper
Salt
3 Tbl cognac
Grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese
Toasted slices French Bread
Olive oil

Directions:
1.  Melt butter and il in a large soup pot
2.  Stir in the onions until well coated.
3.  Cover pot and cook at low heat 15 minutes.  Uncover and raise heat to medium.  Cook 40 minutes, stirring frequently until onions turn clear and golden.  Do not allow to brown.
4.  Add boiling broth, salt, a few grindings of pepper
5.  Add cognac and cook for 20 minutes.
6.  Pour soup into oven proof bowls.  Place bread on top of soup in the bowl.  Place cheese over the bread.
7.  If soup is boiling hot, slide under the broiler until cheese is bubbling and lightly browned.  If soup is just warm, bake 15 to 20 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven.

Rueben Casserole

We are in Mississippi this week with Ben's family.  His parents made the move from Nashville to Mississippi this last year.  I'll tell you about our Christmas at the lake house in the next post.

We had wonderful meals this week.  Tonight we tried out a Rueben Casserole from Souther Living Cookbook.  I love Ruebens so I was very excited about this choice.  The results were good, but we all have ideas on how to improve this one.  I give this recipe 3 cookies with room for improvement.

If you like Ruebens and eat sauerkraut for New Years, you may want to try this one out.  Maybe incorporate some of the suggestions following the recipe.



check out those layers

 Ingredients:
1 (32 oz) jar sauerkraut, drained
2 medium tomatoes sliced thinly
2 Tbl. Thousand Island
2 Tbl. butter
4 (2.5 oz) pkgs. corned beef
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1 (10 oz.) refrigerated buttermilk flaky biscuits
2 rye crackers, crushed
1/4 tsp. caraway seeds

Directions:
1.  Drain sauerkraut and place in bottom of a 9x13 pan
2.  slice tomatoe and layer over the sauerkraut
3.  pour dressing over the tomatoes
4.  Lay out the corned beef on top of the tomatoes and dressing
5.  place shredded cheese on top of the corn beef
6.  seperate each bisquit into 3 layers (They actually pull apart easily as uncooked bisquits) and lay on top of the cheese
7.  crush rye crackers and place on top of biscuits
8.  spread the caraway seeds on top
9.  Bake in oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes

My suggestion:
Complete steps 1-5 (increase dressing) and bake in oven for 15-20 minutes.  Then complete steps 6-9.

Other suggestions:
reduce the amount of sauerkraut by 1/2
increase the amount of cheese
put a layer of rye toast on the bottom of the pan

Chicken Ranch Dip: Ohio Christmas

We started off our Christmas celebrations with the Harris side of the family.  The night before Christmas Eve, we got together and made cookies.

Cole wore his new apron to help with the cookie making.

Sandy dog came with Reindeer Antlers.

We had a wonderful dinner that night with Landes ham, my mom's mac and cheese, cranberry salad, peas, and carrots.  It was delicious. 

We got back together on Christmas Eve.  We called Chad and Kara and their kids in Kenya.  It was great to talk with them.  But we'll all be excited when they are back in the states next year.  Dad read the Christmas story to Cole.

We had a buffet of appetizers.  Mom tried a new dip this year called Chicken Ranch Dip.  It was delicous.  The recipe is below.  The table was also filled with meatballs, sausage balls, vegies and dip, ambrosia salad, cookies, cheese and crackers.

My mom made bags to wrap all her Christmas gifts.  She has done this the last several years.  It reduces the waste of wrapping paper and simplifies the gift wrapping.  Each year she throws the gifts in bags and then saves the bags afterwards for next year.

My parents gave Ben a crossbow.  I hardly trust Ben with a knife much less a crossbow.  But he was excited to try it out.  Dad and he can practice and be ready when Chad comes home.

It was a great Christmas.  Time spent with family with plenty of laughter and good food.

Here is the recipe...

Chicken Ranch Dip

Ingredients:

1 can of chicken

1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)

1 packet hidden valley ranch

Directions:

place all ingredients in crock pot.  As the ingredients begin to heat up, mix all together.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This new post is inspired by Yates.  She made some vegan changes to the chocolate candy cane cookies in the last post by using a vegan alternative to butter.  I sometimes think about being a vegetarian, but then I get hungry for a burger.  I doubt I could ever dream about being a vegan.  But I think small changes could make a difference in our health and the environment.  So I wanted to pass along a post on Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies on the Daily Garnish.

