What in the world is it with Fruitcake? Individually, the ingredients are amazingly delicious and (generally speaking) I love all cakes with a passion.
Then there’s fruitcake.
Honestly, I’ve never met one I particularly cared for. In fact, I’ve only taken one bite from each that has ever been introduced to me. One small bite that was quickly followed with a big swallow of coffee or boiled custard. It’s my way of begging my taste buds to forgive me.
Yet, fruitcakes have a loyal and passionate following. Apparently, you either “get” fruitcake’s quirky little personality or you don’t. I’m a don’t. But that’s okay - there’s plenty of Jam Cake, Coconut Cake, Chocolate Cake, etc for me to console myself with.
If you’re a “do,” here’s a recipe you’ll like. It’s from the 1982 cookbook, Country Living Recipes. Let me tell you something about this cookbook - it’s the best. It’s one of the cookbooks (in my big ol’ collection) that I LOVE so much that I’ve made certain I had two copies instead of just one. I return to this particular cookbook again and again.
Regal Fruitcake
Country Living Recipes, 1982
8 oz. candied red cherries, chopped
8 oz. candied green cherries, chopped
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 (7 oz) can flaked coconut
4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (divided)
1-1/4 cups butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange juice
Combine the first 4 ingredients, “dredge” with 1/4 cup flour, stirring to coat well. Set aside.
Cream the butter or margarine in a large mixing bowl; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine remaining flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with orange juice, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in fruit mixture.
Line a greased 10 inch tube pan with cake paper, grease the cake paper.
Bake at 300 degrees for 2-1/2 hours or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool cake in pan 20 minutes before removing from pan; peel paper from cake. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Yield: One 10 inch fruitcake.
Enjoy??!
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HP Hood, New England’s leading dairy products manufacturer , announced today that it is accepting entries for the fourth annual Hood® Holiday Recipe Contest.
Do you have what it takes? There’s only one way to find out—if you have a holiday family recipe that you think is worthy of merit, stop reading and start cooking. This year’s winner will receive a chef-prepared dinner party for 10 guests at his/her home.
Interested participants can submit their favorite original recipes online at Hood.com. The only requirement is that each recipe MUST include one or more of the following Hood holiday products: Hood EggNog (all varieties), Sour Cream, Cottage Cheese, Cream, Country Creamer or Instant Whipped Cream (must be used in conjunction with another product). All recipes—sweet or savory; dessert, breakfast or dinner—will be accepted as long as they contain at least one of the above-mentioned products.
The recipe entries will be tested and sampled by a panel of judges under the supervision of Annie Copps, Senior Editor – Food, Yankee Magazine. A winner will be determined based on the following criteria: taste, originality, clarity of recipe instructions and ease of preparation. In the case of a tie, the recipe with the highest score for taste will prevail.
One grand prize winner will receive a chef-prepared dinner party for 10 at his or her home. Three honorable-mention winners will each receive a $200 gift card.
“This year we thought it would be fun to reward the winner of our Recipe Contest with the unique luxury of a chef-prepared meal in their home—something they can look forward to after a holiday season of cooking and entertaining friends and family,” said Lynne Bohan, vice president of public relations for HP Hood. “As always, we are eager to see all of the ways our consumers use Hood products in their kitchens.”
The contest is open to U.S. residents of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, and will run through January 16, 2009. For more information about the contest and to find Hood recipe ideas that could inspire you, please visit Hood.com.
Last year’s grand-prize winning entry, Festive EggNog Apple Pudding, submitted by Laura Lufkin of Essex, Massachusetts, calls for Hood Golden EggNog, Hood Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Hood Instant Whipped Cream and can be found at Hood.com.
Good Luck!
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The gift set above is one I’d LOVE to open on Christmas Day - or any other day for that matter. The Mid-Century exotic wood trivet comes with the snazzy little salt and pepper grinders. All for under $10 at the Spice Depot.
I’d never even heard of their remarkable website until about 30 minutes ago when I got into my e-mail. I’ve spent half an hour reading about their different spices, grinders, and other products and printing out their recipes.
You have to check out their different recipes for Flavored Butters. The Pepper Butter would be Heaven on a big, fat baked potato and the Dill Butter begs to be smeared on a nice, hot ear of corn.
Not only would the gift set above make a perfect gift for any cook on your Christmas list, you could find gifts for virtually anyone on their website. Click the following to see other great gift sets - all at VERY reasonable prices.