I am also interesting in checking out the following books.  Has anyone else read these?
The Food Revolution by Jon Robbins

Six Arguments for a Greener Diet, by Michael Jacobson (This book can be downloaded for free at cspinet.org)

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Each year at Christmas time, we give each of our tenants a tin of home made cookies.  It's not the most exciting gift, but they seem to enjoy them and it gives me an excuse to bake.  I usually start baking in early november and freeze the cookies.  This year, I was running behind and made all of them in the last week and a half.  I'm always surprised by how many cookies a small tin can hold.

Once the tins are filled, I take them out and deliver them to each tenant.  I had to meet the gas company at one of the properties at 7 the morning I was delivering cookies.  I didn't think about how it is still dark around here at this time.  I felt like Santa Clause.  I snuck up on each porch and left the tin of cookies by the front door.  I tip toed hoping I didn't wake anyone up.  It was actually a lot of fun.  If that santa clause position ever opens up, I'm definitely applying.

We typically make the usual cookies such as Chocolate chip, peanut butter, snicker doodle, and magic bars.  I tried a new cookie this year.  My sister had seen Chocolate Candy Cane Cookie recipe in a bon appetit magazine from 2005.  She loves all things peppermint.  I decided to give this one a try while I was baking.  It is peppermint butter cream icing between two chocolate cookies...yum!

The finished product looks amazing.  It tasted great too.  However, the cookie part was a little too hard.  I think it would be better with a softer cookie.  The peppermint butter cream is delicious.  The cookie is so pretty with the candy cane pieces.  I give the cookie a 3 because it tasted great but I think some changes can be made to make it even better.

Cookie Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

Filling Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 Tbl. powdered sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 tsp. peppermint extract

2 drops red food coloring

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Directions for cookies:

1. Whisk flour, cocoa, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients; beat until blended. Refrigerate dough 1 hour.

2.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough by level tablespoonfuls, then roll into smooth balls. Place balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using bottom of glass or hands, flatten each ball to 2-inch round (edges will crack). Bake until cookies no longer look wet and small indentation appears when tops of cookies are lightly touched with fingers, about 11 minutes (do not overbake or cookies will become too crisp). Cool on sheet 5 minutes. Transfer chocolate cookies to racks and cool completely.

Directions for Icing:

1.  Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl until well blended. 

2.  Add peppermint extract and 2 drops food coloring. Beat until light pink and well blended, adding more food coloring by dropfuls if darker pink color is desired. 

3.  Spread 2 generous teaspoons filling evenly over flat side of 1 cookie to edges; top with another cookie, flat side down, pressing gently to adhere. Repeat with remaining cookies and peppermint filling.

4.  Place crushed candy canes on plate. Roll edges of cookie sandwiches in crushed candies (candies will adhere to filling). 

DO AHEAD Cookie sandwiches can be made ahead. Store in single layer in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Cole Slaw

Ben and I traveled out to Farmington, IL for Thanksgiving weekend.  My brother in law, Chris, and his wife, Heather, live out there.  Ben's parents made the trip up from Mississippi.  We missed have Jen and Matt around for the holiday.  But it was great to see part of the family.  We had a great weekend together.  Heather is a wonderful cook.  She made the best Turkey I've ever had.  We ate Thanksgiving goodies for 3 days straight.  I could have eaten them for weeks.

We did take one break to try out a local bbq restaurant called Hick'ry Stick.  This place was delicious.  It was also in a neat old building with brick walls and tin ceilings.  While you sat in the dining room, you could see into the bakery.  They also had an amazing banquet area upstairs that would be perfect for a wedding.  anyway, back to the meal, I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on top.  It was amazing.  This sandwich has now formed a tie with best sandwich ever.  I'll have to tell you about the other one another time.

I tried to recreate this sandwich this week.  I picked a recipe for pulled pork and a recipe for coleslaw to try.  The pulled pork is a slow cooker recipe and incredibly easy.  I love the true slow cooker recipes that don't call for any side cooking in other pans.  The coleslaw at the restaurant had a creamy poppy seed dressing with apples.  I found a recipe on Simply Scratch for

The end result was good, but not quite as good as Hick'ry Stick.  It would be hard to match the sandwich at Hick'ry Stick.  I am a huge fan of the coleslaw recipe.  I highly recommend checking it out.

Coleslaw recipe:  Apple and Cabbage Slaw with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
Pulled pork recipe:  Pulled Pork Slow Cooker

Sandwich Recipe
1 Hawaiian roll
1 scoop pulled pork
1 scoop coleslaw

Cover the Hawaiian roll with the pulled pork.  Cover the pulled pork with coleslaw.  Place the top bun on the sandwich and enjoy.  make sure to have a napkin at your side.

Apple & Cabbage Slaw with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing

YUM!  I like coleslaw but it's not a favorite.  This recipe may have changed my opinion.  I originally made it to recreate a recipe from a bbq restaurant outside Peoria, IL called Hick'ry Stick.  The sandwich we ordered had a creamy poppy seed coleslaw.  This recipe comes close.  It is so creamy and yummy.  I really enjoy the apples in the slaw.  It is wonderful paired with pulled pork.  

I made two small changes.  I did not have parsley on hand so I omitted it from the recipe.  I also found the original amount of poppy seeds to be too much.  The original recipe came from Simply Scratch.  I look forward to exploring this site more.  I think the recipe deserves a rating of 5 cookies.  However, I have a hard time saying I would eat coleslaw all day every day.  I'm giving it a 4 cookie rating.


*I just ate some the following day and thought it could be great with cut up bacon.  For those of you that enjoy bacon, this might be a wonderful addition.

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1 cup Mayo

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Honey

2 tablespoons Poppy Seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

For the Slaw:
1 medium head of Cabbage

3 medium carrots, peeled and julienned

2 Fuji or McIntosh Apples, cored and julienned

5 Green Onions, trimmed and sliced thin

Juice of half a lemon

Preparation:

Place all of the dressing ingredients into a small bowl, whisk until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed then chill until ready to use.

For the slaw; quarter and core one medium head of cabbage. Slice thinly and add to a large bowl. Add prepared apples {squeezed with lemon juice to keep apples from turning brown}, carrots, green onion to the bowl as well. Pour over poppy seed dressing and toss to coat. Refrigerate for 45 minutes to one hour before serving.  

12 servings/5 points each

Pulled Pork Slow Cooker

Here is an incredibly easy recipe for Pulled Pork.  I was looking for a recipe to try and recreate a meal at a BBQ restaurant outside of Peoria, IL called Hick'ry Stick.  This recipe was so easy I figured it was a good place to start.  I have to say that it is not the best pulled pork I've had.  However, it would really depend on the bbq sauce used.  I used KC Masterpiece the first time.  I'll try to change it next time and use something with a bolder flavor.  And the simplicity of this recipe can not be beat.

Ingredients:
1 bottle or can of Root beer (12 oz)
2 lbs pork tenderloin
1 bottle of your favorite bbq sauce.

Directions:
Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker.  Pour root beer over the pork.  Place the slow cooker on low for 7 hours.  Pull the pork apart with fork. Pour bbq sauce into slow cooker and mix with pork.

Florentine Cookies

There is a wonderful bakery call Rinaldo's Bake Shoppe located in Dayton by our rental properties.  It's been there for over 50 years and is still owned and operated by Rinaldo and his sons.  Everything that I've tried there is wonderful.  My favorite item is their Florentine cookies.  I've never had a cookie like it before.  They are amazing.

I've looked for a recipe for Florentine cookies since this summer.  Every recipe I find does not seem to come close to Rinaldo's.  Last week my sister was getting rid of old Gourmet and Bon Apetit magazines.  There must have been at least 30.  I sat down a few nights last week and pulled recipes that looked interesting.  I should also mention that I pulled recipes that looked like I could actually cook them.  While these magazines are wonderful, their recipes are a bit hoity toity.  Many use obscure ingredients and way over complicated cooking methods.  I like to stick to my basics.

While perusing a Bon Apetit from 2005 I finally found a recipe for Florentine cookies that looked like it could work.  It was tucked all the way in the back and I almost passed it up.  I maybe waited 3 days before I attempted the recipe.  I have to say it was one of my more frustrating baking experiences.  By the end, I finally mastered the cookie.  So for a batch that should have yielded 4 dozen cookies, I ended up with 10 individual cookies.  It was totally worth it.

My version on the left and Rinaldo's on the right

I changed the recipe slightly because it had a Latin flare with chili powder.  The end results were delicious.  We even did a taste test comparison to Rinaldo's version.  There are small differences.  I hope to perfect the recipe on my next several tries.  Below is the recipe I used.  I only had luck using a silicone baking mat.  I will update this post when I attempt small changes to perfect the cookie.