See the Website for more.. And don’t forget to look at the recipes! In fact, if you do any of your Christmas shopping on the website, print out a few recipes to tuck into the gift bag along with the gift. Then maybe, if you’re lucky, when they make the recipe, they’ll invite you over.
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In my attempt to feed my family healthier, home-prepared meals, I nearly burned all of us out on turkey sandwiches. Granted, they’re a healthy alternative to fast food and red meat, but come on - turkey sandwiches can get old fast.
When I wheeled my cart past the luncheon meats a few days ago, I noticed that Hillshire Farms was making an effort to help me out. They’ve come out with thinly sliced Black Pepper Turkey Breast meat. I’m all about pepper, so I had to give it a try. I also LOVE any chance to use my Hamilton Beach Panini Press Gourmet Sandwich Maker, so I was psyched.
Here’s what I did: I warmed up my panini press and sprayed it with Pam Olive Oil Spray. I put a little mayo on the inside of two pieces of sourdough bread. I spread it out and placed a slice of Swiss Cheese on top of each. Then I put some of the peppered turkey breast meat on one of the sides and some sliced green onions on the other side. I put it all together and placed it into the panini press.
When it was through toasting (You cook it until it looks how you want it to look! Some people like them very toasted and some like barely toasted.) - I cut the sandwich in half, diagonally. The mayo and Swiss Cheese combined to make what tasted like a mysterious and delicious cheese-based sauce. The peppered turkey repaired my relationship with turkey. It is SO freaking good. Sub sandwiches would be amazing made with this luncheon meat, too.
I didn’t have any soup with my panini, but a tomato soup would have been spectacular.
You have to try the Hillshire Black Pepper Turkey Breast - it’s low in calories, healthy, and so good you’ll be more than happy to eat it instead of fast food.
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If I were a Sesame Street character, I know (beyond a shadow of a doubt) who I’d be - Cookie Monster. Big time. I am simply never happier than when I have a hot cup of coffee and a homemade cookie.
So to say I’m familiar with cookies and cookie recipes is a massive understatement. Man, I know my cookies.
The recipe below is out of this world good. I’ve made countless batches and haven’t been disappointed once. Trust me, you’ll want to make these cookies this Christmas. They look, and taste, like they’d be incredibly difficult, but they’re actually pretty darn easy! Just be certain you use real butter - not margarine. The magic and the beauty lies in the butter. Trust Cookie Monster on this one.
Buttery Cream Wafers - Christmas Cookies!
1/2 cup butter, softened (no substitutions!)
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
sugar
FILLING:
1/4 cup butter, softened (no substitutions!)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream * food coloring
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, flour and cream. Important: Cover and refiigerate for an hour.
Lightly flour a flat work surface. Also flour your rolling pin and 1-1/4 inch round cookie cutter. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. You may have to let it sit on the counter for a few minutes before it’ll agree to the whole idea of being rolled out.
Cut the dough with your floured cookie cutter. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle with granulated sugar, then prick each cookie 3 times with a fork.
Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes or until set. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
For the Icing: In a small bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream. Stir or beat until you have a smooth consistency. Divide the icing into separate containers for their color job. I use plastic drink cups - clean up’s a breeze. Use a drop or two of coloring to achieve the colors you want.
Carefully spread filling on the unsugared side (bottom) of half the cookies - top with the rest. Be very, very careful when handling these cookies. Because they’re rich and buttery, they’ll crumble if you look at them wrong. I’ve never lost one, however.
Sign of a truly gifted Cookie Monster.
* For Christmas, I usually stick with just red and green, sometimes gold. At Easter, using “Easter Egg” colors is a lot of fun (pink, purple, green, blue, yellow) - they look gorgeous. Another fun thing to do with these cookies is to use the colors of your favorite sports team. When I made these amazing little cookies last week, I hadn’t gotten to the red icing, yet. So, the cookies on the plate (decked out in their green and gold) looked like they were little Green Bay Packer fans! SO CUTE.
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Y’all already know how much I love the Iron Chefs. Iron Chef Japan was one of the most creative and entertaining shows ever created. Sheer magic.
Next week is the last stunt week on Iron Chef Japan, and it’ll be one for the books. It’s called “Grand Battle Week,” and it features the Iron Chefs battling themselves (no competitors!) for the top
crown.
Can you imagine? They’ll have to be more on their game than ever!
Grand Battle Week will air on Fine Living Network from Monday 12/8 to Friday 12/12, at 11pm ET. For more info on Iron Chef Japan, visit http://fineliving.com/ironchefjapan.
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You won’t believe how addictively delicious homemade granola is. I’d much rather see my family crunching away on granola than potato chips, candy, or anything else that contributes naught to their health. Try this, I promise you’ll love it.
Delicious and Healthy Crunchy Granola
3 cups dry, instant oats
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup black raisins
1/4 cup golden raisins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place oats in a 9 x 13 inch pan and toast in the oven for 10 minutes.
Combine the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add this mixture and the seeds and nuts to the toasted oatmeal. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes (very important). Cool.
Stir in the wheat germ and raisins.
This recipe makes about 6 cups. Store the granola in a covered container in the refrigerator.
** After you’ve made this version at least once, experiment with different combinations of nuts, dried fruits, etc. You won’t hurt my feelings if you leave out the raisins, but they are delicious when they’re mixed in with the other flavors.
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Two of my favorite humans of the male persuasion (or any persuasion for that matter) have recently impressed me at the healm of my George Foreman grill.
Emily’s (daughter #1) boyfriend, Dill, made us all some delicious shrimp a few nights ago. He took the frozen shrimp from the bag (he didn’t even thaw them out) and placed them on the grill. As they were cooking, he seasoned some of them with a spicy blend of seasonings and the rest with lemon-pepper.
They cooked amazingly fast and I can’t even tell you how delicious they were. I fixed a spinach-artichoke dip and served it with pretzel rods and tortilla chips to go along with the shrimp.
Delicous!
Last night, my husband got creative with the grill. He normally does most of his cooking on the patio, but when the temperature gets below 35, he moves his “buns” inside.
He marinated a few skirt steaks in one of A1’s new Heavenly marinades. After he sprayed the grill with a little cooking oil, he cooked the steaks while warming up a few cans of French Onion soup. After the meat was through cooking, he placed them on sourdough bread, topped them with provolone cheese and put them in the Panini Press.
We served the sandwiches with the soup which was perfect for dipping. These were incredibly good. I have to say I made a complete and total pig out of myself.
And I’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Each of these recipes would be ideal for game day treats. They’re fast, simple, and clean up is a minimum. Best of all? They’re delicious.
A Panini Press and/or one of George Foreman grills would make splendid Christmas gifts. You don’t have to be a frequent or accomplished cook to use them. The guys who waxed brilliant on my George Foreman grill this weekend don’t cook that often - but GF helped them achieve delicious results. A Panini Press is also ideally suited for everyone on your list. It’s about as simple to use as a pencil.
The grill pictured above is the George Foreman GRP99 Next Generation Grill w/Removable Plates N. My own George Foreman grill is a much older model (one of the first huge ones they made) - I have used it for years and it’s still going strong. That says a lot about how exceptionally made these grills are. Mine was even dropped in our last move. I thought it was history - but, like George, it can’t be knocked out that easily.
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This candy is one of my favorite things on earth - it comibines two of my favorite flavors, chocolate and coconut, so how can it be anything by Heavenly?
They’re also ridiculously easy and fast to make. This recipe will become a favorite of your’s with one bite.
In the top of a double broiler (or in a crockpot on low), melt the chocolate over barely simmering water - stirring constanty.
Remove and add the coconut. Mix lightly until the coconut is completely coated with the coconut - (this is where I have to execute great will power, or I’ll eat it all on the spot).
Drop a teaspoonful of the mixture into each foil cup and chill in the refrigerator until firm.
I’m going to the store first thing tomorrow for coconut and chocolate. I’m officially craving these things like a banshee right about now. A screaming banshee. A screaming banshee with a chocolate and coconut addiction that won’t even be able to sleep until she gets a fix….
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The Joy of Cooking Square Slotted Spatula features a large 4.5 inch wide flexible stainless steel turning surface making it easy to flip everything from burgers to pancakes Stainless steel shaft with plastic handle featuring the Joy of Cooking logo. A hole in the handle allows for hanging storage keeping your utensils in easy reach. Dishwasher safe!
The Joy Of Cooking Silicone Spatula is heat resistant to 500 degrees F. Beechwood handle featuring the Joy of Cooking logo has a hole in the end for hanging storage keeping your utensils in easy reach. The 2.5 inch wide silicone head is stain resistant. Also dishwasher safe.
The three Joy of Cooking items above would go together nicely to make a great Christmas Gift bundle. Especially if, say, you happen to be my husband and are, oh I dunno, doing a little early Christmas shopping….
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In my attempt to feed my family healthier, home-prepared meals, I nearly burned all of us out on turkey sandwiches. Granted, they’re a healthy alternative to fast food and red meat, but come on - turkey sandwiches can get old fast.