Recipe:
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
10 Tbl. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheet with silicone mat.
2.  Whisk together the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, chili powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in almonds.
3.  Add melted butter, half-and-half, corn syrup and vanilla and stir to combine.
4.  Scoop heaping teaspoons of batter onto the sil mat.  A teaspoon does not look like much but they really spread out.  You will be able to do about 6 per cookie sheet.
5.  Cook the cookies until browned and then pull out and let sit until completely cooled.  They are very thin and fragile.  Don't try to remove too early.
6.  Once all the cookies are baked, melt chocolate in a double boiler (or bowl over pot of hot water).  Then drizzle melted chocolate on cookie in any pattern you desire.

4 dozen cookies/ 2 pts per cookie

Amish Breakfast Casserole

Ben and I have a work weekend ahead of us.  even though we don't really have a true weekend, I wanted something to give us the feel of days off.  I decided to make a breakfast casserole.  We are both big fans of breakfast foods.  I pulled out a recipe that I've been meaning to make for years.  It's called Amish Breakfast Casserole.

Once again, this is one of those recipes that I copied down with no reference. I give it 3 cookies because it tasted good but nothing extraordinary.  Well, we are off to install some carpet in a rental.  I bet you all are jealous of our weekend.

Amish Breakfast Casserole
(This could easily be doubled for a larger group and cooked in a 9x13)
3 eggs beaten
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup small curd cottage cheese
3/4 cup shredded swiss cheese
2 cups frozen hash browns
1/2 pound bacon
1/2 sweet onion

Directions:
1.  cut uncooked bacon into pieces.  Put bacon and onions into skillet and cook over medium heat until bacon is crisp.  Drain the bacon.  You may want to put the onions after the bacon is halfway cooked to avoid burning them.
2.  While bacon is cooking, stir the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3.  Mix the bacon and egg mixture together and place in greased baking dish (small round or 8x8)
4.  Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and set.  Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Fiesta Chicken Chowder

I have a group of college friends that still get together for trips about once a year.  We have traveled all over the country from Maine to Key West to New Orleans to Las Vegas.  Laura and I even spent a few months in Costa Rica together.  We always have a great time and plenty of stories to tell.

We had tried to pull a small trip together this fall.  Every weekend seemed to have a conflict for at least one of us.  The quick trip seemed to be fading.  Just when I thought it wasn't going to happen, I remembered the Santa Speedo Run.

My friend Annie helps coordinate the Santa Speedo Run in Chicago.  This event is put on with the Chicago Diabetes Project to help raise money and raise awareness of diabetes.  Annie is also the queen of surprises.  She has thrown together surprises for several of us.  It was time to plan a surprise for her.  We quickly threw a trip together for the rest of us to drive up to Chicago for the weekend.

Annie is also the inventor of Telefingers.  They make a great Christmas gift.  Had to give her a little plug.  You can also buy them on QVC.

We had a few days of panic when we found out that Annie had a new job in Utah.  She was starting this new job on Dec. 5th (2 days after the run).  Utah is far away from Chicago.  We scrambled to get in touch with her family.  Luckily her sister, Hiedi, got back to us and assured us she would be there.

One picture to show that we can dress to look respectable before you see the rest

Five of us drove up to Chicago on Friday.  We awoke early Saturday to dress in our finest.  Annie was completely taken by surprise.  We had a great time catching up with Annie and running through the streets of Chicago with over 200 people in speedos and festive outfits.

On the L in transit to the big event

Annie totally surprised!

Annie becomes one of us....

Group photos...

Our favorite pose

 there was some dancing...

 

 And then we took over the streets of Chicago...

Santa Loves You!

After a long weekend, I just wanted to come home and relax.  I came back with a small cold.  Laying on the couch and eating soup sounded perfect.  I tried Fiesta Chicken Chowder from Taste of Home.  I really enjoyed the soup.  I would suggest giving each serving a lime wedge.  I liked having additional lime juice added right before.  I might also try chicken broth instead of the water next time.  I give this 3.5 cookies.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 envelope fajita seasoning, divided
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups water
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Mexican stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (11 ounces) Mexicorn, drained
• 1 cup uncooked instant brown rice
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
• 1 can (11 ounces) condensed nacho cheese soup, undiluted
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon lime juice

Click on here to read the directions to prepare